Meet Chef Sean Park of O-ku--

Stay tuned as he will be teaching us sushi 101 and showing us how we can make sushi at home!

You have the all-important interview today so you pull out your jeans from the bottom of the pile of clothes in the corner of your room, select your favorite T-shirt, spike up your hair with blue gel and slip on your comfy trainers, the ones with a hole in the side. Off you go ... now why did you not get the job?

Dressing appropriately for your job interview is vital, you want the interviewer to remember you for your skills and personality not as the one that wasn't dressed correctly!The first impression that you make on your potential employer is the most important one.  The first judgment that an interviewer will make on you will be based on how you look and what you are wearing.  Even if your new work environment is going to be a casual one it is important that you dress professionally for your interview. It is important that you choose your outfit carefully as those first impressions will stay with your future employer.

A suit is normal practice for an interview; this can be a skirt suit for a woman. A clean pair of shoes is also a key part of your outfit as it will show that you have taken the time and effort to appear to be smart. You should also ensure that your nails and hair look clean and tidy, it's little things like this that the interviewer will notice. It is important that you don't have excessive make-up or perfume/aftershave on as this could distract your future employer. Chewing gum in the interview is a big no no! It shows a very casual and relaxed attitude, and not the type of impression you want to give at an interview.
If you follow these simple steps you will be able to create a good first impression on your potential future employer! It is worth making the effort.


About the Author: Want to make sure that you have the best chance of landing that dream job? Then get your copy of the Interview Skills Pack from Words Worth Reading Ltd and Improve your CV.

(ARA) - It keeps you in touch with friends, family and business contacts. It's a source of entertainment, whether you play games on it or surf the Web. But did you know your cell phone can help save your life or the lives of others in an emergency situation, even if you're in no condition to use it to call for help?

When a debilitating crisis occurs like an accident or illness, emergency teams that respond to the scene will want to have as much information as possible about your health - including contact information for the person who can make decisions on your behalf.

Your cell phone can often speak on your behalf when you're incapacitated.  Emergency personnel are trained to look in your phone for phone numbers designated with the acronym "ICE" - which stands for "In Case of Emergency." They'll use that information to get in touch with someone who can make decisions for you.

Some cell phones already come pre-programmed with the ICE function, so all you have to do is punch in the appropriate numbers. If you're among the 50 million Americans who own an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can place all your critical medical information in the hands of emergency personnel by using the free ICE App. To download ICE App for free, log on to the iPhone Apps Store and search "ICE-app" or visit www.ice-app.net.

Created by online legal service LegalZoom.com and Donate Life America, ICE App allows emergency responders to access information about you, including your name, a photograph (to match the phone to you), birth date, height and weight, medical conditions, blood type, allergies, medications, emergency contacts and your organ donation wishes - a feature that could help save the lives of people waiting for organ donations.

Ninety percent of Americans think organ donation is the right thing to do, yet only 28 percent have taken the appropriate steps to register as an organ donor. If you don't have an iPhone, you can register as a donor at donatelife.net.

"Having emergency contact and medical history information immediately available in your cell or smart phone can help emergency responders make quicker decisions during those precious first minutes, a time that could mean the difference between life and death," says Brian Liu, cofounder and chairman of LegalZoom.

Once you've downloaded the app to your iPhone, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the contact and medical information. Once you're done, place the ICE App icon in the top right corner of your touch screen, where first responders will see it right away when they check your phone. All information is stored on your phone, and not on the Web, ensuring your private information stays in your possession and that first responders can access it, even when the phone has a weak or no cellular signal.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Brought to you by Farmer Jim & Lighthouse Food Farm

Lighthouse Food Farm - Feeding Hungry Americans Fresh Fruits & Vegetables

This should help you understand what organic fertilizer and organically grown crops are and why it is very important that we do not use chemicals in our foods that we grow to consume.

Here are a few ways that allow you to make great organic fertilizer for your garden. I have used these techniques and they work beautifully.

Jim Bonham - Executive Director
Lighthouse Food Farm
http://www.jimbonham.com

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Hello again my fans, here is another one of my opinions that I have formed over the years of watching our government in action. Frankly, it scares me to think that there is a very good possibility that this is taking place in the United States of America.

