With friends now getting fatter than ever, "losing weight" has been the most common topic on frens gathering. HMR says it's just count from one to ten away.
Health Management Resources (HMR), the leading medically based weight loss and maintenance program, knows there is no magic bullet for losing and keeping off unwanted pounds. Fads will come and go but the following are some realistic and sensible strategies to help you get started and stick with your weight loss and maintenance plan.
1. Choose a plan that makes sense
Pick a program that focuses on strategies you can practice long-term, not just while you are "on the diet." Meal replacements, like shakes and portion-controlled entrees, make it easier to cut calories now and in the future. A plan with lots of vegetables and fruits allows you to eat in volume without a lot of calories, and they're loaded with nutrition.
2. Make your home a safe haven
Fill your home with healthy, low-fat, quick and easy food options. A bowl of fresh fruit on the counter, for example, can make it easy to have a healthy snack.
3. Don't go it alone
Research shows that people are often more successful when they lose weight with a friend or a group.
4. Make a strong start
Contrary to common wisdom that "slow and steady" weight loss is best, recent articles have found that dieters who lost weight quickly, lost more total weight and kept off more weight long-term. Researchers concluded that how well dieters do in the first 2-4 weeks predicts their success up to five years later.
5. Make a plan
If you don't plan out what you're going to do, the world has a plan for you. Map out the first day of your week to get a strong start you can build on the rest of the week.
6. More is better
When your weight-loss plan includes healthy strategies like vegetables and fruits and meal replacements, the more of these you eat the more success you'll have. You don't have to be hungry to lose weight. On the contrary, if you stay full on low-fat, low calorie foods, you're more likely to stay on your diet and lose more weight overall.
7. Target your "easy wins"
Simple substitutions are often the easiest way to cut calories. Drinking a diet soda instead of a regular soda every day will save you 15 or morepounds in a year. Eating a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mustard instead of a roast beef sandwich with mayonnaise just twice a week will save you another 15 pounds.
8. Keep moving
Daily physical activity, like walking, along with healthy eating is key to long-term weight-loss success and maintenance. Once again, more is better.
9. Track your progress
Food and exercise records help you stay accountable to your diet plan, reinforce your success and give you valuable feedback on how to continue to build your skills.
10. Drink your fluids
It is important to stay hydrated, especially when you are losing weight, because your body will naturally lose some water. Make sure you drink at least eight 8 oz. glasses of non-caloric liquids per day.
Happy Weight Losing :)
From Health Management Resources, for About.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Heaven on Earth
I got this as an forwarded mail but the content is worth a read. You don’t need that much of a mention to feel the love for your country. Just keep being positive.
An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the World. So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China.
On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he Noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read “$10,000 per call”. The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what The telephone was used for.
The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way.
Next stop was in Japan . There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the Same golden telephone with the same sign under it.He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in China and He asked a nearby nun what its purpose was.She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 He Could talk to God.
“O.K., thank you,” said the American.
He then traveled to Pakistan , Srilanka , Russia , Germany and France .In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same “$10,000 Per call” sign under it.
The American, upon leaving Vermont decided to travel to up to Nepal to See if Nepalese had the same phone.
He arrived in Nepal , and again, in the first church he entered, there Was the same golden telephone, but this s time the sign under it read “One Rupee per call.”
The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. “Father, I’ve traveled all over World and I’ve seen this same golden Telephone in many churches. I’m told that it is a direct line to Heaven, But in rest of the world price was $10,000 per call.
Why is it so cheap here?”
The priest smiled and answered, “You’re in Nepal now, Son - it’s a Local Call “.
This is the only heaven on the Earth :)
An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the World. So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China.
On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he Noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read “$10,000 per call”. The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what The telephone was used for.
The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way.
Next stop was in Japan . There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the Same golden telephone with the same sign under it.He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in China and He asked a nearby nun what its purpose was.She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 He Could talk to God.
“O.K., thank you,” said the American.
He then traveled to Pakistan , Srilanka , Russia , Germany and France .In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same “$10,000 Per call” sign under it.
The American, upon leaving Vermont decided to travel to up to Nepal to See if Nepalese had the same phone.
He arrived in Nepal , and again, in the first church he entered, there Was the same golden telephone, but this s time the sign under it read “One Rupee per call.”
