What are some of your favorite childhood memories that you continue with your own children today? Over on the So Much More Hawaii blog, I shared mine about Ala Moana Beach Park. Take a look at one of the most beautiful views on Oahu.
Life
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From the Mind of NEENZ
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Ala Moana Beach Park Memories
13 Nov 2009 | 1:45 am -
Hawaiian Culture: Hula
13 Nov 2009 | 1:40 amIf you know me, you know that I was raised around the art of hula. I am only now, through the interest of my children, returning to the art that I love so dearly. I shared from my heart, over on the So Much More Hawaii blog a brief history of the origins of hula [...] -
GEW Hawaii: Young and Hip Entrepreneurs
13 Nov 2009 | 1:30 amGlobal Entrepeneurship Week: November 16 – 22, 2009 For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to [...] -
Maui: The Sugar Cane Train
13 Nov 2009 | 12:53 amIf you’re heading to Maui, consider taking a ride on the Sugar Cane Train in Lahaina. It’s a ride down the tracks of nostalgia. I shared my family photos of our recent trip on the So Much More Hawaii blog. Read more about Hawaii’s Waipahu Sugar Mill and Dole Plantation. -
Outdoor Activities: Kualoa Ranch
27 Oct 2009 | 3:15 amOver on the So Much More Hawaii blog I wrote about our family excursion to Kualoa Ranch. There are many outdoor activities and tours offered by the Ranch. We especially enjoyed learning about ancient innovation of the Hawaiian people of the construction of the still existing, Molii Fishpond. Lilinoe even took her turn throwing a [...]
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The New Old Age
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The Continuing Car Key Debate
20 Nov 2009 | 10:05 amOlder people restricted from driving at night had half the crash risk of those that were not restricted, a study found. -
The Bright Side of C.C.R.C.'s
6 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amOne couple's rationale for moving to a C.C.R.C. -
'Mom Always Liked You Best'
3 Nov 2009 | 10:41 amWhy the favored child, not the most qualified, becomes the caregiver. -
Limited Mobility of Another Sort
28 Oct 2009 | 12:28 pmIn a continuing care retirement community, the nursing home is close at hand, but that doesn't make it easy for residents to move there. -
Maybe Grief Isn't So Bad After All
22 Oct 2009 | 9:30 amAn optimistic new book finds that grief is something people cope with "often more easily than they thought possible."
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Peterman's Eye
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Remembering JFK, the nation's first pop-culture president
21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmToday commemorates a day, 46 years ago, this country will never forget.Continue reading this post -
Arsene Wenger urges France to replay World Cup match after Thierry Henry handball
20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmIreland lost all chance to replay a match to qualify for the World Cup by a poor call. Was it the right decision? Continue reading this post -
Nothing Could be Finer
19 Nov 2009 | 9:03 pmNorth Carolina may be the 12th state to enter the Union, but they're first in many things. Just ask them.Continue reading this post -
On Going Rogue
18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmJohn Quincy Adams left behind perhaps our most compelling presidential memoirs.Continue reading this post -
Push Button Morality
17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmIs the Categorical Imperative impossible in the modern world or even more imperative?Continue reading this post
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kirtsy-Popular Stories
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i always love these...and ernest hemingway's breaks me...
22 Nov 2009 | 3:40 ami'm never concise. i should start, shouldn't i? sometimes less is enough. enjoy.24 Vote(s) -
10 People who have changed the way we think
21 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pmMade a difference to the last decade ..44 Vote(s) -
i love her answers. which is your fave? tell me and i'll tell you mine...
21 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pmi've decided i like her very much. because her favorite color is icy and guess what she wants to be in six years? older. I KNOW! enjoy the rest.48 Vote(s) -
these made me clap. then covet.
21 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pmhow great would it be to look up and see one of these little fellas? great. yes. i agree. enjoy.50 Vote(s) -
last one today. i promise. but she has, like, 8 posts in a row you should see...
21 Nov 2009 | 2:04 pmreally. i couldn't decide which to show you. so i'm showing you them all. and, man...she's got everything here. clothes, interiors, all sorts of cool. enjoy.68 Vote(s)
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Nothing But Bonfires
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Gee, Your Skin Looks Terrific
17 Nov 2009 | 10:39 pmI have some pretty crazy news. A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote about my Clarisonic brush as a Best Thing Ever---and just to reiterate, no-one told me to do this, and you'd better believe I paid for that sucker myself---I was overwhelmed with the number of people who said they wanted one too. I mean, obviouslyyou'd want one: they're awesome. read more -
Having Your Cake And Eating It Too
16 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pmI have come to a crossroads regarding my hair. Yes, I know that sort of scintillating opener is what makes my blog my blog and not, say, a cracking page turner on the New York Times bestseller list, but if you can't indulge in a little navel-gazing on your own website, where can you indulge in it, you know? read more -
A Decent Champagne For Under Ten Bucks
15 Nov 2009 | 8:19 pmLook, I'm pretty sure I don't have A Problem, but I've discovered I'm just a whole lot happier if I've got a bottle of champagne in the fridge. Is there anything better after a long day at work than a tall, golden glass of bubbly and a hunk of cheese? It just feels so decadent, doesn't it, even if you're wearing your sweatpants. Wait, what am I saying, especially if you're wearing your sweatpants. Give me a glass of champagne over a glass of wine any day of the week. In fact, I'm drinking one right now. read more -
Heaven Is A Place On Earth And That Place Is Vanuatu
11 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pmOh you guys, Vanuatu. How can I tell you about Vanuatu? It feels like a beautiful dream I had a long time ago, the sort of thing that's only hazily real. Often now, I catch myself thinking "Was there actually once a time where I did nothing but kayak lazily in the morning, sunbathe gratuitously all afternoon, read a novel a day, and fall asleep to the sound of the ocean lapping at the sand?" read more -
Looking For A Theme In This Blog Post Is Like Trying To Find A Reason Heidi Montag Is Famous
8 Nov 2009 | 7:06 pmWe spent our weekend in Costco. I wish I were exaggerating when I say this---oh, alright, I sort of am exaggerating when I say this, I suppose. I mean, it's not like we were camped out at the big-box behemoth from Friday night through Monday morning, although the fact that visited both Saturday and Sunday sure did make it feel like we were. We had to make an exchange, you see. Have you ever made an exchange at Costco? Oh my friends, welcome to hell. read more
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Schmutzie.com
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Grace in Small Things: Part 363 of 365
20 Nov 2009 | 9:04 pm1. Fake bacon bits 2. Long, warm conversations with the Palinode 3. Finally hitting over 25,000 words in NaNoWriMo! 4. When we come together to create a fabulous MamaPop Roundtable video 5. Objects that look like they have faces Wage a... Click on the title to view the full weblog entry. 10% of Schmutzie.com's ad revenue goes to Kiva.org, so a visit to Schmutzie.com is a donation to a worthy cause. Thank you! -
Five Star Friday's Edition #80
20 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am"Five Star Friday's Edition #80": This week's roundup of good weblog reading is brought to you by a health crisis, loose ends, Top Chef Las Vegas, a bad movie, Oprah and porn, music, mannequins, luck, a trip to Vermont, muppets, Japanese love... Click on the title to view the full weblog entry. 10% of Schmutzie.com's ad revenue goes to Kiva.org, so a visit to Schmutzie.com is a donation to a worthy cause. Thank you! -
Grace in Small Things: Part 362 of 365
19 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pm1. Making sales on my first shift inside the actual store 2. Fudge sundaes 3. Smart birds 4. Take-out comfort food 5. Seeing a familiar object again for the first time Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace in Small... Click on the title to view the full weblog entry. 10% of Schmutzie.com's ad revenue goes to Kiva.org, so a visit to Schmutzie.com is a donation to a worthy cause. Thank you! -
Me at MamaPop: Sofía Vergara Makes a Rape Joke On The View, Crickets Ensue
19 Nov 2009 | 10:31 am"Sofía Vergara Makes a Rape Joke On The View, Crickets Ensue": Sofía Vergara, 37, was on ABC's The View yesterday morning to talk about her job with the show Modern Family and ended up further entrenching my belief that The View and its guests are... Click on the title to view the full weblog entry. 10% of Schmutzie.com's ad revenue goes to Kiva.org, so a visit to Schmutzie.com is a donation to a worthy cause. Thank you! -
Grace in Small Things: Part 361 of 365
18 Nov 2009 | 8:02 pm1. The moon 2. Mozza burgers from A&W 3. That the Palinode came home to hang out with me at lunch 4. Waterproof mascara, because it keeps my greasy eyelashes from marking up the lenses of my glasses 5. When the sadness if fake Wage a... Click on the title to view the full weblog entry. 10% of Schmutzie.com's ad revenue goes to Kiva.org, so a visit to Schmutzie.com is a donation to a worthy cause. Thank you!
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Twenty Major
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Something to brighten up Friday
20 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amBrilliance from The Onion (via Irish URLs). Boy Finds Own Real-Life E.T. Similar posts No Related Post -
Depressing
20 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amThe last 48 hours have been depressing. Despite huge disaffection with the government, the disgrace that is NAMA, the bankers riding roughshod over the rules now that they’ve got their bailout, the public and private sector workers being set against each other, strikes and a nasty budget on the horizon, politicians that continue to steal our money with their expenses and get away with, a rotten economy, high unemployment, lack of opportunity in the jobs market, a property market still on the slide, sweeping corruption throughout state bodies with more revelations about FÁS, increases… -
Stick to rugby, Bock
19 Nov 2009 | 12:56 amIreland went out of the World Cup last night when Thierry Henry cheated and France scored. Of course emotions run high and it’s easy to point the finger of blame at one man when that misses the big picture entirely. But it goes deeper than that. According to Bock the Robber, Thierry Henry knew before the game France would qualify. He says: He knows this because he has been told it before the game kicked off. Thierry Henry knew his team would be going to South Africa before they played one second of the first leg in Dublin. Why? Because we now know clearly that soccer has no credibility… -
Do you know what’d be awesome?
18 Nov 2009 | 8:09 amIf you were a bank worker and you got wind that you were going to be subjected to one of those ubiquitous ‘Tiger kidnappings’, and using your advance warning you went and stayed in a hotel that night and filled your house with man-eating Bengals. Wouldn’t be long before the criminals lobbied to have the name changed to ‘Puppy kidnappings’. Which by their very nature would be much more playful affairs. Similar posts No Related Post -
Have AIB just pulled a fast one?
18 Nov 2009 | 4:26 amAIB announces new managing director is to be: a) appointed from within despite a search for an outside candidate that apparently found nobody suitable for the job b) to be paid more than the €500,000 per annum cap Minister Lenihan put on bakers salaries. There is uproar on the airwaves and in the Dail. “Bankers are back to being bankers after they get their bail-out”, and so forth. Today, it is announced that Colm Doherty will wear his €500,000 salary cap and assume the role of ‘managing director’ of the bank, taking over from Chief Executive Eugene Sheehy. Crisis…
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Meg Fowler
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things I may, in fact, enjoy too much.
17 Nov 2009 | 10:20 pmJust BEING in Sephora. I don’t even have to buy anything. Everything is so clean and pretty and SMELLS SO GOOD Dancing around my house for a half hour after watching So You Think You Can Dance and imagining if I was not so short and so chubby and well, clumsy and prone to injury… well, what I could do Salt Making lists Hot, hot showers that turn me bright red Sleeping in until 11 on the weekends, when I clearly have other things to do Swearing The burny lip gloss that makes your lips blow up Shopping at Whole Foods Not wearing shoes Arguing my point Baked potatoes with mucho… -
look! i’m posting again! and i did yesterday! gold star? no? oh, well.
17 Nov 2009 | 11:21 amThis morning, I’ve decided to make a list of Things That Are Good. I think you should, too, in the comments. That would be Good, too. Things That Are Good The fact that it’s NOT RAINING RIGHT NOW My lovely, aubergine strapless bridesmaid dress to be in the lovely Catherine’s wedding (it fits my odd shape well! Thanks, Mom!) A strong cup of coffee in a Christmas mug Mandarin oranges Murphy, my upstairs dog (not mine, but loves to run into my apartment whenever he gets the chance) iChatting with Gradon Giant purses that hold my lip gloss arsenal easily Lovely stationery My… -
maybe I’ll just start posting something every day, and it will be brilliant or stupid or whatever *I* happen to be that day.
16 Nov 2009 | 6:48 pmHave you ever noticed that my use of capitals in blog titles is HIGHLY erratic? I’ll throw in a capital out of nowhere, or suddenly go all lower-case without a single thought re: the fact that I capitalized the first letter of the seven words prior. I could say this was indicative of my status as a free spirit, but really? I’m not paying that much attention. Why? Because this is the place I go to write for one of three reasons: 1. I have something to say. 2. We are in the midst of an occasion that requires me to say something. 3. My dad has indicated QUITE POINTEDLY that it has… -
it’s up!
16 Nov 2009 | 12:47 amMy tree, that is. Courtesy of my benevolent, sharing parents who couldn’t bear the thought of me going a year without a tree in my home. This means, of course, that my mother will now only put up 3,999 trees in her home for the holidays. Here it is: Sure, the photo is blurry. Really blurry. Sure, it’s just lights for now. Although my Mom is making me a host of simple paper stars for the boughs. Sure, it might seem early to you to have a tree up at all. But I don’t care. For me, this wee tree is the promise of several things: Another year with my family, being thankful for… -
in remembrance.
11 Nov 2009 | 11:00 amLest we forget.
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wowOwow | The Women on the Web
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Caption This!
22 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWhat’s your best caption for this photo? Have fun! Caption This! Contest | Today 8:00 am -
Announcing the Winner of Our 'Caption This' Contest
21 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWhat caption submissions did we find most ingenious?Caption This! Contest | 11/21/2009 8:00 am Thank you for participating in last week’s "Caption This" contest on wowOwow! While we found all of your submissions to be positively charming, witty and fun, below are the two captions that truly wOwed us. Keep an eye out for our next "Caption This" contest on wowOwow. Enjoy and congratulations! The Winner: By V B on 11/15/2009 10:06 am MULTIPLE orgasms you say? The Runner ... -
Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amIt behooves every fan of Dietrich to watch the Maximilian Schell documentary, just out on DVDMr. wOw | 11/21/2009 6:00 am "You should go back to Austria and learn some manners! Learn what Mama Schell didn’t teach you! Nobody has ever walked out on me, like a prima donna!" That was Marlene Dietrich, raging at her documentarian Maximilian Schell toward the conclusion of Schell’s brilliant, nasty, mesmerizing 1984 film "Marlene" (now just out on DVD). Schell, who had also appeared in one of Dietrich’s last films, " -
Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmHow the new mammogram recommendations impact a high-risk womanA Friend Stopped By | 11/20/2009 4:00 pm Editor’s Note: Emmy Award-winning journalist E.D. Hill is a nationally known TV and radio host and author. She spent the past ten years hosting several daily programs on Fox News Channel and was Bill O’Reilly’s sidekick on The Radio Factor, heard on 400 stations. She currently hosts "Good Day" with E.D. Hill on americaswebradio.com Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 - 9 AM EST. E.D. and her husband have eight children and pets too numerous to mention. She splits time between their… -
Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
20 Nov 2009 | 9:15 amIf you disliked the autocratic decision making practiced by your HMO, wait until you have to argue your case to Beltway bureaucratsWall Street Weekly | 11/20/2009 11:15 am Bears, Bulls, Chickens and Pigs: wOw’s Wall Street Weekly with Liz Peek (Week of 11/16) Editor’s Note: Liz Peek is a financial columnist. An English friend recently described an example of the kinds of practices that so alarm opponents of Obamacare. Her mother, who is 83 years old, is a breast cancer survivor. She has had surgery and subsequent chemotherapy twice and is currently in excellent health. The…
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Simply Jews
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Mr Disraeli, Mr Oborne, Mr Gladstone and Mr Lerman
21 Nov 2009 | 10:37 pmProfessor Geoffrey Alderman steamrolling the insidious Antony Lerman. -
Too many dupes
20 Nov 2009 | 12:14 amWhen Vladimir Iliych Lenin said "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them", he may have related only to greed that is undeniably a strong motivator of Western behavior. However, it is not the only one, and Lenin's successors successfully exploited other traits of the Western public. Chief of which was the insatiable hunger for peace displayed by a large segment of the Western population. This sentiment was played upon to perfection by the attentive and well-tuned Soviet propaganda and intelligence outfits, it was nurtured, encouraged and in many cases financed by the… -
Brooke Magnanti aka Belle du Jour is Jewish
19 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pmShould I be happy and proud of this fact? Hmm...On the other hand, maybe there is something in it? -
Israeli cannibals and other links
19 Nov 2009 | 12:20 amSloth got the upper hand today. And why bother anyway, when there are myriads of superb bloggers out there? So, to start with:I am not sure one needs directions with this picture. Anyhow, remember that prick Donald Bostrom's article? This is one of the results - intended or not is a moot point by now.I always thought that children should be taken away at birth and grown somewhere secluded with good locks. Or else born aged 21 with a university diploma. Scribbles has another idea. It may work, provided the kids are tethered to the machines securely.62% of Europeans believe Jews enrich their… -
Pelican vs Bugatti
18 Nov 2009 | 11:44 pmA US driver blamed a low-flying pelican after he drove his £1m Bugatti supercar into a salt marsh.Police in Texas said the motorist was at the wheel of his Bugatti Veyron when a pelican swooped across the road and distracted him.Well, so what? Pelican is quite a big bird and could be distracting indeed. It could happen to the best of us, and in this case no one but Bugatti was injured. But then there is a small detail not stressed in the article:He dropped his phone and lost control of the car, which then veered off the road into a salt marsh.Uhu... he dropped his phone. Probably was telling…
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this time ~ this space
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Effective strategies for conscious living
14 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pmconsciousness Who am I? Why am I here? What am I here to do? Where will I go when my body dies? As a child I was a seeker full of questions and as an adult I’m still a seeker and questioner. I am committed to opening my mind as wide as possible to all possibilities. Are you a seeker and questioner too? Or do you have all the answers? What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think of asking. The question is the helmsman of consciousness. Our minds, bodies, feelings, relationships are all informed by our questions. The complex networks of neurons that make…
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TIME GOES BY
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ELDER MUSIC: Ian Tyson
22 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amYou never know who you're going to meet on the internet and I came to know Peter Tibbles (bio here) via email over the past couple of years. His extensive knowledge of most genres of music and his excellent taste became apparent only gradually (Peter's not one to toot his horn) but once I understood, I knew he needed his own column at Time Goes By - or, better, that TGB needed his column - which appears here each Sunday. You can find previous Elder Music columns here. I completely forgot about Ian Tyson when I was compiling the Elder Musicians. I think I still see him as the young folkie I… -
Gray Matters: Health Insurance Companies
21 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Saul Friedman (bio) writes the weekly Gray Matters column which appears here each Saturday. His Reflections column, in which he comments on news, politics and social issues from his perspective as one of the younger members of the greatest generation, appears here at Time Goes By twice each month. Now that we’ve heard all the horror stories of coverage denials and soaring profits, I propose that we stop beating up on the health insurance companies and consider a more fundamental issue: Do we need health insurance companies at all? This is a rhetorical… -
How Well Do You Sleep?
20 Nov 2009 | 2:35 amAs I have undoubtedly mentioned here from time to time, I don't sleep worth a damn. If it's not that I need to pee, it's waking at ungodly early hours - like 2:30AM - without a chance of going back to sleep. On nights when that doesn't happen, the cat's circadian rhythm has him poking me by 4AM or 4:30AM with breakfast in mind. He is the personification of persistence. In just the past two weeks, however, I've regularly been sleeping for seven or eight hours without interruption. Even the cat has slept past 4:30AM on a few occasions. I can't say what changed, but I'm grateful for it. Even so,… -
The Cult of Manhattan Tower
19 Nov 2009 | 2:35 amTwo or three times over the life of this blog, I have written about a 1945 recording titled Manhattan Tower. I was a little girl of no more than five or six when my parents obtained it when it was first released, and I adopted it as my own. I played those two 78s hundreds of times and I am convinced it is what began my love affair with New York City – nothing else explains my yearning to live there from earliest childhood. The album is a love story to New York City, a suite composed and conducted by Gordon Jenkins with the lead performances sung by Eliot Lewis and Beverly Mahr. Never heard… -
The Secret War on Social Security and Medicare
18 Nov 2009 | 2:38 amCertainly you recall that back in 2004 and 2005, then-President Bush put all the substantial muscle of his office into Social Security “reform.” He and his surrogates spent more than year flitting about the nation spreading lies that Social Security was in “crisis,” that it was “broke.” The solution to this non-problem, he said, was to privatize Social Security. Younger workers would be allowed to divert a portion of their Social Security contribution into private accounts and invest it as they chose. Ignoring Wall Street history that includes a decade-long, ruinous Depression and…
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GirlsAskGuys.com - Recent Questions
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If a girl acts like this around you..
22 Nov 2009 | 1:47 pmgirl in my classas soon as I met her I liked her, and for a while I was confident around her and we'd grin at each other every time we talked or looked at each other, but it hasn't gone as well after we came back from termbreaknormally she acts exactly like I'm just one of her classmates, but if I make a joke she'll always laugh and she'll always genuinely smile when she looks at me.. I'm just doubting it because she acts so casual most of the time. -
Can bigger women be attractive? If they are pretty in the face .. and they have a curve ?
22 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pmwhat if the women is jest a little bigger but they are sweet and pretty and they have a great personallity ? Guys plz give your honest opinion . Thank you for all answers weight between 180 and 230 ibs. -
Please convince me that he's never coming back?
22 Nov 2009 | 1:43 pmI'm probably going to cry when I read the responses, but I need a SERIOUS reality check. Here's my original story: link Since then, I've been a complete wreck. For the first few weeks, I sent him an apology card, email, called a few times, and met up with him again. We've talked and each time he's said (nicely) that it's over. The last time we talked he said he evaluated the relationship: he misses me dearly but just doesn't think we are right for each other. He concluded this from disagreements we had before the breakup. He also said that he fell out of love months ago. (This is the same guy… -
He was with another girl. What should I do?
22 Nov 2009 | 1:37 pmI've been seeing this guy for about 6 weeks and everything's been going great. But a couple of nights ago his 'friend' was trying to come onto me. I said "I'm only seeing ... *dont want to say any names here!*" and he replied with "Well you're not the only girl he's seeing". When I questioned further he said "no you are the only girl..." but avoided any further questions. Then last night my flatmate was out with them and seen him kiss another girl. She only turned round to see them pulling apart so I don't know how serious it was. But putting 2 and 2 together... What should I do? I really… -
Everything was going great and then after that he dumps me a week and a half later for no reason?
22 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pmI was going out with this guy for 5 months and everything was going really well ... we broke up a few times but it would always be him running back to me asking me back out ( he has never done this with any other girl ) ... I was the first girl he has introduced to his mum and family, and to all his friends, then he says he loved me and he has never said this to a girl before but I didn't say it back to him ... Everything was going great and then after that he dumps me a week and a half later for no reason? His longest relationship before me was only four months and he is 24 ... why would he…
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A n n a r c h y
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Annecdote: Tea Time
15 Nov 2009 | 11:22 amIt’s alarming to talk with someone on the phone and realize they suspect you are a liar. This past week I received, via FTD, a belated birthday package—a gourmet basket with some of my favorite things. Like tea, biscotti, and dried apricots. There was a warm message on the card accompanying it, wishing me lots of post-celebration, feet-on-the-ottoman relaxation this autumn… but there was no signature. No name. In effect, I got a thoughtful gift from someone I couldn’t thank for their thoughtfulness. Weird. I called the customer service number in the packaging, and someone… -
Georgie: A Rescue Story
6 Nov 2009 | 7:03 amThis morning I got an update on a former foster dog — a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who lived with us two years ago, from just prior to Halloween to just before Christmas. The dog had some kind of skin condition and arrived hairless, itchy, raw, reddened and miserable. He was about as sad as sad can look. He didn’t come with a name, so I named him Georgie, because his naked face reminded me of the illustration of the children’s book character Curious George. Another volunteer, Huntly, picked Georgie up in Vermont and a mutual friend delivered him as far as a highway exit… -
Today’s Guessing Game: What Is It?
3 Nov 2009 | 12:29 pmRemember AOL disks? If you owned a mailbox in the late 1990s or early-2000s, you know what I mean, because America Online’s aggressive direct mail strategy probably distributed CD-ROMs and diskettes into it with irritating frequency. More than a billion disks were mailed between the late 1990s and 2006, when AOL stopped the mass mailing. Or mass irritation. However you look at it. In fact, the end of that era likely came without you being aware that is was, in fact, the end of an era. But that’s how evolution is, right? One day you have to bungee-wrap your trash cans against the… -
Wagging the Dog
13 Oct 2009 | 7:46 amI had some happy news last week: The story of Gigi’s adventure with her beloved green tomato has been picked up by The Bark, a magazine I happen to love. In other words, if I were a dog, my tail would be wagging like that of a retriever with a tennis ball. (Or Gigi herself with a pork chop.) Big shout here to The Bark editor Lisa Wogan for making it happen. If you don’t know The Bark, it’s a bi-monthly magazine about modern dog culture, with a literary twist. If NPR’s office dog hung around after hours, The Bark might be what he’d produce as his moonlighting… -
Now a Mini Motion Picture: ‘Gigi Spies a Green Tomato’
30 Sep 2009 | 10:10 amMy childhood friend Ron Ploof was so inspired by the pathos of Gigi’s story that he adapted it to the small screen. I think he did a fine job with it, and I particularly like the tweak of the ending. So what do you think? Gigi Spies a Green Tomato from Ron Ploof on Vimeo.
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Citizen of the Month
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Too Small, Too Big, Just Right
21 Nov 2009 | 7:42 am“Does your wife or girlfriend think you are too “big,” too “small,” or “just right” in the bedroom?” asked the dude with the glasses, trendy t-shirt, beard, and clipboard. I had just left the 42nd Street Library and was walking down the street, passing the headquarters of a major pay-channel cable network. “Huh?” I asked. I’m used to tourists asking for directions to the Empire State Building, but never this. “I’m with the show “Honest Sex Stories” and we’re interviewing people today in the… -
The Great Interview Experiment – Week 2
19 Nov 2009 | 6:17 pmTo sign up to participate, add you name to the comments here. Welcome to the second week of completed GIE interviews! Do we we learn anything new about our community this week by reading about their lives and dreams? Absolutely! The blogging community is comprised of a bunch of weirdos! Well, not all of them, but clearly bloggers are an odd bunch if characters, mismatched in the same way that the A-Team was hobbled together as an elite military team. But as with the A-Team, bloggers are somehow able to work through their individual biases in order to solve each case and stop the bad guys. -
99 Billion Served
19 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am“God, inspire me,” I say as I look up at the stars in the night sky through the window inside McDonald’s, where I sit on the hard, bright yellow plastic bench typical of the fast-food chain, sipping my small, tepid coffee, which cost me only a dollar during a promotion running for the month of November. God says nothing. Cindi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” plays on the speakers, but I doubt this is God’s specific message for me. Nowhere in the Torah have I ever read, “When the working day is done/ Girls – they want to have… -
Thoughts and Prayers For Anissa
18 Nov 2009 | 6:42 amAnissa is a fellow blogger, and a friend to a great many. She is a woman who walks into a room and, without much effort, is the center of attention. She is very smart… and very bawdy. She does not play games. She tells you when something is on her mind. She unfollowed me twice on Twitter already and then followed me again! She is all about saying hell with the rules! I danced with her at BlogHer, and she turned me into a disco-dancing John Travolta. 35-year-old wife and mother of three, Anissa Mayhew, suffered a stroke yesterday and remains in ICU. My thoughts… -
Three Very Minor Online Vignettes
13 Nov 2009 | 5:35 pmA couple of weeks ago, I promised that I would never write another post about blogging because I wanted to be considered a real writer who reflects on the world around me, a modern day journalist/essayist/poet/dramatist using his unique voice to bring you my fascinating perspective on the great issues of the day. I certainly don’t want to be known as the gimmicky hack who uses the “interview experiment” to blind you to the fact that I’m not writing anything interesting. Well, as you know, I have a large female readership. And if there is one way that I can be of…
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Simply Stated
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What Are Your Family Rituals?
20 Nov 2009 | 10:43 amThis holiday season I'm looking forward to my extended family gathering in Connecticut on Christmas Day. For the longest time it was the ritual that we celebrated as an extended family and it could be relied on like clockwork. There was no question that everyone within a healthy driving distance would be in attendance. As our family has set up outposts across the country (and others have passed on), the guest list constantly changes from year-to-year. So now when we are all together it is that much more special. I come from a family where our grandparents spent a lot of time telling us… -
What are Your Favorite Money Saving Twitter Feeds?
19 Nov 2009 | 5:58 amIf you haven’t noticed, Twitter is a breeding ground for bargain hunters who want to share their steal-finding prowess with the world. I have no problem with this. You’d like to share the latest Gap discount code with me? Great. You found out that a website is offering free shipping? Beautiful. Last week I ordered a magazine subscription for $5 because I caught the special on Twitter (and it was a magazine I was thinking about anyway). I felt so new-age. And it's especially helpful now that I'm starting to think about holiday shopping. I'm keeping an eye out for discounts at… -
Are You an Online Impulse Shopper? POLL
17 Nov 2009 | 6:02 amA few times a week, I get emails from retailers advertising store sales and special discount codes for loyal shoppers (like myself). Everything is 30 percent off! Free shipping for orders over $100! Get 50% off of outerwear! Who can resist?Not me, unfortunately. Whenever I get those emails, I think, “A sale!” and I click through to the site in question to see what I can find. I love a bargain, and if that cute tee I noticed a few weeks ago is now half off, well, fuhgeddaboutit. Apparently I’m not the only one. About three-quarters of people buy products or services after receiving an… -
Life Insurance Blah Blah Blah
13 Nov 2009 | 6:02 amI say “blah blah blah” because I’m pretty sure that as soon as I said “life insurance,” you stopped listening. No one wants to read about life insurance. First of all, it’s insurance (which isn’t really so scintillating a topic), and second of all, it kicks in when you die. How much more morbid can you get? Unfortunately, I have a message for you: If you’ve got kids, you should have some. I had a baby in March, and my husband and I are now the proud owners of two policies—one for him, and one for me. And it was easy. Does it really matter?If you’re earning money and… -
Tips for Phrases Not to Say to Your Sweetheart
12 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pmNo surprise: research shows that the quality of a couple’s friendship plays a huge role in their happiness with their marriage’s romance and passion. Kindness and helpfulness may not sound like particularly sexy qualities, but as it turns out, they are. A New Yorker cartoon summed this up perfectly. A guy in an SUV is talking into his cell phone: “Hey, baby, I just dropped the kids off at school, and now I’m going to the grocery store, and then I’m going home and unloading the car – am I making you hot?” Studies show that couples who do more housework have a more active intimate…
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Are We Still Cool?
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9 reasons why it’s good to be pregnant in NYC
14 Nov 2009 | 7:48 amI have analyzed the situation and found quite a few good things about being pregnant in NYC as opposed to more suburban locations. Sure, there are some bad things, but the good things are pretty darn good. 1. You can theoretically walk anywhere you need to go for the entire 9 months, avoiding other vomit-inducing transportation options. So long, in-car barf buckets! 2. You are never more than half a block away from a street-corner trash can, just in case. In addition, shoebox-sized apartments increase the odds of dropping Chuck off at the Superbowl on time. 4. An inexpensive foot massage… -
Our apple-picking potty sitcom
2 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pmLast Saturday, the Cool Fam went apple picking with our church. About 200 church members descended on a farm in upstate New York to pick apples and enjoy their apple-derived treats like cider, donuts, and Macbooks (not really). Rains fell on and off, but it didn’t dampen our mood. It was fun to gather with friends from the various neighborhood plants of our church in a setting vastly different from the mean streets of Manhattan. I volunteered to drive one of the 15-passenger vans that carried Upper East Side residents. From my years in the band, I have literally dozens of miles of… -
I’m an aficionado of efficiency
28 Oct 2009 | 5:04 amLife has been somewhat crazy and upside-down, but all in a good way. I’m waiting for the subway train to come, questioning myself because I’ve let a couple of local trains (that make every stop) pass by while waiting for an express train (makes only certain stops). I’ve been waiting so long that I think I made a mistake by letting all of those locals pass by. My degree from the University of Florida is a bachelors in industrial engineering. One cornerstone of IE is efficiency – finding the most efficient ways to do tasks to save time and money. Though I realized about 3/4… -
Cool Grandmum and naked New Yorkers
18 Oct 2009 | 9:59 amThere’s more Cool Fam in NYC! At least for the next few days. Cool Grandmum and Cool Cuz – on Cool Dad’s side – arrived in NYC on Thursday. CD’s family used to live in the Northeast, so this is a return to old stomping grounds for CG. These past couple of days have been a mix of city living (laundry and groceries) and tourist living (Times Square and museums) for them. On Friday night, the rain held back, so after a cheap but tasty meal of chicken, rice and beans, and plantains, followed by New York-style cheesecake, we three Filipinos went to Times Square while Cool Mum… -
Cool Duel – Which one is cooler: Twitter or Facebook?
13 Oct 2009 | 11:33 amI haven’t done a Cool Demographic Survey on this, but I bet most of you use either Facebook or Twitter. Many of you probably use both. Cool Mum consistently uses Facebook to keep friends and family updated on our (mis)adventures here. She’s not a Twitterer. And chooses not to be for fear of Cool Baby scaling the Empire State Building a la King Kong while she’s tweeting her latest celeb sighting. He does have apeish tendencies after all. I both tweet and ‘book in waves. I love to communicate, but as work and other projects come and go, so does the time that I can spend…
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Life and Times in Hollyweird (a blog by: John Darko)
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Dear Joseph Gordon-Levitt
29 Oct 2009 | 5:58 pmI think you are an amazing actor with an incredibly bright future. Would like to write something for you; soon. Yes, this was blog post worthy. Keep up the good work.News, news, news - after Nov. 1st folks! Something amazing...JD -
21 Questions with writer/director John Darko
1 Oct 2009 | 12:59 amInterview is conducted by Marc Martinez a current student @ Mt. San Antonio College. Marc is a writer who has taken an interest in the entertainment industry. Enjoy.----- 1. First things first, you’re in the movie business, what turned you on to the industry?Well the industry itself is an ongoing battle; you can be making a feature film one day and be writing in solitude the next. It's a give and take, which I constantly fight with. Now, what got me into the art of filmmaking is a different story. Six years ago when I completed my first script 'Damaged People' I immediately felt a… -
PSA: Screw the Economy!
24 Aug 2009 | 8:06 amGood morning friends, as I write this I am caught in between rest and some sort of massive attack. As you may or may not know, I have been busy with my debut film "5 Ways to Split Apart the Day" you can easily find a back story regarding my exploits into the film industry, just click on anything you see here, I'm hoping you'll find easy navigation seeing that everything I post on this site is more than fitting.Without question; our journey has just begun. Considering the current phase of the economy, ventures seeking opportunity have been without financial reward and it is more than an… -
5waysfilm.com is NOW live!
4 Aug 2009 | 3:10 pmHey everyone!Just wanted to let you know that our official website is now live! You can find us at http://www.5waysfilm.com in regards to content; you'll be able to download our latest press kit and watch the 10 minute promo. You'll also find links to our active blog site and twitter. Take in mind, this is just a small preview of what's to come within the next few months. We intend to be very inclusive when it comes to the production of this project. So expect some behind the scene videos, notes/letters from the staff, pics, rants, news and practically anything else we can fit onto a web… -
"5 Ways" is in the news (CBS, NY)
3 Aug 2009 | 1:59 amQUICK UPDATE: Our film has been mentioned recently on CBS NY http://www.cbs6albany.com/video/?bcpid=1137806146&bclid=1143371794&bctid=29339085001 (HOOPS TO HOLLYWOOD) segment. Check it out...
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Truer Words - A Journal
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Sudoku
21 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pmI used to do Sudoku all the time, but I lost interest around the time Lauren came into our lives. Coincidentally (?), I'm back into it again. (Oh, what's Sudoku? It looks something like a crossword puzzle, but it's all numbers. 9x9 grid, divided into nine 3x3 sections. To finish the game, every row, column, and 3x3 section must have all of the digits 1-9. There's no math involved, other than being able to count to 9. There is some real logic involved, though.) When at my computer I use Verek's Sudoku Companion. It's freeware, though it didn't used to be: I had to pay for my copy. (Verek is no… -
Recurring Dreams
17 Nov 2009 | 10:27 amAs I drove Corinne to work this morning, she casually mentioned the recurring dream she has about Lauren. Sigh. There are two for me. Or I should say, one recurring dream and one recurring daydream. The night-time-while-I'm-sleeping dream is quite silly, and in fact it's more of a memory than a dream. She's been potty trained, and has just used the toilet. At just two-and-a-half years old, she needs help pulling her pants back up. She looks up and asks me to help, I lean down to help her, and our foreheads (our "twoheads," as she says it) bonk. I look into her eyes, those crazy-big, brown,… -
Happy Birthday Little Brother
17 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amJed is 35 today. I haven't seen him since his wedding two and a half years go. Corinne hasn't seen him since he moved out of our house almost four years ago. (This was wrong, forgot about his visit a few months after the wedding. So it's been a little over two years for both of us.) Along with his wife Alycia, her little horse and his big dog, he lives in a wigwam on the top of a mountain just outside of the arctic circle, about 10,000 miles from here. I get carrier-eagle messages from him every few months, and last I heard he was doing fine. (In fact, last I heard he was going on an Orca… -
Three Legged Stool
3 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pmRetail software is a three legged stool. User Interface Engineering Right? Oh, what? There are only two legs there? Huh. What's missing? Marketing is the third leg. Very rare is the product that can succeed without it, no matter how well crafted. (Yet so many try.) More on this soon. Something very big is brewing. -
Lauren is Home Again
21 Oct 2009 | 12:29 amTonight (er, last night, since it's now 2 am) I had to break a little girl's heart. And mine. Again. She cried. She begged me to stay or take her back to "Oma's house" or just give her one more hug-and-kiss (a dozen times). I won't embarrass her (future self) by telling everybody how bad it was or what else she did, but it was bad. By the time I left her grandmother's house (in NC where the family is living), I was weeping openly too. I finally just handed her to Mike, told her I love her, and went out the door. I wonder how much more this would have to hurt to convince me to stay out of…
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turnings
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New FTC Guidelines Governing Blogs Featuring Products
3 Nov 2009 | 4:57 amNew FTC Guidelines Governing Blogs Featuring Products: We thought you should know that the Federal Trade Commission just published new guidelines about – among other things – blogs that feature product endorsements. That sure caught my attention. The Guides, which have been around since 1980, have been freshened up to “specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections… -
Lance Armstrong’s visit to Piermont
2 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmLance Armstrong’s visit to Piermont: He also told photographer Seth Harrison that he was surprised by how beautiful and challenging the ride was from the city to Piermont. He said this on Twitter, “Done riding. That out/back is one of the best in America.” [I wouldn't have minded discussing it with him. It isn't often a cycling celebrity drop into my backyard. I tried to reach my friends and did reach the bike shop that is right around the corner. But I suspect that they gave that standard I'm too hip for Lance crap that is part and parcel of workin' in many bike shops. I agree with… -
Suffering in November
1 Nov 2009 | 3:58 pmIt never did warm up. Well, maybe it did, but not when we were riding. It stayed cloudy and cool, breezy and chilled, but at least there were hills and suffering. Most of the time, by November I’m in full break mode. It’s often cloudy and uninviting around here. My comrades in bikes are either simply disinterested, not interested in fighting the cold, or healing from a long season. Winter riding is here soon enough and November and December also have holidays and families and other things that seem to severely limit riding time. So I go with the flow and accept the generally… -
Vaccines
31 Oct 2009 | 8:23 pmBrent on his piece on vaccines: An interesting link on Daring Fireball today has me thinking about vaccines. I’m still living with the effects of the chicken pox I had in third grade. As a parent this is a complicated issue. I’ll get back to that. It was the in thing when I was just a wee lad to expose your kids to Chicken Pox when the neighborhood kids etc. got it, because it was usually a fairly benign thing, and it was thought to better get it over with now, and then they’ll be done with it. As Brent points out, that’s not always the case. For better or worse in my… -
WordPress for iPhone 2
29 Oct 2009 | 10:08 amPosted (naturally) from my iPhone…. Seems like a nice improvement. And, of course, still open source. There’s a new dev blog called Making WordPress for iPhone.
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37days
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thinking thursday.
19 Nov 2009 | 4:36 amEvery Thursday, a few links, including one to Mr Depp just because he has been declared the Sexiest Man Alive. (Where I can follow the serendipitous thread I followed to get there, I'll include a thanks to the person who surfaced it for me.)mind :: my brain and yourHere's what I'm reading now.Have a Kindle but miss the smell of books? Smile.Need a reading list? Or perhaps a book that is Flashlight Worthy?body :: my place and yoursNearly the best soup I ever ate, I ate here.And right after I ate that soup in Toronto, I treated myself to a concert by this gracious, generous, funny, humble man. -
poetry wednesday : homage to my hips
18 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amHomage to My Hips these hips are big hips.they need space to move around in.they don't fit into littlepetty places. these hipsare free hips.they don't like to be held back.these hips have never been enslaved,they go where they want to go they do what they want to do. these hips are mighty hips.these hips are magic hips.i have known themto put a spell on a man and spin him like a top -Lucille Clifton "They don't fit into little petty places." I love that.Thanks to Donna Glee Williams for delighting us by sharing this poem during our recent Life is a Verb retreat.hear Lucille Clifton read the… -
found-art tuesday : create a visual journal
17 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pmI drove last night to Cullowhee, North Carolina, to read for the third time to N.C. school teachers attending retreats at the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). They are among my favorite crowds because TEACHERS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY ROCK. Last night, there were two seminar groups who attended the reading--asking some of the best questions I've ever been asked and laughing and enduring my long rambling story about reading Sam Keen in college and sending a letter to him yesterday like a lovestruck teenager and much more. I wandered into one of the classrooms afterward--a… -
mindful monday : offer them a peppermunt from Holland
16 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amThis is the 1000th post on 37days. To celebrate this nice big round number, I am posting an essay from one of my favorite writers, Amy McCracken. It's all about offering a peppermunt from Holland, about loving, about mindfulness, about sitting quietly with a tin of mints in your lap to survive. It's about simply offering a peppermunt to someone who needs one, your hands wrapped around the tin with love and, perhaps, with anguish. When I read Amy's words, I was reminded of a line from Alban Berg's opera, Wozzeck: "Oh what is there to cling to?"Would you like a mint? From Holland?My brother… -
simple saturday. happiness flow chart.
