noteworthy journalism and literary achievements of the year.

The Best American Magazine Writing 2012 is exactly what it seems. A collection of the best features, profiles, and reporting by award winning journalists for magazines such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, ESPN, GQ, Time, and Esquire. This collection is filled with articles that I have missed over the last year, my nose being buried in Self and People magazine. Hey, at least I read. I found this collection to be extremely helpful, getting me all caught up on the politics and international affairs that our country has faced. Makes me smarter and all that ;)

inspirational with a side of heartache.

Shockingly true tales of love, death and dating...with children in tow. Okay Sandi Amorello, you have my attention.

Sandi bravely opened her memoir, The Irreverent Widow with the death of her husband, Drew. As a girl who is in love and is (im)patiently waiting for the ring, the wedding, the house and the babies, I burst into tears two pages in. I can't imagine losing someone I love so much when I was promised forever. And being expected to keep on functioning, being expected to choose what they will wear for eternity. It hurts my heart to think about Sandi during that time.

Sandi was forever changed after Drew's death. She refused to waste any precious moment of her life. Part two of her memoir is filled with anecdotes of how she began to move on and start over. She is just so real about everything: dating as a widow, dreading the weekends now that she was a single parent, being sexually frustrated while also feeling like an adolescent when starting to become sexually active again. The Irreverent Widow is refreshingly honest and out there. It's comforting to see someone successfully come out of such a tragedy.

well this couldn't have come at a better time...

Jim Cobb is a pretty intense dude. He's all, are you ready for a disaster? Are you ready to hide your life sustaining supplies from everyone when you're prepared for a disaster and they aren't? His book is titled Prepper's Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary, and I assure you, he means business. And why shouldn't he? Between the natural disasters and the people sucking really bad disasters, we need all the help we can get.



Prepper's Home Defense is filled with advice on how to properly secure your home. Cobb may come off a bit paranoid, but now is not the time to take chances with the safety of you and your family. Even a little security planning can make a difference. I doubt that many of us have to worry about being killed by a sniper in our homes, but Cobb touches on the extreme situations as well as the more minor. He also touches on the now uncomfortable situation of firearms. He's pretty much telling us to stock up on these weapons and ammunition so that we are prepared to defend ourselves/hunt for food if disaster arises. He does discuss other weapons like knives, pepper spray, and improvised weapons. The book includes everything from safe houses to preparing children for emergencies.

I actually keep pepper spray by my bed, I refuse to be in a situation where I can't defend myself in the event of a break in. It's rough out there for a lady.

what change do you wish to see in the world?

Muhammad Yunus, banker to the poor, has come out with a book titled Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humantiy's Most Pressing Needs. To help you understand what that social business means exactly, a quick vocabulary lesson. A social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company designed to address a social objective within the highly regulated marketplace of today. It is distinct from a non-profit because the business should seek to generate a modest profit but this will be used to expand the company’s reach, improve the product or service or in other ways to subsidise the social mission.



Yunus' promotes building businesses that can help people, and with these businesses we will start to see a change in the world around us. BSB is designed to help you start your own, with every aspect of your business plan included. Yunus' idea is that you should build a social business as you would a profit-maximizing business. However, much of your profit will stay in the company so that it can expand and help even more people.

BSB focuses prominently on the Type I Social Business:

 

1. The business objective is to overcome poverty or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology, access, and environment) that threaten people and society--not to maximize profit.
2. The company will attain financial and economic sustainability.
3. Investors get back only their investment amount. No dividend is given beyond the return of original investment
4. When the investment amount is paid back, profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement.
5. The company will be environmentally conscious.
6. The workforce gets market wage with better-than-standard working conditions.
7. Do it with joy :) (you really can't do it any other way)

 





daydreamin'

I am a daydreamer. The inside of my head is a jungle of jibberish, mixed with thoughts of Disney World, my future with manfriend, my classroom, vacations, memories, really weird shit, and the list goes on. As a certifiable daydreamer, I fell in love with Barbara Sophia Tammes' A Blueprint for your Castle in the Clouds, which is all about making the inside of your head your favorite place to be.

I have to admit, it starts off a little hokey, talking about staying in a pre-made Castle in the Clouds while you're building your own. But Tammes impresses me with her later metaphors, including your inner secretary, which is the bitch who files all of your feelings in the wrong places, causing you to feel confused or depressed, or just freak out on everyone. It's not easy for me to explain here, it's really something you should read for yourself. Your Castle in the Clouds should also have an inner courtyard - a place where you feel totally safe to think what you need to think about with no judgement from yourself. It should have an art studio, where your creativity can thrive. A garden of wishes planted with the things you really desire. These are just a few of the 25 rooms in your Castle in the Clouds. It's basically about being comfortable with yourself and filling your head with positive thoughts and feelings - while also figuring out what is holding you back from a happy life.

stands alone.

Patrick Lloyd is a young Wall Street advisor to the BOS (Bank of Switzerland) who is called to the corporate office and ordered to find his former girlfriend, Lilly Scanlon and the money she manipulated while an executive with the bank in connection with the sixty-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Abe Cushman, the evil genius behind the scheme has taken his own life, along with all of his secrets to the grave. Cushman's fall has unexpected and deadly-repercussions for our main character. Meanwhile, Lily informs Patrick that she's being set up. She tells him that the money in question is from some of Cushman's investors who are criminals and will stop at nothing to get their money back. Having only each other to trust, Patrick and Lily must clear Lily's name before it's too late. In Need You Now, author James Grippando successfully intertwines a labyrinth of intriguing plot lines to create a story that is as disturbing as it is engrossing.

boost your energy.

Most of us struggle keeping up with our busy schedules. The Europeans have siestas in the middle of the day, and we have 60+ hour work weeks. I know that when I start dragging I head to the gym, many of you do the same, or have your own ways of boosting your bods with extra energy. Sondra Kornblatt and Susannah Seton have compiled a small in size book filled with Everyday Energy Boosters with a title to match. 365 Tips and Tricks to Help You Feel Like a Million Bucks. It's worth a look.

Some of these tricks and tips are obvious - for example, putting your feet up. Well duh, ladies. However, a couple hundred of these tips are extremely useful, like eating pumpkin seeds which are filled with magnesium that helps provide energy to all of our cells. Among others like, taking your multivitamin at night, eating spicy food, fitting the things that you love into your long days - and my personal favorite, cuddling. Cuddling can connect you to positive body sensations. I mean, I know something else that gives you positive body sensations, but this isn't Cosmo, so I'll leave it at that.