Watch the video above and think about what you have seen in this country called the United States of America. What if the U.S. government released an "educational video" to teach today's Americans how to be good citizens?

Our country is known as the country of "Freedom"! Do we want this to change?

If we don't make some serious changes in our government this could very well happen.

Please take time to think long and hard about the video after you have watched it. This could be our last chance to rise and STOP the Tyranny.

Thank you for taking time to watch the video. Leave your comments below and discuss it among yuor friends and family. I know Americans will do the right thing and Stop Tyranny Today!

In my opinion, I think that America has went "BONKERS" if this is true and they allow our goverment to implement such a Health Care Program. This reminds me of something "Adolf Hitler" would do.

Tell me just how many would support this as the video shows? Is the video a true statement? You betcha it is worth looking into with a fine tooth comb. We can NOT allow this to happen here in the United States of America no matter what administration is in control of our government. It is time American People awaken and took a stand to prevent some hideous Health Care Program to come into effect like our government is trying to pass.

People of the USA, you need to speak up about this plan, if this becomes law, kiss your freedom goodbye.

We need to keep the American Citizens in Prayer everyone!

I beg you as an one American Citizen to another American Citizen, do your research and get it from a reliable source like I have and let's STOP this blatant Government Control over our Health Care and Our Lives. Our Freedom and Lives may depend upon Stopping this NOW!

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Jim Bonham

Executive Director

Lighthouse Food Farm

http://www.jimbonham.com

864-647-2084

I find it interesting to watch the way people take photographs—I see so many grabbing shots as though they were grabbing a coat off of a coat hook while on the run!

A while back I was walking through the streets of New York City with my niece Dianna. A typical teenager, she is bright, beautiful, excellent at sports, and fun to be around, but in her manner and dress, she has always reminded me of the young bohemian artists of the 60s.

As we were navigating the sites of New York (she had never been) she took out a small digital camera that I had given her. She looked up at the tall buildings. Wanting to see how she was going to capture the images in front of her, I remained silent. She stood for a bit just looking. Then she looked through the view finder, shifted her body, looked again, moved to the right and then lowered herself toward the ground, finally deciding what angle was going to give her the photo she wanted. She repeated this process over and over. I wondered how this teenager with absolutely no education in photography could be doing what takes so many such a long time to develop—the art of photo perspective!

Photo Perspective is simply the look of the photograph, the angle at which you took the photograph, and the depth of the objects in the photo.

One of the things that helps to take a fine snap shot and make it into a fine photograph is the angle at which it is taken. When shooting, you must take your time—a good photograph requires your focus. Vacation photos involving places and landscapes are a wonderful opportunity to practice developing your perspective because, in many cases, the subject matter is not in motion.

A Few Tips:

1. First and always, check your equipment! Make sure that you have a full battery pack and an extra battery if possible. Be sure that your ISO and white balance is set correctly. Canon has an excellent system for using a variety of white balance settings that are super easy to use.

2. Secondly, do what my niece naturally does: look at your subject from a variety of angles and heights if possible. It’s OK to get down low or move right or left to see the image from many angles before you take the shot.

3. Thirdly, take the image from many angles—even the ones you think you may not like. You will be surprised at what you decide is a fine image once you view it on a full screen monitor.

4. Fourth, don't set your camera to take the image with any kind of “special effects.” Take the image as it exists. Mastering the art of photo perspective will give your image the effect that it needs to make it a wonderful photograph!

5. Finally, use your intuition. Many wonderful photographs are a result of intuition, as my niece Dianna was discovering on our adventure in New York. Go with it!

About the author:

Joanna Biondolillo a Charleston photographer and owner of Image Merchants, a business that offers unique photographic products using one-of-a-kind images shot by Joanna. Both artistic and functional, the products include tote bags, note cards, prints, gift bags, gift boxes, and pillows. The Image Merchants online store can be found at http://www.imagemerchants.com.

It's often easier to write about something or someone else than it is to write about yourself. It's no different when writing your company's marketing materials. When you're too close to something, it can be difficult to see what isn't clear and needs revising. What you think makes sense may not make sense to your intended audience.

Below are some common mistakes companies make with their web content.

1) Is your website too self-centered?