15 Nov 2009 | 9:34 amSometimes life is simpler than we make it out to be. It seems to me that we are always in choice. Even when circumstance throws us unhappiness and misery and more, we choose how we are in that circumstance. Sometimes the change we need to make is a very simple one. And sometimes it is more complex.Are you happy? Do you want to be? Follow these instructions.[Thanks to Will Simpson for pointing me to this. Seen on typcut.com]
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Blog Nosh Magazine
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Fresh Approaches for Changing Tastes
19 Nov 2009 | 11:10 amAs the year draws to a close, we are doing some shuffling of the buffet table here at Blog Nosh Magazine. The new year always brings a fresh crop of new bloggers and new blogs, not to mention new incarnations of old blogs from old bloggers. With that in mind, we are gearing up to launch the remainder of our current channels (Military, Travel and Expats, etc.) and introduce a few new sub-channels, such as an Unemployment section to our Business channel. Interested in becoming a Channel Editor? Have some ideas for new channels or sub-channels? Start brainstorming and drop your ideas into the… -
Preggo Land
19 Nov 2009 | 8:55 am{Originally published on Baby On Bored} Let me just start by saying if you have an ultrasound picture of your baby stuck on your refrigerator with a magnet, you’re not someone I want to be friends with. And if you have someone else’s baby’s ultrasound picture up there, well, that’s just a cry for help. I’m never sure what I’m supposed to say when confronted with this. “Wow, that’s one sexy fetus?” I got pictures from my ultrasound too but I didn’t wallpaper the house with them. Isn’t it bad enough that we have to see a million pictures of your baby after it’s born? Now… -
St. John Restaurant
10 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am{Originally Published on Gourmet Chick} The best excuse ever to eat eye popping amounts of pork is to gather together 18 of your closest friends and book a whole pig at St. John Restaurant in Farringdon in London, England. You really do need to book the pig in advance. A deposit of £320 at least a week before your meal is required to reserve the pig which we affectionately began to refer to as Percy. Yes, Percy would die for our eating pleasure however where else but St. John’s to best appreciate and pay tribute to the life of the pig. The head chef at St. John Restaurant, Fergus… -
Can I Get an Amen? (The Thinkin’ About a Tea Party Edition)
10 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am{Originally posted at Resurrection Song} Via Instapundit, I find this site that hits me as saying precisely what I want to say: Today’s economic crisis impacts all Americans, not just those who are behind on their mortgages. Everyone shares concerns over health care, job loss, and the decimation of their retirement savings. All Americans have made sacrifices over the past year. The American taxpayer is already on the hook for mismanaged banks, incompetently run auto companies and extravagent stimulus packages. We don’t need the additional burden of paying for our neighbor’s… -
Wonderwall
3 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am{Originally Published on Sweetney} When I made my list of the best 25 songs of the last 25 years a few weeks back, I burned, just for my own private listening enjoyment, a mix CD comprised of those select tracks. Since that time its been on heavy rotation during the 20 minute commute to and from M’s camp each weekday — I’m lucky enough to have a kid who’s tolerant of Mommy’s need to CRANK THAT SHIT UP — and in that time she’s absorbed all the songs and picked her favorites, notable among them the well-aged Oasis tune Wonderwall. It’s a song that…
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In Palinode's Palace
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7 Hot Tips For Amateur Astronomers
16 Nov 2009 | 1:50 pmOn November 17th, the Leonid Meteor Shower will streak through the Earth's atmosphere, creating small, greenish, unaccountably exciting streaks of light in the night sky. Plenty of amateur astronomers are gearing up for the event, but what of the newbie? What of the ones who crouch in the bathtub with their eyes clenched tight and then feel disappointed that they didn't see any meteors?In honour of the ones crouched in bathtubs - and in memory of all those who have lost their lives in the brave quest to stand around in a frozen field and watch little streaks of light - I've compiled the best… -
a musical education #02: freedom
11 Nov 2009 | 9:18 amEvery weekday I suffer through a snippet of easy listening '70s music in the bathroom at work (read the overly elaborate setup here). Why not turn a mild annoyance into an opportunity to educate myself, and yourself, by the transitive property, about the easy listening music of an earlier generation?In the summer of 1986 I befriended a man named Brian who lived above my uncle's apartment just off the Danforth in Toronto. Brian seemed to spend all of his time hanging around on his balcony in track shorts, drinking Molson Export and smoking John Players Special Blend cigarettes. Brian was a man… -
a musical education #01: need
28 Oct 2009 | 9:57 pmEvery weekday I suffer through a snippet of easy listening '70s music in the bathroom at work (read the overly elaborate setup here). Why not turn a mild annoyance into an opportunity to educate myself, and yourself, by the transitive property, about the easy listening music of an earlier generation?I'm not sure quite how well known Anne Murray is in the United States, but given that the 'Snowbirds' nickname for Canadian tourists is derived from the Anne Murray song, I imagine she's something of a lost household name down there. Although she hasn't released much music in the last decade, her… -
a musical education
26 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pmModern technology has done plenty for my work environment – advances in the microprocessor, for example, have helped me use the computer I am now typing on, and the replacement of small open fires with the heated electric plate has really brought the coffee break into the twenty-first century. In ancient times, coffee breaks used to take weeks, from the gathering of brush to the selection of a good rock for grinding the beans, and most of the employees would be dead of rickets by the time the water boiled. One thing modern technology has not done for my workplace is put a bathroom in it. -
schmutzie quits smoking
25 Oct 2009 | 9:06 pmAbout a month and a half ago, Schmutzie quit smoking. Since we're married, I get to see all the crazy technicolour effects in person: confusion, irritability, hopelessness, irrational bursts of joy and time dilation. I went through the experience eight years ago, when I decided one day that I no longer needed tobacco. I think the P@xil helped.Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that I had a) an inquiring mind, and b) a cheap camcorder. Our conversation revolved around two subjects: her overweening ambition to rule the world and her fear of death. Usually this makes for a Genghis Khan-like…
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Brody Harper
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MercyMe.org
19 Nov 2009 | 9:05 pmSo, most of you already know, but today we launched the new MercyMe site. This was a fun one to strip down and really get back to the basics of content. They still have a lot going on but I feel like the simplicity of it is really what we were going for. Now, because this isn’t based off a new record it’s mostly based off of live photos. Anyway, sorry for the ‘presentation’ style blog post. It’s really late and I only slept about 3 hours last night. Anyway. Let me know what you think. And like normal. Spread the word, click around and let me know… -
This Should Have Been Posted Yesterday
18 Nov 2009 | 7:26 amSo, yesterday was another big day for the SkörInc camp. Two very noticeable things were the release of Phil Wickham’s Heaven & Earth. Now, most Phil fans have had this record for a while because I don’t know anyone who didn’t pre-order it, but apparently some folks bought it yesterday because it shot to the number two spot on iTunes. Now, if you don’t have this record, you know what I’m going to tell you. Go. Get. It. Now. Phil has a way of writing things and putting sounds together that you don’t expect. I don’t know if that makes… -
Shooting Guns With MercyMe
15 Nov 2009 | 5:41 pmI’ve never even held a gun before today, but when in Rome… or Texas… shoot some dang guns, right? I still don’t know if I ever hit any of the target, but based on the video it looks like I’m shooting into Mexico. Shooting Guns With MercyMe is a post from: Brody Harper -
Cooper Trey
14 Nov 2009 | 8:28 amYou know those times when something or someone is so cool that you don’t even really believe that it’s real? Like it just seems like a set up or something? Like they are acting? That’s how Cooper is. It is absolutely unreal how funny of a personality this thing has. The things he says, the way he acts. It’s pretty ridiculous to watch. And today he turns three. We aren’t celebrating until Tuesday when I am home, so he doesn’t really know that today is his ‘beth-day’ but he knows it’s close. He knows there’s some… -
What’s Your Blog About?
13 Nov 2009 | 8:15 pmTypically I’m a negative person. It’s easy for me to notice the negative things in life, the negative things people and the negative things in myself. It’s hard for me to not want to call people out on things that I believe are wrong especially in this blogging age where everyone has a soapbox. Everyone can blast anyone they want and I can too. In fact I almost did yesterday. I almost wrote a post about a Twitter that was flying around and everyone was praising…. and it was wrong. It was a slam on people in a “Christian light” and I completely…
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i obsess.
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it's none of your business.
19 Nov 2009 | 8:41 amI don't want friends. Because I can't control you. I can't make you say what I want to hear, and I can't make you interact with me in the way that I choose (e.g., safely, or what I perceive to be safe in a given, specific moment, that could change on a spinning, flinty, shimmying dime bag flown in from somewhere southern and leaving me with the spins), you are dangerous. You heard me. (There's more; there's ALWAYS more. But I don't have time dangling from my fingers like dead leaves shriveled from age and wanton use by the sun and its minions, I… -
abcess absent absolved. ABS! also, ABC!
10 Nov 2009 | 10:13 amFirst, you need to be sure, BUT SURE, that your heart has been broken. You need to examine the remnants. You need to pick them up and caress them, note the shape and size of the various bits, and lightly kiss each piece, but without the appearance of concern (else someone should notice how much of an impression you made as your lips connected with the chunk of aorta or ventricle or chamber, and judge you). You need to sweep up the too-tiny shards that sparkle, dark, and gather along the edges of your cupped, damp-bloodied hands and, without a discerning tremble, deposit them into a bin… -
giving out love by the linkful.
3 Nov 2009 | 3:16 pmDon't you mind me, now. I'm just doing what I ought to have done weeks, nay, MONTHS ago.Glare balefully at me if you must, but I'd be much more pleased if you followed suit. Bless you if you do, too, because you'll be helping. And helping is good. And kind.(And if you hate people who wear t-shirts, especially mildly funny t-shirts, then so be it.It's on you.) -
in pursuit of liberty.
3 Nov 2009 | 12:44 ammy house is cluttered. my mind is equally so. but this place. oh, this, this clean, quiet space. it almost echoes, all of its smooth, glossy panel of white. i want to bathe in it. the milk sliding up along my arms, over my torso. rivulets of it like thick paint all along the achilles tendon of the stem of my brain. like a white apple.oh. steve jobs. you are GOOD.(you may now proceed with the laughing at my blinding funny.)while i washed dishes an hour ago, i recognized my urge to defy commands; even the ones with which i chastise myself. oh dear. this is far less… -
Exit Dreamlessness; Enter Ridiculous/Treasured Family Activities of Pure Corny Corn
30 Oct 2009 | 11:50 amWhen I started taking Klonopin two years ago, and you may well remember my near-breakdown from lack of sleep for so, so long, the thing that helped me recognize the ADD, but, more important, made me get some damn sleep, I really needed it.I don't think I need it so much anymore. Well, I don't care whether I do. I've decided to remove it from my schedule. It's difficult to wean myself from; for two years, I have leaned on it, relied on it, to help me sleep when I simply couldn't believe I'd get through the night without at least one unbearable…
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Apartment Life
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5 Ways to Downsize When You’re Moving to a Small Apartment
20 Nov 2009 | 9:26 am© bilderbox - Fotolia.com Moving from a big apartment to a small apartment may mean less space, but it can also be a good thing — especially if you’re moving to a better location or will be paying less rent (and less in utilities) every month. If you’re ever in this situation, take note of our 5 ways to downsize when you’re moving to a small apartment… Start early. If you leave everything to the last minute, there may not be enough time to get organized. Give yourself plenty of time to make your move as smooth as possible. Take inventory. When you really look at… -
Late on Rent?
10 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pm© Barmaliejus - Fotolia.com Late on rent? You’ll want to pay up as quickly as possible and take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Although being late on rent most likely won’t result in the loss of your apartment, you definitely don’t want to make it a habit. It could result in late fees, a very upset landlord, and at worst, eviction. Here are some tips to help you out if you’re late on rent. Check Your Apartment Lease Every apartment lease will have a section about late rent. When you find an apartment, it’s a good idea to ask questions about… -
Chicago Apartments: Windy City Livin’
5 Nov 2009 | 8:33 amFrank Sinatra may have said it best: “Bet your bottom dollar, you’ll lose the blues in Chicago.” It’s the third-largest city in America, also known as the Windy City, Chi-town and the Second City. No matter what you call it, though, Chicago is a fantastic place. And those moving there will have plenty of housing options: Chicago apartments and rentals include multi-unit homes, townhomes, lofts and condominiums all over the city. One thing to keep in mind about Chicago apartments is that because the cost of living is significantly above the national average in the city,… -
Looking for Apartments in Houston
27 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pmThe fourth-largest city in America, Houston, Texas is home to over 2.2 million people. Those moving to Houston — which is the largest city in the state of Texas — and are looking for apartments will have quite a number of them to choose from. From high-rise apartments in downtown Houston to Clear Lake apartments convenient to boating and fishing, the city has countless options for housing. Houston Apartments If you’re planning a move to Houston, start off your search for apartments by thinking about what part of the city you’d like to live in. You may already know where… -
Seeking Seattle Apartments?
19 Oct 2009 | 3:23 pmSo you’re moving to Seattle. Apartments are available all over the city, giving prospective renters a wide variety from which to choose. Currently home to over 600,000 people, Seattle is the largest city in the US’ Pacific Northwest region and offers residents and visitors a vibrant arts scene, great live music and more. Here are some tips to help get you started on your search for Seattle apartments. About Seattle Seattle’s many features make it a very desirable place to live. A lot of people know it for being the birthplace of grunge music and Jimi Hendrix, and for all the…
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Dave Writes - Creative Life
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Dave Atkins Media v2.0
10 Nov 2009 | 3:56 amAt the end of last year, as I started Dave Atkins Media!, I made a conscious decision to limit my "organizational activities" to avoid being sidetracked into non-productive activity. I spent about 2 hours making a website and elected to operate as a sole proprietorship with an excel spreadsheet as my general ledger. I used Freshbooks online invoicing to track my hours and bill my clients. Then, I landed the contract job at Mass.Gov and dove into that... I'm going down to Needham Bank this morning to open a business account. Then I will turn in my d/b/a certificate at town hall, apply for an… -
Small and Big Steps for Walkability
10 Nov 2009 | 3:30 amI'm excited that our Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee was able to work with our town to secure almost $3700 in reimbursement funding to buy bike racks. And our monthly meetings are defintitely raising awareness about Pedestrian and Bike Safety issues and beginning to build a coalition of people in town who share a desire to make improvements. But it is really inspiring to read this story of how a group in California, over the course of a year, obtained $800,000 in grant money to improve sidewalks in their neighborhood. It can happen, even in difficult economic times. We confront a budget… -
More Experience with COBRA Health Insurance for Unemployed
5 Nov 2009 | 3:02 amThe fact is, when you are laid off, you can lose your health insurance immediately, despite the so-called protections of COBRA. The only thing COBRA does is entitle certain qualififying persons (most people who are laid off) the opportunity to continue their health insurance under the same group plan they were eligible for when they were employed. I've blogged here before about how to maintain health insurance while unemployed--essentially, you should 1) elect COBRA immediately because the Federal Stimulus subsidy means you will have at least 65% of the premium covered for 9 months, and 2)… -
Copenhagen Rolls
30 Oct 2009 | 5:32 amHere is a short video of some serious critical cycling mass in Copenhagen, Denmark... I'm wrapping up a final list of bike racks for our town to obtain through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's (MAPC) Regional Bike Parking Program. Today is the deadline to order bike racks which are then reimbursed by this program. Our town administrator and school officials are excited to get the racks and hopefully, this will be another small step towards increased biking and walking in Westwood. Here's one of the racks we hope to replace/improve: Powered by b2evolution. -
Fix Beacon Hill with a Constitutional Amendment
28 Oct 2009 | 10:08 pmWhile most people grouse and complain about corrupt Massachusetts politics, one friend of mine is doing something to change the world--or at least our part of it. Westwood resident Chris McKeown explained his non-partisan group's plan to fix Beacon Hill in an Op-Ed piece in the Boston Globe last month. Their website, fixbeaconhill.com, explains a series of proposed changes fundamental to how things operate in the administration of power in the legislature. I'm trying to help and running full-on into the challenge of modern rational communication. It is complex. The changes are not sound-bites…
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Reality Me
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Wibiya Toolbar Not Showing on Wordpress Blog
20 Nov 2009 | 7:47 amIf you are trying to use the Wibiya Toolbar on your Wordpress blog, but it will not appear, try editing the Wibiya plugin and changing the code from: add_action(’get_footer’, ‘filter_footer’); to: add_action(’wp_footer’, ‘filter_footer’); -
One foot in front of the other
20 Nov 2009 | 2:23 amToday is not going to go as originally planned. Instead it will be quite mad. But I will get through it one step at a time. -
Today’s Mental Forecast
19 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amCloudiness with a chance of afternoon breakdowns as a depression rolls in from the southwest. -
I have phone again – sorta
18 Nov 2009 | 9:57 amMy replacement phone for my antique Motorola v3xx RAZR arrived today. Now I have an LG CF360 which looks and acts a whole lot like a Samsung A777. I lost everything! Every contact. Every picture. Every voice recording. Every shortcut in my life. Gone! My contacts in my phone had notes related to the contact, birthdays, private numbers, people I only talk to once in a blue moon and do so because I see (saw) them in my contact list and more. So be it! Call this a new beginning. Let the burdens that accumulated in that phone be gone! We start anew today. If you call and get my voicemail, be sure… -
My typical night and day
18 Nov 2009 | 4:42 amI once lived a long time on 3 hours of sleep a night. In the long run, it hurt. I love to sleep and especially to dream but if I could take a pill and do away with sleeping, I’d be pill popping in a heartbeat. Over the years I have changed my habits from pulling alnighters and staying up until four in the morning to trying to consistently get to bed by 10pm. I know that if I get to sleep by 11:59pm that I sleep far better than if I go to sleep at 12:01am. If I get to sleep by 10pm, I can be up and productive at either 2am or 4am which makes for an astoundingly good day for me. What…
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This Eclectic Life
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Helping Others To Dress For Success
20 Nov 2009 | 4:58 amIf I show up for work dressed in an outfit that is a bit wacky, it never raises eyebrows. In fact, people expect that a storyteller would dress in a way that is “out of the norm.” I’m an artist, after all, and I have to meet the expectations of my audience. All I have to do to “dress for success” in my job is grab something offbeat from my closet … which is not a difficult task! I don’t even own a business suit. Because I don’t work in the “real” world, I don’t have to “apply” for my jobs, and never face a formal… -
Twitter Support Is For The Birds
19 Nov 2009 | 4:06 amIf you have a Twitter account, you’d better hope that nothing goes wrong with it, because you will be flying on your own. It all works great until you have a problem. Then you will find that Twitter support seems to be totally unreachable. Perhaps I shouldn’t complain, since the Twitter social networking “service” is free, which is a darned good thing, because I wouldn’t pay for this headache. To be fair, I think it is a small staff at Twitter who are dealing with all of the problems from the rest of us twits out there. The only way I can get attention is to… -
Another Opportunity For Folks With Big Hearts
13 Nov 2009 | 1:41 amHolidays are around the corner, and I’ve noticed that people open their hearts to others this time of year. Especially I see that knitters and crocheters all over the internet keep their hands busy creating items to give away. But, you don’t have to be crafty to give … just creative. You can purchase handmade items from someone on Etsy, or talk a friend into making a handmade gift and you pay the shipping! That’s what I’m told at Sharing Our Gifts. They have a special program going on right now, and the deadline is almost upon us, to make hats and mittens for… -
Poster Child
12 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amMy husband and I were remembering our respective childhoods, when I asked him what posters he had on his wall as a teenager. Every teenager has posters on their wall … and probably have since the first cave teens existed. Didn’t you have posters tacked to the walls, and taped to the doors? Sure you did. My spousal unit told me about the Beatles poster he had on his wall, and the unfinished self-portrait that his brother had drawn … not my husband’s self … his brother drew his own picture, and my husband thought it was cool. So, he put it on his wall. Trust me, I… -
Is Ginseng For Memory? I Don’t Recall.
11 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amSupposedly, ginseng has been proven as a memory booster for laboratory mice. This information has driven me to drink — ginseng tea. It’s not because ginseng is my favorite flavor, by any means. And, it’s not because I consider myself mousy. Where was I going with this? Oh, yeah. My memory is shot to heck. This is not good for a woman who makes her living telling stories! More than once recently, I have forgotten where the storyline leads while I am smack dab in the middle of telling it in front of an audience. Oh, I dance around it very well … and by just changing…
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Extraordinique
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Fissler Appeals to the Gourmet Chef in You
8 Nov 2009 | 6:34 pmCooking is an art form to me and good cookware is essential. I have just recently been introduced to Fissler INTENSA cooking line. The features are what really amaze me. Not only does this cooking system look totally modern, but every facet of the cookware is smart for the cook! I have my eye on the 2.4 Quart Casserole with ThermoStar tempature indicator, Cookstar base and special pouring function built into the pan. Each feature here is designed to help reduce time, cook evenly and reduce energy consumption. Fissler thinks of every aspect of the cooking experience, putting serious chefs or… -
Gimme Some Kusmi Tea
8 Nov 2009 | 5:25 pmSo as I have been trading my morning cup of joe for a strong cup of green tea, I have found Kusmi Tea to be a great replacement to my sugary, creamy, coffee concoction. I found the line of Kusmi Teas at Dean & Deluca recently in Napa Valley and tried the Kusmi Detox tea. I've got to say, it's a great, invigorating tea without the coffee jitters - not to mention all those additional calories. Kusmi Detox tea is a great blend of Maté and chinese green tea with a refreshing hint of lemongrass, which I love.Kusmi Tea has a 140-year history in teas. Their site offers a variety of teas and… -
Extraordinique Turns Two
6 Nov 2009 | 6:02 pmIt's amazing to believe that two years ago today, Team Extraordinique launched this site in Las Vegas, during Blog World Expo. We had a great party to launch the site and we have been enjoying writing, receiving your comments and suggestions ever since.On this day, we want to thank you the readers for supporting Extraordinique. In these crazy economic times, we've found amazing and resilient artists and entrepreneurs defying the odds and creating with extraordinary outcomes.We hope as we continue to find new ways to share what we think is Extraordinique, you'll find the time to enjoy and… -
Using What's Natural to Do Your Dirty Work
18 Sep 2009 | 6:30 pmDoing some remodeling recently, I have never been more aware of the amount of chemicals and cleaning products you can bring in to your home to finish the job. Cleaning was a big effort after our home improvements and cleaning supplies, like detergents, brushes, scrubbers all seemed both wasteful and un-recyclable once they were used up.I came across some great environmentally-friendly cleaning products that I thought I would share. Check out Goodbye Detergent! They have interesting scrub, scouring and cleaning pads made with unique materials such as recycled corn cobs, peach pits, &… -
V-Moda - A Remix of High Fashion & High Fidelity
21 Aug 2009 | 10:51 pmMy iPhone is always on. Whether I'm talking on the phone or listening to Pandora while I work, a good headset is such a integrated part of my daily experience.I've tried thinking of the best way to describe how much I love the new V-Moda Vibe II earbuds and microphone. It seems crazy, but when you are tethered as much as I am, having a good, crisp, sharp sound means the world to me. Not only that, since it's an "always on" device, having a headset that looks sleek, is such an appreciated and coveted bonus.I have not been impressed with the iPhone standard headphones and have been searching…
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sex and the beach
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The Biggest and Tastiest Cock Evar!
9 Nov 2009 | 2:10 pmMy birthday is today, but I celebrated yesterday on the beach with many friends during a very windy evening.I thought about writing something serious about being 42. You know, kvetching about how I'm still single, don't have kids, am a struggling creative type, still have some weight to lose bla bla bla ... but you know what? I'm just not feeling it!I was surrounded by so many wonderful friends yesterday, that I can't complain about one fucking damn thing. Friends in person or friends from a distance -- it didn't matter. And thanks to social media, today has been just as warm and fuzzy.My… -
SoFla Blogup 2009
27 Oct 2009 | 10:59 amI fondly recall the first blogger meetup in Miami ... though Hidden City has told me that proto-bloggers socialized in Miami as far back as the dawn of the interwebs.But in recent history, circa 2006, several established bloggers who are still active today got together for conversation, drinks and food at Tobacco Road. The meetup was inspired by the fact that Stormhoek Winery had put together blogger shindig in South Beach for a Gaping Void campaign. A few people were turned off by the commercial nature of the event and decided that "we" could meet up all on our own. I don't remember who "we"… -
Local: Holy Moly Redlands Guacamole!
24 Oct 2009 | 12:51 pmOn October 10, Schnebly Redland's Winery in Homestead hosted a special event to benefit four local high schools with culinary arts and agricultural programs. The goal was to beat the Guinness World Record for largest guacamole and they did it!Under the supervision of their chef instructors, students mashed 3,428 pounds of avocados, diced 489 pounds of tomatoes and squeezed the juice out of 478 pounds of limes. Mixed together with 98.5 pounds of mayonnaise, the guacamole beat the previous record by 103 pounds for a whopping 4,114 pounds of the green stuff.Later, the guacamole was seasoned with… -
Sex and the Beach Author Still Crazy After Four Years of Blogging
14 Oct 2009 | 12:36 pmWow, it's hard to believe that four years have gone by. So much so, that I totally forgot to celebrate this blog's anniversary. If I were married to me, I'd expect roses, champagne and an honest apology!It's amazing that I didn't even know what a blog was just weeks before my first post.It all started on October 10, 2005, when the newly created Manola Blablablanik pondered about things that no longer even cross her mind, unless, of course, she's giving advice to some wayward newbie just entering the mauling claws of life on South Beach.Seven months after breaking up with her boyfriend, with… -
Ford Fiesta: Cracker Country Gator Wrastlin' Adventure!
7 Oct 2009 | 3:21 pmOur fifth mission was one of the best yet. Brad and I went to Gatorland in Orlando to fulfill his lifelong dream of wrestling an alligator. Ever the closet country boy, my buddy Brad grew up on a farm and wrestled juvenile livestock when he himself was a kid. At long last, Brad was ready for the challenge.I've also had a special place in my heart for the reptiles, since I used to come across them in my hardcore Everglades fishing days -- sometimes a little too close for comfort.Even though Brad got all the hot reptile action on this mission, believe me, I was no less shy. Whenever he was in…
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verbatim
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Grownup Evening
21 Nov 2009 | 6:59 pmTonight Steph and Pete both slept at friends' houses, and Julie goes to bed very early, so Andy and I got to revisit our beloved old habit of making a grownup dinner and watching a grownup movie. We made our favorite duck and parsnip stew and then watched "Desperado." The DVD said that "El Mariachi" was on Side A, but it seemed to be all a Robert Rodriguez director's cut thingy, so we flipped it and watched "Desperado." Andy thought it seemed familiar, but it turns out that we had already seen "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," which features the… -
Friday iPod Random Ten
20 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pm1. Natural Forces - Lyle Lovett2. Don't Forget Me - Neko Case3. West Texas Teardrops (live) - Old 97s/Whiskeytown4. I'm Gonna Jump and Shout - Paul Rishell5. Adam Raised a Cain (live) - Bruce Springsteen6. Crazy Love, Vol. II - Paul Simon7. Gulf Coast Highway - Nanci Griffith & Darius Rucker 8. Candy (live) - Martin Sexton9. A Father and a Son - Loudon Wainwright III 10. Radical (live) - Catie Curtis -
From "To Do" to "Ta-Dah!"
19 Nov 2009 | 7:33 pmI've been a whirlwind this week. Highlights:I've been working well into the wee hours almost every night, but I will indeed make my deadline tomorrow, even with a reasonable bedtime tonight. I finally got the enclosures (driving and parking directions) printed up for Steph's Bat Mitzvah invitations. The Staples copy center person was really helpful, and I couldn't believe how cheap it was. The next step is to bring a fully loaded sample (envelope containing invitation, reply card and stamped envelope, and enclosure) to the post office to be weighed, then buy some pretty… -
High Five
18 Nov 2009 | 6:34 pm1. 17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat2. iPhone + children's book = clever3. My alma mater is doing some cool work with a local prison. (via Elena)4. I get a good daily chuckle over at Autocomplete Me.5. Check out BobDylanSays on Twitter: "Every Bob Dylan song line-by-line. 1 line/hr until all have been tweeted. After each song, BobDylanSays-bot chooses next one at random." (via Nancy) -
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Dentist
17 Nov 2009 | 6:23 pmRemember Pete's tooth that wouldn't fall out? I was supposed to make an appointment with the dentist last week so she could yank it, but I was busy, and he didn't want to go, and I couldn't bear to pay for such a thing, and it seemed to be getting looser.... Finally this morning I couldn't stand it anymore. Yes, we resorted to the Starburst technique. Pete put a cherry Starburst in his mouth, bit down, and out came the tooth. Took about 1/3 of a second. By the time he got home from school, the permanent tooth was almost completely in its place instead of off to the…
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Alyssa Royse's blog
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Imagine There's No Healthcare
19 Nov 2009 | 9:25 pmImagine there's no healthcare, it's easy if you try. Now, imagine there's no pill to take. That might be more of a stretch of the imagination. read more -
Swimsuit Brigade For Honest Photos
22 Sep 2009 | 3:43 pmI hate putting on a bathing suit. It's irrational, to some extent, but very real. I am not alone. read more -
I'm Not Burning, But I Wish I Were!
31 Aug 2009 | 8:08 pmPeople often seem surprised when the learn that I'm a "Burner." That I love trekking to the desert with tens of thousands of people who are not yet friends, fighting dust storms so thick Burning Man read more -
Getting Clean is More Fun Than Getting Dirty
1 Jun 2009 | 8:55 pmWhen we were putting together the first issue of JUST CAUSE Magazine, a lot of people sent me Family Farming read more -
I'll Choose LIFE, Thank You.
18 May 2009 | 9:47 pmAs I write this, thousands of young people are celebrating their graduation from Notre Dame. They've worked hard to get here. Biofuels for Earth read more
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Geek Mom Mashup
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Life Sized LEGO Portrait
11 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amThis is one of the amazing offerings by LEGO Jedi Master Nathan Sawaya: a life-size three-dimensional portrait, done entirely in LEGO bricks! Sawaya actually offered custom LEGO People through last year’s Neiman Marcus holiday catalog, for $60,000 each. But if you missed out on that great deal, you will just have to do it yourself, I guess. Life Sized LEGO People As a mother who has stepped on her share of sharp, pointy LEGO pieces left on the floor by her children, I can’t help but wonder where Nathan Sawaya keeps his bricks. I hope he remembers to clean them up when he’s… -
Really, CNN? That’s your top story?
4 Nov 2009 | 11:58 amThis is what I saw when I checked my CNN headlines widget a few minutes ago: Jessica Simpson's Bosom is the Top Story? Did you see the headline for the Top Story? “Jessica Simpson finds a bosom buddy…” Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t know whether to be amused and relieved that there’s nothing more important than Jessica’s bosom in the news at the moment, or annoyed at CNN for leading with such a ridiculous headline. A bit of both, I guess. And since you’re probably dying to know what the story is about, here’s the blurb: Jessica Simpson and Dolly… -
Geek Halloween Costume Idea: Facebook Profile Page!
30 Oct 2009 | 5:16 pmFacebook Halloween Costumes If you’re familiar with Facebook (and the amount of time it can suck from your life) you might enjoy this costume idea! I resisted joining Facebook for a while, mostly because I figured it was probably like MySpace, which wasn’t that impressive to me. But once I opened my FB account, I was amazed by the number of old friends I found there. It’s like a mega-reunion of everybody I’ve ever known, from kindergarten classmates to sorority sisters to distant relatives you never see in person. It’s fun! Facebook Poke Costumes If you’re… -
Netflix and PlayStation are a Perfect Match
26 Oct 2009 | 8:23 pmNetflix and PlayStation 3 Netflix and PlayStation are teaming up to allow Netflix subscribers to play streaming video on the game system! I’m so happy! I made a recent post on my love of Netflix, and how I enjoy watching the instant movies on my laptop. Now, we’ll be able to watch instant movies on our big screen television, through our PlayStation 3 console! Here is an excerpt of the announcement posted on the PlayStation blog today: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] today announced that they are joining forces to make thousands of… -
Great Gadget for Twilight Geeks: New Moon USB Drive
19 Oct 2009 | 6:49 pmNew Moon Soundtrack USB Drive Here’s a short intro for a new product coming out any day now! I will be carrying these in my Twilight shop, and I’m pretty excited! This is an officially licensed Twilight product, and it is a sweet combination of style and function. It’s a 2GB USB flash drive, with the Cullen family crest on the outside, and the New Moon movie soundtrack pre-loaded on the inside. You can read the details and pre-order the New Moon USB drive now. I expect to have them ready to ship in late October 2009. Cheers!
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Yes to Me
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My eBook On Spiritual Entrepreneurship
19 Nov 2009 | 9:25 amFinally! My eBook “Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment” is ready for your free download. I feel strongly about self employment. I love being my own boss, and I envision more and more people will be self-employed in the New World. Having made the transition from a corporate employee to a small business owner recently, I also know there are a lot of questions and fear among aspiring entrepreneurs. This eBook guides you from the embryonic phase of “Can I possibly start my own business? Do I have what it takes? What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur anyway?” to the point… -
Review: The Spontaneous Healing Of Belief By Gregg Braden
17 Nov 2009 | 7:12 pmI am so glad I found this book The Spontaneous Healing of Belief because it gives scientific explanations on so many ideas I’m familiar with, such as the true nature of reality, our creative power over our own lives and on the world, and the Law of Attraction with the power of feelings. The book also serves as a great follow up on Dr Bruce Lipton’s The Biology Of Belief, by discussing what belief can do beyond our individual body. Reality as simulation game Gregg Braden cites various scientific studies to show us that this everyday world we live in is a computer simulation, a virtual… -
Freeing Ourselves From Dualism
15 Nov 2009 | 3:20 pmDo you believe in dualism? That there are two opposing powers in this world fighting against each other? Such as light vs dark or good vs evil? After writing about darkworkers, I feel obliged to write about the issue of dualism. Because darkness doesn’t really exist and understanding this is the key to freedom. (Photo credit) Fighting against darkness is futile I understand the idea of light vs dark, or God vs Saturn, is thousands of years old in the Christian tradition. Many other religions and cultures have similar concept of dualism. It is so ingrained in our collective thinking that few… -
Darkworkers
10 Nov 2009 | 9:02 amI really wish there are no such thing like darkworkers. I really wish everyone, I mean EVERYONE, is evolving toward Light and I can hug (literally and energetically) everyone wholeheartedly with zero concern of my energetic flow. I dream of such beautiful world. We are not there yet. It’s true all souls came from the same one Source, as I described in this article about Light. At some point, however, some souls used their free will to go against (or away from) the Source. I received some interesting comments to my recent article about Lightworkers and would like to clarify some points… -
Starseeds: Blueprinters 2 Blueprint Technicians
1 Nov 2009 | 7:07 pmBlueprint Technicians form a subcategory within the Blueprinters group. All Blueprinters share a lot of characteristics, so before we get to the specific characteristics of Blueprint Technicians, please read the first post on Blueprinters if you haven’t done so already. (Photo credit) After Blueprint Originators worked on the general concept of the Earth experiment and Blueprint Designers worked on the aesthetic aspect of the blueprints, Blueprint Technicians worked on the technical side of blueprints. This includes (but probably not limited to) the energetic grid system on Earth, the…
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Magpie Musing
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Monkey Bread, Redux
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmWhat is monkey bread anyway? There are myriad variations. Some are rich and gooey, others are more austere. Some cheat by using refrigerated biscuit dough. Some are baked in a flat cake pan, some are done in a tube pan. Most recipes have you make dough balls, which then get dipped in water or butter, and dipped in cinnamon sugar, and layered in a pan. But some skip the dip in favor of a pouring on of melted butter, others use nuts, and one version I found includes a package of dry butterscotch pudding mix.In 1976, the New York Times said "the basis of monkey bread is a butter-rich yeast dough… -
Let's Review: Baby Alive
19 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmFor heaven's sake, does anyone really need a doll that pees? I thought they'd gone the way of all things, but apparently they've made a reappearance. Someone gave my daughter a "Baby Alive Better Now Baby" for her birthday, and I'd like to rip its little molded plastic hair out. For one thing, it only came with ONE disposable diaper. [The packaging said there were supposed to be two - it is possible that the second diaper got thrown out because the packaging was that kind of insane frustration of hard plastic and wire ties that drives parents to drink.] For another thing, the diapers are… -
Wordless Wednesday: Red
18 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amMy mother, in 1956. Her lipstick matches her apple. -
Great Interview Experiment: -R-
17 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmYo, people! In a fit of madness I signed up for Neilochka's Great Interview Experiment, and ending up interviewing -R-, who writes And You Know What Else, and can't be summed up in a tidy sentence, but does offer up 100 things about herself. Here's a few more things about R, with her answers in italics.1) Do you go to your college reunions? Why or why not?I am guessing my college had a five-year reunion, but I'm not really sure. Obviously, I didn't go. I won't go to the ten-year reunion. I mostly had a small group of close friends when I was in college, and I only keep in touch with one of… -
The Monkey Bread Birthday
16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmSo, because the girl turned six last week, we threw her a birthday party. And, like all of the other parties we’ve had for her, we had it at home. Because, to me, that’s what you do. I realize that I’m swimming against the current here – in the several years that the girlie’s been going to other people’s parties, only one other kid has had parties at home. All the others – and she seems to get invited to a lot of parties – have been at commercial venues of one kind or another: bowling alley / gym / beauty parlor / ice cream shop / Burger King / pizza place.Last spring, at a…
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Kam Family Blog - Life in Hawaii as we live and enjoy it!
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Overcoming the fear of heights on a zipline
16 Nov 2009 | 9:14 amWhen our zipline guides George and Luke joked about it being Joe’s (pictured above) third day up on the mountain strapping guests into their harnesses and sending them flying high through the West Maui mountains, it only made our group of 10 first time zippers that much more anxious. The additional jokes about how the trees below will soften the fall in the unlikely event of an accident only compounded the butterflies in my stomach. But truth be told, we were safe and in good hands and “greenhorn” Joe was an excellent guide. By the time the group reached the third zipline,… -
KISS Halloween Goodbye…
2 Nov 2009 | 11:20 pmUncle Kevin and Paul "Little E" Stanley. Another fantastic Halloween in the books. What has become a family tradition, we headed down to Kailua to trick or treat with the family and Ensen gave fellow ghouls and goblins his best KISS (Paul Stanley) impersonation. Kelly sewed his costume and the little guy even let her paint his face. Doesn’t he look like a true rocker? He got a lot of nice comments from passersby and from the family. Now the big question is, what should he be next year? Before you answer that, here’s a few more photos to recap the night. The hunt is on… -
Photos with cat-itude!
23 Oct 2009 | 9:00 amHad some fun last night photographing our girl cat Tikki with the Canon EOS Rebel T1i. She was quite the model for the first 30 shots…then as you can tell by the last photo she had just about enough. We did reward her with extra pets which she thoroughly enjoyed. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’ll soon be her brother Jabbey’s turn for his photo session. Stay tuned for those photos of our masked tuxedo cat. -NGK Posted in Da Kine, Family Fun, Pets Tagged: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, cat, photography -
Maui Wowie!
21 Oct 2009 | 9:00 amSunset at the Sheraton Maui. In most cases, pictures speak louder than words, so I’m going to let the photos do the talking in this post. But first a brief overview of what’s going on here. The Kam family enjoyed spending time this past weekend at the Sheraton Maui. It was a mix of business and leisure as I attended the Hawaii Hotel and Lodging Association’s Annual Membership Meeting and brought Kelly and Ensen along too. Ensen was especially glad Uncle Jon flew up to join us and was excited to cruise with Maui Grandma, Uncle Frank, and other family as well. By the end of… -
Unleashing the Rebel (T1i) within!
12 Oct 2009 | 7:43 pmI finally did it! After months of research and changing my mind from Canon to Nikon to Canon, I finally purchased my first DSLR camera yesterday from Costco. Yes, Costco! I’ve had my eyes on the Canon EOS Rebel T1i for quite some time and took the plunge yesterday after stumbling upon a $1,049 kit at Costco that included the camera with a EF-S 18-55mm IS lens, an additional EF-S 55-250 mm F/4-5.6 IS lens, gadget bag, 4GB SDHC memory card, mini-HDMI cable, and a bunch of tutorial stuff. It seemed like a good deal for a beginner like me that I couldn’t pass up. And I’ve been a…
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37days
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thinking thursday.
19 Nov 2009 | 4:36 amEvery Thursday, a few links, including one to Mr Depp just because he has been declared the Sexiest Man Alive. (Where I can follow the serendipitous thread I followed to get there, I'll include a thanks to the person who surfaced it for me.)mind :: my brain and yourHere's what I'm reading now.Have a Kindle but miss the smell of books? Smile.Need a reading list? Or perhaps a book that is Flashlight Worthy?body :: my place and yoursNearly the best soup I ever ate, I ate here.And right after I ate that soup in Toronto, I treated myself to a concert by this gracious, generous, funny, humble man. -
poetry wednesday : homage to my hips
18 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amHomage to My Hips these hips are big hips.they need space to move around in.they don't fit into littlepetty places. these hipsare free hips.they don't like to be held back.these hips have never been enslaved,they go where they want to go they do what they want to do. these hips are mighty hips.these hips are magic hips.i have known themto put a spell on a man and spin him like a top -Lucille Clifton "They don't fit into little petty places." I love that.Thanks to Donna Glee Williams for delighting us by sharing this poem during our recent Life is a Verb retreat.hear Lucille Clifton read the… -
found-art tuesday : create a visual journal
17 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pmI drove last night to Cullowhee, North Carolina, to read for the third time to N.C. school teachers attending retreats at the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). They are among my favorite crowds because TEACHERS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY ROCK. Last night, there were two seminar groups who attended the reading--asking some of the best questions I've ever been asked and laughing and enduring my long rambling story about reading Sam Keen in college and sending a letter to him yesterday like a lovestruck teenager and much more. I wandered into one of the classrooms afterward--a… -
mindful monday : offer them a peppermunt from Holland
16 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amThis is the 1000th post on 37days. To celebrate this nice big round number, I am posting an essay from one of my favorite writers, Amy McCracken. It's all about offering a peppermunt from Holland, about loving, about mindfulness, about sitting quietly with a tin of mints in your lap to survive. It's about simply offering a peppermunt to someone who needs one, your hands wrapped around the tin with love and, perhaps, with anguish. When I read Amy's words, I was reminded of a line from Alban Berg's opera, Wozzeck: "Oh what is there to cling to?"Would you like a mint? From Holland?My brother… -
simple saturday. happiness flow chart.