The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. “Father, I’ve traveled all over World and I’ve seen this same golden Telephone in many churches. I’m told that it is a direct line to Heaven, But in rest of the world price was $10,000 per call.
Why is it so cheap here?”
The priest smiled and answered, “You’re in Nepal now, Son - it’s a Local Call “.
This is the only heaven on the Earth :)
Monday, March 23, 2009
Zen - Buddism
I found this text as an email signature of one of the professors who replied to me. Well the response was not as I expected, however, this text was worth noting.
"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work
and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his
education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows
which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he
does, leaving others to decide whether his working or playing. To him he is
always doing both" - Zen Budddist
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Being a Student.. Again
Well it's been about 2 years now not being a full time student (I hadn't been part time too apart from reading random books and articles). This is the longest break from my study as far as I can remember. It seemed that I have been a student my entire life.
Actually I have planned for my mba studies this fall but why not try doing the job I do the best - being a student. So the other day I was infact a student at the British council for my public speaking course. It’s a good feel being at my desk, facing the white board and obeying my teacher's instructions. Great. I love to be disciplined sometimes.
The most interesting part of this class is its actors (the students) and the tutor. The first class was just a casual introduction and a warm up speaking exercise but the professionalism composition of my class mates was impressive to say the least.
We have software engineers, a program manager, a lawyer, an advocate, a doctor, an UNMIN official, a model, a business man, a film maker and a couple of students. What a variety?
During the initial experience sharing session I can see each one of us have experiences as diverse as colors in a rainbow.
So I am really looking forward to the rest of the course with this unique blend of classmates. Btw, the tutor is a sweet lady, a motor bike fanatic who has worked and seen the world. Interesting.
Can it get any better?
Actually I have planned for my mba studies this fall but why not try doing the job I do the best - being a student. So the other day I was infact a student at the British council for my public speaking course. It’s a good feel being at my desk, facing the white board and obeying my teacher's instructions. Great. I love to be disciplined sometimes.
The most interesting part of this class is its actors (the students) and the tutor. The first class was just a casual introduction and a warm up speaking exercise but the professionalism composition of my class mates was impressive to say the least.
We have software engineers, a program manager, a lawyer, an advocate, a doctor, an UNMIN official, a model, a business man, a film maker and a couple of students. What a variety?
During the initial experience sharing session I can see each one of us have experiences as diverse as colors in a rainbow.
So I am really looking forward to the rest of the course with this unique blend of classmates. Btw, the tutor is a sweet lady, a motor bike fanatic who has worked and seen the world. Interesting.
Can it get any better?
Monday, March 16, 2009
How To Beat a Low Google “Quality Score”?
Google shows the ads based on the ad rank and quality score does has a bigger influence in the equation. Google Chief Economist, Hal Varian explains on how the Google quality score is based on 3 chief factors. The contributors to quality are:
1. CTR (click-Thru-Rate): This is the biggest contributors to the quality factor contributing about 60% to the score. CTR usually explains the user feedback to the ads and the ad copy.
2. Relevancy: Google place importance on relevancy contributing about 30%. Google checks the relevancy of the search query to the ads and the keywords. Google make sure that only useful ads are shown on the context of search query, ad copy and the products for the good quality score.
3. Landing page: The landing page does matter to the quality score contributing about 10% to the quality score. For good quality score, the landing page should have relevant original content, quick load time, no or very few pop-ups, and transparency about the nature of business and should be easily navigable.
Make sure you have it all, what Google values for a good “quality score”.
1. CTR (click-Thru-Rate): This is the biggest contributors to the quality factor contributing about 60% to the score. CTR usually explains the user feedback to the ads and the ad copy.
2. Relevancy: Google place importance on relevancy contributing about 30%. Google checks the relevancy of the search query to the ads and the keywords. Google make sure that only useful ads are shown on the context of search query, ad copy and the products for the good quality score.
3. Landing page: The landing page does matter to the quality score contributing about 10% to the quality score. For good quality score, the landing page should have relevant original content, quick load time, no or very few pop-ups, and transparency about the nature of business and should be easily navigable.
Make sure you have it all, what Google values for a good “quality score”.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Too Good To Be True!
Good things in life comes for free. Worried about the suitable hosting plan for you? I was like you a few months before and i came across 000WebHost
It does have all the necessary tools and features like other web hosting companies. The only difference however is that - It's Free!
