Feb 14 0 comments
Being a Man, Tips

Keeping a journal

A journal by Baghy

A journal by Baghy

I often get asked this question – Why do I keep a journal?

To be honest, I was not a big journal keeper until recently. Recently, I have been thinking a lot about my life, my adventures, my contributions and the fact is, I have a record of a few things only. Generally it is in the form of letters I have received from friends and family, photographs I have taken and received from others and odd records that I have saved from time to time. Other than that, I do not have a chronological record of the events of my life. So, one day I said to myself that I ought to keep a journal where I could jot down a few lines each day about things going on in my life. Soon, keeping a journal became a habit, and now I actually enjoy doing a journal daily. So, if you are interested in keeping a journal, here are a few tips.

Why start a journal?
Keeping a journal has some obvious benefits. For instance

  • Before keeping a journal my thoughts were more random, in keeping with oral conversation.  Keeping a journal taught me how to express myself in writing – with structure
  • Writing forces one to weigh the importance of ones ideas.  Now, when I have an idea in my head I don’t just blurt it out.  Instead I deliberate about it, think of its importance, look at the pros and cons and then commit my thoughts to paper.  This way I am learning to economize my words
  • My journal helps me remember events more clearly.  This is an obvious benefit of journal keeping, but one least regarded.  Believe me, when one gets older memory does begin to fog a bit and it is difficult to remember important details to the same degree.  Today I wish I had kept a journal in my youthful days as I regret not remembering many critical details, names of friends who were close to me, dates of important events etc.  A journal would have been very useful to me now in looking back at my life.

How to start writing and keep writing a journal
Obviously, if it was easy to keep a journal every one would. The main reason why people don’t keep a journal is because it appears to be such a daunting task. I know I started to keep a journal many times, but almost always gave up after a few weeks. Here are my tips on keeping a journal continuously.

  • Challenge yourself to write no more than one paragraph each day. Writing one paragraph does not seem as daunting as writing a whole page.
  • Decide on a structure. For instance a good structure would be – Summary  >> Elaboration >> Example  >>  Inference >> Summary.  For example:  if you have a position on Olympics, you could start out by stating your position – “I think Olympics are a waste of resources”  >> Elaborate on your position – why you believe that Olympics are a waste of resources >> Provide an example or two of how resources could be better spent doing other things  >>  Summarize your position again
  • Make a list of topics that you want to write about.  Often if you sit down to write, you will find that the topics are hard to come by.  However, if you get in the habit of writing down interesting ideas as they come into your mind, you will soon find that you have so much to say about so many topics!  So keep a small notebook handy where you can jot down these ideas.
  • If you are an expert professional, you could start with a few topics in the area of your expertise.  There is no better way to start writing than to write about a topic that is of great interest to you and in which you have some degree of expertise.

Tools for writing journals
In the old days, the tools for writing a journal were – a paper book and a pen or a pencil.  If you wish to write a private journal, even in this modern day, nothing beats paper and pencil.  If you decide to keep a paper and pencil journal, click on the photo above to take you to some beautiful journals which you might enjoy writing into.

However if you want to keep a public journal in today’s electronic world the tools have multiplied amazingly with all sorts of blogging tools being available to you.   Below is a list of some common tools available to bloggers:

  • Wordpress:  For those who want a turnkey solution, there is the Wordpress.com blogging tool.  For those who have access to personal server space, Wordpress is available as a downloadable tool from Wordpress.com site
  • Blogger:  Blogger.com is another widely used “ready to use” tool – courtsey Google.  Blogger is probably the most widely used tool
  • Live Journal:  One of the older blogging tools, can still be found here…; although I have not been a big fan of this myself
  • Movabletype:  I believe this is the one that started the blogging revolution. Movable type was the first tool to make blogging more easy by focusing on ease of use.  Today it is being used more as a professional publishing tool more than a hobbist tool.  Still, its a perfectly good tool if you wish to use it for your diary.

So, there you have it.  Writing a journal should not be as difficult as it might seem at first blush.  Again, the trick is to not try to do too much.  Focus on writing small paragraphs, make a list of topics of interest, and give yourself a two/three week of continuous journaling opportunity.  Soon it will become a habit, that will reap you rewards many times over in future when you sit down to read all that you have written.

