Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to the green flash at sunset, people fall into one of two camps: those who have seen it with their very eyes and swear by its majesty, and those who say it’s just a figment of our imagination.

Hawaii-based videographer Eric Sterman falls into the former, having recently caught the flash while making a time-lapse video of the sunset on the north shore of Oahu. As the last sliver of sun falls below the horizon — right after a couple of breaching whales make an appearance, because, Hawaii — the video shows a quick green glint:

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A video posted by Eric Sterman (@ericsterman) on Feb 18, 2015 at 6:04pm PST

NASA explains that the sun could flash green before sunrise or after sunset because the atmosphere refracts the sunlight at that angle:

Like a weak prism, the Earth’s atmosphere breaks white sunlight into colors, bending red colors slightly and green and blue colors through increasingly larger angles. When the sky is clear, a green flash just above the sun’s edge can sometimes be seen for a second or so, when the sun is close to a distant horizon.

Because of Hawaii’s wide open skies and seemingly endless horizons, the Aloha State offers one of the best chances you’ll get to see the elusive green flash. Synchronizing it with beautiful breaching whales, however, might be a touch more difficult.

It’s hard out for a pop star these days to keep an air of mystery, considering constant pressure from fans coupled with the prevalence of social media and a general lack of privacy. Perhaps that’s why Taylor Swift clung to the strange idea she needed to make the public wonder whether or not she has a belly button in a rather perplexing interview with Lucky magazine in December.

“I don’t like showing my belly button. When you start showing your belly button then you’re really committing to the midriff thing. I only partially commit to the midriff thing — you’re only seeing lower rib cage. I don’t want people to know if I have one or not,” she told the magazine, apparently laughing. “I want that to be a mystery. As far as anyone knows based on my public appearances, they haven’t seen evidence of a belly button. It could be pierced. They have no idea. If I’m going to get some sort of massive tattoo, it’s going to be right next to my belly button because no one’s ever going to see that.”

It’s fine if Swift wanted the world to wonder if back in 1989 she was born with a hernia in her abdominal wall and subsequently had to have surgery effectively removing her navel (that’s what happened to Victoria’s Secret model Karolina Kurkova), but the public already knew that wasn’t the case since Swift’s 2009 music video for “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” featured home video footage of the singer in a bikini. And what do you know, she has a belly button. Not so mysterious.

In an interview with BBC 1 Radio’s “Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw” on Tuesday, Swift discussed a recent photo she posted to Instagram featuring herself and the band Haim, posing in bikinis while on vacation in Hawaii, effectively “revealing” she has a navel.

But after creating such hype around the myth of her belly button, Swift knew there was a large bounty to be claimed for proof of its existence. The 25-year-old pop star explained that she’s always on the lookout for the paparazzi, and knows how to “spot a lens … a mile away.” On their last day of their vacation, Swift and her friends were out scuba diving in the middle of the ocean when they became smart to the fact they were being followed by paparazzi, who were allegedly on a fishing boat with “huge long-lens cameras.”

Swift was in a predicament after all that talk about keeping her belly button a mystery, and she could hardly let the paparazzi take home a huge pay day for invading her privacy and ruining her air of mystique.

She told Grimshaw: “At which point, we go back to the beach and we realize, ‘Okay, so they got pictures of us in our bikinis, like I don’t want them to make like $100,000 for stalking us’… So we’re like, ‘Get up on the bow of the boat, we’re taking better bikini shots, so they don’t make as much money on theirs.'”

The lesson behind Swift’s elusive belly button, which no one should soon forget, is that the singer isn’t about to let anyone make money off the Taylor Swift brand if they don’t deserve it — just ask Spotify.

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jan 23, 2015 at 5:20pm PST

Listen to Swift’s entire interview with Nick Grimshaw:

Why would someone choose to do business with you over your competitor? If the cost is similar, the product is comparable, and the location is closer, what stands out about your company? People do business with those they trust. Many growing companies expect their employees to establish their value without giving them specific training. According to a study conducted by Harvard, Stanford and The Carnegie Foundation, technical skills account for only 15% of a person’s ability to keep a job, leaving 85% of a person’s job success based on “soft skills,” also known as social skills.