Here are some of the highlights:
Free cPanel Web Hosting with PHP5/Mysql - no advertising!
Free web hosting package packed with advanced features for hosting & building professional dynamic websites.
Free web space with all the web hosting tools you could possibly ever need.
The package includes:
- 1500 MB of Disk Space, 100 GB Bandwidth
- Host your own domain (http://www.yourdomain.com)
- cPanel Powered Hosting (you will love it)
- Over 500 website templates ready to download
- Easy to use website builder
- Free POP3 Email Box with Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- And many more..
Get started => Register now @ 000WebHost
It does have all the necessary tools and features like other web hosting companies. The only difference however is that - It's Free!
Here are some of the highlights:
Free cPanel Web Hosting with PHP5/Mysql - no advertising!
Free web hosting package packed with advanced features for hosting & building professional dynamic websites.
Free web space with all the web hosting tools you could possibly ever need.
The package includes:
- 1500 MB of Disk Space, 100 GB Bandwidth
- Host your own domain (http://www.yourdomain.com)
- cPanel Powered Hosting (you will love it)
- Over 500 website templates ready to download
- Easy to use website builder
- Free POP3 Email Box with Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- And many more..
Get started => Register now @ 000WebHost
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
HOLI 2009
Phew. this was most probably the wildest holi ever. if you think holi is all about colors, think again. Its getting more wet each year.
some highlights (quick and dirty)
had fun at my place with the kids and strangers in the road. No matter who you are ballons are your frens. Everybody gets it from any direction and in any place. oops i just got one at my back.
Gathered at fren's house. colors all over. try our best to discolorize everyone. Took our bikes. holi wanderers.
landed at other fren's house and from then on it was no more colors. all water(not everytime, liquid would be more resonable). had a balloon fight with the kids. had the altitude disadvantage of one floor. did our best. food and drinks. danced and bit, laughed a lot. cleaned up the mess, hit the road.
Landed at yet another fren's house. more water. more mixed chemicals. surf, savlon, ujala whitening and whatever (missed harpic fortunately). everyone lost their colors in turn. more drinks. more laughter.
@ home. too tired. cleaned the skin till it bleed. one good sleep. Happy Holi.
some highlights (quick and dirty)
had fun at my place with the kids and strangers in the road. No matter who you are ballons are your frens. Everybody gets it from any direction and in any place. oops i just got one at my back.
Gathered at fren's house. colors all over. try our best to discolorize everyone. Took our bikes. holi wanderers.
landed at other fren's house and from then on it was no more colors. all water(not everytime, liquid would be more resonable). had a balloon fight with the kids. had the altitude disadvantage of one floor. did our best. food and drinks. danced and bit, laughed a lot. cleaned up the mess, hit the road.
Landed at yet another fren's house. more water. more mixed chemicals. surf, savlon, ujala whitening and whatever (missed harpic fortunately). everyone lost their colors in turn. more drinks. more laughter.
@ home. too tired. cleaned the skin till it bleed. one good sleep. Happy Holi.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Going Green
There seems to be number of wars between the corporate houses - sometimes as noble as going green in there decors. Clearly the award goes to “Himalayan Bank Limited”, Thamel.
Blowing in the Wind.
Blowing in the Wind.
How many roads must a man walk down,
before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove fly,
before she sleeps in the sand?
And how many times must a cannon ball fly,
before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist,
before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist,
before they're allowed to be free?
And how many times can a man turn his head,
and pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.
How many times must a man look up,
before he sees the sky?
And how many ears must one man have,
before he can hear people cry ?
And how many deaths will it take till we know,
that too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.
It is Never Too Late to be What You Might Have Been
Age is a quality of the mind:
If you have left your dreams behind,
If hope is cold;
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambitions fires are dead
Then you are old.
But if from life you take the best,
And if in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly
You are not old.
By
~~Edward Tuck
If you have left your dreams behind,
If hope is cold;
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambitions fires are dead
Then you are old.
But if from life you take the best,
And if in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly
You are not old.
By
~~Edward Tuck
16 Hour Loadshed: A Survivor’s Diary
I would be really pleased if i have a 50% chance of seeing a bright buld on switching on. But with 8/24 the probability of getting light at any hour and 4 of those precious hours i would be sleeping, I am left with 4/24 chance of getting the power.
