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Attending a conference like BlogWorld Expo 2010 is definitely an investment. The costs of a conference pass, travel expenses, food and entertainment can add up pretty quickly. That's why once decide to make this investment you need to make sure you're prepared to get your money's worth. Having attended BlogWorld Expo the last 2 years, I know that three days in Vegas can fly by pretty quickly, and, unless you have a game plan going in, you might find that you just spent a lot of time and money and didn't get a whole heck of a lot out of it. This will, however, not happen to you because you are reading this blog post and so you will be prepared.

Since BlogWorld is held every year in Las Vegas--where 7 is a very lucky number--I will give you my 7 tips for getting your money's worth at BlogWorld Expo 2010:

Create a schedule. This seems simple, but you'd be surprised at the number of morning conversations I've had with people at BlogWorld who show up not knowing who is speaking that day or who they should go see. Take the time before you even step foot on the plane to Vegas to look through the conference schedule, identify the speakers who can best help you achieve your goals and create a schedule that suits your needs. Having a schedule will not only help to ensure that you attend the sessions that are most valuable to you, but will also help you take full advantage of your down time, which brings us to tip number two.

Utilize your down time wisely. There is a lot to do and see at BlogWorld. It will be a very busy three days, but you will undoubtedly have some down time each day. Make use of this time. Look around at BlogWorld and you'll see you're surrounded by amazing people and have access to some really cool new products. Take advantage of it. Network. Find someone your audience would be interested in and do an interview. Knock out a blog post about what you learned that day. Try out a new product and review it. Above all, know what you want to get out of your BlogWorld experience and use your down time as a productive time to help you accomplish your goals.

Hit the town. BlogWorld conferences end at 5pm every day, but the BlogWorld experience extends far into the night. Make sure to check out the BlogWorld site for official parties and take a look around for unofficial conference-related events too. You never know, you may do your best networking over a slushie, playing a hand of poker or grooving to tech karaoke.

Go offline. I know that going offline at a social media event seems a little bass ackwards, but hear me out. I'm not saying to totally cut yourself off. Using Twitter to send out conference updates or to keep track of everything going around on you is a great idea. As I mentioned in tip number two, writing a blog post or two may also be a good idea. My point, however, is that BlogWorld is an awesome chance to interact with people face-to-face and make the type of connections you can't make online. So, at least for a little while, go offline and enjoy the flavor of the meat space.

Be ready for the big question. You'll be meeting a lot of new people at BlogWorld and most of them will start by asking, "What do you do?" For a lot of us, what we do is a fairly complex subject and one about which we're quite passionate. That's why it's important to take a little time and think about how you can briefly and succinctly answer the question while hitting on the points that are most important to convey.

Have all the necessary accessories. What you'll bring to BlogWorld will depend on what your goals are. Since I am there to network, promote BlogCatalog and share my BlogWorld experience with the Blogcatalog community, I take business cards, a laptop, a small camera and my iPhone. These four items are all I need to complete the tasks that are important to me. Identify what tools are necessary for you to have, but be careful not to overload yourself.

Filter and organize. There is a lot of information shared at BlogWorld. There are business cards, pamphlets, press kits, and fact sheets. All of this information is important to the people producing them, but it may not all be important to you. Knowing what is important to you and filtering out all the rest will make your life much easier. Eliminate the superfluous stuff and organize the valuable stuff so that when you go to write about a product or connect with someone the information you need is easily accessible.

I'll be heading out to BlogWorld Expo 2010 next Thursday and I am excited about getting yet another chance to make some new friends, learn a few things and have a lot of fun with a bunch of great people. If you'd like to see what I'm up to during the conference, or maybe you'll be there and you'd like to connect, you can find me on Twitter under @BlogCatalog.

In his latest post on Jaisiyaram.com, Swami Balendu quotes the poet Rabindranath Tagore. The line he shares is quite simple: Walk alone on your path.

The line itself strikes me as being quite brave and a bit sad. It's brave because it takes a brave person to stick to the path he has chosen even when everyone abandons him. That's the stuff of heroes and legends. It's sad because there is, for most people, a pain found in loneliness. Even those who don't experience this pain, those who find comfort or value in being alone, should recognize that for most people there is a sadness in being alone and, maybe more so, in the loss of the relationships that has lead to their state of loneliness.