When I think of a company that overwhelms their competition, I immediately think of Nordstrom’s. They not only offer quality merchandise, but unsurpassed customer service, before and after the sale. I was recently in a Nordstrom’s department store and witnessed a women’s attempt to return a pair of summer sandals that looked like they had been ravaged by a wild boar. I immediately formed my own opinion of the situation and steadied myself in anticipation of the sales associate’s response. Instead of raising a leery eye, the associate retrieved a manager who did some quick research and provided a full refund based on her complaint of “lack of comfort”. I was impressed with the manner in which the sales associate and the manager handled the situation. There is good reason Nordstrom’s is always busy when I visit their store.

I lose more sunglasses than I can count, and several times after replacing them, they resurface. The smiling lady behind the Nordstrom’s sunglasses counter is always ready to sell me another pair, or return the duplicate of the Rayban’s I found in my son’s car. No judgment. On that note, I am sharing a few tips on qualities that will set you apart in your own business:

• Know your role as a salesperson. Regardless of your job title, you are an important part of the sales team. Even those who don’t sell or interact with customers on a daily basis are technically in sales. I’m a public speaker and though I never considered myself a salesperson, a mentor made it clear many years ago that I was ultimately in sales. You may be an accountant, yet you sell yourself based on each project. Every employee has a responsibility to know the mission of their company and what type of customer(s) they support. They must also be able to summarize the benefits of doing business with their company in a few short words.
• Making a positive impression is a professional obligation. You may not be an extrovert, or particularly social by nature, but it’s essential to put your best foot forward when meeting someone new or interacting with your audience (a.k.a. anyone you come into contact with). Look the other person in the eye, focus on the conversation and engage by asking open ended questions. An authentic smile, when appropriate, shows interest and concern.
• Learn how to properly say your name. Extending your hand for a handshake as you introduce yourself by first and last name is a sign of someone that is invested in himself and knows the value of making a strong connection. A firm, but not overbearing grip, demonstrations self-confidence and social finesse.
• Show self-respect through your choice of clothing. While not expected to overspend buying the latest suits, dresses and shoes, a professional choice of clothing communicates respect for your customers and clients, as well as yourself. I am immediately reminded of someone in my own business, Thomas P. Farley, a friend and colleague who steps up for any occasion. He is always dressed appropriately, honoring whatever situation he finds himself in. His trademark bow tie may or may not be present, depending on the event. But one thing is for sure, he knows the importance of proper attire.
• No judgment. Not everyone will have the same opinions, but allowing others to voice their concern without interrupting or making excuses will go a long way in building a strong relationship. The old adage, “Treat others as you would like to be treated” holds weight in business and in life.

Why would someone choose to do business with you? Because you have taken the time, and put in the effort to give them your best self.

For more of Diane’s business etiquette tips, visit her blog, connect with her here on The Huffington Post, follow her on Pinterest and Instagram and “like” The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook.

There’s nothing like a little snow to throw the whole precarious balance of work and life right off its metaphorical fulcrum. Ok, a lot of snow.

Here in New York City, we’ve had our small share of shoveling, and a lot of cringingly frigid weather of the kind that makes city officials warn ominously that people should just stay inside. But it’s nothing compared to what’s been happening in New England, where record-breaking snowfalls have been shuttering schools and workplaces, closing roads and crippling public transportation.

We all know what happens to kids in this situation — Yippee! Snow days! But what about the grown-ups who are supposed to be working? What’s their fate?

As is so often the case, it depends quite a bit on the type of work they do. There is — as is so often the case — a tremendous divide between salaried, higher income workers and hourly, lower-income ones.

