It’s that time of year again. Looking forward to sunny days – yes!

I definitely prefer long sunny days and taking walks on the beach to winter’s short days and long nights.  Part of enjoying the great outdoors means protecting our kids, and ourselves, from harmful UVA and UVB rays.  We all know that, right?  So we lather on SPF-60 – or higher! – and think we’re protected all day.

But, sunscreen should be your LAST RESORT, and here’s why:

Wearing sunscreen CORRECTLY requires several reapplications that, quite frankly, few people actually do.  After swimming or sweating, the sunscreen loses much of its protective value.  We need to THINK about the sun and how to best protect ourselves.  Here are 6 tips to consider when you go outdoors:

1. Wear clothes that cover
   Besides wearing hats and visors, long sleeve shirts and long pants protect your skin from the sun and reduces risk by 27%.  My girls make fun of me for wearing my visor but I don’t want to look like a raisin!
2. Find shade from the sun
   Sit under trees or canopies, and keep infants in the shade. It’s also much cooler in the shade.
3. Wear sunglasses
   Protect your eyes and vision by wearing sunglasses.  It’s not just a fashion statement!
4. Plan your outings
   Head out into the sun in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower in the sky.
5. Don’t get sunburned
   Wear sunscreen on all exposed areas when you’re in direct sunlight. Sunburns that cause soreness and blisters can lead to skin cancer.
6. Check the UV Index [https://www.epa.gov/sunsafety/uv-index-scale-1]
   Before heading out for fun in the sun, check the UV levels for your area so you can plan accordingly.

When choosing your sunscreens, avoid any with Vitamin A because it can harm your skin.  Mineral-only sunscreens like the kind that have zinc oxide and titanium oxide are stable in sunlight and offer a great balance between protection from UVA and UVB radiation. And, they don’t contain harmful additives.

Don’t be misled by SPF values of over 50; they don’t offer more protection. What’s worse, they make people think that they have more protection than they’re actually getting, which may cause them to subject themselves to more UVA/UVB rays. Ouch!

So just think about your sun exposure as you head out to enjoy your summer vacations.  Protect yourself by wearing clothes that cover and try to avoid direct sunlight for extended periods of time. 

 If you’re confused by what SPF levels to buy, you’re not alone.  I even blogged about this last summer!  

The internet has revolutionized how we get information. I just mused about this last week as I told one of my students about how I used to plan a day around going to the library to search the card catalogs and then plopping myself down in the library aisles to research volumes of books.

20 years later, personal computers made it possible to get instantaneous information in everyone’s homes, and now laptops, smartphones, and even smartwatches make it possible to have all data that we need wherever we are.  So why is it that laptops and tablets are dumbing down our brightest students?

The reason: Students can’t multi-task; actually, nobody can! During lectures, the students – especially the best ones – open up their laptops (or tablets) so they can take notes.  This makes perfect sense because it’s probably faster than writing long hand and it’s certainly easier to read later.  So what’s the problem?

Well, there wouldn’t be one if all the students could see were their documents, but because they can also see their text messages, emails, and on yeah, Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat pop ups every few seconds, their attention and ability to think about lecture topics is reduced down to well, nil. That’s right.  Although the student thinks they are multitasking by writing down “important” information, they aren’t actually engaging (learning it or applying this knowledge) with the concepts.  Instead, like robots, they’re taking dictation. Period. They’re also communicating with friends by responding to social media, which in and of itself requires tremendous brain activity to juggle. This is the real problem.

By not allowing their brains to learn and engage because they are filling their brain capacities with social media, they lose the class lecture time that they used to have to absorb necessary information.  The Washington Post just published an article “Why smart kids shouldn’t use laptops in class” that discusses the results from several studies about how students use electronics in the classroom.

It’s interesting that teachers allow laptops but not cell phones in class.  Looks like studies like this will give teachers the right to make the classroom a place where students engage in discussions and take notes the good ol’ fashioned way!

Logan Conover, my client who founded When, Not If…, is doing his part to lead America to ban driving one day per month. For May, it’s Saturday, May 21^st. 

By doing a little planning ahead, kick up your heels and relax at home or if you need to go out, simply ride your bike or take the bus. 

Last month (April 23^rd), I parked my car and spent the day in my garden and worked on a writing project.  My husband dusted off his old bike and went to the farmers’ market to get some flowers and veggies. 

We prevented over 100 lbs of carbon from going into the atmosphere by not driving for just one day! 

Help Logan gather his stats by logging your information on his site to enter the miles you didn’t drive!  

Watch this short video to dispel the myth that hydrogen is dangerous!

My good friend David Vasquez just released this timely film on the safety of hydrogen. 

