Blog Posts Across iMatthews.com

Lazy Eye

Columnist explains strabismus, lazy eye. In a column in the U.K.'s Manchester Evening News, a reader wrote that his three-year-old child's "left eye turns in, especially when he is tired or looking at books. Does he need to see an optician?" Optician Martyn Allen explained that "[a] squint (or strabismus) is when one of the eyes does not point in the direction of the object it… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on July 2, 2008 at 7:10am — No Comments

Nearly half of eye injuries occur at home

USA Today reports that although "[c]oncern about eye injuries may surface with Fourth of July fireworks,...it's more likely for such injuries to occur at home in the kitchen, garden, or garage," according to "an eye doctors' association." Recently, the "Eye Injury Snapshot, conducted by the Academy and the American Society of Ocular Trauma, looked at 765 eye injuries reported by 775 doctors during a two-week… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on July 1, 2008 at 8:47am — No Comments

Sun Protection Options

Consider the fact that less than 1/3 of children in the US are adequately protected against the sun and you begin to realize the magnitude! Just one bad sunburn during childhood can double the risk of skin cancer later in life. Snow has the highest incidence of UV radiation. You might be surprised to note that even grass reflects 3% of UVR! The best way to limit sun exposure? Of course, stay indoors! Besides being light about it, try to limit your child's exposure outdoors between 10am and 3pm… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 30, 2008 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Investing in the iMatthews.com Community

A community website is only as good as the investment made by the community members participating in it. I spend a lot of time in the social networking space online including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I've decided that I'm going to keep iMatthews.com in my regular mix as well. Today I spent some time looking for new friends to meet and new groups to add. I also spent some time going over my personal page to make sure it was up to date and relevant. Here are some tips (my own) on how to… Continue

Posted by Lyell E. Petersen on June 30, 2008 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Skin care

Scientists and researchers have been aware of the negative effects of skin exposure to sunlight for over 100 years. In the late 1880's observers noted that sailors exposed to sun developed "Seemannshaut," or "s… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 26, 2008 at 4:16pm — No Comments

All About Light

Every Summer there is a lot of talk about Ultra Violet (UV) light and the harm they cause to our skin. The eyes are no exception. Over the next few postings, I want to highlight sun protection and the eyes. To better understand the dangers of UV, its important to understand light and its interaction with the eye. Light is the fundamental element of vision. It impacts our life in both positive and negative ways. Light is a form of Electromagnetic (EM) radiation which is produced either naturally… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 25, 2008 at 5:21pm — No Comments

Neighborhood Matchmaker

I see that there are many Real Estate Professionals on this forum. Here is a great site, with an odd name - Hoodeo - that helps to match people with their ideal neighborhoods. The site uses a brief questionable to determine a user’s ideal location, and then uses real estate data from Trulia to offer a number of available homes within the region. KB Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 24, 2008 at 6:04pm — No Comments

Technolgy in Vision

As an optometrist and an avid follower of technology, I was fascinated by a segment on PBS on which this post is based. There is a genetic condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa that damage the light-sensitive 'rods and cones' located in the retina - the back part of our eyes. Rods, which provide side (peripheral) and night vision are affected more than the cones that provide color and clear central vision. Of course, I love Alan Al… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 24, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Fireworks and Eye Safety

Imagine this scenario: It's the Fourth of July, you are enjoying the lit-up skies and you hear a loud boom from the fireworks being set off in his neighborhood. Suddenly, the evening takes a terrible turn. You hear of a young kid having a bottle rocket shot into his eye, immediately causing him terrible pain. His family rushes him to the emergency room for treatment. As a result of the injury, this young kid develops glaucoma and cataracts. Today, he has permanent vision loss in his injured eye… Continue

Posted by Keshav Bhat on June 24, 2008 at 2:51pm — No Comments

Check Out My Book!

I recently published Tattoo: From Idea To Ink from Wolfgang Publications. It traces the history of the most common kinds of tattoos that are popular today. If you're interested in the indelible art, check it out! Continue

Posted by Joy Surles on June 19, 2008 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Something you can do to help.

