NullEnergy

10 Forgotten Classic but Uncommon Baby Names

	An eccentric and unique name may be desirable for some people, but without careful thought it can be a burden for a child. It has become somewhat du jour to follow in the footsteps of celebrities who give their babies names like Audio Science and Inspektor. This may work in the social circles of the famous, but for the average person these types of names are usually far less of a benefit. Likewise, giving a child a common name with an uncommon spelling will require him to be constantly correcting people and spelling out his name. So what is a parent to do if they want their baby's name to be special, but not so special it creates a burden? Check out the 10 baby names below that have been largely forgotten but still remain classic. 

1. Dinah
    The name Dinah has a decidedly maternal feel to it. It's not hard to imagine a strong, earthy, beautiful woman with this name. 

2. Annabelle
    Annabelle is almost a song in itself. It has a sweet sound and is entirely feminine. Annabelle also has the distinct advantage of having two very nice options to shorten the name: Anna or Belle. 

3. Annette
    Similar to Annabelle, the name Annette is very feminine. Annette has a crisp, fresh sound and conjures up a vision of a girl who is cute and spunky. 

4. Marilyn
    One can't help but envision the famous beauty Marilyn Monroe when they hear this name. Marilyn has a conservative yet sensual sound. It is a perfect balance of class and natural femininity. 

5. Faye
    The name Faye is simple and pretty. There are few one syllable names which are good enough to stand alone, but Faye is one of them. It would also make a lovely middle name. 

6. Mick
    Mick is another good, simple name and perfect for a little boy. It has a strong sound and isn't fussy in the least. For those who like the names Nick or Mike but find them too common, the name Mick is a good option. 

7. Leon
    Regal like the lion which is the source for this name, Leon sounds proud and confident but also refined. Any boy would probably be happy to possess this name. 

8. Bruce
    The name Bruce has an almost mighty quality about it. It is undoubtedly masculine and tough. 

9. Charles
    A true classic that never truly fades from popularity, the name Charles invokes a vision of a male who is traditional and strong. 

10. Vincent
    The name Vincent has a smoky, dark quality yet is still popular and a strong boy's name. Even the shortened version, Vince, has a powerful quality and sound. 

Hopefully, some of these unique names will capture your fancy when searching for the perfect name for your baby. At the very least, let these names inspire you in your search. 

How to Throw a Pokemon Birthday Party For Your Child

Do you have a youngster who loves Pokemon? Does your child love watching the television series and playing the Pokemon card game? Maybe your youngster loves to dress up as popular characters or has a bedroom full of Pokemon stuffed animals. If your child is Pokemon-crazy, you might want to consider throwing a Pokemon-themed birthday party this year. Throwing a Pokemon party doesn't have to be stressful or overwhelming, nor does it have to be expensive. In fact, a Pokemon party can be a wonderful way to show your child how much you care about his or her interests and that you want the party to be memorable.

Invitations

 Before the party, you'll want to send out Pokemon-themed invitations. This will let your child's friends and relatives know about the upcoming event. Make sure to mail the invitations at least two weeks in advance and ask for RSVP's. To create your own invitations, you'll need white poster board and colored markers. Cut the poster board into 4-inch circles. Use a red marker to color the bottom half of each circle red. You'll then want to use a black marker to draw a straight line in the center of each ball. This will divide the red and black halves and give your card the appearance of a Pokemon ball. You can write the party information directly on the back of each ball. When you're finished, hand-deliver the invitations or place them in over-sized envelopes to mail. Make sure you check with your post office before mailing the cards, as oddly shaped letters can sometimes require extra postage.

 
Food

One of the most exciting parts of throwing a Pokemon party is the food. What foods do your child's favorite Pokemon like to eat? Grab several colorful bowls and fill them with matching foods. For example, get an orange bowl and fill it with orange chips or crackers. Label it with an orange Pokemon's name. You could mark is as "Charmander Food" or "Charizard Food." 

Another option would be to take a white party tray and paint the bottom half red. Use a black marker or black electrical tape to create a Pokemon ball divider line in the center of the tray. Place red foods in the bottom half of the tray and white foods in the top half. What kind of food could you use? Watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, white chocolate, or white candies.