"We're so great at this, so great at that. Want to see all the awards we've won? No? Well we're going to tell you about them anyway." This might seem over-the-top, but too many business websites do just this. I'm sure businesses that do this haven't stopped caring about the prospective customers and started caring only about how they look to others—it's human nature to want to showcase strengths and people are attracted to it—but it won't work on a website.

The key to influencing your market and attracting clients is all in how your website copy speaks to your customers and how it illustrates your company's goals, values, and, obviously, products and services. Your web copy should work to build relationships with your prospective customers and illustrate a transparent business message.

2) Do prospects understand what services / products you offer?

How many times have you stumbled across a website that describes its services / products and you have no clue what they're talking about? While many businesses have the intention of trying to stand out and be completely unique from the competition, all they end up doing is stringing together a bunch of fancy words that have no meaning. It's nearly impossible to express your uniqueness when you say that your "creative services are unique." (What does that even mean?)

The key is not about saying you're different from the competition, but rather, it's about showing your prospective clients that you offer something different from the competition. This is expressed in a clear, result-driven brand message. When you become clear on your brand message, your target audience becomes clear on what you sell.

3) Do you even know what products / services you offer and to whom?

You may think you know what products / services you offer, but how clear are you? Businesses evolve. Services change. And so does the market. Often, what happens is companies add information to their website over a period of time. The result is a smorgas bord of information that can easily confuse prospects.

If you aren't specific about the product / services you offer and how they benefit your target market, it is extremely difficult for you to convert prospects into customers. Similarly, if you don't follow shifting markets, how can you expect to sell products to a customer you no longer know?

4) Are you speaking "Greek" to your prospects?

Your business is unique, and this uniqueness sets it apart from the competition. But, there's a difference between expressing that uniqueness in industry terms, and illustrating it in layman terms. You understand the industry jargon, but do your prospective customers? Probably not, which is why you need to understand who your target market is and how your brand message and language can be written to connect with them. Remember, it's important to speak to your prospects and not at them because, many times, they are your peers, not others in your industry.

-by Michelle Salater. Michelle Salater is an award-winning writer and president of Sūmèr, LLC, a company which specializes in web copy writing, SEO copywriting, and the promotion and marketing of websites after they launch. Michelle is the author of Charleston: A Photographic Portrait and has published dozens of articles in national and international publications.

1989, I was given my first film camera, a Minolta 370. I didn't use it much that first year. Partly because I was still in graduate school and it took a great deal of my time, but also because the friend who had given me the camera kept saying something to me that I did not understand, "FILL THE FRAME." No matter what photos I took, really snap shots back then, he would always say, "You didn't fill the frame." I would think to myself, "Well, no-one's head is cut off...I can see the whole scene..."

Finally, I was photographing a young woman just for the practice. I was using slide film because it is unforgiving. (If you make a mistake on your exposure it shows! It also helps you develop a keen sense of light and an understanding for the principles of light).

Anyway, we were talking and laughing while shooting and she turned her head to compose herself and I took the photograph. It was in that moment that "FILL THE FRAME" became real for me. I realized that for the first time the image I had taken was a photograph that filled the frame entirely. I was on my way! Those early images lacked focus. They made the eyes wander because there was no clear subject matter. I wasn't paying attention to what was in my view finder.

3 Tips to finding what is in your view finder:

1.     First, you need to decide why you are taking the photograph. Set the photograph up—remember your perspective.

2.     Next, look through the view finder to see what is going to end up in your photograph! So many times I hear people say "I didn't see that car" or "I didn't see that person walk into the picture." You can really learn to set your photos apart by focusing on what your intention for the photograph is and by making sure that your view finder is clear of anything that will be distracting.

3.     Finally, get right in on your subject—FILL THE FRAME! Your subject should take up the whole of your photographic space. Unless you are trying to intentionally make your subject look small, your image should fill the view finder. Don't count on cropping after the fact. The best images are those that need the smallest amount of editing. It means that you are photographing with intent!

Article written by Joanna Biondolillo, Image Merchants owner and Charleston photographer. Image Merchants' unique photographic products use one-of-a-kind images show by Joanna. Both artistic and functional, the products include tote bags, note cards, prints, gift bags, gift boxes, and more. Visit www.imagemerchants.com to learn more and view products.