I grew up in a time when young people we were very aware of the environment and cared about the land, air and water around us and how they were being abused. I was a bit idealistic and sometimes unrealistic I know, but I know some of us still do care about these issues, however in our hunger for adequate housing... some more adequate than others, jobs that support us... some with more support than others, and times of running around multitasking, it comes to mind that the things that we held dea… Continue

Posted by Doug Coe on June 15, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

Fishing for Owls?

Who knew that fishing for catfish would turn into a feeding station for owls? Matthews youngsters Alan Hobbs and Laura Medina love to go fishing at Squirrel Lake Park on Sunday mornings and recently, this owl took a keen interest in Alan's catch (approaching from the left). Laura's fa… Continue

Posted by Carol Buie-Jackson on June 7, 2008 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Filtering Your Water Garden

I said in previous posts I would talk about filtration. I'm here to say that it's not as daunting as some may feel after reading about different types of filter systems. I'll also say that there are many ways to filter a pond but most backyard ponds will benefit greatly with the information I am sharing here. I will not be giving advice on what brands of filters, pumps or skimmers or any other commercial product for that matter, those are decisions for you to make based on the information I give… Continue

Posted by Doug Coe on June 1, 2008 at 8:53am — No Comments

Nice To Meet You!

Hello, neighbors! Tonight is my first real night exploring iMatthews, but I have a feeling I'm going to be getting to know it quite a bit better in the coming weeks. I've only been in the area for 2 years, so I'm still making connections in the community. This resource will be helpful in meeting folks with common interests and finding out more about what's going on around town. I'm a writer and a teacher of writing, so I was glad to find the… Continue

Posted by Joy Surles on May 24, 2008 at 10:00pm — 1 Comment

Charlotte Events

AriDesigns Jewelry will be selling at the following places soon: Saturday 5/24/08 - Mint Hill Market (9:00 AM to 1:00 PM) Friday 6/14/08 - Plaza Midwood Art Krawl (behind Queens Gallery) 6 PM to 11 PM Saturday 6/21/08 - 3rd Annual Skateboarding & Music Festival 2008 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Grayson Skate Park (750 Beal Street, Charlotte, 28211) Hope to see you there! Or, check out my website at www.ari-designs.com for more info on how to purchase in… Continue

Posted by Arriel Goodwin on May 21, 2008 at 5:57pm — No Comments

Sun and Vitamin D - Is Your Sunscreen More Harmful than the Sun?

"Sunlight is more powerful than any drug; it is safe, effective and available free of charge. If it could be patented, it would be hyped as the greatest medical breakthrough in history. It's that good." ~ Mike Adams, consumer health advocate It has been drilled into our minds to wear sunscreen to protect us from the sun’s rays. But what if the combination of toxic ingredients in sunscreen and the inhibited production of Vitamin D (as a result of the increased use of sunscreen) are contributing… Continue

Posted by Dr. Michael Smith on May 15, 2008 at 12:48pm — No Comments

A day in the life of a cake baker/designer/artist!

I don't really know why I am starting this blog, other than to have a place I can come to at the end of the day or week and put it all into words. I guess I am doing this for me - no one else. There are days I think I must have been crazy to have left a very secure job with fifteen years invested and decide to open my own cake shop at the age of 55. It took EVERY penny of my measly retirement funds to get the shop open - and then it was "sink or swim". So far, I have been swimming... but there a… Continue

Posted by Victoria Moore on May 6, 2008 at 7:35pm — 5 Comments

The Summer Concert Series Begins

We want more!!! Just in from opening night of the Matthews Summer Concert & Movie Series at the newly remodeled Stumptown Park (absolutely beautiful). Tonight's band was the GT All-Stars from Atlanta, GA, and they were fantastic! This was one band (and one crowd) that didn't let a little rain get them down. The band opened with a funky instrumental, with solos and band introductions. The male and female singers (one of each) took the stage and never left. They played for a solid 2 and a half… Continue

