THE CAT’S MEOW

FOR WRITER’S & READERS

Issue 06, Vol. 05

© May 10, 2005

“THE CAT’S MEOW FOR WRITERS & READERS”

Newsletter/Ezine: ISSN: 2237-65

Published by Rosanne Catalano, (a/k/a R.C.Kayla)

Writer/Author and Ezine Chief Editor, residing in Queens County, NY, USA;

For Her Official Author Web Site – http://www.rosannecatalano.net

Editor and Proofreader: Nancy Peckford,

Technical Writer/Web Designer and Assistant, residing in Ontario, Canada;

Nancy’s web site – http://webwriterworx.tripod.com

Our subscriber list is NOT made available to others.

_____________________________________________________

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S CORNER:

by Rosanne Catalano – www.rosannecatalano.net

Hi my wonderful readers and fellow writers, if you have written an original poem, short story or flash fiction (or know of a person who has), please feel free to submit to the Coffee House Column as I have been receiving a lot of helpful “articles” but almost no submissions for the above column. If there are no submissions, no artistic talent can be highlighted each month…

IN REMEMBRANCE:

Smokey: born 1989; died May 7, 2003.

Three years ago this month, we had to put Smokey, our third cat, to sleep; we had rescued her from being swept out of a store by the owners as if she were garbage… Though the last seven months of Smokey’s life were filled with lots of loving, warmth and plenty of food to go around, she shared her living quarters with two male cats who did not understand how sick their new sister was, and it quite frankly scared them. But they did see how much their mommy and daddy loved their elderly ‘sister,’ who had only known the city streets and scavenging wherever she could for her supper… Smokey pretty much ignored Tiger and Cordy, but when they fought with her she did fight back to show the two of them she was no pushover – Good for you, Smokey!

Though it broke our hearts to bring her in to be euthansized, we console ourselves with the knowledge that Smokey is no longer in pain (though I still wish the Lord had brought her into my path much sooner; instead of 7 months of a loving home, warmth and lots of food, she could have had her whole lifetime with loving human-parents instead of knowing the mean streets) – What was wrong with her you ask? Smokey had horrible diarrhea, a hacking cough that spewed phlegm all over, vomiting that flew all over the place and walls, and was losing control of her bowels toward the end. Which brings me to the reason I am writing this today… Next month (June) will be Adopt-A-Shelter-Pet Month through the ASPCA, here in New York, and I would like to bring awareness to this problem of people who don’t consider “adopting” from a shelter before buying in a pet shop…

As heartbreaking as it is, there are millions (if not more) felines out there on the streets just surviving one day at a time, not knowing where their next meal will come from… Tiger and Cordy do not have to worry about that as they have been lucky; though both were “strays” at one time, Tiger was too young to remember when we adopted him from North Shore Animal League in Port Washington, NY, and Cordy too, even though he was a little older (six months old as compared to Tiger’s six-weeks-old).

Please, won’t you be so kind as to consider adopting your new friend from an animal shelter or the ASPCA, where your new furry companion could just be waiting for you to give lots of love to… to find out more about “Adopt-A-Shelter Pet Month,” please visit ASPCA online at http://www.aspca.org. I thank you and ASPCA thanks you, dear readers!

Once again, I am thrilled to feature Heidi (“Dizzy”) Lynn Metzger and her moving poems, and all my contributing authors and writers (some new, some familiar) who are listed below in the order their article will appear. Without further ado, please enjoy reading The Cat’s Meow for Writers & Readers…

NAME OF AUTHOR TITLE OF ARTICLE

Rosanne Catalano -- ”Cuty Boy – An Amazing Cat!”

Gail H. Stone -- “Coping With Grief”

Jennifer Minar -- Writers: “Understanding Rejection”

Charlie Cook -- “What’s Missing from Your Marketing?”

Connie Gutchrif -- “Credit Cards ~ A Blessing or a Curse?”

Herman Drost -- “How to Build a Basic CSS Layout”

Conrad Murton -- “Pursuing a Career As an Architect”

Charlie Cook -- “How to Get More Visitors to Your Web Site”

Helen Harris -- “Roofing: The Basics”

Melody Geburts -- “Music”

Amaud Bruyerie -- “Cosmetics: Then and Now”

Ben Pleegs -- “Nursing”

Zeanee Sabia -- “Having Fun At the Beach Safety Tips”

Audrey Derapporto -- “How Families Can Create Healthy Relationships”

Catherine Campbell -- “Anyone for Tennis?”

Marvin Cloud -- Writers: “Understanding the First Rule of Writing – Before You Start the Great American Book”

Robert Kempster -- Writers: “Article Writing: Breaking Writer’s Block”

Marie M. Roker -- “Are You Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child?”

written and published by Rosanne Catalano

(aka R.C.Kayla)

writer/author and ezine Chief Editor

http://www.rosannecatalano.net

“The Cat’s Meow for Writers & Readers” ezine chief editor

© May 10, 2005

COFFEE HOUSE 4 POETS & WRITERS:

(Every Month Highlighting Artistic Talent)

