Housing and especially sustainable housing are a big interest to me and many others around the world. There is something completely remarkable about the different techniques they are learning these days when it comes to making things visually stunning while keeping them as green as possible. So what do you do when you want some ideas on what you can do if you’re building a new house? What the trends are and all the other important things dealing with architecture? Well if you’re like me (and I know my loyal readers are) you turn to books.

The Sustainable Asian House: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines by Paul McGillick is a full celebration of everything that sustainable housing is. You will get ideas a plenty in this book by looking through the pages of this book and enjoying the new version of the regions tropical architecture. You will find 27 houses in the book and comprehensive photos of all of them. I can honestly say the way that they are utilizing space in these new buildings is rather amazing. The space is so open and inviting that anyone that walks into one of these homes is likely to feel just at home.

The sustainable Asian house is proving what I have said for years personally. Green does not mean it has to look like a bunch of plain off colored items that have no design behind them. Technology has evolved even in the way houses are built so that we can make beautiful sleek homes that look modern and inviting and are environmentally friendly. I for one hope that the beautiful designs we are seeing come across in the sustainable housing market start to trickle down into other areas as well. I would love to see more sustainable choices in clothing, everyday items and of course vehicles.

When I was a kid I was lucky enough to go to summer camp every summer. From the time I was 6 or so I started at a camp that was close to home and then branched out to a camp that was several hours away. I even continued to go to that camp as an adult first as a counselor and then as the head wrangler. I loved every minute and there are times that I miss it.

Looking at summer camps again in a nostalgic and perhaps planning mood I noticed just how many activity choices kids have as camps now that I didn’t have. Not to say my summer camp was not fun (it was) but wow there are some fantastic choices these days at great summer camps. I think the one I am singularly most jealous of is the water activities. At my camp we went down the lake and went swimming or out in a canoe that was it. One look at things now and kids have fancy toys and games for water play or they have two man kayaking teams that can go out and adventure. Of course one could argue that a two man kayak isn’t a whole lot different than a canoe, but still looks like fun to me. If you want to check out some of the great new activities kids have at summer camp you can learn more here.

Have you ever been going about your day with the radio on and Pandora playing in the background and then you suddenly hear a song and you are taken back in your memory like one of those montages in movies? I know I have several times. I think if you connect with music it is just one of those things that is going to happen to you often. Almost like a soundtrack to life.

I used to listen to music a lot with my Great Grandma and my Dad too so I have a wide range of oldies or older music that I really enjoy that gives me some great memories but I cannot always find it easily on iTunes because they tend to carry the current music and even in the search you can’t always find the oldies music, I found http://www.ioldies.com/ though and they have all those songs that I remember listening to at my fingertips.

There is one song that I cannot help but smile when I hear and get taken back to the first moment when I got caught listening to it when I was younger. Queens Fat Bottom Girls, I know that seems like a typical song but when you are a teen and telling your parent you DON’T like any of his music. Only to get caught dancing around to that song, yeah it is a moment you remember forever.

It is never too early to start thinking about improving your summer activities game, especially if you play tennis. I know when looking at the possibility of taking a vacation to a warmer climate I thought about activities my family could do while there which would benefit us when we got home.

Tennis is a game that I have taken interest in as an adult so I never learned a whole lot about it when I was younger. I will never claim to be a world class player but I firmly believe you can learn things as an adult and build them up to make yourself at least pass-able at them, I think Tennis is one of them.  So what is the best way to improve your game? Well I think it is working with a Tennis professional like the ones you can find at Boca Pointe Tennis Pros. Just like in dancing or race car driving professionals are professionals for a reason, they know what they are doing and they are the best at what they do so why wouldn’t you want to learn from them?

Personally I think a professional can also be more patient and more likely to point out the flaws in your game (kindly but firmly) to make you improve. If you do not know what you are doing wrong there is no way you can ever correct it and therefore improve.

Given that it’s winter in most parts of the country and cold not everyone is thinking about the sun. However there are still enough places that are warm and it is never to soon to think about summertime and what we should do to be prepared. The simple fact is with the ozone going the way it is the sun keeps getting stronger and we need to protect our skin better.

If you spend a lot of time out in the sun the first thing you need to think about is getting your skin checked out by a dermatologist like The Herschthal Practice to make sure that you do not have any issues already. After you have done that take some of the usual steps to guard yourself against overexposure like sunscreen and a nice big hat if you are gardening or going to be out in the sun for a long time.

I know personally when I was out on the trail horseback riding for long amounts of time in the sun I would often make sure to have long sleeve shirts on with my long pants. It can be hot and not always the most comfortable but it protects you against the sun and is the best way to do it especially if you won’t be able to reapply sunscreen at regular intervals.