Chattin

My life has been an unusual journey and I have tried to learn through every aspect of it to give me some sense of direction as to what my purpose in life would be. Every child asks themselves over and over again -- What do I want to be when I grow up? And the list starts being compiled -- a doctor, lawyer, teacher, professional athlete, etc. My list however was diverse and it included; a meteorologist, a teacher, a CSI agent (clearly I watched too much TV as a kid) and lastly a police officer.

All through college and the years following, I worked in the corporate world and was promoted into many different positions, but at the end of the day I was not fulfilled. I spent a good many years working in human resources and employee relations because my true passion was people. Counseling and developing people at work got me through each stress filled year. The stress of the corporate world took its toll on me physically with what seemed like one tremendous migraine headache after another. Then one day in my office during one particularly stressful day I recall feeling dizzy, I lost feeling in my body, and the next thing I remember was I woke up in the emergency room. I knew then that something had to change…

I needed something and I gathered the courage to change everything. I literally hit ‘control-alt-delete’ and rebooted myself. I knew that just like a poorly running computer, I needed better programming. I knew that my past would not equal my future and I started to take charge of my life. I needed the best tools and carefully developed a plan on where I wanted to be and what I needed to do to get there. I hired a results oriented life coach, started using the best self-developmental tools, reclaimed my physical self, put my nose to the grind stone and forged full steam ahead.

Today, I am stronger, wiser, and a different person. I would never go back and change things even if I had the opportunity to do so. It took me a long time to understand why I went through this journey. Then one day it came to me…. I went through this journey to help and support others. I never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up but there it was sitting right in front of me, clear as day - a life coach that specializes in real life!

Any woman who has dealt with infertility knows that coping shows up in many different emotions -- laughing, crying, feeling hopeful to depressed -- all in a matter of an hour sometimes even less. The thing is only if you are the woman going thru infertility do you know how this feels -- the rollercoaster ride which you have no control over -- doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, blood work, shots, and of course the emotions that come along with this.

One of the only things that a woman has control of is what she wants to talk about or not. You see everyone wants to be supportive -- spouses, parents, friends, and that is great but ‘note to self people’. Don’t say a word until she brings it up or in some cases chooses not to bring it up at all. Asking how is everything going when she is being poked, prodded and feels like an overstuffed sausage because of all the bloating from medications --- probably not a wise thing to do. Take the lead from her and trust me everyone will be in much better place!

And one last thing -- think before you speak -- saying stupid things like you will get pregnant in time or you need to relax to a woman dealing with infertility will lead to an explosion that you will not be ready to deal with! I call these statements stupid because if you took a moment to think about it telling a woman she will get pregnant in time-- hello she is seeing an infertility specialist for a reason! And then the best one telling a woman to relax -- how can a woman really relax going through all these things? One answer to that question - she can't relax -- just be there for her, think before you speak and chocolate always brings a smile!

Anyone dealing with infertility knows what true commitment it is - the emotional and physical toll it takes on your body, your mind, the doctor’s visits, and the financial burden. And as if dealing with infertility wasn’t hard enough now add work and this becomes a dangerous combination to those who cross your path.

Most people work because they have to not because they want to. Who goes to work because they love their job, enjoy getting bossed around, and then at the end of the week they are thrilled when they see their measly paycheck? Chances are your paycheck is going towards those uncovered infertility treatments and unless you are independently wealthy, work is a necessary evil.

Time for you to check-in with yourself and evaluate your goals and objectives. Are you really achieving your goals or even some of them? Are you becoming a better person, spouse, partner, or friend? Remember that consistently asking yourself questions is the best way to get the right answers! Here are ten important questions to ask during your self-evaluation.

1. What have been some of your biggest accomplishments in the past year?

2. Are making more money or making less money?

3. Does the relationship with your partner have the passion and joy you desire?

4. Have you met your fitness goals, or done little to nothing fitness wise?

5. Are you eating healthier? Think what you've eaten in last 48 hours-Does that represent the past year?

6. Have you given back to your community in any way?

7. Have you paid down some debt or gone deeper into debt?

8. Have you achieved your important goals and objectives, or are you lost?

9. Have you improved your overall life quality for yourself and your loved ones?

10. When you look in the mirror and think about all you have done this year, do you say "Yes" or "No"?

Your current mindset will determine your next steps and a positive attitude helps along the way. As you evaluate always remember that the past does not equal the future and you must be determined to adjust your thought process in this way.