15 Nov 2009 | 9:34 amSometimes life is simpler than we make it out to be. It seems to me that we are always in choice. Even when circumstance throws us unhappiness and misery and more, we choose how we are in that circumstance. Sometimes the change we need to make is a very simple one. And sometimes it is more complex.Are you happy? Do you want to be? Follow these instructions.[Thanks to Will Simpson for pointing me to this. Seen on typcut.com]
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It's my life...
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Sharing my book. Baring my soul.
19 Nov 2009 | 10:58 pmSitting in my favorite Starbucks this morning, sipping my usual coffee - half caf drip, I finished the first round of edits on my novel.I thought I'd have to fit in a few more editing sessions, but I whipped through the last pages and suddenly I was at the end and shutting the heavy binder I've been lugging everywhere with me for the last two months. I've lived in fear of losing it, of forgetting it somewhere. I hated the thought of having to start all those edits again, of losing those notes.And suddenly, that binder which had been priceless moments before, was instantly worthless. And all… -
Kissing, licking, and nibbling our way to tasting new foods
18 Nov 2009 | 11:13 pm"RabiOly! RabiOly!"The chant from the back seat made me smile. My two girls demanding something they'd never had before, that was a first for sure. But hey, I'm not one to be begged. And there wasn't really much else for dinner at home. So we'd try the mini-raviolis from Trader Joes. Noodles are noodles after all.I wasn't too worried about C. This morning she gave me a whole shpiel about how it was bizarre that her friends at school kept saying they didn't like something without even trying it. I know that tomorrow she'll be back to turning up her nose at anything that doesn't look exactly… -
Prayers for Anissa - a hopefully someday friend
17 Nov 2009 | 10:36 pmPart of my new job at Tiny Prints involves Internet research. I spend a lot of my time blog hopping, discovering new blogs, visiting old favorites, checking out friends of those favorites, and then moving on to the next.Today I discovered a blog I'd never seen before. It was funny, well written, and had compelling posts. It was a family blog, like many of the ones I see daily. I logged all the details in the spreadsheet I'm compiling and moved on to the next one.I had no clue that the blogger was well known and loved by many of my own blogging and social media friends.I had no idea that less… -
Mommy went to a Blogger party and we all get cool swag
16 Nov 2009 | 11:33 pmWell, clearly we can't all be as cool as C sporting her new Teeny Tiny shades. They're best known for protecting little eyes from harmful UV rays, but you just can't reason with these 4-year-olds going on 15. They want to look cool and wear them indoors. Oh, wait. Apparently you can't reason with the 2-year-old set either. Little L is also sporting fancy Teeny Tiny Optics shades as well as the shaggiest hippest hat in town. This beauty was hand made by Zooni and she'd be asleep wearing it if I hadn't made her take it off before bath time. If you have a fetish, or just a love, of unbearably… -
Working Weekend
15 Nov 2009 | 10:44 pmOver the last few months I've been making a conscious effort to shut down the computer Friday night and leave it alone at least until noon-ish on Sunday when the itch to check in became unbearable. It felt good to disconnect, to pick up a book, to play with my kids, and to spend some quality time with my husband.Napping was nice too.Only now that I've had to shift things around in my daily schedule to fit an extra 25hours of work in, I'm having to take lots of that time from my weekend. Last weekend, when there was relatively little newspaper work to be done I didn't feel the pinch all that…
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Lisa Sabin-Wilson
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Want to go to WordCamp NYC?? It’s on me!
8 Nov 2009 | 8:09 pmWith WordCamp NYC coming up next weekend – I’m catching that whole WordCamp spirit again. I have to say that I truly enjoy attending WordCamp and wish more WP users would attend, if they could. It’s really a great deal of fun just meeting, talking and sharing with other people within the user community – the benefits are undeniable…talk to anyone who has attended any WordCamp, anywhere – they’ll all say the same. It’s an experience not to be missed, if you can. So I’m headed to bed for the night after working on my presentation for… -
WordCamp NYC, BuddyPress & Me!
5 Nov 2009 | 5:46 pmI am very excited, and honored, to be speaking at WordCamp NYC next weekend. I have grown very fond of WordCamp get togethers whenever I have the time, and opportunity to attend. It is great fun for every type of WordPress user out there – - from total beginners to advanced developers, there is literally something for every single type of user. If you get the chance to attend a WordCamp – definitely DO – just meeting other people, networking and sharing experiences is worth the price of admission alone! When I saw that WordCamp was organizing in NYC this month, it was… -
Out From Under . .
5 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pmSeriously, I haven’t updated this site since JULY – almost 4 months ago. I’m surprised I still have subscribers and that you are still here reading this .. but thank you for sticking around! So much as been going on since I last updated here, I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe if I just blank out the last 4 months and start over and pretend like some of this stuff never happened…would you still love me in the morning? We moved! For reasons too hairy to discuss, Chris and I had been renting a home over the past 6 years. It was a large… -
It’s Official – BuddyPress For Dummies
16 Jul 2009 | 11:25 amThe Amazon.com placeholder makes it official, I guess! I haven’t officially announced it yet – so I guess now is as good a time as any! I know I’ve been a little book title neurotic over here, having announced my intention to write TypePad For Dummies just a few months ago – but as with everything else in this world of technology, things move rather fast! Wiley Publishing has made a commitment to put out a series of different WordPress related books over the next year, it’s exciting! My own book, WordPress For Dummies, was so well received with sales that… -
Keeping my focus on WordPress
12 Jun 2009 | 11:40 amBack in mid-May, I made an announcement here about a new book that I was contracted to write for Wiley Publishing, TypePad For Dummies. I’m still very active in my WordPress For Dummies project, as a matter of fact, I just updated the book recently for a reprint and a 3rd edition of WordPress For Dummies is scheduled to start this year. Since I did not have any other books on my schedule for 2009, I took the opportunity offered by Wiley to write the TypePad book. That has now changed, however; a lot can happen in 2-3 weeks – - keeping up with technology in print is a…
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Random Musings of The Wild Mind
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Illness and Strength…or the Lack Thereof
18 Nov 2009 | 10:26 pmWhen an illness knocks you on your ass, you should stay down and relax for a while before trying to get back up. ~Candea Core-Starke Ever get the feeling you’ve just been benched in life? It could be through a job layoff, a breakup, and illness, a divorce, or financial difficulties? Where things seemed to be rolling along smoothly and there seemed to be some really forward motion in your life toward a better tomorrow or a brighter future or a more solid financial picture, now you are suddenly in this surreal place of motionless float. It is as if the video tape of your life was… -
Tickled…Tickled Pink…Actually!
16 Nov 2009 | 9:02 pmNot sure quite why I chose that particular title for this post…. I haven’t done a Google Ad Words search on it to see if it is SEO or anything. In fact, over the last several weeks, what with the exit of the Oz and all, I’ve kind of done some thinking. Amazing what you can get accomplished when you aren’t spending your time texting or talking to or IMing someone on the other side of the world. Here’s what I’ve accomplished with all the extra freed up time: I’ve done some thinking, as I mentioned. More about this later. I have cleaned my house… -
Oz and The Wild Mind Dissolve in The Wicked Witch’s Broiling Cauldron of Relational Malaise
14 Nov 2009 | 11:45 amSo…if you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know that sometime earlier this year I took up with The Great and Powerful Oz. You can read earlier posts here and here to find out some more about how great things were in the beginning. It truly was an amazing little love story. You’ll probably read all about it in my book deal, if and when that ever does happen. I mean, I’m going to totally have to invent the ending to make it a happy one, but for now, just trust me, it was filled with romance that had all my girlfriends sighing and crying in their drinks. Now,… -
If You’re Like Me
13 Nov 2009 | 11:20 pmIf you’re like me then you are a reader. You’re a reader of articles, of stories, of books and blogs. And…if you’re like me…you don’t just read those articles, stories, books and blogs and cast them aside. No “out of sight out of mind” for you. If you’re like me you connect with those stories, articles and books, or, at least the ones you love, the ones that resonated with you, the ones that made you think, the ones you gave up moments of your life to pause and listen through the written word, to the voice of another. For a moment, if you’re like… -
How Rushing A Sorority Is Like Online Dating
26 Oct 2009 | 1:00 amI’ve recently come to realize how many things in life are analogous to many other things in life. One pretty benign, or so it seems, event turns out to represent what happens in another completely unrelated area of life. So it is with the sorority rush process and online dating. I know, I know. It seems like a real leap here, but go with me for a minute. Way back in the day, when I was even more naive and wide-eyed than I am now, I had the opportunity to go through sorority rush, bid night, pledge a sorority and eventually be initiated. At the time it intrigued me, but over the…
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Stuffleufagus
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We really hit it off… for 35 minutes. But had fun for weeks.
21 Nov 2009 | 9:58 pmI run Adium on my Mac. Between AOL, and Yahoo, internal Jabber at work, Microcoft Live Messenger, and multiple GChat accounts, I have over 5,000 contacts. And each day, at least once, sometimes many times, I get a spam IM. How they get through security procedures on the platforms, I don’t know. But sometimes they do. I “always” just click “block” and close the window. But several times over the last few weeks - a “girl” – always with the same name followed by random and changing numbers – would send me messages. They looked like… -
Why Twitter Lists Matter to Business – The Magnifying Effect
8 Nov 2009 | 10:29 pmI dismissed Twitter lists as a toy at first – something interesting that would be made useful later by Client Software. I was wrong. Twitter lists matter NOW– regardless of client support. They are both searchable and subscribe-able. That makes them important. Why? Because companies own and cultivate “brands” – a personae. And Twitter Lists may just disrupt that in interesting ways. Example – it is fairly easy for me to find “lists” of companies I use (or compete against, or admire – whatever). The point is – there is no longer such a… -
Sometimes there are a lot of servers in service. But it is still the service that matters.
20 Oct 2009 | 6:34 pmI don’t hide the fact that I work for the world’s largest hosting company. And there is very little doubt that you have surfed on a server that was serviced by our company. When you have more servers than almost anyone in the world, you can host a lot of sites. Hosting them is one thing – servicing them is another issue completely. We are a hosting company with a service problem. See – we just love serving customers. Sure, we serve billions (or more) web pages a year – but we do that by focusing on serving customers. People serving people. Sounds… -
Some good traits for “online media” people
20 Sep 2009 | 3:34 pmIt’s been about 8 months that my primary role has been something “social media” related. I make the role work for me, and that includes a lot of business development, social networking, and “social marketing”. You need to find your own path. As long as it is focused on customers, I imagine you can make it work. But you have to start with loving to be “helpful”. That is a powerful word that your customers will respect. Anyway, here are some of my pointers: You are hyper-connected, and loving it that way. You are “always” online,… -
Don’t think I’ve done this before
8 Sep 2009 | 10:32 pmBut I might have. Probably even did. (linking to an external interview I did). Anyway, here is a link to an interview I gave with B2B – a business website. I was happy with it. I love customers, and I love working for a company that loves customers. What is building43—and should you want one?
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The Art of Manliness
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Manvotional: Pioneers! O Pioneers! by Walt Whitman
21 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pmWalt Whitman wrote the poem “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” as an ode to the pioneers who had struck out in search of adventure and a better life and settled the wild of the American West. He praises the rugged resiliency, the daring courage, and the fearless resolution of those who left the past behind to hew out of the land new lives. While Whitman may have had America’s Western pioneers in mind, the poem is a paean to all pioneers, past and present, from any part of the globe. It will gladden the heart of any man who has said no to a life of ease and complacency and left the… -
Manly Thanksgiving Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
20 Nov 2009 | 8:31 amThanksgiving Day in the United States is next week. Last year, we had our friend Karl Engel teach you how to cook and carve a Thanksgiving turkey like a man. But a man needs stuffing to go along with that bird, so we brought Karl back to show you how to make a killer stuffing that will please any Thanksgiving crowd. Karl heads up Pigcasso, an award winning BBQ team. He’s been featured on the Travel Channel and Food Network, so Karl knows his stuff. Today Karl gives us a rundown on how to give a traditional Thanksgiving staple a twist with his Manly Cornbread Stuffing. Thanks Karl! -
How to Make a Bed You Can Bounce a Quarter Off Of
19 Nov 2009 | 8:19 pmShare It’s a scene familiar to any fan of war movies: old sarge is pacing the new recruits’ barracks, heels clicking on the floor, his eyes bulging as he inspects the soldiers’ bunks. Tension fills the air; the men break out in a sweat. He checks to make sure each man’s uniform is just right, his boots are shined, and his clothes have been neatly folded in his locker. But the moment of truth comes when the sergeant pulls a quarter from his pocket and bounces it off the bed to see just how tightly it’s made. If it doesn’t bounce, the soldier usually has to… -
The Return of Jai Alai
18 Nov 2009 | 9:49 pmWhen I lived in Tijuana, Mexico, one of the things that caught my eye (besides all the dead dogs and cholos) was a huge, almost palatial building in the middle of downtown. It looked like it was transplanted from Morocco and was definitely out of place in the brown and dusty ugliness that is Tijuana. On the front of the building in big red letters it read: “Jai Alai.” Unfamiliar with the meaning of those words, I asked the locals to give me the scoop on what the building was used for. They introduced me to the interesting and tradition-rich game of jai alai (pronounced Hi-Lie). -
How to Run a Meeting
17 Nov 2009 | 4:51 pmShare Have you ever been at a meeting where all you can think about is how much more productive you’d be working alone at your desk? And how much of the company’s money is swirling down the drain while your co-workers surreptitiously check their Blackberries under the table? And how you wish you had made like the crew of the Enola Gay and carried a cyanide capsule with you? People hate meetings. But it’s not the meetings themselves that are inherently pencil-in-eye inducing, it’s how meetings are run. Without a real leader, meetings can become unproductive and…
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Going The Wong Way
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Only In The Movies
18 Nov 2009 | 12:14 amEntertainment of another variety -
Public Restrooms Are Scary
5 Nov 2009 | 11:16 am# use_public_toilet.py # # Algorithm for using a public toilet. Success will vary based on the # toilet/situation (obviously). However, this seems to be a generally safe # way to approach using a toilet. # # Handles both male and female needs as well as exceptional cases such as # no available toilet, getting dirty, and entering the wrong gender's # bathroom. # # Algorithm is roughly: # 1) Enter bathroom # 2) Find suitable toilet # 3) Protect yourself if it's a stall toilet that you sit on # 4) Do your business # 5) Finish up import common_sense # Sometimes even nature's calling cannot… -
Assumptions Cause Tumbles
30 Oct 2009 | 2:01 pmWhile I am happy about the fact that I have become someone who questions a lot of what I hear, I readily admit that we all need to live using assumptions. We do not check every fact each and every time otherwise we would go insane! We sit on chairs without checking that the legs will support our weight (although sometimes the chair unfortunately does not support our weight). We figure that our car engine is going to work even though we don’t check it before turning it on everyday. Staplers have staples, light switches will turn on lights, and our e-mail is accessible. These assumptions… -
iPhone ADD
16 Oct 2009 | 12:14 amWhile there are many advances in mobile technology, there is none more prominent than the iPhone by Apple Inc. After only releasing in June 2007, it has made its mark on society one person at a time. It has created huge lines, buzz in media, envy in people’s eyes, and a huge increase in revenue for the companies involved. Despite much hype and doubt, it has been a game-changing device. It has a user interface that is the standard to which all others are (now) compared, it is sleek, it is expensive enough to stay out of the hands of the less privileged (like Coach purses for girls), and… -
Health Care Reform
9 Oct 2009 | 12:10 amNobody likes to pay for health services. And health services are not perfect at all. They (medical professionals) charge more than what seems reasonable, and they do not seem to have to answer to anybody except for the health insurance companies because they only listen to the money. It would be nice to have personal doctors and nurses to tend to your every whim. And it would be nice if you did not have to pay anything for it. But this is not how the world works. For one, medical professionals are people as well. They are individuals who have gone to school, invested hours and nights to their…
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Hole In The Donut Travels
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Good Night and God Bless
19 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amThroughout the ages, religious orders have traditionally offered lodging and a bite to eat in return for a small donation. Although few were aware of it until very recently, this tradition continues today. Convents and monasteries around the globe supplement their income by offering cheap, clean, and safe accommodations for modern day pilgrims. I first heard about this practice when I was traveling around the world in 2007. On the backpacker trail for six months, I learned that rooms at convents were available for astoundingly cheap rates. The only downside seemed to be that the residents… -
Blogging Boomers Carnival 139 Hosted By Don’t Gel Too Soon
16 Nov 2009 | 5:06 amWell it’s Monday, and that means we’re in for another round of fascinating posts from the demented minds of our baker’s dozen Blogging Boomer carnival participants. And speaking of demented, I’ve always wondered about the title of the blog that is this week’s host: Don’t Gel Too Soon. For some reason, I always assumed it referred to hair gel, but I’m starting to wonder if it means that we never really “gel” as people until we are of a certain age….. Cruise on over to Don’t Gel Too Soon and discover for yourself the diversity of… -
Punta Gorda – Florida’s Gulf Coast Painted Lady
14 Nov 2009 | 6:01 amWhen Dr. Robert Andrews first proposed that a series of historically accurate, educational murals be painted on downtown buildings in Punta Gorda, Florida, some residents opposed the idea, insisting the murals would be nothing more than “graffiti.” Business leaders, on the other hand, loved the idea. They formed the Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society (PGHMS) in 1994 and successfully lobbied the City Council for permission to paint the first one on a large blank wall of a former shopping center located on U.S. 41 Northbound. Once the first mural was completed, others quickly… -
Southwest Introduces New Green Plane to Fleet
12 Nov 2009 | 5:59 amSouthwest Airlines has always been one of my favorite carriers, a position which was recently reinforced when they refused to charge the onerous $100 checked luggage fee being levied by other airlines. My confidence in Southwest escalated another notch today when I learned a “green plane” is being added to their fleet. Environmentally friendly materials used in the interior of the Boeing 737-700 will equate to a weight savings of almost five pounds per seat, saving fuel and reducing emissions while adding recyclable elements to the cabin interior and reducing waste. Elements of… -
Blogging Boomers Carnival 138 Hosted By The Boomer Chronicles
9 Nov 2009 | 10:37 amThe intrepid Rhea, who shares my inexplicable desire to chuck it all and go RV’ing for the rest of my life, is our host for this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Check out her most recent post on The Boomer Chronicles, where she’s summarized the subjects being discussed by our little group of 12 boomers, and click through to read the complete articles of any that tickle your fancy.
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FlowerDust.net
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I’m a Fat Skinny Person Who Can’t Do Push Ups
18 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amI’m about six months out from embarking on a 3100 mile cycling trip across the southern USA, so I figure it would probably be a good idea to actually begin working out, getting in shape, and say, maybe buy a bike. In August, I had my heart condition corrected that was keeping me from exercising, and made a feeble attempt to begin training myself. That lasted about three weeks. A couple weeks ago, while watching The Biggest Loser, I decided I needed to bite the bullet and get a trainer. I met with Brandon Holt at Chadwicks Fitness. I shared with him the past, and most importantly, what… -
Going Way Back: Celebrating Big Givers
16 Nov 2009 | 6:47 amI’m wrapping up my manuscript for Permission to Speak Freely this week, so I’ve decided to repost previous blog material from the archives. I went and found some that had great conversation in the comments, and since there are so many new readers, figure it would probably be new to you and we can delve into the dialogue again. This one was posted about 18 months ago…back in the day when I didn’t use capitalization properly. Sorry about that. Read and discuss…What do you think? I’d especially love to hear from churches who do this kind of thing, because I… -
Looking Through the Eyes of Love
13 Nov 2009 | 8:13 amToday is my monthly contribution over at inCourage. Below is a sneak peek. You have to visit over there to read the full article. Enjoy! — It had been a really long day. 6 am came too soon, and as usual, I was running late to the airport. Due to the extra few minutes I spent taming my hair, I was unable to stop by Sonic for my habitual Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. The tragedy. The flight from Nashville to Houston was one of the bumpiest I’ve ever been on. And I fly. A lot. This year alone, it’s somewhere around 45,000 miles. No kidding. Several people on our plane threw up and… -
And Under the Lights, We Drove Away
10 Nov 2009 | 7:24 pmI’m staying at a hotel where they have a duck ceremony twice a day. It’s pretty posh, at least by Arkansas standards (I kid, I kid.) It is a really lovely place to stay. Tonight after dinner, my friend and I stood underneath a well-lit driveway with large columns and doormen, waiting for the valet to bring my rental car so we could head back to the conference we are speaking at. The valet attendant closed my door, and I adjusted the seat to fit my ridiculously abnormal 34″-inseam-long-legs. I’m not even 5′5″, so this leg length could easily be considered a… -
Old Woman
9 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amSometimes I wonder what I’m going to be like as an old woman. When I was eighteen, I wondered what I would be like when I was thirty and my imagination then and the current reality are very far apart from each other. I think I would like to be the kind of old woman who wears chunky necklaces and has bright white hair and that could tell tales of when I was thirty and forty and people would lean in and be mesmerized by my whimsical stories and the way I uncover timeless truth. But then I wonder if I’ll just end up alone in my bed with hairy legs and maybe a slight mustache. And I’d…
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DivineCaroline Home Page
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Let Them Eat Cake: How Our Bodies React to Sugar
22 Nov 2009 | 12:15 amAt this point, most people understand the basic effects of subsisting ... -
The Not-So-Friendly Skies: Letting Go of Flight Fear
22 Nov 2009 | 12:15 amThis morning, I boarded an airplane confidently, breathing normally an... -
Delicious to the Core: The Ultimate Apple Taste Test
22 Nov 2009 | 12:15 amThere are few things more enticing than a smooth, sweet, succulent app... -
Puppies Behind Bars: Good for Prisoners and Society
22 Nov 2009 | 12:15 amSet in the lush New York City suburb of Westchester County, the Bedfor... -
Brave New World
21 Nov 2009 | 8:38 pmI'm supposed to be writing about luxury. My first paid writing a...
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Mange Merde
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Our Awesome New Electric Snowblower!
28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 pmIt's the first big snow of the season! I love living somewhere where we have seasons again! But it is true that removing snow from the sidewalk and driveway can be hard, especially with a bad back and hip. We only have a few major snowfalls every year, but now, when we do, we break out our awesome new electric snowblower! -
What Exactly is a ‘Bra Fitting Destination’?
14 Sep 2009 | 7:35 amIf you've seen the ads - "Your bra fitting destination" - you may be wondering just what exactly a bra fitting destination is. I certainly was. It turns out that the ads are for Sol Lingerie. Sol Lingerie specializes in bra fitting. Now, you guys can stop reading right here (save for your prurient interest), but us gals can attest that one of the most vexing parts of life as someone with two X chromosomes is finding a bra that fits well. -
Slashdot and the Baltimore Sun “Discover” Unschooling
4 Sep 2009 | 7:05 pmI suppose I shouldn't be surprised when mainstream media gets something so spectactularly wrong, but I expect better from the brainiacs at Slashdot. So imagine my surprise to read the headline "Schooling, Homeschooling, and Now, "Unschooling" " on Slashdot today, and to learn that unschooling, a method of homeschooling that I and many of my homeschooling friends have personally known about for at least a decade - and which has been around since at least the 70s when John Holt wrote about it - is something new and now. -
Slashdot and the Baltimore Sun “Discover” Unschooling
4 Sep 2009 | 6:59 pmI suppose I shouldn't be surprised when mainstream media gets something so spectactularly wrong, but I expect better from the brainiacs at Slashdot. So imagine my surprise to read the headline "Schooling, Homeschooling, and Now, "Unschooling" " on Slashdot today, and to learn that unschooling, a method of homeschooling that I and many of my homeschooling friends have personally known about for at least a decade - and which has been around since at least the 70s when John Holt wrote about it - is something new and now. -
Urgent Need for O Negative Blood Donors to Help Young Boy Scout
28 Jul 2009 | 8:12 pmHere are the details on the young Boy Scout here in Colorado who desperately needs O Negative blood. He is in one of our local Boy Scout councils, and that's how I got involved in trying to help find donors for him.
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MWGblog - Michael W. Geoghegan's Personal Blog
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EFF Takes on VoloMedia Podcast Patent
19 Nov 2009 | 11:35 amThe Electronic Frontier Foundation has added the VoloMedia podcast patent to it’s “Most Wanted” style list for its Patent-Busting Project. I wrote about this patent back when it was first announced. As expected, there is now some movement in challenging it. Specifically, the EFF is looking for examples of prior art: “evidence that the podcasting methods described in the patent were already in use before November 19, 2003.” You can read the whole story over at the EFF. (I was only half joking when I said I was “adding podcasting/episodic media expert witness… -
New Beta Retweet Feature on Twitter
18 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pmThe new beta retweet feature showed up in my Twitter account today. Here is a quick rundown. Retweets using this function show up with a small square arrow icon and the profile picture from the person who originally posted the tweet. Nice feature, the original tweeter “gets credit.” The retweeter is listed along the bottom. When you want to retweet, the option is provided in the bottom right corner. Twitter asks you to confirm this action. For people who also have the beta retweet function enabled they will see the retweet in their timeline with icon display as shown above. In the… -
New Podcast Academy Content
15 Nov 2009 | 10:54 pmWe’ve started posting more content to the Podcast Academy site. If you’re looking for great presentations about all things podcasting and new media be sure to check it out. Recent episodes include Automating Your Podcast Workflow, Podcasting in Higher Education, Building a Television Studio in your Basement and one from Steve Garfield entitled: Videoblogging in 5 Steps. BTW if you in need of a great podcasting microphone check this out. Auction ends todays. -
Halloween – spooks
1 Nov 2009 | 1:39 pmNick left, Jack center and Will right. -
Twitter for Law Enforcement
25 Oct 2009 | 10:00 amTwitter – Orange county Sheriff’s Department from Michael Geoghegan on Vimeo. I forgot to post this news story about my assistance in setting up the Orange County Sheriff Department’s Twitter feed. Good coverage, part of what I do (in addition to Search and Rescue) as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.
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My Blog
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Poems from Cyborg Chimera
15 Nov 2009 | 3:26 amLast week at the launch of the dark ‘til dawn series released by decollection in Shanghai, I was asked to read a few poems. The crowd was small (though big enough to intimidate me) and we had a good time reading together. Several of the poems I read were from my poetry collection Cyborg Chimera, recently released by Sam’s Dot Publishing. I thought it might be fun to put together recordings of a couple of the poems and post them here as well.There are several threads in Cyborg Chimera. It is a sort of interaction of various themes, including hybridity, dreams, the subconscious,… -
decollection Launches its dark ‘til dawn Collection in Shanghai
9 Nov 2009 | 1:03 amOver the weekend, decollection launched its first line of collectible art pieces, the dark ‘til dawn series of designer lamps. Each lamp is hand-painted and designed by decollection’s Peter Zhou around one of my haiku. There are 30 pieces in the collection. Each is unique, and comes accompanied by a birth certificate signed by both poet and artist.You can download this PDF catalog with pictures of each of the lamps and poems. You can get a bit of a feel for the whole series from those images. At the launch, I read from my newly released poetry collection Cyborg Chimera. The book,… -
Hit (or Miss) List, October ’09
31 Oct 2009 | 8:22 amIt was a slower-than-usual reading month for me in October, but I did get to read some fun things, at least. I did not, however, make much of a dent in my Fill in the Gaps list of 100 books to be read over the next 5 years. I hope to get more of that done in November.Here’s what I’ve been reading and watching in October:Hit List • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke) • Night and Day (Virginia Woolf) • The Lover (onstage, in Mandarin) • Some of Washington Irving’s short stories: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Spectre Bridegroom, Mountjoy, The Pride of the Village… -
Reflections on dark ‘til dawn
23 Oct 2009 | 6:06 pmThere was really only one thing that ever kept me from becoming a visual artist of some sort — a decided lack of talent. I don’t have a steady hand. My fine motor skills are, well, less than fine. I have never been able to put the pictures in my mind onto the page without recourse to words. Words, it seems, are the only chance I have at producing art. I have always felt it a pitiable lack in myself, that I did not have even a shred of talent that would allow me to enter the world of visual arts.Because of this particular ineptitude that I’ve always known was mine, collaborating on the… -
About Free Audiobooks
16 Oct 2009 | 10:26 pmIt was with some reluctance that I finally began listening to audiobooks. My dad was probably the first person who tried to convince me that I would love them, but I was skeptical. After a while, though, I finally decided to give it a try by downloading several titles from Audible.com and listening to them on my iPod during long flights and my daily commutes.That was somewhere around ten years ago, and I have listened to a lot of audiobooks since then. I won’t say I am exactly a convert, or that I am 100% in love with the listening experience when contrasted to holding a book in hand and…
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VirtualWayfarer - A Place For Intellectual Musings
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Reflecting on Ignite Phoenix
6 Nov 2009 | 2:11 pmI had the pleasure of sharing the stage this past Tuesday with 16 incredible presenters. Together, we all overcame our fear of the stage, of the spotlight and of failure to ascend one of the valley’s largest soap boxes for 300 seconds. During the course of our 5 minute presentations we battled our nerves, time and the intense desire to ramble in order to share our passion with some 600+ attendees. Truly, the Ignite Phoenix experience is a rare and incredible opportunity. It is a synergy of random ideas and passions. An assemblage that transcends genre in a way that has become… -
From Ballroom to Boardroom – Ignite Phoenix 5
2 Nov 2009 | 10:14 pmHello friends! First and foremost thank you for allowing me to share my passion for Ballroom dancing! I’ve put this post together as a follow up to my Ignite Phoenix 5 Presentation in order to share more information with anyone inspired to try Ballroom dance. The valley has a plethora of wonderful social dance venues, most of which offer a lesson as part of the evening’s cover. Average price for the lesson/evening of dancing varies, but it’s typically under $10. The venues themselves come in all types and shapes from Bars to Dance Studios. The really exciting part is that… -
Belize Bound – What Should I See?
28 Oct 2009 | 10:43 amMy next trip is booked. Well, the airfare and time off work is at least! I’m now in that month(s) long stage of tantalizing anticipation as I eagerly wait to throw my gear in a backpack, fold myself into a crappy airline sardine can and kick off another adventure. The Trip I’ll be departing Phoenix on December 16th with a round trip ticket to Cancun, Mexico with a return date set for January 4th. Wait, why Cancun? Airfare! The cost of a round trip ticket to Cancun was some $200-$400 cheaper than airfare into Belize proper and having never been to Cancun before, I figured why not… -
Stand As One for the Future – Blog Action Day 2009
15 Oct 2009 | 12:49 amIn honor of Blog Action Day 2009 VirtualWayfarer is joining thousands of blogs throughout the world as we stand as one against climate change. In place of a written post I’ve put the following video together. Please take a few moments and watch it, then consider what you can do to preserve the earth for future generations. Regardless of your feelings about the details surrounding Global Warming we can all agree that humanity’s impact on the earth is profound. -
Ignite Phoenix 5
14 Oct 2009 | 10:29 amI’m very excited to announce that I will be speaking at Ignite Phoenix #5. I’ve been a huge fan of the Ignite series since I discovered it just under a year ago. It embodies a somewhat random, haphazard pursuit of knowledge and wisdom which I absolutely love. Late last week I was informed that my talk “From Ballroom to Boardroom: Three Steps in the Right Direction” had been chosen as one of 18 presentations for Ignite Phoenix #5 which will be taking place November 3rd (tickets go on sale on the 16th!). It truly is an honor to have been selected, with over 100+…
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No Pasa Nada
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Every now and then I shock myself
9 Nov 2009 | 2:10 pmI just did a very dramatic, hands in the air, ‘OH MY LANDS!’ type things. One where I even surprised, nay, scared the ever loving shit out of myself. And that, my friends, is how this Monday went. I’ll be shocked as shit if I get through NaBloPoMo. In fact, I’ll be surprised if I get through the remainder of the week. It gets better right? Just tell me that it gets better. -
If you need diversity at your next party, call me!
8 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pm“It is not hard to learn more. What is hard is to unlearn when you discover yourself wrong.” ~Martin H. Fischer This would be a good story if I were to write the book that I really want to write. Danny will ask how my writing is going and it is not going as well as it should be going. I should be a little more focused and yet I find myself in that awful place where I know exactly what I would like to write and yet I am unable to find all the words. I can see how the story and chapters will flow together and yet getting it on paper is the difficult part. It’s either that… -
Guess what! I’m getting my period!
7 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm“I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do.” ~Joe Walsh So I’m sitting here in the middle of watching this health care debate during which this total Lord of the Flies moment happens and I’m all “OH MY GOD! John Dingell is 80 fucking years old! Do NOT alarm him!” And poor John Dingell is banging the gavel and people are yelling over him and there’s Louise Slaughter who lives in Buffalo but has the most charming southern accent because she is from Kentucky. And so much is going on and there is so much passion on both sides of the aisle and I… -
New gig
6 Nov 2009 | 5:18 pmI will be writing here three times a week: http://www.wisechoice.com/blog/ It’s bringing up a lot of past insecurities and anxieties and did I ever tell you about that time my mother was driving across the Delaware Memorial Bridge on my way to college and I sobbed, grabbed her arm and told her to turn around? No? Remind me to tell you about that someday. It was a pretty awesome -
Cure your winter doldrums
5 Nov 2009 | 6:10 pm“It doesn’t hurt to be optimistic. You can always cry later.” ~Lucimar Santos de Lima Yesterday I posted this over at BlogHer. I claimed that cream blush could clear you of your winter doldrums because it made you all glowy. Fuck that noise. It’s been ‘winter’ for five minutes and I’m already MEHHHHH about the whole thing. My only cure is the promise of vitamin D within the next few weeks. Santa Fe (do you know the way?) followed by Atlanta. And then it’s Christmas which does not produce vitamin D but does produce a stocking full of gummie…
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Suebob's Red Stapler
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One of my hobbies is scaring birds
20 Nov 2009 | 8:48 pmSorry, birds -
The Layoff Chronicles: All the Children are Above Average
19 Nov 2009 | 6:47 pmWe had our last phone conference call with our Vice President, who was also laid off. Half the team is leaving, the others are staying.Rachel: I had to drop off the call early to meet with a headhunter. Did anything happen after Scott spoke about [some ongoing project]?Suebob: Well, there was a kind of tearful goodbye from Shelly, and then we got trophies. Oh, man, you missed getting your trophy.Rachel: TROPHIES?Suebob: Yeah, we all got trophies. Just like soccer - all the children get trophies, even the losers.Rachel: The wha? No they didn't. SHUT UP! YOU SUCK.Suebob: [rolling on the floor… -
The Layoff Chronicles: The Circle of Life
12 Nov 2009 | 8:59 pmBackground info: Every December at work we do an all-hands-on-deck project that has traditionally taken five of us on our team about six weeks to accomplish. Meanwhile, dozens of other people across the company are also frantically working to accomplish their pieces of the project, and a wonderful woman named Debbie stitches them all together at the end to make one magnificent finished piece.The problem is that this year, only two out of five of us will be around to do the project.Because it is so complex, we begin planning in November. Thus, the emails begin.*********************From:… -
In honor of Veteran's Day
11 Nov 2009 | 4:37 pmAnd in honor of safe returns, and of love between people and their animal friends: -
The Layoff Chronicles
10 Nov 2009 | 11:55 amYesterday we got to the stage of mourning called "Anger." I knew it would happen, I just wasn't sure when.I awoke with a snap at 3 a.m., mad. Mad that we had been laid off without Some People having a shred of understanding of what we do and why we are needed to keep doing it. Mad that some people I thought were less capable had been spared when good people had been lost. Mad that we got let go at the worst time of the year to find a job.Then when I went into the office, I found that it wasn't just me. Everyone had been hit by the Big Angry Bus at the same time.There were a lot of IMs and…
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To Think Is To Create
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Fit & Healthy Holidays
20 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pmHearing holiday music yet? We’re going to have a VERY different Christmas this year, being in the South (my son asked if it’s still Christmas if it doesn’t snow…) and working on our own idea of Christmas Change (more about that to come). I’ve been learning about how to combine giving gifts to loved ones (which I just ADORE doing) with giving to the poor and needy, remembering the true Spirit of Christmas. I can’t wait to share more with you as we shift our traditions and create new, more meaningful ones. As a part of the giving to loved ones part of… -
We Rejoice
19 Nov 2009 | 10:12 amYesterday a guest post I wrote for Sarah Mae went up on her blog, Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee. Please go check it out, it’s about God and autism and it was an honor to write something for her while she is busy moving her family to a new home. It’s funny, because I wrote that post a full month ago, and seeing it today it ministered to me. My own words! Things with the boys have changed so much in the last month…well let’s hope it’s not “change” but just regression. I read that post and longed for how the boys were a month ago. Not for where we… -
Prayers For Anissa
18 Nov 2009 | 5:34 pm**Robin and me, with Anissa on the right She is mom to 3 children, the youngest of which is recovering from cancer. She is 35 years old, and had a stroke 4 years ago, right before her baby was diagnosed. She is my friend. She is a fellow mom of special needs, and we have shared so, so much. Yesterday, she suffered another stroke. A major one. She lies in the ICU in Atlanta, in a coma, having no idea the massive amount of love being sent her way. No idea that the world has practically paused waiting for any crumb of news about her well being. But God knows. And God knows Anissa, and He… -
Links for 2009-11-16 [del.icio.us]
17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amMust Read: The Real Joy Secret "...self-hatred is a soul-eating disease and I’ve cut off parts off myself to survive." Handbook of Nature Study Science lessons for homeschoolers -
All Things Water
16 Nov 2009 | 8:23 amWe spent last week receiving hurricane Ida’s leftovers…our first tropical storm-ish experience. The rain in the South? You guys, it’s incredible. Sheets and sheets came down, loudly and perfectly making us known of their presence, their power. We’d never seen rain like this. It meant we got creative at home with finding things to do and read and discover. But with the big deck, the kids could still be outside despite the rain. Yet another new experience, new blessing, and new gratefulness. Our world is still very out of sorts. SO many things are still up in the air,…
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Kevin Charnas
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Huddled Beneath The Sky
22 Nov 2009 | 7:22 amThe sadness I have caused any faceby letting a stray wordstrike it,any pain I have caused you,what can I do to make us even?Demand a hundred fold of me - I'll pay it.During the day I hold my feet accountableto watch out for wondrous insects and their friends.Why would I want to bring horrorinto their extraordinaryworld?Magnetic fields draw us to Light; they move our limbs and thoughts.But it is still dark; if our hearts do not hold a lantern,we will stumble over each other,huddled beneath the skyas we are.~ Rumi ~(Nice hat, bish.)****************************************** -
A Short Film For Sunday
22 Nov 2009 | 6:52 amBefore it was a feature film, it was a short.Will and I didn't see the full-length film produced by Tim Burton. But, I happen to find the original short by Shane Acker quite good. Melancholy, yes. And mesmerizing... **************************** -
Nuts
20 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pmAfter all, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.****************************** -
A Nightmare Of A Post
19 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amSo, I've had nightmares the last two nights.And from around 2 to about 5 a.m. this has been me,Yes. I wear that to bed. Along with those bracelets and my hair is just ever-so. Except I'm profusely sweating while I'm screaming. And my lipstick is all smeared.When I say nightmares, I mean, NIGHTMARES. I've been thrashing and moaning like Dr. Phil naked in a tub of lube and screaming like the spectators forced to watch him.You may remember that I tend to scream in my sleep, while Will punches. I wrote about that sometime back in "Night Brawlers". I still haven't determined if Will is actually… -
The Obama Brother Surprise
18 Nov 2009 | 7:28 amObama says he met with half brother while in ChinaOne surprise for the President was that his brother happens to be...Rita Moreno.***********************************
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iVillage - This Fish
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ode to davy jones
20 Nov 2009 | 7:22 amLong before we discovered Weird Al Yankovic, my brother, sister and I spent a ridiculous number of hours wearing out my parents' Monkees LP. It was silly and accessible (listen to Gonna Buy Me a Dog and try not to sing along. Go on, TRY IT), and it had accompanying TV show reruns. But most of all, it had Davy Jones. Sigh. With his stylin' 60s apparel and his tooth sparkle, Davy Jones was IT. I mean, the be all end all of romantic figures. Grown up me would be much more of a Mickey Dolenz or Mike Nesmith kind of gal, but I was nine and for my age, I had an appropriately underdeveloped… -
the bees knees
17 Nov 2009 | 6:48 amI got stung by a bee at the wedding. Because of course I did. In all other ways, the wedding - and the weekend - was just really lovely. The ceremony took place outside, under a tree overlooking Lake Travis and the reception was wonderfully laid back and simultaneously elegant. I'm always amazed when people pull off that combo. I'll admit I got a little choked up during the ceremony. The groom is on my List of People I Like Best and it made me a little verklempt to see him so happy. But then I got stung by a bee and stopped being verklempt and started being, well, puffy. Earlier in the week,… -
off!
13 Nov 2009 | 5:38 amThis morning, we're packing up the car and driving to Austin for a much-needed weekend away. The primary purpose of our trip is the wedding (the very one I was sure I needed a cool weather outfit for and here it is, middle of November, and eighty-three degrees. Oh, Texas. You varmint) but spending some time being silly with Stephanie and Phil by no means comes in second on the list of highlights for the next two days. I just hope we don't play Upwords this time. Because, it's not Scrabble, dammit, and Stephanie makes me look like an illiterate, drooling half-wit. The Dork Lord hasn't met any… -
the short of love
12 Nov 2009 | 8:37 amFor our anniversary, the Boy bought tickets to South Pacific at the new Winspear opera house. If I ever find myself doubting his affection for me, I will simply look back at that moment last night, when I opened the card, the blue and white tickets slipped out onto the counter and I realized, the man I love just dropped some serious cash to do something he will hate every moment of. Because he loves me. -
in a crock pot built for two
9 Nov 2009 | 11:28 amI am so smitten with my crock pot. Last year, the Boy and I bought one of those big, fancy ones with the meat thermometer, a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time. Okay, okay, not the compass - it was made by Hamilton Beach or something, not Red Ryder. Anyway, we made stew in it once and it fell apart. And so did my dreams. But then a couple weeks ago, we decided it was time - we'd gotten over our bitter disappointment and were ready to try again. This time, though, we went basic. Very basic. 2 quarts. 2 setting. Just exactly what two people need. And life has never been…
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CrazyAuntPurl
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Behind the scenes at the messatorium
19 Nov 2009 | 10:35 amI got a great email yesterday from reader Ellen talking about the pictures I posted yesterday of my living room: Thanks for writing about having friends over before your new place is perfect. I'm dealing right now with the anxiety of having invited people from the three knitting groups I participate in to come to my "new" condo to do their stealth knitting in just two weeks. It will be the second party I've had. The first was in the spring right after I bought the place, when it was unfurnished except for a dining table and chairs left by the previous owner's real estate agent. People brought… -
Comfort food and Christmas, which is only 37 days away....
