Love This!

This is reprinted from the Chicago Tribune on November 18 and then seen by me in The CC Times this past Sunday.

It's Official: Curvy women are smarter

We hope the Nobel Prize committee didn't miss this week's release of a groundbreaking study titled, "Waist-hip ratio and cognitive ability: Is gluteofemoral fat a privileged store of neurodevelopmental resources?"Translation, for the benefit of you size zeroes out there: Are fat-bottomed girls smarter? Answer: Yes. They also have smarter kids, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara.Middle-age women reacted with glee -- "We're getting smarter every day!" -- and men with trepidation. (What's the right answer to the question, "Does this PhD make my butt look big?") Skeptics, most of whom likely tend toward the skinny side, seem to want to file the wider-is-wiser theory with that old baloney about men with bigger noses having bigger, um, noses. We've never seen any empirical evidence on that one.
The data on the brain/butt theory, though, is pretty convincing. In a study of more than 16,000 women, the curvy girls consistently outscored their slender counterparts on cognitive tests. Their kids outscored the skinny moms' kids too. But the researchers don't posit that bigger is automatically better. What matters is the size of the hips relative to the waist. That's because fat stored around the buttocks and thighs is high in omega-3 acids, which promote brain growth, while fat stored around the middle is loaded with omega-6 acids, which make your pants too tight.Women with "pear" or "hourglass" shapes have greater reserves of omega-3, which nourishes their own brains and is essential to fetal brain development in the third trimester of pregnancy.So grab a tape measure, girls, and see how your IQ stacks up. Just divide your waist size by your hip size. The smaller your answer, the better.
Now compare: Your typical runway model, with a 24-inch waist and 34-inch hips, has a waist-hip ratio of .71. Your average size 10, with a 28-inch waist and 39-inch hips, is a .72. Jennifer Lopez, at 26 and 39, is a .67.And therein lies the scholarly merit of this study -- a scientific answer to what we thought was a rhetorical question: Why is J.Lo so hot? Because males have a biological imperative to produce intelligent offspring, that's why. "Men respond because it's reproductively important," explains Pitt's William Lassek, whose next study will no doubt attempt to identify the biological imperative associated with an eye for blonds. But let's not quibble.The great thing about this study is, it lets everyone off the hook. Go ahead and gawk, guys. We know you're just searching for signs of a deep and genetically transferable intellect. And ladies, pass the nachos. Those size 4 jeans would just make you look dumb.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

Speaking to PPOCC

Last night my friend Dianne Marshall and I were the speakers at the Professional Photographers of Cape Cod (PPOCC)meeting. Di spoke about Lightroom and I spoke on blogging and networking. We had a great turn out at our new location-the Hyannis Golf Club. PPOCC is a tremendous asset to the Cape professional photography community for networking and education and I am so proud to be a part of it!!

Di talking about Lightroom



me......with the snazzy power point (thanks Sean!)

Little Paige - 3 weeks old!

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing little Paige. She is the third child in her family and the second I have photographed with the lovely angle wings. She was so perfect and good that we took additional images with her beautiful mama! Enjoy!

Survived Manic Mommies Weekend!

Dinner at The Mooring in Newport. Lisa, me and Hillary
Lisa and me shopping in Newport.
Talking to other moms at Mom U.

Just back from attending and presenting at the first annual Manic Mommies Escape Weekend. Held this year in Newport RI. I was lucky to attend with my good friend Lisa and joined by my new friend Hillary. We all presented at Mom University.

Lisa spoke to moms about owning your own business. Check out her site at http://beautifulbenefits.myarbonne.com/, Hillary on food and garden TV as she is a producer of lifestyle television programs for PBS, currently the director of Victory Garden. And me on photographing your children. We had a great time!

The moms came from all over the country. I met women from Texas, Washington, Ohio and Virginia, as well as all over Massachusetts! GM sponsored the event and drove the moms all around as well as let us take test drives in the fleet of cars they brought along!

If you would like to learn more about the manic mommies and their podcast, please go to http://www.manicmommies.com/ . I am looking forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Nantucket, The White Elephant and Autumn!

Sean and I were able to travel to Nantucket Island this past weekend despite the terrible storm here on the Cape. We went on the High Speed Ferry-only one hour dock to dock. It was the way to travel! Nantucket fared well with the storm, just some minor flooding and minimal power outages. The island was peaceful this time of year and we enjoyed exploring the neighborhoods and the deserted restaurants. I would totally recommend visiting Nantucket this time of year and staying at the White Elephant was the best! 4 stars! I hope you enjoy this slide show done with my point and shoot!