According to a USA Today special health report, there is a way to take advantage of today’s technology to improve your health, and it doesn’t include popping any purple pills!  Instead, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California-San Diego have found that people involved in online social networks tend to be happier.

According to their analysis of 4,739 people, social contacts, even those far removed and indirect, can have positive benefits to feelings of happiness. This means, essentially, that happiness can be “viral”, and that you can get it from anywhere!

If you are a big believer in karma then all this will be no surprise to you; this study reveals what many have known intuitively for some time. Essentially, large social networks of direct and indirect friendships spread happiness. Not only that, but happiness is contageous. So, I guess there is some merit to the saying “birds of a feather flock together”.

The moral of this story: If you want to get happy, find a large Twitter network with happy people in it. You’ll likely obsorb some happiness through osmossis if you can’t find your own.

While social media in politics reached historic heights this election year, don’t expect speechwriter Jon Favreau to be singing its praises anytime soon. Favreau, 27, was expected to be White House Director of Speechwriting for the Obama administration, but a recent photo posted to his Facebook account, showing him fondling a life-size cutout of Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, may end the young writer’s dreams of Whilte House fame.

Favreau posted photos from a party he attended while chief speechwriter for Obama’s presidential election campaign; according to a CNN.com report, the photos were up for only a couple of hours before he pulled them from his profile page, but by then the damage had already been done.

The moral of the story - discretion, especially in a digital age, is especially significant when, in just hours, one photo, one quote, or just one article, can cause irreparable damage and harm to reputations and future prospects.

Although this event is obviously significant from a social media standpoint, what has not been recognized yet is that this type of insensitivity happens all the time; people do, say, and behave in stupid ways and in this case, the behavior should not be tolerated for any reason.

In today’s world, all it takes is two hours to ruin a lifetime of work and effort. Most interesting though is that behaviors haven’t changed for the better - just the medium of exposing those who behave in stupid, Read the rest of this entry »

If your family is like most, thoughts of the approaching Christmas season are coupled with mixed emotions.

You might have feelings of anticipation when you picture piles of colorful presents under a brightly decorated tree. When you imagine the delicious aroma of an elaborate feast roasting in the oven. Eagerly await your home to be filled with children’s laughter, family members, and delightful memories.

You might also feel some apprehension. For example, there’s that secret stash of credit card bills - and you’re still not sure how you’ll pay them off in the new year. The exhausting hours you spend shopping, cooking, and cleaning for the big day. Family fights, overtired children, and the hope this will all be over soon.

Budget-friendly Christmas? Stress-free holiday? It seems impossible… unless you cancel Christmas altogether, and tell everyone to stay home this year!

But celebrating a magical Christmas is still possible. In fact, with some planning, your simple, Read the rest of this entry »

It has become very clear that the mood this election year has transcended the frustrated voter into the angry voter, but many are outraged at what they see as an all new low from a North Carolina parking lot owner. The parking lot owner decided that any cars with Barack Obama stickers are no longer welcome to park in his lot.

Although in an interview the parking lot owner states he was just “trying to make light” of the election year, he also made it very clear that Obama supporters are not welcome, and he has no intention of taking down the sign until after the election in November.

This outrageous behavior is just the tip of the iceberg of what has lately become a very polarized election year. Many are attributing the increase in anger among voters by John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin, who have openly been encouraging ideas that are divisive and Read the rest of this entry »

As a middle-aged women, I implore all my follow middle-aged brothers and sisters (okay, friends) to realize just how important it is that we ALL vote this election year.

Growing up I recall hearing how the generation after us would be the “new frontier”, a new century of technological wonder and excitement as everywhere on the news people focused on the children starting kindergarten who would graduate in the year 2000. The generation before us was the “age of exploration” Read the rest of this entry »

The most significant thing about tonight’s debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain - McCains vain attempts to try to use Obama’s own words to confuse voters. But more about that later; most significant now is - did this debate make a difference or change a course for the next four weeks before election day? Nope, not at all.

What the candidates did right.

First, McCain controlled his facial expressions better during this debate. He was able to come across more naturally in a format that he is very comfortable with and seems to enjoy. That doesn’t mean it always came across well for McCain, but at least it was a far better showing than the last debate.

As for Obama, it took him the first answer or two to warm up, but once he did he showed a marvelous Read the rest of this entry »