FEATURED POET THIS MONTH: HEIDI LYNN (“DIZZY”) METZGER

OH NO NOT AGAIN

written by Heidi Lynn Metzger

© April 4, 2005 by Heidi L. Metzger

The tears have fallen

But my head still hurts

My heart is crying out for

Whom should be in it

But he is not

It is crying and screaming

But he can not hear his name

Wrong doing was done

But yet admit was admitted

Pain was caused

Harm was done

Now I have to let the healing begin

Not only for him

But for me too

My head

His heart

My leg

His trust

My back

His love

I love him

I hope he still loves me…

OUR FAMILY WIND

written by Heidi Lynn Metzger

© February 27, 2005 by Heidi L. Metzger

Like winds crossing

and blending together,

So are we and our children

as they grow

They’ll soon cross other winds as well

Making our families much stronger still

“OH WHAT A BROKEN HEART TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVES”

written by Heidi L. Metzger

© April 2005 by Heidi Lynn Metzger

As I sit in a place I have been before

I think about my past

The love I lost

And the love that I gained

I think about my future

The love that I could have

And the love that should be forbidden

But to my heart

It is not

My heart cries out for that love again

It knows where it belongs

And that is where it wants to be

But then there is that suppose of love

That sits back and watches

My heart wants in to play

But it sits back

And does nothing

Oh what a broken heart

Torn between two loves

The suppose of love is okay to have in everyone’s eyes

But the love that should be forbidden is the one

Where the heart wants to run back to

My heart feels that suppose of love will end up hurting it

But the forbidden love will repair what damage has been done

My poor broken heart

Torn between two loves

© April 2005 by Heidi Lynn Metzger

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Heidi Lynn Metzger is a part-time poet (published two poems online) and her school’s newsletter editor. If you like her poetry, please contact her at gettin_dizzy@yahoo.com to let her know how much her poems have touched you. Stay tuned for more poetry written by Heidi Lynn Metzger…

PERMISSION TO PUBLISH THESE POEMS WAS GIVEN (2005).

“CUTY BOY – AN AMAZING CAT!”

by Rosanne Catalano - www.rosannecatalano.net

Mr. Kennie Johns, of India, wrote into me about an amazing super-intelligent feline so excited for the cat’s owners because their wonderful and intelligent CutyBoy is now being recognized as a one-of-a-kind feline in all of human history, after much “testing” by experts of him. CutyBoy, himself, does not realize he has become a “star” but his “stage mom,” Hema and Kennie Johns, do and just hope that he won’t be too shy to show off his amazing IQ… Almost human-like, CutyBoy is a beautiful male feline who was adopted as a kitten, and according to his owners and experts who tested him, the orange-colored three-year-old Persian, who lives in Bur Dubai, India with his “stage mom” and her son, has an extraordinary passion for numerical problem solving and other educational abilities such as understanding commands in eight different languages!

The owners of CutyBoy discovered their cat’s abilities when he was just a kitten, and his family say that he can not only count, but can add, divide, multiply, subtract, find square roots and even work out algebra. Hema Mohan Chandra, who purchased CutyBoy from a pet shop in Dubai, said she was baffled by her pet’s seeming feline genius.

“We didn’t think there was anything special about CutyBoy when we first bought him as a kitten – but as time went on, we realized that he was better than the average cat,” says Hema, CutyBoy’s “stage mom.”

“I have grown up with cats in Kerala and adore them, but I’ve never come across something like this. I don’t know where he gets this talent from. It is a complete mystery, but we’ve tested him thousands of times and know it can’t be coincidence,” continued CutyBoy’s “mom.”

Hema Chandra claims that once she realized the potential of her cat, she began to experiment. “I started to ask CutyBoy if he knew about numbers, and as he’s always been able to indicate ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ it was easy to find out what he could learn.”

“I taught him numbers up to 20 and he shows he can count by touching my face lightly with his nose the correct amount of times. He even knows left cheek from right cheek.”

“Since then we’ve progressed to much more complicated mathematics and he gets the right answer every time. However, some of the numbers are too big for him to count for me, so I display a range of answers for him on cards and he indicates which ones are correct by twitching his tail and looking at them.”

To convince skeptics, his proud owners also had him tested by a math teacher who supports the findings. A mathematician at the Gulf Modern School of Dubai described CutyBoy as ‘extraordinary,’ saying: “I don’t know how that animal does it but he certainly has some peculiar gift with mathematics. I spent just 10 minutes testing him with algebra, geometry, and square roots, and he was right every time!”

Currently, other academic achievements on CutyBoy’s educational curriculum include understanding commands in eight different languages, color recognition and even extra sensory perception (ESP).

Now CutyBoy has gone global with his very own web site (http://www.cutyboy.com-index)... do check out the original CutyBoy web site, which was created by CutyBoy’s owners to make people aware of this amazing cat AND to bring awareness to the cruelty done to his fellow creatures, which he wants to stop. And he wants to foster compassion for his fellow beings by telling you this on his website.

CutyBoy’s web site has to be seen and read to be believed. Definitely an amazing feline!

Grief touches us all at some point in our lives…unfortunately, there is no escaping this fact. The next article, written by Gail H. Stone, may help in giving advice on three healing practices that may ease the pain of mourning.

“COPING WITH GRIEF”

by Gail H. Stone – www.GetAGripAndGo.com

“Dad, I tried to wake Nana, she won’t get up.”

“Grandpa died yesterday.”

“Oh my God, Daddy’s dead!”

“Uncle Jack died last night.”

“Grandma died last night.”

“I’m standing with the body of your deceased father-in-law.”

“Hon, I think we should get a divorce.”

“I’m sorry, but we weren’t able to resuscitate your mother.”

“Mike called. He thinks Mary is dead.”

“I’m sorry to leave this on your voice mail, but Uncle Andy died last night.”

This litany of phone calls and conversations on death or parting has all occurred in the past 30 years of my life, most in the last 20. Whether I was the one delivering or receiving these messages, the speaking of each one was the start of the long, seemingly endless process of grieving. Often, I felt so sucker punched that I doubted I could go on. Getting up the next day seemed impossible, yet somehow I almost always did.

