Month: August 2010

Lisa Louise Cooke – Creator and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast – Episode 12 – Marion Vermazen Podcast

Lisa Louise Cooke – Creator and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast – Episode 12 – Marion Vermazen Podcast

Lisa_Louise_Cooke_2009 This podcast is available in the iTunes store. It would help me a lot if
you would go to the store and write a review. To find the podcast just
search the store for Vermazen

You can listen to my interview with Lisa in iTunes or by clicking on the link below.

MVP0012

Lisa Louise Cooke has been a genealogist since a very young age. She has a passion for genealogy. About three years ago she followed her passion into podcasting and started the Genealogy Gems Podcast. . Today that podcast is one of the most popular genealogy podcasts available. Lisa also does Genealogy training, speaks frequently at conferences nationwide, blogs, produces genealogy training videos, has written a book about genealogy and produces a podcast and writes for Family Tree Magazine.

Here are links to some of the things we discussed in our conversation.

The Longevity Prescription by M.D. Robert N. Butler

" I am aging. Let's not deny that we are aging. Let's deal with it, accept it, and use it."

The blog I read first every day is Ronni Bennett's blog Time Goes By – what it's really like to get older. I have interviewed Ronni on my podcast and I am a part of the community of elders that she has created. You may have noticed that I have a proud ElderBlogger"" badge in the right hand column of my blog. I got the badge from Ronni.

DSC_2474  Recently Ronni did a blog post suggesting that we have a discussion - virtual, online, chapter by chapter of Dr. Robert N. Butler's book,The Longevity Prescription: The 8 Proven Keys to a Long, Healthy Life. I responded enthusiastically. A couple of days ago she posted her discussion of the introduction to The Longevity Prescription. This post is my response to Ronni's posting, to the discussion in the comments on her blog, and to my reading of the introduction of The Longevity Prescription.

I really like and agree with the theme of  the introduction.

"To a surprising degree, aging is a state of mind. People who take a preventive approach to their health tend to stay young."

The introduction includes a test with 25 questions that you answer on a scale of 1-3 to come up with your Longevity index. My score of 63 at least partly reflects that I tend to be an optimist. A longevity index of 63 is pretty good but according to Butler there are still some changes I can make to "help enhance its quality".

Butler challenges the reader (me) to come up with five things I can change to increase my chances of longevity.

  1. Lose weight. – My BMI is around 35 and it should be move like 25.
  2. Eat more fruits and vegetables – Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. It doesn't come naturally to me. My goal is to at least have two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day
  3. Walk at least a mile every day –  Although I am fairly active it is easy for me to go for weeks with very little exercise.
  4. Start taking a daily multivitamin and low dose aspirin
  5. Watch my alcohol input – no more than 14 drinks per month.  It would be very easy for Duke and I to share a bottle of wine every night. The calories alone make this a bad idea. 

The Longevity Prescription is divided into 8 chapters each about a different prescription. Each prescription has strategies for achieving the prescription. I'll go into more detail about my thoughts for improving in each area and my questions about the validity of the prescriptions when we discuss that chapter.

One of the questions that I have been pondering since stating to read The Longevity Prescription is whether questioning the validity of a prescription is simply denial or is it reasonable to doubt some of these ideas. Doctor Butler documents the studies that have been done in each area The discussion in the Time Goes By blog comments has included several questions about whether it is really important to make new friends and to go out to socialize multiple times a week. Another question I wonder about is whether I really have to stop at one glass of wine a night? I do like my wine.

"The takeaway message? More than a little of your long-term health is very much up to you."

The goal is to "increase our chances of remaining healthy longer." what is referred to by Dr Butler as Compression of Morbidity.  To to not only live longer but to be healthy longer.

I like the idea of living a long life but even more I like the idea of that life being a healthy, active and interesting. I think what I like most about The Longevity Prescription so far is that Dr Butler takes an upbeat positive approach.  I learned something new about how I can improve the likelihood that my life will not only be longer but also better.

There is one thing  missing from this post. I don't think I have really added anything new or elucidating to the discussion that has already occurred. I'll continue to participate in the on line book club discussion and pondering how best to contribute to the discussion.

Learning to speak Spanish – The Language Hacking Guide by Benny Lewis

Duke and I spent two weeks traveling in Mexico in 2007. Duke is fluent in Spanish and his ability to really communicate made our trip so much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. Ever since then I have been working on learning Spanish. I want to speak Spanish fluently.

I've worked my way  through Madrigal's Magical Key to Spanish by Margaret Madrigal, I'm listening to and practicing with the Coffee Break Spanish and Showtime Spanish Podcasts produced by the Radio Lingua Network. I downloaded the Flashcards Deluxe app to my iPod Touch. I've set it to use a spaced repetition system and I've created several decks of Spanish flash cards that I practice with.  As I discussed in a previous post I am using Mango Languages on the Washoe County library web site and I like it a lot.

In spite of studying a lot for three years I still don't really speak Spanish. It is just like the four years of French I studied in high school. Even though I know a lot of the language I can not really speak it or communicate in it.

LHGRecently I bought The Language Hacking Guide by Benny Lewis. It is an ebook and included interviews, worksheets and translations.  To quote Benny's web site:

"The Language Hacking Guide explains exactly what you need to do to speak a language quickly. Rather than read through the guide to find out my one major ‘secret’, I can tell you right now. You need to speak the language from day one."

I think I really knew that the only way to speak and understand Spanish is to start speaking it. But that is really hard for me.  I don't like to appear foolish. I like to be right and I am very bad at asking for help or asking to be corrected. I am definitely not an extrovert.

The Language Hacking Guide convinced me. Benny's positive enthusiastic style and advice got me over the hump. 

Part one of The Language Hacking Guide is about Mentality. Benny says that although a goal like - I want ot learn to speak and understand Spanish is fine you really have ot have short term aims. So that is what I am working on. My goals so far are not really specific enough but I am speaking Spanish more with Duke and I think I am making some progress.

Benny also urges learners to have a language log to document progress and to share the struggle. So one  of my gaols will be to post regular updates on my progress here on this blog. I've added a Learning Spanish category to my category list on the left.

If you are interested in Benny's approach go to Benny's Fluent in Three Months web site. There you can sign up for his weekly language hacking tips.

If any of you reading this have any suggestions for how to learn to speak Spanish I would really appreciate your input and of course I appreciate your cheer leading. Thanks in advance.