Can Harrison Ford help and motivate you?

Now in his 60s, actor Harrison Ford reflects on a life that grew from modest expectation to unexpected stardom and a new sense of responsibility

I never planned on being a movie star, Harrison Ford said. I never thought I'd be anything more than a character actor who would disappear in the roles he played. That was my ambition.

Although stardom was not his goal, Ford achieved it by playing Han Solo in George Lucas' Star Wars, a box-office smash in 1977. He then went on to become one of the most successful movie actors in the world. His films, including Air Force One, The Fugitive, Patriot Games and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, are among the biggest box-office draws of all time, earning more than $3 billion in ticket sales alone. His new movie, K-19: The Widowmaker, is a gripping thriller based on a real event--the disastrous near meltdown of a nuclear reactor aboard a Soviet sub in 1961. It will be released July 19.

I didn't think there was any potential for me to be a leading man, Ford said, ecause I never saw acting as that kind of thing. I just saw it as an opportunity to portray different people in different kinds of stories. I wanted to play those parts because I wanted Harrison Ford to have many lives.

Ford was a diffident boy, yet one who displayed a keen intelligence. As a child, I did not feel loneliness as much as apartness, Ford said. A slightly built youngster, he had boyhood dreams of becoming a forest ranger or a coal delivery man.

I didn't want to sit in a damn office for 20 years, doing the same thing with the same people over and over again, he said. I was this little kid looking out the window and seeing somebody with a shovel turn a big pile of coal on the sidewalk into no pile at all. I thought, 'That's work! Doing that must have felt good!' There's still something satisfying to me about a shovel on a sidewalk.

Until he was about 16, Ford was one of the smallest kids in his class and was frequently picked on by bullies. It happened every day, he said, then smiled. But I didn't get hurt, and the girls developed a certain sympathy for me.

Ford graduated from Maine Township High School in Park Ridge, Ill., in 1960 and entered Ripon College in Wisconsin, where his academic performance was less than sparkling. He sometimes spent days in bed, sleeping between meals, depressed. When he was asked about his underachievement, he had this to say.

I was the first of our family to go to college, and my parents worked very hard to provide it, he said ruefully. Well, I didn't like school! I also wasn't self-motivated enough.

Ford drifted along until his junior year, when he enrolled in a drama course. Despite having terrible stage fright and no confidence, he performed in student plays. It changed his life. In college, I found a group of people with whom I could work on a common idea, he said. I learned to act, painfully, in public. I overcame my shyness. I found purpose.

Although Ford failed to graduate, he did marry an honor student--Mary Marquardt, his college sweetheart. He worked in summer theater before the couple moved to L.A. in 1964. Ford soon was cast in John Brown's Body at the Laguna Beach Playhouse, where he was spotted by a talent scout for Columbia Pictures and signed to a $150-a-week contract in the studio's New Talent program, designed to turn young unknowns into movie stars. Ford hated it.

They sent me to the studio barber with a photograph of Elvis Presley and instructions that I come back with my hair styled like his, he said in disgust. They had this perception of you being some green Elvis or green Cary Grant, but I didn't want to be those people. I thought imitating other actors was a recipe for disaster. I wanted to develop my own way of expression.

In 18 months at Columbia, he landed bit parts in three films and eventually was dropped. Days later, he signed with Universal and landed small roles on TV. In 1970, he played a minor character in Getting Straight, a silly movie about student radicals.

Discouraged over the roles he was being offered, Ford stopped acting and taught himself carpentry. I had a mortgage, a wife, two small sons--and no acting jobs, except work I didn't want to do, Ford said. A friend suggested that I build a recording studio for Sergio Mendes. That's how I fed my family.

Director George Lucas did find value in Ford and he later returned to acting, after three years to appear in American Graffiti, a small-budget film in which his gifts as an actor began to emerge. I felt useful, Ford said, an active member of the process rather than a dumb meat puppet. The 1973 film was a surprise hit.

