I am one of those people who sit and stare when I pull up to t red light and end up beside someone riding a Harley-Davidson. I could care less if they know I am gawking. I am not only admiring the bike, but also the perceived freedom and adventure of the rider.

Believe me; I would rather be riding a Harley out on some back road instead of putting around town in my van while I run to the library, grocery store, school, and other assorted errands.

While I am pretty sure I will never have the nerve to budget money to actually BUY a Harley, I still may have the opportunity to spend a vacation riding one. EagleRider is the leader in Harley-Davidson motorcycle rentals and guided motorcycle tours. And, they don’t stop at Harleys – they also rent all manner of motorcycles, ATVs, dirt bikes, scooters, snowmobiles, and watercraft.

My heart tells me I just want to pick up and book a self-guided tour, but I think the logical first step would to be part of one of EagleRider’s guided Motorcycle Tours first. I’ve never really ridden and I think I would feel more comfortable learning in the company of others.

I know – some people dream of cruises and back-packing in Europe. I just want to get on a Harley and feel the wind on my face.

Four out of every ten. Now, that is just the stats for women who are in veteran’s hospitals, but it is overwhelming nonetheless.

And these are just the women whoa re brace enough to report it.

One of the biggest reasons that women in the military may not report a rape or other sexual assault is the fear they have of losing their job, being harassed, or that nothing will be done about the incident. In 2007, only 181 out of 2,212 reports of military sexual assaults (8 percent) were referred to courts martial. In the civilian world, a full 40 percent of those arrested on similar charges are prosecuted.

We all know that no matter how much it is denied, the military is still a man’s world. However, this has got to change. An institution that is supposed to be made of people whoa re protecting our nation should not be an institution where rape is commonplace and often covered up.

One recent, and harrowing, example is Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. She filed a rape claim with the military against Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean seven months before he was accused of killing her

Since I live in Florida, I love eating local seafood. Oddly, the best prices at the market are not usually for local seafood, but I can still find domestic products for a good price. I am pretty picky about only buying domestic seafood and I even go as far as to only buy wild caught fish. After all the stories I have read about the way fish and shrimp are farm raised in China, I’ve become super choosy about from where my seafood originates.

One product we can often find around here is Key West shrimp. I love shrimp and I will go to great lengths to find pink shrimp caught in and around Key West. Yum.

My friend Priscilla has a dish she makes called Shrimp Mozambique. You can find several different versions online and they all have their own unique twist. I based mine on the typical Mozambique recipe, but I omit the packaged seasoning and substitute white wine for the beer. Plus, I make it super spicy. The recipe calls for serving it over rice, but its better just served in a dish so you can dip crusty bread into it.

1-pound medium-large shrimp (shelled)
1 stick butter
1 cup white wine
6-7 teaspoons chopped garlic
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup chicken stock
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed Red pepper flakes (or to taste)
Red hot pepper sauce (to taste)

Add chicken stock and butter to a saucepan and simmer on low until butter melts. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir and simmer on low for 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp and wine, stir, then turn up the heat. When the sauce just begins to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer on very low for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice, parsley, and hot sauce to taste. Stir, cover and simmer on very low 4-5 minutes.

I really should work up a version to enter in a seafood Cook off. One of the best is the Fifth Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off Aug 2-3 at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. They know their seafood in New Orleans. Can you even imagine some of the dishes that they’ll be cooking up?!

Louisiana invited all of the states to send their best and Florida answered the challenge by sending Andre Bienvenu of the renowned Joe’s Stone Crab Shack. In 2006, Chef Justin Timineri of Florida won the title of King of American Seafood. You never know – Florida might being home the prize again.

Believe it or not, every year there are untold treasures left unclaimed in Florida’s bank safe deposit boxes. If items are left unclaimed for three years and the owners cannot be located after two years of searching, the banks send the items to the state. The state auctions them off and uses the proceeds for funding public schools.

Over 40,000 unclaimed items will sold at an auction at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay on Saturday. The items are estimated to have a value of $500,000.

So, if you are in the market for a Rolex or a pair of platinum and gold earrings or an Australian coin collection, this might just be the auction for you.

The public will be permitted to preview auction items Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt, at 2900 Bayport Drive in Tampa. The auction is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. Registration opens at 8 a.m.