There is still time to make an impact in your life and close out the year on a very positive note. Let's go back to the previous ten questions and create a quick year-end closeout strategy for your life!

1. Maybe your accomplishments were not big, but everyone has small little wins along the way. Think of those little wins in a different light and learn from them.

2. If you are one of the millions of people unemployed in the country it's hard to look at this question without some level of disgust. This is where you clearly say to yourself that the past does not equal the future!

3. Passion and desire starts with you being present in your relationship. You can be together with your partner and not be present as you are listening, talking, and simply communication. Start today by being present and communicating with your partner-see what happens.

4. Fitness goals are often set at such a high level that when you are not perfect you feel like a failure. Get moving, stop sitting, walk, run, jump and do something physical today. Even some physical exercise releases those endorphins to pick up your mood.

5. If the last 48 hours of food consumption scares you, then compound it over the past year. Starting a diet headed into holiday is many times doomed for failure. Monitor your food intake and think conscientiously about eating healthier. Combined with your physical exercise will keep you focused to start the new year at the next level of a healthier you!

6. Giving back can be most rewarding as the holidays approach. If you have the means, try to give back to your community by making a donation or contributing your time. Many families cannot enjoy the holidays due to poverty, illness, or even being the victim to one of the many natural disasters over the past year.

7. Paying down debt and saving money comes down to focus and discipline. Create a detailed monthly budget as to what money comes in and what money goes out. Scrutinize the detail and look for opportunity to save and begin the New Year on the right foot. Your discipline will be tested when holiday gift-giving time comes. Stay focused!

8. Make sure that your goals and objectives are achievable in the given time. But always remember that you cannot significantly change your life with taking some type of massive action towards that change. Have you done that or are you status quo? If you've continued to make the same mistakes during the past year, positive change is unlikely.

9. Improving the quality of your life is directly proportional to you and your loved ones level of happiness. Buying a yacht does not improve your quality of life if you and your loved ones continue to be unhappy. Happiness is a positive state of well-being and contentment. Does money determine your level of happiness?? If you answered yes then you should re-evaluate your priorities!!

10. When you look in the mirror you have to like what you see. See through the physical image in the glass and look deep into your inner self. YOU have to like and nurture your inner self to make things happen. Ever wonder why when you are boarding an airplane and the flight attendant says that if the cabin depressurizes and the oxygen mask drops, you must put the mask on yourself first before you assist a loved one. Take time to care for and nurture your inner self, then you will be able to say YES to that image you see in the mirror.

The Quirky Chef

Dinner for One

M.K. McBriarty

        Most of my married friends are amazed to see a single women cooking for herself. Perhaps there is a misconception somewhere that food cannot taste very good if eaten by a single person. This is far from the truth. Working over the years as a cook, I have come home many-a-night exhausted and truly hungry.

Being one that loves good home meals, a freezer full of TV dinners is not going to do it for me.  Anyone can follow these simple suggestions whether they are married, single, or have a family. I just think people tend to regard the “singles” population as a group of “non-cookers,” and we seldom find anything written on this subject matter.

I have come up with my very own set of rules that perhaps you can incorporate into your daily meals, so that you, too, can have a successful “single” dining experience.   

          Rule # 1: Location, location, location. All of my meals are eaten in front of the television set. I really don’t like sitting down at my dining room table unless I have guests over. So, be that as it may, all of my meals are served in a single cup or bowl. This allows me to make use of the remote control with the hand that is not holding the food. Since there is one no to tell me how annoying my rapid channel changing is, I can do it in between bites if I chose to do so. This leads to my next rule.

The Quirky Chef

 By M.K McBriarty

The Bear Who Ate My Food

           I  will let you in on a little secret: when cooks get together, they do not talk about the amazing dishes that they could whip up in a matter of seconds, nor do we waste time exchanging favorite recipes with each other. Trust me; I have spent many-a-night over drinks trying to get a really good tempura recipe from my good friend Mike. It has not happened yet.  Instead, what we rather brag about is some of the famous people we have cooked for over the years and how many meals we are able to “bang out” on a single Friday night. 