For example, if your workplace is closed because of the weather, and you’re lucky enough to draw an annual salary (rather than working for an hourly wage), the law requires that you be paid , although your employer is perfectly within their rights to ask you to use your vacation, personal or sick time toward that pay. But there is no such protection for you if you’re an hourly worker — for these employees a closed workplace quite often means a non-existent paycheck.

To widen the divide still more, these days many knowledge workers can avoid even needing to use a vacation day by simply working from home when the office is closed — in fact, they are often required to do so. This, of course, is not an option for the millions who have service or retail jobs, or even for many of those in administrative support positions.

But what if your workplace is open?

Things get murkier for everyone when the job is there waiting — perhaps despite the storm or perhaps after the worst of the weather has passed — but you can’t get to it, because roads remain impassable, public transit is down or — even more commonly — schools are still closed.

Unlike the case of actual office closings, there’s no law to guide employers in this situation. It’s up to their own discretion. But once again, it seems clear that salaried office workers fare the best. Many of my own clients allow employees to stay home if they need to, using paid-time-off days of one sort or another, or simply working from home; many also have subsidized back-up child care programs employees can make use of to get to work.

A quick (unscientific) survey of articles on the web demonstrates that this is fairly typical: though office workers may struggle with snow days, the majority of their employers are pretty supportive. (I will admit I stumbled across a few policies that struck me as odd, though. The CFO of a regional New England United Way explained to a reporter that on a recent snowy day, employees who stayed home because schools were closed were asked to take a personal or vacation day. But those who stayed home on the very same day because they felt it would be difficult or unsafe to commute to work were paid as usual. Hmmm…)

It’s another story for low-income workers

Weather emergencies are something else entirely for those who work hourly jobs; for them, missing work can be much more problematic. Even if the kids don’t have school, even if the trains aren’t running, many of these employees risk loss of pay or worse if they can’t show up. Al Jazeera America describes one woman who works as a hotel maid in Long Island, earning, she says, less than minimum wage. Even in good weather she commutes an hour each way to her job. But following a recent snowstorm that had politicians urging everyone to stay off the roads, she stocked up on diapers, left her baby with its father and set off to brave the trip. “My boss is making me work tonight and tomorrow night,” the article quotes her as saying, “If I didn’t go in, I would lose my job.”

Many more who don’t necessarily risk losing their jobs may face devastating financial consequences for missing work. A recent Boston Globe article relates the story of one woman who lost two day’s pay when Boston public transportation shut down — as it has done numerous times this winter — because of bad weather. On a number of other days, she was docked for arriving late to her job at Dunkin’ Donuts because of bad roads and limited service on the bus and train she takes to get from her house to the babysitter’s to work. She considered taking a taxi, instead, but calculated each roundtrip would cost her more than a day’s pay. The 33-year-old woman, a mother of two, is not sure how she’ll cover her rent this month.

Another woman in Boston, a security guard, missed a day of work because she couldn’t get her car out of her unplowed street — and the trains weren’t running. On several other days, she spent nearly half her take-home pay taking cabs there and back. And on yet another occasion public transit slow-downs made her 45 minutes late — another financial loss. Her particular worry is the electric bill, which she’s already behind in paying.

Luckily, there are some happier stories

Some businesses do pay their hourly workers when they’re closed, and sometimes even when they’re open but the employees have good reasons for not being able to make it to work. An article in the New Hampshire Union Leader describes how a local medical center allowed those employees whose jobs were not on the center’s hospital side to apply vacation, personal or even sick time to a day off, if they chose. Hundreds took advantage of the policy and stayed home in a recent storm. At the same time, the medical center made arrangements for dozens of hospital-based workers, from physicians to housekeepers, to stay overnight. According to the article, they were paid for the time they were sleeping, as well as the time they worked — although I suspect those that were salaried didn’t get paid anything extra.

Similarly, a hospital in Maine made a list of essential employees ahead of a blizzard, putting them up at a nearby hotel and sending hospital security to transport them to and fro.

