Looking for something simply stunning… We searched high and low (Velds & Provinces) and then realised our friend makes incredible furniture that’s really affordable.email me jbayvel@yahoo.com for his details.
Honesty ….
…. It’s sad when you realize the thing in the world which keeps your heart pumping, your dreams alive and your smile true… Is the one thing you avoid at all costs for fear of losing it …what about love ….
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Tech Investors Should Take Note – The Female Consumer Is Changing Her Online Behavior
By now we all know the power of the online female consumer. She propelled Pinterest to lofty, billion dollar heights, she is the dominant user on Facebook, and she drives the conversation on Twitter.
The female consumer is the decision maker behind a whopping 85% of all brand purchases. In fact, her spending habits propelled Pinterest to deploy an analytics platform this week meant to leverage the buying power of users for the companies that covet those dollars. However, a recently spotted trend amongst the female consumer base may indicate that social media is still rapidly changing, and that more focused, niche networks will see greater engagement in the future.
According to research recently released by KCR Research, nearly four in 10 North American women (38%) have decreased or stopped their usage of one or more social networks during the past six months. (See Infographic)
“We believe that these findings reflect the importance of time management in women’s lives and their empowerment to control what networks provide them with the most personal ROI.” Says Marcy Massura, Director of Digital Engagement at Weber Shandwick. “As women become even more efficient in how they manage their busy lives, they will increasingly apply those skills to their social networks. The churn that our study identified seems to indicate a preference to ‘go deep’ in fewer platforms, versus being spread thin over many.”
Prior to the rise of Pinterest, a number of web 1.0 social networking sites had successfully grabbed the interest of women. Sites like CafeMom and iVillage generated massive page views through an engaged audience that was looking for ways to connect with other women on topic specific discussions.
More recently, women have quickly and widely adopted the Web 2.0/social media sites that allow users to create and aggregate their content. However, these large, flat platforms do not necessarily lend themselves to a focused use.
Women do not have a lot of time. The time they spend online needs to be both entertaining and useful. For the large platforms such as Pinterest this means upstart sites like Lover.ly (where users collect and share wedding visuals) are a serious potential threat.
“Niche sites offer value to a woman in ways more general platforms may not,” adds Massura. “Since the niche platforms generally come with a specific theme or topic, she is free to engage deeply and frequently on one of her prime interests. What is important to her is that the quality of engagement can be more personal on niche sites and even message board communities than what she may get on more public broad-sweeping platforms. She can also confine her time to a topic she cares about instead of weeding through more extraneous commentary. From a marketing standpoint, smaller community sites offer wonderful opportunities to connect with her in more meaningful ways.”
While industry reports of teens pulling back from their Facebook engagement have been widely reported, they are perhaps not as alarming as the fact that the people who hold the purse strings of economic growth are narrowing their online focus. For tech investors hoping to stumble onto a young site with potential for both user base growth and legitimate possibilities for income stream generation, it seems as though tracking women’s online activities would be priority number one. But, sadly, except for a very few, it is not.
Find that hard to believe? Ask the Pinterest team, who pitched to many potential investors and found no interest early on in their lifecycle, even though the site had an established, engaged user base right from the start. Or, ask the team at The Muse, who recently shared their difficulties in raising funding for a site that is focused on a female user base, and also had very solid engagement numbers early on.
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HOW COULD YOU? A Dog’s Story… This makes me shed a tear each time I read it. Hopefully it influences someone
When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was “bad,” you’d shake your finger at me and ask “How could you?” – but then you’d relent, and roll me over for a belly rub.
My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because “ice cream is bad for dogs,” you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.
Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.
She, now your wife, is not a “dog person” – still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a “prisoner of love.”
As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch- because your touch was now so infrequent – and I would have defended them with my life if need be.
I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered “yes” and changed the subject. I had gone from being “your dog” to “just a dog” and you resented every expenditure on my behalf. Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You’ve made the right decision for your “family,” but there was a time when I was your only family.
I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with “papers.” You had to pry your son’s fingers loose from my collar as he screamed “No, Daddy! Please don’t let them take my dog!” And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life. You gave me a goodbye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.
After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked “How could you?”
They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you – that you had changed your mind – that this was all a bad dream…or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.
I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.
She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured “How could you?”
Perhaps because she understood my dog speak, she said “I’m so sorry.” She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn’t be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself – a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my “How could you?” was not directed at her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.
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The Easter story … It’s not mine to write :)
From the Gospel of John:
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angles in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t’ know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
On the evening of the that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
—John 20: 1–31
How blessed are we…..
An Ordinary Girl On An Extraordinary Journey Through Life 