Archive for September, 2009
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS MAGAZINE
Today, "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine is one of the most popular home magazines sold. For years it has been showing people everything from how to get clutter out of a house to which plants can be grown in doors. It also has shown countless recipes and quick-fix meals. Various crafts have also been show cased.HistoryThis magazine actually started off under the title of "Fruit, Garden and Home" in 1922, and was published by the Meredith Corporation. This was a family and home service magazine. Then in 1924 the name was changed to "Better Homes and Gardens". When it first hit the newsstands one could buy it for $.10 a copy. The price for a subscription for a year was only $.35Several years later in 1930 to be exact, a cookbook under the same name of the magazine was published. Building Ideas was published as a special interest publication under "Better Homes and Gardens" in 1937.Then in 1978 a real estate service was launched under the Better Homes and Gardens name. Also the Australian version of the magazine was published. A quilting magazine under the Better Homes and Gardens name came out in 1993 offering even more information for people .. more »
NIRVANA IN YOUR NECK
I was chatting with some friends over dinner, attempting to explain the basic principles of the Alexander Technique. I spoke a little about the importance Alexander teachers attach to having a free neck so that the head can easily balance on top of the spine. If a person's neck is tense, it tends to upset that head balance, causing harmful repercussions throughout the entire body. Releasing that tension is basic to releasing those harmful effects."Nirvana in your neck!" said Nancy, one of my friends.I'd never heard it put that way before, but it nicely captures an important aspect of the Alexander Technique.F. Matthias Alexander, the developer of what today is called the Alexander Technique, was certainly not the first person to talk about the importance of the neck. The Bible is full of references to stiff-necks:Exodus 32, verses 9, 10: The Lord said to Moses, "I see this is a stiff necked people. Now let Me be, that my anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them..."Deuteronomy 9: verses 13 and 14 "I see that this is a stiff necked people. Let me alone and I will destroy them and blot out their name from under .. more »