Then there are the “small and growing number of companies” who have decided to apply the carrot, rather than the stick. Instead of docking employees who can’t make it in, they reward those who can, with “an extra vacation day or a small bonus,” according to an article in the Boston Globe. Unfortunately, the article cites only one example of this phenomenon, a nursing home that paid a bonus to employees who were able to cover for their colleagues during a recent storm, but it would be most interesting to know where else this is being done, and how.

I wish I could close this piece on a high note, but I’m afraid rewards for showing up seem to be a lot less common than penalties for not doing so. And so, instead, I’ll close with this telling quote, from Laura Clawson of the Daily Kos:

It’s one more demonstration of how deeply inequality runs in the United States, that the snow day giving rise to thousands of discussions of best snow-day foods, hot chocolate jokes, and Netflix marathons among some people is forcing others to scramble for child care and make hard decisions about budgets and the risk of losing a day of pay or even a job.

[Note: This just in — another sobering account, this time in the New York Times, of the devastation being caused by the current weather in Boston — particularly for working parents and hourly workers.]

Robin Hardman is a writer and work-life expert who works with companies to put together the best possible “great place to work” competition entries and creates compelling, easy-to-read benefits, HR, diversity and general-topic employee communications. Find her at www.robinhardman.com.

Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

It’s painstaking performance art, in two dimensions. Artists spend two or three days, on hands and knees, meticulously creating elaborately detailed chalk and pastel paintings on an asphalt or concrete canvas — only to have it washed away after they’re done.

“At this stage, having done it so many times, it’s perfectly natural,” said St. Petersburg-based chalk artist Dee Sabean, as she carefully colored a mountainside landscape dotted with mountain goats peering regally into the distance. “That it’s going to go away means then we’ll have space to do another one. We’re very adjusted to that. At the beginning, though, I had to look over my shoulder a lot when I went home.”

And, since they have to constantly create new ones, artist Lori Escalera, of Culver City, Calif., joked, “It’s job security.”

A Megalodon shark appears to be breaking through the runway at the Venice Airport during the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Venice, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2014. The subject fit in with the festival’s theme: Extinct and Endangered Species. – Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

It’s chalk art extraordinaire, born of a centuries-old tradition, starting with a visual arts world version of wandering minstrels. In Italy in the 16th Century, artists traveled from town to town sketching their ephemeral creations in hopes that delighted spectators would toss a few coins their way. Originally, they drew, almost exclusively, images of the Virgin Mary, the “Madonna,” in Italian. That earned them the name, “Le Madonnari.”

The tradition died away as World War II ravaged the continent, only to be reborn in the 1970s, again in Italy. Then it spread.

Now, modern Madonnari gather for chalk art festivals from the state line to the tip of the Keys nearly year-round, basking in the Florida sun and the adulation of the passersby.

Valentina Sforzini of Italy works on a chalk drawing at the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Venice, Fla. on Nov. 15, 2014. Artists from around the globe use the pavement as their canvas and pastel chalk as their medium to create street paintings at the annual festival. – Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

“This is a you-and-me thing. That’s where the fun comes in. People get so excited when they see it,” said Sabean.

Wayne and Cheryl Renshaw fell in love with “chalking” near their Santa Clara, Calif., home. He’s an architect. She’s a landscape designer. Together, they travel to festivals across the country to spend as many as 20 laborious hours sketching, coloring and shading a 10-foot-by-10-foot vision that they know will almost surely be gone by the time they reach their front door again. All under the watchful gaze of a steady stream of spectators.

“You have to be a little bit of an extrovert to do this,” said Wayne.

For the Sarasota Chalk Festival in November 2014, California couple Wayne and Cheryl Renshaw chalked a scene based on a photograph of Wayne photographing a lemur at the San Jose Zoo. – Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

Recently, in Venice, just south of Sarasota, the couple carefully sifted through hundreds of shades, picking well-worn nubs of chalk from their overflowing toolbox to render a nearly exact, 100-square-foot replica of a photograph that felt like something of a barbershop mirror – of art reflecting life, reflecting art:

It was an image of Wayne, photographed as he was photographing a lemur at the San Jose zoo, with the lemur reflected in the glass of the camera lens.