Still, out of great sadness can come great joy. For the person who walks alone on his path, this great joy is found when someone chooses to walk with them. It is my opinion that the most original, compelling and entertaining bloggers, and perhaps a good deal of the more successful ones, follow their own path. It is through their disciplined commitment to their chosen direction that they have been able to captivate an audience--in essence finding the people who will walk their path with them. They find joy in making a connection with that audience. And--whether measured by clicks, dollars, friends or an intact sense of sanity--their success brings joy too.

Tagore's line should especially resonate with independent bloggers. Walking your own path is truly at the core of what it means to be an independent blogger. Hobbyists make up nearly two thirds of the blogosphere. We are the people writing for the sheer joy of it. We are the people writing because we are passionate about our topics. We walk our own path and write about what we love because we love it, not because it looks like a profitable niche. We are the ones who most value the relationship we have with our readers. We value this connection not only because it feels great to share our passion with people who appreciate it, but also because most of us have walked our path alone long enough to really appreciate the joy in finding someone willing to walk with us.

The original quote is short and can be applied to many subjects. It can also be interpreted in many ways. On his blog, Swami Balendu explains exactly what it means to him. I'm interested to know what it means to you when you read it, and whether or not you feel it has any particular meaning to you as a writer. If you have a thought, please share it in the comment area. If you want to read some more thought-provoking posts, head over to Jaisiyaram.com. Here are a few I particularly liked.

• In Love Ego Can Be Dissolved
• Know Who You Are And Act Like It
• Find The Reason Behind Your Fears For Dissolving Them

The picture in his post used under a ShareALike License. Found on Wikimedia and originally published by Code Poet on Flickr

Holly covers parenting from every angle.

Looking for a parenting blog that covers just about everything? Look no further. June Cleaver Nirvana, a blog written by BlogCatalog member TexasHolly, has posts on pretty much everything a purveyor of parent blogs could want. To prove it, we'll now make an A to Z list of all the cool topics Holly has written about on her blog.

• A is for airport adventures
• B is for booty pop
• C is for cartoons
• D is for Dallas Arboretum
• E is for extreme playhouse
• F is for fairies
• G is for gorilla feet
• H is for hoarding
• I is for inventive dinners
• J is for juggling (a skill all parents learn quickly)
• K is for kids
• L is for legends
• M is for mini gardens
• N is for Numeroff (as in author Laura Numeroff)
• O is for Oprah
• P is for possible poisonings
• Q is for quiet time
• R is for roller derby
• S is for space
• T is for tree tunnels
• U is for unusual advice
• V is for vacations
• W is for wildlife ranches
• X is for X-rated language
• Y is for yummy snacks
• Z is for ziplines

Whew! So there you have it, a glimpse into the world of Holly from A to Z. Her blog is full of reflections on parenting, product reviews, great recipes, awesome kid-friendly adventures (especially for anyone in or around Dallas/Fort Worth, TX), and so much more. I won't presume to speak for all readers out there, but when I go looking for a parenting blog Holly's blog is exactly what I'm looking for. With a mix of all the topics that are important to parents and a healthy dose of humor and wit, June Cleaver Nirvana is as entertaining as it is educational. And, that finally brings me to the main point of this post: go read Holly's blog. You will not be disappointed.

Opinions on if and how equality can be attained in our society are many and quite varied. Check out this sampling of quotes on equality by some notable figures:

“All the citizens of a state cannot be equally powerful, but they may be equally free.� -Voltaire

"All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die." -Bob Dylan

"Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact." -Honore de Balzac

"If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost." -Aristotle

For more quotes about equality, click here.

Equality is the subject that the group of writers on Gallant2000's aptly named Equality Blog explore in their posts. The blog's five authors, and a few guest bloggers, take on the issue of equality discussing how it is applied or not applied in today's society, how inequality affects individuals, how equality factors into the production of products and services and many other related topics. The Equality Blog is just one of the tools that Gallant2000 uses to educate the public about equality and diversity. Their website offers many tools for people interested in learning more about the subject; the options range from ebooks to face-to-face training.