Small but notable roles in The Conversation and Apocalypse Now followed. Then he made Star Wars--and nothing was ever the same again for Harrison Ford. He has starred in 21 movies since, nine of them grossing more than $100 million each, a record for an actor. As a result, Ford reportedly earns $25 million a picture today plus 15% of the gross. What accounts for such success? Tenacity has a lot to do with it, said Ford, and, more often than not, plain old luck.

Acting is storytelling, he said, and emotionally I'm drawn to stories. Emotion is still what attracts me to a character.

When not acting, Ford divides his time between New York and his 800-acre ranch in Jackson, Wyo. My great interest in the environment came from being in Jackson, he said. I'd purchased land and had a sense of stewardship about the place, because the majesty of nature is so apparent there. It helped sensitize me to the greater needs of the earth. I have a sense of awe, a sense that nature is so complex and fascinating that it's as close as I've come to understanding the notion of divinity.

In the last 10 years, Ford has become an activist in the conservation movement, quietly giving millions to environmen-
tal groups, in particular Conservation International, on whose board he sits.

We are suffering a cycle of extinction and losing species at a rate that has not been seen before, he said, and it is all the result of human interference.

I have four children and two grandsons, he added, smiling. So I feel responsible for tending to things I think I can affect as a private person, not as a celebrity. I don't think I can fix the world, but I do think it's our duty to attend to it and help in whatever way we can.

About the Author

I'm in the network marketing and internet marketing business simply because of the freedom of working whenever I wanted to, not answering to a boss and going wherever and whenever I wanted to.
http://instantsuccess.buildlifestyle.com

Obesity in Children

Obesity has long been a problem among many Americans. This disease can damage many aspects of a person's life. It can cause many more physical problems including heart disease and diabetes. It can also cause sufferers emotional strain and a negative self image. In recent years, Americans have been watching their children struggle with the same problems. And they aren't the only ones. Problems with childhood obesity are being dealt with in many areas of the world.

According to the Centers for Disease control and prevention, sixteen percent of American children between the ages of six and nineteen are overweight or obese. That adds up to over nine million children who struggle with the many challenges of dealing with obesity.

While the number of American children struggling with obesity is overwhelming, the really staggering aspect of it is how this number is increasing. The number of children who are overweight or obese has refused to decrease or even stay constant. It rises at a downright scary level every year.

Children who are overweight as children are very likely to stay overweight as adults. This means dealing with the same problems for their whole lives. This is all the more reason for adults to take a stand and do something about our children's health. But first, we must understand why are children are having so many problems with obesity.

There are many reasons that a child may struggle with their weight. The first reason is diet. So many times, adults let children eat what they want. Their young, they should enjoy their lives, they say. But children are more likely to enjoy their lives when they are healthy with restrictions than when they are unhealthy and may do what they want.

It is sometimes hard to decide what foods are good for children. There are many prevailing theories, but a good guideline to follow is to simply think sensible. Low sugar, low fat, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats are usually good ideas. However, we all know that most children aren't going to like that spinach you deem healthy, so you may have to be a little creative when it comes to supper recipes. If you would like a little help coming up with nutritious and healthy meals, there are many sites online that you can visit.

If you need more help, you may think about contacting a professional nutritionist. He or she will be able to help you in constructing a practical diet plan tailored to your child's specific needs.

Of course, poor diet is not the only reason that so many children are struggling with their weight. Lack of exercise is another reason. Television and video games are often self-consuming, even to many adults. So the time spent with these activities should be monitored and limited to make way for physical activities.

Genetics and environment also play a role in the causation for childhood obesity. People all want their children to be healthy, but sometimes they are simply born with the lower hand. Many factors can't be helped. However, one way to curb weight problems in children is to set a good example for them. Don't eat what they can't, and don't watch TV more than they can. Be good to your body, and they are more likely to be good to theirs.
About the Author

For more information about obesity and how to help control it, visit The Obesity Directory

Real Estate Contracts

A real estate contract is for the purchase or sale, exchange, or other trade of real estate between two or more individuals or parties. Real estate, also called leasehold estate, is essentially a rental of real property, and rental contracts cover rentals, since they normally do not result in recordable deeds. Freehold trade of real estate that are generally more permanent, are dealt with by real estate contracts, and they include dealings in the title fees, life estates, remainder estates and freehold property. Real estate contracts are usually bilateral contracts, where terms are agreed upon mutually by both parties and should have the legal prerequisites specified by the contract law in writing.