Cake

No birthday celebration is complete without a cake and your child's Pokemon party is no exception. If you're not the cooking type, you can simply buy a regular sheet cake at your local bakery and purchase a few Pokemon figurines. Place them on the cake and you're good to go. If you prefer to make something yourself, you can bake a round cake and decorate it with white frosting. Use blackberries or chocolate chips to create a divider on the cake. You'll then slice up strawberries very thinly and place them on the bottom half of the cake to create your Pokemon ball cake.

Party Bags

Don't forget to give each child who attends the party a gift bag. You can use plain brown lunch bags to give each child their treats. Decorate the bags with Pokemon stickers and fill them with snacks, treats, and small toys. Want to make the gift bags really stand out? Consider giving each child a small Pokemon figure or even their own Pokemon card. If you're crafty, consider making each child a personalized Pokemon card with their own name and picture on it. They'll love the gift and will remember your child's party for years to come.

Sport of Dragon Boat Racing Continues to Gain Popularity

Dragon boat racing, an ancient sport which originated in China thousands of years ago, continues to gain popularity as an international sport with membership flourishing.  Tournaments and races are scheduled in some of the world’s most intriguing settings including Israel’s legendary Sea of Galilee, the floating city of Venice in Italy, and Freeport, the resort center of Grand Bahama Island in the Caribbean.

Often recognized as a professional tournament sport, dragon boat racing is branching out in other areas as well.  Festival hosts invite racers of all ages to join in on the fun and festivities by registering individual teams to race for a cure, raise funds for a cause, or simply paddle together as a team-building experience. 

Whether the crew is professional or amateur, dragon boat racing is an ultimate team sport which requires the crew to work together in harmony, strength, and endurance.  Crews are typically made up of twenty paddlers, one drummer, and one steerer each with unique yet unified functions. 

The drummer acts as the team’s captain and calls out needed pace changes to keep the crew in sync.  The steerer keeps the boat on course and the paddlers (the pacers, the engine room, and the rockets) propel the boat forward. After training together for weeks or even months, crews of adrenaline-charged paddlers set sail on race day.

Local waterways spring to life as colorful parades of dragon boats drift into view.  Ominous-looking carved dragon heads perched high at the bows lead crews of paddlers quietly to allotted horizontal racing lanes along the waterway.  Team chants arise from the boats as crews connect with themselves, each other, and possibly the divine in preparation for the day’s competition.  Then the horn sounds and the race for the finish line begins.

While celebrations today are commonly referred to as Dragon Boat Festivals traditional and statutory festivities are known also as Duanwu Festival and the Double Fifth. Duanwu Festival honored Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet who was exiled for 20 years in the latter part of the Warring States Period in China thousands of years ago. 

Legend has it that on the fifth day of the fifth month, Qu Yuan felt hopeless over the future of his country and drowned himself by walking into the Milou River carrying a heavy rock.  Countrymen made attempts to retrieve the poet’s body from the river and fed the fish pyramid-shaped zongzi (dumpling) to keep them away from Qu Yuan’s body.  However, the poet’s body was never recovered but his patriotism left an indelible mark for generations to come and Qu Yuan’s memory is honored annually through the Duanwu Festival.

Other legends state that Double Fifth festivities were timed annually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month based on the traditional Chinese calendar.  The timing of festivities also had ties to the summer solstice which occurs annually around June 21.  The mythical dragon was purported to be a revered deity and of great importance in ancient Chinese culture.  Dragons were customarily thought to be the rulers of many things including rivers, lakes, seas, clouds, mists, and rains. 

The Dragon Boat Festival began as a ritual for honoring the dragon at the onset of the agricultural season and at the time rice seedlings were transplanted to rice paddies, around the fifth of May.   Ritual festivities were designed to garner goodwill from the dragon, gain protection against pestilence and disease, and prevent misfortune. 

Festival traditions included cutting shapes from red paper in the shapes of lizards, toads, snakes, centipedes, and scorpions.  The paper shapes were placed in the mouths of carved dragon heads in hopes that the shapes would lure evil spirits away.  Traditional food prepared for the festivities included zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) wrapped in bamboo leaves or reed and shaped into triangles.  Many varieties of zongzi are shared today including zongzi stuffed with dates, walnuts, meat, eggs, rice, and fruits.

Another interesting tradition known as the awakening of the dragon may be performed at the beginning of the dragon race by VIPs who dot the dragon’s eyes with a paint brush dipped in red paint to awaken and re-energize the dragon in preparation for the day’s races.