Would they be sad when it was cleaned away?

“No,” Cheryl said. “It’s like if you go to a play – at the end of the play you clap and you go.”

Artists from around the globe use the pavement as their canvas and pastel chalk as their medium to create street paintings at the annual Sarasota Chalk Festival. The theme for the 2014 fest was Extinct and Endangered Species. – Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

There are chalk art festivals nearly every weekend of the year in Florida – sometimes two or three at a time. The Florida Chalk Artists Association has a good listing of events around the state at www.floridachalkartists.org/events.php, so you can find one near you.

Here’s a sampling:

On the west coast, Venice, Clearwater Beach and Safety Harbor all host chalk festivals at different times of the year.

Safety Harbor’s Bloom N Chalk Fest (www.bloomnchalkfest.com) kicks off in March with music, goodies and artists getting an early start on a Friday evening, and ends on Sunday when competition winners are announced.

Venice’s Chalk Festival included a Guiness Record-setting painting in 2014, and attracted so many artists that it needed multiple venues to fit them all in. All were within easy – and enjoyable – walking distance of each other. For the most up-to-date information, visit chalkfestival.org.

The Clearwater Beach Chalk Art Festival arrives in October on the beach promenade. More than two dozen artists participate, creating original 2- and 3-D paintings for passersby. Donations help support scholarships for visual arts students. Check it out at www.clearwaterbeachchalkwalk.com.

On the east coast, Lake Worth, Melbourne and Vero Beach all boast chalk art fests.

The Annual Lake Worth Street Painting Festival in late February lays claim to being “the country’s largest” – in square footage, at least. It brings in hundreds of artists to create more than 200 pavement paintings in a variety of styles. It’s a two-day event “covering more area than any other festival of its kind in the U.S.,” according to the festival’s website. Visit www.streetpaintingfestivalinc.org/ to find out more.

Melbourne invites chalk artists to show off their street-painting skills at the ArtWorks of Eau Gallie Fine Arts Festival in November. It’s a perfect fit for this “working artist” festival, which insists that participants in any medium create works or demonstrate their techniques as they exhibit. The website is www.artworksofeaugallie.org/

The Hibiscus Festival in Vero Beach puts on its Inaugural Professional Chalk Art Show in April, bringing in internationally recognized street painters to create 2- and 3-D works. Go to mainstreetverobeach.org/hibiscus.html for more information.

Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

Central Florida is home to two new chalk art festivals: Winter Park‘s Chalk the Walk and Sanford‘s Chalk Art on the Avenues.

Chalk the Walk, held in November, attracted more than 150 artists to the sidewalks of the city’s Central Park. Find out more at www.visitorlando.com/includes/events/

Sanford calls on artists to compete for cash prizes in the city’s historic downtown festival in May. It’s a working artists festival, too, so street painters are – ahem! – right up its alley. Get the scoop at stjohnsriverartfest.com/

North Florida hosts Paseo Pastel in St. Augustine in May and the Palatka Chalk Explosion in April. The Palatka event is in its third year in 2015, and includes live music, crafts, food and drink. The theme is “Visions of Well-being.” Get inspired at www.artsinputnam.org/event2.html.

St. Augustine’s Paseo Pastel includes more than 60 artists competing for cash and prizes. Visit www.staugustinechalkwalk.com/

And, at the southernmost end of the state, Key West hosts its annual Chalkfest in November. Held on the promenade at the Truman Waterfront, it attracts artists from around the world. The international lineup in 2014 brought talent from Holland, Italy, Russia and from across the United States. The five-day event lands in the cool weather of mid-November, and includes arts and crafts, a chalking area for kids, and a 3-D chalking competition. Find out more at artinpublicplaceskw.com/chalkfest.htm.

Photo by Lara Cerri for VISIT FLORIDA

— Story by Carlos Harrison for VISIT FLORIDA