I live not far from Pennsylvania and had the pleasure of visiting it not too long ago. Having lived in areas where smoking has been banned for quite a while I was shocked to go into a restaurant that allowed smoking. It was like a little bit of nostalgia from a time now past - remember the stench of old smoke, the smoke in your face while you’re trying to eat? It sounds terrible, and indeed it is terrible but having grown up in a smoking household I’m sure that second hand smoke still holds some charm for me.

Now many people believe that there will be negative effects on businesses once the ban goes into effect, and for a while there will be interviews with business owners complaining of decreases in revenue - but overwhelmingly other states have shown that people soon get used to the smoking ban and go on with life as usual.

It’s not all bad news, or good news depending on which side of the fence your on; there are exemptions for bars that derive less than 20% of annual revenue in food sales, private clubs and tobacco shops and cigar bars. Hotels would be permitted to allow smoking in up to 25% of their rooms and public sporting events will have designated areas at the venue. There will also be an exemption for casinos outside of Philadelphia.

Quite frankly this is all a big surprise to me - I had no idea that Pa was known as the cigar capitol of the United States or that it was such a big gaming state. When I thought of Pennsylvania I had images of the Amish, fresh produce, and sweet baked goods. The thought south Florida was better known for cigars and that people would gamble …..I don’t know, somewhere more exciting than Pennsylvania.

As far as the effect of banning smoking I can only speculate that it might drive some people to find a better place to party.

I’m new to the Maryland area, to the Northeast in general, and I had no idea how terrible the summer was going to be. This coming from someone who has spent most of my adult life in Southern Arizona and Florida, not exactly known for mild weather.

Well the dreary, rainy, stormy spring turned into a steamy heat bath overnight - something that I’m guessing is very amiable for bug reproduction. Lets put it this way, in Florida I lived on a lake, and bugs were not really a problem. But here in beautiful Maryland, the proliferation of bugs is definitely a big problem. So much so that my daughter informs me that most of the kids in her high school carry their own insect repellent and every class has it’s own bottle of bug killer. So much for teaching about environmental awareness.

I happen to be one of the many unfortunate individuals that cannot tolerate bug spray (particularly insect killer). I understand the necessity of keeping insects under control and I try to be personally vigilant to protect myself from unnecessary exposure - unfortunately it did not dawn on me that they would use copious amounts of commercial strength insect repellent around the pool as I’ve never experienced this before.

So instead of being happy about finally getting some sun in miserable Maryland (I think it should be the new state motto), I ended up getting poisoned with bug spray. I am happy to announce that I did not get bit by any insects.

Edgar Cahn created TimeBanks USA, a non profit group that treats time as money in a modern day barter system. For example one member may buy groceries for a stranger in exchange for someone else walking their dog.

I’m all for slowing down. I want to enjoy my life and prefer to keep things as simple as possible. There’s just one problem with the idea of an actual “Slow Movement”, well there’s actually more than one problem but I’ll stick to one right now, trying to coordinate with someone to walk my dog while I do their grocery shopping is not really keeping things simple. It doesn’t matter if both of us are registered as part of a barter exchange, it’s just too complicated and full of potential drama to try to deal with strangers and personal business. I don’t even like members of my own family doing my grocery shopping - nor do I like to do theirs. There’s always something wrong, something missing or not fresh enough. No my idea of keeping it simple includes limiting my dependence on others or involvement with their drama.

The “Slow Movement” is one of those nice sounding ideas until you actually try it. I like the idea of practicing random acts of slowness - and I think everyone deserves to slow down and enjoy life, as long as you’re not in the car in front of me.

I love the way an already fit individual can come up with some ridiculous workout and claim that if you follow along you too can look as good as them.

The problem is that often times the best workouts are ridiculous sounding or looking and seem to go against traditional exercise wisdom. So because some ridiculous routines actually work it opens the door to every hard body with some spunk, money, and marketing skills.