Oh, but you see, I have a story that even tops how a former “Saturday Night Live” star once came right into the restaurant kitchen to thank the chef for a great meal, then returned the very next night with his director. 

I begin by saying, “There was a bear in my kitchen.” Once I realize everyone is listening, I continue.  “It was summer. I was a Head Cook a Girls’ summer camp. The kitchen, although quite modern, was out in the woods. When I arrived this particular morning, I noticed sugar all over the kitchen floor, the garbage can was on its side, and it appeared that the plastic bag had been ripped into.

Garth spent an entire day filming me in the kitchen. Soon, you will be able to learn how to make great food in your own home! Simple yet fun foods that you will make for a very, very long time!

The Quirky Chef

By M.K. McBriarty

My Time at John’s Meat Market

Every so often in my quest for great food, I will come across a restaurant, an event, or even a food shop that is so special that, despite the high gas prices, I don’t mind driving an hour to get there. John’s Meat Market in Scotch Plains is one of those places.

When you enter the small shop, you will see large photos of John’s family at various ages the throughout years and newspaper clippings that reassure you that you are a part of something bigger then just the daily sale of really good meats. The owner’s father, John, started it in 1939 when he was just twenty-one years old.

My first introduction to this tiny yet old-world meat shop was when I was filling in as a Culinary Arts teacher. It was up to me to teach a class of high school students on the fundamentals of meat. There was only one small problem: I was a classically trained pastry cook who knew very little about meat. But I was not going to let my students in on that tiny little secret. After all, don’t they say that a good teacher is always willing to learn?

During my down time in school and at home with textbook in hand, I did my very best to learn the basics of how to cook, cut and prepare all kinds of meats. Unfortunately, this only sparked a burning fire in me to know more about what appeared to be a fascinating subject matter. It seemed like a natural move; I mean after all, my grandfather was a meat inspector who taught my father his trade of cutting meat, who then met my mother in a butcher shop called “Meat City” while they were teenagers.

Whoever said, “You can’t go home,” should have added, “To cook.”  Don’t get me wrong, my parents are thrilled to have me come down for my weekly visit, but when it comes to rolling out the welcome mat into the kitchen…well that is a whole different story.

           For most of my adult life, I have made my living in upscale professional kitchens as a cook or pastry chef, and, as luck would have it, I happened to pick up a trick or two about REALLY GOOD FOOD. So being the thoughtful daughter that I am, isn’t it only natural that I would want to share my gourmet culinary expertise with those who gave me life, my parents, by making them dinner?

No, not quite.

Let me explain one thing. My father used to be a cook a long time ago, while my mother grew up in the restaurant business and never really liked to cook. Dinner to her is simply something to get over with.  It must have been a complete shock to my folks when, at a very young age, I announced that I wanted to be a cook when I grew up. It must have been even more astounding that I taught others how to cook. So, it should come as no surprise that I enjoy spending hours, even days, preparing a meal.  As a matter of fact, I will even travel miles away from the large grocery store to small specialty shops for gourmet ingredients, most of which my parents are totally unfamiliar.

Clearly, I must have been switched at birth.

Please do not get the wrong idea! My mother is a remarkable women who has taught me throughout her life me to be independent and fearless, but when it comes to food, we are two very different people.

Take something as simple as homemade salad dressings.

MOM: a dollop of mayonnaise into the salad.

ME: three parts oil to one part vinegar and a handful of fresh of fresh herbs, salt and pepper carefully whisked together hours before dinner.

It’s not that I am ungrateful; some of the most important lessons about food were taught to me in my parents’ small suburban kitchen. This is the place where I developed my knack of resourcefulness by taking whatever ingredients I could find in the cupboard and refrigerator to create meals that at times surprised my finicky father.

As a child, I spent hours reading my mother’s old cookbooks to uncover the many possibilities of food (this was long before the Food Network).  What better way to learn the mystery of fractions then to be at my mother’s side while she was baking Irish Soda Bread?