Marketing a small business is so much more affordable now than it was even 10 years ago. Most people have access to an array of affordable graphic design programs and you can even upload your designs online and have all of your marketing materials printed and sent to you – all without leaving your home.

Most of the people I working closely with in mentoring right now are building at-home crafting businesses. To save on budgeting, they design their own logos, business cards, flyers, banners, and brochures and have them printed at Vista Print. There is just simply no reason to use the local copy or printing shop in your area, which generally tends to be more expensive anyway.

I’ve used Vita Print to have business cards, postcards, Christmas cards, and photo calendars printed and I can attest to the high and consistent quality of the printing. Plus, they always have great coupon codes for free products that are not just limited to new customers. You can use one each time you order. For example, if you want to Make your own brochures, you can use the code FreeBrochures08 to receive 25 free brochures (just pay shipping).

Even if you cannot design your own stuff, Vita Print offers literally hundreds and hundreds of designs that you can choose and customize.

I went over to Tampa today with my daughter and my friend Michelle, and her four children. We had some lunch and then our plan was to go over to the Museum of Science and Industry.

My mistake was in not checking out the prices online before we made the drive. Wirth the price of gas, I would have been better off not going at all.

Why? Because the admission for an adult is almost $25 and for a child it is about $20. I stood there and for the life of me I could not justify spending that kind of money for a one-day pass to a museum that is far outshone by the Air and Space museum in Washington, DC – which just happens to be free.

I know that growing up in the DC suburbs spoiled me for almost any other museum. The Smithsonian museums are superior to most other museums and they are free for everyone. However, I suppose I expected to pay some sort of fee today, but I did not think it would be over $15. I was hoping it was closer to $10. When I stood there trying to make myself pay almost $45 for me and my daughter, I decided I would much rather turn around and go home.

I did not have to ask my friend twice. She would have had to pay about $110 for her family to get in.

I don’t think so.

The will to live can be a powerful thing. As the caregiver for a family member who has been living with a blood cancer for years, I see life in a new way. I see the ends someone will go to so that they can see one more grandchild born or to accomplish one more life goal.

Over on the imminst.org forums (which is a site dedicated to the research of lifespan expansion), there is an effort under way that is bringing the community together to help one of its own members.

Resveratrol is a phytoalexin that occurs naturally in some plants when they are under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi. Notably, it is found in the skin of red grapes. The substance has proven to extend the life of some species, though there is no clinical proof yet that it works in mammals. Nonetheless, some of the resveratrol forum members at Imminst are working to help get a large enough supply of Resveratrol to one of their members who has been given four months to live.

You can read the full thread here and even pitch in to help this cancer fighter in his quest to try mega-does of what could potentially be a life-saving substance. Take a look at the information, if for no other reason than your own personal education. While you’re at it, you’ll get an insight into the human spirit of survival.

Make sure you tune in to the A&E cable network on Wednesday night as they broadcast live Criss Angel’s escape from Clearwater Beach’s Spyglass Resort, minutes before the building implodes. It’s the first time Angel’s show, Mindfreak, will be broadcast live.

Angel is calling this stunt his “biggest and baddest” escape. He will start out by getting out of handcuffs on the sixth floor of the Spyglass Resort, get out through a series of locked doors and on to the roof where he will leave in a helicopter. Right after that, the nine-story building will implode.

How will he do it? Angel says, “Some of it’s real, some of it’s an illusion and I try to blur the line between both…”

Angel says this is his third trip to the Clearwater area and that in the past he has visited Clearwater and Tarpon Spring. Since he is Greek, he was particularly fond of Tarpon Springs and its huge Greek community. He says he hopes he can find time to stop there again when he is in town for his stunt, since he will be in town until Thursday evening.

Criss also commented, “…once I do this and God-willing I’m successful I vowed to my mother that I will not be doing things of this nature. I’ll still be doing television and my show where there’s a lot of dangerous things. But I won’t do things like this.”

Do you have that “look”, that glance or stare that lets someone know you want to get and hold their attention? I did not come by mine easily. I am one of those people who is a tricky combination of painfully shy and life-of-the-party at social gatherings. I can entertain a crowd, but when it comes to entertaining the attention of a man who strikes my fancy – I get nervous.