18 Nov 2009 | 11:50 amRoast beef, mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables. That was the dinner I made for a weekend get-together I had with Amber and Jennifer. They are two of my favorite people on the planet, it was so much fun to have them over to my new place. We had dinner and drank champagne and made Christmas cards all crafty-style, with glitter and paper and cuttings from magazines and little scraps of ribbons. I wanted to have the apartment all decorated for Christmas but I got mired in work and only got a few things up, but it was enough to be festive. There's my sequin tree I got at Target a few years ago… -
It's scarf weather until at least 10 a.m.
16 Nov 2009 | 7:11 amOne thing I love about the Valley is that it gets cold in the mornings. It's only 52 degrees outside right now! That's downright wintery for us. I have a stomach ache. I ate too many tortilla chips last night. Or maybe it was the salsa. Either way, I fear there may be spewing. I hate to throw up more than anything else so I may be able to avoid it by sheer force of will. This is how my morning is unfolding so far, and it does not bode well for the day ahead. So here are my three good things: 1) With all the H1N1 flu news I thought this was a good time to re-read The Stand by Stephen King. -
Friday the 13th and then just some blabbering
13 Nov 2009 | 9:58 amAs superstitious as I am, I'm not really that interested in Friday the 13th. Though I won't fly on a Friday the 13th, so I guess I do still have my little trepidations. Not that I am flying anywhere. Many months ago I posted a link to this video: The first time I saw it, it made me go into the ugly cry. You know that part where everyone suddenly starts to come down the stairs and sing? I just started sobbing like a weirdo. At first I couldn't figure out why that was my reaction. And I got a lot of email from people telling me the same thing happened to them. It took a while, but finally it… -
Love in the Time of Crochet
12 Nov 2009 | 10:27 amI wanted to write a book called, "Love in the Time of Crochet" except that I am not in love (well not with anyone who is aware of my existence, yet ... looking at you, Al Gore) and there is the small issue that I can't crochet. I can chain like nobody's business, though. I could chain around the world. I'm feeling much more inspired to crochet since Drew released his latest batch of books: Drew's new books are Must Have Handbags, In All Caps!, All Washed Up and Sweet Pet Comforts. The project I really love and want to make is this plaid pet bed, because I think it would be so cute to see a…
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The Pioneer Woman
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The Road Rage is Here
20 Nov 2009 | 7:09 amSometimes it’s just unavoidable: we have to drive cattle down the road. Unfortunately, there are people on this earth who actually want to drive down this same road. It takes them where they need to go, you see. Roads are funny that way. Some of them just can’t handle the wait. They have things to do. People to see. Places to go. And cows ain’t a part of it. These are the times I love my telephoto lens. I like to watch the fun unfold. Call me ornery. You can almost smell the road rage in the air. I lived in L.A. -
His Element
19 Nov 2009 | 5:27 amWe worked cattle right before we left, and I brought these photos along with me. I miss the ranch, but the trip is going really well. My oldest boy is having fun checking in and out of hotels, riding escalators and elevators, and eating in restaurants. But this…this is his element. Sitting behind the wheel of a 1,200 pound animal. For my curly-haired blond whippersnapper, life doesn’t get any better than that. And if I start to get rattled on this trip when he gives his brother a roundhouse kick in the hotel lobby…or… -
Everything’s Up to Date
18 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pmKansas City was wonderful. A local independent bookseller, Rainy Day Books, organized two signings there, which meant I had to rein in my agoraphobic tendencies twice in the same 24-hour period. In addition, I had to take two showers, apply deodorant two times, and try twice as hard not to poke out my eye with my Pat Benatar black eyeliner since I wear so much of it these days. Gosh, do I ever love black eyeliner. The first signing was at Will Wyatt’s Cowboy Couture, a ridiculously dangerous store for anyone who even remotely likes cowboy and cowgirl clothes, boots, or… -
Wishing We’d Worked on Penmanship Skills
18 Nov 2009 | 7:35 amThis was an unexpected development. Had I known my boys’ penmanship would come into play on this book trip, I might’ve spent a few weeks drilling before we left. But at least I can tell myself the following: 1. They’re boys. 2. They don’t have much practice writing with Sharpies. 3. We don’t generally practice handwriting with the books balanced on their knees. 4. Their hands were cold from the near-freezing temperature outside. 5. They have arthur-itis. 6. They were nervous. 7. They’d had too much coffee and were shaking. 8. They’re boys. Anything to… -
The One That Got Away
17 Nov 2009 | 10:56 amBefore I continue with today’s posting, I thought I’d provide you a little glimpse into the world of Taking Your Two Young Sons To Your Book Signing Events. Have you ever visited? It’s a cold, dark, frightening land filled with hidden dangers and terrors everywhere you turn. Not recommended for those who enjoy order and predictability.
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Jonniker.
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We Are The Champions
15 Nov 2009 | 6:06 pmThis week is going to be crazy because we’ve got Adam’s family holiday get-together at the end of the week (we’re here for Thanksgiving, then with my family for Christmas), which involves (oh dear Jesus) a PLANE RIDE, and you may recall that I am very, very bad on plane rides when I’m flying sans baby, and to say that I have no idea how this particular trip is going to go is an UNDERSTATEMENT. The thing is, I spend most of the pre-flight preparations concentrating on how I’d extricate myself from the fuselage in the event of a near-catastrophe, and that’s… -
Spellbound
12 Nov 2009 | 5:29 pmThis morning I sat slack-jawed for a full, oh, I don’t know, twenty minutes or so, glazed over and positively enthralled by the infomercial for the Cricut (pronounced “CRICKET,” which I never would have guessed) Expressions paper cutter. The first five minutes were spent in ridiculous disbelief that anyone would want to fake-etch glass with some kind of faux varnish using patterns on a paper cutter, but by the time the last fifteen rolled around, I was not only considering “etching” some kind of commemorative plate of my own, but was ALSO wondering why I… -
Flavor
10 Nov 2009 | 6:27 pmYou know how I’ve always said nothing grosses me out, like, EVER? Well, then! We have found the secret weapon of UTTER GROSSNESS. And it’s … ground chicken. Benign, right? GROUND CHICKEN! Big deal. A-HO! Since Sam’s favorite food is chicken mixed with apples and none of the organic brands have any a) chicken & apples together; or b) lone chicken jars to mix with apples, I’ve been doing a fair amount of ridiculous HANDWRINGING over the non-organic, mass-produced CREEPY OF THE CREEP chicken that my daughter was ingesting. I know, oh my God, I KNOW. I’m a… -
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
8 Nov 2009 | 5:57 pmJai ho! Last week was some sort of bizarre blur of sleepless misery, as my child’s first tooth decided to make an appearance, and MY GOD, I felt so sorry for her, but you know what else? I also felt very sorry for myself, because there was much wee-hour stumbling back and forth from one room to the next, and not a lot of sleeping and MAH GOD, what, are those little teeth made of RAZORBLADES or what? And why, suddenly, although the tooth is a mere MILLIMETER further along than it was those fretful, tired days, does she seem much more accustomed to it? Speaking of kid, she’s a… -
November
1 Nov 2009 | 6:30 pmI thought about doing NaBloPoMo this month, believe it or not, but I later realized that while I liked the idea of posting every day, it would probably be boring as hell, because some days, to be honest, nothing happens. Some days, the biggest thrill of my day is that my kid had a double blowout and the washing machine hummed its hot-water wash all. day. long. (Hello, that would be TODAY.) NaNoWriMo doesn’t appeal to me, either, because while I DO want to write a novel some day, it seems a bit silly for me to condense it all in one month. (Incidentally, the only goal I have for said…
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larry borsato
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You can’t always get what you want.
19 Nov 2009 | 6:12 amAnd sometimes you get exactly what you asked for. I’ve often noted the lack of a cohesive calendar of what is happening locally; someplace that I could look to to see when the events that interest me are happening, and to keep abreast of what people are thinking and saying here. (Hmmm. Do people use the word "abreast" anymore?) Apparently I complained to the right people. Or perhaps just complained long enough that people decided to shut me up. Jesse Rodgers and Joseph Fung have created exactly what I was looking for. Techstartup.ca, which they officially announced yesterday,… -
Health ‘reform’ gets a failing grade.
18 Nov 2009 | 9:25 amThe dean of Harvard Medical School has some thoughts on pending healthcare reform: In discussions with dozens of health-care leaders and economists, I find near unanimity of opinion that, whatever its shape, the final legislation that will emerge from Congress will markedly accelerate national health-care spending rather than restrain it. Likewise, nearly all agree that the legislation would do little or nothing to improve quality or change health-care’s dysfunctional delivery system. The system we have now promotes fragmented care and makes it more difficult than it should be to assess… -
Human error?
17 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pmWhat kind of human error leads to creating congressional districts that don’t exist? Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that’s what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says. Discrepancies on government web site call into question stimulus spending. There’s one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts. And ABC News has found… -
Pissed off people start great companies.
17 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pmThere are undoubtedly a number of reasons why people become entrepreneurs and create startups. But I am willing to bet that the number one reason is that they are pissed off about something. In fact, being pissed off is, I believe, the prime and most powerful motivator behind the creation of a startup. Tom Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence agrees: “Nearly 100 percent of innovation . . . is inspired not by ‘market analysis’ but by people who are supremely pissed off at the way things are. I happen to believe that only pissed-off people change the world, either in… -
Getting to the point.
16 Nov 2009 | 9:47 pmThe House healthcare bill is 1990 pages long. The United States Constitution – the document on which the operation of the entire country is based? About 15 pages. If you can’t articulate what you want to accomplish in 15 pages, then you don’t really know what you want to accomplish. Or you do know, but you want to make sure that nobody else does. The Founding Fathers had the concerns of citizens in mind when they wrote the Constitution, and they were clear in what they wanted to accomplish. Why can’t the healthcare bill be that clear? Technorati: politics healthcare…
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Marisa's Dandelion Patch
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Aunt Jo Always In Our Hearts
27 Oct 2009 | 8:28 amIt’s been four years since our family lost our Aunt Jo. No matter how I try I cannot capture Aunt Jo as well as my sister did in this eulogy. Thank you, Monette. Aunt Jo’s Eulogy Written and delivered by Monette Myers Writing a eulogy about someone who has been intertwined in your life through every age and on a day-to-day basis, and who has 95 years worth of living, is a mammoth task. How do you do this person justice as well as all who have known her? How do you describe the life of Aunt Jo? How do you summarize a life that spans 4, or is it 5, generations, and all it has… -
Birthdays Will Never Be The Same
5 Oct 2009 | 9:22 pmIt’s been just over 5 months since my son Jesse lost his best friend. At the time I couldn’t write much about it. Our family was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff and the loss of Moe just threw us all into a tailspin. Moe was so much more than my son’s friend. Jesse and Moe were born on the very same day, one in Ohio and the other in Wyoming. Jesse and Moe met when their older brothers played baseball together, before the two of them even started kindergarten. I’m not sure Jesse has much memory of childhood before Moe. Jesse’s great Uncle Joe was married to… -
“Dread”ing It
4 Sep 2009 | 8:09 amOnce again we are going to try to get Boomer’s hair into dreadlocks. We did this last year around this time and the dreads looked great. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay in. Boomer’s hair is just so soft and pretty. We’re going to tonight for a consultation to determine what method, if any, would work best and how much they’ll cost. He really wants these for his senior pictures. I’m not sure how my mom and mother-in-law will react to a graduation announcement with Boomer’s hair in dreadlocks but if it’s what he want’s I’m okay with… -
Getting Back To Blogging
2 Sep 2009 | 11:37 amI’m not easily silenced. I tend to speak out when I have something to say, whether anyone wants to hear me or not. That, I suppose, would explain why I blog. Explaining why I would stop blogging is a whole other story. At some point I may tell that story but not now. Not yet. The dust hasn’t quite settled and I’m still not sure what I should share. I am coming back to blogging, slowly. Even though I can’t yet share the events of these past several months, I still have much to say. Despite all the drama around here, regular life has continued. Kids in school, a new… -
Moe: RIP
28 Apr 2009 | 12:47 pmJason “Moe” Sadler (left) October 6, 1981 – April 28, 2009
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Boss Sanders
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Reluctant Happiness
20 Nov 2009 | 6:44 pmDespite my worries and feeling incredibly overwhelmed - among a vast array of many emotions - I’m beginning to no longer see the negative aspects of the things our family has been facing, together. True, moving really sucks. But, if it weren’t for moving, I’d never have found those socks I thought I’d forever lost. True, I’m terrified of not knowing what’s to come and sad to see certain things go out of our lives. But, we’ll soon be set free from looming debt and be able to enjoy our lives and focus on our health rather than debt. True, my stress… -
Whirlwinds and Hurricanes
17 Nov 2009 | 8:48 amI resigned a couple of weeks ago, just so sure that God was going to let me have the next several months full of peace and time with Him and my family. Silly me. Apparently, I AM supposed to slow down, but He’s got more in plan for me FIRST. The past few days have been a whirlwind. Illness paired with little sleep and running on empty, just trying to get things done…. We’re beginning to cut close on the “unemployment” status as it pertains to benefits. The job search was turning up empty and our savings have since been depleted, meaning our expenses of… -
changeling
6 Nov 2009 | 6:34 amGod is really rocking my world. He’s molding me, and I’m grateful (although that doesn’t always mean it’s fun.) Wednesday, I resigned from my out-of-the-home job. It was a difficult thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. I adore the people there, I adore the ministry, I adored what I did — but, it was taking me away from my first ministry that God had called me to - my children. Our lives have seasons, and I am so thankful for the one I had there…and I really believe I’ll be back there in a different season of my life. Just not now. … -
Book Review: Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor
6 Nov 2009 | 4:51 amBig Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth N. Taylor Ages 3-7 Hardcover retails for $14.99 Big Thoughts for Little People is an illustrated book that uses the ABCs to teach children morals and valuable Christian answers. Each letter corresponds with a lesson/word that most of us would love for our children to learn. I really expected for this book to be a great fit for Lala as she is becoming more familiar with her ABCs, however I’m afraid the “lessons” in this book are a little too much for her since she falls at the lower end of the age range. HOWEVER, for older children, I… -
Rora Bites
5 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am“Mama! Rora bites you! No, baby!” Lorelei said with great worry as she came into the room, seeing me breastfeeding her baby sister. “No, sweetie. Rora isn’t biting mommy. Mommy is just nursing and Rora is eating!” (Pause with Lala still looking concerned.) i realized quickly that I’d used the term ‘eating’ which sounds a lot like biting and chewing and knew I had to backtrack quickly. “You see, mommy has baby milk in here,” I said, being sure to emphasize BABY lest she get any ideas and putting my hand over my breast. …
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Menstrual Poetry
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This 10 Year Old Won’t Stand for a Country that Doesn’t Support its GLBTQ Population
Will Phillips is an exceptionally bright 10 year old boy who recently skipped a grade in school and whose family had always taught him to be aware of what’s right, wrong, and what’s fair. The family has many friends in the gay community and they are allies for the community, having attended pride parades [...] -
Help Make Puerto Rico Prosecute the Murder of 19 Year Old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a Hate Crime
On November 14th the body of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was found on an isolated road in Cayey, Puerto Rico. His body was partially burned, both of his arms and legs, as well as his torso were dismembered and he was also decapitated. While giving a televised statement, the police officer [...] -
Women’s Studies and Education Privilege
At the end of October a list of 50 eye-opening Women’s Studies blogs was released and much to my surprise, Menstrual Poetry was on that list. Also to my surprise, it wasn’t just shoved at the bottom of the list with a description of something like ‘a woman who likes to spout her opinion [...] -
Feminist: It’s Just About the Worst Thing You Could Be
Feminism is in the media, you just have to know where to look to find it and even then, chances are you’re going to have to dig pretty deep through your popular publications to find an even so-so assessment of what feminism truly brings to the table and gives us our due hat-tip for our [...] -
The Good, The Bad and The Burning
Warning: This post is mostly about “lady parts” and “lady problems.” If the words vagina, menstruation, bleeding, tampon, pad, and/or urinary tract infection or any variation of the previous words offend you, it would be wise on your part to cease reading the following post. I had always loved that Renee over at Womanist Musings posted [...]
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the slack daily
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It's a Good Thing Will Was Sick.
20 Nov 2009 | 8:47 amIf you watch our show, you know that Will has a thing for Jason Segel. As boy-crushes go, I totally approve. A couple of nights ago, Jason sat in with The Swell Season at the Wiltern here in LA to perform a song he wrote. It's a good thing Will was sick. As many of you know, the show I'm working on is winding down, and there's no better way to celebrate my soon-to-be-unemployment than by catching Paul F. Tompkins' show this Saturday, November 21 at Largo at the Coronet. If you live in LA, you should go, too.(Yes, I know. We talk about the PFT a lot but that's because he's made of funny, and… -
This Is One of Those Posts Where I Post About How I Haven't Been Posting.
16 Nov 2009 | 10:56 amMiss me? No? Well, too bad. I'm back. For like half a second, so if you didn't miss me you're lucky in that this will be short (but longer than half a second. See? Believe the hype, I'm a liar, too!) Work has been worky (and wonderful. But worky!) and there are days when I want to take the Internet, fold it up into a small square and stuff it in my pocket until later. Later will now be the first week of December, when Will and I take our belated honeymoon. If you're in San Francisco on December 1, join us for cocktails! Details here. Saturday marked our return to BetheMarriage LIVE! (On Ice),… -
Remembering Dad of Boy.
8 Nov 2009 | 10:55 amIn case you missed last night's special BetheMarriage, you can catch it here: Once again, thank you to all who came, watched, and participated in the chat room. Will and I are endlessly grateful.Right now the house smells of garlic and basil. Meatballs and sausage are simmering on the stove. Wine is out and the table is set. We'll see some of you shortly. -
A Special BetheMarriage...
5 Nov 2009 | 10:42 amThis Saturday night, Will and I are bringing back BetheMarriage at a special time to honor Dad of Boy with an hour (or more) of toasts and tales like these.Join us at 6pm PST (that's 9pm Eastern) on Saturday, November 7th for BetheMarriage: Remembering Dad of Boy. (He would have loved that he was our greatest source of material.) Thank you all for your kindness, and we'll see you on Saturday night! -
The Power of Now.
3 Nov 2009 | 10:21 amTwitter is all about the power of now. It was one of the things I stressed in my talk at the 140 Conference last week. Right after I spoke, I had an idea. As many of you know, I wrote the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) for Valemont which takes place over multiple platforms (ValemontU.com, Facebook, Twitter, Poppy's Blog, with a healthy dose of help from the fan-run Valemont Commons.) I also tweet as multiple characters in the show.Tonight marks our last on-air episodes on MTV; we currently air at 9:57pm (before the Hills) and at 11:00pm (after the City.) A Big Secret is revealed tonight at the…
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She Just Walks Around With It
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What About Table Settings, Centerpieces & Placeholders?
19 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pmSeriously. Those are some damn good responses to my turkey-and-stuffing inquiry. I'm tickled, and will absolutely be using one of the suggestions. Probably the one with whiskey because hi.This leads me to the next item on my "Hmmmm" list. And that is figuring out how to make the table(s) look beautiful. I mean, I can probably figure something out, but if you have fantastic, pretty ideas, I'd love to hear them. Of note(?): My table is dark wood, almost black, and I'm not planning to use a tablecloth. My plates are plain white. I have chargers in red. I have a table runner (also red) but I… -
Let's Talk Turkey
18 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pmIt's 10:15 and I totally forgot that I'm supposed to be blogging.Also, tomorrow it's Thursday. Which means Thanksgiving is in ONE WEEK. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!So rather than post a random photo or two (though I'm tempted), I thought I would ask you to please tell me:- Where is the best place to get a Thanksgiving turkey?- What is the best way to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey?Last year I cooked a turkey for the first time, and after exhaustive research and like, three near-panic attacks, I decided to get the bird from Whole Foods, brine it with a bag and brine from Williams-Sonoma, and roast it… -
Time To Win Stuff Again
17 Nov 2009 | 10:45 pmHey! So, by now the winner of my last "She Just Reviews It" review thing and $200 Best Buy gift card giveaway should have been notified, so I will take a moment to say congrats to Miss Thystle. I'm SO pleased that the winner is someone who's been an IIF for a long time, and not just someone who read about this contest on some random web page and then entered and doesn't care one iota about my lack of balance or my boobs the size of my head. And this means I am now free to direct you to my NEW contest. Mostly you can win an Aquaphor product gift basket (and Aquaphor products ROCK and I… -
"Like a melon ball on a toothpick."
16 Nov 2009 | 10:35 pmTonight's a cappella rehearsal began with a discussion of skinny jeans. The conversation was led by the Loosie who works at GAP. (Not in the stores, mind you; at their corporate offices.)For the record, skinny jeans is a trend that I have ignored and will continue to ignore until probably forever. LA LA LA JINGLE BELLS I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY BOOT-CUTS, SKINNY JEANS, JINGLE ALL THE WAY.It's not because I don't have skinny legs. All things considered, I DO have skinny legs. Well, I mean, relatively speaking.Note: despite that my legs have like, ZERO flab below the thigh, my… -
2009 Gift Guide: Stuff I Love #1
15 Nov 2009 | 10:14 pmMaybe you really don't care what sort of material possessions I own and love. I would not blame you. But.As I suggested below in my Gift Guide For Guys, I take gift-buying VERY seriously. (More on this in future issues.)So I thought I would create a few choice posts about stuff I love, would never want to live without, in a gift-guide-y like way, in case you can use this info to shop for someone this holiday season.(And if you think these are stupid entries, YOU try writing something every day.) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *#1 Thing I Own And Love: Any (And All) Of The Harry Potter Books On…
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Sarcomical
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No Rest for the Bleary
19 Nov 2009 | 5:16 amI have become quite possibly the world's (or at least the county's) most heinously ill-adjusted sleeper. Honestly, I thought it was bad enough when 2 or 3 a.m. became the standard, but lately it's become increasingly common for me to go to sleep around the time the annoyingly chipper local sunrise newscast begins. I then sleep about 4 or 5 hours, and the cycle begins again. Maybe it's partly exacerbated by the fact that Mr. S. is frequently out of town, and that I don't yet have any children to weaken my will in the daylight hours. This doesn't happen every night, but the occurrence existing… -
washington square fountain, october 2009 [Flickr]
Melissa Glenn posted a photo: view large. -
columnal [Flickr]
Melissa Glenn posted a photo: along the top floor of a building we passed not far from Washington Square... -
A Universal Truth...
9 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pmWe walked by a few pet stores one day strolling around the West Village during our trip in October, and if one thing is true everywhere (no matter how much you detest them being in the place), it is this: walking past a puppy nose pressed against a window without stopping is nearly impossible. This fellow didn't look like he was in an especially sunny mood when we passed him, but as I turned around to snap a photo of the street scene behind us, I caught a moment that made me smile. -
All Hallows Rarity at the SarcomiHaus
5 Nov 2009 | 1:11 amWe typically don't pay a lot of attention to Halloween here in the SarcomiHaus. Sure, it's nice to see the neighborhood children dressed up when they come knocking on the door, but as a standard Mr. S. and I barely otherwise acknowledge the holiday. For some reason, this year I had an impulse to stop into the Halloween superstore driving by it a few days prior. I was thinking it might be fun to get Mr. S. a wig or mask since he would be walking around with his brother and two of our nieces to trick-or-treat. Well, what began as a quick errand resulted in me wandering aisles of smelly plastic…
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Indexed
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Tiny(ish) dancers.
20 Nov 2009 | 8:32 am -
Inflammatory!
19 Nov 2009 | 7:52 am -
And so on.
18 Nov 2009 | 8:28 am -
Frankenstein & his monster.
17 Nov 2009 | 7:50 am -
Everyone is just an email away.
16 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am
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xkcd.com
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Prudence
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm -
Academia vs. Business
17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm -
Sagan-Man
15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm -
iPhone or Droid
12 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
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Sparks and Butterflies
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Thursday
20 Nov 2009 | 11:09 amI’m going to try to explain what happened in small doses, because I am short on time, and because I’m short on spirit. For those who might not read regularly, Joseph has mental and emotional/behavioral issues, as well as specific learning disabilities. As a result, he is on medication to help regulate his emotional control (a very mild form, as we recognized the need, but needed to balance it with our genuine concern for long term effect data shortage.) He is on an IEP at school which includes special education, regular class, and counseling. He has outside mental health… -
It’s not pretty around here
18 Nov 2009 | 1:48 pmI’m working on the entry about our son’s saga. Because it entails 5 days worth of hell, it’s going to take me a bit. But I need to get it out, and I also want it to refer to – before I forget certain details. I hesitated in posting anything at all. But Joseph’s issues are no stranger here. And frankly, this is my story. Our stories are completely intertwined at his age, and this is my place to journal what’s going on. To further the nightmare, I started creeping back into my online world to discover that a person I consider to be a friend had a… -
Living Nightmares
15 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pmI’m stuck in a living nightmare with one of my children. I’m not able to process it completely yet here. One – it’s not over yet, and I’m hoping to have a conclusion to the story tomorrow. Two – I’m in a limbo of thought and action… I can’t seem to accomplish anything. It’s sort of like all my thoughts are reserved for this situation. I’m not trying to be mysterious. It’s just a really long story, and I’ll need to tell it in a manner that goes down the timetable of what has happened. Here’s the… -
A Reader question
12 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pmPrior to bumming out on Nablopomo, I asked if any readers had any questions I could answer here. Only one of you answered. Headless Mom asks: I’d be curious to know what denomination church you attend? And why have you chosen it? Is it different than the one you grew up in? What tips would you give to someone/a family searching for a new church home? Hmmm. Complicated. If I were attending a home church, which we’re not for a multitude of reasons, but if we were, our first choice would be Calvary Chapel. Not technically a denomination – but a Bible-believing church. I… -
Quick Reminder
10 Nov 2009 | 10:41 amQuick reminder – CD Giveaway ends tomorrow!
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Skimbaco Lifestyle
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Steal Time for Girlfriends – No Reservations & Glamour Needed!
20 Nov 2009 | 10:57 amI love my work and my family. My life is pretty busy with those two and unfortunately wouldn’t leave much time for girlfriends unless I had mastered “stealing” time for girlfriends. I have learned to “steal” some girlfriend time, whenever possible – even if it isn’t the fancy party, reservation to the finest restaurant or a visit to your favorite spa each time. Don’t get me wrong I love hosting parties and setting up the table with the best of the china and I do own silverware made of silver. Spa weekend with girlfriends sounds amazing too, but… -
Advent Calendars for 2009
17 Nov 2009 | 6:19 amLand of Nod ($8.95) Advent Calendar Advent Calendar is a countdown to Christmas Eve, one day at the time, starting on December 1st. The Advent calendar was first used by German Lutherans in beginning of the 19th century. They would count down the 24 days of Advent until Christmas Eve and it first started as drawing a chalk like on the door each day. The first handmade Advent Calendar products were made in the mid 19th century, and they included an Advent Wreath, Advent Candle and Advent Clock. The first printed version similar what we still see today was printed in the early 20th century. The… -
Holiday Warm-up with Lands’ End
12 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pmHolidays are approaching and Lands’ End offers so many gift ideas for your loved ones (and you). I am a huge fan of Lands’ End, and also about saving on shipping costs and getting all gifts from the same place, so I wanted to collect a few of my favorite finds from Lands’ End. With these, you just can’t go wrong. And to sweeten it even more: shop today and get 25% off and free shipping! Cashmere is timeless – and so are V-necks, one of my all time favorites is the Women’s Classic Cashmere V-neck. Lands’ End totes in different colors and with… -
Meet my Best Friend From High School
11 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amI wrote a while ago how my husband and I have the “remember when..” talk regularly, but in general I live in the moment and don’t spend much time thinking the past. But Facebook has been such a great way to bring back old friends into our lives, and if nothing else, at least take a peek into someone’s life from your past. I would like to introduce one of those people from my life to you. Her name is Pauliina, and she was my best friend in high school. I wanted to go to the most prestigious high school around my home, so I drove 20 miles in a bus everyday to attend it. -
All about UP – Disney Pixar’s UP on Blu-ray & DVD on November 10th!
8 Nov 2009 | 1:59 amIf you get one movie for the Holidays, let it be UP. Even if your kids are too young or too old for Disney movies, get UP. If you don’t have kids, at least rent UP. UP is my favorite Disney Pixar movie, and you know the good company it is in, coming from the Pixar family. UP makes you cry, UP makes you laugh and you will sit on the side of your seat just waiting what will happen next in this amazing story of what happens when you get old to realize that your life has been full of then-when’s (you know – then we’ll travel when kids are older), and you have once last…
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Miguelina
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Rollercoaster...
5 Nov 2009 | 7:45 amSo, to answer the question everyone keeps asking me: How am I doing?Fine. Just fine. Which doesn't mean that life with three kids isn't a roller coaster, and that I'm not barely hanging on some days, while other days I'm just coasting along, enjoying the ride. It's...a lot. The three kids part. Kind of shocking, actually. And then it's not. I'm extremely lucky - my husband is a class-A father and partner, most of my family has come to visit and help out, even though they live in Miami and I'm up here in Boston - and my friends have been nothing short… -
Matthias!
26 Oct 2009 | 10:18 amMeet Matthias. (His name is the Spanish/German version of Matthew. It's pronounced Ma-TEE-us.)He's already 14 days old, but he was only an hour old when I took this picture.He was born at 9:05 AM on October 12. It seems like he's been a part of our family all along. Isn't it funny how that works out?Matthias has been a model baby so far. I'm exhausted, of course, but I can't really blame it on sleep deprivation - at least not yet. He's dozing peacefully in this picture, but he was born with his eyes wide open, and he's always looking around - I think he… -
I'm the Rip Van Winkle of Pregnant Women
6 Oct 2009 | 12:46 pmNo, really. I'm STILL pregnant. I know you've heard this one before, but I've been pregnant since January, and since it is now October, you will forgive me for being a bit repetitive. I'm scheduled for an induction, but that's still a week away. I'm scheduled for a battery of tests, but those won't happen until the weekend. I'm starting to think that my OBGYN is running some sort of evil experiment where she is testing just how much pregnancy a female body can handle. My bones hurt, that's how heavy this belly is. My back spasms and contractions… -
October 1
1 Oct 2009 | 5:34 pmAnd just like that, it's October.The pumpkins are out. The spiders are in (I found one inside the baby's carseat -- eek!). It's chilly. Summer came very late, but fall is coming right on time. Of course, this baby is taking his sweet time. Nothing to report there, other than the usual. I'm exhausted.And because I know how lucky I am, I'll just leave it at that. I'm tired. And waiting. And doing my best to enjoy fall while I can. -
The One Where I Get To Quote Betty Draper
21 Sep 2009 | 1:19 pmHow is it possible that today is September 21? And that the last time I posted was September 9th? If this was a job I'd be FIRED by now. Good thing I'm the boss and I play favorites. Shameless!So, nothing new to report. I'm inching closer to my due date with nothing to show for it other than my HUGE belly, which causes a commotion so great every time we go out in public that my mild-mannered mother has started growling at strangers. Seriously. I can't walk out in public without having every third person (male or female, young or old) try to engage me in conversation. Add…
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Miss Britt
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Because “You Make Perfect Sense” is already taken.
19 Nov 2009 | 6:17 amWe wiped away our tears, signaling the end of our counseling session. “I just want to say,” her voice was the exact same tone and volume that it always is, “that you guys make perfect sense.” My eyes flew from my twiddling thumbs to his face. His lips twitched as he tried to suppress a smile. We held each other’s gaze for a moment, the silent laughter dancing between us across the facing chairs. For an instant, we shared a secret joke. But I’ve never had a secret thought in my life. “We think you say that to everyone,” I blurted. Her… -
Experts Agree: Tuesday is the new Monday when it comes to weekend recaps.
17 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amWhen I fall behind on work stuff, my tendency is to push life aside and throw myself into getting “caught up”. I can’t stand the idea of letting people down or just barely making a deadline or meeting only the minimum requirements. (Unless we’re talking about laundry.) For the first time in forever, I went almost an entire week without working. I went days without responding to an email or writing a single article or following up on a lead for an assignment. I was sick, and my body was unwilling to cooperate with my plans to work from bed on my laptop. I slept… -
Cool and Uncool.
12 Nov 2009 | 6:25 amThings That Are Not Cool: >> Having both of your children sick at the same time. >> Waking up in the middle of the night to find one of your children throwing up in your bed. On your sheets. >> Having to change the sheets in the middle of the night while one of your children sits on the floor next to a glass bowl. >> Waking up the next morning to find that one of your children had also threw up on your comforter. And your pillow. >> Getting one child well enough to go to school, but still having one kid sick enough to have to stay home. >> Getting sick… -
Vanity.
10 Nov 2009 | 5:18 amInspired by Finn, and Vanity Fair. Miss Britt and the Proust Questionnaire: What is your most marked characteristic? My need to be heard, which is really secondary to my need to be understood. What is the quality you most like in a man? Excellence. In anything. I used to believe it was ambition, but the desire to do more is far more common than the characteristics required to actually do something well. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Strength and accountability. The women I admire most are not perfect, but neither are they victims of their imperfection. What do you most… -
Marriage Mad Lib
8 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmMy husband and I did this exercise during last week’s marriage counseling session. I thought it was interesting, and announced mid session that I’d be featuring Marriage Mad Lib on my blog. My marriage counselor laughed and Jared shook his head the way that he always does when I announce that something is going to show up on my blog. I like to think it’s a mix of resignation and amusement. Anyway, first the exercise and then the explanation. Because every good Mad Lib relies, to a certain extent, on the element of surprise. Before you start, picture yourself for a…
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2Dolphins
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Breakfast With Santa 2009
14 Nov 2009 | 7:41 pmToday was our company’s annual "Breakfast with Santa" which should really be called breakfast before Santa.We arrived as they opened at 9:00 A.M. and were still number 71 (think Southwest Airlines boarding passes). After we had our sausage biscuit breakfast and juice, we waited for the arrival of Santa and then began listening for our number group to be called so Liam could go see "The Man."We finally made our way to the stage about 10:30 A.M. where fearless Liam hopped right up on Santa’s knee and told him what precisely he wanted for Christmas. … -
Snoopy vs. Red Baron Redux
12 Nov 2009 | 4:51 amIf you know anything at all about me, you know that I love Snoopy. So you can imagine how jazzed I was to learn about the eye-popping upcoming videogame Snoopy WWI Flying Ace. Autumn always rekindles fond memories of the great old Peanuts animated holiday "specials" we always watched as kids. Snoopy’s heroic World War I fighter waged aerial battle and crossed imaginary wartime France as a downed pilot in Charles Shulz’s "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" in October 1966.Smart Bomb Interactive’s new game, scheduled for release in… -
Halloween ’09 Highlights
2 Nov 2009 | 7:06 pmOur 2nd Halloween with Liam was another eventful holiday! It was the first time either Rob or Liam had ever carved a Jack-o’-Lantern. The results were pretty good for a rookie effort:Here are more photos of the pumpkin carving.For Liam’s costume this year, we pieced together a "Bob the Builder" outfit from borrowed work boots (Thanks Katherine!), a new pair of denim overalls & a flannel shirt found on eBay, and a toy toolbelt & hardhat from Amazon.com. Then for his daycare’s "Barnyard Day" theme day, we just omitted the… -
iTunes Hero
26 Oct 2009 | 4:33 amThinking back on the song "Juke Box Hero," I started wondering if that has any context with today’s music fans. I mean really, a jukebox? In this age of white earbuds, how many Gen Y or Zers have ever even touched a jukebox?I fondly recall plunking coins into a flashy old Wurlitzer, watching the machine magically come to life, clicking and whirring as the Rube Goldberg-esqe mechanism whisked the 45 RPM records off the rack and plopped them gingerly down on the turntable, and finally hearing the slight hiss & crackle as the diamond needle met the black vinyl. -
Pumpkin Patch 2009
17 Oct 2009 | 7:42 pmWe finally had a chance to go to the pumpkin patch today. We had originally planned on going last weekend but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was a great opportunity to get some camera practice in on my favorite subject and Liam loved running around through all the pumpkins.We bought a pumpkin to carve — which will be a first for both Rob and Liam — and we also bought a baby pumpkin.We followed up our trip to the pumpkin patch with a stop off at Barnes and Noble for some complimentary hot chocolates that came with our pumpkin purchase.Here’s a shot of…
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GenerationXpert
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Why I'm thankful for my crappy old job
12 Nov 2009 | 5:13 amA few years ago, I fell into what I would call a clinical depression over things that were going on at my old job. I wasn't diagnosed and they didn't have to lock me up somewhere, but it was pretty bad.Two things happened that really got me over that hump - my despair turned to anger and then strength. And I got a new job - which turned out to be my dream job (and I don't say that lightly, because I've been working since I was 15 years old and up until getting my current job, the job I was most happy at was being a lifeguard when I was 17). The thing I'm really thankful for is that from… -
Who delegates the best?
28 Oct 2009 | 2:43 pmSo I came across this blog that was discussing delegating - and said that the Boomers are the "masters" of delegating. This has not been my experience, but then again, it is possible that my experience is unique. A lot of the Boomers I've worked with have had a hard time letting go of things, because they want the process to be a certain way and - even if you come to desired result.While I'm writing this, the blogger in question has not yet chimed in on how Xers and Millennials delegate, but I'm assuming she will say that we're not as good as the Boomers (which is fine for her to say, because… -
Why I won't be seing Where the Wild Things Are
14 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pmSo I guess you could say I'm more than a little pissed off that they've turned the children's book Where The Wild Things Are into a movie. I posted something to my Facebook page about it this morning - and I got nine comments. I was really surprised that of those comments only my husband and my friend Kathy agreed with me. There were two main reasons my Facebook friends thought making the movie is okay - 1) Maurice Sendak approved of the project and 2) We should embrace other people's interpretations of books through the medium of film.Those are legitimate reasons. However, nobody will ever… -
How being like Hannibal Lector can help your career
29 Sep 2009 | 5:18 amI’ve been thinking a lot about career issues lately. Mostly because someone very close to me is having career issues – and they aren’t really issues you think you’re going to have mid-career.A lot of Gen Xers are struggling with this. It’s the square-peg effect. I thought it was just me for a lot a years, but when I talked to other Gen Xers it seems there’s a whole bunch of us who feel like we don’t fit the mold.What I’ve come up with (through the studies and other writings I’ve found along with my own observations) is that Gen X is simply doing it differently than those who… -
Have Woodstock stories just become background noise?
3 Sep 2009 | 5:39 amChez Pazienza wrote what I would call an amusing attack on the Babyboomers recently that ran in The Huffington Post.I say amusing, because it did make me laugh. It is fun to make fun of the hippies rolling around in the mud at Woodstock. But it also got me thinking about the attacks on Boomers that the anniversary of Woodstock has brought on, why they are really being written, and do Gen Xers really care about that anymore?What I mean is that we have heard about Woodstock, Studio 54, whatever, blah blah blah, for our whole lives. By now, doesn't it go in one ear and out the other? Like when…
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Domestic Psychology
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Evan brought me a “flower”
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pm -
swim
20 Nov 2009 | 5:47 am -
not so deep thoughts
19 Nov 2009 | 7:16 pmIn the moment of stunned silence that I realized Noah outgrew the clothes that fit him a few days ago, I briefly visualized Noah as a large green Hulk in tiny, tattered clothing. I wonder if the misunderstood Hulk would have been so cranky if he hadn’t been stuck wearing Bruce Banner’s pants. -
no school left behind
16 Nov 2009 | 10:07 amWhen a very opinionated senior wasn’t entertaining me with his tales and ideas that made me grit my teeth (”You don’t need school if you’re going to pour concrete.”), I spent Saturday listening to people discuss the unacceptable graduation statistics in our school system. While we were separated into smaller groups based on each public high school, I suspect that every single group made the claim that someone in our group made. “We have to think outside of the box, because things that work in other schools, won’t work in ours.” The better… -
pensieves
14 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pmToday, an 80-something gentleman talked and I listened. I occasionally spoke, but my words were just connectors that threaded the man’s stories together. He asked me if I knew anyone who could write a program to help him get his opinions on the Internet. I wrote blogger.com inside the front cover of the journal he was filling with notes. I hope that the grandchild, neighbor or friend he asks for help doesn’t discourage him. Not because I agree with his political and educational ideas. I don’t. That didn’t make them any less relevant or in need of archiving. I wish I…
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kerrianne.org
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Snapshots Of A Week
12 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pmBehold: actual words I have written! Also behold: Nanowrimo kicking me in the face! (I have a bit of catching up to do.) Iggy is rather indifferent, word count be what it may. Tuesday night was a much needed girls night out with Ashley! wherein we relaxed with pedicures and ate a popcorn and Slurpee dinner while watching The Men Who Stare At Goats.* Without posting any spoilers, while I thought Ewan McGregor was pretty great and there were definitely some hilarious lines and scenes, I can’t say I recommend the movie, at least, not to see in the theaters. My one sentence summary, as said… -
A House On Decatur Avenue
8 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pmI’m going to start this post with the exact same (title and) sentence my sister used to start hers. I had one home growing up. A modest house on Decatur Avenue with two and a half bedrooms and one bathroom. The picture above looks quite different from the original brown wood paneled house my mom bought with my dad when she was just twenty. She told me how much they paid for it in 1978. ($28,000.) I choked on my tea. Not because of the price, though that’s equally staggering. I choked because I hadn’t realized my mom has called the same house “home” for 31 years. -
Of Mice And Men(acing) Car Batteries
4 Nov 2009 | 8:39 pmIt’s visual picture-painting time here at kerrianne.org, and kids, do I have a story for you! Everyone gather round the circle with your milk and cookies. On second thought, you better forget the milk and cookies. In fact, you might want to stop (thinking about or actually) eating anything for the remainder of this post. Ready now? OK, then. Back to the story. It was a dark and stormy night the end of a very long work day, not my favorite work day to be honest, and while there were definitely some high notes, it was mostly stressful and filled with a lot of hurry up and wait! moments,… -
This Is Something; This Is Nothing
27 Oct 2009 | 9:05 amMy friend Carrisa (who is having a birthday! today, what what) wrote a post awhile back about things which she does not like, and I was laughing (a lot), and not only because her list included “peppers,” “underwire” and “Ninjas.” It also included “spiders,” to which I said I wanted to meet the person who actually LIKES spiders. I’m sure that person exists, but I want to know if they can also form coherent sentences, or if they tell girls at the bottom of a well in their basement “It puts the lotion on its skin.” (Why hello! -
“It was a rectopactum.” “Retrospective, dummy.” “That’s what I said!”