Posted by Nancy LaFond on May 3, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Good Night Story

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Posted by Darryl Parker on April 30, 2008 at 7:43pm — 1 Comment

Fowl Play

We have been awaiting the arrival of chickens since March. Weekly trips to Renfrow Hardware kept us informed as to the progress of the new chicks and when we could expect the "sexed" chicks to be in (versus straight run which might include roosters). The big day was this past Saturday. We loaded up and headed over. No luck. They had not come in as expected. The remainder of the weekend was spent in great anticipation of their scheduled arrival on Tuesday. Understanding more about chicks after o… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on April 30, 2008 at 7:00pm — 1 Comment

Late April Garden

Its been a little over a month since my last post. There has been some nice progress in the growth of the garden. Nearly the same viewpoint as one month ago:

Peas are coming in: …

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Posted by Darryl Parker on April 27, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

Allergies - find some natural solutions...

Sneezing, Runny Nose, Itchy Eyes... Oh My! Have you been experiencing any of these lately? How about several natural remedy solutions for your seasonal allergies? First, let’s look at what allergy symptoms are and why we get them. The symptoms we experience: itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and congestion, are all immune responses that our body produces to protect us. When we are “suffering” with these symptoms our immune system has become overactive. It is overreacting to the… Continue

Posted by Dr. Michael Smith on April 11, 2008 at 9:10am — No Comments

The koi in a garden pond

So you think you might like to raise koi...or at least have a few in your pond?. How about a short history of these beautiful and fascinating fish. The koi is believed to have originated in eastern Asia. It is thought that farmers working in rice fields saw brightly colored fish swimming in their paddies and captured them to breed, thus creating an ornamental fish. The word "koi" in Japanese means "carp". A homophone of koi means "love affection" and koi are therefore symbols of love and… Continue

Posted by Doug Coe on April 4, 2008 at 9:30am — 2 Comments

Water Features and the drought.

I get more questions about the drought these days and how a water feature uses water. The short answer is that a water feature uses less water than watering a lawn. The explainination for this is fairly simple, a pond or waterfeature when properly built (with no leaks) recirculates the water over and over as part of the filtration and esthetic property of a pond. When you water your lawn the water is lost to the ground never to be retrieved for your use...and the real kicker is the lawn only use… Continue

Posted by Doug Coe on March 25, 2008 at 8:49am — No Comments

Spring Cleanups

Yes it's that time of year again here in the Carolinas,we're starting to see the lilies put up leaves and the fish are moving faster, the plants around the pond are beginning to awake, the long sleep of winter is just about over. That means its time to get your pond ready for summer. But wait, why are you cringing at the thought of that? A spring cleanup of a pond is actually less work than, let's say, raking all the leaves in your lawn left over from winter...right? So lets get to it..... Of co… Continue

Posted by Doug Coe on March 25, 2008 at 8:30am — 4 Comments

Ten Great Reasons to Shop Local First

From the Seacoast Buy Local Program (Portsmouth, NH) 1. Significantly more money re-circulates in Matthews when purchases are made at locally owned, rather than nationally owned businesses. Locally owned businesses help keep more money in our community because local business owners spend more of the profits of their businesses where they live - here - and locally owned businesses purchase from other local businesses. 2. Most new jobs are provided by locally owned businesses. Smal… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on March 24, 2008 at 7:31pm — 1 Comment

BECKYS BEARS 2 LUV N MORE

HI EVERYONE ! JUST A LITTLE INFO ON MYSELF. I AM FROM WESTHAMPTON BEACH LI NY. WE MOVED HERE 4 YEARS AGO. MY HUSBAND AND I OWN DREAMSCAPE WATER GARDENS, WE WERE LOCATED ON PROVIDENCE RD IN WAXHAW. WE HAVE SINCE MOVED OUR BUSINESS TO MONROE WHERE WE LIVE. SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER OUR BUSINESS. MY HUSBAND DESIGNS AND BUILDS PONDS AND WATER FEATURES. I OF COURSE STILL SELL JIM SHORE FIGURINES, BOYDS BEARS, BEAN POD CANDLES (100% SOY). I AM WORKING OUT OF OUR GARAGE TEMPORARILY. YOU WILL FIND ME AT… Continue

Posted by BECKY COE on March 23, 2008 at 12:10pm — No Comments

Garden in Spring

Ok - here are a few photos of my garden thus far this year. I've kept it to cold hardy plants for now. I'll be planting more after April 15th - mostly tomatoes, squashes and beans.