Ok here’s a normal day. When I wake up either there will be electricity for an hour (if I managed to wake up at 7 am) or one hour after I woke up.
So first things first. If I have an hour of power in the morning, the first thing I would do is to get to the kitchen and use my rice cooker for the meal (this will save some of my efforts). I would tap in all my appliance and gadgets. I will charge my notebook, my handy, my ipod and the emergency lights. It looks good to see all my gadgets feeding at the same time. Meanwhile my house owner would use the crucial power hour to pump the water up the tank so that we would have the running water (still a luxury here in kathmandu) for the next 24 hours.
Afternoons are ok. With the power generator in the office, life has been lot better. But afternoon sessions are also marked with frequent power cut off. And I feel that the generator is running for every minute of the day. Its consistent noise and smoke never seems to disappear. At the end of the day i always have a mild headache due to the constant smoke from the power generator.
Lunch time. We, the employees of the two companies sharing the power generator, usually go out for lunch at the same time so that we could give the generator a much needed rest. The evening schedule is, either i have the electricity from 4pm to 8pm, or upto 12 pm from 8 pm.
If it’s the former, I should make home before 7:30 pm so that i could use the 30 minutes of power for my rice cooker. [Phew]. If its the latter, i won’t mind staying at the office as late as 8 pm so that i can savor the power.
The toughest part is pumping the water from the supply pipe to our tank that happens once in every two days. From the combination of the power schedule and the water schedule, we only have a day with electricity to pump the water to our tank. That leaves us with manually pumping the water at 3 am in the morning. Can life gets any tougher?
Usually when I have a complete darkness at 8 pm i am left with very few options. I work in my pc for about an hour, use my energy back up light for next hour. Then no power.
Candles? Yes. How long? Until I start having burning eyes.
Moral: Live with the rules, and your life doesn’t get that worse.
Ok here’s a normal day. When I wake up either there will be electricity for an hour (if I managed to wake up at 7 am) or one hour after I woke up.
So first things first. If I have an hour of power in the morning, the first thing I would do is to get to the kitchen and use my rice cooker for the meal (this will save some of my efforts). I would tap in all my appliance and gadgets. I will charge my notebook, my handy, my ipod and the emergency lights. It looks good to see all my gadgets feeding at the same time. Meanwhile my house owner would use the crucial power hour to pump the water up the tank so that we would have the running water (still a luxury here in kathmandu) for the next 24 hours.
Afternoons are ok. With the power generator in the office, life has been lot better. But afternoon sessions are also marked with frequent power cut off. And I feel that the generator is running for every minute of the day. Its consistent noise and smoke never seems to disappear. At the end of the day i always have a mild headache due to the constant smoke from the power generator.
Lunch time. We, the employees of the two companies sharing the power generator, usually go out for lunch at the same time so that we could give the generator a much needed rest. The evening schedule is, either i have the electricity from 4pm to 8pm, or upto 12 pm from 8 pm.
If it’s the former, I should make home before 7:30 pm so that i could use the 30 minutes of power for my rice cooker. [Phew]. If its the latter, i won’t mind staying at the office as late as 8 pm so that i can savor the power.
The toughest part is pumping the water from the supply pipe to our tank that happens once in every two days. From the combination of the power schedule and the water schedule, we only have a day with electricity to pump the water to our tank. That leaves us with manually pumping the water at 3 am in the morning. Can life gets any tougher?
Usually when I have a complete darkness at 8 pm i am left with very few options. I work in my pc for about an hour, use my energy back up light for next hour. Then no power.
Candles? Yes. How long? Until I start having burning eyes.
Moral: Live with the rules, and your life doesn’t get that worse.
A Day Without My Notebook
It’s really very tough (surprisingly). I never thought it would be that difficult. This experience was painful coz’ I wasn’t at all ready for it. At 6 pm we left our office [and our bags and notebooks] for a movie. When I returned at about 9:30 for my notebook, i realized i don’t have a key for the entrance door (thanks to the one who changed it recently). I went home all alone.
The first question “What am I gonna do before I call it a day?”. As there was no notebook, there was no internet. what about some music, movies, may be a bit of work, a short article, some good reads in pdf??