The Kettlenetics program describes itself as an exercise routine based on very traditional kettle bell movements with more flowing and dance moves blended into it. “Traditional kettle bell movements” is pretty funny - I guess we’re supposed to be familiar with these “very traditional” moves. Let’s face it, it’s movement with a hand weight. That’s it - not too revolutionary. The part that irks me is additional of flowing dance like movements, because if you’re going to move with weights in your hands you had better be careful about what kind of movement you make. Unless of course you are keen to get injured - but that would be your own fault for not seeing your doctor before starting the exercise program (as you are warned to do before starting the workout).

Kettlenetics does not sound like a good idea at all - but if you’re keen on trying it out just pickup a couple gallons of milk (similar to holding a kettle bell) and try dancing around the room.

You couldn’t get two fighters with a bigger difference in their backgrounds. Matt Hughes is a farm boy with very traditional values; while Thiago Alves is a party boy from Brazil, who now enjoys the night life of Miami, Florida. Thiago’s camp seems very confident, to the point of arrogance. They were hard pressed to acknowledge that Matt Hughes was not to be under estimated for what he brought into the Octagon.

Matt Hughes has seemed to undermine himself in the past few years with conflicts about religion and fighting. Matt also has a reputation for a sense of humor that borders on arrogance and rudeness. Nevertheless, I find it hard to resist rooting for such an awesome fighter that obviously has tremendous talent and a fantastic work ethic. Watching Matt Hughes pick up his opponent, carry him across the cage and brilliantly throw him to the ground is just a thrill.

On the other hand, Thiago Alves comes across as an immature, easy going, player kind of guy. As a woman, he just seems unappealing as a person. I like to root for fighters that I feel good about - either their great technique, personal charisma, work ethic, humor - something other than the impression that they like fighting because it gives them the opportunity to look in large mirrors all day and easily pick up bimbos. Not that picking up women isn’t a major perk of being a recognized MMA fighter, but I don’t appreciate it being flaunted. O.K., so I don’t really like him - but who knows how tonights fight will go - I’ve been known to change my mind about a fighter after they participate in a spectacular fight.

For me, even more anticipated on tonights UFC fight card is the fight between Brandon “The Truth” Vera and Fabricio Werdum. Brandon Vera is an amazing fighter with effortless kicks, knees, and spins. He has incredible power while seeming to just float on his feet. With a record of 8-1 in the UFC Brandon Vera is now poised to catapult his career to the next level - as an icon of the UFC. I think this fight is as exciting as the main event.

With the UFC putting on so many pay-per-view events not all of them are of the same quality; but tonights UFC fight card is definitely worth watching.

It seems that there are a lot of people confused with Dunkin’ Donuts decision to yank an ad featuring Rachel Ray wearing what ‘appears’ to be a kaffiyeh. Dunkin’ Donuts explained that in the ad Rachel Ray is wearing a black and white scarf with a paisley design. It seems to me that what it appears to be, is exactly what it looks like - a kaffiyeh.

Sporting a traditional Arab head scarf as a fashion statement is ordinary and acceptable in some parts of our country - but I would guess for the majority of Americans it would seem out of place if not outright distasteful.

I know personally I don’t like the images that scarf conjures up. It doesn’t say hip and urban to me; more like insensitive, arrogant, and misinformed. I hate that actually know what I’m talking about here. I like Rachel Ray but whenever I see that type of political statement disguised as a fashion choice I feel insulted and put off.

I should think that Rachel Ray has enough media exposure to express her political views on her own time. Furthermore, I wonder why Dunkin’ Donuts didn’t nix the ad before it went live. You would’ve thought someone might have suggested a wardrobe adjustment - but then again, there’s nothing like controversy to wet your appetite for a good cup of coffee.

