Here’s a Fact Checker’s Guide for detecting “fake news”:

Back in the day, media sources were limited largely to TV newscasters and journalists for newspapers and magazines. Journalists like Walter Cronkite delivered the news and we believed every word. Although “fake news” was not a thing back then, we knew whether the news leaned slightly left or right. 

Today, social media and the internet make it possible for anyone to conjure up propaganda under the guise of legitimate news.  While this is super bad, what’s worse are the people who “share” these articles on Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites.  By endorsing fake news, this misinformation can spread like wildfire.  People often share these stories after reading only the headlines, without even bothering to read the articles.

So here are a few tips to check if you’re reading Fake News.

1. Check the article’s website
   Real: ABC News = abcnews.go.com
   Fake: ABC News = abcnews.com.co
   ** “.co” is an internet country code domain for Colombia
2. Check the “Contact Us” page
   Fake news usually doesn’t have a Contact Us page
3. Check the byline of the reporter
   Fake news journalists usually boast ridiculous claims
4. Check for fake quotes
   Fake news makes claims from Snopes.com about legitimacy of the article
5. Check the sources
   Fake news will not have links to sources
6. Check the ads
   Fake news will have inappropriate ads
7. Check search engines & sites dedicated to identifying fake news:
   Field Guide to Fake News Sites (Snopes.com)
   RealorSatire.com

The best way to stop fake news is to think before you share!

[Source]

If your New Year’s Resolution includes finding a new job, here are some tips that the Washington Post suggests:

#1: Do your homework
Research the company (annual reports, website) so you are in the know. Also check out the interviewer (LinkedIn or online search) so you have some handy background information.

#2: Ask about the interview format
Be prepared for the SAR (situation, action, result) or the Case interview formats.  For the SAR, have several compelling stories that give you the opportunity to show them what you’ve accomplished in previous positions.  For the Case, you’ll be given a scenario and you’ll walk them through the process of solving the problem.  Either way, you’ll be evaluated on your approach.  Show them that shows that you are thorough, comprehensive, and logical.

#3: Let your passion shine through
Share your passion for the job opportunity and communicate your thoughts by telling the interviewer how this position aligns with your values, experience, and passion. Lean forward to show that you are interested and listen carefully to learn what you can about the job and the company needs.

#4: Close the deal
Even if they don’t ask, summarize all of the points that you discussed during the interview and why this is a good fit for you.  Ask about the next steps and follow up with a “thank-you” email.

By being prepared for the interview, you’ll increase your odds of landing that great job!

Except for driving directions (I have the worst sense of direction!), I always rely on my gut feelings when making important or risky decisions. Some call it premonitions, others, well, think it’s nonsense. But there’s research to prove that people who have “interoception,” or the ability to sense subtle physiological changes can help in making tough decisions.

John Coates, a former derivatives trader who is now a neuroscientist, conducted a study that found that London traders (stock market) who could more accurately detect their own heartbeat were more likely to thrive in financial markets. In other studies, researchers also found that people who could detect their heart rates performed better in laboratory studies of risky decision making. By noticing rapid and subtle bodily responses, these people gravitated away from unprofitable trades and toward profitable ones.

Sounds like it’s time to start listening to our bodies, and specifically to our heart rates! 

When my girls were young, they collected little pins from the places we traveled to.  It gave them something to search for on the trips, and it became a memento to remind them of the trips after we returned home. 

Jaclyn started putting her pins on a hat that she got in Venice, and Nicole put them on a long velvet ribbon that she hung in her bedroom.  When they headed off to college back in 2003 and 2007, they left their pin collections behind. 

I just found them and created little displays. As I attached each pin to the frame, it brought back great memories of adventures from their youth. 

So glad they loved receiving them on Christmas morning!  

All set for Christmas!  Both Nicole and Jaclyn will be home on Christmas Eve and Day!  It’s been several years since Nicole’s been able to join us for Christmas because of her ER residency schedule.  Last year we Skyped with her but it’s just not the same…

We’ve set up our Christmas village that is filled with ceramic houses that we’ve made over the years. 

