Jobs, jobs, jobs. The shrieking call is getting louder, to the point where new groups are gathering tinder to cook up their own versions of job expansion programs.

#1. At the bidding of the USDA, farmers and other ag types will meet on Tuesday, January 5, 1 to 4 p.m., at the Rutgers Eco Complex in Bordentown. Call Howard Henderson 856-787-8700. Bankers will be there.

The feds are trying to stir the agricultural pot in each state. Maybe they’ll find a new byproduct for cranberries here in New Jersey.

#2. On Thursday, January 7, David Sandahl, of the new Princeton Job Creation Forum, will address the Princeton Regional Chamber at a luncheon at the Princeton Marriott. His topic: “Getting It Right This Time: Accelerating Economic Sustainable Growth.” Cost: $50. Call 609-924-1776 or sign up here.

#3. NetWork, a part-time and work from home expo with nearly 100 exhibitors will be held Sunday, January 10, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Doubletree, 200 Atrium Drive, Somerset. The $5 admission will be waived if you mention this blog or any media source or preregister at Net-WorkExpo.com.

The Sunday expo is the brainchild of two entrepreneurial women who have “vetted” the exhibitors (“it’s more than just Avon and Amway” they say), have assembled take-home bags, and are even providing professional babysitters.

#4. Or go to the pre-session for a 10-week business plan course on Tuesday, January 12, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Suzanne Patterson Center in Princeton. Isles Inc. sponsors this and the Tuesday session is free. Call Norma Diaz or check the website. The class is right here in downtown Princeton. Free parking.

Of these opportunities, I can go only to the January 7 lunch with Sandahl speaking. I’m among those gathering tinder (and beating the drum) for the Princeton Job Creation Forum. Sandahl is looking for entrepreneurs with viable business plans to meet lenders, angels, and venture capitalists in a novel speed dating opportunity on Tuesday, January 26, at Princeton University. (Look for details at http://pjcf.org/) on the registration page.

The other opportunities are intriguing too. And they’re so different. Start your new and more profitable year by deciding to be entrepreneurial — or to be public spirited and support an innovator/entrepreneur.

As 2009 closes, my husband and I are grateful to the doctors who have taken care of us so well. Our health is good but the list is dauntingly long; it includes Chandani Fernando of Princeton Primary & Urgent Care, Barbara Berko, Peter Yi, Charles Wightman, Michael Ruddy, and more. Kudos to all!

What triggered this post is an honor that went to Bruce Cole, of Princeton Primary & Urgent Care. He recognized cardiac symptoms in a patient who arrived in his Alexander Road office late in the day; he pulled strings and got her in touch with doctors who could perform an emergency angioplasty and save her life. The grateful patient, Llura Gund, donated $5 million, in tribute to Dr. Cole and two other doctors, to enhance the ICU of the new hospital in Plainsboro.

We hope we won’t have to make many trips to that ICU but we’re glad it’s there. Happy New Year!

By nature — and by way of repeated exposure to the ugly side of seemingly pleasant things — newspaper writers reflexively gag whenever anyone speaks about his own good deeds. We are built to find the Botox behind the easy smiles, and we know most people will go to great lengths to hide the needles

This is the intro written by Scott Morgan, one of the editors of U.S. 1 Newspaper, on a “doing good deeds” roundup that he commissioned from various writers, including me. I thought he — and the others — were worth reading, so here is Scott’s intro and a link to the rest of the story, As written by Scott Morgan:

But here’s a secret most newspaper reporters would rather you not know: We are usually very nice people. We’re not cynical because we’re jerks, we’re cynical because we’re idealists. And this is not a kind world to idealists.

At the risk of triggering some hydrological holocaust, I decided to turn the spotlight on myself and my cache of regular — and supremely lovely — writers and my editor, Continuing… as part of the annual Helping Hands issue…

http://www.princetoninfo.com/index.php?option=com_us1more&Itemid;=6&key;=12-22-2009%20writers

When Wayne Cooke came up to me after church to offer a manuscript about his cancer treatment, my heart sank. Oh no. Not a would-be author. How could I let him down gently? Then I read his manuscript, in fact, I couldn’t put it down. It laced funny and poignant personal experiences with practical tips on how to be a patient and survivor.