After reading the Equality Blog and pondering the points discussed in the posts, I am left with mixed feelings about the attainability of equality. It seems to me that there is so much inequality in the world that achieving equality for everyone is a rather impossible task. Yet, I am also inspired by the people who use their abilities to identify inequalities in their communities and use their power to eradicate them. The efforts of such people have led to major advances in equality such as the U.S. Civil Rights movement and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even the recent passage of new healthcare reform in the U.S. is considered, by some, to be another step towards equality. Yet, even though the world has witnessed these major advances toward an equal society and the goal continues to be taken up by many motivated people, I have to wonder if it will ever be enough to erradicate the entrenched biases and ignorance that still exist and, along with the desire for wealth and power, appear to be the root causes for the inequalities we see in our society today.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the attainability of equality. If you need some inspiration, I highly suggest checking out the Equality Blog. Here are a few of my favorite posts from the site:

• Equality-Your Products
• Equality and Uncertainty
• Equality & The Realtionship of Intolerance and Indifference

Yesterday, the first part of the health care reform plan went into effect. Since HealthCare.gov summarizes the benefits beautifully, I hope you will forgive my cut-and-paste inclusion below. Please keep in mind as you read that, should the Republicans regain control of Congress, it is their stated plan to take away these new benefits.

Under the much-maligned “Obama Health Care� Plan:

Insurers Will No Longer Be Able To:

• Deny coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Health plans cannot limit or deny benefits or deny coverage for a child younger than age 19 simply because the child has a pre-existing condition like asthma.
• Put lifetime limits on benefits. Health plans can no longer put a lifetime dollar limit on the benefits of people with costly conditions like cancer
• Cancel your policy without proving fraud. Health plans can’t retroactively cancel insurance coverage – often at the time you need it most - solely because you or your employer made an honest mistake on your insurance application.
• Deny claims without a chance for appeal. In new health plans, you now have the right to demand that your health plan reconsider a decision to deny payment for a test or treatment. That also includes an external appeal to an independent reviewer.

Consumers in New Health Plans Will Be Able to:

• Receive cost-free preventive services. New health plans must give you access to recommended preventive services such as screenings, vaccinations and counseling without any out-of-pocket costs to you.
• Keep young adults on a parent’s plan until age 26. If your health plan covers children, you can now most likely add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old if they don’t have coverage on the job.
• Choose a primary care doctor, ob/gyn and pediatrician. New health plans must let you choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician you want from your health plan’s provider network and let you see an OB-GYN doctor without needing a referral from another doctor.
• Use the nearest emergency room without penalty. New health plans can’t require you to get prior approval before seeking emergency room services from a provider or hospital outside your plan’s network – and they can’t require higher copayments or co-insurance for out-of-network emergency room services.

Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Now which of these eight benefits would you willingly give up? I want to scream at the men and women who stand before us with no alternate plan in mind, except to say:

• We are taking away your sick baby’s coverage. It's unfortunate about her heart condition, but maybe it will correct itself.
• Your 22-year-old son has cancer? Sorry, but his new coverage, which he must have to live, that’s gone. Oh, and we’d like all of his prescription medications back as well. Those things are expensive!
• Hey, you over there, you’re next. Your policy is cancelled, effective immediately, because you failed to answer the questions about pregnancies. Oh, you’re a man, huh? Guess you should have thought of that before you made a mistake on your application!

Ah, the good old days (two days ago), when insurance companies could do all those things with impunity. Well, the Republicans want to bring back those days, no matter how much corporate money they have to spend to do it!

I’m sure every member of Congress, Democrat and Republican, who has a phone or an email address is being assailed from all sides. But it is the corporate lobbyists who have the cash – and the threat of its withdrawal – on their side. The people being harmed by the very politicians who we put in office have no cash and thus no voice. I am staunchly for separation of church and state, but I am just as firmly in favor of separation of big business, or banking, or insurance and state. I don’t want Exxon, BP, AIG, BankAmerica, USHealthCare or Koch Industries, running the government. Speaking of which, David H. Koch and his brother Charles, according to an article in the August 30^th edition of The New Yorker magazine, have quietly given more than a hundred million dollars to various right-wing causes. Why do these men, who have more billions than they can count, want to take away your insurance, or mine?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a tenth of a billion dollars lying around loose. What I do have, however, is a ton of righteous desire to make my feelings known via my ballot, and I urge all of you, whatever party you support, to vote. If you’re not sure about the candidates, it is easy to look up an incumbent’s voting record. The internet is sure to have at least some information on all the candidates. Lastly, always listen to your gut. It’s a reliable tool.