Any real estate contract must have certain details well written to avoid further misconception and misunderstanding. These details include a proper identification of both parties between whom the exchange of real estate property will take place. A clear description of the both parties is required as well, as their intentions for the deal. A clear description of the real estate property must be made in the contract, including the address of the estate and other details as agreed upon by both parties. The price that the estate is being sold to the buyer and the terms of payment must also be clearly quoted to avoid misinterpretations. The signatures of both parties are mandatory on the contract, but it must be noted that this is voluntary, and no one can be forced to sign a contract.

There has to be a mutual agreement on all terms of the contract by both parties in the contract, which is monitored by the lawyer under whose supervision the contract is made.

Contracts provides detailed information on Contracts, Business Contracts, Legal Contracts, Employment Contracts and more. Contracts is affiliated with Divorce Legal Forms.

Three Reasons Why More Website Content Increases Traffic

People typically visit the internet in search of information. They are looking for content that is relevant to their purpose. They typically are not looking for marketing ploys. There are a number of ways to increase this content, including having a search engine optimization company provide you with keyword rich articles, but there are three major reasons why more website content increases your website traffic.

The first reason more website content increases traffic is that content articles tend to be focused on a topic. This focus will then lead to the repeated use of a keyword or phrase. That repeated use leads to higher search engine rankings. Search engine rankings are the way returns come back to an internet user through a search engine. If someone searches for the term ?dogs? they will come back with thousands of pages of results. The order those results are displayed on the screen depends on a number of factors including how frequently the term is mentioned on the site and where it is mentioned on the site.

Research shows that people tend only to click on the first ten results a search engine offers them. Increasing your website content will help you become one of those first ten websites. This means more people than you ever thought possible will be clicking on your site in no time simply based on your website ranking. Not only will you be closer to the top of the search engine with more content, you may also be indexed by more search engines. This could mean something like ninety percent of all internet users seeing your website in any one given internet session.

The second reason more website content increases traffic is a bit more complicated. If you have strong, well written content on your site, you increase your credibility with customers. Suddenly you are no longer a company selling homemade dog food; you are somebody who can offer knowledgeable advice about anything a responsible dog owner needs to know including house training, leash laws, and sleeping problems. This increase in credibility not only makes people believe what you have posted to your site, it also makes them want to stay at your site to read the rest of your content articles. The more content articles you have at your site, the longer they will stay. Keeping them there as long as possible is the key to selling your product to them. You have a much longer time frame in which to pitch your product and close the sale.

Not only will they stay at your site longer with more content, but this also means they may come back to your site the next time they log onto their machine. For example, if you are selling refilled printer ink cartridges, but you have content on your site related to all things printers, you have a good chance that someone might stay to look at a few of the articles. However, the next time they need digital photo printing tips, chances are good that they will remember what great content you offered them during their last internet session, and they will return directly to your site just to read more of your content. This means you have their complete, undivided attention for an even longer period of time. Moreover, if they are returning to your site on some sort of regular basis, chances are good that they will recommend the site to other users like friends and relatives which will mean even more traffic for your site.

The final way more website content increases your web traffic is that it increases the likelihood that advertisers and reciprocal link exchangers will be attracted to your site. Reciprocal links are exchanged by websites that have similar interests. The more relevant topics you are able to list, the more chances you have of someone with similar interests attempting to link to your site. This could greatly increase your website traffic because not only will people be able to find your site through search engines, they may also be able to find your site through other sites. Further, though, advertisers are looking for sites that encourage customers they want to do business with. More keywords will mean more customers for you which can mean more advertisers for you which can mean more profits and visibility for you.

No matter which reason you choose, more content will increase your website traffic. That can only mean good things in store for you and your website. You can have your content articles written for you or write them yourself. Whichever way you go, though, be sure they are well-written, as poorly written articles will do nothing to increase your website traffic.

About the Author:

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