I have heard the same thing through so many articles and books.  One of the most basic techniques to manage emotional mind is by handling the emotion that needs venting.  The process is easier to talk about than actually put into practice.  I have found it necessary to build one's lifestyle around this principle.  I don't think everyone has enough control over their environment to control the internal emotional flow but is essential to a healthy and productive life both for a person, the community and the organization if any.  The emotions ought to be let out constantly and the level of emotional pressure has to be maintained at the healthy level.  I wonder what percentage of the population of this planet can have such lifestyles.

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July 25, 2009

"People who were hiding or masking their emotions were having more difficult times forming close, meaningful, supportive and satisfying relationships," Srivastava said.

http://www.psycport.com/showArticle.cfm?xmlFile=comtex%5F2009%5F07%5F25%5Fup%5F0000%2D0698%2Dbc%2Dus%2Dfriendships%2Exml&provider=

I enjoyed reading the BrainWash.  Nutrition books have similar content and if you have read a few good nutrition and prevention books in recent years, the BrainWash will read easily for you.  The overall health is reviewed in terms of the bodily systems and the causes for problems.  The information is very standard but organized in a useful format.  The few pages on how-to apply are very good and will work for most people.  I recommend the book to anyone middle age or beyond.  The BrainWash has too much details so will read slowly for some but the background information is not as important as the sections on how to apply preventive measures.  They can be read fast and time spent on learning to follow the procedure.  This is a  good book to read and a lifesaver. 

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I have taken tests about left and right brain and the results have consistently been I am right in the middle.  I have no dominant side.  I think it is fair to attribute the state to my parents:  My father was extremely left and my mother was extremely right.  I took the test mentioned on About.com just to satisfy my curiosity.  I have to mention the test does say "for teens" and probably not comprehensive.  I scored Left-brained and I read the description and almost everything is wrong about me.  I pasted the right description at the bottom and that sounds slightly better.  I tell people always not to trust results of research and tests but nobody listens to me.

This picture is actually a photograph and looks great.  The winery name Merryvale can be seen against the back wall and the link at the bottom can take you to a short blog post about.  However, I picked the photo to make a brief point here.  I actually found a very similar photo in the current issue of Wine Spectator in a full page ad for an airline.  The former cellar is a much larger one with smaller but greater number of barrels.  And my point is?  People involved in the wine business carry many titles.  In the US, the titles are very flexible which means anyone can create or use an existing title unless heavily regulated.  I do not think anyone in the business will get away with calling oneself a Master of Wine or a Master Sommelier if one is not but many call themselves wine director, sommelier, wine director and so on.  A basic question remains of what is a sommelier?  One can find many definition.  The dictionary provides a few leads and the standard resources a few more.  Anyone who has been in the business has some sort of working definition.  Since I have worked as a sommelier and insulted a few last week by comparing a sommelier to a house servant, I feel obligated to clarify the point.  I think a great way to understand what a sommelier does is by understanding the history especially at its best.  The profession of sommelier did not go public until the French Revolution and existed as a high skilled position with an aristocratic household as a private position.  I was given this illustration of the profession a long time ago and still think is one of the best.  If one is to understand the essence of what a sommelier does, you should keep this photo in mind.  The cellar with its many barrels is where sommelier position happened.  Historically, wine was not sold in bottles from famous producers with fancy labels and descriptions.  It was sold in barrels.  The barrel holds the wine while it ages.  The wine changes slowly as it ages.  In a wealthy Old World household, one or more cellars existed on location to house the wines.  The significant thing to remember is the consumption of wine took place in quantities unlike what is seen in the movies with a bottle presented and uncorked for a rich couple dining.  The purchase, storage, care, distribution and the service of wine was fairly complicated.  A typical cellar held many barrels of different wines from various producers.  The vintages and other conditions varied.  Each of these variable factors made the understanding of that wine more complicated.  The process was very subjective and one or more professionals were needed who understood the wine and could manage the ever-changing wine cellar.  This person could tell based on who made the wine, where it was made, when it was made, what was put in the wine, how it was made, the price of the wine and many other factors what the drinker would experience by drinking the beverage.  The final qualification was truly subjective and an art.  If the sommelier could do this properly, he was appreciated as a great skilled servant.  And if not, everything would be off for everyone.  The actual service of the wine blended with food and events making it more complicated.  The sommelier decided which wine for what occasion served at what point of the meal or celebration (occasion).  The sommelier unlike what today people would believe was not the well-dressed polite person helping with wine selection and serving the bottle.  That can be done by a trained wait staff or house servant.  The sommelier is the person who can actually stand in a strange cellar of barrels (not bottles with labels of information) and is qualified to figure the barrels' contents out.  Only a truly qualified and skilled person can achieve this task.  How does one accomplish this?  Every single element that can be taken into consideration can aid.  The more knowledge of the origin and the making of the wine, the better.  The sommelier in the worst possible situation uses one's nose and palate to check the wine.  He (she) ought to be able to tell as much about the wine as if he has a printed sheet of information.  What is the use for such accurate information that a skilled person can acquire blind? He can estimate the price of the wine.  He can tell the varietals and the area.  He can tell the vintage.  He can tell the condition of the wine today and the future.  He can match the wine with food or propose occasions suitable.  He can decide to release the wine, keep it or sell it outright.  Sommelier can do this and great many things more.  How does one become a sommelier?  High skill is developed by study, practice, experiment and most of all learning from a fully qualified person.  The level of knowledge and skill is high and subjective.  Only a body of very qualified peers should determine if a person is at the proper level.  US is built on standards created by the locals for their own benefit.  In other words, the standards are subjective but not qualified by the qualified.  Anyone with some wine knowledge and involvement in the wine business sets one's own standard of who is qualified.  So is a sommelier a high-end wine servant? Historically, he was but the position became part of the not-private world benefiting greater many while surviving the challenges of maintaining standards and traditions, sommelier became a serious profession.  
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Eliminating racism article here is part one of series but makes an interesting point.  I had not thought of racism in terms of elements besides race.  Racism is a common phenomenon worldwide and manifests itself uniquely based on the local culture.  I have always thought prejudice in general is a fascinating subject.  People have strong emotional reactions the general notion of being prejudice but I still find it very interesting.  Humans are animals and animals are terrible creatures.  One can picture humans in sublime state but humans are vicious beats in general.  A wild animal can tear and eat alive another animals without drawing any criticism because that is its nature.  Humans may not eat that way any longer but still operate mentally in a similar way.  Inside most human heads, evil roams 24 hours and our reaction thoughts are no different than a beast tearing another being.  I like the point of the article as far as racism in terms of elements besides race.  That is the exact nature of thought in humans and race is not the only element engaging this terrible thought process.

This article is of great benefit to people in the wine business.  The most important thing about wine is what the consumers consider it to be not what the marketers wish it to be.  The people involved in the wine business would like to define wine by whatever helps to sell the bottles.  The shape of the bottle? The price? The varietal? The region? The label? The winemaker? The producer? And the list goes on and on.  The consumer has a great deal more than what is accepted by the industry.  The industry pretends to listen to the consumer but also complains without-an-end of how bad the business.  If one would listen to the consumer, the chances are great to find angles helping market the product and move the bottles.  The common wine is to consumer a liquid of some color in a bottle getting transferred to a glass before being drunk.  The consumer cares a great deal less about the details of that liquid than we would like to.  Traditionally and historically that is how the wine has been.  In the Old World, people drank wine of local origins and the current vintage as customary.  A great deal of mediocre and even terrible wine can be drank without any objection.  The modern consumer is not much different.  The wine is only one of the items in a meal and not as incredibly important as the wine business would like to.  The wine business is not about quality wine drinking.  They are most interested in whatever raises the bottle price and the frequency of purchase.  The consumer is about whatever drinks well at the right price.  It should be very easy to understand the few requirements truly attached to the wine by the consumer.  Region is not important should not be a surprise.