You can see garlic, onions, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, snap peas, radishes, carrots, and cabbages (for sauerkraut!)… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on March 23, 2008 at 9:48am — No Comments

The Frigid North Woods

I've just returned from a week in the mountains of New Hampshire. I wasn't sure if I would be up to the trip after being ill with the flu for 10 days or so prior to departure, but all and all it was a good trip. Some of you know I've been working on creating larger and larger batches of naturally fermented sauerkraut. I have gone so far as to start working with a consultant up in Greenfield, Mass. Well, Friday night I met with him and toured his natural fermentation sauerkraut and pickle facili… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on March 20, 2008 at 9:10pm — No Comments

What's the hardest thing you've ever done?

As many of you may know, I sing. If you didn't know it before, you can check out the picture entitled, "My Passion." My brother tells me I was singing before I could actually speak! How that's possible, I'm not really sure . . . Anyway, I do come from a musical family. My mother sang with a "Big Band" and my dad played guitar, piano, and stand-up bass. My mother's mother played piano also. I have several aunts, uncles, and cousins who played guitar and piano, and sang, and some who still do. Fun… Continue

Posted by Nancy LaFond on March 14, 2008 at 11:48am — 1 Comment

Order Your Rain Barrel!

Order Your Rain Barrels Now for April 26th Delivery! HAWK is currently taking orders for rain barrels that will be delivered at the Earth Day Festival on April 26 at Stumptown Park. Two sizes of barrels are available: 60 gallons for $85 and 80 gallons for… Continue

Posted by Carol Buie-Jackson on March 8, 2008 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Frogger on 51

I'm new to Matthews, actually I've lived here since last April - and haven't really started to enjoy the surrounding area. My daily commute to Charlotte on the Cats 27 bus starts off with a "Frogger" ( old video game from the 80's) like expedition across 51 from Paces to the bus stop near the entrace of Presbyterian.… Continue

Posted by Gabe Miranda on March 1, 2008 at 11:34am — 3 Comments

The Garden Report - Feb 29th, 2008

Using my trusty Renfrow General Store Vegetable Planting Guide, here's what can go in the ground this weekend: Asparagus - this is a long term plant and takes 2+ years to product - plant from Nov 15 - April 15 in a part of the garden where they can stay for the next 50 years or so. Beets - Detroit Dark Red are recommended for our area - plant 2/15 - 4/1 from seed. Broccoli - 2/15 - 3/15 - they do fine in the cold (except for 15 degrees in April) - I put mine in the ground two weeks ago. Much… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on February 29, 2008 at 5:15am — 3 Comments

it's about time

it's good to see a social online community forming for Matthews. i've had the idea in my head for some time but never the "extra" time to take it on. cheers to Parker! Continue

Posted by Adam Brooks on February 28, 2008 at 10:18pm — 4 Comments

Attitudes toward divorce

When many of us first married we determined the word divorce would have no place in our relationship. Then rather suddenly we find ourselves trying to sort out what went wrong with our plans. The ‘D’ word has been dropped into our lap and we just can’t dump it to the floor. It will not go away. There is a myth that people grow apart and together decide it is best to end their marriage. There is another myth that if you do your best you’ll succeed. The reality in divorce is more often a couple g… Continue