            So, after a brief discussion about me using my parent’s kitchen that usually begins with my mother saying “…and you ARE going to clean up your mess, I worked all day and I am NOT going to clean up after you,” I nod my head, because I have heard her say it a million times. 

I go to work under a cloud of secrecy, not letting my parents know of the meal I am going to prepare. Still, after all that, I managed to whip up a fabulous dinner that looks and smells wonderful to everyone while doing my very best to keep the kitchen clean.

Then the most important thing happens — we are all at the same dinner table, just as we did so many times when I was growing up — and we are all sharing events that took place in our lives, just as I did growing up. So, maybe that is the reason I come home week after week. It’s not only to show off my culinary skills, but simply to be with my family. Yes, you can come home.

He was born on February 24th, 1955. Shortly after his birth the nameless child was given up for adoption and left the state of Wisconsin to be raised by his new family in California.

By all accounts he was considered a smart boy, but not a motivated one. His teachers recall having to bribe him just to get him to do his homework and to study. However even so when tested his scores were off the charts.

He was a silly guy, a prankster and loved having fun over conventional work. His father often tinkered with electronics in the garage and often encouraged him to take things apart and put them back together as a way of learning how electronics worked.

He did this throughout his high school days and without even realizing it, he was tapping into a dormant gene of interest that soon would change the world.

College was to conforming for him and after only six months he dropped out. He was old enough to be considered a man; he had no future, no ambition and no college degree. He was at a cross roads in his life and the road ahead was very unclear.

Convinced he had knowledge of electronics that could change the world; he started a computer company out of his garage. He tinkered, developed, designed and sold his inventions.

From a meager beginning, out of the dirty confided space of a garage he developed products that changed the world. He was brilliant, a dreamer, and a man who could not be conformed, but under it all he had a clear vision and he brought his vision to life.

In 2003 at the height of success he was diagnosed with cancer. He gave a valiant fight for life, it was his true nature. In 2011, just a few days ago, he passed away. He was brilliant, he changed the world with his technology, and he lived by the true entrepreneur spirit of chasing a vision you believe in.

The world has lost one of its greatest assets, but we will forever have the wonders of technology he brought to us.

He may have been born into this world without a name, but he left this world with more than just name, he left as an icon, a legend and a hero. What would the world be like if we never had the brilliant mind of Steve Jobs? May he rest in peace.

Pam Hartley from Charleston South Carolina joined TheChattin In Manhattan Show with Garth Sandiford and Kim Ward last night to share about her efforts to raise $75,000 for the Charleston Basket brigade to feedover 15,000 people this coming Thanksgiving. She also joined in our conversation on “Battling through Fear and Disappointment” To hear Pam’s comments and insights please visit our site for On Demand Episodes. Please visit her site www.charlestonbasketbrigade.com

www.ChattinInManhattan.com

Discovering your Inner Rock Star!

While cleaning her boat to store it for the winter, Carol lost her leverage and flew over the side of her boat and onto the hard driveway below. The pain she felt was almost immediate and she knew something major was wrong. She could not even move and she knew she was in real trouble.

She laid there helpless on the dead end road that she lived on, with no help in sight. Her only hope was her black lab Bud who was by her side standing at attention as if he knew he would have to go into action soon.

She looked at her dog and told him he had to get help and the old boy started to howl. He howled in a way that she had never heard before and for what seemed like an eternity she lay there helpless, hoping someone would hear Bud and cometo her rescue.

Her neighbors recall hearing the dog for a few minutes and were alarmed by the sound he was producing. They too had never heard old Bud sound so desperate. After a few minutes their concerns grew and they decided to go investigate. Almost immediately they saw Carol on the ground with her hands clutching her neck.

With the 911 call made, help was on its way. Carol clutched her neck all the way to the hospital, refusing to let go. Her life hang in the balance, but she was a tough woman and was not about to go down without a fight. Upon arrival to the hospital a team of doctors met her at the door and raced into action. It was not long till the verdict was revealed. She had broken her neck.

But this was not just any break, Carol had broken the two parts of her neck that sit just under the brain. The survival rate after breaking these bones is almost zero. The doctors were amazed she was still alive! In almost 100% of the cases, when this part of the neck is broke, life is over.

