WONDERFUL A Capella Video - "Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa," and How can I Use this to promote my new Fine Resort Vacation site? Hmmm.

Preface to why I am using this awesome video:
Those of you who have read any of my old blogs know that I enjoy internet marketing - actually, what I enjoy most is the copywriting - I love writing, and always have. You probably already know that I market wonderful vacation memberships through my www.FineResortVacation.com website.

And, besides writing, I have an absolute passion for singing - and have an especially deep love for harmony and harmonizing - which is possibly why peace and harmony are keystones of my life in general.

So, that said, I got to thinking today about a very cool YouTube video one of my dear friends sent me, called "Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa" which is an absolutely astonishing a capella rendition of the old song "Africa," originally sung by Toto. I'm adding it here to my blog post so you can enjoy it too. It is far too incredible for me to attempt to describe this performance. Just watch it for yourself! (To see the video: Scroll down to the bottom of this post - and you'll need to let it run for about 15 seconds before you'll hear any sound - the first sounds are very soft.)

Anyway, after watching this unbelievable performance (and wishing I could be part of their troupe), I began thinking about how I could use stuff like this video in bringing people to my website. I thought about how I might use the "Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa" example because the travel memberships that I sell have gorgeous vacation properties in Africa as well (e.g. Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa).

I just looked at a few of the resorts - and they are wonderful. As I reviewed the information about where some of them are located, I was thrilled - and enlightened. I had not known that such incredible beauty exists. While I am aware that there are many African nations struggling with challenges and difficulties, I am now aware that there is great beauty and joy there as well.

Ahh.. Alas... For one in the USA whose pockets are of humble depths, it will likely be a while before we can afford to fly to some of these amazing places. Sigh.

Nontheless, there are plenty of people in the world for whom a holiday at one of these beautiful condo resort properties is far closer to home and easy to get to.

So, I thought again about inviting this beautiful "Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa" video into my website and blog as a way of inviting anyone who might be as taken by the beauty of Africa and its potential for a holiday to see what that vast continent has to offer.

Enjoy!

FREE Resume Writing Help is Here!

I'm back in northern NH! It's good to be home, but it's time to get back at it. I'm told a lot of people need some info I have on resume writing... Ok. Let’s get right to the point! You need Resume Writing Help – and you need it NOW! I understand!

In times like these, it’s easy to be a little intimidated by all that’s out there, so right here, I’ll give you a bit of FREE resume writing help (you can see a lot more of my tips for writing a resume here).

When you begin creating a resume, it’s important that right at the get-go, you employ EFFECTIVE resume writing strategies. For example:

• Use bullet points. In other words, do not use paragraphs. There! That’s a VERY easy step!
• Leave plenty of “white space” on your resume – your reader needs to be able to scan it quickly and easily.
• The days of the “chronological resume” are over. In other words, don’t begin your resume by listing your employment history. (I go into greater detail at my FREE Resume Writing Help lens at Squidoo.) You’ll find my other lenses there as well!

Hop on over there – and if you find you need more help than I can give you there, visit Creating a Resume. Because I'm a copywriter, I really like this guy's style (and that's another reason I've decided to market it!) - it's effective stuff.

My Hometown - Fairfield, NJ

While we slowly work our way back up north to our place in New Hampshire after spending the winter at Cherry Grove Beach in South Carolina, we have been visiting my dad in Fairfield, New Jersey. I grew up in Fairfield, having moved here when I was three years old.

Because we don't have high speed internet at my dad's place, we came over to the Fairfield Public Library. Wow, how things have changed! I was telling one of the library staff that back in 1963 or so, when Fairfield opened their first library, I had the eleventh library card issued in town. The library then was a tiny 2 or 3 room building on Fairfield Road (it is still standing, and is currently housing a barber shop).

My dad would take me to the library on Saturday mornings for story hour, and I just loved going there!

After a while, the library moved to larger quarters - an old school located across from the Police and Fire Station. Then, sometime long after I left Fairfield for my various adventures, the town built the Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library located on Hollywood Avenue - and what a wonderful library it is!

The library is adjacent to the marvelous Fairfield Recreation Complex, where - prior to coming to the library - we played a great set of tennis (I lost miserably), and watched people as they walked on the park fitness trails. The town has beautiful ball fields at the complex as well as a gorgeous pool for the townspeople to enjoy during the summer. My dad has a great place to walk, which he does almost daily, and a wonderful library to visit as well.

We're so thankful that while we travel we can pop into public libraries almost everywhere and find internet access and computers for our use. And I'm equally thankful that I had an opportunity to take advantage of this great complex in my old hometown of Fairfield, NJ - which truly is a great town.

I'm glad I'm from here.

Next Adventure: Banner Elk, North Carolina

The last week and a half was filled to overflowing with activity as we prepared to end our 5-month stay in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was with mixed emotions that we closed the door behind us for the last time on Friday morning, 5/1/09, car packed to the brim, to begin our trip back to northern New Hampshire.

We made some wonderful friends in South Carolina, enjoyed true southern hospitality, and expanded our interests and knowledge in ways we never could have anticipated. What an adventure! And we plan on returning next winter.

Instead of racing home, however, we decided that it was time for a little vacation. I know a lot of people think of our winter in SC as more of a vacation, it really wasn't. One of the advantages of working online for yourself is that you can pretty much live wherever you want (within reason!).

Anyway, since we market luxury resort vacation memberships, we took advantage of one of the resorts, and booked a week here in Banner Elk, NC at the Blue Ridge Village resort. You can check out the resort here at the resort registry at my Fine Resort Vacation website.

In the one day since we've arrived, we realized that I'll have a lot to write about! This area is just magnificent! Even though we live in the mountains of northern New Hampshire, these mountains are different, and the communities offer different activities which we are going to be exploring this week.

Stay tuned for more! For now, it's time get ready to go hear some bluegrass... :)

What Smoke on a Beach is Like. Nasty!

Well, this is certainly as close as we ever want to be to a wildfire. A couple of our neighbors up north in NH have worked on forest firefighting crews, and until we actually saw the smoke billowing up yesterday during the Myrtle Beach, SC wildfire that began yesterday (Wednesday, April 22, 2009), we had not seen anything like that.

Believe it or not, this is supposedly a clear and sunny day here in North Myrtle Beach. This is not fog - it's smoke. I have never seen this before, and I have a renewed and deepened appreciation for people who risk their lives to fight fire. And we're not even near the fire!

We've also heard that the National Guard mobilized this morning to help, as have a lot of organizations (Red Cross, etc). It's just incredible to me when I see how many people in this great land volunteer to protect and serve us when they know that they are putting themselves at risk. Wow!

The winds were howling yesterday, and the smoke from the fire was blowing towards the ocean - and of course through a lot of other places. It was pretty frightening to see.

When I see smoke like that, I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to be a firefighter. My hat is off to all of them.

Overnight, the winds shifted a bit, so smoke and ash was travelling up the coast a little to where we are in Cherry Grove Beach (northern part of North Myrtle Beach, SC). When I took the photos (above) and video (I posted the video here) this morning, I was only out on the deck for a minute or so, and came in smelling like I'd been near a campfire.

And even though we are proably 10-20 miles away from the areas hurting from the fires, we can taste the smoke and feel it in our throats.

So, my message today is to thank a firefighter for his or her service! Also, let's thank the police, volunteers, the folks who serve in the National Guard...the rest of the Military... everyone who steps up to help others.

I know that I will...