Still, I have perfected the ultimate look. I make sure to maintain eye contact in the conversation, without looking creepy or dazed. I tilt my head to the side, ever so slightly, to give off that non-verbal signal that I am tuned in and listening. I nod every so often to make sure they know I get what they are saying. Basically, I make sure they feel interesting and worth my time. Since I tend to go for the brainy intellectuals, this works better than fluttering eyelashes or that subtle touching of my hair.

I love this picture of myself, because I was actually ON a date when it was taken. I was doing my best to make sure the guy knew I was into him and my friend snapped a pic and caught me right in the middle of the “look”.

Flirting always ends up being a lot of fun in the end. If you feel like getting your flirt on now, you can mosey on to the Extreme Style by VO5’s Ultimate Flirting Championship. I actually had a lot of fun! I got to ask some pretty flirty questions of my two male contestants in real time and choose my fave replies.:)

This post is simply to voice my dismay. I just saw a headline on the website of my local paper that reads: “Our critic never saw the TV show, but he likes the movie.”

What?

Am I THAT old that I cannot believe there is someone working as a media critic that has not seen an episode of the X-Files on TV? I was already out of college when the TV show launched and I immediately became fixated. Even those around me who were not as into the show as I was saw an episode or two along the way, even if it was in syndication.

And, am I alone in thinking that the least the St. Petersburg Times could do is send one of their reporters who IS familiar with the television show to see and review the film? I think you’d be losing something in the review if you cannot give the readers some insight to the flow between the show and two movies.

Flabbergasted. That’s what I am.

We all have our own little quirky ways of saving money. Some are quirkier than others. I thought I would make a little list of ways I regularly save pennies here and there so that my budget goes a little farther from month to month.

Ten ways I save pennies:

1. My dentist is super generous with toothpaste and floss samples, not to mention toothbrushes. I have not bought any of those items in at least a year and we always have plenty.
2. See a penny, pick it up…and after 99 more you’ll have a buck. That’s what I’ve taught my daughter. When we see loose change on the ground, we pick it up – and then give it a good rinse – and put it in a little jar we have in the bedroom closet.
3. Reuse Ziploc bags. I am astounded at how many people do not reuse Ziplocs. Unless I’ve had meat in the bag, I turn it inside out, give it a good wash, let it dry and use it again, …and again and again.
4. Shop the loss leaders. Nearly every week in all of the grocery store ads, there are a few items that are so cheap they are almost priced at a loss of profit for the store. Those are called loss leaders. They are specifically aimed at getting you in the store so you will do all your shopping for the week while you are in there. So, make note of when I will pass each store through the natural course of my weekly errands, run in for the loss leaders, and get out. I don’t stay to be tempted with impulse items.
5. I wash every thing I can in cold water when doing the laundry. I save a little by not using water that had to be heated and my darks and colors love me for it.
6. No convenient snack packs. It is SO tempting to pick up little individual serving packs of chips, cookies, juice, and such for my daughter’s school lunches. However, when I just buy a regular pack or Oreos or bag of Cheetos and pack a serving in a little sandwich bags I save SO MUCH money. I try and use a thermos too, even though my daughter adores those Capri Sun packets.
7. Look at tags BEFORE you buy. I avoid clothes that need dry cleaned. When I was married, my ex’s parents owned a dry cleaning chain, so it was like paradise to have anything we wanted dry cleaned for free. Now, I just buy clothes we can wash right here at home.
8. OK, I admit it – I am one of those people who bring my own snacks to the movies. I even have a special purse. It’s a very cool Kenneth Cole that is nice and tall and happens to be made out of a dull vinyl, so it can be wiped clean. We take our own candy bars, chips and even sodas.
9. Kids eat free. When my daughter and I do take the time to go out to eat, we try and plan around a handful of local restaurants that have nights that kids eat free. I particularly like to go to Cody’s Original Roadhouse on a Monday or Tuesday during Early Bird Pricing. I get my meal cheap, my daughter eats free, and we love the salad.
10. Learn to love your pressure cooker. When I use my pressure cooker I can buy less expensive cuts of very lean meat and it comes out flavorful and so tender it falls apart. Plus, dinner is done a lot faster.

Of course, these are all small ways to save money. They can only help so much if you have run up a lot of debt. Personally, I try to by as much as possible with money I already have, thus avoiding debt as often as possible. Still, I went through a time after my divorce where I needed Debt help and turned to tips on Debt consolidation.

As America creeps closer and closer to a very dangerous financial landscape, more and more people find themselves overwhelmed with debt and in great need of Debt relief. Often, the wisest move is to find a way to bundle things all together and Consolidate debt. A good place to start is Bills.com, where they have a huge amount of articles and tips to get you started on understanding and paying down debt.

If you use the site FilmMetro.com to get free passes to movie screenings, I have a tip for you. Arrive very early.

When you print the passes, there is a note about arriving early, since they issue more passes than actual seats to ensure a full theater. Tonight was the first time I was going to use passes from the site and I planned to arrive an hour early.

It rained as soon as we left the house. I had given myself an hour of travel time, even though I was just going across the Bay into Tampa. I knew there might be traffic. Despite all of my best guesses, it took a whopping hour and 40 minutes to get to the theater! My only hope was that the driving rain was keeping people at home.

No such luck. When we got there, we found out the screening was already full and had been full for nearly an hour and 45 minutes before the start time. Even if we had arrived as planned, we would still have been too late.

I imagine that people who are local to the theater go and get their passes reserved very, very early and then go have dinner. Lesson learned on my part, I suppose.

Since I never see screenings listed near my house, I will probably only print passes for screenings when I have a whole afternoon and evening free.

So remember to arrive about 2 hours early for film screenings.

I know a lot of my readers find their way here, because they are part of an elite community of at-home crafters looking to begin their own businesses. Due to that, I like to offer input from time to time about the importance of establishing your online identity.

Domain names are the first step on setting up your website. You have to get your hands on a great domain name that reflects either the name or the nature of your business, before you can go about putting your website files online with your webhost.

The internet grows exponentially each year and as time goes on,. It seems like there are less and less available domain names. If you find that the domain name you want is available, register it now – even if you are not ready to put your site online. That same domain name could be gone by the time you actually feel ready to use it. Snap it up now and it’s yours for as long as you pay the registration fees for it.

GoDaddy.com is the world’s leading domain name registrar. They also offer web hosting, site creation tools, and e-commerce and security solutions. On top of their solid reputation for on-target customer service, they offer very low prices – especially compared to other companies with similarly good reputations. Plus, right now you can use the coupon code BLOGGER799 to get your .COM domain for just $7.99 at GoDaddy.com. And yes, .COM is still the best choice for your domain’s small business – as opposed to .net, etc.

So, if you have a domain name in mind and find out that it is available – buy it today!

I was in the studio audience for the filming of the pilot of “The Golden Girls.” My family and I had never heard of the show, but knew it starred some amazing actresses. It was an experience I will never forget and I have to admit that I feel lucky that of all the shows we could have been there for, we ended up in the audience of a show that became a hit.

I always identified with Estelle Getty’s character of Sophia. She clutched her purse all of the time – even when she was in the house. I have always had a similar relationship with my purse and I loved loved loved that she gave Sophia that trait.

Getty died today at the age of 84. Hollywood tabloids have been reporting for a while now that she was suffering from dementia. Her Golden Girls cast mates all commented on how much she will be missed. I think several generation of TV viewers agree. I know I will miss her, but Sophia and her purse will always live on for me.

I wanted to have two children, but my marriage ended when my daughter was only two, so my plans were cut short. However, I have friends all around me who are still having babies and I am enjoying all the fun stuff right along with them. Yesterday, I went shopping for strollers and bassinettes with my friend Claire. She is due with her third child in September, but it is her first girl so she is re-buying a lot of her baby items in pink. How fun is that?

I saved bags and crates and bins of my daughter’s clothing, assuming I was going to have another girl. I gave away 5x what I kept and I still have hundreds and hundreds of pieces. I was a shopping fool when my daughter was little and so were most of my relatives. She was one well-dressed tot. Anyway, Claire and I have been going through all of my bins so she can pick some of the clothes for her daughter.
I may as well have fun with Clairs’s upcoming little girl, because there is nothing in the world like a newborn girl.