Friday, June 22, 2007
(by yit jing)
Don't you love to hear how beautiful you are? Don't you feel wonderful when your partner lets you know how smart you sound? Well, men also like to have their ego boosted. In fact, they need it just as much us. If you think your man is in need, there are five ego boosters that you should pay particular attention to: Love, Sex, Body, Mind, and Money.
Money. Men have been brought up thinking that they have to be the provider. Also, they want to know that their wives are happy with what they contribute to the finances. If you complain about not having the material things you want, or need, they take this as sign that they are not providing adequately. You will see that by letting your man know that you are content, you are actually boosting his ego. It’s one of the simplest tasks there is. So, let your man know that you are happy with your house, car, and most importantly his paycheck.
Sex. This is an obvious one. Men want to feel that they are the best. It is our job to make them feel that they are. The cardinal rule is to never bring up another man before, during or after sex. I mean, not even to say that your man is so much better than anyone you've ever had. This will only make him wonder, "Is she comparing me to other men?" Also, call him by his name and avoid vague titles like baby. When you say baby, you could mean anyone. If you say his name he will know that you are talking just to him.
Body. Body is different from sex. He wants to know that he not only feels good, but he looks good, too. He may not express them, but he has hang-ups about his body, too. Find out what he is self conscious about. This may be anything from his chin to his eyebrows. Then, make it a point to compliment them. Women often think that we are the only ones who care about appearances, but men go through this, too.
Mind. A man also has a need to feel smart. That doesn't mean that we need to play dumb in order to accomplish this task. Women think that men only care about being strong, brave, and good looking, but this is not true. While they don't want a woman who is as dumb as a rock, they want someone who won't talk over their heads or correct their grammar.
Love. It is not enough to love your man, you have to show it. Men need affection as much as we do. He wants to know that there is no one else that can take his place and we need to accomplish this. It is not ok to forget the little things like saying thank you, or holding his hand when you are watching the television.
You may think that men are simple, but they are very complicated. Although they want to be appreciated they won't come out and tell you this. You'll have to figure this out by paying attention. Everyone man is different, but if yours is giving you signs that he is not happy, maybe he needs an ego boost in one of those areas that I have talked about.
(edward sent me this email and its very meaningful)
when things in your life seem almost too much to handle; when 24 hours in a day are not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
a professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
when the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
he then asked the students if the jar was full. they agreed that it was.
the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. he shook the jar lightly.
the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. he then asked the students again if the jar was full. they agreed it was.
the professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. of course the sand filled up everything else.
he asked once more if the jar was full. the students responded with an unanimous yes.
the professor then produced 2 cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
the students laughed.
now, said the professor as the laughter subsided. i want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
the golf balls are the important things - your family, children, health, friends, passion. and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
the pebbles are the other thing that matter - your job, house, car.
the sand is everything else - the small stuff.
if you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
the same goes for life. if you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
take care of the golf balls first. set your priorities.
one of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
the professor smiled, im glad you asked.
it just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seeml theres always a room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.
episode 4 of math abuse
-chart abuse-
numbers lurk in all figures, geometric or otherwise. maps, for example, imply distances. if you know the scale of a map, you can get a rough idea of how far apart places on the map are. the same thing is true in aces of the charts produced by companies, the media, governments, and just about anybody else who would impress us visually with numbers. such representations, offer new scope to math abuser. in figurative form, the numbers are now once removed from cold, hard digits. to distort the numbers, chart abusers only have to distort the geometry.
most people have seen chart abuse in magazines and newspapers without necessarily being aware of it. a good chart fulfills certain minimum requirements, such as having both the horizontal and vertical axes, or reference lines labeled with meaningful numbers. you have every right to be suspicious when one of the axes, particularly the vertical one, is not labeled.
thsi is a chart of an annual report where it omits the vertical scale.
in bar charts, the vertical columns or bars each represent a number. the lengths of the bars are normally proportional to the numbers so that you can see at a glance how things stand. at first glance, the corporate earnings seem to be well up. true there was a slight drop in the current year's earnings but, on the whole, the company looks very healty.
it looks healthy until you notice the parenthetical earnings of $11014 above the first vertical bar. in accounting practice, parentheses mean neative numbers. in other words, the company suffered a loss of $11014 in 1970. how is this reflected in the chart? it isn't. the axes are unlabeled and it takes only a little work to see why.
on the basis of the given figures and their bars, you can deduce that the bottom of the vertical axis should recieve a label of about -$4.2 million. even the least numerate of share holders would have scratched their heads at that one.
but shareholders want to believe their company is doing well. if you dont confront them too directly with the evidence of numbfisication, they may not even blink. they want to believe what the upward march of those mighty bars seem to tell them: All is well.
visually, it's a complete lie. in general, we all have the right to expect that bar heights will be proportional to the numbers of interest. in annual reports, the bottom line must be zero, so to speak. if a company has negative earnings they must use a bar that hangs below the line.
- I contemplated at 5:25 pm
