Chin Up.

Back in December 2008, Entrepreneur Wil Schoter wrotes for the Atlanta Business Chronicle about how defeated bosses can potentially spread a deadly malaise to staffers.

Not that you have to be Pollyanna-ish. But leaders need to step up with optimism.

Check it his column at: http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2008/12/29/smallb2.html.

Caught the actor/author/Parkinson's Disease activist Michael J. Fox's special on optimism on ABC Thursday. Good stuff--literally.

For a second shot of upbeat, log onto: http://abc.go.com/specials/michaeljfox/index.

Nature Nurtures.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that a 20-minute walk in a park enhances cognitive performance, but walking in a city does not.

The study, reported in the May/June 2009 issue of Psychology Today, explains that unlike urban settings that require intense concentration, greenery, while stimulating, provides gentle concentration, giving our mental muscles a way to refresh.

So if you want to renew your energy, walk among trees.

Smarter After Surfing?

Can Google searches benefit your brain? The UCLA Center on Aging says yes.

Volunteer subjects aged 55-74 who regularly web-surfed underwent MRI scans. The results showed that specific brain regions were activated by online browsing in ways they weren't by reading.

Seems that frontal lobe stimulation--home to complex reasoning--is stronger when logging on.

Query on.

Apple Polishing.

The first full week in May is Teacher Appreciation Week.


I got to thinking about teachers when I received a graduation notice from one of my best friend's children.


So, a big shout-out to Mr. Michelob, the lone male teacher in my elementary school. He let me hang out in the "stacks," the bookcases heaving with volumes in the back of his classroom.


In lieu of recess, I happily read. And formed a life-long love of words and books and ideas.


Here's to you, Mr. Michelob.

Not Your Mama's Website.

Savvy Auntie, http://www.savvyauntie.com/, is the first (only?) site for aunts by relation or by choice: "cool aunts, great aunts, godmothers and all women who love kids."

The lighthearted, interactive site includes advice on supporting nieces and nephews through divorce, Mother's Day infertility blues and such dispatches as "Aunt and the City" and "Auntipedia."

"Oily Cocoa-Butter Narcissism."

That delicious phrase, describing actor Matthew McConaughey in his new movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, is taken from Owen Gleiberman's review in the May 8 issue of Entertainment Weekly.

And how's this for an editorial bulls-eye: "Dimpled vivacity," his characterization of McConaughey's co-star Jennifer Garner.

I'd call the writing "trenchant criticism." It's my must-read dose of weekly pop culture.

King of Seafood.

Gorged on fresh seafood in Gulf Shores at King Neptune's Restaurant. This family-run eatery--Al and Diane Sawyer and their son Tony are the affable proprietors--offers honest regional specialities including a refreshing, vinegar-spiked West Indies salad, briny, palm-sized raw oysters, spicy steamed Royal Red shrimp and cornmeal-crusted fried green tomatoes.

Walk off your excesses at nearby Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge amid white dunes.
http://www.kingneptuneseafoodrestaurant.com/