Damn! Then I realized that all the alternatives I had, they are all tied up with my notebook. I felt terrible lack of resources.
It’s too romantic to say but “I won’t last a day without you”. :)
The first question “What am I gonna do before I call it a day?”. As there was no notebook, there was no internet. what about some music, movies, may be a bit of work, a short article, some good reads in pdf??
Damn! Then I realized that all the alternatives I had, they are all tied up with my notebook. I felt terrible lack of resources.
It’s too romantic to say but “I won’t last a day without you”. :)
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - The Highlights
It’s been about a year I read this book. Influential. I make little summary while reading and that helps to gain a quick idea about the pages read in the past. i did the same with this book. Today i found that page in one of my old files and i felt that this should be digitally saved not to repeat the same mistake.
- Practice the ‘Heart of the Rose’ at same time, same way every day (umm i forgot what heart of rose means. some kind of yoga may be. have to go through the book once again. see that’s why summary is useful)
- Garden -> Mind -> Filled with dellightful treasure
- Lighthouse -> Power of goals and the imp. of discovering your calling in life
- Kaizen: constant & never ending improvement
- The only limit to your life are those that you set yourself.
- Practice:
- Rest Break: Healing power of silence, come to know who you really are
- Physical: yoga
- Deep breathing: not just to survive, but to thrive
- Vegetarian food
- Be the student of life: You can much utilize from the classroom of existence
- Read for at least 30 mins daily
- Every evening after a full day of productive work, retire to a silent corner of your home and reflect on your day
- The only way to improve tomorrow is to know what you did wrong today
- Rise with the sun
- nothing to extremes, everything in moderations
- If you do anything for 21 days in a row, it will become a habit
- Live eveyday as if it was your last day
- Listen to music; it is a solace at all times
- The ritual of spoken word: mantra; man (maind) tra (freeing)
- You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.
- Thought -> Action -> Habit -> Characters -> Destiny
- The power of simplicity
- One must never live in the thick of the thins
- Unless you reduce your need, you’ll never be fulfilled
- When the student is ready, the teacher will appear
- Life gives you what you ask of it, it’s always listening
- When you control your thoughts, you control you mind. When you control your mind, you control your life
- sotori: constant awakening
- I am more that i appear to be, all the world’s strength and power rests inside me
- Live with discipline, will power
- Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage
- Enlightened people are power driven
- Don’t let other steal your time (this i must practice very often)
- Be ruthless with your time. Learn to say ‘No’
- The quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution
- Cultivate richer relationships
- Happiness is a journey, not a destination
- Embrace the present
I can immediately feel the positive vives just by going through it. Good words can make good life.
- Practice the ‘Heart of the Rose’ at same time, same way every day (umm i forgot what heart of rose means. some kind of yoga may be. have to go through the book once again. see that’s why summary is useful)
- Garden -> Mind -> Filled with dellightful treasure
- Lighthouse -> Power of goals and the imp. of discovering your calling in life
- Kaizen: constant & never ending improvement
- The only limit to your life are those that you set yourself.
- Practice:
- Rest Break: Healing power of silence, come to know who you really are
- Physical: yoga
- Deep breathing: not just to survive, but to thrive
- Vegetarian food
- Be the student of life: You can much utilize from the classroom of existence
- Read for at least 30 mins daily
- Every evening after a full day of productive work, retire to a silent corner of your home and reflect on your day
- The only way to improve tomorrow is to know what you did wrong today
- Rise with the sun
- nothing to extremes, everything in moderations
- If you do anything for 21 days in a row, it will become a habit
- Live eveyday as if it was your last day
- Listen to music; it is a solace at all times
- The ritual of spoken word: mantra; man (maind) tra (freeing)
- You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.
- Thought -> Action -> Habit -> Characters -> Destiny
- The power of simplicity
- One must never live in the thick of the thins
- Unless you reduce your need, you’ll never be fulfilled
- When the student is ready, the teacher will appear
- Life gives you what you ask of it, it’s always listening
- When you control your thoughts, you control you mind. When you control your mind, you control your life
- sotori: constant awakening
- I am more that i appear to be, all the world’s strength and power rests inside me
- Live with discipline, will power
- Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage
- Enlightened people are power driven
- Don’t let other steal your time (this i must practice very often)
- Be ruthless with your time. Learn to say ‘No’
- The quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution
- Cultivate richer relationships
- Happiness is a journey, not a destination
- Embrace the present
I can immediately feel the positive vives just by going through it. Good words can make good life.
