My "go-to" list of things to do to feel better when you're down

Here's my "go-to" list of things I can do when I want to feel better.  We all feel down on occasion.  It's a powerful tool to have as many as 27 things to fall back on when I need a quick pick me up.

1. Go for a walk outside.

2. Talk to a sympathetic friend.

3. Do a task you have been procrastinating doing.

4. Sit in the sun.

5. Reach out to someone you've been meaning to contact, but haven't.

6. Think grateful thoughts.

7. Breathe deeply.

8. Exercise.

9. Take a shower.

10. Write down your thoughts.

11. Plan for the future, especially travel planning.

12. Read a motivational book.

13. Smile and beam positivity.

14. Relax my muscles through stretching or massage.

15. Enjoy my husband's company.

16. Call Mom.

17. Receiving encouragement.

18. Think of things you've defeated in the past through great effort.

19. Brainstorming new business ideas.

20. Get excited about a new idea or project.

21. Dancing to good music.

22. Seeing someone else suffering, and feeling not so alone in despair.

23. Cooking.

24. Writing and blogging.

25. Laughing really loudly.

26. Appreciating something beautiful, and appreciating that you can.

27. Being vulnerable in front of those you love.

Some more ways to feel better:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-to-instantly-feel-better-when-you-are-depressed.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_4_32/ai_85174714/

http://imperfectspirituality.com/2011/04/13/five-ways-to-feel-better-fast/

Review of the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

For Mark's Christmas gift last year, I bought us tickets to the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This is the most exclusive car show in America and culminates a whole week of car auctions and car shows on the Monterey, CA peninsula.  

The Concours focuses mainly on rare, classic cars, the type that famous Tonight Show host, Jay Leno collects. But it is also a chance to showcase the latest unveils and concepts from modern day car makers. The whole event was much more fun than I had anticipated. I am not crazy about cars, but even I got caught up in the beauty of these custom, rare cars. Also, it was a lot less hoighty toighty than I thought it would be.  The show attracts rich car enthusiasts who are interested in purchasing the many cars gathered. I was rubbing elbows with multi-millionaires (and perhaps billionaires -- Mark thought he saw Google cofounder Sergey Brin lurking by). At the event, people were dressed from jeans, to formal couture.  It was truly an egalitarian gathering with people napping on the grass intermingled with furred ladies drinking Cristal. 

(All pictures here were taken on Mina's iPhone.)

Check out the exterior shift knobs on this oldie. A number of cars had difficulty maneuvering out of the golf course. One classic Mercedes had to be pushed out by its German mechanic outfitted in a cute Mercedes jumpsuit.

A modern day, Zagato bodied Alfa Romeo. Zagato is a famous design house established after World War 1. It is associated with avant garde design, and has designed Ferrari's, Fiat's, Maserati's, Aston Martin's, as well as Alfa Romeo. It is known within the same circle of design houses as Pinin Farina, Ghia, Scaglietti, and others. A Zagato descendent, possibly the head, was in attendance with this car. 

2012 Shelby Cobra Super car.  I'm not a fan of the styling, but maybe the styling is before its time. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, admiring the new Lamborghini Aventador with a handsome Italian sales representative

This famous night-time host nearly ran me over.

Best in show at the Concours was a 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne - I actually prefer a view of this car from the side. This car deserved to win for its uniqueness.  It had interesting Art Deco lines, a unique sliding roof top, an unreliable sleeve valve engine design (which was the demise of the Voisin car), and wacky art deco fabric interior (not pictured)

Unfortunately, I got in a little tiff with the Bugatti representative for taking pictures too close to this Bugatti Veyron's interior

The gem-like details (check out those faceted head lights) on this Mercedes left me in a swoon. This was my favorite car of the show for all of its bespoke details. It even came with a ladder to access one's roof-mounted luggage (see thing on ground)

Fore: Austro Daimler,  one of the cars favored to win "Best in Show"
Rear: Talbot-Lago Teardrop, which won "most elegant closed car"

21 of the world's 36 Ferrari 250 GTO's were lined up at Pebble Beach to celebrate this iconic 1962 car's 50th anniversary. Each car costs up to $28 million.  This was the first Ferrari design to be wind-tunnel tested, resulting in a perky spoiler at the rear end which helped this race car perform better at high speeds. These cars won the International Championship for GT Manufacturer's between 1962-64, until the Shelby Cobra came along. Each Ferrari 250 GTO was hand shaped by noted coachmaker, Scaglietti, which is why the cars do not look identical, nor do they even look symmetrical from side to side.  Strangely, Scaglietti thought the 250 GTO was an ugly car, stating that its windshield was too upright on the sides and gave the car an appearance of having "horns".  Today, the 250 GTO is considered to be one of the most expensive and beautiful cars ever made. It was amazing seeing these cars lined up together on the ocean front at Pebble Beach. But I'm not sure I would say it was the most beautiful Ferrari (I think I prefer the 1967 Ferrari 330 P4), or that it deserves to be as expensive as they are.