Good luck!

Zermatt Garments, For The Well Dressed Male
Nov 27 0 comments
Tips

How to find cheap vacation rentals

A Oregon Home Offered At AirBnB For $49 per night

A Oregon home offered for $49/night at AirBnB

If you are planning winter travel, let me say that no time is better than now given that travel is down many fold and lots of deals abound. But if one is not careful travel can quickly become an expensive hobby. Since vacation rentals are one of the most expensive piece of the travel budget, I have developed some strategies to keep the costs low.

As a youth I travelled to Europe and Asia extensively through Youth Hostels. But as I grew older traveling through Youth Hostels seemed a bit strange. While I very much enjoy the company of young travelers, and particularly like the camaraderie of the fellow traveler, being an older person in the company of teenagers and twenty something seemed a bit out of place. Plus Youth Hostels tend to be rather spartan and while the spartan nature of travel was the main attraction in my youth, today the lack of comfort is not so appealing.

Then there is the Elderhostel – recently renamed to Exploritas. The focus of Exploritas is “organized travel” with the intent of providing some education. Exploritas, as any organized travel would, offers some excellent travel opportunities in the company of likeminded people, but truth be told, its not my <a href=”http://www.jayateas.com”>cup of tea</a>. I find the “organized” nature of travel rather stifling even though the opportunity to get to know a few people over two-three weeks has its own merits.

Since my preference is to travel light with as much flexibility as possible, recently I have been traveling a lot more through bed and breakfasts and by taking advantage of friends of friends of friends who might be living in the town I am planning to visit. In addition, I have been using Craigs list a lot. For instance, the previous link will provide you with a link of vacation rentals available in NY area.

But recently I stumbled upon another neat website called AirBnB, which while I haven’t tried out, from just browsing and reading comments of previous users of specific rentals it appears that this will be a new way for me to locate short term rentals in near future. Mind you, many of the offerings tend to be rather expensive, but if you are traveling to a large city it is not unusual to find some local artist or a student offering a clean room for $50 or less! The big benefit of this sort of travel for me is that I now get a local expert to help me plan the exploration of the city, my food expense is cut in half as I can use the kitchen, and I end up making new friends – often for life.

So, as you can see travel does not have to be very expensive. If you look around, vacation rentals can be found for cheap in many locations. Its just a matter of doing some research.

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Nov 20 0 comments
Deals

Green Tea On Sale At Jaya Teas

Are you a green tea fan? Our sister company Jaya Teas, is offering significant discounts on a single estate green tea from India. The Woodlands Estate Green tea from the Nilgiri Hills Green Tea is on sale from now until November 26th. This nice tea is an Organic Second Flush Tea grown at a high elevation of 6100 feet in the blue mountains of South India.

Both 100mg packs and bulk 1lb bags are on sale at 25% off

Here are some details of the tea:
Grade: Superfine
Season: Second flush
Leaf: Longish black
Liquor: Bright pale yellow
Infusion: Bright green



Net weight: 100 gms (3.5 oz)
Typically one 100 gm pack can make up to 100 cups of tea, with each cup costing less than 9 cents. With this sale, your per cup price drops to less than 7 cents! Now that is some savings!

Nov 08 1 comments
Coupons

Recession Buster Price Reduction

New York times is proclaiming that unemployment rate has gone up to 17%!! Clearly something must be done to help those struggling and those whose budgets are already strained. So, today Zermatt Garments announces a drastic price reduction. From now until December 31, 2009, prices of ALL our SHIRTS are effectively reduced to under $50! Most shirts can now be purchased for $48, not including shipping.

That is a whopping 33% reduction over the original $72 price! No where on this planet will you find high quality bespoke shirts for less than $48. At most stores in the industry such as Lord & Taylor, or Macys or Brooks Brothers, even the tailored shirts of similar quantity go for over $95 to $145. So, with Zermatt Garments especially at the current prices, you are getting two to three shirts for the price of one!

No coupons, no rebates – Just Plain Old Simple Price Reduction!!

