The svelte styles of the nineteen forties required a lot of crimping and rolling to get the smooth waves and page boy styling that was common in that period. Women didn’t have either the time or the money to be overly concerned with fashion as there was a World War taking place. During the nineteen forties hairstyles tended to last longer than a season, and for most women the pageboy styling took a lot of work.
Women were in the factories doing men’s jobs because men were at war. During the day when many women were working with heavy machinery the only safe hairstyle was pinned up and covered with a turban. Turbans became common among the women who worked in the munitions factories, while they were utilitarian in nature, it wasn’t long before stars like Heddy Lamarr were making the everyday turban into something jewelled and stylish.
One of the reasons that the nineteen forties pageboy was so popular was because many women tired of having their hair hidden from sight for most of the day and couldn’t wait to take off their turbans and let their hair swing freely in the evenings. Veronica Lake epitomised the pageboy look with her hair falling naturally over to one side and became a nineteen forties style icon.
The world is full of literature. Everywhere we look, we see novels, magazines, anthologies, genealogies, journals, newspapers, advertising – the list is endless. Sometimes it seems almost useless to add to the heap of existing literature, but don’t give in to feelings of frustration or discouragement. What is inside you is unique. It is exhilarating. There are no two people in the world with the same fingerprints, and no two people who have the same effect on others. What do you spend your time thinking about? More than likely, someone else is writing about it, but they aren’t presenting it with the same angle that you would. It is this angle that makes what you have to say important. But that is only one of the reasons why you should write. Some people like to keep a journal, log, or diary, and many have joined the new age of blogging.
Did you ever ask yourself why so many people read blogs? It’s because people are nosey, and they want to know what is going on in someone else’s life. They want the dirt on them. The same curiosity that brings them to your blog will also bring them to your articles and/or short stories. Many take up writing as a hobby, just to put their thoughts in order and express them publicly. Some have no interest whatever in presenting their work for publication, while others write only for publication. No matter what kind of writing you like, you will find that writing is fulfilling. You may even find that you would like to take a writing class to whet your talents and learn better how to phrase your thoughts. It is this skill of stringing words together in the right order that will make your writing go to the next level. Too many writers let their busy lives pull them away from the thing that will satisfy them the most. Don’t let that happen to you. Almost anyone can afford a nominally priced writing course. The best type to choose is the one that has a mentor. Teachers will tell you what is right and wrong, but mentors are available all week long to help you improve your writing style. If you think you have no talent for writing, but would like to give it a try, please do. You’ll be glad you did. The very fact that you have a desire to write says you probably have latent talents waiting to be developed.
Most people who want to write can write. Taking classes is an excellent way to crank yourself into first gear and start a long journey. You’ve heard of “use it or lose it”. That is true of almost anything. If you smother the desire to write, it may never resurface. You will never know what you could have done, what mile markers you could have left behind, what influence you might have had, and what enjoyment has passed you by. Move into action and find what suits you best – one day workshops are for beginners, and will cover only the highlights. Three-day workshops (for beginners and brush-ups) are more intensive with two lessons that cover basic rules for the subject chosen. Two-week courses are very intensive and require a lot of time. (For intermediates.) Eight-week courses are for age 14 and up. These classes will help you produce a story or article for publication. Plunge in for a cool, refreshing dip, and give yourself the opportunity to find a new, exciting door to a more bountiful life.
It is impossible to visualize how America as a country has evolved over the last couple of century. It has virtually concretized out of nothingness. Of the time we talk, there was nothing but moor northward and westward of Pennsylvania. The state comprised of Philadelphia, bucks and Chester and to its north and west lay hunting grounds for the red Indians. We have evolved a lot to GPS technology and NASA driven satellites since. Bucks was always threatened by willful hunters and neighborhoods Philadelphia were sized by Indians as fallible preys. Communities had not gathered well enough and bounty hunting was rampant.
Just as Philadelphia got some kind of a settlement going, the colonists sparked the place with their presence and kept getting stronger. All the hunting lands in due course of time were banished and concrete structures got constructed on them. That was past.
Today America is a concrete Jungle and the hunting lands have also become the part of saleable flux. The hunting land for sale can be amassed through rigorous search on websites. These along with the ranchlands can be made available to the buyers at a very sparse down payment. Even the interest rates are modest and further no buyer credit rating is required as a criterion for sale.
Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.
Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?
There are no guarantees.
You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.
Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.
Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.
Take the risk: decide.
Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:
· Get as many information as you can about your situation.
You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.
· Identify and create options.
What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.
· Weigh the pros and cons of every option.
Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.
· Trust yourself and make that decision.
Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.
Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.
If you are entering a confined space, or assessing air quality in an office building then a portable gas detector is a critical piece of equipment. Unfortunately our noses just are not sensitive enough to notice the small levels of gas that may be enough to cause harm. Gas detectors extend our ability to see the hazards around us and take immediate action. The current crop of portable gas detectors are leaps and bounds ahead of their predecessors. The latest gas detection products from RAE systems have up to six sensors, and can go months between automatic calibrations.
The QRAE II is their latest compact model and comes loaded with features that are aimed at confined space entry. Its rubberized exterior cushions a rugged housing that has IP-65 rating for water and dust resistance. The large graphic LCD screen on the Minirae is automatically backlit in dim light, and displays the readings from all sensors – all the time, and can even be flipped electronically so as to be readable when hanging on your belt. An additional metallic barrier gives the QRAE II the best EMI/RFI resistance in its class. This means that the unit will not react when normal radios or walkie-talkies are being used in the area.