Earth Hour - and WOW, what an idea for a business

Did you turn off your lights last night from 8 to 9 in support of the million-strong Earth-Hour movement to make a statement about global warming? Well, even if you didn't, if you understand that we humans have the power to make change where it's needed--to stop consuming so much of our earth's resources as to leave it ravaged for our great-grandchildren--you can still get involved by changing small things in your daily rituals.

Surprisingly, studies show that leaving electrical appliances (chargers, etc.) plugged in when they're not in use can increase your energy use by up to 10%!! So that's an easy one--well, for some of us it might take a bit of thought to realize all the things I do leave plugged in...

And meanwhile, what do you think about the idea of having a business where your role is to provide "art vacations"? To go along with a bunch of interested single women and give them art instruction in places like the North Atlantic seacoast and Galway, Ireland, or in and around a restored monastery in Umbria, Italy? I love this idea that Nina Weiss has developed! You can find out more by visiting her art vacations website and downloading a catalog.

Getting away with the girls is the best

Ladies, you deserve a vacation with your girlfriends, don't you? I know I do!

Whether you're absolutely sure you do, or you need a little encouragement to believe it, check out this great contest put on by Kango. Click on the "Go with the Girls" badge, over on the left of this blog, and vote for me! Your vote will help me maybe win money for a getaway to one of four wonderful destinations.

And of course, while you're at it, tell 'em why you deserve one, too. And let me know--I'll vote for you in return!

How do you do it?

Not enough time. According to a market research study conducted by one of the 800-pound gorillas of the Internet, Yahoo, the Number One issue among women today--be they single, divorced, kids or no kids--is that they don't have enough time.

As a single working woman--let alone a single working mom--you're already doing all the work for an entire household. If your income isn't where you'd like it to be, you may not be inclined to invest in paying to have everything done.

But even if you have a great job and/or a lot of child support, you still need to network professionally. Because of course there are no loyalties in the workplace today. You never know when the next outbreak of outplacements may call your number up, regardless of how many years of excellent performance you've delivered. And if you happen to be and perhaps especially if you're self-employed, everything goes double--and if you're single on top of that, you definitely want to make time for a social life.

So what do we do? We wing it. We prioritize on the run. We leave things out. When it gets bad or you're sick, sometimes we just plain forget things. If you find yourself swimming upstream, you won't be sorry if you invest a couple of minutes to read our newsletter. In each issue, we feature the useful tips and tricks of one of our founding members, Chris King. We are lucky Chris agreed to let us syndicate her newsletter, Random Tips and Productive Resources. Check out her website, www.creativekeys.net.

And you will find some extremely valuable tips in our interviews on the SWWAN Dive, our Internet radio show where we invite people to share their wisdom and expertise on a multitude of topics.

I promise, these are a couple of things you'll be glad you found time to do.

Stories that take us away

When you think about a lot of what's on television these days--murder, gore, sitcoms, and reality shows--and the magical enchantment of the Internet, you might wonder if books have lost their power.

But all you have to do is find a good one and you'll likely be lost to those other blandishments. That's why at SWWAN we are building a database of book (and movie) reviews by single women. If you're anything like me regarding fiction, you may have a hard time knowing what to pick out at the library or at the bookstore. Everyone tends to rely on the blurbs on the cover--but what do we have in common with most of those reviewers? Not much in most cases. And even though we're all wonderfully individual, we thought it might be nice to get a recommendation from a fellow single-woman traveler.

One day we hope to start a star system like with Netflix where you rate for yourself and then they recommend other things you might like. For now we just take your description of the story (and a good quote if you like), and let you judge for yourself. So check out our book and movie reviews page and maybe start your own rating list.