I turned it over to my boss, Rich Rein, editor/publisher of U.S. 1 Newspaper, who declared it a compelling story. He made it the cover story of our end-of-year issue in 2007, entitled “Strength Renewed,” and Craig Terry did the photos. This 5,000 word first-person story may seem like an unlikely topic for a newspaper, but Rein has made other surprising choices.

So encouraged, Cooke reworked his material and has just published his book under the title “On the Far Side of the Curve: a stage IV Cancer Survivor’s Journey.” It’s available with excerpts at Amazon.com .

The first version, sans photos, is online in the archives of U.S. 1 Newspaper.

Even if you are not a patient, it’s a good read. If you know a patient, the tips in this book (“Lessons Learned”) could help them.

Please also consider encouraging your patient (or the caregiver) to become an informed “e-patient” and/or a believer in participatory medicine. A good way to start is with the blog “The New Life of e-Patient Dave,” who also finds himself “on the far side of the curve.” For instance, he just published “Advice to a Cancer Patient Facing News He Didn’t Want.”

Another excellent resource: Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR). Pick your diagnosis — there’s an ongoing conversation about every form of cancer and just “lurk” or ask questions. Five years ago ACOR was my lifeline. I recommend it.

Whew! I just crossed off two items on my Things to Do by the End of the Year push. Your list might include “sell stock to offset capital gains.” My big one was “buy windows to take advantage of the tax credit.” Now I won’t, and I can tell you not to rush.

Unless you manage to order and install those windows by December 31st, you can’t claim them on your 2009 tax return, so why rush?

I asked Gregg Semanick, the friendly IRS PR guy, about that. “Taxpayers must claim the credit on the tax return for the year that the improvements are made,” say the rules.

The 30 percent tax credit is worth looking at though, for certain income ranges. See Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits if you are interested for this year or next.

Maybe you can cogitate on some other kind of energy improvement to install by December 31.

Better idea: put that money in a Salvation Army kettle. My fellow Methodists and I have been ringing the bell at Palmer Square, at the Princeton Public Library, and in front of the church at Nassau & Vandeventer. Look for the kettle — and have a blessed holiday.

Goodness knows it’s hard enough for an adult to figure what job is best, even harder for a teenager, and even more difficult for an inner city teenager.

That’s why the Fresh Air Fund holds a Career Awareness Program, for nearly 300 6th to 8th graders. At a nearly month-long program in the summer, at a camp named after board member Mariah Carey (yeah, I succumbed to the lure of using an only tangentially appropriate picture) teens discover their strengths, practice critical thinking, and develop interpersonal skills.

Follow up sessions are held on weekends in spring and fall, and they get a chance to do job shadowing and attend a career fair.

One day of this costs $42 per camper and would be a great investment in some young person’s future.

Or you could help out by joining the runners at the NYC Half Marathon on March 21, or sponsoring a runner.

The line I like from the camp information is We encourage young people to face challenges and follow career paths that are in line with their skills and talents.. In other words, please be realistic. You may not be able to make a living as a shortstop or a sports writer or even a sports administrator.

Reality check for any young person, not just those from the inner city: just because you major in “sports management” doesn’t mean you’ll land a job in that field. So while you are in grade school and high school, develop additional interests beyond sports.

Parents: don’t let traveling soccer (or video games) supplant family trips to the Franklin Institute, Liberty Science Center, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, and on and on. The best “career awareness” program you can offer is to extend their horizons.

It’s harmless to let kids think they can be the next Derek Jeter or Mariah Carey. Or is it?

In the tradition of Charles Dickens who, himself, performed “A Christmas Carol” as a charity fundraiser, there will be two back-to-back one man shows of Dickens’ Christmas Carol — one written and performed by a Plainsboro resident and Equity actor, the other by a direct descendant of Dickens — on Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12.

Scott Langdon will perform his fresh adaptation of the play on Friday, December 11, at Princeton United Methodist Church, located at Nassau and Vandeventer. Dessert, accompanied by carol-singing, will be served at 7 p.m. and the one-man performance is at 8 p.m. A free-will offering will be taken for the Appalachia Service Project. Call 609-924-2613 or visit http://www.princetonumc.org/ for further information.

Langdon has more than 30 years of performing experience to his credit, ranging from regional theater to children’s television. He has a master’s degree from Oklahoma City University where he studied with Florence Birdwell.