20 Oct 2009 | 1:30 pmAlternately titled: Updates and News and Writing, Oh My! On Things I Want, A List: Daylight Savings Time to end already, so that I can start seeing actual daylight before 7:30am. To find and again know that place where I’m able to laugh the way I used to laugh: a hearty, happy laugh devoid of cynicism, not stinking of fresh loss. This tree bookshelf. To be able to slice through delusion with my Magic Sword of Truth. To realize it’s not my job to slice through anyone’s delusion with my Magic Sword of Truth (and anyway, I don’t actually have one). Pumpkin-flavored…
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Simply Stork
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little man
17 Nov 2009 | 2:17 pmWe had a celebration last night! Simple and sweet. Happy birthday to the "little man"~mom~ -
The changing seasons
4 Nov 2009 | 6:08 amI am so enthralled by the changing of the seasons. I believe change is always good. I am trying to live "in the moment." To be present in each moment as it happens is not such a bad idea. I know God has me right where he wants me, even if it is just changing a dirty diaper or schlepping the kids across town.I pass these trees on the way to the home school center. They always give quite a show during the fall season. One rainy day-I brought my camera. I stood there, trying to live "in the moment." The wind took my breath away...and that is when I noticed it. The little yellow leaf.A yellow… -
Pumpkins...
30 Oct 2009 | 5:54 pmHappy Halloween!~simply~ -
still crafting...
27 Oct 2009 | 8:02 amAlthough I am living more "simply" these days, I have still managed to make some crafts along the way. This little doily was a birthday gift for a friend of mine from the home school center. It was given a few weeks ago. I realized I had taken some photos of it when I recently downloaded my camera- thank goodness for procrastination {{whew}} I love it when I get a little un-expected blessing like a photo of a project I thought I lost during the recent computer crash.I will be posting when I can-please hang in there while I work through some things :o)blessings to you today~~simply~ -
live simply...
26 Oct 2009 | 9:57 am(click on photo for a larger image)I would like to thank you all for your warm wishes and e-mails during this difficult time for me. We recently had a computer crash that deleted all my files and photos (arg!) I had been getting the important photos onto discs so I was covered there but it is very sad to know how many were lost.I have been just taking this time to 'live simply.' It is quite strange to be 'unplugged' for a while. I will be posting when the time seems right-not sure what that means exactly. I'm sure I will work my way back to daily but for now it will just be as the mood hits…
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i am bossy
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Who Has More Fun Than A Brookstone Catalogue Hand Model?
20 Nov 2009 | 8:04 amNow with special Brookstone catalogue bonus shot: -
Bossy’s Favorite Things
20 Nov 2009 | 6:55 amParallel parking. Not only can Bossy get her car into impossibly small parking spaces, she does it utilizing only one reverse and one forward adjustment. Oh yeah, Bossy rocks the parking space, always has and always will. As her grandfather Walt used to say, “Just like a body in a coffin.” bossy’s car in red. Stay tuned for a tutorial. -
Yet Another Little Known Fact
20 Nov 2009 | 6:45 amBossy grew up in a neighborhood with many cobblestone streets. As a matter of fact, when Bossy was a young girl in her parent’s car, sleeping on the way home from a far-flung destination, the cobblestones under the tires would wake Bossy up. And the funny thing, Bossy had the very particular sounds of those cobblestones memorized — the extra bumpy part, the just-fixed smooth part, the part with many depressions… … Even with eyes closed Bossy always knew exactly which part of which street she was on, because those cobblestones always meant home. -
Der Spellcheck, Since When Is Ho Officially A Word?
19 Nov 2009 | 5:12 amBossy thought she had nothing more to say about common misspellings, but ever so unfortunately it’s a slow week at Camp Bossy and there is more. The other day Bossy was trying to type the word who and instead typed ho which is apparently just fine with Spellcheck, even though every single time Bossy types her own website name, iambossy, spellcheck is all Do you mean embassy? And one more thing. Der Onelook Dictionary.com, how come no matter which word Bossy types into your provided field, you say it is a surname? Finally, Bossy would like to announce the winner of her latest Match Game… -
Yet Another Little Known Fact
19 Nov 2009 | 5:12 amYesterday while at Ikea with Bossy’s friend Martha, Bossy was taking stealth photographs of stuff like a stack of their votive candles which have now resorted back to poopy-butt manufacturing practices — when suddenly Bossy was confronted by an intimidating employee and told to empty her camera of all photos or else, for security purposes. Bossy is already decades into this dance with Ikea, as Bossy used to be an interior designer who often wished to capture different, appealing, product shots for her clients than those made available in Ikea’s thin-paged directory of a…
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Married And Happy
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My Wife Has No Desire For Sex. Help!
9 Nov 2009 | 6:38 pmHusband, what about your sex-life (or, as some guys say, "lack of sex life")?Does your wife seemingly have little to no desire for sex? Consider this man's note:"Help! For several years now, my wife has had virtually no desire for sex. At the beginning, things were great in the sex department but now, any sex we have is like she's doing me a favor. And honestly, I've just about reached the point where I'm done with her. If she'd just be more sexual, I'd be happy with her because outside of sex, she's a great woman. But, I'm just not the kind of guy who can go without sex for weeks or months… -
Your Wife Has No Desire For Sex? You Better Read This
5 Nov 2009 | 7:59 amRecently, a man asked me the following question:"Calle, can you tell me what's going on? My wife and I have been married for 15 years and after the first year, the sex started becoming less and less frequent. My wife simply wasn't in the mood for it...she didn't feel like having sex...she had a "headache"...she was "tired" or whatever.Now, if we make love once a month it's a miracle and even then, she's clearly and obviously just "giving it" to me so I'll shut up and go away. It doesn't seem to matter what I say or do, my wife just doesn't seem to have any interest in sex. And, that's how… -
Bob's Wife Cheated On Him…And What YOU Need To Learn From Bob!
31 Oct 2009 | 8:33 amFellow husband, are you falling short in satisfying and fulfilling your wife? I'm wondering this because I see the same "pattern" emerge again and again when a wife cheats on her husband.As someone who does extensive research into marriage relationships, I frequently get to interact with men whose wife has cheated on them. And, what's interesting is that these men "thought" they knew their wife...they thought they knew what she wanted...and what she liked and didn't like...and who she really was. But, when these men contrasted what they "knew" with what their wife and her lover actually DID,… -
Would Fixing This Mistake Turn On Your Wife Sexually?
15 Oct 2009 | 1:26 pmThere's a serious mistake that some men make in the way they think about their wife and their marriage and this error causes them to lose out on a LOT of intimacy that they'd otherwise get to enjoy. Even worse, it eventually drives their woman to either leave the marriage or to seek out a more satisfying partner on the side.We have a word for this mistake; it's called entitlement and here's just one example of how the line of thought behind this mistake goes..."I am the husband and my job is to "work" and provide for my family. I take responsibility for our financial welfare and all money… -
What Is Love? Happily Married People Say It Is...
13 Oct 2009 | 10:00 amWhat is love?Well, unhappily married people would say it's that "magic" feeling that "just happens" between two people...it's not something you can consciously create...it's that "spark" that's either there or it isn't.And, with a definition like that, you know WHY these people are unhappily married.Love is the thing that people want more than anything else in life...and unhappily married people have defined it as something that's completely outside of their control.They've defined it as a WHIM that can come AND go...it's something that's unbelievably exciting when it's there and intolerable…
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A Wayward Journey
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Home Again
19 Nov 2009 | 7:41 pmGood God Almighty! How is it that 82 km through the Andes can be easy, but then the final 9 km up to Pimampiro about killed me? Davy was a determined machine today. In order to protect his toes, I suggested staying the night in San Gabriel - halfway to Pimampiro. “Let’s just go, Mom!” he urged. “I want to get there!” We raced along the road - up hills and down, round curves and on straights. Davy was pumping. In San Gabriel we took our first break of the day (after 40 km when we normally take a break every 10 or 15 km). “C´mon Mom!” We… -
Hanging out (Tulcan, Ecuador)
18 Nov 2009 | 8:15 amRain - it’s a double edged sword. On the one hand, Ecuador desperately needs it. Farmers haven’t been able to plant their crops that should have been planted two months ago. The entire country is dealing with power outages of eight hours per day due to dangerously low reservoirs. Ecuador is thrilled with this water from heaven. For us, on the other hand, this rain is the pits. It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s miserable. We’re at 10,000 feet in the Andes, and riding in cold rain up here is not a pleasant experience. To make matters worse, I… -
One day difference (Tulcan, Ecuador)
17 Nov 2009 | 7:50 pmWhat a difference a day makes! Yesterday both Davy and I collapsed into our hotel room after a mere 22 km - exhausted. “It’ll be better tomorrow,” Davy told me. “Remember how tired we all were when we left Manizales after a month off the bikes? That first day we were struggling like crazy - but the next day we were fine even though the hills were harder.” I doubted his memory and doubted a day would make much of a difference. How wrong I was. This morning we packed up and set off for “the climb”. Eight km of steep uphill - or so said many,… -
Davy’s Journal November 17
17 Nov 2009 | 5:03 pmWe woke up. We ate. We rode. We got to Ipiales. We tried to send Dad an email, but the power went out. We made it to the border. We waited for about an hour to get through because the system was down. We rode some more. My stomach started to hurt. My toe started to hurt. We stopped so I could take a picture of a river. We made it to Tulcan. My stomach was better, but my toe still hurt. Mom got a hotel room. Mom carried my bike up to the room. Mom carried her bike up to the room. Mom carried her trailer up to the room. Mom took a shower. I took a shower. We went… -
Update!
17 Nov 2009 | 12:57 pmJust wanted to put something up to let you know that Davy and I are now back in Ecuador - with our bikes! We crossed the border a few hours ago and are staying in the border town of Tulcan for the night. It’s been a tough ride to get here - only 52 km but we climbed over 5000 vertical feet. After 3.5 weeks off the bikes, that was a killer! Davy’s toes are (mostly) doing OK. He tells me they start to hurt after about 3 hours on the bike, so I think we’ll have to stay a while longer in Pimampiro - if we can get there. We are only about 75 km away, but will take two…
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Well Read Hostess
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Everybody Wants To See My O Face
20 Nov 2009 | 4:47 pmWord on the streets I know it blows your mind how cutting edge and on top of it I am is that Oprah is calling it quits. She's giving up her long and ohmylord so prosperous daytime television career. Speculation is rampant about who could replace her. Which is really kind of absurd because, what? Is the show still going to be called… -
Psgetti
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 amMy parents grew up in California. They moved to the East Coast in 1968, and apart from a yearly visit back to California to see the grandparents, we have been without extended family close by ever since.My parents found, through playgroups and neighbors and library visits and preschool, their own kind of local family. The four of us who comprised my nuclear family and two other families, whose own biological families lived far away as well, formed a new kind of family. The seven kids in this family are stair-stepped in age; right now we're 43,42,41,40,39,38, and… -
Why I Live Where I Live
18 Nov 2009 | 11:11 am… -
I Found Jimmy Hoffa
17 Nov 2009 | 6:42 amI also found the ark of the covenant, Blackbeard's treasure, Amelia Earhart's plane, and a mortgage payment.All in my couch.I pulled the cushions off the couch last night because they had become so totally filthy - which is what happens when you completely abandon all hope of training… -
If You Think About It, It's Sort of Insulting to Talk Show Hosts
15 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm
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David J. Hinson's Logorrhea
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Child’s Play
22 Nov 2009 | 3:26 amYesterday I witnessed a fight and a hockey game broke out (rimshot). No – what really happened was that I got to see how ugly we as parents can become when we take youth sports entirely too seriously. Prior to the game my son was to play at a rink in Tampa, FL, a couple of kids got into a fight on the ice. Actually, three kids got into the same fight after some “chippy” play that was allowed to continue with no penalty for a good two periods or so of play. Before it was all over, several kids were thrown out of the game, as well as a few coaches. Ugly enough, to be sure. -
You’d think with all my video game experience that I’d be more prepared for this
19 Nov 2009 | 4:21 amWell. I finally got “bit” by the current Apple mania for ferreting out private API calls in App Store iPhone Applications. You’d think with all my video game experience that I’d be more prepared for this (props to Toy Story 2). Anywho, these are the two lines of code that got my submission smacked out of the park: [[UIApplication sharedApplication] terminate]; and [NSHost currentHost]; Doesn’t look like much, does it? Still, verboten all the same. In the case of the terminate function call, all I’m trying to do gracefully end the application in the event… -
Living By Your Wits
17 Nov 2009 | 11:01 amAs someone who ** tries ** to live by my wits (i.e., an entrepreneur), one of the challenges I face as a business person is to convey the sense of urgency I feel in collecting monies owed me. In good times, the gauche subject of “when do I get paid” is gingerly treated. In lean times, sometimes it’s hard not to scream it from the rooftops. For example, in a big company you’re used to the checks getting to your desk on payday before lunch time, so that you can make your deposit during lunch and hope the line at the bank is not too long so that you might be able to score… -
And That’s All I’m Gonna Say About That…
17 Nov 2009 | 4:21 amIf you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you don’t know I attended the NASA Tweetup for the launch of Atlantis STS-129. If you DO happen to follow me, then you’re sick of hearing about it. So this is my wrap up of the last two days, with just a few parting comments. Having been to a launch before, and having witnessed several from my home in Orlando, I was still taken by surprise at the emotion that swept over me at liftoff. The sound of dozens of car alarms going off after liftoff was funny. It was great seeing folks from where I grew up in Tennessee covering the… -
In Flanders Fields
11 Nov 2009 | 2:39 amIn Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
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Simple Marriage
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Hang Out With Us In The Simple Marriage Community
19 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amHave you checked out the Simple Marriage Community? In fact, the community has undergone a bit of a make over recently. Now there are more topical discussion areas as well as deeper discussions. Check out the conversations and feel free to start any of your own. The Simple Marriage Community is just that, a community. A comfortable place to hang out with others in the same or similar boats and talk about what ever you’d like. There are now areas for conversations on money, sex, parenting, spirituality, problems, infidelity and anything else you’d like to add. If you join in now,… -
Simple Family: An Important Question
18 Nov 2009 | 9:08 amAre your children able to look at your marriage as more of a “how-to” manual or a “how-not-to” manual? ____ You might also be interested in my post at Zen Family Habits: Make your marriage a priority and your kids will benefit. Photo courtesy Moomettesgram Want more? A Simple Marriage – Corey’s book written to assist you in amping up your marriage. Check out the Simple Marriage Community. Get the Steps to a Simple Marriage EBook here. Related posts:Simple Family: The Lost Art Of PlaySimple Family: Giving Kids Their Space -
The Pitfalls Of We Speak
16 Nov 2009 | 9:15 amIn the 1940s a relatively unknown psychiatrist named Helmuth Kaiser wrote about a figure skating performance by identical twins he witnessed as a young boy. It wasn’t the impeccably choreographed performance that caught his attention, it was the mesmerized crowd’s reaction. He also noted that synchronized swimming teams, high-kick chorus lines, and precision military teams produced this same effect. Kaiser intuited that there was something about the unison involved in these performances that stirred the crowds. More recently, the rapid spread of the Irish dancing phenomenon… -
A Private Affair Game Winner
15 Nov 2009 | 2:10 pmApparently, there are many couples interested in playing a game designed to help couples increase the depth of their connection. There were 172 entries for the giveaway of A Private Affair: The Erotic Game of Secrets, Plans and Promises for Couples. If you’re wondering how the winner was chosen, I’ll explain. Every entry (via comment, email, and Tweet) was placed in a spreadsheet. I then used Random.org to generate a random number between 1 and 172. After all this – the winner is … Ken! No worries that there is no last name, we’re simply sending the game to every… -
How Much Do I Love Others?
12 Nov 2009 | 8:08 amSo I’ve been thinking a lot about life lately, specifically my relationships with those around me. I consider myself an extrovert who enjoys being social and interacting with others, but lately I’ve been examining the depth of my relationship with others. How much do I love others? It’s easy to say I love others, but deep down, if I’m honest with myself, do I really? I’ve tried to be more aware of my conversations with people. I’ve listened more – talked less. I’m trying to soak in what’s going on around me and I’ve discovered that…
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Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online
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17 Resources to Awaken Your Right Brain
16 Nov 2009 | 1:23 amFor all those looking to be more right brained, Frederic Terral over at “Right Brain Terrain” has a great manifesto which begins as follows: “Put down the remote, get off the couch, and do something by and for your right brain terrain! ‘But I can’t draw, write, or play an instrument!’ You shout hopelessly. Rubbish! You might not be a Picasso or Mozart, but you don’t have to be. Just create to create. Create to remind yourself you’re still alive. Make stuff to inspire others to make stuff too. Create to learn a bit more about yourself . . . for… -
Energy Management: Getting More Done
13 Nov 2009 | 1:18 amAre you looking for ways to get more done? Time is the resource we most often turn to in order to meet the demands of life. For example, if your workload increases, you put in more hours. However, there comes a point at which you can’t put in more hours because time is a finite resource. The good news is that there’s a different resource you can turn to, and that resource is energy. Energy can be systematically expanded, and it can be regularly renewed. Tony Shwartz and Jim Loehr explain in their book The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High… -
27 Jubilant Happiness Books
9 Nov 2009 | 3:02 amAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), the year 2020 will see depression become second only to heart disease in terms of the global burden of illness. Fortunately, there are self-development experts, Buddhist monks, and psychologists who are writing lots of books on how we can be happier. So hopefully we’ll find a way to escape the WHO’s dire predictions. Here’s a list of 27 jubilant happiness books. I’ve talked about some of these books about happiness in previous posts. I hope you enjoy the list! The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living The book… -
Have Fun at Work and Increase the Bottom Line
4 Nov 2009 | 11:59 pm“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” -Calvin Trillin Traditional wisdom states the following: “Work is not supposed to be fun. That’s why it’s called work.” A corollary of this principle states that if you see someone having fun at work, that person is slacking off. However, research shows that this dismal view of work is completely wrong. In “The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up”, bestselling author Adrian Gostick and humorist Scott… -
Finding Your Life’s Passion: Conduct Experiments
1 Nov 2009 | 9:51 pm“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” -James A. Michener Seventy percent of white collar workers are unhappy with their jobs, but they continue to spend more and more time in the office. This startling pronouncement is made by…
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The Barris Beat
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Making the point
18 Nov 2009 | 1:17 pmThere’s a standard post-game joke that circulates in most recreational hockey or oldtimers’ dressing rooms. Especially if the butt of the joke has made a ridiculously bad pass, missed an obvious goal or (in the case of a goalie) blown an easy save during the game. It doesn’t take long – within minutes of the end of the scrimmage – and it usually follows a short period of silence as players catch their breaths on the dressing room benches. Then, it comes with the predictability of a sunrise.“So what happened?” the jokester begins. “Did you trip on your toe picks?”In case you… -
The meaning of silence
10 Nov 2009 | 7:49 pmRecently, I spoke to a midday session of the International Writers’ Festival in Ottawa. I projected images of veterans I have known onto a movie screen. Then, I told stories about the men’s and women’s nearly total reluctance to speak about their wartime experiences. It’s the subject of my latest book, “Breaking the Silence.” And I finished my talk this way:“I’ve spent many of the past 30 years writing the stories of battle,” I said. “In this latest work, I’ve attempted to write about the battle to get the stories.”In my talk, I offered several key illustrations of the… -
The original "Boo"
10 Nov 2009 | 7:45 pmThe world ended that night. A high school girl in a major eastern city was hysterical; she claimed she and her girlfriends cried and held each other preparing to die. Rural residents on mid-western farms prayed harder than they ever had before. And thousands more rushed headlong into the streets of New York City that night. They hallucinated that aliens from outer space were invading their city, their country, their planet. They’d heard a radio broadcast – 71 years ago tomorrow night – and thought it was really the end of life on Earth.“Ladies and gentlemen,” they heard the… -
The male heir
4 Oct 2009 | 9:49 amIt was a Tuesday – Sept. 15 – and we were rushing in a number of directions, as usual. I had just finished delivering a broadcast history lecture and was also about to drive to a photo session out of town. My wife had just received word from her magazine publisher that she would have to cover a story in the Arctic; she’d have to rush home, pack for a 12-day trip, and immediately catch an airplane bound for Greenland. All of our plans, however, moved down the priority list, when our son-in-law phoned with an urgent message.“You’re grandparents again,” he said, “of a baby boy.”… -
A community mission
4 Oct 2009 | 9:44 amAbout 2 o’clock that Saturday afternoon, somebody moved across the floor at an old automobile showroom on the south side of town. She was holding up a long-sleeved, over-sized shirt. For a second she showed off how clean and new it looked to the rest of us. But then she needed our help.“Does anybody know what this is?” she asked. “Is it a men’s shirt or what?”“Well, what side are the buttons on?” someone else asked, knowing that men’s shirts button from right-to-left, vice versa for women’s tops. But that didn’t solve the mystery of what it was. Then, a voice piped up…
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Handy Man Fix Home Repair
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Caulking a Bathtub in 5 Easy Steps
22 Nov 2009 | 9:35 amWater can penetrate into your bathroom walls, causing expensive damage unless you take precautions to keep your bathtub properly caulked at all times. Here are the steps involved in the process: 1 - Examine the entire joint between the wall and the bathtub. Mold, mildew, caulk and soap scum should all be cleaned away from the bathtub edge. You must take care not to scratch the tub's surface. Remove moisture from the seams using denatured alcohol, making sure not to use rubbing alcohol. 2 - Use a caulk product that is specifically approved for your bathroom surfaces. There are a number of… -
Review of The Complete Guide to Ceramic and Stone Tile
21 Nov 2009 | 9:29 pmBlack and Decker's The Complete Guide to Ceramic and Stone Tile is a must read for anyone that is considering renovating their home. This is a great guide that makes it very simple to understand how to do even complex tasks and the project section alone makes it worth the cover price. This book is aimed at beginners but professionals should be able to learn a thing or two along the way. The book opens with basics of ceramic and stone tile that walks the reader through the process of picking the right tile for their home, the kinds of tools they will need to complete various projects and how… -
Bringing a Container Garden Inside
21 Nov 2009 | 9:25 amIf you have a container garden that you’ve been carefully tending all summer long, it’s time to start thinking about what you plan to do with it for the rest of the year. Depending on the types of plants you have, you may be able to enjoy them all year round, simply by bringing your container garden inside. It’s easier than it sounds and with the right materials, you’ll be able to enjoy your garden, even if it’s thirty below. The first step is to clear out a space in your home where you can place your plants. If you have several, you may want to consider using nesting tables, or a… -
4 Steps to Remove a Broken Light bulb
20 Nov 2009 | 9:22 pmIf you have a light bulb that has become broken in its holder, the process of removing it can be relatively tricky. When the light bulb breaks, all that is usually left is the glass shards and the light bulb holder, which is screwed into a lighting fixture. Light bulb glass is very thin and sharp, meaning that it can cause a lot of damage to your hands relatively easily. There is a relatively easy way to address this problem, and it happens to significantly lessen the risk of harming yourself in the process as well. Here is the process: First and foremost, you need to turn the lamp off. It is… -
5 Ways to Keep Stucco Looking Fresh
20 Nov 2009 | 9:15 amWhen it comes to exteriors for your home, stucco is one of the best to have. It's insulating, easy to take care of and compared to other materials, very cost effective. However, after a few months in some areas or years, it can tend to look a bit dingy. Here are some tips to help keep your stucco looking fresh for many years to come. 1. Keep it clean. Stucco's bumpy nature means that it's going to collect dirt and not uniformly. If you live in an area where there is a lot of wind, it can be even worse. It's a good idea to powerwash your stucco at least once a year, and more often if…
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Life on a Southern Farm
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Emily the Bunny's new Outfit
21 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pmI just had to show off Emily's(she just looks like an Emily to me) new outfit.Emily also has a princess picture added to her night gown.(She also looks like a princess to me) She also had new pink socks and a hair bow. Or rather an ear bow.She is all ready for Christmas so she can go home with that special little girl. Who also looks like a princess!Have a great day! -
Farm Friday Photos
20 Nov 2009 | 3:24 amClose up with JackThe Light Brahma Rooster crowingA part from the original waterwheel. We think the old waterwheel was here around 1870.A fall evening at the pondThe guineas and the little barn banties.Jill investigates the tree stump that FarmMan had to cut. The old oak tree was huge and dead. It right beside the fence. We hope to use part of it to saw for lumber on the sawmill and the other -
Farm Scenes and Sounds Video
18 Nov 2009 | 8:48 amScenes around the farm this weekFarmMan raising the barn loft doorYes, Miracle Eve still loves that bottle!Guineas and chickens fussing over the feedLight Brahma hen in the nest box as the rooster looks onThe barnyard at supper timeThe ducks and geese trying to eat the catfish food before the fish eat itChickens laying eggs, Jack hee hawing, Jill barking at Jack, Miracle Eve begging for a bottle( -
Links for 2007-11-26 [del.icio.us]
The Canine Kids 1st tag
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Lyved
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6 Healthy Foods to Feed Your Hungry Dreams
18 Nov 2009 | 8:03 amYou’ve got dreams and goals that are restless. They’re always hungry. They wake you up in the middle of the night looking for a snack and they demand big meals during the day. They may always seem like they’re saying; “me, me, me” but they’re not selfish. These dreams just want you to help them grow so that in return they can help you. You’re the caregiver of your dreams so it’s up to you to feed them healthy food and meals. However, perhaps you feel like you aren’t providing that well enough. So to help you, here are six healthy foods to feed your hungry dreams. 1. A story… -
The pioneering spirit in action
13 Nov 2009 | 6:59 amLee decided to pack up a horse drawn covered wagon and travel around America. Why? “Just because” he had the urge to do it. Some might call him stupid, many will call him crazy, but I call him inspiring. He took a leap of faith and he’s fulfilling a dream. Please watch the video below. To learn more about Lee and his journey, please be sure to visit LeeTheHorseLogger.com. Video courtesy of KXLY. -
Improve Decisions by Structuring the Process
9 Nov 2009 | 7:02 amThis is a guest post. Life requires that we make decisions, often and continuously. Some decisions are small with limited impact, like “where should I park?”; but some are very large and potentially life changing, like “should I go back to college?” We make decisions in our personal lives, within our families, and related to our employment to name just three of the many channels. There came a time in my life that I realized that a structured process for decision making would improve the outcomes, potentially worth much for the larger decisions. Here are the steps in that… -
Treat Time as a Resource – Don’t Waste It Feeling Sorry for Yourself!
30 Oct 2009 | 8:05 amThis is a guest post. We’ll never have enough time. Paradoxically, understanding that concept allows us the potential to wisely utilize the time we have! Using time to overcome life’s challenges is a topic I cover extensively in my book, THE POWER OF ADVERSITY: Tough Times Can Make You Stronger, Wiser, and Better. I know from personal experience that the advice I share with you here is incredibly effective. Transforming time from an adversary into an ally has helped me develop the positive mindset to be able to dust myself off from early business failures and build my company,… -
Unachieved Goals in the 11th Hour
26 Oct 2009 | 11:03 amYou set a deadline and you’ve worked your ass off day in and day out. You’ve remained positive and you’ve jumped over and busted through any obstacles that stood in your way, but still, time is not on your side and it looks like you aren’t going to achieve your goal before the timer that you created is up. This feeling is extremely frustrating and causes many people to fail. So what can you do when it turns to the 11th hour and it feels like time is up? Create a new deadline Give yourself a fresh start and created a new deadline. It’s not glamorous to keep pushing and overcoming…
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Shelby Shares
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Seeking Treadmill Recommendations
22 Nov 2009 | 6:24 amThe Lord provides people! I might be homebound taking care of hubby, but I'm going to be able to get a treadmill so I can continue to exercise! So spill -- if you have or have had a treadmill at home, what brand/model and what do you like/not like about it? Thanks muchies! -
A Servant's Heart
22 Nov 2009 | 5:14 amIn one of my posts a couple of weeks ago, from my study on James, I had posted on wanting a servant's heart. That the very opening verse of James, in which he refers to himself as a servant of God, had stopped me in my tracks. (Unfortunately, that post didn't survive my deleting frenzy a week ago.) I picked up my Bible this morning to get started back in James again and it occurred to me that -
Time To Get Intentional
22 Nov 2009 | 5:11 amOne of the team pastors at LifeChurch.tv preached a message last night that has really rocked me. Chris Beall preached on being an intentional Christian, on learning to be a carbon copy of Christ in our private as well as our public lives. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 1 John 2:6 NLT Where does one start with this? Well, for me, I'm going to have to get -
Cool vs Not So Much
21 Nov 2009 | 7:00 pmNot So Much: I've gained 7 lbs due to being completely unable to exercise (taking care of hubby so much) and poor eating while on the run Cool: The Lord has demonstrated time and again how He cares for us this last month. Not So Much: This lack of exercise and poor nutrition puts me in the position of being unlikely to do a half marathon in February as planned. Cool: I know how to take it -
Starting Over Saturday (Long)
21 Nov 2009 | 12:05 pmMuch to say and catch you guys up on. Happy stuff first? Yeah! Back almost 2 years ago when our marriage was hanging at the precipice, hubby and I agreed that if we made it all the way back, I'd get a new ring. The old one -- well, if you've been through infidelity of any sort you can get that the old one kinda lost its luster. We've been good for a while, no ring. I thought he'd forgotten
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michael-moniz.com
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Carrots, Eggs & Coffee
20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amMy Friend Bishop sent me this great story this week and I wanted to share it with all of you: A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. -
Mario Brothers and Relationships
18 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amHow can I possibly link these two topics? Just watch me! This past weekend Justin and I purchased Mario Brothers for Wii. We figured it would be a fun game we could play together. It would be a a lot better than just watching TV. So we grabbed the game and a book to help us along the way and we were all set. Justin and I do not always play games together well. Justin has a huge need to win and when he starts to lose, the pressure starts to get to him. I play any game to win but I am more excited about the challenge and understand that you can only do your best. While we play Mario Brothers,… -
Movemeber: My Mo so far…
16 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amSo what is Movemeber? The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia. The guys behind it joked about 80s fashion and decided it was time to bring the mustache back. In order to justify their Mos (Australian slang for mustache), they used their new looks to raise money for prostate cancer research… never dreaming that facial hair would ultimately lead to a global movement that would get men talking about a taboo subject – their health. A Mo Bro starts Movember – the month formerly known as November – clean shaven, and grows a mustache all month… -
10 Things to Stop Saying
13 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amA lot of time I catch myself saying the same things to myself over and over again. You know what I am talking about? There are tons of things we tell ourselves which do not need to be said: Because they are not true Because they are negative or hurtful Because they keep us trapped in our current state Because it feeds our fears, self doubts or insecurities Because I SAID SO! What we tell ourselves could be fall in one of these areas or many, but they all have in common the fact that they are not good for us and do not help us move forward or have a positive perspective. I am quite a positive… -
A Lesson from the Waldorf Astoria
10 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amFor my birthday this year, Justin booked me a suite at the Walforf Astoria in Orlando. It is the very first Waldorf to be built outside of NYC. Justin loves new hotels so he was so excited to get to stay there. I enjoy being the first to be in the room and to use everything in sight! When I walked into the hotel, they made sure to learn my name. Even though the room was booked under Justin’s name, they still took the time to learn mine and to refer to me by name. I could go through thousands of things they did that showed great customer service but learning my name was something that…
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Sparkplugging Blog Network
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Branding Friday: Getting a Plan
20 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amI know you’re thinking that 2010 is so far off, but it’s not. With the whirlwind of parties, potlucks and days off, the new year will be here before you know it. That’s why I’m working on my marketing and business plans for next year. I have to confess: I’m a hypocrite. In the past, I have harped on having a marketing plan, but all too often I have let my own slip by and not get updated. For 2010, with all the changes and laser focus I’ve had that you’ve witnessed in my Branding Friday segment, I knew I had to get an updated plan. First, I broke down… -
Easy Christmas Crafts: Printable Pinwheels
20 Nov 2009 | 5:06 amPrint and make these easy printable Christmas pinwheel for kids! All you need to make this craft project is your printer, a pencil or dowel, and a pin. You can make a penguin pinwheel, or a reindeer pinwheel, or even combine them into one pinwheel! Penguin Printable Pinwheel Craft Reindeer Printable Pinwheel Craft Here are more printable pinwheels, along with reindeer coloring pages and penguin coloring pages, too! Or check out all of our Christmas crafts, coloring pages and activities from the Woo! Jr. Network. -
Will Your eBay Sales Dive or THRIVE This Christmas?
19 Nov 2009 | 4:59 pmThis is a guest post by John Baxter Christmas is an exiting time of the year and everyone always seem to be rushing around scooping up gifts for family and loves ones. So, will your eBay listings be part of the Christmas commerce gold rush or will your sales be left dwindling in the dark? When I first started eBay’ing I simply assumed that no one would be buying anything from my eBay stores because there are so many people in the physical high street shops at this time of the year. And ‘Oh Boy’ was I proven wrong. The first Christmas my eBay store was open, was a booming success. Sales… -
Free Whitepaper: Connecting Brands with Bloggers
19 Nov 2009 | 7:04 amEgg recently released a new whitepaper called The Importance of Connecting Brands with Bloggers. If you’re not already working with bloggers to expand your visibility online, I recommend you read it. You know I’m all about bloggers. You know I’m a strong believer in the fact that they can help you find brand evangelists and new customers. But did you know I help my clients through Egg connect with bloggers? We’ve helpd PicClick, the visual online eBay auction site, get the attention of fashionistas. And when Glitch Gear released its new line of Left 4 Dead apparel, we… -
Bloggers and Steak: A Winning Marketing Combination
18 Nov 2009 | 6:43 amWhen I attended Type A Mom Con, I got to connect with Chef’s Requested, a company that produces really good steaks. I’d reached out to them for GiveDaddy, hoping to do a few giveaways with them. Gary Whetstone, the guy in charge of their marketing, was at the conference, which spoke tons about how his company views the importance of bloggers and social media. Score. I got some steaks to review and we are currently doing giveaways of the product. Let that be my disclosure. I get paid in steaks. The products are excellent, and I wish they sold more variety in my area. (Still, Gary…
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Kyle Dylan Conner
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Colbert Demolishes “Sesame Street“‘s...
12 Nov 2009 | 5:01 pmColbert Demolishes “Sesame Street“‘s Conservative Critics (VIDEO) -
via i.imgur.com
5 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pmvia i.imgur.com -
What is up with...
4 Nov 2009 | 1:47 pm -
Drunk Ewoks on Today Show
2 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pmDrunk Ewoks on Today Show -
Finished carving pumpkins
31 Oct 2009 | 1:03 pmFinished carving pumpkins
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Divine Purpose Unleashed - New Articles and News!
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Live Your Life Purpose And Benefit Everyone!
30 Oct 2009 | 12:10 pmI wish you knew how much you matter! Part of the shame I lived with was that I didn’t matter, so it only makes sense that once I recognized my own significance I would want you to recognize yours. My work consists of empowering people through their darkest shame and into their brightest light, which naturally leads to a life of contributing your most powerful gifts. I’m still stepping into my light, and so I can’t really be angry at you for holding back yours. Right? It’s funny when I think about it… I’m asking you to share your gifts; I’m… -
Michelle’s Life Purpose – Conscious Livelihood Thoughts
28 Oct 2009 | 12:01 pmMobile post sent by MichelleVandepas using Utterli. Replies. mp3 Free Subscriber Only Downloads: Free Myths Report: 7 Myths, 8 Lies, and 35 Excuses People Use For Not Living Their Divine Purpose. Download your free Myths Report Here Copyright © 2009 Divine Purpose Unleashed, Live Your Life Purpose. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@divinepurposeunleashed.com so we can take legal action immediately.Plugin… -
Headed to Authorfest!
1 Oct 2009 | 4:13 pmSay Hi if you are at Authorfest! Mobile post sent by MichelleVandepas using Utterli. Replies. Free Subscriber Only Downloads: Free Myths Report: 7 Myths, 8 Lies, and 35 Excuses People Use For Not Living Their Divine Purpose. Download your free Myths Report Here Copyright © 2009 Divine Purpose Unleashed, Live Your Life Purpose. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@divinepurposeunleashed.com so we can take legal action… -
Michelle’s Thoughts from the Road
30 Sep 2009 | 8:23 amMobile post sent by MichelleVandepas using Utterli. Replies. mp3 Free Subscriber Only Downloads: Free Myths Report: 7 Myths, 8 Lies, and 35 Excuses People Use For Not Living Their Divine Purpose. Download your free Myths Report Here EFT Article and Podcast transcript Copyright © 2009 Divine Purpose Unleashed, Live Your Life Purpose. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@divinepurposeunleashed.com so we can… -
Tap Into Your Potential & Unleash Your Contribution
8 Sep 2009 | 11:33 amAre you living below your potential? If you have a sense that there is more to life than you’re currently experiencing, you’re right. If you know that you have a significant contribution to make (even if you don’t know what it is), you’re right. If, somewhere deep inside you know there is something you were put on this planet to do, you’re right. You are here to have a positive impact, even if you don’t know what it is or if you feel it’s beyond your capability. “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” You are…
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THE MBTI BLOG
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Using Assessments for Employee Development: They are The Starting Point not the Destination
13 Nov 2009 | 7:49 pmIt may be a shock to some of you, but I do not believe that assessments are the answer to all situations. I will wait for a moment while you process that earth-shattering reveal.Now, I clearly believe in the value of assessments, especially the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument. However, an assessment is just a piece of paper unless it is properly debriefed by a certified practitioner and then used by the recipient to better understand themselves and others. An assessment is not a crystal ball, nor will it tell you the meaning of life. I was reminded of this fact today when I met… -
"Shhhh....I'm an ISTJ. Don't tell."
5 Nov 2009 | 6:32 pmMyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) practitioners will be the first to tell you that all personality types are created equal. There is no one best or worst personality type. And yet, even the most experienced type practitioners may admit that at times, they wish they had a different personality type. Do we just want what we don't have? Ladies, you will understand this analogy- if you have curly hair, what do you wish you had? Straight hair. If you have straight for, what do you spend hundreds of dollars trying to make your hair do? Be curly.I don't generally think there's a problem with type… -
The Obligatory Halloween-Themed Post- I'm Going as an ENFP This Year!
28 Oct 2009 | 10:46 pmAside from the fact that it's only 2 days until Halloween, and it's necessary for all bloggers to write a Halloween-themed post, I happen toLOVE Halloween. It is by far my favorite holiday.What's not to like? Dressing up as someone/something else? Randomly bugging neighbors you would normally never acknowledge? Getting to peek inside of your neighbors houses? FREE CANDY? The question of whether you will get a trick OR a treat? Wearing a mask so no one knows who you are? The ability to remain in character as long as you want? Making art out of vegetables? Watching "It's the Great Pumpkin,… -
Money, Money, Money, money, MONEY....and Type- a webinar.
19 Oct 2009 | 4:23 pmSorry...every time I talk about money I get "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays in my head. Seriously, though, couldn't we all use a little bit of money advice these days?Well, the latest APT eChapter webinar talks about just that...The 8 Functions of MoneyUsing the Function Attitudes to Understand and Improve Your Money ManagementFacilitated by Ray Linder, MBA, Owner of Goodstewardship and APTi's Vice President of Finance TUESDAY, NOV. 10, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. EDT/ 12:30 PDT PLEASE CHECK DAY for PACIFIC RIM TIME ZONES (www.timeanddate.com) Friday in NZ, AUS, HK The program: Money can wreak… -
Guest Blog Sharing an Activity for the FIRO-B or FIRO- Business instrument
7 Oct 2009 | 7:25 pmReaders have submitted questions over the past few months asking for new activities to help create those wonderful "a ha" moments during training. Specifically, one reader asked for help with the FIRO instrument. Because she is certified to administer the MBTI, she is also qualified to purchase and administer the FIRO-B and new FIRO Business tools.I've asked Sherrie Hayne, a consultant with CPP, to share one of her favorite FIRO activities, and she was kind enough to agree. Sherrie is a MBTI Master Practitioner and is also a MBTI Certification Trainer. She has had extensive experience…
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THE SUMMER HOUSE
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Earn Gift Cards With Swagbucks
14 Nov 2009 | 1:07 pmHere's a fun way to earn gift-cards. I recently joined a site called Swagbucks. To earn points, I use their homepage to do searches that I normally would run on google. They award me Swagbucks for using their search engine. Then I "buy" gift-cards with my Swagbucks. It's that easy. I just ordered a $5 Amazon gift card. Right now they have Amazon Cards, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks and a lot of other choices. Click below for more information or to sign-up. -
A New Twist on Hair Rinse
9 Nov 2009 | 5:09 pmI'm on the lookout for simple products and products that I already own that can serve more than one purpose. And, well, and sometimes I'm just lazy and I don't want to buy so many different hair products.I've recently started rinsing my hair in an apple cider vinegar mix after I wash it. I use a couple teaspoons mixed with water in a small squirt bottle. The vinegar rinse leaves my hair shiny and soft and doesn't fade my color. I love it. It's been about a week since I have use amy conditioner on my hair and my hair feels fantastic.(Nope-not a picture of my hair-I can dream though...) -
The Suitcase Test from "The Simple Dollar"
8 Nov 2009 | 8:56 amHere is a thought provoking post from one of the blogs I read frequently. It's called The Suitcase Test: The Things You Really Need. Trent always has something profound to say about personal finances. Whether I always agree with him or not-his articles always keep me thinking. -
Toms Shoes-Simple and Inspiring
5 Nov 2009 | 5:51 pmToms Shoes is a new company with a simple idea. For every pair of shoes they sell, they will give away a pair of shoes to an underprivileged child. I love this business model! And the shoes are cute too!My oldest son Josh, was the first one to tell me about Tom's shoes. He purchased a pair about a month ago after hearing about them from friends. He loves his Toms and he loves how comfortable they are. If you are looking to do some early Christmas shopping-take a look at Toms shoes. It's a great way to give back and treat yourself or someone you love to a new pair of shoes. -
Maple Syrup
5 Nov 2009 | 5:03 pmWe have added in more maple syrup to our diet. According to what I've read online, Grade B Organic Maple syrup is the healthiest so that's what we use. Here's our favorite ways to eat maple syrup...On pancakes....buttermilk pancakes especially!Drizzle over steel cut oats. Steel cut oats take a little time to cook but they are delicious and nutritious and oh so filling when served with maple syrup and a pat of creamy butter.Use in place of corn syrup in recipes. I just discovered this wonderful recipe for carmel popcorn. Unfortunately I didn't have corn syrup in the house so I…
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Eternal Ramblings of a Confused Mind
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World Toilet Day
18 Nov 2009 | 10:45 pmAnyone who knows me, knows that I am bathroom shy. You might even say I am in potty denial. I just don’t want anyone to know that I actually engage in certain activities, and I think that by denying them, they will ultimately go away. But today is different. I’m coming out of the closet as a person who has and who uses the toilet. Why? Because today is about a good case, it is about awareness. It -
I'm a Star!