This will be the first Christmas that we didn’t build our Eco Xmas Tree; we bought a live tree to plant on our property in honor of our 2 new puppies (it helps us remember Christmases!).  And I made new Christmas stockings to hang from our mantel. 

Having the family together for Christmas is the best gift ever! Oh, the joy of this festive season!

Just thought I’d share with you my Rice Krispy and marshmallow Santa Claus!  

Hope you’re enjoying this holiday season.  

I love to make festive treats and share them!

Continuing the recycle and reuse philosophy from the last post about satin gift wrap: we make our gift tags out of recycled Christmas cards from the previous year.  Yup!  

I love all of the beautiful, funny, and clever cards we receive every year. After the holidays, we save the colorful Christmas cards (after we cut off the backside).  Then the following year, we hole punch the card, pull a hair tie through the hole, and simply tie the card around the fabric bow.  With a thick marker, we write the receiver’s name on the front of the card.  

Each gift tag is unique and exquisite!  And, we don’t cut down any trees and we don’t spend a penny on gift tags!  It’s a win for us AND the planet!

Did you know that wrapping paper is a 3.2 billion dollar industry? With Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa around the corner millions of pounds of paper will be used to wrap gifts just once and then be piled up in trash cans that line every street around the world. Wasteful! I didn’t realize how much this bothered me until I had a dream about it.  When I woke up, I knew exactly what I needed to do.  This was kind of like my Eco-Xmas tree dream.  So here’s what I did:

I drove over to Fabrics R Us in San Jose to buy 20 yards of red and green satin.  Then I went to the Dollar Tree to buy 100 hair ties and scrunchies.  I added a few curtain rods to my Wrapping Room to hang all of the satin squares that I had cut in various sizes.  And voilà!  I was all set for a paperless Chistmas.

I grabbed a satin square and placed the gift item right in the center of it.  Then, I pulled all of the fabric up around the gift and tied it off – just like a girl’s pony tail.  With the extra fabric, I would pull it through another loop of the hair tie creating a beautiful “bow.”  It took 5 seconds to wrap!  No cutting wrapping paper, folding edges, taping ends, or adding ribbons.  The best part, after gifts were opened, we collected all of the satin sheets and then tossed them over the curtain rod for the next holiday.  We even put all of the hair ties in a Xmas box to be reused again.  

My solution to the failed attempts at making a gingerbread house was to make pretzel log cabin instead.  While it is supposed to be edible just like a gingerbread house, I used a glue gun to hold the pretzels and the pounds of candy in place.  This was so much easier than making a gingerbread house!  I wouldn’t advise eating it, though.

After heading out to the Dollar Tree and Lucky’s to buy giant pretzels and every bag of hard candy that I could find, I cleared the table to make a mini-workshop.  First, I made the log cabin the same size as the large pretzel sticks to save time.  Using an Xacto knife, I cut out the 4 sides and 2 roof panels out of cardboard.  Then I hot glued the pretzels on the cardboard and the candy on the roof.  It was surprisingly easy and quick to do.  No winter log cabin is complete without a fireplace so I stacked hard candies to make the chimney. Then I made a pathway out of cinnamon hard candies, and lamp posts out of candy canes and gum drops.  Using extra pretzels, I made a park bench. After everything was in place, I sprinkled coconut flakes over the whole scene.  I finished just in time for it to be Jaclyn’s centerpiece for her Christmas party.

I hope to preserve this with Varathane so next year I can add on to it.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll start over again next year!

It’s true! Getting the gingerbread baked to the right doneness and the sugar glue to the right consistency seemed impossible for me. 

I even bought wrought iron baking dishes and kits, and they never worked.  The gingerbread would stick to the pans and by the time I got them “unstuck” – I had a pile of crumbs! When Nicole was a teen, she and her friends Bonnie and Katherine attempted to make a gingerbread house but it collapsed.  It was all in fun, but alas – no gingerbread house – that year…