Hotel California - The Meaning
Now be honest with this. I know all of you have listened to the song “Hotel California” by Eagles (it would be shame if you haven’t). I am pretty confident that most of you liked that song really very much for obvious reasons. But have you ever tried to ponder on what this song really meant?
I know you can enjoy songs without even understanding a percent of it. But have you ever given a
thought about the wording in this song?
Don Henley (the singer) in his own words.
On November 25, 2007 Henley appeared on the TV news show 60 Minutes, where he was told, “everyone wants to know what this song means.” Henley replied: “I know, it’s so boring. It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about.
We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles.
Glenn Frey: “That record explores the under belly of success, the darker side of Paradise. Which was sort of what we were experiencing in Los Angeles at that time. So that just sort of became a metaphor for the whole world and for everything you know. And we just decided to make it Hotel California. So with a microcosm of everything else going on around us.”
Now this is interesting:
An alternative interpretation of the meaning of the lyrics is that the song is a description of the journey from Need to Love and Marriage to Divorce and ultimately to the impossibility of regaining the life and happiness of the pre-divorce state.
Initially the traveler is feeling the need of a relationship (”My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night”). The traveler meets his love and gets married (”There she stood in the doorway. I heard the mission bell”). A marriage commitment opens up the possibility of happiness but also the traveler is aware and vulnerable to the possibility of intense unhappiness (”And I was thinking to myself, this could be heaven or this could be hell”)
Unfortunately the marriage dissolves and his love becomes obsessed with money (”Her mind is Tiffany-twisted”) where Tiffany” refers to the very expensive jewelry store, Tiffany & Co. With the divorce there is the division of property - she got the Mercedes Benz. After the breakup when he sees her with any guys she reassures him that the pretty, pretty boys” are just friends.” In this new world of being single the other singles he meets do their dance in the courtyard” of life. They generally fall into two groups: There are those who can’t stop talking about their Ex (”Some dance to remember”) and there are those who don’t what to say anything at all about their past marriage (”some dance to forget”).
Now in this world of being divorced he longs to return the pre-divorced state of happiness (”So I called up the captain, please bring me my wine”), but he finds that his happiness is now irrevocably in the past (”We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969″). Deep into the post-divorce single’s scene with “mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice” he is reminded that “we are all just prisoners here, of our own device.” He and others want this divorce nightmare to be over, yet - “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast.” Now frustrated, he panics and is “running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before” But he is brought up short when the night man informs him that “You can checkout any time you like (commit suicide), but you can never leave” (become pre-divorced).
There are two choruses in the song and each mention the “Hotel California.” Around the time the song was written, California was experiencing the highest divorce rate in the nation. Each chorus has lines that remember his past marriage (”Such a lovely place”) and his past lover (”Such a lovely face”). The first chorus indicates that there can always be more divorces (”Plenty of room at the Hotel California, any time of year, you can find it here”). The second chorus points out that as a part of divorce you will always “bring your alibis.”
song facts from : Songfacts
I know you can enjoy songs without even understanding a percent of it. But have you ever given a
thought about the wording in this song?
Don Henley (the singer) in his own words.
This is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.
On November 25, 2007 Henley appeared on the TV news show 60 Minutes, where he was told, “everyone wants to know what this song means.” Henley replied: “I know, it’s so boring. It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about.
We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles.
Glenn Frey: “That record explores the under belly of success, the darker side of Paradise. Which was sort of what we were experiencing in Los Angeles at that time. So that just sort of became a metaphor for the whole world and for everything you know. And we just decided to make it Hotel California. So with a microcosm of everything else going on around us.”
Now this is interesting:
An alternative interpretation of the meaning of the lyrics is that the song is a description of the journey from Need to Love and Marriage to Divorce and ultimately to the impossibility of regaining the life and happiness of the pre-divorce state.