Something deep inside told me I had to, that there was no other way to get through it, but to keep moving. I attribute that to my deep belief in a higher plan and a sense that getting through this trial was like going through a tunnel. I told myself that if I put one foot in front of the other, I would eventually come out the other side and be able to feel somewhat whole again. Sometimes, it was all I could do to put one toe in front of the other, but all forward movement I deemed positive.

The last five instances happened within the past five years, with my mother and sister-in-law and godfather’s deaths back-to-back in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Looking for the reason why I have been given so many opportunities to experience the grip of grief first hand. I now believe it was in order to help others and ease their way.

If you’ve been here, you know. There’s no magic pill to get you through the immense pain, intense sadness and amazing denial, anger and upset that you feel. However, I did create, through trial and error, a few simple practices which have profoundly impacted my journey through the tunnel and I would like to share them with you.

(1) Every single day, let in the love of family, friends and co-workers. On those days that you feel you can’t bear to see anyone or when you realize that some of them have moved on, thinking in error that you are “better,” read through the cards you’ve received. Save and then play voice mail messages and re-read emails of support. Give your heart a visible reminder that others do care and want to share your pain. Let them – mentally off-load a bit of it onto their shoulders. Don’t try to carry it all by yourself. It can crush you and it will try. Don’t let it!

(2) Create a morning or evening meditation time. Even if you can’t see how to find the time, do it somehow. This was especially helpful to me in getting through the horrible time of adjustment to life alone after my divorce and then again when my Mom died. I had always said a few wake-up prayers, but found I needed more. I started with Jerry Jampolsky’s book, “Love is the Answer” and read one (short) chapter a day. Then, I bought a book “A Course on Miracles” and mediated on the daily passages. While the 365 lessons seemed to represent a huge commitment, the daily phrases were so empowering that I continued.

Additionally, I saved affirmations from various sources like “Science of Mind” magazine and “The Daily Word,” and read them daily. Any quote from a book or article that I thought would motivate me to get up and make the day a less painful one than the day before, I saved and re-read daily. I posted the best of them around my office and in my mediation area. I still do. When you actively start looking for empowering passages, you will be touched and inspired by what comes your way.

(3) Finally, but most importantly, express yourself in some way often! I would recommend that you do it daily, as well. I found out the hard way that keeping emotions bottled up or trying to ignore them hurt more in the long run and adversely affected my health. Talk to people about your loved one, write about him/her, start a journal of your thoughts and feelings, scream whenever you can find a place where you won’t alarm the neighbors, family members or fellow travelers, do some kind of physical exercise to work off steam ~ whenever and wherever you can vent, do so daily.

To anyone caught in the black and blue morass of grief, I invite you to consider adding these three emotionally healing practices to your daily life. They have helped me come through some horribly upsetting times, still sad at heart, but feeling more serene in the knowledge that I can and will go on – living my life to the best of my ability – for my dear ones and with my dear ones safely ensconced in my mind and heart forever more.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gail H. Stone is Founder of Creative Mastery Coaching, LLC. Find out how you can Get a Grip and Go®! And register for your Get a Grip Clips today at http://www.GetAGripAndGo.com

Enjoy a burst of energy and inspiration delivered to your inbox every three days!

PERMISSION TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE WAS GIVEN (2005).

Jennifer Minar is a freelance/contributing writer who has written important info on handling rejection slips to impart for my readers who are writers/authors… and even if you are not a writer/author, I hope you will find Ms. Minar’s article on understanding rejection slips to be very helpful in dealing with “rejection” in general….

“WRITING FICTION: UNDERSTANDING REJECTION SLIPS”

by Jennifer Minar – www.WritersBreak.com

You think you’ve nailed it.

You watch for the postman day after day, and finally he/she arrives with the SASE envelope you so lovingly sealed weeks before. Your heart pounding, you run to the mailbox (in your towel) and snatch it out of his/her hands. It feels awfully light, but you ignore that minor detail.

You dash back into the house and slam the door behind you. Letting the towel slip to the floor, somewhere between the foyer and living room, you now stand next to the kitchen counter.

Taking a deep breath, you pry it open. Then you read: Dear author, “Thank you for your submission. However this piece is not for us…”

Your breath catches in your throat. You feel your spirit being sucked from your very being. Reaching for your towel, you curse angrily. What does this person know anyway? He doesn’t know me! But as your anger subsides and you realize that there’s a reason this person is in the position he/she’s in, you ultimately begin to do the worst thing possible: you begin to question your worth as a writer.

Why do you put yourself through this torture? I’ll tell you why… because rejection slips go with the territory. For a writer, rejection slips are simply a rite of passage—and by understanding what they are and what they aren’t, you may not only ease some of the pain, you’ll grow as a writer.

All writers suffer rejection. Yes, even the greats. An editor from the San Francisco Examiner sent this in a rejection letter to Rudyard Kipling: “I am sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use the English language.” Even e.e. Cummings wasn’t immune to rejection. Did you know it was Cummings’ mother who first published his poems after a dozen publishers rejected them? Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was rejected at least six times before she published it herself. If these acclaimed authors faced rejection, why wouldn’t you or I?

Rejections aren’t personal. Publishing is a business, not an art. If the agent or editor thinks he can sell your idea or manuscript, he’ll buy it. Perhaps your piece wasn’t for that editor, that particular day. Maybe he had a similar piece in queue. In fact, there are many trivial factors that determine whether or not a publisher decides to buy your book or story. Most times it doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of your manuscript. So don’t take it personally.