9 Nov 2009 | 12:51 am<!--StartFragment--> I love it when it is all about me. I really, really do. And last Thursday was so all about me, it was amazing. It started on Tuesday with a phone call from a casting office, asking if I would be part of a TV commercial shooting in Agra on Thursday. I, being the camera whore that I am, immediately said yes. I had no idea what I would be doing, but really didn’t care. There -
Ready For My Close-Up
12 Oct 2009 | 2:25 amSeptember 21, 2009 It is now 22:00 and I should be going to sleep. I need to go to sleep. Really, I do. I want to be fresh for tomorrow, alive and full of all those things that make me so incredible and easy to like. I was planning on being in bed on my way to sleep already over thirty minutes ago. That was the plan. But who can sleep on a night like tonight? Tomorrow is a huge day. HUGE. It -
My New Roommate
17 Sep 2009 | 5:08 amI have a new roommate. He’s quite cute, very quiet and has a thing for bugs. I don’t mean he likes them, I mean he eats them. He chases them around the wall and before you know it, there he is, chomping away on a yummy moth. My house is surrounded by parks, and in these parks live all sorts of creatures from peacocks to deer to bats to ducks to moths. As my living area opens onto a terrace I -
McBlog
16 Sep 2009 | 4:24 amWhen I a slightly younger man living in the US, there were a few eating places that for me were just not done, like McDonalds and KFC.Yes, I have eaten at McDonalds, but for most of my life, the bulk of that had all taken place before I had reached the age of consent. I was entirely the victim, but this was back in the 70’s when the golden arches were for special occasions, like say a birthday,
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ButYouDontLookSick.com
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Photo Essay: Americans with Disabilities Act: Accessibility for ALL
13 Nov 2009 | 9:46 amIn 1990 the Federal Government passed a law called the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Act essentially “forced” any business that dealt with the public, to provide that public access to be able to purchase their product. The understanding of the law is that once you start sell something to the public is means all the public. Common interpretation calls this as being wheel chair accessible, and that’s the most obvious. But the law also provides for people who have challenges walking, talking, and seeing and so on. In short, if the business expects to make money off the public, than… -
Product Reviews: Wine and Beer Accessories for Those with Weak Hands
12 Nov 2009 | 4:48 pmFor special occasions it's nice to open a bottle of wine, sit back with friends, relax and celebrate. The only problem is when you can't open the wine or spill the wine when you pour it, and then can't seem to balance the wine glasses and your plate. Sounds like a mess! Well our friends at Prodyne.com have found us some party solutions once again. Click to read more ... -
The Blessings of Chronic Illness
12 Nov 2009 | 3:53 pmAt the time of this writing, it is a few weeks before Thanksgiving in the US. Each day, I must fight an overwhelming array of symptoms caused by Sjogren's syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic myofascial pain, hypothyroidism, diabetes, celiac disease, gastroparesis and periodic limb movement disorder. I am learning to cope with new medication that is fraught with unpleasant side effects. I am in the midst of the disability application process and have no income. And yet, I know that I am blessed, without question. How can this be? Click to read more ... -
Christine Miserandino was featured as part of the "Fortune 52" in The Long Island Press
7 Nov 2009 | 8:37 pmThe Fortune 52 weekly column in The Long Island Press written by Associate Publisher, Beverly Fortune, honors local women who lead multiple lives, making significant and unique contributions in their community or workplace: women from all walks of life. The lives and work of these women who inspire by their example are honored in print and online at www.fortune52.com. Every calendar quarter Beverly hosts an extraordinary, invitation-only networking gathering to celebrate the women of Fortune 52.This newspaper is a very popular regional newspaper and website for Long Island, NY. -
Manny's Spoon Presentation
3 Nov 2009 | 9:38 pmI often receive requests to reprint The Spoon Theory in educational material, support group hand-outs, and health related newsletters. Recently, one request really grabbed my attention. A group of friends decided to honor a co-worker, recently diagnosed with cancer, by presenting him with a printed copy of The Spoon Theory, along with an engraved spoon. Today, I was honored to receive a video of the presentation, and would like to share it with all of you. Click to read more ...
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quoteflections
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Coffee War Brewing
20 Nov 2009 | 7:01 pmThink of some of the great coffees you've enjoyed. Has it included instant?After 20 years of R&D Starbucks has rolled out VIA with the biggest product launch ever for the company. It includes national TV ads, highly visible in store marketing, and guerilla marketing tactics.Consider the connotative language:- Full Starbucks flavour in an instant- Never be without great coffee- Starbucks VIA can change your life- It's made with the highest quality ethically sources 100% arabica beans-The magic is in a proprietary process that we spent years perfecting. We microgrind the beans in a way that… -
Meet Paul Cornies of Quoteflections
19 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pmAfter almost two years of blogging, over 700 blog posts, (my online journal) and a following of 140 RSS readers (thank you for subscribing), I formally introduce myself. Paul Cornies lives in Leamington, Ontario Canada. Many of you know my signature on blog comments as Paul C.I have been a little tentative on the Internet, not sure how much of myself to reveal. And, yet, my regular readers know quite a bit about my personality, interests, and perspectives.Many of you know I retired from teaching last year, am currently teaching ESL and spending time with a newly arrived refugee family from… -
Sports Stadium Sells for Price of Condominium
19 Nov 2009 | 5:35 amThe Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan was an icon of its time. It was built in 1975 for $55 million and sold this week to Canadian investors for $583,000, 1% of its initial value.The Silverdome hosted a rich legacy:- the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 75-2001- the Detroit Pistons of the NBA from 1978-88- first round games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup soccer- 1979 NBA All Star Game- Super Bowl XVI on Jan. 24, 1982 when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 before a crowd of 81,270- Wrestle Mania III in 1987 with an attendance record of 93,000- 1994 the English rock band Pink… -
Boreal Biome: Precious Resource
18 Nov 2009 | 7:42 amCanada's vast boreal forest which stretches from Newfoundland to the Yukon holds a staggering 208 billion tons of carbon, or the equivalent of 26 years of the world's carbon emissions that spew into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.The report, The Carbon the World Forgot, says, "Future climate change protocols must be better suited to motivate stewardship of the massive quantity of carbon stored in forest and peatland ecosystems."Interestingly, North America's boreal forests, contain nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests. The carbon has been "vastly underestimated"… -
Sex-ed Teen Texting
17 Nov 2009 | 5:16 amSex-ed in 160 characters? Several text messaging initiatives are reaching out to inquiring teens.Scarleteen recently began a text message service for its roughly 10,000 American visitors a day and will soon expand to Canada."With teenagers, texting is just huge," said Scarleteen founder, Heather Corinna, who's a former kindergarten teacher. Scarleteen is run by 15 trained volunteers, many of whom are studying in a health related field. They answer text messages through the use of a computer program.A similiar initiative is The Birds and Bees Text Line, opened out of the Adolescent Pregnancy…
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Heather Goodman's Blog -
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My Nemesis, Or Why My Next House Will Be a Tent
20 Nov 2009 | 9:53 amMy Twitter friends may remember that sometime in September (or was it August?) I began degrouting our shower. The grout is original, which, while a high status in the art and fashion world, here means it's sometimes missing and sometimes moldy. I felt I had to shower after stepping out of my shower. And my Twitter friends may recall that this project may indeed be the death of me (see--I can pick up a good southern phrase). Classic tweets regarding the project include: off to de-grout my shower! (2:20 PM Sep 16th) wow. degrouting so much faster after Chris fixed the tool and showed me I could… -
Shades of a Leaf, a poem
19 Nov 2009 | 9:09 amThe red has been in the leaf since its conception waiting for the bright sun to dim for the right amount of rain. Waiting. Then. Then. On a certain day not long before the leaf will fall not long before it returns dust to dust to mulch. Then the green fades giving way first to yellow then to orange. Then the red that has always been there waiting emerges along the veins and the edges pushing to the rest of the leaf. Pushing and bleeding until the whole leaf shines with waxy red brilliance. -
Making an Ordinary Jog into a Mary Poppins Afternoon o' Fun (Tactic #48)
16 Nov 2009 | 7:25 amFor your afternoon jog, create a playlist on your iPod (or other mp3 player) of, say, Jamie Cullum's "I Could Have Danced All Night," "La Vie Boheme" from Rent, Chopin's Etude #5 ("Revolution"), and U2's "Elevation." Human nature demands you incorporate dance steps into your jog. Sure, you may incur odd looks from parents walking their children home from school (the children will understand, of course), but your heart-rate will double, you'll extend your run for the fun of it, and you'll actually look forward to your next jog. -
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying."
13 Nov 2009 | 7:03 amLet me preface this with two statements: 1. Evangelism and social justice are necessary and normative to the Christian life. 2. Art has a place in shining light on and practicing in both these issues. For years, Christian writers have been decrying the idea that every book by a Christian author must be evangelistic. I don't think anyone means that a book necessarily can't have an evangelistic idea in it. After all, conversion is central to story, whether that conversion be Christian or not (meaning, the conversion could be that someone realizes something about themselves or solves a murder or… -
Trendy Archaeology
11 Nov 2009 | 10:05 amIn Israel, I was trendy. I saw some of the latest archaeological digs. We passed a main street in Jerusalem from Byzantine times, drove by a sanctuary recently unearthed in Magdala, stepped into the believed house of Peter (the apostle of Jesus), peeked into the palace of Queen Helena (from first century AD), and walked through King David's Palace. In 2005 through 2008, a woman named Eilat Mazar (who happens to be the granddaughter of the archaeologist who unearthed the Temple Mount) excavated the area just south of the Temple Mount. Her team found remains of a foundation wall underneath…
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Diet Coke-Fueled Life
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Happy Happy Joy Joy
14 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmIn honor of me being even happier than this pancake--or while eating this pancake--I give you Happy Cakes this week. Why so happy? Urgh. I knew you'd ask. Lots and lots and lots of reasons, including, but not limited to: the (school) trimester is almost over; Thanksgiving is coming, which means my trip to Disney World is close behind, which means so is the celebration of the blessed (read that as bless-ED) event (my birthday); Mr. Coffee makes me laugh my fool head off (in a good way--thanks to Velcro, I can put it back on) and is awesome; my Mary Kay business is doing well and I have a new… -
My facebook status update. We'll be back to regular blogging soon--I swear.
14 Nov 2009 | 7:52 amREALLY really really needs your help! I've been challenged to schedule TEN Mary Kay parties by November 15. I need TWO MORE!!!They can take place any time in November (part of the challenge). Treat yourself and some girlfriends before the holiday craziness begins!These can take place in person, or if you're really busy, host an ONLINE party--you don't even have to clean the house!!!(And if you're already having one, get a friend to host a party and YOU get a special treat!)Email me to find out how easy this is--and learn about all the great stuff you can earn!!! -
I know I know I know. I haven't been a good blogger at ALL!
7 Nov 2009 | 9:05 pmI have to announce a winner or two for something although I need a quick review to remember the who's and what's of it all. And I haven't Grace in Small Things-ed in, like a million years. And I'm sure I have a rant or ten about a thousand things. And my friends keep doing amazing things you need to know about!!! And I've been dating. I will catch up. I WILL!I've been grading essays both for my own classes and for other classes. Yes, other people's classes. At one of the schools I teach at (bad syntax, so sue me), teachers in other departments have adjunct English professors evaluate their… -
Look how special you are! (or: This special is for you)
1 Nov 2009 | 8:45 pmI know you are young and beautiful and, by the way, have I mentioned how pretty you look today? Did you know you can keep on looking that gorgeous for a good long time, giving the finger to the aging elves? (Not elves that are getting up there in years. I mean the little b*st*rds that throw wear and tear at you, making your skin have that not-so-sparkling feeling.)This is like kryptonite for the aging elves--this collection of products will be the force field that keeps them away. You'll be like The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Except you'll be a girl. Although you don't have to be--this stuff… -
OMG: The food edition (or: There was no room for cake, which is why I got mine to go*)
1 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pmIn honor of the MOST AMAZING MEAL I HAVE EVER EATEN in my whole wide life, I give you sailboat-themed cakes. Why?No, I did not eat on a boat. But I DID have dinner at The Candy Store in The Clarke Cooke House on Bannister's Wharf in Newport, RI. See that picture below? The table in the far right upper corner? There's one more table there and that's where we sat. That's where I had pomegranate martinis, a filet mignon the side of a small child, mashed potatoes with leeks and green onions, and red onion marmalade with cranberries. Oh. My. God. And for dessert? Chocolate roulade topped with…
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Carrie and Danielle
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Untangling Integrated Benefits
21 Nov 2009 | 11:56 pmIf you don’t have a big understanding of benefits packages than untangling integrated benefits can be a daunting task to understand. Integrated benefits are benefits to an employee that encompass not only the traditional forms of employee compensation but also include the disability programs together in one total package. Many times disability benefits are handled separately from the other facets like: Wages Vacation time Sick pay Other misc benefits or compensation By simply combining everything under one very simple plan it can save time and money for everyone. It can be handled by… -
Insurance Training: Becoming a Sales Agent
21 Nov 2009 | 10:25 pmSo you want to train to become an insurance sales agent. When it comes to training for your insurance sales license there are three ways you can go about it: Community college Training through industry employment Online or library resources and books Insurance is a financial services product which allows clients (insured’s) to purchase a policy which is an agreement between the insured and the insurance company (insurer) to cover the cost of a specific loss as written in the insurance policy. The insured pays a monthly or paid in full fee (premium payment) to the insurance company to keep… -
Examining Insurance Premiums: Getting the Best Rate
21 Nov 2009 | 6:58 pmThe insurance premium is the actual amount of money that the insurance company charges insured’s for their active coverage. When it comes to the insurance premium it can vary quite widely between the different insured’s and the insurance companies themselves. For this reason when you’re looking for a policy it is wise to get several quotes so you can compare rates and services within the policy. The insurance agent or the insurance broker will take all of your basic information and then calculate your premium based upon both your answers and other factors. Please keep in mind that these… -
Insurance Advocates: Unraveling the System
21 Nov 2009 | 6:30 pmAny insurance advocate is a consumer advocate that will work with a consumer as they consider the purchase of an insurance policy, will assist with insured to insurer insurance negotiations and will generally help people get the most out of their insurance policy. The goal of an insurance advocate is one that will make sure that consumer rights are protected as well as making consumers aware and give understanding of the finer details on their insurance policy(s). Heath Insurance One of the best field in which the insurance advocate is going to be extremely advantageous is that of the health… -
Truck Driver Insurance
21 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pmTruck driver insurance is very similar to auto insurance except for the fact that it’s a specific policy to cover commercial truck drivers. There are certain legal requirements in terms of license, etc… for truck drivers to have and the nuances of policies will be a little different though you’ll find the facets are the same as an auto insurance policy you’re already more familiar with. Policy Options When it comes to policy options there are quite a few to choose from for both the commercial truck and the truck driver. It would be advisable to consult an insurance agent or broker…
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Dragos Roua - Brilliantly Better
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33 Questions For An Interview With Yourself
18 Nov 2009 | 12:20 amToday I’m going to interview somebody really special on my blog. And that would be you. Exactly, you, the one who’s looking at the screen right now. You are a very important person and it’s an honor for me to interview you. I prepared a list of 33 questions and I’m really looking forward to hear your answers. Yes, this is an interview. With you. Why? Because you’re important, that’s why. 1. What Do You Do For A Living? You may not know what you’re really doing for a living. You may think you have a job, but you’re actually just selling your time. And that comes down to selling… -
The Tyler Durden Guide of Writing Tyler Durden Enhanced Blog Posts To Attract Traffic
15 Nov 2009 | 10:28 amI saw Fight Club years after it was launched. I did the same with Matrix and another few blockbusters. I’m not into hype. I like to see a popular movie after it loses the “fashionable” thing. I don’t know why I do this, it’s just a fact. Anyway, Fight Club was a fantastic experience. Few movies had the power to change my life the way Fight Club did. 10 years fast forward and I find Tyler Durden in the most surprising place I ever thought I’ll find him: the blogosphere. It seems like every niche has a blog post which features Tyler Durden somehow. If you’re looking for finances,… -
Goals and Mechanical Rabbits
12 Nov 2009 | 3:20 amWhen I turned 39, a few days ago, I wrote a list about 39 things I learned through experience. A few of them got picked up by my readers and broadcasted on Twitter. Being bitesized really helped this process, I don’t think any of those items were bigger than 140 characters. One of the most retweeted was number 8: “Goals are good, but no better than the mechanical rabbit at a dog race. At the end of the race, they’re useless.” Since that seemed to touch a lot of people, I thought it would be a good idea to write a full post about it. Which I am doing as right now. The Promise of Goals… -
39 Things
9 Nov 2009 | 10:58 pmToday I’m turning 39. And I thought it would be a good moment to post a list about 39 things I learned so far in my life. Or things that seems important to me now. Or just things. Regrets are like plastic surgery: they can’t really improve anything and they’re expensive as hell. Money is good, but you’re way much better than your bank account. Hate is useless. No matter at what end of it are you. Love survives. Somehow. You can be fooled by the wrap sometimes, but everything you receive from life is in fact a gift. You’re as good as you want to be. Friends are in your heart,… -
7 Reasons To Enjoy Life More
8 Nov 2009 | 11:51 pmToo often we forget why we’re here. Caught in an endless, empty race without a real prize, we run each day trying to fulfill our own expectations, other people’s expectations, or just simply blindly following rules we don’t understand. We forgot what is the real reason of our existence: to enjoy it. To breathe life every second and thrill with it. Here’s a list of 7 simple reasons to enjoy life even in the fastest, emptiest, dullest and mindless race we chose to run. Beginnings Every little thing we start is a creation. A miracle by itself. Think for a second: before we activate…
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Let's Live Forever!
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Ego Is Not A Dirty Word
25 Oct 2009 | 10:04 pmShirley Strachan of Skyhooks singing Ego Is Not A Dirty Word Ego is not a dirty word Ego is not a dirty word Ego is not a dirty word Don’t you believe what you’ve seen or you’ve heard This is from the 1975 song Ego Is Not A Dirty Word, by popular Australian band Skyhooks. I agree… I don’t think “ego” is a dirty word. The healthy ego If I did not have an ego I would not be here tonight If I did not have an ego I might not think that I was right If you did not have an ego you might not care the way you dressed If you did not have an ego you’d just be… -
Keeping Body And Soul Together
18 Oct 2009 | 10:56 pmDeepak Chopra brought out a new book last week, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You. The webpage for the book, here, says: Using Deepak Chopra’s ten steps to wholeness, you can harness those basic elements [awareness and energy] to change the distorted energy patterns that are the root cause of aging, infirmity, and disease. So, he is saying “distorted energy patterns” are the cause of aging, and these patterns can be healed. He is saying aging does not have to happen. This is what physical immortality writers have been saying for um, oh…… -
Can Limitations Be Useful?
5 Oct 2009 | 8:07 pmSaturn, the planet of manifestation through constriction, in astrology. Image from NASA. Sometimes there are things we just can’t do. Not right now, anyway. I’m all for unlimited thinking and believing we can do anything, but I also think we can choose to see the limitations we are stuck with right now as helping us. When I was about 21, I went skiing for the first time. I was hopeless! I liked the idea of it, but the bit where you had to stand up after falling over while wearing boots that didn’t bend at the ankles didn’t quite work for me. I persevered, mainly… -
Relaaaaaaaaaaax
28 Sep 2009 | 3:57 pmPhoto by Tiago Rïbeiro The other day for some reason I decided to really stay in present time as much as I could, while not actually doing anything. I was feeling quite at peace with my world and had no particular reason to stress about anything. I relaxed into feeling very happy and content, lazing in a comfy chair under a bright window—tuning in to the moment. Then I became aware of subliminal, almost pre-verbal concerns… “is there something I should watch out for? Shouldn’t I be keeping a better lookout? Am I being careful enough? If I stay right in the present I might… -
When Someone Close To Us Is Struggling
20 Sep 2009 | 8:18 pmImage by visulogik What to do when someone close to us is struggling in life? We have tried to help them as best as we can, with ideas, support and practical help, but they don’t “get it”. Or maybe we are not even in contact with them to do that much. It can be painful watching them suffer, especially if we feel there are things “out there” that they could find helpful, but they aren’t interested. A proverb featuring a horse and water might spring to mind. For a long time I’ve thought that the best thing we can do for people close to us (or anyone,…
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Steve's Leaves
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Blind Spots and Broken Limbs
16 Nov 2009 | 7:14 amMy lease was up on my Mazda6, and I decided to get another one – the 2010 model had a new look and some updated features. Sometimes you read about high-tech gadgets and snort (do I really need something like that??), but this car had something I’d never heard of before, and I immediately liked it because it addressed a real problem. The feature? A Blind Spot Detection System. Signals are sent out from the area of the two rear wheel wells, and when another vehicle is in your “blind” spot, a subtle but clear-enough little yellow indicator shows up in the side view… -
Remembering
11 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amYesterday, I found myself over at Point Loma in San Diego, a remarkable promontory out into the Pacific that looks out over San Diego Bay on one side, and the ocean on the other. It also has a beautifully sobering cemetery for our military dead. It was the birthday of the Marine Corps, and the day of memorial services for the slain at Fort Hood (while today is Veterans Day). I thought about my son, now in Marine boot camp, and about the many who have sacrificed their lives (or invested large segments of their lives) to defend our freedom. It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest. Words… -
Hitting the Wall
28 Oct 2009 | 4:16 pmI’ve often stated something like, “she/he won’t really learn this lesson until they hit the wall.” In other words, you can say it 55 times, but somehow, there’s a lead-lined box around the judgment or conscience of the intended audience, and only by getting smacked upside-the-head by some circumstance will the truth finally sink in. I always assumed that certain PEOPLE are just that way. Then I started wondering yesterday – is it really that simplistic? Or maybe we ALL have our “hit-the-wall” areas – selective or situational stupidity… -
Bad Parents!!
25 Oct 2009 | 4:17 amOne of the disadvantages of living in our hyper-networked world is that many of our mistakes are captured and magnified. And when something disastrous (or nearly so) happens to a child, there tends to be a knee-jerk reaction on the part of some to condemn the parents, even before knowing the facts. Bad parents! It’s likely that those who are eager to cast the first stone have not, in fact, ever brought up children. Because as every parent can attest – every good and caring and attentive parent – near-disaster seems to hide around the corner at least once a day, and kids have… -
Known
18 Oct 2009 | 3:50 amSeth Godin wrote an intriguing little post yesterday, on the theme, “Notice me.” It is certainly true that we will go to extraordinary lengths to be noticed by others, to gain attention. But I think the true need is much deeper. We want to be known. And not merely known, but valued and loved even when that knowledge encompasses our dark and broken places. There can be no better comfort than the words of Psalm 139. A few excerpts: O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my…
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Caffeinated Thoughts
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HarryCare: Increased Taxes & Subsidized Abortions Among Other Problems
21 Nov 2009 | 11:05 amI’ve already written that the health care reform bill that Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced includes tax increases, some of which, start in 2010, while the legislation’s answer to health care reform won’t start until 2014. The Senate’s version of the health care reform includes a mandate for Federally subsidized abortion. CNSNews.com reports: The mandate appears on page 120 of the 2,074-page bill under the seemingly innocuous heading: ‘Assured Availability of Varied Coverage Through Exchanges.” Specifically, the provision requires that the secretary of Health and Human… -
Palin’s Friday Interview Round-up with Bill O’Reilly, Dennis Miller, & CBN’s David Brody
21 Nov 2009 | 10:04 amThe second segment of her interview with Bill O’Reilly was on last night. It was, in my opinion, her toughest interview. He asked her some good questions, and she handled herself quite well. The look she gave him when he mentioned sending the Gitmo prisoners to Alaska was priceless (an “are you crazy” type of look). She handled questions related to Iran and Afghanistan well. She also gave an interview for Dennis Miller on his radio show. Some classic lines from Dennis Miller on next time she’s asked what she reads – “All of the newspapers…. except the New… -
A Case Against Apathy
20 Nov 2009 | 9:06 pmI am not that interested in politics. However, I am interested in the implications of politics. These implications are personal and far-reaching. Politics itself is a great deal like religion so much as religion is a framework for a relationship with God, while Politics is a framework for enacting public policy, and I am passionate about how changes in policy affect my freedoms and my faith. Should I be? Among Christians there is some debate over whether Christians should be concerned with politics at all. I believe the answer lays in a parable Jesus shared with his disciples. This parable is… -
Good Things Running Wild
20 Nov 2009 | 5:51 pmRecently I read an interesting passage in Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton: It (Christianity) came in here as before. It came in startlingly with a sword, and clove one thing from another. It divided the crime from the criminal. The criminal we must forgive unto seventy times seven. The crime we must not forgive at all. IT was not enough that slaves who stole wine inspired partly anger and partly kindness. We must be much more angry with theft than before, and yet much kinder to thieves than before. There was room for wrath and love to run wild. And… -
Palin Interviews With Ingraham and O’Reilly
19 Nov 2009 | 9:27 pmContinuing a busy week with the Going Rogue media and book signing tour. First was a radio interview with Laura Ingraham, listen here or above. They covered the Senate health-care bill, China, America’s superpower status, the McCain campaign media strategy, and more. She also had her debut with Bill O’Reilly on the O’Reilly Factor. The first part was shown tonight which covered the campaign and the Gibson and Couric interviews from the campaign. He also asked about the Oprah interview. Friday he’ll get into policy issues, and then the third segment will…
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Blogs Are Stupid
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This Might Be The Easiest Way To Do This.....
17 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pmClick Here to Send Me a Friend Request If you don't think I'll recognize you by your Facebook name, just send me a little msg. with your username or the name under which you comment. Sorry if you already emailed me. I know I'm asking you to take an extra step. I just realized I'm kind of a dumbass and it wasn't very practical for me to reply to that many emails with my FB information. Thanks! -
I Can't Believe I'm Doing This, but....
15 Nov 2009 | 4:57 pmIf you wanna be my "friend" on Facebook....email me. I just signed on for a new writing project with a great big fancy schmancy Los Angeles marketing firm, (which scares me to death, frankly) and hopefully have another one in the works. I'm also committed to regaining my health, so I have been working out faithfully for an hour a day. And starting next week, I am going to try very, very hard -
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Master Bathroom today.....
28 Oct 2009 | 5:47 pmOh...hello interwebs. Long time no see. S'up? Me? Oh nothing. Same ole, same ole. Oh wait, there was that thing on Saturday, where I inadvertantly seared my eyeballs with a caustic substance known to cause permanent blindness. Good Lord...wouldn't you think the Antagonist family has met their quota of crises this year? Well...you would be wrong. Saturday, after waking early to walk at -
Face It
21 Oct 2009 | 3:02 pmI've written a couple times about the evils of Social Media. And I meant everything I said. But I find that being employed full time seriously infringes upon my freedom to waste time, as I simply have no time to waste. I find that blogging is a time suck that I just don't have time to indulge the way I used to; reading or writing. And I miss everyone, yannow? I feel disconnected and out of the -
Thankful
14 Oct 2009 | 12:21 pmI try really hard to keep the lines of communication open with my kids. I want them to know that they can come to me with any problem, dilemma, or decision. I want them to know I will always give them the truth, no matter how difficult that might be. I had great parents, but there wasn't a lot of real nitty gritty discussion going on between parents and kids in those days. I wouldn't have
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Yellaphant
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This post will absolutely get me hate mail
20 Nov 2009 | 4:13 amApparently, last week a woman who lives on my block was followed home, pushed into her house, and sexually assaulted by an unknown assailant. I say apparently because I have been scanning the headlines for days and have seen nothing about it. I know of the rumor because the day after the apparent assault, one of the local news stations' vans was parked in front of my house. And despite what many of you might have predicted, I stayed as far away from this crew as possible. Momma don't wanna be one of those people.Anyway, a neighbor later told me that the reporter was standing on the wet… -
I believe they call it "nesting"
19 Nov 2009 | 4:59 amI don't know what it says about me that I get such a huge kick out of buying stuff for our apartment. Stuff that's really useful. That could be used for our future house one day. That make things more comfortable and homey and nice.But because we have no money for such niceties (because we're trying to buy a house to put them in), and because B would be totally fine living with nothing but plastic egg crates and a microwave, he has put me on a strict shopping ban. I'm not even allowed to talk about IKEA. I get that though. It's like I said about that place, you only plan on picking up one… -
Wednesday's Song of the Week
18 Nov 2009 | 4:43 amGod I love this city. -
I'm trying to find the words that describe this song without being disrespectful
16 Nov 2009 | 4:30 amI fall asleep on the couch by 9 p.m. with a magazine draped across my chest. I constantly worry about pooping my pants. I steal ketchup packets from restaurants. And as if I needed another reason to feel like a octogenarian after my 25th birthday, I now spend a good portion of my time in the car analyzing how inappropriate songs on the radio are because in MY day, we listened to REAL music uphill BOTH ways in the SNOW.The number one offender on my Ruining the Children list is "Sexy Bitch." What. Le. Feck? Have you heard this song? Because you've probably been missing a little piece of your… -
A new low even for me: toilet texting
12 Nov 2009 | 5:16 amThe other night I got a text from my friend Carolyn requesting that I write a blog post about the public acceptance of toilet texting. I assume that message was texted to me while she was sitting on the toilet, and frankly it makes me wonder if all of my text messages from Carolyn are composed on the john. And I guess the public does accept it, because I'm totally fine with that.And why wouldn't I be? It's not like it's dirty. If anything, it's more detrimental to the sender than the sendee. The sender is the one with the poop particles (THEY'RE EVERYWHEREEEE) all over her phone now. And last…
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JordonCooper.com
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H1N1
21 Nov 2009 | 1:15 pmWell Wendy, Oliver, and I caught H1N1 (for those of you who are following on Twitter this is redundant). Oliver and Mark had been vaccinated and while Mark was fine, Oliver was not. Wendy and I also got horrific secondary infections along with it which made us even sicker. All I can say is that you need to go and get the vaccination as I can really understand how people die from it. Wendy and I were in incredible pain, had trouble breathing, ran really, really high fevers and still days later are not feeling well. After seeing my doctor, he said it was going to… -
New York City is the future of the web
20 Nov 2009 | 9:47 amAccording to Anil Dash, the most exciting startups on the web are being started in New York City, not the Silicon Valley. New York City startups are as likely to be focused on the arts and crafts as on the bits and bytes, to be influenced by our unparalleled culture as by the latest browser features, and informed by the dynamic interaction of different social groups and classes that’s unavoidable in our city, but uncommon in Silicon Valley. Best of all, the support for these efforts can come from investors and supporters that are outside of the groupthink that many West Coast VC firms… -
What the white church needs to learn from the black church
20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amJim Henderson has a great post on what the black church has that the white church needs. The White church is slowly being pushed toward the margins of a culture it once dominated. Cell phone towers are replacing church steeples as key geographic (and cultural) markers For all its political effort, the religious right has come up largely empty handed The fastest growing faith segment in America is the “nones” those who claim no religion The Good News: The Black church has been operating from the margins from its inception They’ve never had power or influence over the majority culture… -
CrossRoads United Methodist Church Can’t Feed the Poor
20 Nov 2009 | 7:52 amThe city rules that an Arizona United Methodist church can’t feed the poor on their property as the city rules that giving away a free pancake breakfast one day a week constitutes a city feeding program. First of all I can’t believe that giving away a free breakfast once a week constitutes a feeding program. Secondly I can’t grasp that they need to bus homeless people into the area to feed them pancakes. It’s not that that hard to do this in a remote location, with probably less cost, more impact, and less controversy so it isn’t a clear cut case. I would… -
The NASCAR version of the Bible
20 Nov 2009 | 7:43 amYou know, for when the Word of God isn’t exciting enough for the NASCAR fan in your life, this version brings testimonies and photographs of the popular race personalities with whom they work on a daily basis: the drivers, the pit crews, the media spokespeople, and others associated with the world of racing.
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Trying to follow
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Keeping a Simple Bike Project Simple
16 Nov 2009 | 3:56 amA couple months ago I shared this small vision of making sure every kid in my neighborhood that wanted a bike and a lock could have one. I really appreciated the overwhelming support and realized I hadn’t updated everyone on the progress. It’s been a fun ride. September At the beginning of September, Eli (my bike partner-in-crime) and I went to a small grassroots conference called BikeBike. It’s a very cool eclectic bunch of folks from all over the country who come together to talk about running community bike shops. We had a couple of guys from Nebraska sleep in a tent in… -
Update: Open Letter to Wheaton Selection Committee
4 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pmLast week I posted about an open letter we were gathering signatures for regarding Wheaton’s hiring of it’s next college president. This past Sunday, I delivered (via email) an open letter signed by 350 Wheaton alumni. So far I’ve received a brief email acknowledging they’ve received the letter: Mr. Fine — thank you for sending this official listing to the Presidential Selection Committee with the information on the “signers” of the open letter. The information has been forwarded to the Presidential Selection Committee for their review. We… -
Encouraging Diversity of Candidates for Wheaton Presidency
26 Oct 2009 | 6:42 amThe following open letter has been signed by 90+ Wheaton alum since Friday evening, and you can sign it as well here. Dear Wheaton Presidential Selection Committee,As an academic institution and as a Christian community, Wheaton recognizes the importance of diversity and has acted successfully on it. The selection committee, chosen to help select the next Wheaton president, also recognizes the importance of diversity and includes this as part of its “Commitment” section in the concise “qualifications desired”: To champion ethnic, economic, and gender diversityCompared… -
Order Slave-Free Chocolate for Halloween
19 Oct 2009 | 6:39 pmI’m not usually one to play the salesman role, nor am I one to plan much in advance. However, this year we managed to order some fair-trade (read: Slave Free) mini dark chocolate bars for Halloween. The deal is though that you have to buy in bulk, 888 bars of chocolate for $144, which evens out to 16 cents a bar. And you need to order right now so you have it in time for Halloween. Just do it now and then sell the candy to your friends and neighbors who probably haven’t run by the store to stock up on their trick-or-treat handouts either. Order Here. Read about child labor in the… -
Ariah’s Birthday Wishlist
7 Oct 2009 | 6:19 amIf I’ve had an impact on your life, consider having an impact on someone elses The one thing I think about each year when my birthday rolls around is whether or not my life (and the past year) has had a positive impact on those around me. If I’ve had a positive impact on you let me know and consider doing something intentional …Read More The one thing I think about each year when my birthday rolls around is whether or not my life (and the past year) has had a positive impact on those around me. If I’ve had a positive impact on you let me know and consider doing something…
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The Coyote Insight Blog
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Hair Don't Grow on No Baby's Ass!
20 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pmI use to have a mustache, for years actually, and then one day I just decided, enough. After getting my hair cut, I came home and shaved it off.Well, it never was all that much; it rarely is for light-hair guys like me. At one point I even tried a mustache color thing. You brush it in each morning and while it did darken things up a bit, it also showed the gaps where no whiskers grew. So after a day or so, that was that and it was back to the patchy, defoliated look.When I was in Vietnam, the battery commander encouraged everyone to grow them as sort of a morale booster, a contest. Some of… -
The Price of Nostalgia
13 Nov 2009 | 9:38 amFor years I recorded gas purchases in a small notebook I kept in my car, starting August 16, 1966 with my 1960 VW purchased used that day.According to that notebook, 53,797 miles on the odometer, 6 2/10 gallons for a total cost of $1.72, or about $.28 a gallon.Not sure why but I kept this up well into the late 70's, including, occasionally, noting other trip related expenses as well. For example, $10.50 for "motel" in Eureka California, $2.00 for "dinner", $1.94 for "breakfast", all on the same trip.Three nights in hotels/motels with all the meals, gas, etc., associated with three days on the… -
If Me And Bette Can, You Can Too!
6 Nov 2009 | 1:09 pmMy back's been bothering me a bit and some of the few people I've mentioned it to, suggested I need to "slow down", meaning less running and gym time.Just to set the record straight, no one will mistake me as one training for a marathon, nor a gym rat. To be sure I do what I do with consistency (run 4 miles three times a week, work out in the gym for an hour, two times a week), and have for over 30 years. But that is hardly "too much" and certainly less than what many others, much older than me do.There is a "use it or lose it-ness" to this, or at least the ability to use it, and if you're… -
Truth Be Told???
30 Oct 2009 | 11:16 amI stopped in Quartzite Arizona (population around 3,400) for lunch last week on my way home from Phoenix. Just a Subway in a gas station mini-mart. While eating my tuna on wheat, I overheard two guys talking at tables behind mine. Their conversation went something like this:Guy 1: "Did you hear that balloon boy thing was a hoax?" (referring to the family who staged a runaway weather balloon stunt, allegedly with their 6 year old son aboard.)Guy 2: "I haven't heard anything about it; where'd it happen?"Guy 1: "I don't know but it's been in the papers and on TV."Guy 2: "I don't get no papers… -
Protecting Us From Us (Sort Of)
23 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pmI think our society, culture, not sure what it is really, is schizoid when it comes to an individual's personal freedoms.Hell bent to guarantee everyone's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while at the same time, quick to protect us from ourselves, albeit without wanting to appear that it does. Consider . . .iPods, MP3 players, personal head phone stereos (which, by the way, was the generic for what we all used to call "Walkmans". I'll bet it's been a long time since Sony had to file a trademark action to protect that name.) Wouldn't you think that if we know kids will lose…
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It's my life...
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Sharing my book. Baring my soul.
19 Nov 2009 | 10:58 pmSitting in my favorite Starbucks this morning, sipping my usual coffee - half caf drip, I finished the first round of edits on my novel.I thought I'd have to fit in a few more editing sessions, but I whipped through the last pages and suddenly I was at the end and shutting the heavy binder I've been lugging everywhere with me for the last two months. I've lived in fear of losing it, of forgetting it somewhere. I hated the thought of having to start all those edits again, of losing those notes.And suddenly, that binder which had been priceless moments before, was instantly worthless. And all… -
Kissing, licking, and nibbling our way to tasting new foods
18 Nov 2009 | 11:13 pm"RabiOly! RabiOly!"The chant from the back seat made me smile. My two girls demanding something they'd never had before, that was a first for sure. But hey, I'm not one to be begged. And there wasn't really much else for dinner at home. So we'd try the mini-raviolis from Trader Joes. Noodles are noodles after all.I wasn't too worried about C. This morning she gave me a whole shpiel about how it was bizarre that her friends at school kept saying they didn't like something without even trying it. I know that tomorrow she'll be back to turning up her nose at anything that doesn't look exactly… -
Prayers for Anissa - a hopefully someday friend
17 Nov 2009 | 10:36 pmPart of my new job at Tiny Prints involves Internet research. I spend a lot of my time blog hopping, discovering new blogs, visiting old favorites, checking out friends of those favorites, and then moving on to the next.Today I discovered a blog I'd never seen before. It was funny, well written, and had compelling posts. It was a family blog, like many of the ones I see daily. I logged all the details in the spreadsheet I'm compiling and moved on to the next one.I had no clue that the blogger was well known and loved by many of my own blogging and social media friends.I had no idea that less… -
Mommy went to a Blogger party and we all get cool swag
16 Nov 2009 | 11:33 pmWell, clearly we can't all be as cool as C sporting her new Teeny Tiny shades. They're best known for protecting little eyes from harmful UV rays, but you just can't reason with these 4-year-olds going on 15. They want to look cool and wear them indoors. Oh, wait. Apparently you can't reason with the 2-year-old set either. Little L is also sporting fancy Teeny Tiny Optics shades as well as the shaggiest hippest hat in town. This beauty was hand made by Zooni and she'd be asleep wearing it if I hadn't made her take it off before bath time. If you have a fetish, or just a love, of unbearably… -
Working Weekend
15 Nov 2009 | 10:44 pmOver the last few months I've been making a conscious effort to shut down the computer Friday night and leave it alone at least until noon-ish on Sunday when the itch to check in became unbearable. It felt good to disconnect, to pick up a book, to play with my kids, and to spend some quality time with my husband.Napping was nice too.Only now that I've had to shift things around in my daily schedule to fit an extra 25hours of work in, I'm having to take lots of that time from my weekend. Last weekend, when there was relatively little newspaper work to be done I didn't feel the pinch all that…
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Joe Blogs
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The Third Place
15 Nov 2009 | 9:51 amImage by thepartycow via FlickrA strike is a term used in bowling to indicate that all of the pins have been knocked down with the first ball of a frame. Two consecutive strikes are referred to as a "double". Three strikes bowled consecutively are known as a "turkey" and that's exactly how I'm feeling today!The third consecutive night has taken it's toll but what an experience. Prior to the amendment there was an element of negativity, travelling to the same venues had made us routine but then came the invitation. The destination was the brand new concept bar/club 24 located in Carnaby. It is… -
Just Prance!
13 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pmImage by joedawson via FlickrI've had more than intended, people start to rush, start to rush babe. How does he twist the dance? Can't find my drink, man?! or keys and there is a possibility that I lost my phone.Apparently I need to buy shoes before I'm ready for the weekend, according to Calvin Harris anyway and I didn't intend to participate in the proceedings but I'm easily persuaded! The preparations were against the clock due to 'overtime' but I managed to rendezvous with friends in a timely manner. We exchanged pleasantries and the topic quickly moved to events that transpired in… -
Hospital, I've Got A Thing For You..