Posted by Samantha Woods on February 23, 2008 at 11:40am — No Comments

My Photo Stinks

My Photo stinks. I think I need a glamour shot. Anyone have a hat with a feather and a furry wrap I can borrow? Funny. Those with the nicest portrait least resemble them..... except Lee Meyers. He actually looks like his picture. I recently did a radio spot saying that marketing a home is more than a sign in the yard and a card with the agents high school picture on it. I got plenty of funny comments. To listen to the whole funny ad check out our site at www.myjamisonhomes.com Continue

Posted by Paul Jamison on February 18, 2008 at 9:31pm — 9 Comments

HOW TO: Add pictures to your group

I've had a request to add photos/videos to a group. There is only one way I know of to do this. Each group has a "text area" at the top of the group. This is where we will paste some code that gets generated by the system: PHOTOS 1) Upload any photos 2) Create an album of photos - you can create an album of any photos, yours or others 3) Once the album is created, go to "My Albums" 4) Click on the desired album. In the right column you will see some code to "embed" this album. This is what yo… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on February 16, 2008 at 6:17am — No Comments

Matthews Night Out -- Steve Brogan

My sons and I went to see Steve Brogan tonight. Since we are all fans of Jeff Dunham, we were really looking forward to seeing Steve. We were certainly not disappointed! He was very entertaining and funny. I was pleasantly surprised that my oldest (almost 19) laughed aloud as much as he did, though he did try to stifle it a few times. We especially enjoyed Scott's enthusiastic rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot." I think you have quite a future, Scott! It's so exciting to see people come out to… Continue

Posted by Nancy LaFond on February 15, 2008 at 10:45pm — 1 Comment

Proposed Ad for iMatthews.com

Our grand opening is the week of February 25th and we will be announced by sponsor The Matthews Record. There are advertising opportunities to run alongside the official announcement - let the Matthews Record readers know that your… Continue

Posted by Darryl Parker on February 14, 2008 at 8:00pm — 3 Comments

iMatthews Calendar

I have added an embedded Google calendar to the iMatthews site. This means some great things for you folks like the Chamber or Beantown Tavern that have regular events.

Note: If you only have one or two events to post and don't want to worry about maintaining a calendar, just send a message to Darryl Parker.

I believe in only posting data to one place. The Google Calendar system allows you to push your calendar out to m…

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 13, 2008 at 7:06am — No Comments

An online community for Matthews, NC

I'm pleased to announce a new virtual community for people who live in and care about Matthews, NC. The Matthews Record is the local weekly news publication and is leading the charge online to find out what their readers have to say about their lives here in Matthews and their comments on the activities in the community. Parker Web is facilitating this conversation with Internet development and planning.

There are several options for you:

1) Your profile is your place to highlig…

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 11, 2008 at 10:16pm — 2 Comments

HOW TO: Change your profile picture

We had some folks setup their account without an initial photo. Here's a quick "how-to" on updating your photo:

1) Login to your account

2) In the upper right corner, beneath your name, click on the link "My Settings"

3) This will take you to your setting management screen. From here, you will see an icon to upload a photo to the site. Select this icon and either upload or link to your photo.

4) Your photo will not immediately change UNTIL you hit save.

5) T…

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 11, 2008 at 7:32pm — No Comments

Valentine's Day Crush

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 11, 2008 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Business Building for Community

iMatthews.com will be initially built by the local businesses of the Matthews community. As time passes, the non-business community membership will greatly outnumber the businesses. I thought to help you prepare your business to participate in the iMatthews.com community, I'd put together a few suggestions on how to use the system using some real life examples.

1) Use the iMatthews.com group system to communicate with your clients. You can see we have already created a "Matthews Chambe…

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 11, 2008 at 2:23pm — 1 Comment

Inspiration for Community

I remember when I was a child and I could walk down the dirt road on my grandfather's farm outside of Charleston, South Carolina, and everyone knew who I was. I could walk into the local store and people knew my name - even if they hadn't seen me in weeks. My entire life I've sought to recreate that feeling.

From time to time I have found it. I went to high school in Davie County where my father worked as the Tax Assessor. Mocksville has a small square and I knew every busines…

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Posted by Darryl Parker on February 10, 2008 at 9:12am — No Comments

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