In listening to a television report in Las Vegas where postal managers were interviewed, they all stresses that  mailing sooner than later is the key for ALL types of mail at this time of the year due to the the sheer volume of items being sent.  Based upon the lines I personally experienced when buying stamps yesterday, I would have to agree.  A clearly addressed letter or package is key to a timely delivery.  If it can not be read or if the wrong zipcode is used, this could add days, weeks or simply make the delivery impossible.  If you don’t know zipcode, you can easily obtain it by going to the “Find a zipcode” tab on the www.usps.com website.  Another piece of advice from the interview was that is you do not know the zipcode and cannot look it up, simply leave it off and the postoffice will put it on your item for you.  They would rather do this than have you provide the wrong one. Perhaps a bit strange, but seems to make sense at the same time.

The painting “Night By Night” by talented artist Drew Beson is now on display at our new office in Gaviidae Common.

After a stellar showing at the Edgewater Condos a few weeks ago, Drew Beson has shared a very special painting with us for the month of June. Swing by and check it out, and get a look for yourself.

Drew says about the work- “I want you to see the work honestly, in real-time and as far from perfection. I also hope and pray that the work spontaneously combusts shortly after being shown, (thanks Kiki) so enjoy it while it lasts.” To find out more about Drew and his work, check out his new website http://www.drewbesonart.com.

Thanks to everyone who attended the 19th annual Splash Day fundraiser party! As a sponsor, it made me really pleased to see people come out rain or shine to support the event.

Held on Saturday, April 24th at Park Glen Apartments, Splash Day raised money for the Susan G Komen for the Cure. Many guests walked away with some great silent auction items. Thanks to some other great sponsors and the attendees of Splash Day, Park Glen Apartments was able to raise $2,200 for the MN Chapter of Susan G Komen for the Cure.

In addition, Envy nightclub held a Splash Day After party which also contributed half the money collected at the door to Susan G Komen for the Cure. The Loop Bar & Restaurant donated everyone’s first drink to the charity on April 29th. Together, these additional events raised over $500!

Hope to see some more familiar faces at next years event!

Always looking for items and news to share, I thought this might be a bit lighter in content.

From www.time.com

Fat-Bellied Monkeys Suggest Why Stress Sucks

By Alice Park Saturday, Aug. 08, 2009

It’s no secret that stress isn’t good for you. But what’s less clear is how social stressors like a high-pressure job or a failing marriage affect your physical well-being.

Researchers at Wake Forest University who study stress in monkeys think they may have discovered a clue: fat. More specifically, the particular form of fat called visceral fat that tends to build up in the abdomen (those dreaded beer bellies and love handles). Researchers believe this abdominal fat lodges deep within visceral organs, such as the heart, liver and blood vessels, and may be an indicator of increased heart attack risk. In a study of 42 female monkeys, the scientists found that those with the most social stress — in the monkeys’ case, that meant being at the bottom of the social hierarchy — packed away the most fat around the middle.

“For years now there has been a recognition that the pattern in which people lay down fat is associated more with health than the absolute amount of fat,” says study co-author Carol Shively, a pathologist at Wake Forest. “Fat cells that live in the visceral depot behave differently than cells that live in other areas of the body.”

Recent evidence suggests that visceral fat cells are active, unlike the fat cells found elsewhere in the body just under the skin, known as subcutaneous fat. Those fat cells are essentially just storage sinks for calories. But visceral fat cells actively secrete hormones and other agents that affect the metabolism of sugar and the way the body burns calories. In people, visceral fat has been linked to metabolic changes, such as higher blood pressure and blood sugar levels, that increase risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Shively and her colleagues also knew that people who produce excessive amounts of the stress hormone cortisol tend to have bulky waistlines; they have apple-shaped bodies, rather than pear-shaped. So the researchers wanted to examine all these factors — stress, abdominal fat and health risk — in one study. The problem, of course, is that measuring the relationship between stress and visceral fat in people in a controlled fashion isn’t easy. So, the team turned to monkeys. For nearly two and a half years, she and her team fed the animals a typical Western diet, with 40% of calories coming from fat, measured their cortisol levels and used CT scans to calculate the amount of visceral fat each monkey carried.

The monkeys were housed in groups of four, automatically prompting them to establish a linear hierarchy of dominance. The dominant monkey in each group experienced the least stress, according to researchers. “They were groomed more than the subordinates, and they would get relaxed. Their eyes would roll up, sort of like they were getting a massage,” says Shively. Monkeys further down the power chain, however, appeared more stressed-out. They were more vigilant, constantly scanning their environment for potentially aggressive threats from the leader. They also spent more time alone, out of contact with the other monkeys.

CT scans showed that group leaders and the second most dominant monkeys showed lower amounts of visceral fat than their subordinates, who carried the bulk of their body fat in their guts. In human populations, something similar happens: Studies have linked lower social status to a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome — the condition whose symptoms include being overweight and having high blood pressure and high glucose levels — which promotes heart disease.

Together with Shively’s findings, says Dr. David Katz, director and co-founder of the Yale Prevention Research Center, the human data suggests a possible cause-and-effect link: Stress may promote accumulation of visceral fat, which in turn causes metabolic changes in the body that contribute to heart disease and other health problems.

“This study shows that psychological stress, which we know can affect stress hormone levels, can have a fairly rapid influence on where extra calories go,” he says. “I’m generally quite cautious about animal research but here I think we’re seeing something that has direct relevance to human health as well.”