November 2^nd will be here before you know it. The American middle class is under attack. Your vote has never been more important.

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Roger Elmore writes for Hospitality Management Schools. His blog features many fantastic "List" posts ranging from lists of fabulous beaches to lists of haunted hotels. Roger presents a much tamer list with us today as he joins BlogCatalog to share five fun and fabulous social bookmarking sites he's recently explored - Cheryl Ragsdale

Five Emerging Social Bookmarking Sites You Might Have Missed

by Roger Elmore

1. Blippy: Like the Web site states, Blippy is designed to create a “fun way to discover cool new stuff people are buying.� Blippy lets you communicate about and share real life-online purchases with friends by syncing already existing e-commerce accounts to Blippy such as iTunes, Netflix, Woot, eBay and more. Blippy then publishes the amount and location of customer purchases (with user permission), and let’s friends post comments regarding purchases made. Though this service might not seem too appealing—it’s your personal business if you spent $200 on a cashmere sweater— if this service makes a big splash, it could be very beneficial to retailers in examining purchasing trends.
2. Loopt: Similar to Foursquare, this social-location service allows its users to interact with their friends by displaying their location on a virtual map. Users can connect with friends who are in the area( or meet new people who share similar interests), discover all-kinds-of events, read reviews of restaurants  and  share directions and other detailed information about the places visited from Zagat, Citysearch, Bing, TastingTable, Zvents, Metromix, and SonicLiving. Loopt is accessible on more than 100 mobile phones and is currently used by about 4 million people, according to the Web site’s about page.
3. Groupon: This service brings buyers and sellers together in “a fun and collaborative way� by offering consumers an unbeatable deal for groups of people who buy products in bulk.  By offering daily deals on things to do, see, eat, and buy, this service claims to have collectively helped customers save more than $300 million. If Groupon develops a large following, this could be a major promotional tool for participating businesses.
4. Intent: This site has a community where members can share their dreams and aspirations, and receive support from others. It’s very similar to Twitter in a sense that it’s an outlet for expression, however this service “turns your intention into tangible action, and inspiring others to do the same.�  A sample “intent� may say something like: "my intention for today is to enjoy the experience without worrying about the outcomes.� If Intent catches one, the site claims it will help its users turn into happier people.
5. Delver This service is still in the beta phase right now but is somewhat of a Facebook/Amazon mash up. It’s designed to be a single destination site where you can browse, shop and find and share interesting stuff from all over the web. It will include reviews and recommendations on a magnitude of products, websites, and catalogs within your network. It allows you to keep track of the latest and best pricing and allows your friends to help you choose between products if you’re torn between what to purchase through a special polling feature.

This guest post is contributed by Roger Elmore who writes on the topics of hospitality management degree. He welcomes your comments at his email rogerelmore24@gmail.com

My name is Cheryl Ragsdale. For a good time, visit my world  thatgirlisfunny and TGIF Links.  

If you would like to share five of your favorite social bookmarking sites that the rest of us might have missed, create your post and send it in an email to me cheryl@thatgirlisfunny.com

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I posted yesterday's article about grammar on FriedEggs.com to see what kind of reaction it would get there. It received a number of comments, and because I know many of the people who commented there are also BC members who may come across this post, I want to thank all of you who took the time to comment on FriedEggs and share your opinions. From the comments the article received on this blog and on FriedEggs, I get the impression that proper use of language is important to most readers and most bloggers. Some may put more emphasis on it than others, but it is apparent that everyone who commented--minus TonyB of course--thinks there is value in using proper grammar. Now, knowing that, I was wondering why grammar matters to people. Is it just because bad grammar makes articles harder to read, an annoyance comparable to a DVD that continuously skips? Or, perhaps it's something larger than that. Here is my take on why grammar is important to bloggers. I'd love to hear why it matters to you too.

Why Grammar Matters

For me, it is a matter of whether or not you want to be taken seriously as a writer. If you're spending time writing posts and sharing ideas that you want people to seriously consider, then you need to have good spelling and proper grammar. 