A new study has just been released showing that breast-feeding may improve your child’s IQ. This latest study is supposed to further confirm researchers belief that breast-feeding can actually make kids smarter. The test groups were chosen randomly in an effort to address the commonly held belief that mothers who chose to breast feed were those who were more attentive mothers in general, which would account for their children’s intellectual advantages.

Reading this story reminds of how easily we can be manipulated by blanketed statements of ’scientific findings’. The most susceptible to this type of manipulation are intelligent, responsible individuals who want to do the right things to live as good a life as possible. Now mix children into the issue and these conscientious people will perk right up and pay close attention to any advise that purports to benefit their children. Of course, these people are also time starved and overextended because they are so concerned about doing the right thing, that they won’t really have the time or inclination to dispute what scientists and researchers are telling them is the preferred course of action.

It was about 20 years ago that I was preparing to be a new mother and was determined to start things off on the right foot. I ate clean, healthy foods and stayed away from anything that I thought might harm my precious child. I had a completely ‘natural’ child birth, as much as one could in a hospital. What that meant is that I didn’t take any type of pain control other than breathing techniques, because I didn’t want my child born under the residual influence of any pain killing drugs. I was blessed and overjoyed to be the proud parent of a healthy baby boy.

Of course I chose to breast-feed. I really didn’t consider any other option, as breast-feeding would be the healthiest option for my baby. I had a breast feeding counselor got me up to speed and I became a milk producing machine.

My son had a ferocious appetite. He would eat every two hours - not two hours between feedings - but literally every two hours chronologically, i.e. midnight, 2 a.m., 4 a.m., etc.

Now back to the study which states that the group of mothers that was given encouragement to breast-feed was much more inclined to feed their babies breast milk exclusively. In other words, these women did not resort to supplemental bottle feedings.

I know from personal experience that this ‘encouragement’ often takes the form of scare tactics that your baby will no longer want to breast feed if you introduce them to the bottle, or to go ahead with the bottle only if you’re willing to risk your baby’s long term well being. Today new, well meaning mothers are routinely indoctrinated with this belief. I’ve seen new moms in a group of peers berated, questioned, and even pitied when they bring the bottle out of the diaper bag. You’d think they had just whipped out a bottle of whiskey to feed to their baby.

Breast-feeding became my existence when my son was born. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t really recall much from that time period other than nursing my son. I jokingly called myself the human cow, but I was laughing out of desperation. Finally my mother came to visit when my son was 6 weeks old. I was so excited to so her. I feel asleep sitting up on the couch trying to have a conversation with her. Gratefully, she took a quick assessment of the situation, put me to bed, and fed my son with a bottle and formula samples she found in the cupboard. When I woke up she told me that my son was hungry, but he needed not only nourishment but a mother who wasn’t completely wrung out.

I gave in to the temptation and supplemented my breast milk with formula which I fed him in a bottle. I was told I could put breast milk in bottles so that I could take a break while someone else fed the baby - but I never could get the hang of when I was to pump this extra milk when I was already constantly nursing him.

Did I get lectured by well meaning busy bodies? I sure did. Did I feel guilty about compromising my child’s health for my own comfort? Yep. Did I start out mothering my next two children with the same determination to nurse exclusively? Yes sir. Would I do the same again today? No way. When my sister gave birth to her first child last spring I advised her that breast feeding was great for the baby and could be a lovely experience for her as well. I also made sure that she had bottles and formula in the house before the baby was born. I warned her that she would be pressured to follow the now current, politically correct methods of mothering, but that first and foremost she should do what felt right for her and her baby - including supplementing with a bottle if necessary.

After all is said and done the study showed that the children in the group that was encouraged to breast-feed scored about 5 percent higher in IQ tests and did better academically. How they did better wasn’t clear. As for my son, actually all three of my children, they have tested at college levels in core academic subjects while they were still in elementary school. Frankly, I don’t think nursing had anything to do with their intelligence. I do believe that they would have been better cared for in general if their mother hadn’t been so tired from breast feeding.