Value criticism. If an agent/editor scribbles a note on your rejection letter, pay attention! More often than not, writers are simply sent a form letter, left to wonder why a piece was rejected. If he scribbles some advice, don’t discount it just yet—there may be some merit to it. For instance, if you repeatedly get rejections on a certain piece, or a comment is made by more than one editor, you will want to consider the possibility that maybe it’s not sharp enough… yet. Conversely, do not make changes you do not feel are right. Talk to someone who has read your work, and find out what they think about the suggestion.

Rejections should be seen as a sign of accomplishment. Rejections are a sign that you’re working hard. Be proud that you actually wrote something, polished it, researched your markets, and mailed it out. That, in itself, is an accomplishment. Most people will go to their graves with the unrealized intention of getting this far!

Don’t let rejection slips slow you down. You’re chasing your dream—and if you want it badly enough, you won’t quit. You’ll keep chasing it until you catch it.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer Minar is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the managing editor of “Writer’s Break.com.” She can be contacted at jminar@writers.break.com and http://www.WritersBreak.com on the web.

If you own your own business (home-based or brick-mortar), marketing it is a must! Charlie Cook asks you the question of “What’s missing from your marketing?” and helps to guide you to getting the most out of marketing your business, and even tells you, the business owner, how to go about it. Please read on for Charlie Cook’s very informative article…

“WHAT’S MISSING FROM YOUR MARKETING?”

by Charlie Cook – www.marketingforsuccess.com

Holly called from Anchorage, Alaska looking for ideas on ways to increase advertising sales. She provides live traffic reports from her plane to six radio stations and wanted to help selling the 15-second advertising spots she reads during the traffic reports.

John called from Boston, Massachusetts for ideas on how to market his new product. He wants companies like Black and Decker to license, produce and market a unique hydraulic hand tool he and his partners have patented.

These two clients are as different as night and day in terms of the products and services they offer, but both have the same objective and are stuck on the same problem. They’re having difficulty getting prospects’ attention and both want more qualified prospects to contact them.

Are you getting your prospects’ attention?

Do you want more prospects to contact you?

I review a lot of marketing copy, ads, websites, and sales letters for people who want to attract more clients and most of them have the same problem. They’re missing at least one of the three core elements essential to attracting prospects and helping them become customers and clients. Whether you are marketing yourself as a real estate broker, accountant, business coach or you sell advertising in Anchorage, Alaska, your marketing should be structured around these three elements.

1. Problem

This is what your prospects are thinking about and what prompts them to open the yellow pages, use Google to search the web or call you. They’re asking themselves questions like:

How can I get more clients? Where can I get an iPod? How can I keep more of what I make? How can I keep my figure? How can I avoid losing everything if my house burns down? How can I avoid wasting m0ney? How can I eliminate back pain? How can I eliminate stress?

When you know what your prospects want, you have the key to getting their attention. Lead with a quick sentence or question about your prospects’ primary concerns; what it is that they want to Get, Keep, Avoid or Eliminate.

2. Solutions

Once prospects have learned that you understand their concerns, they want to know if you can help them Get, Keep, Avoid or Eliminate what they want. Tell them about the solution you provide to their problem and the benefits it provides. Using their list of concerns and wants, explain how your product or service can help them.

Credentials and technical features may matter to some, but it’s the results your product or service provides that will convince a prospect to buy. Write a list of five to ten results your product or service provides and use these in your marketing copy.

3. Call to Action

Is this the point in the process when you tell your prospects to buy? Yes, you do want to give prospects the option to make an immediate purchase, but in most cases, they won’t. Remember that 80% of people scan and research their options for weeks, if not months, before making a purchase.

Prompt your prospects to buy but make sure to also give them a reason to contact you so you can build a relationship with them.

Tell them which actions to take and why.

Where should you use this marketing sequence?

Everywhere you market. If you contract with Holly for one of her 15-second radio spots, lead with a problem, then describe the solution and the results and tell people how to contact you. You’d use the same formula if you were writing copy for a postcard mailing piece or the pages of your web site. That’s right; each and every page of your marketing can benefit from using these three core elements.

For example, most web sites have an “About” page or a “Products” page. In most cases, these are comprehensive, descriptive and boring. Before you write or rewrite them, stop and think about your objectives. What do you want your prospects to think and do when they read or hear each of your marketing pieces, including your web pages?

You want to get peoples’ attention, to position yourself as someone who provides solutions to their problems, and you want them to contact you.

Include these three essential elements (Problem, Solution and Call to Action) in all of your marketing and your conversations, and you’ll increase response rates and generate more new business whether you are designing industrial tools or circling Anchorage to provide traffic reports from your plane.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook, for small business owners and people responsible for marketing, “7 Steps to Get More Clients and Grow Your Business” at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com.

That plastic card… who can’t seem to live with or without it? Unfortunately in today’s society, having a credit card is a ‘must’ if you want to purchase products on the Internet, want to obtain a mortgage, or just reserve a seat on an airplane so please do read Connie Gutchrif’s very, very helpful article on how not-to get into major trouble with these plastic things that also act as “money”…

“CREDIT CARDS ~ A BLESSING OR A CURSE?”

by Connie Gutchrif – www.fncredit.com

Having a credit card can be a wonderful thing. It is a big advantage to have a credit card, especially when you want to make purchases online, reserve plane fare or hotel rooms over the phone, or just don’t happen to have cash when you decide to make a purchase. However, having credit cards can cause several problems if you don’t watch your spending habits carefully. Using a credit card is serious and should be recognized as a huge responsibility. If you follow these simple tips to using credit cards, you should stay out of trouble and find your credit cards to be a benefit to you:

1. ~When you charge on a credit card, you are actually taking a mini loan! Make sure you don’t overcharge, as it is your responsiblility to pay back what you have borrowed.