12 Nov 2009 | 3:35 pmImage by Ralf Heid via FlickrSo the time had indeed come! There were 20 pairs of tickets to see Metronomy and Roots Manuva at the Mercury Prize Sessions at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden available for tonight's performance.I managed to secure tickets to attend and was really impressed with the performances. The event was hosted as part of this month's Barclaycard Mercury Prize Session with The Hospital Club. The Hospital wasn't what I expected, Grey Goose Vodka reception, Lobby area and the basement provided a state of the art music and TV studio. Seriously though Artois 4% wasn't for the… -
Retweet Retreat
11 Nov 2009 | 3:33 pmImage by Diamond Geyser via FlickrWondering who this is? I'm now part of a beta group! There has been plenty of reorganisation taking place at Twitter recently and I must have done something right as I have the new retweet feature available. People who don't have this feature enabled will see the tweets prefaced with the standard "RT". Like Ronseal "It does exactly what it says on the tin" and provides an easy method of sharing with your followers.I wrote previously that I understand the principle, displaying the original tweet in the timeline; provides the source, original (unedited) tweet… -
Mending Trending Topics
10 Nov 2009 | 3:28 pmImage by Salon de Maria via FlickrOnce upon a time a popular startup provided the ability to find out what's hot online through trending topics which was a great feature. I wrote previously that as Twitter has pushed through into the mainstream the top trending topics has lost a lot of it's value and credibility. This is because users have learnt how to game the system and so have spammers!Twitter has a significant amount of pocket money so it's great that they are addressing this issue. Acknowledging that Trends began as a useful way to find out what’s going on but has grown less…
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thinkBuddha.org
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A Brief Note on Looking at Water
15 Nov 2009 | 1:17 pmThis morning, I realised that I had been sitting at my desk far too long, and – looking out of the window and seeing that it was one of those luminous late autumn days – I switched off the computer and we headed out for a walk by the river, which runs not far from where we live, in a pocket of wildness that cuts through the city. It was a truly glorious morning – a heron flapping away from the pond as we passed, horses ambling around the fields, and the river full and fast-flowing. As we stood by the river, I found myself recollecting a line that I stumbled upon in Sarah… -
Donkey Work
14 Nov 2009 | 8:40 amLast night, I packed up my belongings, loaded them on the back of my trusty donkey, and moved the entire contents of thinkBuddha.org (and various other sites as well) to a new server. Now that the donkey-work is done, I’m now settling in to my new home. Hopefully this hasn’t caused any problems, and the change seems to have gone smoothly, although there may have been a small glitch or two in the transfer period. The move allows me to add a few extra bits and pieces to the various sites that I run, and first up has been Twitter integration. So now you can look in the sidebar here… -
Sidling up to Things
2 Nov 2009 | 8:56 amThe last few weeks have been fearsomely busy, and so I have not had the chance to update thinkBuddha very much of late. It is not that there are not any thoughts flying around that I want to explore here; it is only that they are still mid-air, and that I need a bit of time to wait for them to settle, rather than chasing after them with a butterfly net and risking knocking over all the furniture. So I’m going to content myself with just mentioning one of the things that is currently aloft, and that is providing me with a lot to reflect on, without attempting to pin it down and look at… -
On (Not) Debating the Existence of God
18 Oct 2009 | 9:41 amA couple of weeks back, I received an unexpected request. Would I be willing, the email asked, to participate in a University debate about the existence of God? Now, I should say that the existence of God is not a subject upon which I am in any way an expert. In fact, it is not something I think about very much at all. Nor, for that matter, is the non-existence of God. There are a lot of things – whether it’s time for a coffee, what the cat is up to, where I have left my glasses, and so on – that I think about far more than I think about God’s existence. So it did not… -
Questions we cannot go through
6 Oct 2009 | 7:28 amI remember a friend once saying to me that he thought there were, roughly speaking, two kinds of philosophers in the world. The first kind, when presented with a problem, is the type of person who says, “Hmm… how can we solve this one?”; and the second kind, when presented with a problem, is the type of person who says, “Oh, look, a problem, let’s see how we can make it bigger.” As with all such neat distinctions, whilst there is some truth in this, at the same time it is probably true that most of us, most of the time, do both of these things. There is a…
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Tres Lola
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How to Make Seasoned Roast Sweet Potato Chips
21 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pmEvery one needs a few delicious yet simple culinary delights in their domestic ammunition. No need for any spectacular cooking prowess here, just something that tastes like it was a bigger deal to pull off than it actually was. Roasted & seasoned sweet potato chips are great as a side or as a stand alone snack. As well as tasting great, sweet potato is also an excellent source of vitamins A and C and Self.com says "snacking on sweet potatoes can help your skin stay clear, smooth and young-looking". Long live the mighty sweet potato...1. Preheat oven to 180°C2. Peel and wash the sweet… -
Celebrity Vegan and Vegetarian Role Models
19 Nov 2009 | 7:35 pm"People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming. UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport."Rajendra Pachauri, United Nations Climate ScientistBy making some simple lifestyle choices when it comes to the food we eat, we are able to ensure animals do not suffer unnecessarily. There are many documented benefits to following a vegetarian lifestyle such as: Improved health, including being less likely to become overweight, develop heart disease or Type II Diabetes. (source: National Vegetarian Week) Lessened… -
Bella Swan, Edward Cullen and Twilight Mania
18 Nov 2009 | 8:51 pmTwilight mania is in full force: Stephanie Meyer is the new J.K. Rowling (move over Hermoine Granger, there is a new head girl in town *ushers in Bella Swan*) and vampires are the latest incarnation of the sexy that Justin Timberlake so kindly brought back for us in 2006. Thanks to Twilight, and in particular Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen, girls across the world have swiftly moved the focus of their obsession from wizards to vampires.So how is it that this modern fantasy has achieved such cult status? On the surface the adoration of this series could be put down to it's being an alluring… -
A Rose For Every Occasion
18 Nov 2009 | 12:17 amThere are many different types of roses and while the rose has long been a symbol of love and romance, did you know that each colour rose has a special meaning? Or did you know that there is some significance in the number of roses exchanged? We've decoded the secret language of roses so that next time you give or receive the gift of a rose you can enjoy the symbolism as well as the beauty!Photo by Hamed MasoumiRed: Love, Romance, PassionGive a red rose to your partner as a romantic gesture if the relationship is new or for longer standing relationships, to show them you still think they're… -
Style, Quality & Eco-Excellence: Ascension
20 Oct 2009 | 12:26 pmAscension is putting the chic in eco-chic, and they "...want to show the world that a stylish and design-led lifestyle can also be a sustainable one". The companies commitment to ensuring they operate ethically is impressive with everything from fair trade and organic fibres, carbon emissions, charitable projects, labour standards and animal products considered. Ascension have done the hard yards to create a guilt-free style haven and their pieces talk for themselves."We are working towards eco-excellence all the time"By supporting eco-positive brands like Ascension, you're not only choosing…
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All Your Blogs Are Belong to Us
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And Now On A Much Less Serious Note...
5 Nov 2009 | 2:44 pmSpecial thanks to my pal, bbqguy for turning me on to this lil' gem.Valkyrie didn't win an Oscar, but this clip should.If you've ever obsessed over a band, you're gonna love it.Good gawd I needed this. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time...like about a month now.FWIW, the guy who did this clip, also did several similar spoofs using the same Valkyrie footage but with different subtitles (click through to YouTube to check them out); but this one was the best IMO. Cheers...finis -
No Longer in Flux, But Now it Sux Even Worse
3 Nov 2009 | 9:49 pmUncomfortably Numb…AgainThe last time I felt this way was just over five months ago, when I learned of the impending death of my Father-in-Law.It’s just too damn soon to feel this way again.Yesterday I experienced another death in the family — mine…or at least that of my career at any rate.I was laid off at my job of nearly eleven years, at which, when adding in the initial nine months I worked for The Company as a contractor before going in-house, I actually spent 11 years and 10 months of my life, devoted to one employer. That’s quite a chunk ‘a time, these days… -
It Sux to Be in Flux (Again)
7 Oct 2009 | 5:44 amSorry doesn't cover it.This is, I know, a feeble excuse, but it’s the only one I have right now. I don’t have time to write, and I won’t be writing a ten-part series to explain why, either. All I can say now is that I’ll be back — soon. The only thing I’m making time for right now is (with regard to blogging), quite selfishly, a new blog on hockey that I started a few weeks ago. I’ll talk more about that here as well, just not now.At the moment my life is in a state of flux; what kind of flux I don’t really want to say — because I don’t really know for sure, but given the… -
An Addendum to ‘Seduction’
14 Sep 2009 | 12:52 amAnatomy of a Time SinkGawd I love etymologyonline.com! And I really don’t know why that is, as I never really was all that hot about English classes in high school (although I did take a Semantics course that I really dug my senior year), but as an adult, etymology has always been a real fascination for me. Likewise, I’ve never taken a foreign language course, let alone Latin, but one of my most oft-used browser bookmarks is to Merriam-Webster Online. I constantly cruise this extensive online dictionary site for help with word definition, usage, punctuation, and root origin… -
SOBbin’ (continued)
13 Sep 2009 | 2:28 amTime Stinks…er…I Mean…SinksContinuing to continue the conversation from Liz Strauss’s blog, on Thursday September 10th, 2009, the topic was, as she describes them: ‘time sinks’.Liz says, ‘time sinks;’ I say, ‘black holes’ — but whatever moniker you wish to use — they’re creative enigmas wrapped in a practical riddle; that which simultaneously robs us of our creative energy while we are in the process of creating, and are often responsible for our being drawn away from those projects that we sometimes start but never seem to finish.Time sinks can come in different…
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LEGENDmag
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Recent LEGENDmag Twitter Updates
21 Nov 2009 | 11:00 amJust hit up the SF Indy spirits Expo to try some indie liquors! Good stuff! # Settling in to hear Sander van der Leeuw talk about "the archeology of innovation" /follow along with @longnowlive # RT @raimonnemar RT @indyspirits Craft distillery pioneer pouring Hangar 1 Vodka, Los Danzantes Mezcal, Germain Robain at Indyspiritsexpo.com # New Blog Post: "Who's Buying" helps decide the fate of your dinner! (for jet-setting iPhoners) http://LEGENDmag.net/thelegendonline/fwtxl # Related posts:Recent LEGENDmag Twitter UpdatesRecent LEGENDmag Twitter UpdatesRecent LEGENDmag… -
Soul by the Pound: Micheal Fakesh
21 Nov 2009 | 1:40 amWhen I first heard your new material, I immediately thought of Early Prince and 80’s funk, yet there are clearly modern influences as well, like Justin Timberlake/D’Angelo, and even some references to your work with Funkstörung. Were you thinking of any of these specific musical styles while creating “DOS”? I actually just wanted to try out new things… didn’t want to do another Funkstörung-like record. For me it’s important not to repeat myself! The main concept for “DOS” was doing a rough funk record with loads of electronics in it. Initially I wanted the album to have a… -
Soul by the Pound: DJ Platurn (Oakland Faders) and Kat 0l0 (Crown City Rockers) release a classic remix
18 Nov 2009 | 4:32 pmYou have to love a great colab and when it’s two of your favs it’s even better. DJ Platurn and Kat have outdone themselves with this remix of Midnight Star’s “Midas Touch”, which will be released on vinyl through the BSTRD BOOTS label on November 24th. You can pre-order your copies (yes, purchase multiples) through AccessHipHop.com In the mean time this should hold you over! Related posts:Crown City Rockers are the Bay Area Hip Hop Soul Sound on “The Day After Tomrrow” (mp3)Finding your “Soul Power” with Raashan Ahmad, of the Crown City Rockers… -
DineIndie.com’s chef tour
17 Nov 2009 | 1:21 amWe’ve known about dineindie.com for some time now. Through our search for “all things indie” we often come across those like minded guys and gals that we just can’t resist. Enjoy the NYC Dineindie Chef Tour and download recipes here. Related posts:The mp3 experiment tour: 2 down 2 to goJamie Lidell: Tour Time!Fools Gold: Tour Time -
Soul by the Pound: Sake 1 and J Boogie talk to LEGENDmag about life, the Bay Area and what else…music!
17 Nov 2009 | 12:37 amON FINDING AND SELECTING MUSIC Recording your vinyl is really a big part of keeping your sound original. When I made the switch to DJing digitally (Serato), I realized I was DJing differently than I did when I spun with vinyl. I always think to include a lot of my “special treats” that I always played out on vinyl from when I was picking up a lot of music while traveling. Whether I was in San Francisco—going to Groove Merchant, Open Mind, Amoeba, Tweaking; or shopping in Japan; or hitting up Beat Street or Turntable Lab in New York—it’s all been collected over time. J Boogie—I try…
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Kyle Steed
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Magntize Your Life
6 Nov 2009 | 6:04 amFormerly known as Nectar, the guys behind Magnt are an incredible crew of web sophisticates (is that even a real word?). Apart from knowing them personally, just seeing the work that they produce is enough to make me admire them. If you’re interested in learning more about the team behind Magnt you can read an old interview I did with them. The Lowdown Pretty much their slogan says it all, “Beautiful websites that introduce you to the world”. But if you don’t believe me, then let me show you how easy it is to get yourself set up online with Magnt. Sign up for free in… -
Go Play Canabalt
30 Oct 2009 | 8:00 amThe Game Maybe you’ve seen it, maybe you haven’t, either way this new flash-based game from Adam Saltsman and Eric Johnson of Semi Secret Software is the definition of addicting. It makes me reminisce over the days of 8-bit graphics on my Nintendo. Tips and Tricks Tap quickly for a short, low jump; tap and hold for a long, high one. Leap early, land early! This gives you more time to deal with obstacles and plan your next jump. You blink. You die. You can read the rest of tips and tricks over on the canabalting website. Screenshots Here are a few quick screen shots from the game. -
Enjoy Your Work
27 Oct 2009 | 6:58 amWe all have those days when we’re not 100% – that was today for me. But what really counts in this life are the relationships we have and those who can lend an ear and an encouraging word. After an uplifting conversation I had with my friend Daniel (really more like a brother) I opened up the Bible to Ecclesiastes. I ran across an old verse I had underlined that really inspired me: “So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?” –… -
In Response to Zeldman
23 Oct 2009 | 9:13 amYesterday I read this article, “Dirty Little Secret of Success“, by Jeffrey Zeldman. It struck a nerve in me right away because it deals with the human condition and how that relates to being successful. But in my opinion Mr. Zeldman, with all do respect, you got it backwards. I believe those with a fulfilled heart and a great sense of purpose can achieve more than those who are “broken” and seeking the approval of others. But then again I guess it all depends on how you define success. If it’s in dollars and cents then I think you’re missing the point. For… -
Casa De La Steed
22 Oct 2009 | 7:22 amYesterday over on the new Steed facebook page I posted a question about what I should do on my new video blog. Well, with only one response it was pretty simple to decide what to do. So thank you Chris Drake for suggesting a little house tour. In under 8 minutes you get to see me make tea, take a sneak peak at some upcoming artwork and see the sacred Steed bedroom. What’s not to love?
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Ibn Ibn Battuta
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Lonely Planet Polls Self, Disappoints Readers
14 Nov 2009 | 3:55 pmThe travel guide publisher Lonely Planet is forever on the fence. It wavers somewhere between being the budget travel sector's equivalent of a benevolent, can-do-no-wrong Google, or its incompetent, ultra-corporate opposite, Microsoft. This week, LP took a step toward the incompetent side - and... Continue reading... -
... and Hello, Horses
12 Nov 2009 | 3:20 pmMorocco map About a year ago, Jacqueline and I had tried to go horseback riding but never managed to organize a trip. But on the Sunday afternoon of our Fes finale weekend, along with an eager Jon and Jen, we rode the train to Meknes, then a taxi to Club Farah, a riding club in the hills outside... Continue reading... -
Farewell, Fes...
11 Nov 2009 | 1:15 pmIt was supposed to be our final visit to Fes, a city with which I now feel we share a long and tarnished history. In truth, it was no more than half a year, rendered longer by the harsh weather and still harsher social climate (which I've described before - see "Running the Gauntlet: Street... Continue reading... -
In Honor of Friday Couscous, Notes on a Moroccan Classic
29 Oct 2009 | 5:44 pmBefore I came to Morocco, I rarely ate couscous (كسكوس). My mother - ever the adventurous and talented chef - had made it now and then throughout my childhood. But although certainly no picky eater, I had never liked the dish much. At home or in restaurants, it always seemed a bit too mealy, too... Continue reading... -
Toubkal: A Climb to the Roof of North Africa
24 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pmThe mountain had been on my list since we first arrived in Morocco - Jebel Toubkal (جبل تبقال), at 4,167 meters (13,671 feet) the highest peak in the Atlas range, and in all of North Africa. By a stroke of luck, I managed to get last Friday off work, just as my friends Chris and Susannah were... Continue reading...
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Yes and Yes
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We Love To Boogie
22 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amIsn't dancing The Best?! -
Stop It Already
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am -
Cover Me
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amI *love* cover songs. Love them! And aren't they even better when performed in a way that is so, so far from the original? Like White Zombie on the flute? Or Moby by a pep band? Let's waste some time watching these awesome covers.Mr. Brightside as performed on a ukulele.Don't Stop Believin' on a harp. A Harp!Viva La Vida on a violin.Acoustic Britney!In the event that you ever wondered what The Final Countdown would sound like if it was performed by an orchestra.What's your favorite cover song? -
A Year In Yes 2010 Calendar Officially For Sale!
19 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pmFriends! I've been waiting with baited coffee breath to get word from Our Guy that our little labor of love is on its way to the printer. And it finally is! So for all of you who were kind enough to respond to my post about this saying that you were interested, now you can finally get your order in! Just over there! To the right! Click that 'Buy Now' button!A bit of info about our 12 months of fun? Every month boasts a great color photo with an inspiring (non-nauseating) quote. The date grid includes fun ideas, hilariously real holidays and more quotes that make you want to go out and kick… -
Next Stop: Inspiration Station
19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amDear Sarah Von,Where do you get all of your ideas for posts? I have a blog too and coming up with ideas is like pulling teeth! Half of them aren't good enough, or they don't relate to my blog's topic, or I just get writers block. Is there a bottomless idea well that you have access to that I'm unfamiliar with?Oh you give me too much credit, friend. Because I'm not clever enough to write on one single topic, I chose to make Yes and Yes a 'lifestyle blog' which means that I can validate writing about masturbating Peruvians, my attempts at Scientology and what I imagine that Disney heroines…
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ColorMePink!
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Testing
15 Nov 2009 | 10:13 amJust testing out wavr plugin to embed a google wave in a post. -
Quick Tomato Sauce
14 Nov 2009 | 9:07 amWell, Quick Tomato Sauce with Spinach and Mushrooms over Ravioli, but that didn’t fit in the title space. 1 28 oz. can Petite Diced Tomatoes 1 6 oz. can tomato paste 4 cloves of garlic minced 1 large onion chopped 2 T. EVOO 1 pint of sliced portabello mushrooms 1 bunch of baby spinach, washed and dried 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Ravioli (or whatever pasta you’re in the mood for) Heat a large saute pan on med/high heat. When it’s hot, add the EVOO and allow to ribbon*. add the garlic and onion and saute until translucent. Add the mushroom and allow to cook until the… -
Halloween, Boo!
1 Nov 2009 | 9:55 am -
NaNoWriMo
1 Nov 2009 | 8:39 amAre you in? I’m going to participate for the first time this year. It’s already November 1st and I have no plot, no characters, no idea really – but I’m doing it anyway. How about you? -
Santa’s List
28 Oct 2009 | 6:24 amCan you believe there’s only 58 days till Christmas? Yeah, me neither. This year there’s a much smaller budget for presents – and quite honestly, I’m not very good with budgets. However, Vurgood came up with another outstanding app to make my life just a little bit easier. You might remember how much I loved their Mimeals app and I have to say they’ve come up with another great one. Santa’s List is a Christmas list organizer with some great features. There are three categories, “Recipients”, “Gifts”, and…
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Where's My Damn Answer?
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Non Traditional Poke Recipe
21 Nov 2009 | 5:42 amKaren got me started on Poke I had never tried it before she made this great appetizer for Jody’s going away party. WOW it was great. Out of respect for Karen I decided to try my hand at it only different. Here is my version. The inspiration came over the weekend when my Brother and Nephew came home from a deep sea fishing trip out of San Diego on a great boat called the El Dorado where they scored big time. In my fridge was a huge bag (one of many!!) of freshly filleted Albacore and it was screaming Poke Me Poke Me and who am I to… -
Happy Birthday to my fave sister…
19 Nov 2009 | 4:25 amWell, only sister…Robin. She is the epitome of coolness and always has been. Due to our age difference of 9 years, my sister and I have not always seen eye to eye…I guess basically when I came along, she was almost like a built in babysitter…and well, I was pretty much a terror. I actually remember, at the age of about 5, sitting on huge, overstuffed bunny, behind my bedroom door at our house in the Keys - waiting to prey on her. She also states that at this house, I stabbed her in the leg with a fork at the dinner table. Probably did, especially if it had ANYTHING to… -
This is a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
18 Nov 2009 | 8:29 pmOkay, now that I have your attention…just thought I’d share the news with you all. I have been appointed the Pastry Chef at Gravitas Restaurant in Houston, TX. It all happened pretty quickly and I was happy to spend some time with one of Houston’s best pastry chefs, Rebecca Masson to bring me up to speed!!! It is a wonderful opportunity - I am excited! Stay tuned for updates!!! -
Moments in Time
18 Nov 2009 | 4:32 amLife’s been pretty hectic lately (for almost everyone I know). Some of it good hectic and some not so good. I feel like Ron and I are working our butts off lately to make a $ just to “survive” another month. It’s getting a little better as RKN Studio picks up with more and more clients, but still … I HATE that feeling of waking up in the middle of the night and thinking … OMG … what are we going to do about THAT this month. Apparently this year is the year of readjustment for us … the ebb and flow of life. If you had told me that I would be…
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Anja Merret
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Strange sums of money
21 Nov 2009 | 1:27 amIn an article that made my ex-South African heart thump with great pride I read that Volkswagen SA had secured a major worldwide export deal. It’s for the new VW Polo, a make of car that I have been a proud owner of in the past and can vouch for it’s enjoyability. The sum of money involved is a staggering R27 billion. Even for the slightly mickey mouse aspect of the South African currency, this is still a fair amount of shekels. And all of it, it seems will be streaming into South Africa. And not only that, it will be streaming into an area that is truly desperate for investment… -
Short circuits in the brain
15 Nov 2009 | 8:05 amWhen was the last time you learnt something totally different such as a new language? I had forgotten how seriously difficult it is. Not only am I learning a new language, but it’s Vietnamese. So it’s totally removed from the languages I speak at the moment. It’s heavy going, frustrating and it knocks ones self-confidence right out of its comfortable spot. How can I be so stupid is the constant reminder as I struggle to remember the most basic words and concepts. It is very humbling. But more than any of the above there has been something that came to me recently. In fact it… -
Is the minimum wage the cause of unemployment
8 Nov 2009 | 3:47 amThat’s a fairly bold statement for somebody who has no clue about economics. But it’s something I have often thought about since coming to Vietnam. I haven’t seen one beggar in Hanoi. But I have seen many people working for less than a minimum wage. There are the dirt collectors. Pushing bicycles with a type of bucket attached divided into different compartments labourers collect the dirt while at the same time separating the garbage. They get paid for this chore, probably by the bucket - so to speak. Then I was watching some women using the traditional wooden poles and… -
Chaotic traffic in an organised way
24 Oct 2009 | 1:09 amNo report on Vietnam could possibly be complete without reflecting on the phenomena called traffic. There is one rule in Vietnam. The larger your vehicle, the more right of way you have. Nothing else counts. The lowest denominator is the pedestrian. It doesn’t matter whether you are venturing across a zebra crossing or have a traffic light showing a green man, you are at the mercy of the kindness of the motoring public. Taking the above principle that size is all that counts, one can see that it is fairly powerful to be the driver of a bus. This means that the lowly pedestrian, surely… -
Talking to the ancestors
20 Sep 2009 | 12:28 amWhat a week! My second week in Hanoi went quickly. I suppose when you are having fun… Besides the general stuff we had to do such as three hours of Vietnamese language lessons per day there were some other bits to keep us entertained and focused. We had our first heavy thunderstorms. Boy does it come down in buckets. But mostly the weather has been hot and humid. One of the locals told me that the autumn was the best part of the year because it was lovely and cool. Huuh? Between 30 and 35 degrees. Cool? It just goes to show. It’s all relative, isn’t it. Our VSO office helped…
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Life on the High Wire
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Thankfully, There is No Sarah Palin Bookmark
19 Nov 2009 | 6:31 amThis week’s stolen goods are a bit random because, well, I’m too tired to pull together a coherent set of treats. Sorry. They’re good finds though, so don’t be too mad, and I promise to be more organized soon. Like, in June.From the Quips and Tips for Successful Writing blog, here are “Four Signs You Need to Reevaluate Your Writing or Publication Goals.” The points are relevant to any kind of project, so take a look if you’re stalling out. They’re especially timely since we’re heading into New Year’s resolution season. (Next month I’ll post my thoughts on what went well… -
Need Proof of the Media’s Power? I Don’t Even Have a TV
16 Nov 2009 | 11:46 amHow do I know I’m out of balance on the fun vs. work scale? Because the most exciting thing that happened for me this weekend was a celebrity sighting.You’re probably saying, But Deonne! That is so exciting! Was it Brangelina? Rob Pattinson? Rihanna?No. The highlight of my weekend was seeing Al Roker at the corner of 83rd and Lex.I don’t mean to disrespect Mr. Roker. I’m sure he’s worthy of a good stalking, but for me, it wasn’t quite as thrilling as seeing Ryan Adams, or even Eric Mabius.I can verify that he did look much like he does on the Today show, without the blazer and big… -
Note to Concerned Readers: Whitney and Thai Takeout are Not Codewords For Anything
12 Nov 2009 | 6:05 amAt the Inside Higher Ed blog, poet Sandra Beasley ponders the question “Is ‘brave’ codeword for ‘idiotic’?” as she describes how she made the leap to full-time writer. Her story is relevant for any of you wanting to ditch your day job and pursue your passion seven days a week. Read the full post here. (Thanks to Erika at Practicing Writing for the tip.)Have a great weekend, everyone. If I can tear myself away from my desk for a few hours, I’m going to the Whitney to see this and this. And maybe, if I’m very, very good, I’ll get Thai takeout after. Don’t hate me because… -
Love in Bloom
9 Nov 2009 | 5:52 amThis weekend it hit me that I live in New York.I know. You’re probably saying, Gee, Deonne, what was your first clue? The fact that you just signed another one-year lease on your apartment? Or that you had trouble renewing your car registration in Taos because you don’t have a mailing address there anymore? Or that you now have two great jobs (and good friends) in New York and don’t want to leave them any time soon?It’s as if New York and I have been casually dating for a year and a half – dinner, movies, making out on the couch – and now I’m finally ready to take it to the next… -
That’s a Resounding Yes If I Switch from Malbec to Mad Dog
5 Nov 2009 | 6:41 amI was out of wine. Knowing I wouldn’t have another chance to replenish the coffers because of a ridiculous schedule yesterday, I went shopping first thing in the morning.A man I’d seen hanging out on my apartment stoop was propped against the wall next to the door of the liquor store. I don’t think it would be presumptuous to say he was very likely not a tenant in my building. I’d only ever seen him wearing one sad, filthy coat, and when I was bold enough to look him in the eyes, they were always watery and red. I’d often wondered where he spent his nights.The lights were on in the…
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Adventure Journalist
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Lovebirds
16 Nov 2009 | 7:18 pmIn case you haven’t heard, Ryan and Kyla will be parents in May. -
A Saturday afternoon
14 Nov 2009 | 6:06 pmCheck out all the photos from today. -
At Washoe Lake
10 Nov 2009 | 12:57 pm -
Downtown Reno
6 Nov 2009 | 10:10 pm -
Marvels of the New West
1 Nov 2009 | 8:14 pmOreo is a closet bibliophile. Shane’s photo. Shane and I saved out a few dollars this week and went to check out a used book sale at Grassroots Books in Reno. We were dumbstruck to find this old, old book – Marvels of the New West, published in 1887 – still in terrific condition, with the other 99 cent books. We checked at the counter in case it was a mistake. Nope. It’s now proudly displayed in our library.
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Quality of Life Project
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Top Ten Quality of Life Contributors by Avil Beckford
12 Nov 2009 | 11:08 amQuality of life for me is doing the things that bring joy. Over the past five years I have learned a lot about what does not work for me and I have turned over a new leaf. 1. Reading I am an avid reader, and reading is one of the simple pleasures in my life. I go [...] -
Quality of Life Perspectives: Eric Bibb Talks About Gratitude
5 Nov 2009 | 11:38 amAs many of you know, I’m a huge fan of the musician Eric Bibb. He is one of the great performers living today. He is a Grammy-nominated blues musician who despite his accomplishments may still be one of the best-kept secrets in music. Eric’s guitar work and lyrics are incredible; however it’s something about his calm [...] -
Top Ten Quality of Life Contributors by Gil Gerstein
28 Oct 2009 | 12:50 pmQuality of life to me is living and loving consciously, embracing life’s experiences, making small yet attainable goals and enjoying all the little moments that life brings. 1. Think Positive I believe that people are inherently good, things are always getting better and all challenges can be turned into accomplishments. By embracing struggle as a learning experience, [...] -
Quality of Life Perspectives: Sidney Harman Cites Death of a Salesman
22 Oct 2009 | 12:01 pmSidney Harman epitomizes the term “wise man.” When he was 25, he was way ahead of the game in terms of knowing what is important in life and how to make positive things happen. At 92, lets just say he knows a lot about life… Dr. Harman is a warm, energetic, generous man who also [...] -
Top Ten Quality of Life Contributors by Cynthia Chin
20 Oct 2009 | 10:11 amWe live in a time when more and more people realize that life is not just about existing but absolutely be about living to the fullest. Most of us perceive ourselves to be stuck in whatever rut that we cannot possibly get out of at the moment, for whatever reasons. I’d like to think otherwise. [...]
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Healthy Living DIY
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Why Am I So Exhausted?
20 Nov 2009 | 7:06 amExhaustion, tiredness, fatigue, lethargy. Whatever name you give it in your own mind, a chronic lack of energy is way too common these days. In fact, as a holistic health practitioner, "Why am I so tired" is one of the most frequent questions people ask! With that in mind, let's explore some surprisingly obvious yet frequently overlooked reasons for that zapped-out feeling. We'll also consider some "natural cures" to get you back to feeling your best! Today, we'll start with awareness. How does a person recognize that their energy is low? No, I'm not kidding. It can be surprisingly easy to… -
Limiting Beliefs of the most Insidious Kind (The ones you don't know about.)
15 Sep 2009 | 1:36 pm"Why even offer Wellness Coaching? After all, isn't it less challenging work to simply treat people's symptoms?" Seriously, this is a question people ask. The answer is "yes." It's actually much less challenging work for me to simply treat a symptom and send the person home. Yet treating and retreating symptoms that have the possibility of being resolved presents its own challenge -- to my value system. That is why, a number of years ago, I shifted gears in my personal study to gain a better understanding of how and why unconscious limiting beliefs affect body structure (and a whole lot of… -
Engage Creativity -- Resolve Stress!
9 Sep 2009 | 3:31 pmCreative problem-solvers are rarely stressed for very long. What is their secret? It's simple. When something puzzling tugs their tail, creative problem-solvers are pretty well sure that they will be able to come up with a satisfactory solution. They don't waste a lot of energy worrying. Instead, they set out on a two-step process that virtually guarantees success and a good night's sleep. Not all "creative personalities" have the process worked out so smoothly, of course. Sometimes a great solution will "pop" into their head, yet on other occasions it eludes them. Like anything else,… -
Avoiding Higher Guidance
1 Sep 2009 | 2:31 pmAvoiding Higher Guidance. I think that from time to time we must all do it. You know the drill: your plea goes out to those Higher Powered Beings who surely must be able, from their lofty and objective vantage points, to see the solutions that elude you: * Should I move or stay put? * Is there a better job out there for me? * Am I headed in the right direction with my life? * I'm exhausted all the time. Where's all my energy going? * How can I get my health in order? * Where should I look to find that special someone? * What is the very next thing I should do to move forward with my life? You… -
Fresh Foods Taste Great!
4 Aug 2009 | 8:13 amFresh local produce in season. Don't you just love it? Mmmm. I don't know about you, but I just can hardly wait for that first tomato of the season! Fresh produce tastes great and it's good for you. In fact, it's National Farmer's Market Week! Hoo boy! To help you plan your shopping, the good folks at Rodale have just put together an informative article on tips for the farmer's market. Once you've done your shopping, if you're interested in some cool veggie information (this might even get the kids interested) and fresh serving suggestions, check out the Fresh Garden Energy website. Creative…
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My Story Related
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The Cab Driver
Here is my story. I am a social worker who was visiting a client when one of their siblings decided to ask me some questions about my personal life. She asked me about my children. I had one son who is 17 that live in New Jersey. Then I started ... -
A Celebration Dance for My Kids
Let me start with the anxiety that I felt when I checked the site for the results at least three times a day a week after I mailed the kit to the DNA lab. When I looked at the login page yesterday and saw the PDF icons, I got so ... -
Thank You
Given up at birth in Austin TX, I was thankful to both the foster family who nurtured me and the permanent family who named and raised me. I went home to Betty Cook Drive where my new father sold life insurance while my new mom answered phones for Walter Carrington ... -
3 Generations of Adoption
Growing up as a young child I had no idea just how much adoption had to do with my life. Born a child to an adoptee, I only knew that ‘Mom was adopted’. Her adoptive parents were my grandparents and I knew nothing else. It wasn’t until I entered the foster ... -
My Story: Mirah Riben
[caption id="attachment_72" align="alignleft" width="263" caption="Mirah Riben"][/caption] My life was irrevocably changed in 1968 when, lacking support, I succumbed to the pressure to surrender of my first-born child, a daughter, to adoption, becoming one of an estimated four million American mothers to surrender a newborn to adoption between 1940 to 1970; two ...
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Thursday Drive
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If it comes to that
16 Nov 2009 | 11:09 pmBefore breakfast on a school day. We stand side by side at the window, looking out, son and mother. A stream runs behind the house, fast and full when it rains or quiet and slow, like now. Beyond the stream, the woods. The forest floor is an endless brown and orange sea, and the bare trees look like the masts of half-sunken ships. Easier to see it that way when you’re standing next to a ten year old. When we moved here, the leaves were just starting to change. In these weeks while we’ve settled in, they blushed to bright colors and let the come-ons of wind and rain and… -
Buttons
10 Nov 2009 | 9:11 amAs you know, these last few weeks have held some big changes, and I’m still trying to get my bearings. I don’t like writing a sorry I haven’t been around much lately post, but these days I feel less like the author of this blog and more like someone who stops by every now and then to water the plants and collect the stray newspapers from the end of the driveway. (Don’t pay any attention at all as I dust things off around here and open some windows.) That will change – soon, I hope – when things in my life settle a bit more. It’s not even just that. -
Happy.
27 Oct 2009 | 7:21 amThe first weekend after we got to Maryland, I took the kids to see the ocean for the first time. I think they liked it. (Ocean City…) Before. Still dry. So much of her personality in one photo. Sweetest soul I know. But if his friends ask, he's a total badass. (See, honey? Mama's lookin' out for you.) Surfboard optional. Dear Ocean, We'll be back. Share this -
Stripped away
23 Oct 2009 | 10:09 amThis move was a different kind of move than I had always planned. Instead of taking everything we owned, I left a lot of things behind. The move happened pretty fast (though a lot of things had been packed for two years, in the end it was quick and dirty), which left little time to linger over each thing. Instead, I performed a quick triage. Keep. Toss. Sell. Give away. I knew there wouldn’t be room on the truck for most of our furniture, and we wouldn’t be in our own place again for a while, so we could take only the things we really cared about. The kids’ beds and… -
Bold
11 Oct 2009 | 7:03 amNot long ago, on her Facebook page, my sister posted these lines from Whitman: Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams, Now I wash the gum from your eyes, You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life. Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore, Now I will you to be a bold swimmer, To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair. Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself What she didn’t know was that this is one of my favorite passages. I left her a note. “Did you know…
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Simplify Life
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Simple Energy Booster for Frazzled Moms
16 Nov 2009 | 8:12 amWhat’s one thing most busy, working moms are looking for – besides more time? More energy! Are you tired of feeling tired? Between your job and your kids – whether they’re toddlers or teenagers – you might be frazzled or even downright exhausted. According to Health magazine, studies show that women sleep less, stress more, and do more multitasking than men. So that means we need more energy! I found some simple strategies for instant energy that I wanted to share: Go on a Quick Walk According to a recent study by the University of Georgiayou can increase your energy level 20% just… -
Tips for Traveling by Air with Small Children
9 Nov 2009 | 8:28 amIt’s that time of year again – holiday travel is around the corner! It’s time to visit grandma and grandpa. For many of us the best way to get there is to travel by air. If you have little ones the thought of air travel might fill you with dread. But with some simple forethought and planning you can reduce the stress. Tips before Leaving Home Check out the TSA website for current information on whats allowed and how to pack it. They also have great information of what to expect when taking children through the security check. For example, it might be a good idea to rehearse with… -
A Spa Getaway – Benefits for Busy Moms
2 Nov 2009 | 8:20 amLet’s face it, with all the holiday hustle and bustle around the corner you might be finding yourself in need of a brief “getaway” to recharge. If you have just a couple hours to yourself how can you really maximize that time to relax? Personally, just thinking about going to the spa instantly puts me in a more relaxed frame of mind. Sounds great of course but you’re so busy… I’ll do my best here to help justify some spa time, because as a busy mom you really do deserve it! First of all, don’t forget the health benefits of spa treatments. It can help to… -
Study Links Good Sex Life with More Housework
26 Oct 2009 | 11:10 amI was reading one of my favorite blogs this week – The Juggle by the Wall Street Journal – and was surprised to learn the connection between housework and your sex life! Apparently a new study, published this month in the Journal of Family Issues, shows that for husbands and wives alike the more housework you do, the more often you’re likely to have sex with your spouse. Now I’ve blogged in the past about the frustration many women feel when they’re trying to get their husbands more involved in household chores. So could this be some additional motivation? Other research supports… -
Moms - 5 Reasons to Stop Feeling Guilty About Your “Me Time”
19 Oct 2009 | 8:38 amI don't know about the rest of you moms, but between work, my family and the house, finding – and taking time for myself is a huge challenge. Even when we arrange our schedules as a family so I can have some "me time," I often feel guilty about taking it! But, deep down I know it’s important. So here are 5 reasons that help rationalize away the guilt so you can enjoy the time you make for yourself “Me Time” Helps Moms… 1. Relieve stress Stress can build and build in your body if you don’t take time away from the daily grind to relax now and then. If…
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Hitched
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Tips For A Stress-Free Thanksgiving
19 Nov 2009 | 8:14 amRelax and make this holiday season one of the best yet with these simple, helpful tips. -
Breaking from Holiday Traditions
18 Nov 2009 | 9:38 amWhile not easy, here's why it's more important to make decisions and establish your own holiday rituals. -
Creating a Spouse from Scratch
17 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amIf you were expecting your spouse to change once you were married, like an Instant Husband or Wife, you've probably realized things haven't gone as planned. Here's why. -
Should You Give Your Spouse an Ultimatum?