Today, the international sport of dragon boat racing has gained popularity for a variety of reasons including celebrating cultural diversity, dragon boat racing’s corporate team-building qualities, opportunities to modify racing events as fundraisers allowing most anyone to participate, and as simple family fun activities.  Dragon boat racing also offers a new avenue to raise public awareness of breast cancer as crews of breast cancer survivors paddle in competitions worldwide.

DIY Seed Trays and Pots

Spring has sprung! Or just about. You can tell because gardeners are starting their seeds inside. Soon the soil will be warm enough for your little babies to be planted in their permanent location. But first, you need to get them to sprout out of their shells. Any gardener knows that seed trays and pots can add up in cost. This is especially true if you buy them new each year, or even every few years. However, you can make your own seed trays and pots by recycling supplies you already have on hand. This is a “green” way to start your garden and it’s easy on the budget. Here are some ideas for homemade seedling trays and pots.

Plastic Containers

Big and small plastic containers work for planting seeds. Add drainage holes by pricking a nail through the bottom a few times and you are ready to go. Small, individual-sized yogurt cups are ideal but larger containers, such as sour cream containers, also work. Fill the cups with moistened potting soil and plant your seeds to the desired depths. The only drawback is that you have to disturb the seedling before you replant it. Cover the top of the container with one hand, turn it upside down and tap the bottom to free the seedling. If you are careful, you won’t damage the plant or roots. Use plastic pots for plants that are sturdier or will remain inside longer so that they have a stronger root system and more leaves before they are moved.

Newspaper Containers

Newspaper makes great seedling pots because it quickly decomposes when you plant it in the soil. This means you don’t have to disrupt the roots when you transplant it. Only use black and white newspapers. Never use glossy or colored newsprint because it adds too many chemicals into the soil. You can make newspaper containers in several ways:

1.      Origami newspaper pots:

·         Cut a single, broadsheet (the big newspapers) in half so you only have one page in front of you.

·         Lay it on a flat surface like you are going to read it. Fold it in half from top to bottom, along the natural fold.

·         Fold it from left to right.

·         Repeat the left to right fold and make a sharp crease. Then unfold only the last fold. The crease is used as a guideline.

·         Position the newspaper so the folded edge is closest to your body.

·         Grasp the bottom right corner and fold it toward the middle of the paper. The crease mark serves as a gage.

·         Open up the triangle fold that you just created by sliding your finger between the layers of paper and fanning it open. Take the top layer and move the corner over to the left side of the paper. This creates a flat triangle that lays over the entire piece of paper. It looks similar to a boat sail, if you were to make an origami boat.

·         Turn the paper over and repeat on the other side to create a second triangle. Now you have a triangle that resembles a newspaper hat.

·         Hold the triangle in the air so you can see the four layers of the triangle. Invert the four layers so that they lay flat when you put them on the table.

·         Position the paper so that the wide, flat base of the triangle is closest to your body. Find on outside, bottom corner and fold it into the center crease. Make a crease. Fold the same piece of paper in on itself to the center crease. Repeat on the other side.

·         Turn the paper over and repeat the previous step. The paper will look like a pointed arrow.

·         Lift the paper up so that the point is facing down. Fold over each side about 2 inches on itself.

·         Slide your fingers between the layers and open the pot out. You’ll have a square shape that you can fill with potting soil and seeds.

2.      Paper Molds:

·         Shred black and white newspaper and add it to a blender.

·         Pour a small amount of water into the blender, half a cup at a time.

·         Turn the blender on and allow it to mix up the paper.

·         Push the paper down the sides with a spatula as needed.

·         Add more water to the mix as needed.

·         Continue working the paper in the blender until you get a thick, pulpy mass.

·         Drain any excess water

·         Add two tablespoons of the blended paper to each cup in a muffin tray. Use more for a large muffin cups and less for smaller cups.

·         Push the paper around the muffin cups until they cover the cups’ surface.

·         Leave the tray to dry for 24 hours.

·         Pop the newspaper cups out of the tray, fill with soil and use as you would another seed pot.

Egg Shells Containers

This is an interesting way to start seeds inside. Cut the tops off the largest raw eggs you can find. Use a serrated knife and saw the top one-quarter of the egg off. This is tricky. You’ll need a gentle, slow, steady pressure to do it successfully. Empty the contents out of the egg and rinse out the shell. Let the shell dry then fill it with soil and add a seed. These are not large, so they work best with small plants or plants that won’t be inside for long. Plant the shells directly into the ground.