2. ~Always be aware of your outstanding credit card balances. This will help you determine whether you can make additional purchases. Even small purchases can really add up to big balances and substantial interest charges.

3. ~Keep all of your credit card receipts at least long enough to be able to compare them with your monthly credit card bills. Contact your credit card company immediately if you notice purchases that are not yours or if any of the purchase amounts are higher than what your receipts indicate.

4. ~Never give out your credit card to anyone! This includes people in your family and any of your friends. It is not that you cannot trust these individuals, but you cannot track purchases you are not even making.

5. ~Never charge more than you can repay. When you do, you can hurt your future chances of getting any kind of credit, including car loans, home mortgages and other forms of loans.

6. ~Always pay your bills in a timely fashion. If you pay them on time, you can avoid the hefty finance charges and accruing interest. When you miss payments and add on these charges, the balance just keeps getting higher and higher.

7. ~Pay your credit card bills in full every month. This is easy to do if, based on your income, you establish a monthly budget for your credit card purchases and then not exceed that.

8. ~Use your credit cards for new purchases only. Do not get into the habit of paying one credit card bill with another. That will usually lead to more spending and higher debt balances.

___

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Connie Gutchrif is the President of FN Credit – An excellent resource for information on credit. To learn more, be sure to visit her at http://www.fncredit.com.

Ok, you have your own business, now you have to design and construct that web site for customers to be able to visit and buy your products or request your services, but how-to go about creating a basic web site layout without having to hire yourself a Web Designer since funds are limited?… Well, Herman Drost is here to save the day! Herman Drost wrote the very informative and technical article below about the basic CSS layout that all web designers are using nowadays so please do read his helpful article and instructions…

“HOW TO BUILD A BASIC CSS LAYOUT”

by Herman Drost – www.iSiteBuild.com

Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming the new standard on the Web because of the benefits mentioned in my previous article: http://www.isitebuild.com/css/

Web browsers used these days are now able to render web pages proficiently. In this article I will endeavor to create a basic 2 column CSS layout which you can use for your future design projects.

Here is the live web page of the basic CSS layout:

http://www.isitebuild.com/css/css-layout.html

1. Divide your page into sections – the <div id> tags allows you to create distinct divisions on your web page. They are identified with a unique id. You can then add a style (css selector) that specifically applies to the div of that id. Remember to include the DOCTYPE (to render your page accurately in the browsers) and meta tags (enables search engines to spider your pages).

wrapper: is the div that wraps around all the other divs like a container for the page elements;

header: defines the top banner of the page;

main: defines the main content of the page;

nav: defines the navigation of the page;

footer: defines the footer and sub-navigation of the page.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0

Transitional//EN”

http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd>

<head>

<title>How to Build a Basic CSS Layout</title>

</head>

BASIC CSS LAYOUT

Navigation

</div>

2. Create the CSS code – below is the CSS code that styles the page as a centered 2 column CSS layout with a navigation bar and a folder. The div#wrapper style creates the centered box which acts as a container for the rest of the page content. The width: 80% rule sets the width of the div. The background-color: #FFFFFF rule creates a white background for the div. The margin-top: 50px and margin-bottom: 50 px rules create a space of 50 pixels for the top and bottom margins for the div itself.

The proper way to center a block-level element with CSS is to set margin-left: auto and margin-right: auto. This instructs the browser to automatically calculate equal margins for both sides, thus centering the div. The border: thin solid #000000 rule adds a border around the outer div. The rest of the CSS code syles the divs for the header, footer, nav, and main content.

The div#header and div#footer styles set margins and padding for those divs. In addition, div#header includes the text-align: center rule to center the header text, and div#footer includes the border-top: thin solid #000000 rule to create a border along the top edge of the div to replace the horizontal rule above the footer in the table-based layout.

The div#nav and div#main styles create the two columns in the middle of the centered box. In the div#nav style, the float: left rule pushes the div to the left side of its parent element (the wrapper div), and the width: 25% rule sets the div’s width to 25 percent of the parent element. With the nav div floated to the left and limited to a set width, it leaves room for the main div to move up to the right of the nav div, thus creating the two-column effect. The div#main style includes the margin-left: 30% rule to keep the main text aligned in a neat column instead of spreading out below the nav column. The main div’s left margin is set to a value slightly larger than the width of the nav div.

<!--

body {

background-color: #999999;

font-size: 12px;

font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;

}

div#wrapper {

width: 80%;

background-color:#FFFFFF;

margin-top: 50px;

margin-bottom: 50px;

margin-left: auto;

margin-right: auto;

padding: 0px;

border: thin solid #000000;

}

div#header {

padding: 15px;

margin: 0px;

text-align: center;

}

div#nav {

width: 25%;

padding: 10 px;

margin-top: 1px;

float: left;

}

div#main {

margin-left: 30%;

margin-top: 1px;

padding: 10px;

}

div#footer {

padding: 15px;

margin: 0px;

border-top: thin solid #000000;

}

-->

</style>

3. Create the side navigation menu – to build the left side navigation I use the normal CSS code for the different links i.e.

a:link {

text-decoration: none;

}

a:visited {

text-decoration: none;

}

a:hover {

text-decoration: underline;

color: #FF0000;

}

a:active {

text-decoration: none;

}

If links are placed elsewhere on the page they will inherit the same properties as above..a blue link that hovers to red.