This one-off 1960 Plymouth XNR Ghia Roadster won the "Gran Turismo" award. It also won "Most likely to be included in the Gran Turismo PlayStation game" trophy.  The criteria for this particular trophy was the vote of one judge, who happened to be the Sony Playstation "Gran Turismo" video game designer. I can totally see this car in a video game.

People were dressed in hats, hats, and more hats and brought along pets as accessories.

More hats.

How to Get A Business License in Mountain View, CA

Warning: To regular readers, this is a very dry post that would be impossible to read if you are not starting a business in Mountain View, CA.  However, interested Mountain View entrepreneurs, read on.

Like many other people in the US this year, I have decided to start my own business. Call it a sign of the economic downturn, but people more than ever want to go in business for themselves. You would think that starting a business in the U.S., particularly in California, would be easy. California, after all, is known for its enterprising spirit.  I, however, found the process of legalizing one's business in California to be surprisingly difficult.  What makes it so difficult is that the process varies from state to state, and city to city, and also depends upon the legal structure of your company. The purpose of this post, therefore, is to inform readers how to legitimize one's business, specifically in Mountain View, CA, and to illuminate the purpose of each step.  It is also important to note the order of each step:

1. Decide upon your business's legal structure

2. Apply for Fictitious Business Name with the Santa County Clerk Recorder's Office

3. Publish legal notice of Fictitious Business Name with Santa Clara County newspaper.
4. Get State Sales Tax ID through State County Clerk Recorder

5. Apply for business license with the City of Mountain View, CA

1. Decide upon your business's legal structure

Determining your business's legal structure is important for various reasons. Logistically, it is important to so because it determines the sequence of paperwork you will need to file. In my case, I was debating between an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) and a sole proprietorship. The internet is glutted with articles on  LLCs, so I won't go into details about LLC's here.  I decided to go with a sole proprietorship, however, because I currently require very little overhead to run my company and therefore don't feel it requires the legal protection an LLC provides.

2. Apply for Fictitious Business Name with the Santa Clara County Clerk Recorder 

Also known as DBA (Doing Business As), applying for a Fictitious Business Name is required in Santa Clara County if you want to receive money through a company that has a different name than your own, or has a different name from your umbrella organization.  

I, for example am the sole proprietor, and will be receiving money through Fishtopia.  Had Fishtopia been an LLC, this step would not have been necessary, since Fishtopia would have been its own legal entity capable of receiving money itself.  It is required by law to apply for a Fictitious Business Name to ensure that consumers have access to the true name and address of the owner of a business. 

3. Publish legal notice of Fictitious Business Name with a Santa Clara County newspaper.

This odd step is required for any fictitious business name filing.  You can do this with any adjudicated Santa Clara County newspaper and it can cost as much as $65. Ask the newspaper if: (a) they are an adjudicated publication in Santa Clara County, and (b) how much it costs to file a legal notice for a fictitious business name filing.  I called three newspapers, and settled for the Los Altos Crier, which charges only $35. The San Jose Mercury News charges the most: $65.  The Mountain View Voice charges only a little less: $55. An added bonus with the Los Altos Crier is that they will also mail you your legal notice, as well as file it with Santa Clara County. This is not the case with all newspapers.

4. Get a Seller's permit account number (also known as State Sales Tax ID) through the California State Board of Equalization

This step is required if you are in the business of selling stuff. For a more legal description of what "stuff" is, click on the link in the heading.  Officially, you shouldn't be taxed if you are selling things out of state.  However, if you are selling things within California, the state requires a state sales tax number so they can tax you properly. What's confusing about this step is that the Seller's permit account number IS THE SAME number as your state sales tax ID. This is important when doing the next step.

5. Apply for business license with the City of Mountain View, CA.   

This is required if you want to conduct business in Mountain View.  In order to apply for a business license, you are required to get a state sales tax ID.  As stated above, getting a state sales tax ID is the same thing as obtaining a seller's permit account number (see step #4). The rest of the application is fairly easy, and costs as little as $35.

Conclusion
When I first sought to legitimize my business, I first started by applying for a business license with the City of Mountain View. Little did I know that there are a slew of other steps and decisions to make before this can be accomplished. If you want to save time, I recommend that you follow the steps I've listed above. To streamline your business filing, it is expedient to first hammer out the legal structure of your business.  This is followed by working with the state to file for a Fictitious Business Name and acquiring a State Sales Tax ID (also known as a seller's permit account number). These must be performed before finally filing for a business licence with the city.

SCUBA and spirituality: brainstorm 1

My brain has been on fire lately.  I have so many projects to do, so little time. One of the more crazy ideas I want to try is to write an article for California Diving News, the premier magazine about SCUBA diving in California. I wrote to Kim Sheckler, one of the main writers of this magazine, and wife of the editor, what articles she prefers, and she replied:

The editorial drive of the publication is to inspire and inform the beginning through intermediate divers into seeking the full underwater experience that California waters have to offer. All material is upbeat and positive. Please, no “Why this diver died” or shark attack type articles. Our goal is to encourage divers to get out and enjoy California scuba diving more often.