Everyone was bewildered and some thought was given to the fact that she had clutched her neck and not allowed any movement until she reached the hospital. Could this have been what saved her life? Could Carol have escaped death because of one tiny decision she made while laying helpless on the ground. It seemed impossible that in such pain a person would have the mind set to do something that would be live saving.

One of the doctors asked Carol the exact same question that I did. How did you know to hold your neck? She responded by saying, "It was pure instinct."

Although the doctors think it helped save her life, Carol owes all her thanks to her lab Bud, who will forever be her angel. He won some awards, got himself in the newspaper and for a few short weeks he had made himself a celebrity.

I think this is an amazing story of survival. And the part I like best is what Carol told me about life now. She went on to say, that life is rich, she never gets bothered by the small things and she appreciates everything a lot more. Out of a near death disaster arose a love for life and the little things.By listening to her gut instinct she has enriched her life and has one heck of a story to tell. In life you have to trust yourself first and all others second!

He was about to embark on the journey of a lifetime to the bottom of the earth. To a place where only the absolute strongest could survive. A place shrouded in darkness and mystery, a place that could kill the average man in less than 24 hours.

He was trekking to the Antarctic and the question is would he survive?

For three hellish months this man would be confronted with starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, delusions, loss of comrades, and death.  

What started out as a scientific journey to the bottom of the earth ended in despair and suffering. The year was 1912 and the location was the Antarctic. A team of devoted adventures and scientist packed up all the supplies they assumed they would need and traveled to the ends of the earth for what they thought would be an adventure of a lifetime.

Although this man had nothing but good intentions, Mother Nature has a way of making her own rules and so it was on this fateful trip that Mother Nature would rewrite this man’s life story.

Departing from his home base camp he was on a mission to explore a region unknown to man. Along with two of his closest friends he packed his gear, sleigh dogs, courage and ventured into the unknown.

It was not long before disaster would strike. Soon after leaving, while walking over glacier ice packs, one of his fellow explorers suddenly disappeared into the abyss. In a blink of the eye, he had disappeared into the white landscape, along with a sled of dogs and all the gear.

He had fallen into a glacier crack and was lost forever to the icy grave. But, the now two man team had to carry on and make a camp to be able to survive through the night. With most of their supplies gone and a team of dogs lost, survival not adventure was now the new name of the game.

Lost, unsure off where they even were they set up camp and rationed what little food they had. They developed a game plan and they set forth into the icy landscape the following day. It wasn’t long before their food ran out and their dogs began to starve. One by one, they made thechoice that they had to eat their beloved animals in order to survive. And so they did.

Although they did not know it at the time, they had been eating the dogs liver and it was full of toxins that were slowly killing them and making them sick. The two man team was becoming desperate, their toes were frozen off, frostbite worked away at their hands, their hair was falling out, their nails lost weeks ago, and their skin just hung on their bones.

Soon, his friend, who ate more liver than him, would not be able to go on. So he laid him on a sled and although he was weak and dying himself he dragged his fallencomradeto a place where he could make a shelter to protect him from the cold. The comrade, despite his effort perished that night.

Left with only one dog he was determined to make it out alive and continued to trek toward base camp. He was cold, alone, forced to eat his only company(the last dog), and was still miles from camp.

At his lowest point he hung dangling 30 feet in the air, below was the abyss that had taken his fellow mate, and holding him to life was a make shift rope that twisted in the wind. He had fallen into a glacier crack. But, he had the will to live and although his hands were like frozen meat, bloody, with the skin hanging off them, he inch by inch climbed up the rope to the top of the crack, only to slip and fall back down the rope again.

Exhausted, bleeding, dying and depressed, he mustered his last and only bit of strength and climbed the rope again. This time he made it and he climbed out onto the solid pack ice and safety.

Throughout the week, while crossing this ice he would fall through cracks at least 14 more times. Every time, escaping death by a hair, and with every climb out his energy would diminish and so would his spirit.

Finally across the ice he found a base camp in a cave from a different team of scientist. Although it was abandon he set up their for the night, he had eaten his last dog, was bone thin and very sick. So he was relieved to have a shelter to rest for the night before making his final push back to base in the morning.