What if you wish to create another set of different colored links that change color and are underlined when your mouse passes over them?

4. Create the bottom navigation – to include this in the <div id=”footer”> section of the page, I use div#footer and code each link accordingly. To make the list go horizontally I use: display: inline;

div#footer ul li a{

color : #000000;

background-color: transparent;

display: inline;

}

div#footer ul li a{

color : #115EAC;

background-color : transparent;

text-decoration : none;

}

div#footer ul li a:hover{

text-decoration : underline;

}

-->

Now that I have finished creating my style sheet I want to shorten the code on page by linking it to my external style sheet. Here’s how:

5. Create an external style sheet – copy and paste all the css code (without these tags: <style type=”text/css”><!--

--></style>) into notepad and label it something like “style sheet”. Place this style sheet between the head tags of your web page like this:

<head>

type=”text/css” />

</head>

This will reduce the code on your page so it will load fast plus the search engines can more easily spider your web page.

6. Add content to your page – after you have got your page looking correctly, you can add more content to it. Adjustments can easily be made to any style on the page (or your whole site) by simply editing one style sheet.

7. Upload your files – be sure to upload your web pages and style sheet to the root directory of your server.

8. Validate your code – be sure to validate your xhtml code: http://validator.w3.org/ and css code: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ and make corrections where necessary.

9. Check browser compatibility and screen resolution – check that your page renders well in the popular browsers (1E6, NN7, Firefox)

If you are beginning with CSS layouts, implement them slowly by making small changes to your pages i.e. creating a style sheet for your main headers and fonts only. As you become more familiar with CSS you may eventually build all your future sites with CSS layouts.

Resources:

Basic CSS layout

http://www.isitebuild.com/css/css-layout.html

CSS Style Sheet

http://www.isitebuild.com/css/stylesheet.htm

Benefits of CSS

http://www.isitebuild.com/css/index.htm

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MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Herman Dorst is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com. Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting. Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original articles. mailto: subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles.

You love architecture and admire all those wonderful old buildings and the new ones being constructed every day around you… you think to yourself, “If only I could design and build something so beautiful!” Conrad Murton is here to help – he tells you what’s involved in pursuing a career in this field and on how to become an architect! Make no mistake about it though, architecture is not an easy field to be in, you must really love to design, construct and build that “dream” home or building or, even, skyscraper for people to enjoy and marvel at… but first it takes many years of schooling and lots of hard work, which Conrad Murton will explain in his wonderful, informative article… and he pulls no punches on the “reality” of a career in architecture!

“PURSUING A CAREER AS AN ARCHITECT”

by Conrad Murton – www.fsoarchitects.com

If you are intrigued by buildings and architecture, a career as an architect may be a wonderful career option for you! Architects create, design, and construct the fabulous buildings that are an integral part of our lives. Architects are people that not only have a large amount of creativity and imagination, but a tremendous amount of technical knowledge as well. Training as an architect is a long process requiring extensive education but the results are well worth it.

Most people do not rush into architecture after completing high school. This is a career, which is hardly considered by many teenagers when planning their future. You require a great deal of training to become an architect. It requires you to undergo five years of training program before you can practice architecture in the United States.

Some people want to do something creative after working in their chosen profession for some time. For example: an engineer after working for a few years as a civil engineer may desire to do something creative. You can also divert from your present education after verifying the individual requirement of various schools. It is advisable to consult your counselor.

To become a licensed architect there are some requirements to be fulfilled. After you have completed the essential training of architecture, you have to appear for the Architecture Registration Examination, wherein you have to pass eight architecture specific examinations. You will also require gaining eight years of experience.

The requirements are those necessary to become a licensed architect in the United States, but each country has their own regulations for licensing. In most countries there is a governing board that provides architects with support and keeps them up to date on current events relating to the field of architecture.

Life as an architect can be very rewarding and satisfying, but like any other job it has its share of difficult times. Someone who is unsure about his or her career should not choose architecture. This profession requires a lot of dedication and hard work.

Once you are a licensed architect you can decide which area of architecture you are interested in. You may want to work for a firm that designs skyscrapers to decorate the city’s skyline or perhaps you are interested in building unique homes. There are so many opportunities for the aspiring architect that you’ll want to experiment in several different areas before limiting yourself to one choice.

Some architects take great satisfaction by being involved in non-profit organizations that work towards making cities more livable and finding innovative ways to use indigenous materials for safe housing. This is just one of many ways architects are able to give back to the community.

Becoming an architect may not be the first career choice for kids graduating from high school but once in the workforce many people realize that architecture can be an interesting and rewarding career. Architecture is a unique way to combine an interest in arts and the sciences. As an architect, you get an opportunity to satisfy both your right and left brain sides. Check out your local colleges and universities for available programs and courses in architecture.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Conrad Murton is the chief editor for FSO Architects, the web’s premier resource for information about architects. For more articles on architects, visit: http://www.fsoarchitects.com/articles.

Once again, author Charlie Cook, provides helpful tips for my readers on getting more “visitors” to your web site if you are a business owner…

“HOW TO GET MORE VISITORS TO YOUR WEB SITE”

by Charlie Cook – www.marketingforsuccess.com

When you were five or ten years old you may have played the game of hide and seek where the object was to avoid being found. The longer you could stay hidden and the harder it was to be discovered the better.