I have heard of people hiring for jobs who will throw away resumes and cover letters if they have spelling and/or grammar mistakes. The thinking is that if you don't have enough time or motivation to edit this document to present yourself well, then why would we think you'll take the time necessary to represent the company well. I think it is the same for blogs. For a serious blogger, your blog is basically your brand. If you are writing posts about your business, your ideas, or anything related to that brand, you owe it to yourself to take the time to edit that piece and make sure it reads well. If it doesn't, then it is very likely that many readers will dismiss what you have written or at least get the impression that it was hastily written and maybe not entirely thought through.

In the opening part of this discussion, I made a reference to music. Now, I'd like to compare writing to cooking. Presentation is a big part of cooking. Chefs take time not only to make sure their food tastes good, but also to ensure that it is presented in a way that appeals to diners and complements the dish. Bloggers, and writers in general, need to do the same thing. And, the easiest way to make sure your ideas are presented well is to use proper grammar. Say your idea is a filet mignon. Using proper language to convey that idea is like presenting it on a clean white plate with a beautiful garnish. If you don't take the time to make sure your idea is conveyed properly, then you might as well serve that filet on a piece of wrinkled wax paper.

Now, some people may counter my analogy by saying that whether the filet is served on wax paper or a plate it still tastes the same. And, while I would agree that the meat of any article is the same whether written using proper grammar or not, I have to say that I walk away from a well written article or a well presented meal with a much higher opinion of the author or cook respectively. Granted, amazing ideas will most likely shine through regardless of the author's writing ability, but most of the time a poorly written article will lose readers along the way or at least reduce the author's credibility in the mind of the reader. 

To wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'm not a grammar Nazi here to tell all bloggers that they have to write properly all the time. God knows I don't. I do, however, think that if you are writing a blog for your business, to promote your personal brand, or to create other writing opportunities for yourself, then you really do owe it to yourself to write properly and convey your ideas in language that adds value and credibility to your ideas rather than detracting from them.

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I have to say that having been an English major in college and having taken many professional writing and editing courses, it drives me crazy when I come across blogs that have a bunch of typos or incorrect grammar. 

Now, if it is just a personal, diary-style blog, then it really doesn't bother me that much. On the other hand, when I come to a blog that presents itself as a fairly professional site, then it irks me. Many bloggers constantly struggle to be accepted as serious writers, and when I see blogs or sites that have bloggers write for them--I actually come across this on Broowaha--with obvious typos, it drives me crazy. 

A big part of writing is editing. I will not claim to always publish error-free posts, and I'm not riding a high horse here. I just think that if you're a blogger that is writing serious posts and/or trying to make your way as a professional writer, then it behooves you to take time and edit your posts. Believe me; there are plenty of readers like me who cringe every time they come across a misspelled word or horrible grammar. Think of it this way. If you were a musician who kept playing the wrong notes, then the only people who are going to keep listening are the tone deaf. I think bloggers owe it to themselves, and maybe to their fellow bloggers too, to take the time to edit their posts. 

That's my two cents for today. Happy blogging.

Virtual friends are the people you meet online. The ones you talk to through social networks.

Have you ever wondered whether their profile picture is a true reflection of what they really look like?

Recently, I had the chance to find out.

Twitter users call each other tweeple meaning people who use twitter to send short messages to someone or no one in particular - sometimes getting a response and sometimes not.

When I first started using twitter, I really didn't get it.

The conversational tidbits and the broadcast "click my link" messages felt foreign. I compared it to being at a party of teenage girls with everyone talking at the same time - bedlam!

Since then, I've gotten in the groove and I love twitter!

You have to jump in and send out a few tweets to see how things work.  Twitter isn't for everyone! I use hootsuite as a way to keep track of tweets and to isolate conversations that I wanted to follow.

A couple of weeks ago, at the UFC 118 Fan Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, I had an opportunity to meet people that I've only ever spoken to on twitter or facebook.

Last year, I met my first twitter friend, Hayley Forster, in person when she came to visit Florian Martial Arts Center where I train.

Because most of the people in my world don't enjoy mixed martial arts as much as I do, I felt the need to reach out and find my tribe online. There are thousands of MMA fans on twitter.  What's really been interesting for me is to find other women who love MMA as much as I do!  Priceless!

How Many Tweeple Have You Met in Real Life?

I met the following friends on twitter because we love mixed martial arts (MMA).