Now that climate change is clearly on the table for discussion about alternative energy, learn the truth about hydrogen.  When produced by solar or wind, it is the cleanest fuel source available.  It has zero carbon emissions and unlike batteries (for electric cars), there are no toxic chemicals and no worry about disposal at the end of the life. 

Watch this short 4-minute video so when you think hydrogen, you think clean, sustainable energy, and you stop thinking Hindenburg (explosion was NOT caused by hydrogen) and the hydrogen bomb (energy is a chemical reaction, not nuclear!). 

The sooner we move to a hydrogen economy, the better chance we have to slow carbon dioxide’s negative effects.

I love the way indoor plants clean the air and create a healthy living space. My guests notice that I have green plants everywhere so they think I have a green thumb.  But, if they looked closer, they’d notice that that sea of green is really the same 2 plants!  Yup, I couldn’t keep any of those exotic and beautiful plants alive and quite frankly, I got tired of spending 100s of dollars on plants that just died a few months later.  So I took clippings from the only 2 plants that could survive under my black thumb and put them in water.  A few weeks later, I took those clippings and put them in potting soil and voila – the plants thrived. I’ve never repotted them and never given them fertilizer.  I’m serious, all they need is water and indirect sunlight. 

So what are these plants?

POTHOS
Good news is that you can buy one plant at a garden center and then take cuttings and fill your house with the new plants forever – literally.  I have them in pots all over the house because they can survive in low light offices and bedrooms as well as well-lit kitchens.

SPIDER PLANTS
I love my spider plants because they love bathrooms and low-light areas.  They shoot out little plants (spiders) that you can clip, put in water for a few weeks, and start a new plant. 

For very little money, you can make your home or office a healthier place to live and work.  These plants are very low maintenance – all they need is weekly watering and sunlight. 

Happy planting!

I’m not sure how I became the family travel agent because I really don’t like spending hours searching for great deals.  But, I found a website that offers great tips and resources.  Check out these websites:

BEST WEBSITES:
Kayak.com – best for flights, multiple destinations, flexible dates
Google Flights – best for discovery
Vayama.com – best for great deals
Expedia.com – best for vacation packages

LISTS FOR SALES:
Airfarewatchdog.com 
Travelzoo.com

BUDGET AIRLINES:
WhichBudget.com 
Cheap Flights Route Map on Skyscanner

GOOGLE SEARCH:
Search for your exact flight: “Flight sale from San Jose to Maui” to get super fares through other programs. 

CHECK AIRLINE WEBSITES:
Before you book your tickets on a 3^rd-Party website, check the actual airlines to see if they have cheaper tickets.

WHEN TO BUY?:
Shop on Tuesdays at 3:00 pm for lowest fares (Monday night to Thursday window) Domestic: 6 weeks before flight (never before 3.5 months or you’ll pay full fare)
Europe: 21 weeks before flight (never before 4-5 months or you’ll pay full fare)
Caribbean: 11 weeks before flight (never before 4-5 months or you’ll pay full fare)
International Business/First Class: 23 weeks before flight
If you purchase tickets inside of 14 days before flight, rates will be dramatically higher.

Happy travels! If you have any other tips to share, let me know and I’ll post them here.

Back in 2008, he did crazy things!

On his Ducati, Sam was doing gymnastics — at 70 mph! We were heading down to southern California with Jaclyn and all of her stuff for her sophomore year at CMC. Afraid that he might do something really dangerous, we stopped looking at him.  Kids!  Or, rather, men. 

Remember: the only difference between men and boys, is the price of their toys! 

Glad he’s settling down and getting married!

I realize that everyone – that includes YOU – is busy.  And I know you’re REALLY BUSY – making money, maintaining your home, helping your kids and parents.  I get it.  What I don’t get is that my very intelligent, socially correct, politically active friends and family AREN’T LISTENING to the most important message about our future civilization. 

Yep, and that future civilization consists of our children, grandchildren, and everyone else! So why aren’t our politicians, corporations, and friends scrambling to fix our climate change problem?

I honestly don’t get it!

What can be more important than diverting the massive devastation that we are facing in our lifetimes?  We aren’t making the dramatic changes to reduce our carbon emissions TODAY so that we will be able to enjoy making money, maintaining our homes, and helping our kids and parents. Here are some facts that should scare the bejeezus out of you:

February didn’t just break climate change records – it obliterated them.