As a business owner or someone responsible for marketing a business you want to do the opposite. Instead of remaining hidden from view, you want to make it as easy as possible for members of your target market to find you again and again.

You may have a PhD, worked for big name clients, provide outstanding service or have a new ground breaking product but if people can’t find you it is tough to build revenue. What you want is to be found so prospects contact you and you can convert them to client status.

What happens when someone is looking for a new product or service? More and more customers and consumers use the Internet to search for the goods and services they need, to the point that ‘Google’ has become a verb. They may also use the search engines provided by Yahoo, AOL and MSN.

A prospect types in a set of keywords, your name or your company name into a search engine, with Google being used by far the most frequently. Can they find your web site? Go to www.Google.com and try the following three tests:

1. If a prospect hasn’t heard of your company they won’t be searching for your firm by name. Instead they will be searching using keywords that describe the problem they want solved or the type of information they are looking for. If they are looking for ways to motivate employees, that’s what they will type in the search box. If they are looking for adventure vacation ideas for Costa Rica, they’ll enter that in the search box.

My prospects might enter, ‘attract more clients’, ‘marketing coach’, ‘web marketing plan’ or ‘web lead generation’ in Google. When they do, they’ll find my site at the top or at least in the first 10-15 listings.

Type the problem you solve or the solutions you offer into Google’s search box. Is your site listed at or near the top of the listings? Is it even in the top 100?

2. Type your own name in the search box. Does your web site come up at the top of the page or in the first 20 listings?

3. Type your name and/or your company name in the search box, for example: “Charlie Cook” or “Marketing For Success”. Did Google find your site in or near the top spot?

If you aren’t happy with the results of these tests, your web site needs work.

How to Avoid Playing Hide and Seek With Your Business

A Smart Domain Name

Choose a domain name that is simple and obvious or simple and memorable. If your company is called Bollard and Jones Realty (or whatever) try to obtain bollardandjones.com as your domain name. That way, a prospect who knows your company name can type it into their browser and easily find your site.

The simple and memorable strategy is to use your domain name to describe what you do. Once prospects have found your site through a search engine, typing in the domain name will reinforce the ways you can help them. For example: www.marketingforsuccess.com or www.printondemand.com.

Keywords That Work

While there are many ways to improve your use of keywords on your web pages, you can boost your marketing in the search engines simply by using your keywords in your page title tag, your metatags and 4 to 6 times in the text on your page. Make sure to use them in normal, well-written sentences.

Flash and Splash

When you submit your site to the search engines, they are looking for text. Pages full of pictures or with just your company logo (splash pages) or mini-movies (flash animations) may look pretty but they won’t help the search engines judge what your site is about. In addition, research shows that 90% of visitors find these entrance Flash and Splash pages annoying. Rather than move further into your site, most visitors will leave. Avoid home pages full of pictures, movies or with minimal text. They may look nice, but they won’t help people find you.

Build Links

One of the best ways to boost your site’s rankings and thus get more visitors is to get other sites to add links from their site to yours. An extremely effective way to do this is to write articles and distribute them to sites visited by your target market. Most site managers and ‘webmasters’ are hungry for relevant content. Provide these sites content they want and they’ll be happy to use it and link back to your site.

Stay in Touch

Offer an incentive to get site visitors to give you their contact information, and join your e-mail list. You can also follow up with a call or a mailing. Once a prospect has been to your web site, you want to regularly remind them of the problems you solve and the services you provide. Don’t let your prospects forget you when they are ready to make a purchase.

Avoid playing hide and seek with your target market. Help more people find you and you’ll grow your business. Tune up your web marketing strategy and your web site and you’ll have more site visitors, more prospects and more business.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Roofs, gotta love them or hate them… love them when there is no problems such as leaks, holes, etc. but when there is a problem… call in the roofer to fix it! Helen Harris will explain below about the basics of roofing, which all buildings whether homes, industrial or office buildings must have over it to protect the inhabitants inside from the elements out…

“ROOFING: THE BASICS”

by Helen Harris – www.acroofing.com

Roofing provides us with the protection that we need from the elements when we are in our houses and other structures. Roofing has evolved from being made using straw and mud to tiles and asphalt and truly is a precise art but most of us know very little about it. We really don’t appreciate the true value of roofing until we have a problem with our roof. We rely on roofing experts to construct this essential element of our buildings and to repair the roof when it is required with as little involvement as possible from ourselves.

There are a variety of techniques involved in the whole roofing process. The roof has to be designed, as well as the material from which it is going to be made. Then there is the manufacturing process and, eventually, the final installation of the roofing. All buildings need a roof of one type or another and these diverse styles of roofing can give otherwise identical structures a very different finished look. Office buildings would have a more quaint appeal if they had thatched roofing just as houses with flat roofs appear to be lacking part of their character.

Of course, roofing requires some level of maintenance and repair during its lifetime and this is where the experienced roofer comes in again, apart from being a vital part of the initial roofing installation process. The weather is often instrumental in causing damage to roofing with hurricanes blowing tiles from roofs and rain leaking through the subsequent holes. Old age plays its own part in roofing deteriorating and roofers need to be able to replace small areas as well as entire roofs to be constantly in demand.

A roofing job may actually be a great job to have in a place where natural disasters like hurricanes are prevalent. Even if the storm does not destroy the entire house, it may do damage to the roof that someone will need a professional to repair. Being a roofer is a very good job but it is one that may require some hard work. You will have to be on top of high roofs and you may be out in hot sun or even poor weather. Since the people you are building or repairing the roof for will be depending on you, it is an important job for you to complete.

