Live Well Be Gorgeous

Yes that is actor  Minnie Driver’s unmistakable chin to help make a point that healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants.

WASHINGTON – Eeeww. There’s a zoo full of critters living on your skin — a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants. And that’s not a bad thing, said genetics specialist Julia Segre of the National Institutes of Health, who led the research.

Sure they make your sneakers stinky, “but they also keep your skin moist and make sure if you get a wound that (dangerous) bacteria don’t enter your bloodstream,” she said. “We take a lot for granted in terms of how much they contribute to our health.”

People’s bodies are ecosystems, believed home to trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that naturally coexist in the skin, the digestive tract and other spots. But scientists don’t have a good grasp of which microbes live where, much less which are helpful, even indispensable, in maintaining health. The NIH’s “Human Microbiome Project” aims to change that, recruiting healthy volunteers to learn what microbes they harbor so scientists can compare the healthy with diseases of microbes gone awry — from acute infections to mysterious conditions like psoriasis

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By The LifeScript Editorial Staff

Penelope Cruz won the supporting-actress Academy Award on Sunday for the Spanish romance “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” while the blockbuster robot romance “WALL-E” made off with the prize for feature-length animation.

Salma Hayek wed French magnate Francois-Henri Pinault in a civil ceremony on Valentines Day at the City Hall in Paris’ chic 6th arrondissement, according to an official there.

PARIS – Salma Hayek picked a most romantic time and place to get married: Valentine’s Day in Paris. The Mexican-born actress wed French magnate Francois-Henri Pinault in a civil ceremony Saturday at the City Hall in Paris’ chic 6th arrondissement, according to an official there.

The wedding was a small affair, said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, in accordance with policy.

Hayek’s spokeswoman, Cari Ross, confirmed in an e-mail Monday that the marriage had taken place in Paris Saturday. No further details were provided. Click on picture for full story.

According to producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon, they’ll do whatever it takes to have M.I.A., who gave birth to a son Feb. 11, perform “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” even if it means having her do it from a bed.

The production team behind the Oscars was hoping that choosing Hugh Jackman to host and keeping some presenters shrouded in secrecy would ramp up the show’s ratings. As it turns out, rapper M.I.A. might be the show’s real secret weapon.

According to producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon, they’ll do whatever it takes to have M.I.A., who gave birth to a son Feb. 11, perform “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” even if it means having her do it from a bed. Click on picture for full story

Audiences for this new film are expected to forget everything they know about the media, shopping, writing, the economy and human behavior in general for the plot to work.

There seems to be no middle ground for director P.J. Hogan. When he’s on his game, we get charming comedies like “Muriel’s Wedding” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” along with his extraordinary and sadly neglected “Peter Pan.” (Odds are, you didn’t see the latter. Put it on your Netflix queue right now.)… click on picture for full story

Curvy and lucius? Show it off! 

Liria Mersini, editor of About.com’s plus-size guide, shares some styles for all body shapes.

Our Friends from Lifescript  published this wonderful daily reflexion:  What makes you happy?

By John H. Sklare, Ed.D, LifeScript Personal Coach

Today’s reflection revolves around one of my favorite questions I like to ask people: What makes you happy? On the surface, it seems like a simple question that should be fairly easy to answer. However, I’m willing to bet that if you give this question some serious thought, it might not be so easy to answer. Which bodes the question, if you don’t know what it takes to make you happy, how can you realistically pursue happiness? With that as our foundation today, I ask you again to consider: What makes you happy?

As I see it, one of the most important intangibles you can usher into your life is happiness. The late English writer Storm Jameson once wrote, “Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” The truth is that happiness looks very different to each one of us. What makes one person deliriously happy will often do absolutely nothing for another. However, one of the keys to finding happiness in life involves knowing what it is that makes you happy. If you don’t know what makes you happy, I suggest you give this some serious thought today. Happiness is one of life’s precious treasures that will lift your spirit, enhance your well-being and enrich your life.

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare