National Laughter and Get Rich Day

Today is National Laugh and Get Rich Day. Laughter is good for you. It is a great stress reducer. Laughter strengthens your immune system and reduces food cravings. My friend Diana has developed a wonderful Laughter Yoga Program. Visit her website www.laughterheart.com and enjoy a laugh today. I’ve gone to a few of her classes and they are terrific. We played like children. Laughed like Santa. In general we had a wonderful refreshing time.

Get Rich Day – what to do… I’d love to have a fabulously successful business bringing in bucket loads of money – working on a plan for that. Last week NJ began participating in the Powerball lottery – maybe this will work in the short term.

Got a plan – to celebrate today, I’m watching one of my favorite comedies Operation Petticoat and buying a Powerball ticket.

Don’t forget to laugh today

Civic Lessons

I hear this was something that was once taught in schools, but I don’t remember it.  In 5^th grade we learned about the states. In 8^th grade we learned about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  I don’t ever remember being taught how local, county or state government worked. Luckily last week, I heard a speaker, Harry Pozycki, that taught me the basics of New Jersey government. No, not the rampant corruption in the state – that, I did know about. Instead, he spoke about the importance of local government, how easy it is for an ordinary citizen to voice their opinion and influence the direction of their town.

Harry Pozycki founded the Citizen’s Campaign – A Call to Service a group that is striving to “cultivate a culture of service” and develop future leaders. Their website is Justthecampaign.com. The Citizen’s Campaign has been behind legislation and executive orders that have created State level Play-for-Pay reforms and opened local and county board/commission appointments to the general public. This weekend, I took their online course on Appointed Offices. It is a 30 minute emersion into local government. I found it very informative and well worth the time.

Over the weekend, my Councilman Tim Smith updated his Facebook page with information about a grass roots initiative he spearheaded on Government Efficiencies in Morris County. In late January, the 1st report from GEM was released. governmentefficiencymovement.org will provide a copy of the 111 page report. I’m looking forward to the next phase of the movement, particularly on the possible consolidation of the tax assessing and collection process.  

Both of these men, Tim and Harry have shown me that we don’t have to sit back and let government run amuck, that common sense can prevail with governmental entities working together, transparency in government and citizen involvement. They’ve done their part on the first two, now it’s up to me to do my part on the 3^rd. 

Libraries and Literacy

Libraries & Literacy

It’s Time to THRIVE!

Teaching and support = basic literacy skills

Heritage: past, present, and future = cultural literacy

Responsible and informed citizens = civic literacy

Investing in personal prosperity = business and financial literacy

Vital information for a healthy and productive life = life skills literacy

Educating the public for 21st century literacy

Libraries & Literacy go hand-in-hand.  Friends of the Library groups around the country are banding together to help our libraries THRIVE. Libraries provide a unique role in lifelong literacy and learning. They teach and support basic literacy skills; promote our heritage through cultural literacy; help create responsible and informed citizens through civic literacy; invest in personal prosperity with business & financial literacy, provide information for a healthy and productive life through life skill literacy and plan for the future by providing access, information and resources on the technology highway. 

At the Roxbury Library, new parents can join the Books for Babies program for tips on laying the foundation for lifelong learning.  The literacy & learning link continues as a child grows; with Read Across America, sing along with Miss Candy, summer reading programs, children’s homework help, and the teen online book club.  For adults, the library provides an array of evening programs from cultural to musical, adult summer reading club, and classes to hone computer skills.  Life skills literacy are available through a wide range of health and “how to” materials and employment/ career resources.  Seniors can avail themselves of tax help, enjoy a movie with the Senior Film program or join in the weekly mar jongg tournament.  The library will continue being an indispensable resource for the future providing internet access, subscriptions to online databases, computer training, CD-ROMs and educational software