He would never make that morning trek. Mother Nature in a cruel twist of fate buried him into the cave. He had survived months with no food, lost two friends to the elements, was forced to kill his animals, had faced death over twenty times and now he found himself buried alive with no hope of escape.

But, the will to live is so powerful, so strong, that no storm and no element on earth can stifle it. So after being stuck for a weak, he finally was able to get out alive and begin the last leg of his journey home.

It was three months to the date when he crossed a ridge that overlooked base camp. His toes were gone, his fingers had turned black, he was skin and bone and on the verge of death. He had survived three months in the Antarctic and now as he looked at camp he discovered it was vacant.

In the horizon he could see a ship leaving shore. It was the ship that was to carry the men back home after their exploration, and it was leaving without him. He had made it, but not in time.

 He was too weak to scream and for a moment he thought of dropping to his knees and dying right there on the ridge. After fighting for his life for three months, he was about to give in.

But he did not, instead he began to wave his hands widely in the air, and although it seems like a miracle someone on the ship saw him and ordered the boat to stop.
It was too far out to sea to come back, but a smaller boat was released with a handful of men who came back to shore to save their friend. It has been said he looked so horrible and disfigured that his fellow men did not even know who he was and had to ask him his name.

Although the main ship could not return to take them back to salvation until the following summer, he had made it back to base camp. He would remain here on Antarctic for the winter, recovering and gaining strength to return home in spring.

He is Douglas Mawson the man who has inspired thousands of people stuck in a survival situation to make it out alive. He saved himself with his incredible will to live, and in return has saved others!

Who would we have lost, had he lost his will to live! Never give up!

Born into a family with little money he spent the early part of his childhood working the family farm and helping with his dad’s tannery business. He was a shy boy and awkward around people and often found his sanctuary around animals. It has even been said he had a special ability to relate to them.

Wanting more for their son his parents were somehow able to get him in the prestige’s academy of West Point. Considered an honor they had high hopes that this would help their reclusive young son.

Although he did not yet know it among those who attended West Point wasa man who would change his life, this man was from a rich upbringing, and this man would graduate top of his class. Back to our guy, he did not finish in the top of his class, in fact he was ranked 21 out of a class of 39 and during his time at West Point he had received several demerits. Still he was assigned to the 4th infantry.

Life was not easy, but he slowly and steadily worked his way up the ranks. During one of his battles, the battle of Monterey, General Garland asked for a volunteer to carry a message to General Twiggs. The route required themessenger to run the gauntlet down the streets occupied by Mexican forces.

He was just a young man when he found himself standing in front of a judge getting sentenced to 30 years in prison for drug charges. Life had not yet begun for this lad and already it appeared to be over. Could he survive?

By some weird twist of fate he was granted 6-8 years, which was reduced to one month community service and one of rehab. A lucky break that saved his troubled life. Fate had dealt him a good hand, but he still had a long road to recovery, and that would be left up to him.

During the month of rehab he connected with his soul on a trip to Sedona. Something rocked him emotionally; something profound happened among the red rock cannons, something he cannot even put into words. That something changed him forever and for the first time in his life, there was no going back to the addictions.

Wanting to get his life back he went to school, but not having a traditional spot to call home he lived in the outback in a make shift shelter, cooking over an open campfire and sleeping on a bed of pine needles. For two years he would bike into town in the morning and live by society’s rules, attending college and working at a glass factory. At night he would be isolated in the wild, with nothing more than his survival instincts to keep him alive.

What came out of his two years living in the wild was a deep desire to connect with Mother Nature, to hone skills that would help keep people alive who had to take on the wild. He felt a deep passion for the outdoors and began the task of creating a survival camp.

He handed out flyers, posted info on telephone poles, cold called tons of people. But no one would bite and it seemed as though his dreams might not be within reach. But he was a survivor and was not about to give up.

He dug deep and thought about his passion and his will to survive and miraculously things started to fall into place. He started his training school on the art of self-reliance and with small baby steps it started to grow, and grow.

Today he is known around the world; he has appeared on every major media outlet, has written two books, is renowned as a leader in his industry, has his own television show, does public speaking, has built a self-reliance home and is considered an icon in the art of survival.

He has survived addiction, escaped a life of hell in prison, combated living in the wild, persevered the rejection of his ideas, and he has taught the world the true meaning of survival.