• Regions of the Arctic were more than 16℃ warmer than normal; whatever constitutes normal now.
• February was the third consecutive month to break global temperature records. 
• North of the equator was 2℃ warmer than pre-industrial temperatures (we passed the line…)
• In 2015: largest CO2 increase in hundreds of thousands of years
• CO2 level reached 404.02 ppm (up 1% from 2015) in Mauna Loa, HI

WAKE UP!  Denial will only ensure that the fossil fuel industry (oil companies, fracking industry, car manufacturers, politicians) will stay on this terminal course until they extract the last drop of oil and squeeze the last dollar out of the earth.  Their plan to phase out oil and natural gas (methane) and to offer clean energy will be decades too late.  I’ve seen their brilliant marketing campaigns to fool us into thinking that they have a sustainable plan, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. 

I always like to offer solutions when I deliver depressing news like this.  In the next few weeks, I will share with you a game changer.  I’m still researching its viability and statistics before I publicly support this breakthrough in energy production.  Can’t wait to tell you…  I am so excited about its possibilities that I am up at night laying out plans and wrapping my head around how to implement it worldwide as soon as possible.  More real soon!

[Source]

If you’re going to a UC this fall (as a freshman), you’ll need to take the Analytical Writing Placement Evaluation (AWPE) this Saturday, May 14^th. 

This written test determines whether or not you can begin to take college-level English classes this fall. 

You don’t need to take the AWPE if you’ve satisfied one of the following requirements:

• 30 or better on the ACT, English Language Arts; or
• 30 or better on the ACT, Combined English/Writing (last administered June 2015); or
• 680 or better on the College Board SAT Reasoning Test, Writing (last administration January 2016); or
• 3 or above on either Advanced Placement Examination in English; or
• 5 or above on an International Baccalaureate Higher Level English A: Literature exam (formerly known as Higher Level English A1 exam); or
• 6 or above on an International Baccalaureate Standard Level English A: Literature exam (formerly known as Standard Level English A1 exam); or
• 5 or above on an International Baccalaureate Higher Level English A: Language and Literature exam; or
• 6 or above on an International Baccalaureate Standard Level English A: Language and Literature exam

To find a test center near you and to register for the AWPE, go to http://www.ucop.edu/elwr/.  

Yes! Here’s a true story.

When I first started working with Michael Beck in 2011, he was dropping out of classes at a local community college and his mother was beside herself with anxiety.  She knew Michael was smart but couldn’t understand why he just didn’t do the work to pass his classes. 

I knew as soon as I met Michael that he was going to be a huge challenge because he was bright but couldn’t understand why he should do mundane busy work in classes that he wasn’t interested in taking.  Hmm.  Sometimes it’s difficult to reason with logic. My goal was to get Michael to find his passion, layout a plan to achieve it, and coach him as he had to retrain and rethink his education.

Michael bombed out in high school because he didn’t go to classes or do his homework – he preferred to smoke weed and drink with his friends.  The only reason he graduated from high school was because he could always take the final exam and pass it (remember, he’s really smart).  Getting him to adopt the Merit Planner and stick to a schedule so he can learn concepts, do assignments, and prepare for difficult college exams was a constant battle.  I knew I couldn’t trick him into studying, I needed to capture his attention and give him a reason to do the work.

After many discussions about politics and environmental issues, Michael became concerned about Climate Change and headed the Kids 4 Hydrogen team to find solutions to the world’s energy and CO2 problems.  He met with PhDs to learn all that he could about hydrogen production and fuel cells.  When he realized how engineering was going to give him the skill set he will need to solve some of these major issues, Michael got serious about his education.  Instead of fighting professors about the value of each assignment, he just did it.  He started getting A’s in all of his classes, and that’s when he recognized that he understood concepts in ways that his peers didn’t.  This was a turning point for Michael.

After Michael took the chemistry series at UCSC in one summer and got all A’s, he knew he was on to something exciting.  But when he was ready to apply to transfer into an engineering program, he worried that his terrible grades from his past would haunt him.  Thankfully, the University of Portland recognized his potential (love it when colleges look beyond GPAs) and Michael thrived in the mechanical and electrical engineering programs.  He was clearly one of the top students in his program when he graduated a few weeks ago.  Michael had developed good relationships with his engineering professors and enjoyed intellectual discussions with them outside of the classroom.

Michael is going to study robotics in grad school and he has been accepted to all of the graduate schools that he applied to.  These acceptances include the prestigious GRASP Robotics Lab at UPenn and the world-renowned Robotics program at Carnegie Mellon. They both offer the best robotics programs in the country.  I know that Michael will blossom in grad school because he will be working with peers and professors who share his passion for learning and solving critical problems.  I am so proud to watch this kid who fought the system and was heading down a destructive path, now head off to an Ivy League college (or CMU) this fall. 

I can’t wait to see what he does in grad school, and I just know he will change the world.