The Sun

Hi All,

Since it has been so darn grey and rainy and drizzly and sticky and well, just plain gross outside recently I thought I'd post a sunshiny fun entry today.

Because if I'm not mistaken I see the sun and blue skies and nice big white clouds - woohoo!

Click on this link for photos of the sun from Google images. Aaaah - sun.

Click on this link for photos of briliant blue skies from Google images. Gorgeous skies.

Click on this link for photos of cumulus clouds from Google images. Flaky clouds!

And finally, click on this link for photos of kids playing outside in the sunshine!

Enjoy and lets hope this grey, dank weather leaves asap!

Stu

Shopping Malls and More! (Americana)

Hi All,

What can possibly be more American than 'baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie'? Click here for a link to that Chevrolet television commercial from 1975 - note that the link goes to Youtube.

Okay, so now, back to the question - what is more American than 'baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie'?

Shopping! It is the American way - heck, think of all the marketing and advertising and publicity for products that range from deodorant to cars to cookies to charcoal to well, you get the idea!

And it is not for nothing that we buy 'stuff'. Heck we need to eat don't we? And we need to have 'stuff' in our house - you can't live in a house with no furniture or pots and pans or beds or a television...

So, when you think of shopping you might think of Wal-Mart or Kohls, or Target or Sears or TJ Maxx or any other of the huge numbers of retail outlets. Click on any of the above mentioned links to go to that particular retailers' website.

So, this introduction has been a longer than usual one...click here for a link to MALLS. You can find malls by 'name', zipcode, state and more. The site also has links to the various malls that result when you do a search. Malls are also rated on the site. Hours of operation, telephone number and distance from a particular location is also listed.

Okay and for all of you mall afficionados, click on this link to Deadmalls.com

Besides for a gruesome name - couldn't they have used the name 'ExtinctMalls.com' instead - this is a neat site that has mall history, photographs and more about malls that don't exist anymore. Neat stuff and it took a huge amount of work and effort to make the site as comprehensive as it is!

If you click on the 'Links' page you'll find links about people who are against 'sprawl and against the mall in general'. Also on the page are 'mall indices and pages on malls in general'.

Click here for a Wikipedia list of defunct store chains - click here for a Wikipedia list of defunct department stores - neat stuff and a bit of Americana on the web!

Enjoy the malls and the sites and the shopping!
Regards,
Stu

What To Eat When You are in a Fast Food Restaurant

Hi All,

The summer might be over, but that doesn't mean we all should eat poorly. Health eating is a lifetime habit - sheesh, I sound like an advertisement. So it goes...at least this will be a healthy blog entry.

And while this is true - healthy eating should be a lifetime habit - it can be very, very hard to do when faced with the likes of McDonald's, Wendy's KFC, Taco Bell, Burger King and other fast-food restaurants.

So what is a hungry fellow or gal to do when he/she is in a fast food restaurant?

Click on this link and you'll get an article from Men's Health entitled 14 Best Fast Food Meals Under 500 Calories

This second link comes from Health.com and is a long article. Essentially the authors surveyed the nations 100 largest fast-food chains...for the results, click on this link.

Click on this link from WebMD to find the best bets from favorite food chains. The article is called, 'Fast Food That Won't Supersize You'.

Click on this link for the various menu options at many large fast food chains to see the number of calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, carbs and sodium content of the various items. Hamburgers, french fries, chicken, and more.

Finally, click on this link from a site called HelpGuide.org (A Trusted Non-Profit Resource - or so the website proclaims...) for an article entitled 'Healthy Fast Food - Tips For Making Healthier Fast Food Choices'. At the end of the article is a nicely organized list of ways that consumers can make healthier choices at fast food restaurants...good stuff.

And now you can make better decisions and eat healthier.

Enjoy the meals!
Stu

H is For...

Hi All,

Presenting...another in the continuing alphabetical exercise of blog posts...today we are up to the letter 'h'. What different organizations, companies, topics, lists and entries include the letter 'h'?

Today we have quite a variety of websites that begin with the letter "h"

Hotmail - excellent sit to open and retrieve email

Home Depot - great retailer of all things home goods - including plumbing, electrical, work working, gardening, lawn and garden, lighting, bathrooom, kitchen, flooring, tiling and more

Hulu - very comprehensive online video service

Hershey Park -

great website for all things 'Hershey Park' related. Info on rides, prices, admission, food,
Hertz - rental car disounts for your vacation or trip on this site

History Channel - watch history as it happens..actually there are great re-enactments of historical events on the site. Also has great documentaries and movies about various historical events.

HopStop - get door to door transit directions in the greater New York area. Coves, Subway, MTA, PATH, LIRR, MetroNorth for New York, Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Can send directions by email or text message to a cell phone directly from the website.

Huffington Post - offers syndiacted columnists, blogs and news stories with moderated comments. Excellent source of analyzed and evaluated news by various columnists.

Enjoy the sites! Imagine - we are almost a 1/3 of the way through the alphabet! Woohoo! My blog dreams are coming true.

Regards,

Stu

Choose My Plate

Hi All,

The old food pyramid from the US Government is no more. It has been replaced by a new campaign entitled, 'Choose My Plate'. Click here for a link to the US Department of Agriculture site that is the home to this new campaign: ChooseMyPlate.gov.

So, what does the new site offer users and readers? Simple, the new site is a way to get people to eat more healthy. Shaped like a plate, the various sections have topics related to food - for example there are links to fruits, grains, vegetables, protein and dairy. Click on each of the words to find out about each food group in the food plate.

Along the way, on the side of the main Food page is a section entitled, "I Want To...". Some topics on this part of the page include 'Eat healthy on a budget', 'Look Up a Food', 'Learn about Food Groups', 'Get a Personalized Plan', and 'Learn healthy eating tips', 'Get Weight Loss Information', Plan a Healthy Menu', 'Analyze My Diet', 'Ask a Question' among other topics. Again, click on any of the links above to get more information about that particular topic.

On the other side of the main page you'll find links to the basics of eating healthy and more targeted information for more specific audiences like the general population, pregnant women, preschoolders, kids and more.

There is also a topics entitled 'Link of the Day' and interactive tools toward the bottom of the web page. Finally, if you click on this link, you'll learn about the various food groups.

Here's to a healthy, new you!

Regards,
Stu