Rather than writing about something light, however, I have decided to dive off the deep-end (pun not intended) and write about the connection between SCUBA diving and spirituality.  It's a topic that is not explored in great depth (ha ha).  However, like in many other sports (such as surfing or running), there is a universally acknowledged spiritual element involved with diving.  Some might argue that scuba diving has an even stronger spiritual element than some other activities because a high degree of breathing awareness is employed. But more on that later...

My first question, inevitably would be, what is Spirituality anyway? I would be the last to know, since I am adamantly non-religious, and not very spiritual either. So what is a gal to do? So I did some internet research.  There is a well-written article on the subject here. According to this article, the last thing one can do, I found, is to define spirituality. Spirituality, the author argues, is more like a mixed bag of experiences:

• Feeling lost in the moment
• Feeling part of the whole universe
• Feeling a sense of awe and mystery
• A sense of epiphany

All of the above apply to the experience of diving in my mind...

To be continued...

Space Prison

For $0.99, you can download and read the science fiction novel, "Space Prison" from Amazon.com.  This book is probably the most entertaining read I have ever purchased for $1.00.  I was hard pressed to put my e-reader down, the read was so thrilling and fast-paced.  Only the need to charge my e-reader forced me to interrupt my race to the finish.

"Space Prison", formerly called "The Survivors", was written in the 1950's by little known author, Tom Godwin.  The book is about a group of humans who are left to die on an inhospitable planet by the Gerns, an antagonistic alien race. The same night of their arrival on the planet, before the marooned humans can even find shelter, they are attacked by prowlers, a vicious indigenous feline species that remind me of the feline "thanators" that inhabit the planet, Pandora, in the movie Avatar. Not only are there vicious species predating on the humans, however, but there is also the unrelenting 1.5 G of their planet, as well as the 50 year long mini ice-age cycles which make it nearly impossible for humankind to adapt.

This tale is about how humans prevailed, even after running out of ammunition and food, and being diminished from the original population of 4000 to a mere 80. What keeps the humans going, is 200 years of gradual evolutionary adaptation, but more importantly the mission that unites them in exacting revenge against the Gerns.

What this book does well is to portray the hardship and cross-generational sacrifices the survivors undergo. The attempt to build a "hyper transmitter" device, for example takes humankind more than 150 years, and requires scouring the planet for metal, and many many deaths. Strikingly, design and fabrication of intermediary tools and equipment are ordered, which are later dismantled when their use is exhausted, pointing to the extreme long view of the leaders in charge. What is involved with surviving on this harsh planet also are endless experimentations with flora and fauna, and even accelerated species domestication and genetic selection. The relentless physiological adaptations made by the humans and domesticated animals, I found to be quite ingenious.

What this book does not do well is character development. Also, since it was written in the '50s, there is a slightly sexist flavor to the book.  All of the main characters without exception are males.  The only female characters stand apart for their nursing capabilities, or their dying during childbirth.  Many other reviewers have noted that the ending was rather abrupt. I agree with this criticism, but it did make for a quick read, which was exactly what I needed at the time: a good romping space opera.

I was aimlessly browsing for good science fiction books online when, for some reason, I found this book.  I don't know how the Amazon browsing algorithm works exactly, but I found this book within a couple of mouse clicks. It deserves to be at the top of the heap. In addition to being available at Amazon.com, the book is offered for free at gutenberg.org. Download this book and give it a spin. I personally, am looking forward to reading the sequel, "Space Barbarians" for free online, and I am hoping that a Hollywood movie will eventually be made.

Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's

Karl Lagerfeld (of Chanel fame) has designed a line of clothes for Macy's, priced between $30-$130.  I definitely have my eye on the three dresses above when they go on sale on Aug. 30th. The dress on the left may be the most flattering, but it only comes in that pale blush color.  The dress on the right may be a bit too "goth", with Lagerfeld's signature high collar.  The dress in the center seems to be the easiest to wear.

Now, if only there were a lower-priced Chanel line for the masses, then we'd be talking...

For more from Lagerfeld's collection for Macy's, go here.

Nude pump update

AGL pumps - $310

Nine West Sling backs- $68

After all this fussing about which nude pumps to buy, and how to wear them, I can report that I have finally purchased a pair. At Nordstrom, I fell in love with these AGL (Attilio Giusti Leombruni) hand made pumps (above), but at $310, they were just a bit too steep for my taste. So at Macy's I ended up buying these pearlescent nude peep-toe sling-backs from Nine West instead.  At $68, they were much more friendly to my wallet.

Just the other day, I put together my first outfit. I decided to pair my nude sling backs with BR taupe pants and a BR orange silk blouse (see below).  I decided to follow my previous advice on pairing nude pumps with a brightly colored top. Wearing this outfit, and gauging my confidence level throughout the day, I think the pairing worked, but it could have been tweaked a little bit. I was wearing a narrow Tahari cream jacket over my blouse, but the blouse kept ballooning outwards. In the future, I may want to pair this look with a narrower blouse.