So, if you have been waiting on the sidelines because of the recession, now is the time. Invest in a more professional look and look more handsome in Zermatt Garments bespoke shirts. Order a shirt today and see the difference it makes in your appearance and professional presentation.

Click on this link to go to our website and order a shirt today.

Oct 19 0 comments
Coupons

New Customers – 20% Off!!

zermatt new_customer_coupon

You too can look like a smartly dressed man, in tailored shirts from Zermatt Garments.  If you are a new customer to Zermatt, you are in luck, for all new customers can avail of 20% off coupon on their entire first order.
How to use the coupon:  Using coupon code is simple.  First, go to our registration page and create a new account.   Then, proceed to place your order by adding all the specifications of your shirt.  Select check out, and enter your credit card number.  During the check out, you will see a box for adding coupon code. In that box, simply type the following coupon code “SMARTMAN” and conclude your order.

Mar 26 0 comments
Being a Man

On Kindness

Its a tough world out there for kids. Even as times have changed, things have remained the same. I remember when I was a kid, it was quite fashionable to be cruel. To be cruel was to “be a man”. One of the bullies in the class took particular pleasure at hurting small animals. He would throw stones at stray dogs, and hit little birds with catapult. Although I used to feel really bad for the animals, I found the boy very fascinating and me and my friends thought of him as the “tough” kid, the “real man” among us!

In contrast, I was often derided as a weakling because I could not stand hurting animals and other kids. I envied that boy because every one feared him, and he seemed to rule over all of us! Perhaps, I used to think, this is what being “tough” means, and so among my friends it became an acceptable notion that to be “tough” one had to inflict cruelty on animals. So started this brief phase when we the “weak” kids would rival each other at throwing stones at small animals or birds. Fortunately, the birds and animals were far swifter than our stones, and our throws often succeeded in raising laughter than howls of pain. Of course I know now that cruelty is no way to define oneself. But no one ever talked to me about it when I was a boy.

So why should we teach our boys about being kind? We should because we know that it is indeed kindness that defines a “man”, and cruelty is just a sign of internal insecurities, insecurities that will probably eat at the individual for the rest of their lives. Kindness is important because it takes more to be kind than to be cruel. To be “Kind” is to be “Considerate”. To be “Considerate” is to think of “others” before oneself. To think of “others” is to be “Selfless”. And it is the “Selflessness”, among other virtues, that is the most noble quality of a “Man”.

“Kindness” doesn’t come easy to us Men. Right from childhood we are trained to believe that might is right. Our toys are guns and swords and we get an adrenalin rush out of watching fight movies, playing fight and gory video games. Our role models are those that kill and pillage. On the other hand, tenderness and kindness is frowned upon. “Sissy”, “Girly” are the labels associated with kindness.

Yet tenderness when combined with bravery and valor can be extremely interesting and intoxicating. And this is what our boys need to know. We need to find new rolemodels for our boys to teach them the value of kindness. Old rolemodels like the story of Robinhood combines both valor and kindness to poor very well, as do some of our comic book heroes such as Batman and Spiderman. However in most cases it is their physical prowess and ability to kill is what is impresses kids, not their kindness of the character. We as parents need to remind our children that it is their Kindness that makes these characters so interesting. Take their kindness out of them, and they are nothing but thugs and goons.

It is also our job as parents to emulate this behavior through our own example. Kindness to a stranger in the form of a kind word or a kind gesture should be a part of our daily life, not just left to Thanksgiving and Chirstmas.

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Mar 23 0 comments
Tips

How to select a dress shirt

All of us need to buy a shirt from time to time. Most of us end up buying a ready made shirt because tailored shirts are not easily available, and tend to be expensive. Regardless, even when you buy a ready made shirt there are several things to consider.

First, what is your size. Size in ready made shirts is indicated in collar size and sleeve length.

Collar size: Have you measured your collar size recently? If you think, “Oh I wear size 16, so let me buy size 16”, you are wrong. If you a youngster in mid twenties, then you may be OK to make this generalization, but if you are a middle aged person like me, let me tell you, our collar size changes more frequently than you would believe! Neck region tends to accumulate fat more quickly along with the abdomen. And it doesn’t take much time to measure the collar size, so before you buy a shirt always measure your collar size. The tragic thing is, many a ready made shops do not train the sales people on how to take measurements. In taking the collar measurement, measure at the base of the neck where the collar will sit. And when the tape is wrapped around the neck, its important to put one finger under the tape before taking the measurement. This is to ensure that the collar isn’t too tight if you put a tie on. A tie tends to put some pressure on the collar and its better to have some “give” in the collar for that reason.