There are numerous skills involved in becoming a roofer, depending on the type of roofing you want to work with. The one thing that is guaranteed, for the foreseeable future is that we will always need roofing and so we will always need roofers.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Helen Harris is the Webmaster of A&C Roofing, which is a premier resource for roofing information. For questions or comments about this article, please visit her at http://www.acroofing.com.

Some enjoy and dance to the beat of it, some sing to it because they just can’t help feeling the emotions of a song… music and its origins will be talked about by author Melody Geburts in the article below… please do read Melody Geburts informative article on music and how long it has been around.

“MUSIC”

by Melody Geburts – www.fudmusic.com

This is a broad subject as music has been around since humans first walked the earth. The oldest known musical instrument was named the Neanderthal flute. It was constructed from the femur of a prehistoric bear and thought to be somewhere around 43,000 and 82,000 years old. The instrument had two complete holes and two partial holes at each end of the broken bone.

The oldest song was discovered in the 1950s by some French archeologists. It took years to decipher the markings on the stone tablets, but researchers eventually interpreted them to be musical notes on the top part and at the bottom were instructions for playing it.

Most people from all over the globe love listening to and making music and it’s really a part of our human experience. It is a source of peace, motivation and entertainment that entices us to want to dance and sing. Most of us don’t know a lot about music or even why we like some and not other forms of it, we just know that it sounds good to our ears and often enhances whatever emotion we are feeling at the time.

Classical music has been around since 1200 AD. European in origin, its style has changed over several periods. The first was during the middle ages. The next was the Renaissance which lasted from around 1400 to 1600, leading into Baroque (early and late) 1600-1750, Classic 1750-1825, Romantic 1825-1900, Modern 1900-1945. The stars of this genre composed mostly in the Classic and Romantic periods and are still popular today. Many of the Moderns are also enjoyed.

A distinctive American genre is Jazz. It began at the turn of the 20^th century in New Orleans, and sprung to life around the same time in Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. Jazz has its roots in the African American slave culture, and later combined with elements from classical music. A distinctive American invention, jazz is still loved worldwide. It is considered a true art form by many and is based on human emotion. It is perhaps best known for players who are expert at improvisation.

Ever since the 1940s, the world has seen a number of post-modern musical styles. The light classics composed for Broadway shows were extremely popular and are making a comeback today. Big bands playing swing music and featuring singers were a big draw for both listeners and dancers. Rock and Roll followed and was loved by the young. Middle aged people still wax nostalgic over their favorites from the 50s and 60s. Rock turned to hard rock or heavy metal and introduced wild electronic forms of expression. We’ve also seen grunge and garage bands, wrap and hip-hop, and ballads.

Music is an ever changing form of expression. In our shrinking world, countries all over the globe are sharing their music with one another. Now that we can download it from the Internet, people are collecting music more than ever. Generations tend to mock one another, but there is no denying that every culture and age loves some type of music. We can be sure that it will always be a presence in our lives.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Geburts is the Owner of FUD Music, which is a premier resource for information on pets. For questions about this article, or for more information, go to: http://www.fudmusic.com.

The evolution of cosmetics is fascinating, to say the least… your browsing at the department store cosmetics counter and wonder what women did to beautify themselves before there was such a wide selection? Arnaud Bruyerie would like to explain this evolution to my dear readers and what exactly women did use before Max Factor, Maybelline and Revlon came into existence… please do enjoy reading his informative article on cosmetics!

“COSMETICS: THEN AND NOW”

by Arnaud Bruyerie – www.fabcosmetics.com

For centuries women have strived to become beautiful and glamorous by getting that ~perfect look~ through highlighting their features and hiding imperfections with various resources available at the time.

Plain Jane has never been the idol, in each generation there has been a different look which is fashionable and to get it women have gone to great extent irrespective of the help available by means of cosmetic products. But if you were to look back in time, you will find that women have not always had this luxury of finding a cosmetic for their each and every need. In fact, as close as the turn of the 20^th century there were hardly any cosmetic goods that women could make use of. Most of the ladies made their own lotions and creams for use, spicing up simple products with their own additions. It is only after that cosmetics have started being manufactured. As a result, in our times there has been resounding success in the cosmetic industry.

In the early 1900s, in place of mascara women coated their eye lashes with beads of wax and henna was used in place of eyeliner. There was no such thing as foundation make up, but powder was available that was dabbed on to the face, until Max Factor came up with their Pan-Cake make-up in 1914. One must remark that because of the cosmetic products and the styles by which they were applied, a look at one of the ladies from these times would be an experience in itself.

After the Pan-Cake make-up, next to hit the market was the compressed powders which were followed by powdered blush. Just before this lipstick had been marketed. Then came the lipsticks with metal bases to protect them from damage when placed in the purses or carrying cases. At around the same time an attempt was made to have tattooed lipstick on those who were brave and adventurous enough, but this trend failed because of the high risk and dangers to be faced by the women who went in for lipstick tattoos.

Maybelline was the first brand to introduce its line of masacaras. The idea for Mascara was introduced after the originator noticed how his sister was applying petroleum jelly to her lashes, to make them look longer, silkier and fuller.

The only thing that’s really changed regarding women and their make-up is the convenience in which they can now purchase and apply it in its various forms. Today, women have only to go to the local department store to find entire rows of cosmetics from which to choose. Whether they prefer a bold, bright look or something a bit more demure, there are enough styles and shades of every type of make-up to spin the head of the most sensible of women.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: