Vaid’s Verdict: Sound advice for toning your trouble spots, eating well and dressing for your body type – if you’re still living in the 1980’s, don’t own a computer, and aren’t big on ‘self-esteem.’

Sometimes we all need a lesson in common sense. For instance, just because low rise jeans were in fashion didn’t mean that your butt crack was ever trendy. Are you one of the many women who still sport Uggs? Wear hot pants regardless of orange peel and dimples? Do most of us even know how to cover up unsightly arm wobble, sagging cleavages, stocky ankles or the cursed Buddha belly? Your Perfect Fit is here to do just that – advice on how to tone your body, eat right and give you more neuroses about your body than you ever thought possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

With today’s consumer-grade technologies advancing to such an extent as to rival their high-end (i.e. unaffordable) professional equivalents, we average Joes and Janes have the capability to produce pretty much any media we want. Digital cameras, with their automatic face detection, motion capturing, red-eye reducing, colour correcting functions can make anyone’s snapshot into an award winning photo. Ok, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea. Software likewise is enabling the average consumer to Photoshop and video edit like a pro (or to think so anyway).

It should therefore come as no surprise that you can even publish your own bookstore-quality softcover! With $12.95, you can build a truly jaw-dropping coffee table book that will make your party guests do a double take when they can’t believe they see your name printed on its cover. We’re talking about stylized, well layed out, customizable works of art here people. That’s what you can do on Blurb.com. A couple of friends sent me this link (thanks Marina & Angela!) and it just blew me away. Imagine surprising your mother with a breathtaking art book of her paintings…or building a slick and glossy photo book of your two-year old tyrants that will knock their grandparents’ teeth out…or the ultimate wedding book that would put Martha Stewart’s scrapbooks to shame. Think business books, portfolios, children’s books…oh, the possibilities.

And it’s simple to boot! You just download the FREE Blurb BookSmart bookmaking software (works on both Mac and PC), follow the instructions to add photos, artwork, and text…and when you’re satisfied with your creative output, just place the order for the book online. You even have the option of putting your book in the Blurb Bookstore for sale to anyone willing to pay your assigned price (yes, you keep 100% of the markup and no, if you don’t make your book public, no one will have access to it or its contents – your book is copyrighted and that copyright belongs to you). Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid’s Verdict: An entertaining and remarkably accurate way of figuring out what you should be when you ‘grow up’…and yes, it works on us so called ‘adults’ who think we have it all figured out too.

What did I want to be when I grew up? A cartoonist. A writer. A travel show host. An environmentalist even! (Quell the guffaws please) My generation has had too many choices. Being a ‘Smith’ didn’t mean we’d have to work with metal, being female didn’t mean we’d have to be human incubators, and even being ethnic didn’t involve a future in taxis and convenience stores. Gender, race, religion, oddly-shaped legs – nothing can come between us and our dream careers. Except, when you can do *anything*, chances are as humans, we’ll do *nothing*. Which is why we invest in a plethora of self-help books, career counselors and my personal favorite, ‘trial and error’ to guide us to the right career choice. But what if a 10 min quiz could dispense of the counseling interviews and experimental crêpe spinning to reveal what you should be doing for the rest of your life? Read the rest of this entry »

How often do you find yourself driving home in the thick of traffic after an arduous day of work, and turning into the drive-thru of your neighbourhood fast food joint instead of going that extra block for the supermarket? Who can blame you! No one is up for labouring over a stove, especially when Wednesday rolls around – sometimes you just want food, grease ‘n all. But trust me, the effort that goes into preparing a proper home-cooked meal will be nothing compared to the work you’ll need put in to burn off all the calories from an instant meal made up of a long list of hard-to-pronounce ingredients.

The recipes in Everyone Can Cook Midweek Meals are designed for cooks on the run, and that includes quick breakfasts, easy to prepare lunches, and dinner entrées that you’d probably never think you could make. Me? I’m all about the dessert and I’m personally dying to try out the Moist and Delicious One-Pan Chocolate Cake – it has all the key words! I know that cooking at home more regularly can be quite the hurdle, but once you start, not only will you realize that it’s easier than you think, but you just might start enjoying it! If you’re a cooking newbie, you have to get the right book though. When you pick one up, don’t just look at the pictures. If you’ve never heard of the ingredients, step away from the book. Thankfully, not only are Eric Akis’ recipes simple, but cumin is probably as exotic an ingredient as you’re gonna get!

Stay tuned for your chance to win a copy of Everyone Can Cook Midweek Meals!

For the recipe demoed in the video (and the bonus recipe for the Moist and Delicious One-Pan Chocolate Cake), read on! Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid’s Verdict: A hard-nosed, no nonsense guide to writing sci-fi/fantasy novels that gives you a detailed understanding of the market, sub genres, publishing, writing techniques, and pretty much everything you need to know to get your foot in the door.