Initially the traveler is feeling the need of a relationship (”My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night”). The traveler meets his love and gets married (”There she stood in the doorway. I heard the mission bell”). A marriage commitment opens up the possibility of happiness but also the traveler is aware and vulnerable to the possibility of intense unhappiness (”And I was thinking to myself, this could be heaven or this could be hell”)
Unfortunately the marriage dissolves and his love becomes obsessed with money (”Her mind is Tiffany-twisted”) where Tiffany” refers to the very expensive jewelry store, Tiffany & Co. With the divorce there is the division of property - she got the Mercedes Benz. After the breakup when he sees her with any guys she reassures him that the pretty, pretty boys” are just friends.” In this new world of being single the other singles he meets do their dance in the courtyard” of life. They generally fall into two groups: There are those who can’t stop talking about their Ex (”Some dance to remember”) and there are those who don’t what to say anything at all about their past marriage (”some dance to forget”).
Now in this world of being divorced he longs to return the pre-divorced state of happiness (”So I called up the captain, please bring me my wine”), but he finds that his happiness is now irrevocably in the past (”We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969″). Deep into the post-divorce single’s scene with “mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice” he is reminded that “we are all just prisoners here, of our own device.” He and others want this divorce nightmare to be over, yet - “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast.” Now frustrated, he panics and is “running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before” But he is brought up short when the night man informs him that “You can checkout any time you like (commit suicide), but you can never leave” (become pre-divorced).
There are two choruses in the song and each mention the “Hotel California.” Around the time the song was written, California was experiencing the highest divorce rate in the nation. Each chorus has lines that remember his past marriage (”Such a lovely place”) and his past lover (”Such a lovely face”). The first chorus indicates that there can always be more divorces (”Plenty of room at the Hotel California, any time of year, you can find it here”). The second chorus points out that as a part of divorce you will always “bring your alibis.”
song facts from : Songfacts
Emotion Swing
Ye it happens. But this time it’s happening with higher frequency.
Incident 1: Oct 18, 2008.
All geared up for my Gmat exam. I thought I was well prepared for the exams. I was a little skeptical about my practice on the ‘Reading Comprehension’ of the verbal section. But for rest I thought I was solid. A score above 700 was well in the cards. Oct 19, 1 pm. Bang! The score was a mere 630 and all my high verves disappeared. I felt disappointed, low and very insecure. I was almost convinced for a retake when a chat with my friend at Viginia Tech (the primary college I have targeted) convinced me that it was a good score to rock in VT. Stable Again.
Incident 2:
I applied to VT and Katz MBA program. As a safe college I applied to Flores MBA (LSU). The interview was’Okay’ with all the colleges.
Result Time.
LSU result was the first to arrive. Damn! I got on the wait list. Time to go down again. It was particularly hard to take because this was supposed to be my safe college, my safest link that would never let me down. Well I can expect nothing from the rest.
A week later I got admission to VT. I was on a high for obvious reasons.
Well there’s definitely more to life.
Incident 1: Oct 18, 2008.
All geared up for my Gmat exam. I thought I was well prepared for the exams. I was a little skeptical about my practice on the ‘Reading Comprehension’ of the verbal section. But for rest I thought I was solid. A score above 700 was well in the cards. Oct 19, 1 pm. Bang! The score was a mere 630 and all my high verves disappeared. I felt disappointed, low and very insecure. I was almost convinced for a retake when a chat with my friend at Viginia Tech (the primary college I have targeted) convinced me that it was a good score to rock in VT. Stable Again.
Incident 2:
I applied to VT and Katz MBA program. As a safe college I applied to Flores MBA (LSU). The interview was’Okay’ with all the colleges.
Result Time.
LSU result was the first to arrive. Damn! I got on the wait list. Time to go down again. It was particularly hard to take because this was supposed to be my safe college, my safest link that would never let me down. Well I can expect nothing from the rest.
A week later I got admission to VT. I was on a high for obvious reasons.
Well there’s definitely more to life.
Financial Situations for Dummies
For most of us (including me), it has been a tough time understanding about the current global financial situation. Here’s something that will help people like us to understand it better.
How we reached the situation of today?
Once upon a time in a village in India , a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.
The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.
The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts.
The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: ‘ Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50. ‘
The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.
Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!
Welcome to WALL STREET….!!
How we reached the situation of today?
Once upon a time in a village in India , a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.
The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.
The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts.
The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: ‘ Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50. ‘
The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.
Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!
Welcome to WALL STREET….!!
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