Princeton United Methodist Church has been participating in the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) program since the mid-70s and sent 41 participants last July. ASP operates several centers in mountainous Central Appalachia, which has poverty rates three times the national average.

The following night, Saturday, December 12, at 7 p.m. (not at 8 p.m., as I first said) the Diocese of Trenton presents Gerald Charles Dickens of London to perform in his great-great-grandfather’s classic tale.

A benefit for Villa Victoria Academy’s Foundation for Student Achievement, it costs $25 and it will be staged at the school’s theater at 376 West Upper Ferry Road in West Trenton. Call 609-406-7400 or http://www.dioceseoftrenton.org.

Says Dickens, as quoted by LucyAnn Dunlap in a U.S. 1 article, “My goal with ‘A Christmas Carol’ is to make sure people have a good time. I try to not make it too serious, something to be revered. It’s just a good story. When the audience comes at the beginning they’re coming to see a show. At the end, they’re part of a show. That’s what I try to achieve. Everybody is traveling through this story together.

Says Langdon: “Everyone from Jim Carrey to Patrick Stewart to The Muppets has had a go at delivering this timeless tale, yet it continues to be relevant and gets to the heart and soul of the holidays. It has been a dream of mine for years to bring the story to life in a whole new way.”

Photo by Stephanie F. Black.

Neurobiologist Sam Wang wowed the Princeton Chamber audience with “Welcome to Your Brain” last February, and here’s another – rare – chance to hear him. He keynotes the Princeton Research Symposium on Saturday, December 5, at 9 a.m. at the Friend Center (breakfast at 8:30).

In addition to the keynote by Wang, nearly 40 grad students and post docs will present their work on everything from imagining the inside of the sun to understanding the morality of deception. Another keynoter, Emily Carter, will speak at 4 p.m. on novel material designs for energy technology.

In addition to the full-day seminar on December 5 the university hosts two concurrent seminars on Friday, December 4.

Friday’s 2009 Princeton Sports Symposium is fully subscribed, but I bet if you brought your checkbook and paid the $50 admission they’d let you in. Big names here, and lots of panels on digital media & social media. Breakfast at nine, talking starts at 10 a.m. Friday in the Friend Center on Olden Street.

Just down the street in the Carl A. Fields Center, at the corner of Prospect and Olden, will be “The Role of Science and Technology in African Development,” sponsored by the Wesley L. Harris Scientific Society. Discussions will include potential partnerships in the areas of energy, environment, and health. The event is free and open to everyone.

Looking for a new business idea? New place to market? Maybe the answer is under your nose. Tap the resources of your local Ivy League university.

Among the ten top reasons why you can afford to hire a professional geriatric care manager for your Problem Elder: They can make your parents hear what you have said over and over again, but they refuse to listen because, to them, you are still a child.

Those in the sandwich generation are dealing with senior care issues, often at long distances. I’ve been there, done that, and (sadly) our family no longer has any great grandparents to take care of. (Shown here is a three-generation photo, with my 95-year-old mother, who died at age 96.) But many of our friends are struggling with these issues and sometime, but hopefully not too soon, I could be the Problem Elder, the one who Won’t Listen to Reason and move to a safer place to live.

My church, Princeton United Methodist Church, is hosting Barbara Bristow and Jan McCurdy to talk about these issues on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. in a forum entitled Concerned about an Older Adult? How and when to intervene. I interviewed Bristow and McCurdy when that was the name of their company, nearly 20 years ago. Now they are known as Senior Care Management, and they are my “go-to” experts on matters geriatric.

I tell the story of a husband who made a firm deathbed promise to his father to bring his mother, who suffered from dementia, to live with him. The wife had a different opinion. In the office, Bristow and McCurdy listened to the husband for 42minutes of the hour appointment. In Minute 43, the husband said, “I don’t think this will work. What are the other options?” Bingo, problem began to be solved.

This forum is an opportunity to ask questions and find answers about how to navigate tricky situations with aging friends and family members. Maybe you have a Problem Elder. If yours is geographically distant, you can get advice here and be referred to a professional geriatric care manager in your elder’s hometown. Or maybe you, like me, plan to not retire gently into that good night. Either way, you are welcome to attend.

The last two of the Ten Reasons why you can afford a professional manager: “We can tell your annoying sibling to shut up, but graciously.” And, “We can do in two hours what it would take you two weeks to do.”