Egg Cartons

Cardboard egg cartons are possibly the ideal, recycled material for seed trays. They are biodegradable, free and don’t need a lot of work. Simply fill them with soil, add a seed and water them. The lid can also be used as a wide tray, although the seeds won’t be separated. When you are ready, cut each eggcup away from the carton and plant it directly in the ground.

Some people use the styrofoam egg cartons as seed trays because the lids help conserve moisture when they are closed over the seeds. However, Styrofoam is extremely hard on the environment and shouldn’t be purchased for this project. 

Things Your Man Puts Up With For Some Reason

Relationships can be loving and supportive, but at times, they can be annoying. Does your girlfriend have irritating traits that make you want to run for the hills? You may be in denial and think your girlfriend is perfect. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with loving someone enough to overlook their faults. After all, if you didn't love her, you probably wouldn't put up with those aggravating characteristics. However, none of us are perfect and both sexes have those little habits that can get under your skin.

1) The Honey-Do 

One of the most annoying female traits is nagging. A girlfriend that nags constantly can drive a guy crazy. You know the type. She says things like, “I need you to take out the garbage. Are you going to take out the garbage? Huh? Huh? Did you hear me? Huh? Are you going to take out the garbage? Huh? Huh?” But, it’s not just the garbage she nags about. You hear this little script about everything. Then you get to the point where you wish she’d come down with laryngitis and you’re ready to cut your ears off. Even after you answer her and say, “Yes, Babe,” she still continues to say, “Did you hear me?” How can you not hear her? Everybody hears her all the time. This type of woman isn't just a nagging girlfriend – she’s just a nag.

2) The Phoneaholic

Advancements in technology are typically considered good. However, in the case of the cellphone, that’s one piece of technology that can make life miserable. Does your girlfriend text with lightning speed? Some women act like they are more in love with their cellphones than they are with their boyfriends. And if a cellphone gets broke, it’s the end of the world. It can be sheer torture for the man that gets called twenty times a day while he’s at work, and if his girlfriend isn't calling him, she’s texting him. It’s amazing how you can get paid for texting on your cellphone these days. It is astounding how a woman can be at work, but she’s texting her boyfriend every five minutes. Maybe someone should ask the workplace how they feel about paying their employees for texting their partners all day. It really is so hard to find good help anymore.

Are you scared of becoming a parent?

Parents sometimes make parenting more difficult than it has to be. Some people are more patient than others, and even the most patient parent may feel overwhelmed at times. But there are a few basic parenting principles that can make parenting easier for both parents and children.

Raising children can be a very eye-opening and rewarding experience. However, it does not have to be extremely stressful. All children will try and push beyond the parental boundaries at one point in their development. It is natural and expected as they grow and develop their independence.

Parents sometimes put off disciplining toddlers and preschoolers. They say things like, “She’s too young. I’ll start disciplining her when she gets older.” The problem with that type of logic is that if a child is allowed to behave however she wants for the first five or six years of her life, discipline at a later age is going to be more difficult. The unacceptable behavior may very well become a habit that is now part of her personality. 

Another mistake that parents make is waiting to discipline their first child until they have a second child. Once a new baby comes along, they find that they have less time, energy and patience to deal with unacceptable behavior in the older child. It will be very confusing and disheartening for the older child when he suddenly gets disciplined for behavior that previously had no repercussions.

More...

Do you eat way too much?

Overeating is not an uncommon problem. Most people overeat without realizing it. If you are an over-eater, these three tips are just for you.

1. Learn portion control

Most people are not taught about proper portions. This is something that everyone should be taught early in life. We think that as long as we’re slightly active we can eat anything we want. Overeating is a big problem in our society. It seems to be encouraged by family and friends constantly saying “eat more.” It’s also encouraged by fast food restaurants offering us more food for just pennies. It’s important to know how much you should really be eating. If you compare it to what you currently eat, you’ll be shocked at the difference. Don’t beat yourself up over it though. Most people are completely unaware of how much should really be eaten.

2. Drink water before every meal

If you love to go back for seconds and thirds of every meal, it would be a good idea to drink a glass of water before you sit down and start eating. This will fill you up a bit and you probably won’t want to eat as much. If you still find yourself wanting to eat more, drink another glass of water before you go for seconds.

   More...