Science fiction and fantasy novels are an acquired taste. Most of us are content with watching a few episodes of Star Trek or enjoying the Lord of the Rings trilogy on the big screen…but what puts us off these types of novels? For me, it’s always been the hackneyed regurgitations of classic tales – nearly every sci-fi novel is about aliens invading Earth or even worse, in fantasy fiction, there’s the buxom blonde who knows how to ‘kick ass,’ cast spells, ride horses backwards, and do it all in a giant metal bra and spandex shorts. When I picked up this ‘how to,’ I expected the author to train me in the ways of clichés and cookie cutter characters because I thought that’s what the readers wanted. No sir, Crawford Kilian wants just the opposite…for us to boldly go where no man has gone before. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid’s Verdict: Heartfelt and surprisingly thought provoking, The Art of Racing in the Rain has everything you need for a feel good story – hardships to overcome, strong characters, and best of all, a lovable narrator named Enzo…who just happens to be a dog.

In his third novel, Garth Stein abandons convention and embraces fiction in all its imaginative glory. Sure, you can write fiction with fantastical characters that live in imaginary worlds – but why go that far when you can turn an average story into a revelation simply by changing one perspective? Enzo, a shepherd-poodle mix (who’s convinced he’s actually half terrier) is an intelligent, humble narrator with an obsession for opposable thumbs and car races. Stein uses this unique perspective to show his readers something we rarely see…human beings. To see ourselves in another light, from alien eyes, is refreshing…and personally, it helped that Enzo hates crows as much as I do.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid’s Verdict: After River is the perfect gift for someone flying to Timbuktu – a. because they’ll need some light reading for the 18 hour flight and b. the first few chapters work better than a sleeping pill and a travel pillow combined.

After River is author Donna Milner’s first published novel…and I’m not entirely sure why it was published in the first place. Is it the descriptions of scenic British Columbia that the editor felt could carry the novel? Is it the cast of homely and utterly clichéd characters whose dialogue are all exactly alike? Or is it the very ‘risqué’ message of comparing today’s war in Iraq to the Vietnam War? (Ooh la la!) After River tries very hard to be topical, intriguing and liberal. Unfortunately, it tries a little too hard. The novel revolves around a family, the Wards, who own a dairy farm in rural British Columbia and employ River, a young American and ‘conscientious objector’ of the Vietnam War. River runs, flows and winds through the family’s life in a bittersweet path that forever erodes and gushes through the characters’ lives. Oh the cheesy personifications, the blatant symbolism…and if you think that’s painful, read on to the last lines of the first chapter. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid‘s Verdict: A practical guide for writing prenuptial and cohabitation agreements that takes you from ‘high school sweetheart’ to ‘full blown grown-up’ in about 70 pages.

So you and the mister are in a happily-ever-after relationship. You’ve bought a condo together, you share all expenses, you’re even thinking about investing in your very own love fern. But what happens if things don’t go as planned? Do you lose the money you put towards the condo’s mortgage just because it’s in his name? What about the fact that you’ve been supporting him while he completed his MFA in Creative Writing? As unromantic as it seems, every couple should be prepared for the end of their relationship – not because it’s inevitable but because it’s entirely possible. And unlike days past when only divorce could demand alimony and child support payments, these days a lot of the same rules apply to couples who live together. So what does that mean? If you’ve been supporting Starving Artist Boyfriend for the three years you’ve been together, you could be financially responsible for his well-being even after you’ve broken up. Yes, that’s right. Even after you’ve sworn never to read any more of his crappy poetry, you might still be responsible for supporting him until he can get a ‘real’ job…Scared? Read on for the solution. Read the rest of this entry »

The zipper. Avril Lavigne. Degrassi Junior High. All quality Canadian productions (hey, don’t judge)… then shows like “The Guard” come out and give them all a bad name. Sometimes turning on the CBC makes me want to cringe. When it comes to mags though, can we redeem ourselves? The market for women’s health magazines is continuously growing so it was only a matter of time before a Canadian equivalent emerged. First to step up to the plate, none other than Reader’s Digest with its new Best Health mag, specifically catering to health conscious Canadian women. With healthy menu options and new gyms popping up all the time, let’s see what this magazine has to offer. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaid’s Verdict: Want to give your money away and be treated like a mental invalid? This is the self-help book for you. The Secret Beyond the Law of Attraction is as ridiculous as it sounds and it’s not even fun to read.

Poppycock. That’s the politest word I can use for this self-help book. It’s based on the best-selling book and film “The Secret” which is originally based on “The Law of Attraction.” The premise is that you attract what you think about most. The Secret Beyond The Law of Attraction, which I’ll refer to as SBLA since the title is so ridiculous, goes a step further and says that it isn’t JUST thinking positive, it’s FEELING positive. WOW. Genius. I might even have developed Tourette’s because every time I think about Dõv Baron, the author, I get the urge to curse. It’s not that I have anything against self-help books…okay, I’ve never read any before (snobs don’t need help, we need therapy), but that’s beside the point. SBLA isn’t about helping YOU, the reader, it’s about Dr. Baron being able to pat you on the head condescendingly with one hand and take money from you with the other hand. Read the rest of this entry »