@thatgirlisfunny - Cheryl Ragsdale with @PeteForster and @Fairly_normal - Hayley Forster

@thatgirlisfunny and @arielhelwani

(middle two) @kailakillamarie and AnneLorie @fightclique

with their sisters (outside)

I'm still upset that Anne Lorie and I didn't actually see each other at the expo. Next time!

me with  @kailakillamarie

@fightchix and me

@Lala_Danielle, @thatgirlisfunny, @Kenny_Florian and @LinduhTheLush

We spend so much time with social media.

How many tweeple have you met in person?

Are your experiences all virtual or have you met some people in person?

When you meet them, do they look like their profile pic?

Everyone I met was instantly recognizable from their profile picture!

Share your experience with us!

Cheryl Ragsdale aka thatgirlisfunny practices martial arts for fun and never misses a UFC event.  Have you visited TGIF Links yet? Come over to submit interesting links, vote on other people's blog post links and to leave chatty comments. Just like Digg only smaller...thatgirlisfunny's social bookmarking site offers you an opportunity to share your post links.

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I have been seeing and hearing ads on television over the past month, announcing the fast approaching last season of Oprah. For anyone on this planet who is clueless, The Oprah Winfrey Show will air on ABC Monday, September 13, 2010. It is the first day of the last year of her show. Over the last twenty-four years her award-winning show has changed and impacted our world. I get tickled when I hear the excitement in her voice as she talks about how this year will be paramount, and the most exciting opening yet! “The Farewell Season� will be bittersweet for all of us who watch, and it will be heart wrenching yet liberating for her.

She began her talk show September 8, 1986. Her demeanor, her poise, her intuition, her quick-wit and her intelligence, immediately struck people and made them pay attention. She presents herself as the refined lady she is and has never veered from this image. She is well educated and an avid reader, plus she speaks her mind frankly, without hedging issues; she ad-libs beautifully! Oprah always maintains the absolute highest standards for us, her viewers. She’s funny, candid, serious, entertaining and genuine. I left out driven. Her middle name should have been “Persuasion�, for she gets us to listen and to help others, gets us reading and encourages us, all with the ease of a Mother Muse. Oprah invites us to be better to ourselves and to pay it forward. Lovely she is and she teaches us to see things as she does. What a gift!

We know how to conduct ourselves just by watching her. She is a prime example of what one should do in life. Things like speaking the English language properly. The way she listens to her guests. The sincere way she gives someone a compliment. Her positive can-do attitude, even in the face of adversity. She reveals her true self without apology and she has shared with us some of the lowest points in her life, and how she had strength enough to reach for her goals and keep looking ahead. She is a great visionary who drops into our living rooms every weekday afternoon. Whether we take advantage of her experience and wisdom is up to us. We know that if we flip the channel on the remote to her show, there will be something to learn, something to appreciate, something to ooh and ah over, but most importantly we will be graced by her comforting presence.

While we watch from our sofas and chairs Oprah magically transports us to be a part of the Chicago Audience, and to tag along virtually, whenever she travels all around the world. She illustrates her discoveries and she addresses problems … even taboo subjects that have made huge impacts on women and children. She shows us the high regard she feels for our older generation and teaches today’s youth that our elders are still to be revered and listened to. She makes us laugh, exclaim, shudder, care, love and cry. She surprises us by the surprises she has for people invited to be on her show. She even surprises her audiences. She gets as big a kick out of keeping a secret as someone throwing a surprise party. You can tell when she is almost bursting-at-the-seams with excitement … that something’s up.

Oprah has announced that this Monday will be the beginning of the end of her show’s twenty-five years. She hints there is something new for her, a new adventure or a way to reveal more of her creativity. I am thrilled she is going to do something new. When you learn more, you know. When you know more that means you are growing. She stands still for no one and her brilliant mind is focused on a triumphant last year, while her eye is watching the horizon. This lady has the most generous spirit of any I have ever seen. She is a revelation; a comfort, a blessing and her smile could melt even the hardest of hearts. A precious gem of The Universe, Oprah Winfrey remains a beautiful light in our lives and in my humble opinion she is one of The Creators’ finest creations. Yes indeed.

**((FILE - In this May 3, 2010 file photo, Oprah Winfrey arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)Associated Press))**

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• Oprah: 'I Didn't Have Children - I Had My Show' (omg.yahoo.com)