Photo credit @awharvard
9th Avenue WatersideLikedvia Delectable Durban

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

I recently posted about the Bizarre Sleeping Habits of Famous People. The subject generated a lot of comments, so here’s a followup post on that. How can sleep help boost your writing?

Many writers find themselves in a creative slump every now and then. When you’re looking for ways to be more productive, creative, and efficient, you may not need to look any further than your own bedroom.

Sleep—the most basic of needs—is often all you really need.

It may sound too simple, but sleep acts as your body’s way of healing and recharging. It’s also when key aspects of learning and creative problem solving take place.

Increase Your Creative Edge

Your creativity, in part, relies on a full night’s rest.

You may be unaware of the world around you while you sleep, but your brain is hard at work. While you sleep…

with the big holiday looming

don’t spend a minute worrying about

what to do with all the leftovers

the solution is just waiting for you to discover

rest easy.

because, jello.

—

what’s the weirdest jello recipe you’ve ever been served?

was it considered:

a dessert?

a salad substitute?

a side dish of the main meal?

other?

—

“it’s as if we spend our entire lives avoiding Jell-O

but it is always there at the end, waiting.” 

-john grisham, ford county

—

image credit: kraft/general foods – vintage ad

photo by Alexas Fotos. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Last week, I was listening to a woman speak to a large audience. She had been dealing with cancer and had gone through chemotherapy. I knew she had lost her hair and was amazed at how good she looked. Her hair was beautiful and her skin was glowing. I thought, “Wow, she looks so healthy!” The next day I was able to look at her up close and realized she had on a wig and pretty heavy makeup. It was all an illusion. Who knows what she really looked like without the wig and the makeup? She certainly was well enough to speak to a large audience but had not progressed to the point that she looked like she had previously.

Have you ever looked at a model and thought, “She is just beautiful.” Later when you see her without her makeup, false…

A Glimpse of the ilva steelworks in Taranto (Italy)

In recent weeks, Arcelor Mittal, a multinational that acquired the former l’ilva in 2012, terminated the contract by sending 10,000 people home. The interruption of steel production, in addition to the unemployment of people, creates a 1.5% decrease in GDP: a disaster in terms of economy.

The reason for the termination of the contract, according to the statements of the multination, would be that there is no longer any interest in continuing production in the Taranto area. But many have said instead that in reality the reason would be that the company would not want to submit to the rules of the Italian government, which has not renewed the penal shield. Many do not know, that the state, to guarantee the company to work comfortably, has put up criminal shields, to protect any seizures of the judiciary for environmental irregularities.

In…

In the night between 12 and 13 November Venice was devastated by a storm that brought the sea level rise by 187cm! Although high water is almost a customary in Venice, this time the size of the event due to its intensity and consistency has not occurred since 1966, when the water rose by 194cm, a historical record for the city.

There were two victims, including one for electrocution due to a short circuit.

For years, Venice has been building a system called MOSE to block the rise of the sea. This system has cost the state 5 billion euros, with enormous delays in the completion of the works, especially for numerous investigations of bribes that led to the arrest of many people, including the former president of the Veneto region(Giancarlo Galan).

In the coming decades, Venice risks disappearing because climate change will lead to an increase in…

The Mission Inn in Riverside California, built over a sixty year period beginning in 1876, is a living museum full of priceless art and antiquities. It has two onsite chapels, one is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and has glass works designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1906 for a chapel in New York.

Many Della Robbia style ceramics from Italy,

are on stunning display throughout the property.

The Inn is a National Historic Landmark which you can tour on your own or with a docent. The art and artifacts overflow the spacious Inn and there is a museum with more art across the street that can also be toured.

Ten US presidents have visited The Inn,

and there is a presidential lounge dedicated to them.

The mission style interiors are comfortable and spacious, but the most amazing spaces for me are all the inner courtyards which are like…