He might walk this world barefoot, but he is not without soul. He is deep and courageous, he is Cody Lundin. What would be different in our world if Cody had not survived?

Survival is 90% mental, so never underestimate your minds ability to keep you alive.

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated buildings across the East Coast on Tuesday after a moderate earthquake in Virginia that was also felt as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. No tsunami warning was issued, but air and train traffic was disrupted across the East Coast.

Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were among the areas evacuated.

At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"The quake even broke a water main inside the Pentagon, flooding parts of two floors, NBC reported.

Centered some 90 miles south of the nation's capital, the quake was a magnitude 5.9, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Two nuclear reactors near the epicenter were taken offline as a precaution, officials said. No damage was reported at either.

At the U.S. Capitol, light fixtures swung and the building shook for about 15 seconds while the tremor hit, NBC News reported.

At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. All flights were briefly put on hold and one terminal was evacuated due to a gas smell.

In New York City, NBC reported debris fell from the attorney general's office, causing a brief panic as people ran from the area.

Airport towers and government buildings in New York, including City Hall, were evacuated. The 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.

A mild tremor was even felt by NBC reporters with President Barack Obama during his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, an island off Massachusetts.

In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily."The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."In Ohio, where office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati and the press box at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.In downtown Baltimore, Md., the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.

The earthquake’s epicenter was near Louisa, Va., the USGS reported. It was a very shallow quake, less than a mile deep, which would explain why it was so widely felt.

The D.C. area's previous record for an earthquake was on July 16, 2010, when a 3.6 magnitude quake was felt.

The East Coast gets earthquakes, but usually smaller ones than the West Coast and is less prepared for shaking.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: MSNBC.com

By the time she was three she had moved to three different homes,by the time she was five she had lost her dad to illness. And before she was eight she would be told that she was vain, and would have every mirror taken out of the house, so she could not look at herself.

Before the age of eleven, she would have her family’s house taken away due to her grandfather’s negligence of shooting guns from the property and a stray bullet hitting a child and paralyzing him for life.

Forced to move into an apartment with her mom and step dad, before she even hit twelve she was a child consumed with fear and insecurities, but it only got worse.

When she was thirteen her mom wanted to help her break free of her fear and though she was flat broke, she was able to get her daughter in Dramatic Arts in New York City. After her first semester the drama coaches told her not to come back, they told her she “had no future at all as a performer”.

Lindsay Anne Jones

http://www.linzinc.com/

Fashion Wars: Lindsay Anne Jones

How did your dream of being a designer begin?

My dream of becoming a fashion designer consciously began when I was fifteen. I majored in Fine Arts in High School. In my junior year, every art student was required to choose an elective, and I choose Fashion Illustration and Design. I really loved designing clothing and was always inspired by everything. I knew that this was something that I could happily do every day of my life. I decided then that I wanted to pursue apparel design as a career and began to research my options. In order to audition to apply for the Fashion Institute of Technology, I needed to learn to sew. I enrolled in a small sewing class in Brooklyn for a year, which enabled me to construct garments for my F.I.T audition. I was accepted into F.I.T and continued my education there.
Subconsciously, I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer without realizing it. As a child, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would always say that I wanted to teach the second grade. However, when I was at home playing dolls with my sisters, I always pretended that I owned my own fashion empire. That is my dream today. To design and own a line of apparel for women, men, and children, that is enhanced by a line of accessories and cosmetics.

Tonight Chick Gab Chick and Garth Sandiford will be interviewing a very special guest from Down Under Sue Lester a Catalyst of Change. We will be discussing what it takes to have a Win Win  loving relationships and how to create positive change in your life.

During over 20 years exploring remote areas across the globe,  and working in education and social enterprise, the one thing that stood out for Sue Lester is that the only thing really stopping people from moving forward is their mindset.  From Cairo to Kathmandu, from London to Washington, from Buenos Aires to Brisbane, Sue found people achieving amazing results despite the odds, and those who didn’t despite their advantages.   Sue realised if she helped you change your mindset, you can change your world. More on Sue Lester

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Date / Time: 8/23/2011 10:00 PM Eastern

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