If the measurement is 16.25 inches, unfortunately you will have to go with a 16.5 size collar because ready made shirts do not come in 0.25 inch size graduations. And that 0.25 inch difference can make all the difference between a good look and a bad look. This is when you should consider going with a tailored shirt which will give you the best look and feel.

Sleeve Length: Let me ask you a question. What is your left sleeve length? And the right sleeve length? If you are not sure, measure it! And take caution to measure the sleeve length from the shoulder joint to half way between the wrist and the base of the thumb. Why measure both sleeve lengths? Less than 10% of men on this planet have both sleeve lengths the same. Yet, invariably we tend to measure our right sleeve length (no idea why) and go with that measurement. Wrong! Sleeve length should be measured on both arms and because ready made shirts offer only one sleeve length, if you are buying a ready made shirt, you should go with the “longer” sleeve length than the shorter sleeve length. This invariably creates a bad effect of being longer in one arm than the other, but better that than have a shorter sleeve which appears very bad.

On the other hand, if you were to go for tailored shirt from Zermatt, you will be able to get a shirt tailored to both the arm lengths precisely, giving your shirt a much better fitting look than a ready made shirt. On the other hand, if standard sizes fit you fine but you want the fabrics we carry, just email us and we will make your shirt using standard sizes.

And our tailored shirts are not any more expensive than ready made shirts form top brands. In fact, because of the volume of business we do, we are able to provide tailored shirts for about the same cost as ready made shirts from, for example, Brooks Brothers.

There are many other things to consider when you are buying a dress shirt, such as the color of the shirt, the design, fitted, non-fitted, type of placket, pocket, no pocket etc etc.  But size and sleeve length are probably the most important consideration.  So, I know that this tip in itself is inadequate.  Still, I hope that this tip will come in handy when you buy your next shirt.

Next time, we will talk about selecting a casual shirt.

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Feb 04 0 comments
Public Relations

Bloggers, Opportunity To Make Some Money!

Hello Bloggers:

How would you like to get involved with an Apparel website where competition is low, and demand is high? Zermatt Garments, a maker of tailored apparel, is pleased to invite you to join our new affiliates program that could drive revenues for you today and tomorrow. Our Affiliates Program features:

  • A competitive commission of 10% on all sales
  • 30 day cookie
  • Multiple styles of attractive horizontal banners, vertical banners and buttons – choose the one you like!
  • Ability to create your own product and category links
  • Periodic custom coupon offers to drive sales
  • Skype & Gizmo chat, live telephone support
  • Outstanding customer service via phone and email

Special For Six Months:

Enjoy double the commission rate – 20% – from now until July 1st! The sooner the quicker you can monetize your traffic!Marketing: We plan to organize specials for our Affiliates, such as the one going on right now, where you get twice the regular commission, to drive business during specific times. Do you have other ideas?Tell us, we are listening

About Us:

Zermatt Garments is a unit of Jaya Brands. Based in United States and India, Jaya Brands has been in business since 2004. We sell premium, high end garments, and high end teas! Our Bespoke Garments are made from premium high end 80 count and 100 to 120 count 100% Pima Cotton fabrics, offered at about half the price of European and US Bespoke garment shops.Products are priced at $55 to $78, and purchases tend to be in several hundreds of dollars per customer. The population of United States is growing literally and figurately. Most men find that “off the rack” shirts don’t fit them any more, and are tired of ill-fitting shirts. Hence, there is a desire to buy tailored shirts. But there are few tailors in the US making it extremely difficult to buy tailored shirts. Our business offers the customer an opportunity to buy shirts made to their exact specifications.

How to Register:

Simply click here, and get started!

Questions:

Please email us for any questions about this program. Don’t wait, sign up today, and take advantage of the double commissions from now until July 1, 2008

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