16 Nov 2009 | 9:09 amThere are several roads you can take to get your spouse to change, but is an ultimatum one you should take? -
Moving Forward
13 Nov 2009 | 9:09 amSara and David have decided to move. Find out where and why.
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Jessica Wilson
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Andre in front of the soon to be reopened Beatrice... — purple DIARY
3 Nov 2009 | 11:30 amAndre in front of the soon to be reopened Beatrice... — purple DIARYis it true?! -
robertpattinsonvanityfair
3 Nov 2009 | 8:17 am -
pandorapalaisroyal
3 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amI always really like Louise's outfits, but these pictures are my perfect style - leather jacket, white dress and sick over the knee boots (which I still haven't gotten blurggh) worn casually in the beautiful pathways of palais royal. -
venicevenice
30 Oct 2009 | 2:31 pm -
vanessatraina
30 Oct 2009 | 2:29 pm
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WebSnacker
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Hope, Sea Dolphins & Electric Lemons
21 Nov 2009 | 8:28 amThis is my first blog post after an extended 55 day break. And I have my reasons.I had been working overtime on a big idea, giving life to an ostensibly brilliant scheme of mine (at least that is what I wish to believe). I wanted my idea to fly like the Wright Brothers' first home-made airplane but I am not building a new aircraft in case you were curious….rather something that would spawn employment, help the poor, save the planet and also generate a fairly decent amount of money.Alas, not even a single investor (I met three) seemed to share my social entrepreneurial beliefs. They were… -
Bushisms : Hilarious DimWitted Wisdom of George W Bush
27 Sep 2009 | 10:23 amListed below are some great tongue slippers from George Walker Bush - the former President of the great U.S of A during his history defining 8 year misrule. Its ironic to realize that in spite of being born with a golden spoon, educated at Yale and Harvard and hobnobbing with the best minds the presidency could buy, George Bush seemed to be so visibly poor in English, History, Georgraphy...well, almost everything!! Here are some of his most memorable mispronouncements (sourced from the Web, CNN, BBC and elsewhere).ON HIMSELF"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound… -
Clients, Wives and One Night Stands
23 Sep 2009 | 12:18 pmIts Time to Nurture Clients as FamilyOkay, let me tell you upfront that this is not a seedy take on extra-marital bang bangs but an allegory of client-agency relationships. As we move ever closer to the next frontier, there is no doubt that we are seeing a momentous alteration in the role of advertising and creative agencies. There are two key areas of change currently taking place. The first is, of course, the rising might of the New Media – read the power of the internet, social media, twitter, facebook, google, the eworks. The second and more understated, is the role ad agencies now play… -
Not So Secret Recipes For Employee Motivation
17 Sep 2009 | 11:36 amRecently, I was called to speak on “Employee Motivation” at a Business Luncheon organized by a Travel brand discussing ‘Innovation in Business’. Yes, the buzz term – “Innovation” is still very much in Business. The organizers wanted to know how my company with its little crew has been able to withstand the recessionary winds and continue sailing on while our bigger step brothers are almost on SOS rescue missions. Real innovation, hard work or sheer luck; what was our secret recipe? Maybe a mix of all but I would stress more on ‘Team Spirit’ of our small but extraordinarily… -
Teenaged Randy Misadventures
12 Sep 2009 | 6:24 amI have always been a passionate guy. Oh yes, don't laugh, I have! Read on for a bit of adolescent passion from my teenage days: Grrrrrrrr!See what I mean? I bet you're all of a tremble now. I have this effect on women. When a girl sees me, she instantly recognizes that I am what one of them described as a "powerhouse of passion!" Later, when we had a row, she said she called me that because there was steam coming out of my ears, but never mind.Now passionate guys like me have to come to a very important decision early in our lives. Do we spend the rest of our days stupidly chasing after…
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The Art of Non-Conformity
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Mountain Climbing, Motivations, and The Deep-Seated Fear of Failure
19 Nov 2009 | 4:09 amWhen I first started doing media interviews in 2008, I noticed that one question would almost always come up: “Why are you so obsessed with travel?” (I learned to call it the mountain-climbing question, because it’s the same one climbers are asked about Everest and K2: “Why?”) The question bewildered me until I got used to it. For a long time, I didn’t know how to answer; the quest to see the whole world was just something that made sense to me intuitively. I like travel, I like goal-setting, so why not put the two together? I was reminded of this while reading a review of… -
Midnight Train to Tbilisi, Georgia
16 Nov 2009 | 4:07 amGreetings, friends and readers. I’ve been traveling in the Caucasus this month, and over the weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to go from Azerbaijan to Georgia on a 15-hour overnight train. Here are a few notes and several videos from the trip. So much of travel involves getting lost, experiencing a slight rising of panic, feeling inadequate and not being able to communicate. The small moments of victory come when you successfully navigate a challenge. I found the train station! I bought a ticket! I found the right platform! And then I wait four hours. As someone said once,… -
Endorsement for Mondo Beyondo
15 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pmGreetings from the only coffee shop with WiFi I could find in Baku, Azerbaijan. Not speaking Azeri, Russian, or Turkish doesn’t help with getting directions, but I’m holding up OK. More on the trip next week as I continue to Georgia via overnight train, assuming I can figure out how to get to the train station. This is the Sunday Store Update. I use this time for a short update on the business side of AONC—although this week I’ll be writing about someone else’s business. As threatened in a previous Sunday update, I have a few things planned for my business expansion… -
Technology and Travel
12 Nov 2009 | 6:58 amGreetings from somewhere in between Frankfurt airport and Baku, Azerbaijan. (This post is going up in advance, since I’m not sure I want to rely on in-flight internet.) Approximately one billion people—perhaps slightly less—have recently asked me about what kind of travel gear I use to roam the world and work. Here’s the thing: I’m pretty basic. I can’t claim complete minimalism, but I’m not really that high-tech of a guy. My strategy is “use what works and keep it simple.” So here’s what we’ll do: I’ll tell you what I bring with… -
Next Stop, Azerbaijan
9 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amAfter an extended time at home with no international trips, I’m headed back out on the road this week. My journey will take me to the Caucasus region, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Here’s how I arranged the trip and what I plan to do. Itinerary On Wednesday, the 28-hour journey to get to Baku, Azerbaijan begins. I’ll hop over to Denver to catch the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, which connects to another LH flight to Baku. If you don’t know where Baku is, don’t worry—I was fairly clueless myself until recently. Here’s how the whole trip…
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Shiny Bits of Life
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Amazon did a great thing
20 Nov 2009 | 1:06 amAmazon has a new initiative that seeks to reduce and simplify packaging. They are working with several vendors to ensure that the packages stuff comes in is easier to get into: “Frustration-Free Packaging“. You can see the full letter here. They didn’t say much about how sometimes they send a tiny thing in a huge cardboard box. Share on Facebook -
Nairobi vs. Denver
19 Nov 2009 | 1:14 amThis lovely door handle broke. Toyota took almost two months to ship us a replacement. I thought that length of time was amazing. Sometimes the “western world” has disadvantages compared with the “developing world”. If I had a broken door handle with this same car in Kenya, I could have gotten a replacement the same day. (Our Corolla is perhaps the most common vehicle on their crowded roads.) Having said that, if we had an obscure vehicle in Kenya, we could have waited a year for the replacement. One of the aspects of my job when we were there last was to advise people… -
That warm sound
18 Nov 2009 | 1:06 amMy Aunt Mary gave us a set of kids records with companion books. Rachel, our 8-year-old, loves them. It’s a wonderful thing to hear those scratches and pops that a vinyl record produces. (Ironically, I took this shot when she was wearing headphones – at my insistence.) Sadly, the belt on the turntable (alias record player) broke during that listening session. Thankfully, there is a shop not far from where we live that can fix it, I think. Share on Facebook -
It is too late
17 Nov 2009 | 1:23 amBoston has a great public underground train system. London does too. Chicago has its wonderful “L” train network (with a horrible website). San Francisco has the BART. Denver has two light rail lines. They would love to expand to a third line. The current economy will not allow such expansion. Solution? Go back 50 years. At that point in time, they could have done it. But then Denver was a sleepy western town with no thought of miles of tract homes. Takeaway? Plan for the future. (Note to self.) Share on Facebook -
Blacklisted
16 Nov 2009 | 12:59 amSo, you see, we had this bit of Adobe software installed on Heather’s Toshiba laptop. It was getting old and s-l-o-w, so we decided to get a newer computer for her. Being a Mac person, I leaned that direction but never dreamed that she would be willing to go that way. She did! But that meant her Adobe Web Standard CS4 Suite is no longer of any use to us. Problem? It’s an academic license. We bought it when she was in grad school, so rather than the regular price of $1000, it was much cheaper. But Amazon, Ebay and Craigslist all will not let us sell it! Are you an academic or know…
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mental_floss Blog
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10 Foods That (Thankfully) Flopped
21 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmby Terri Schlichenmeyer From Celery Jell-O to chocolate French fries, here are ten foods that didn’t have a very long shelf-life. 1. Coffee-Flavored Jell-O® (Celery, Too!) In 1918, the makers of Jell-O introduced a new flavor: coffee. Its release was ostensibly based on the logic that, since lots of people like to drink coffee with dessert, they’d be game for combining the two after-dinner treats. Not the case. The company soon realized if anyone wants dessert coffee, they’re going to have a cup of it. In fact, if anyone wants coffee at all, they’re going to have a cup of it. Not… -
Bonus Quiz: College Football Trophies
21 Nov 2009 | 11:30 amSure, bad blood and a shared border may be all two teams need to spark a rivalry, but a really bizarre trophy doesn’t hurt, either. Let’s find out how well you know which teams are fighting for giant axes and phones this fall. Take the Quiz: College Football Trophies -
This Week’s Most Popular Stories
21 Nov 2009 | 10:36 amIn case you weren’t obsessively refreshing mentalfloss.com all week, here’s what you missed: 1. The Nautical Roots of 9 Common Phrases, by Mark Longo * 2. 9 Tasty Foods Named After People, by Ethan Trex * 3. Run Your Life With Flowcharts! by Miss Cellania * 4. 7 False Acronyms, by David K. Israel * 5. Why Are Barns Usually Red? by Matt Soniak * 6. 6 Multi-Purpose Wonder Bras, by Linda Rodriguez * 7. Strange Geographies: Village Life in Vanuatu, by Ransom Riggs * 8. The Quick 10: 10 Lesser-Known Celebrity Couples, by Stacy Conradt * 9. 7 More Examples of Owners Behaving Badly, by… -
The Weekend Links
21 Nov 2009 | 9:18 amThere’s a never ending supply of websites featuring pets doing silly, amazing, cute or preposterous things. Why? Because we obviously cannot get enough of them! (there’s a thesis paper in there somewhere, I can sense it). In any case, here’s another one, found by Whitney: Sad Pets in Costumes. * Sleeping in your own bed after a long trip, being able to carry all the groceries from the car in one swoop, that miracle of science when the amount of toilet paper left on the toll is the exact amount you need – these are just some of the quietly awesome things in life, but… -
Lunchtime Quiz Leftovers
21 Nov 2009 | 5:25 am
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MarriageTweets
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How does technology enable intimacy? Technology anthropologist...
3 Nov 2009 | 10:02 amHow does technology enable intimacy? Technology anthropologist Stefana Broadbent analyzes how we text, IM and talk. At the TED conference in July 2009, she described how these new methods of communication are helping us break out of old institutions and bringing us closer together than ever before. -
Fact Sheet: Marriage Among Asian Americans All Asian ethnic...
23 Sep 2009 | 2:16 pmFact Sheet: Marriage Among Asian Americans All Asian ethnic groups living in the U.S. have a greater than 60 percent marriage rate. Asians marrying non-Hispanic Whites comprise the greatest proportion of intermarriages in the United States. Of Asians living in the U.S. who intermarry, about 75 percent are women. More than 50 percent of the Asians in the U.S. live in three states: California New York and Texas. Download: PDF fact sheet -
Air Force Marriages: Forget everything you thought you knew
20 Sep 2009 | 9:32 amAir Force Marriages: Forget everything you thought you knew: Forget everything you thought you knew about marriage and divorce in the Air Force. Most of it isn’t true. An analysis by Air Force Times of the service’s marriage and divorce statistics turned up surprising conclusions. Many defy easy explanation. Female airmen are two to three times more likely than male airmen to be divorced and are less likely to be married. Of the active-duty force, 66.6 percent of men and 63.2 percent of women have been or are married, and 5.3 percent of men and 12.5 percent of women are… -
Video
18 Sep 2009 | 8:31 am -
Australia: What's the real story behind increase in marriages?
17 Sep 2009 | 9:20 amAustralia: What's the real story behind increase in marriages?: It seemed like good news on marriage last year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a record number of registered marriages since 1989 and a 10 per cent drop in divorce numbers since 1999. The reality is that marital relationships have never been more unstable in Australia. The number of marriages has increased because the population has grown. However, the proportion of married people has not really changed. To get a true picture of the situation concerning divorce, we need to take account of the fact more and more…
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Karl Rohde
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The young baby screamed
17 Nov 2009 | 2:16 amThe young baby screamed; his small face screwed up into a crinkled little ball. The high-pitched protest bounced off the walls, echoing. Between screeches, he took laboured breaths, his little body shuddering with the effort. Vibrations rattled throughout the room. The house sounded like it was in the middle of a building site; heavy machinery and [...] -
What maketh the man?
1 Nov 2009 | 3:51 amI was a scrawny, nervous young lad when I got to high school. For those from overseas, high school is around your 8th year of school through to when you leave school at around 17/18 in NZ. Anyway, I had a hard time. The nickname for my school was Penrose State Prison. In reality it was called [...] -
Creativity
27 Oct 2009 | 2:21 amI honestly can’t pin point the time when I knew I wanted to be a creative person. Looking back, I see trigger points. A unique solution to a problem, playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid and spending more time working on the story line that playing the game, finding a unique way to layer paint, [...] -
New Zealand – Economic Capital of The World (1/12)
23 Oct 2009 | 6:28 pmNew Zealand’s days as a manufacturer of goods and dairy are well and truly numbered. The high cost and low margins are simply not sustainable. This is a twelve part series exploring what New Zealand might be able to do with strong leadership and vision. How it can truly become the Economic Capital of The World. [...] -
Employment Fine Print
22 Oct 2009 | 7:37 pm“Please do not waste both our time threatening me or proffering legal advice. Your threats are risible, and you are patently not qualified to give legal advice.” All I did was ask my ex-client to stop trying to poach my staff. Quite reasonable in my opinion. They do note that the agreement between my company and theirs [...]
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Zoe Rights
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Lucky
22 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amOne of my close friends has recently fallen in love. Really fallen in love. Pretty much for the first time despite being married for the eight years. No, she’s not married now…they separated last year. It took a lot to get free. Well, they have kids together so she’ll never be free completely. I feel for her- frankly the soon to be ex is of a type of new breed of man- I like to refer to them as the whiny little bitch. Luckily this type of man seems to be a small minority in the world but I fear like a virus they may spread. This is the type of man you just want to shake, to yell at them… -
The Plan
21 Nov 2009 | 12:11 amI signed the papers yesterday. Officially I no longer own my house-the one I spent two and a half years (lovingly) picking out every detail. I forget sometimes as I go through my day…I picked out the gorgeous beveled glass window that fills my bathroom with rainbows all day. I installed the brushed nickel faucets. I personally sanded the 70 year old floors and stained them and stained them and stained them again until they took on the dark patina I was aiming for. I filled every single nail hole on the eighty miles of trim and crown molding. Yet yesterday as I signed that last page, I was… -
Confession Friday
20 Nov 2009 | 12:01 amSo I was kinda a bad kid- not the worst…I did have straight A’s and an almost full-time job in high school but I did play pretty hard. I could give excuses…I didn’t have parents. Sure they were present (sometimes) but it was like living with overgrown teenagers. But I knew better. I partied, drank, did drugs, went to concerts and bars. Took road trips. Missed 65 days my senior year. They almost wouldn’t let me graduate but with my grades they really couldn’t make the argument stick. Lived on a friend’s balcony for a summer. Moved in with my older boyfriend for months at a time. -
TMI Thursday: Again and Again
19 Nov 2009 | 6:01 amI haven't TMI'd for awhile which is really dumb. For a few reasons 1. Really embarrassing stuff happens to me all the time. 2. There is nothing I enjoy more than sharing it with you, my bestest internet friends. 3. When I run out of my goodness, I have my friends goodness to exploit which I totally can because it's in the rules. First before I entertain you, let's give credit where credit is due- to the lovely, brilliant, talented (not kissing up,....ok maybe I am) LiLu. If you ever feel a desire to pee your pants you should go visit her. She makes me use words like awesomesauce. Later I have… -
Girls, Girls, Girls
18 Nov 2009 | 12:01 amIn all their glory...SuperGirl(left) and God-daugter(right) Oh, Supergirl- What a Diva!
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Everyday Goddess
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I'm down to two piles and multiple projects.
16 Nov 2009 | 6:56 amI could not possibly need a personal day more, emotionally and personal work-wise. And I'm not going to get one, so I just keep plugging along.The unpacking is down to a giant pile next to my desk, much of which won't fit into that area, so another puzzle. And a pile in my bedroom of stuff to be jigsawed into my small closet.I got a ton of things done this weekend, including clearing both tables, organizing my tool box, opening all remaining boxes, putting up some posters, putting up the sash in my bedroom that blocks out light around the verticals, and running the phone cable to the Tivo so… -
Well, it's a good thing there's another weekend between my move and Thanksgiving.
9 Nov 2009 | 7:13 amI got a lot of unpacking done this weekend, but took two big breaks. On Saturday I went shopping & ran errands, and on Sunday I met with my writers/creative group. The new apartment is slightly smaller than the old one, so most of the fit-stuff-in puzzles are slightly different. The closets are the same, but under the sinks is just slightly smaller. I still have some major projects left to do. Still, I'm pretty pleased at what I did get done. In particular, the bathroom, kitchen, and armoire are going to make this week much more livable than last. Much thanks to my ex for helping with the… -
The Move
5 Nov 2009 | 8:25 pmThe move upstairs and across the hall kicked my ass. It's been over six years since I moved last, and I remember being a powerhouse. Making it happen.Well, I made it happen - with seriously awesome couldn't-have-done-it-without-them help from some friends on the Saturday and the Sunday - but it felt harder. Granted, I only took 3 hours off from work for the entire move, and life is a mess right now, but still, it felt harder. It took all day both days of the weekend.But, it's done. The moving anyway. The unpacking kicks into high gear this weekend, and here's hoping that I'm just as much of a… -
Who needs boxes when you've got seven years of free bags?
28 Oct 2009 | 7:23 amI slipped financially towards the end of my unemployment. Add Cobra health insurance and a pending security deposit, and you've got mega financial suck. When my roommate told me she was moving, I felt like I just couldn't do the roommate thing again. Plus, the economy's killing me, but it's also bringing rent prices down in L.A. I felt like now was the time to push and get my own place. Extra hundreds per month be damned.But, I also couldn't imagine doing a full move to a new apartment. With the new job and the giant commute, finding a new place seemed impossible, and then renting a truck,… -
Finally making it out to a new opening at Wax Poetic - The Art of Dave DeVries
24 Oct 2009 | 9:06 amI've missed at least one opening at Wax Poetic, maybe two. But thankfully I'm able to make the one tonight, because the Halloween show always rocks. Tonight it's this guy who takes children's monster drawings and turns them into real art: The dorky thing I always do is that I have an appointment today, so then I end up going into Wax Poetic and being like, I'm not looking! I'm not looking! lol It always feels like cheating to see the art early. Here's some official 411:WAX POETIC GALLERY PRESENTS THE ART OF DAVE DEVRIES: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, 2009 Wax Poetic Gallery is proud to present the…
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Reading, Writing, and Reflecting
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The Opportunity of Green Building Materials
31 Oct 2009 | 11:12 amThis past week, I attended an interesting Silicon Valley TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Cleantech event titled: Green Building Materials. The promotional materials cited the following descriptions of the panelists: Founder of the US and World Green Building Council, Head of Research for Abu Dhabi (Masdar) Green City, along with executives from leading start-ups including Serious Materials, LED Engin and Calera. Additionally, some statistics cited in the promotional materials included a recent estimate from Pike Research valuing untapped energy efficiency projects at $400B as well as study… -
Transforming my losing Fantasy Football team after 6 weeks
24 Oct 2009 | 12:35 pmEarlier, I wrote about one of my fantasy football teams that was selected using Yahoo!’s auto-draft feature as I wasn’t available at the time of the draft. After 6 weeks, my team is 2-4 with the second fewest points scored out of 12 teams. The top 8 teams make the playoffs and at this point I would miss the playoffs. So, the time is now to transform the team, and try to salvage the season. This week, I made two major trades which I hope turns the tide and creates a winning 2nd half of the season. Here again is the roster drafted by Yahoo! for me. ROUND OVERALL PICK PLAYER TEAM… -
Social Media—it’s really making an impact
24 Oct 2009 | 9:36 amEarlier, I wrote about my Internet ADD; the evolution of my Internet usage patterns and the recent movement to spending more time on social media and networking sites. There has been a lot of commentary and discussion on Web 2.0, Social Networks, etc. and whether the transformation of web into these types of properties has really been a good thing or a not so meaningful shift that allows people to have more means to simply waste time. Perhaps, the communication and sharing attributes of Web 2.0 has simply allowed others to participate in one’s wasting of time some have argued. However,… -
India and the US in the 21st Century- An evening with former Ambassador Teresita Schaffer
7 Oct 2009 | 11:59 pmEarlier this week, I attended an enjoyable lecture by former Ambassador Teresita Schaffer about India- US relations at Stanford University. Schaffer is currently the Director, South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies and formerly held a long diplomatic career which included serving as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and as Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs. In her role as Director, South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, her regional expertise includes India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of South… -
Shantaram and The White Tiger: A stark contrast
26 Sep 2009 | 10:13 pmTwo recent fiction books set in and depicting life in India that have become internationally acclaimed are Shantaram and The White Tiger. Shantaram, written by Gregory David Roberts, is a semi-autobiographical fiction book based upon some of Roberts’ real life experiences as a fugitive from an Australian prison who flees to Bombay in the 80’s and has a wide range of experiences there including living in a Bombay slum and a small rural village, joining the Indian mafia, fighting in Afghanistan against the Russians, and acting in Bollywood movies. The White Tiger was written by…
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So Not Zen
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Post with a picture of a Man, No. 5
21 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pmJust realized I am on a streak here. A posting pictures of men streak. Hey, there are worse streaks to be on. I could be obsessed with posting pictures of injured toenails. That would be gnarly. You're welcome.People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. Johnny Depp. Um... DUH? Why has it not been Johnny Depp every year since the 1987 debut of 21 Jump Street? Perhaps with the occasional break for Robert Downey Jr. But really, what else do we need?I have no beef with this years list insofar as I have perused the first 20 or so Sexy Men on People.com. Bradley Cooper? Check. Jake G.? Check. David… -
My Endless Love, Redux
20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am"But I didn't even know why I bothered. I was horrible at this *friends* thing. I said all the wrong things except when I was busy saying all the mean ones. And in the end, I hated everybody and everything." - Augusten Burroughs, "You Better Not Cry"I didn't stand in line to make a lame-assed comment (Oh, I don't have a question, I just lurve you! Can I have a hug?)I did get a signed copy of his new book, but did not get his signature on my arm for a tattoo.I did get to share the same space with his humble brilliance, as well as hang with some of my most favorite ladies evah.All of this, over… -
My Endless Love
19 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pmI loved you then... mullet and all.And I love you still... aging rock star-ish and all. And I have tickets for Seattle in June 2010.Boo-yah.PS: Don't tell Tim. It's a surprise. For his upcoming birthday. Also? He kind of doesn't want to go. Which will only make it that much more of a surprise, right? RIGHT?Selfish who? -
T minus four days, and counting
16 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pmShut up -
Hypothetical Question
13 Nov 2009 | 10:53 pmHypothetically speaking, let's say you are at an Eighties themed dance party with your child, and it's all adults except for your child, and there is an Eighties trivia contest, and NO ONE IN THE ROOM KNOWS THE NAME OF THE EXCHANGE STUDENT IN "16 CANDLES." Is it wrong to whisper it to your child and have her scream out LONG DUK DONG to win a prize?Also, if you are in a room full of adults and NO ONE IN THE ROOM KNOWS THE NAME OF THE EXCHANGE STUDENT IN "16 CANDLES," is it wrong to feel completely superior and wonder WHAT THE HELL KIND OF LOSERS they all must be?Sheesh.And lastly, if your…
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Diary of a Technophobe
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Back on the chain gang
20 Nov 2009 | 6:23 amI work in a fairly professional environment. It is an organization under the umbrella of the great State of Texas, therefore, we pay a rigorous amount of attention to matters concerning human resources. Good old HR. In all fairness, I’d have to say that it is the most professional environment in which I have ever worked and in my experience, everyone is treated with equity and respect. Right down to job titles and the descriptions we use to describe those jobs.Which brings me to an essay I read by inspired blogger Blogget Jones the other day, in which she discussed her professional status… -
The frugal consumer: admirable or merely annoying?
18 Nov 2009 | 6:32 amWhile I do not watch television much (honest statement), when I do, it seems that I pay slightly more attention to the commercials than the programming. It might have something to do with my weak attention span…who knows.I noticed an advertisement by the fast-food empire, McDonald’s, that features a young couple. The male half of the couple is ultra-frugal and over the span of 10 seconds or so he demonstrates to his understanding, but more common-sense wife, that he is contributing to the household economy through his frugal endeavors. One of these endeavors involves a large homemade… -
Small scale mysteries
17 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pmTwo little tidbits have been nagging my distracted brain all day today. One way to conquer this beast is to write it down and get it out of the inside of my head. Ah, sweet release. Still don't know the answers, but I can finally move on.Question 1: What is the origin of the word "fussbudget?" It is such a funny word, but the literal deconstruction leaves me at a loss.Question 2: What is the origin of the phrase "resting on your laurels?" Why would anyone rest on a laurel? Laurel is not a synonym for rear-end, last I checked.Just curious. -
The mentoring dilemma
17 Nov 2009 | 7:51 amAs I was walking into the office this morning, I met up with a colleague in the elevator lobby and we rode up to our floor together. She mentioned that she saw me pull into the parking garage and thought to herself that I was someone she really looked up to professionally. She said she admired the way that I was handling my career and considered me a mentor. I, of course, returned the compliment with some supportive words of encouragement, acknowledging how wonderful she is and what an important contribution she makes.This exchange gives me pause to consider. How important is it for us to… -
Mean people suck
14 Nov 2009 | 4:02 pmI don’t like bullies. And by bully, I don’t mean a big kid who is threatening to beat me up if I don’t hand over my math homework. I’m talking about adults with aggressively strong personalities who communicate in a confrontational tone and manner. These people frighten me and they might as well be threatening to beat me up because that’s exactly how I feel when the conversation is over: like I just got knocked down.I don’t do well in conflict situations to begin with, and I completely lose my ability to function if I am having a conflict with a bully. It happened today. I had…
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thelifething.com
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How To Be A Chocolate Coated, Sprinkle Covered, Irresistible Social Supermagnet
21 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmChocolate Coated SuperMagnets -The Practical Art Of Making Yourself Irresistible I think we can all agree, the holy grail of personal traits is to have the ability to be almost instantly liked by anyone you come into contact with. Some people, and I know you know of whom I speak, have a covetable ability to walk into a room and instantly attract people to them like a supermagnet on steroids. These supermagnet people, regardless of the situation presented to them, seem to blend in effortlessly to the environment like a ninja in the dark, they are able to converse with strangers like a long… -
No Gumpy Boy, Life Is Like A Thai Massage
15 Nov 2009 | 6:43 pmNo Gumpy Boy, Life Is Like A Thai Massage As much as I enjoy the inspirational epic of a film that is “Forest Gump”, I believe that comparing life to “A Box Of Chocolates” because, as Mr Gump so eloquently puts it, “You never know what you are going to get” is fundamentally flawed. Wait wait, let me explain, put down the pitch fork. The reason I believe this is that firstly, it is far too simplistic a concept to describe this mysterious shoe box collaboration that is the complexity of life, and secondly because it is human nature to distrust anything that seems too good to be… -
I Am Going To Tell You About One Of The Worlds Biggest Problems And How It Can Be Solved
11 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pmAm Going To Tell You About One Of The Worlds Biggest Problems And How It Can Be Solved This is a post inspired by TED.com’s ingenious section that I hope someday to be on, even if I have to make an uninvited guest appearance and run like a mad man across the stage into the waiting hands of security. I have spent a good sized wedge of today listening to the incredible short video clips of amazing individuals from all walks of life and the ideas that they have developed to solve the problems that they have encountered in the world. Most of these individuals are ordinary people that have used… -
Your Blog Is Awesome and I Am A Shameless Whore
9 Nov 2009 | 5:12 pmIt’s guest post round up time kids. Now some astute readers may peer through this smokescreen I am putting up and see a blatant, and frankly abysmal excuse by yours truly for not writing a proper post….and you would be right. I have been having an awesome time in the last few days and have neglected to write a decent post of even borderline quality, and as it happens my reserves of upcoming posts are dwindling horribly. I promise I will sit my lazy ass down at some point in the near future and sort this appalling situation out, but for now please enjoy three guest posts I wrote… -
My Friend, You And I Are Both Losers…But It’s Ok Don’t Cry
6 Nov 2009 | 6:33 pmMy Friend, You And I Are Losers For your information, I have just got in this evening having had my backside well and truly spanked. No, not the kind you are thinking of. This unfortunate ass beating, in addition to giving me a red behind, got me thinking about how to be a loser, and more importantly how to be a better loser when life requires it. Tick Tick BOOM Now thinking is a dangerous thing at the best of times and should really only really be attempted under strict safety guidelines and ideally from a bunker at least 400 foot underground. Unfortunately there was not bunker to hand and…
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Another Hot Mess
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Lessons for Corporate America – If you want a real success story, read about a stripper. Because the best word to describe strippers is inspirational. Actually, it’s probably naked, but it should be inspirational.
8 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pmI am standing at the airport with some colleagues waiting for a much delayed flight to attend a company Kool-Aid drinkathon. One of the people is less of a colleague and more of an asshole. I have quietly dubbed him Big Papa in the least affectionate way possible. And by quietly, I mean that everyone in the office knows this (except for him) and now calls refers to him as such. And no, he is not the Big Papa that is dating the wig-wearing crazy white chick on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Not that I have ever watched that crap. Because I haven’t. Okay, I have. But I… -
I did a bad, bad thing.
26 Oct 2009 | 7:15 pmLast week, I did something bad. Very bad. Something almost unspeakable, that has made me question the very fiber of my morality and every molecule of my sense of humor. It started off as a joke. Albeit, one that was not well thought out. It was impulsive. Well, it felt impulsive in spite of the fact that I had several opportunities to take it back, to change direction before anyone got hurt. But still, I let it fly free and wild, like Richard Heene’s disenchanted balloon. I sacrificed everything in the name of something I thought would be funny, something that would stir… -
Because Someone Likes Me Just As I Am. Or Maybe They Were Just Feeling Sorry For Me. Or My Parents Put Them Up To This.
17 Oct 2009 | 7:36 amSo the other day, I got this awesome little comment on my site informing me that I won an award and that I should visit the Suburban Jungle to go pick up my honor. Instant panic – I was totally not dressed for the occasion. I mean, who accepts an award wearing what I was wearing? I was at work when I got the notification and I don’t dress up for those people. Seriously, they are *lucky* that I show up. Especially now that I am winning awards and whatnot. Okay, it was just an award, but I presume whatnot will be soon to follow. But I always promised that I would remember the… -
Fighting for a Slice – A Review and Rewind…Share A Slice of Your Music Memories
13 Oct 2009 | 7:37 pmThanks to my doo-wop dad, my Rat-Pack mom, my disco loving sister (at least she was in the 80s) and countless other influences along the way, I have a ridiculous library of music stored in my head. Music has this incredible ability to bring you back to a place and time, it’s not just a memory. It’s a feeling. A heartbeat. (Okay – I totally stole that as a little tribute to Patrick Swayze. Because Dirty Dancing was yet another tremendous musical moment in my dreams life. And I may or may not have begged my parents to vacation in the Catskills because I was convinced that I would have the… -
Girls’ Guide to Being a Courteous Human Being When Sharing a Community Bathroom
5 Oct 2009 | 6:07 pmI don’t know who invented the community bathroom concept, but I feel pretty confident that whoever it was walked Satan’s Hell Hounds for a living. There are many things that, when shared, make the world a better place –a joke, scandalous gossip, my opinion. By design, these things were meant to be shared (especially the last two). The bathroom is not one of those things. If you have ever left your home, than at some point or another you have found yourself doing what is among the most private of things with a group of strangers. And while there is no way to entirely alleviate…
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Men's Playbook
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Program Allows Parents to Catch Up on Child Support [Fair or Foul?]
17 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amFollow Torrey on Twitter According to recent single parent statistics, there are more than 13 million single parent households in the United States. And when you mention single parents, one of the first things many think about is child support! With the growth of the internet and entertainment/gossip websites and tv programs, we know much more about celebrities' and public figures' lives. And their child support situation is always a hot topic with us. I'm not sure what the actual stats are, but I do know a lot of single mothers that complain about the lack of getting… -
How Important Is The Engagement Ring?
16 Nov 2009 | 8:36 amFollow Torrey on Twitter For many men, purchasing an engagement ring is one of the most confusing and frustrating processes ever. To even get to this point means he has very strong feelings for a particular women in his life, which is a great thing. But confusing, nonetheless! I was thinking back to when I went through the process of buying my wife an engagement ring. I had a descent job, but really didn’t make a whole lot of money. To get extra money, I was pawning and selling stuff like I was collecting bail money or something. And many dinners consisted of… -
Who Do Women Like More? Mr. Nice Guy or the Bad Boy
12 Nov 2009 | 9:29 amFollow Torrey on Twitter I can vividly remember growing up and going to school. Not only going to school, but beginning the process of dating girls. And although classmates from those days post throwback pictures of Facebook reaffirming how skinny and nerdy I looked, I thought I was a pretty cool dude. When segmenting the general population at that time, I found myself targeting cute girls I thought it would be cool to date, court or go steady with. While going through that process, one thing became very clear to me. The bad boys got way… -
What Are Your Favorite Quotes?
9 Nov 2009 | 7:06 amFollow Torrey on Twitter Happy Monday everybody! Our trend on Mondays has been to ask a Question of the Week and have our regular readers and visitors leave a comment answering the question. We really appreciate you all participating in that ongoing exercise. But over the past week or two, I have interacted with so many people that seem to be struggling in life. From relationships, to finances to even just trying to get unstuck in life. Many of these folks have been our very own Facebook Fans. It seems that some of the status updates I have seen have been a plea for… -
Who’s Your Appraiser?
5 Nov 2009 | 8:04 amFollow Torrey on Twitter I have had a lot going on in the past week to 10 days. My wife and I have decided to take advantage of the real estate market and put our home up for sale. The purpose of this was to get a great deal on a larger home that we can be in for years to come. Thus the reason for not posting as regularly as I would like. As it is with the real estate market, there are a lot of steps you must take to be able to both buy and sell your home (I will detail my experience in a series of posts coming soon). But one of the most important parts of the real…
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LifeExcursion
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The People Who Make Me Better
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amToday is the last day of INSPIRATION Week. It has been a great ride. I hope it has inspired all of you to do something great. If you missed one of the articles, please do check them out: Monday : Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome Tuesday : Making Others Happy [...] -
Inspiration from Readers
20 Nov 2009 | 6:52 amInspiration from Others Thanks for taking part in INSPIRATION Week to everyone who has left some great comments and shared with others. Unfortunately, life got in the way yesterday so I wasn’t able to post The People Who Make Me Better article. I promise it will be out tomorrow though. As for today, I want to [...] -
Doing Big Things to Inspire Others : Cody McKibben
18 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amSir Cody McKibben and I go back to the good days of all night studying and all night drinking. In some ways, we still do that despite being half way around the world from one another. Either way, Cody has been a great connection and inspiration so today, the third day of INSPIRATION Week. (By the [...] -
Giving Without Receiving
17 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am***If you missed the first article of Inspiration Week, click here to read Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome *** It takes a big person to anonymously give anything knowing they will not be getting anything in return. I would like to tell you I am one of those individuals, [...] -
Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome
16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amWho actually started the first birthday celebration? Was it the Buddhist’s? Was it the Christian’s? Was it the Egyptian’s? Was it the Roman’s? Was it the American’s? In researching for this post, I found this link, this link, and this link about the origin of birthdays, but don’t really know which is right or wrong. [...]
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boylerpf
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You just never know....
19 Nov 2009 | 5:12 amThis week has been very busy here...hence me not posting or visiting blogs for a few days. I am asked sometimes to give presentations and talks on antique jewelry to various organizations and at the end of the talks, I always ask the people to bring something of theirs for me to review. Kind of like an Antiques Road Show mini appraisal of their jewels. As with the TV show, most pieces are of the norm...especially in this little neck of the woods. Rarely does someone bring in that hidden treasure...until Monday night.Brooch Attributed to Hermann Haussler -1910A little lady listened carefully… -
And now...a word from our sponsor
15 Nov 2009 | 5:54 pmWhile growing up, it was a treat to be able to watch certain tv shows on a Sunday night. Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Walt Disney, Bonanza...all were g rated. Come to think about it...most of the programs way back then were. We had to have all our homework done, had our bath taken and in general, ready for bed. During the holidays, I can still hear the announcer saying "And now, a word from our sponsors..."Orvis Wool Knit Sweater from NodtoMod VintagePerfect weekend sweater to keep away the chill....Gilded Pine Earrings from TenThingsSimple, elegant...the perfect stocking stuffer to make… -
Good Pickin' Friday
13 Nov 2009 | 8:36 amThe Brooklyn BridgeSt Patrick's Cathedral in NYCLondon's Tower BridgeSydney Opera HouseJust when you thought you might have seen all the art forms, you run across something like this. Stan Munro of Syracuse, New York creates replicas of famous buildings from around the world with millions...and I mean millions of toothpicks. Oh...to be that patient! Creativity abounds!Happy Friday! -
Spam...we're not talking ham
12 Nov 2009 | 6:09 amSpam. Not the ham variety but those little emails you get when you know they are totally bogus. I've changed my name to Marta.Marta is selling sports tickets online through Craigslist using an old ebay ID that I haven't used for over a year. My inbox was inundated the other day with emails from prospective buyers stating they would love to have this great deal I'm offering on Craigslist and they had finally tracked me down with the ebay ID I gave in the ads. My first thought was typical spam email...delete! Then the emails started coming through with the message stating "I am now sending you… -
Today...a big thanks
11 Nov 2009 | 8:16 amMedora, NDA few years ago, the DH and I were on a little jaunt through the northern part of the US visiting family and my old hometown contemplating a move back. One of the sites to see...and there aren't that many in North Dakota...is Medora which is situated in the Badlands. Incredible scenery, a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt and steeped in history. Every night, they have a musical which plays to a packed house. Talent auditions from all over the US to vie for a spot in the show. Tickets must be reserved in advance...it is a big destination and draw...for ND that is.On this particular…
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Juan-Carlos Hernandez - Photographer
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The Tour Eiffel
22 Nov 2009 | 7:07 amDiscover the playlist tour eiffel with Mistinguett -
I'm Confessin' That I Love You
20 Nov 2009 | 10:27 pmDiscover the playlist confessin that i love you with Django Reinhardt -
Kiss Her Now
18 Nov 2009 | 6:15 pmDiscover the playlist kiss her now with Leslie Giammanco -
Step by Step
18 Nov 2009 | 1:56 amDiscover the playlist step with F.Ferraiuolo, P.Leveratto, A.Kramer -
The Calvin Quincentenary .. I don't care
15 Nov 2009 | 8:21 amIn Geneva, we are celebrating the Calvin Quincentenary even with commercial chocolates. I'm not really sure that Calvin would have appreciate this masquerade. Anyway... I don't care. Imagine ...
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Stefan Pinto's PintoFactory
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Video Interview with Naughty Americans’ Dallas Dolly on Fantasies and Role Models
19 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pmDallas Dolly believes fantasies are timeless, with no end date, “your body may age, but your mind is always you — for the rest of your life.” Dallas Dolly is the hot voice behind the NaughtyAmericans.com, a site Harpers Bazzar recommends as the little naughty in each of us “needs to be explored.” Being no stranger to shock and surprise, Dallas Dolly believes that fantasies save marriages, “you really need to be with someone that understands your fantasies and doesn’t judge, but instead makes it fun.” On her blog, she muses on monogamy and whether it is outdated, why… -
Toxic Home: 4 Hush-Hush Harmful Products You Use Everyday
15 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pmCommon, everyday household items contain chemicals that are harmful and dangerous to our health. Although governing authorities relentlessly advise that these chemicals are “safe in low doses,” more and more evidence seems to suggest — even advise — otherwise. Products that contain BPA, phthalates and PBDEs are prevalent in body washes, deodorants, children’s toys, perfumes, body and hand lotions, automobile interiors, shower curtains and hundreds of other ordinary household products. A national study has now revealed these chemicals present in the blood and urine samples of… -
5 Common Junk Foods You Thought Weren’t
3 Nov 2009 | 11:23 amWhen you think junk food, what comes to mind? McDonald’s and Pop Tarts? Try again. Granola, yogurt, protein and juice are everyday foods we associate with health, diet and weight loss, but lurking under the wrapper is excessive sugar content, saturated fats and mysterious ingredients with little or no nutritional value — collectively making up what is commonly referred to as “junk food.” The ten common offenders: 1. Granola bars Oligofructose, sorbitan, monosterate, polysorbate 60, sodium caseinate, FD&C Red 40, dextrose, lactate pentahydrate. And now, the ingredients you’ve… -
Six Pack Abs: a Combination of Genetics, Diet and Exercise
30 Oct 2009 | 8:26 am© 2009 Stefan Pinto and PintoFactory “How do I get a six pack?” is quite possibly the most commonly asked question when it comes to working out, and according to fitness guru, Paul Chek, “Most people working for a washboard six pack abs stomach are making one or more major mistakes in their application.” Check authored How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, and asserts that “for the body to reduce fat content enough to actually appreciate the muscles you’ve worked so hard to show off, it has to be absolutely convinced that you can safely get by with a low body fat percentage.” As the… -
Are You Talking to the Fifth Guy? Fact: 4 Out of 5 People Wash their Hands
29 Oct 2009 | 10:55 am“One of the curses of American society is the simple act of shaking hands,” Donald Trump wrote in, Comeback. And, every time someone shakes my hand, I can’t help but wonder if they washed theirs. Flu Germs Can Live for Up to Eight Hours “The backseat of a taxi; the pole in the subway; the keyboard on an ATM; bathrooms; phones; elevator buttons, there are germs everywhere,” said Dr. Philip Tierno, Director of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at New York University Medical Center. “The worst are ATMs and don’t ask about the money… they are teaming with growth.” In…
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LifeExcursion
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The People Who Make Me Better
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amToday is the last day of INSPIRATION Week. It has been a great ride. I hope it has inspired all of you to do something great. If you missed one of the articles, please do check them out: Monday : Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome Tuesday : Making Others Happy [...] -
Inspiration from Readers
20 Nov 2009 | 6:52 amInspiration from Others Thanks for taking part in INSPIRATION Week to everyone who has left some great comments and shared with others. Unfortunately, life got in the way yesterday so I wasn’t able to post The People Who Make Me Better article. I promise it will be out tomorrow though. As for today, I want to [...] -
Doing Big Things to Inspire Others : Cody McKibben
18 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amSir Cody McKibben and I go back to the good days of all night studying and all night drinking. In some ways, we still do that despite being half way around the world from one another. Either way, Cody has been a great connection and inspiration so today, the third day of INSPIRATION Week. (By the [...] -
Giving Without Receiving
17 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am***If you missed the first article of Inspiration Week, click here to read Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome *** It takes a big person to anonymously give anything knowing they will not be getting anything in return. I would like to tell you I am one of those individuals, [...] -
Why My Birthday (TODAY) & Your Birthday Are Meaningless & That’s Awesome
16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amWho actually started the first birthday celebration? Was it the Buddhist’s? Was it the Christian’s? Was it the Egyptian’s? Was it the Roman’s? Was it the American’s? In researching for this post, I found this link, this link, and this link about the origin of birthdays, but don’t really know which is right or wrong. [...]
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Raising Great Families
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Mike D Finally Releases "Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails"
10 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pmMike D DESERVES Our Support! Mike D is a friend, someone who has interviewed me for his website (Raising Real Winners), and someone who has written for THIS website: he DESERVES Our Support! But please don't read this note if you're not looking for a new way to look at the world, success, how to get things done. I know there are a lot of success strategies floating around out there. Law of Attraction Positive Thinking Affirmations Motivation And don't get me wrong – all of those and a few others are great and they surely can help you. But– and this is a real Big… -
Medical Report – No Wonder My Elderly Folks Are Confused At Doctors' Offices
21 Oct 2009 | 4:10 pmYou Must Ask Questions Of Doctors To Get The Best Service My elderly parents were SO confused when they'd leave the doctor's office that my younger sister, Nancy, and I used to take turns going to each appointment with them. Now Nancy (who recently retired from teaching) goes to all appointments. And NOW I better understand why they are so confused! My "Head"-line Story Here's my personal story from today (hey, it took 2 hours and 27 minutes, so I hope you have a few moments to read this… some of this really pissed me off and some of it really showed why my… -
Four Reasons Parents Should Choose Work They Love
14 Oct 2009 | 11:58 amWhether one or both parents will work has become a non-issue in modern families. It’s estimated that in 75% of American families both parents are working on jobs or running their own businesses away from home. Some parents are fortunate enough to be able to work from home or telecommute. Regardless of which model describes your family, how you feel about your job affects your family life and helps determine family harmony. Choosing work you love is not just for your own fulfillment. There are four reasons a job you love helps your family: 1. You are better prepared to spend quality time… -
5 Steps to Raising Financially Responsible Children
14 Oct 2009 | 11:06 amGrowing up, things were always tight for my family. I knew that certain things could not be afforded, like ballet lessons, and that certain things were substituted for ballet lessons, like soccer at YMCA. But I never truly understood why it was that my parents were so far behind on their bills or why my Dad had to work two jobs just to support our family. I was never taught the true value of a dollar; I was taught that working to make ends meet was the way life was meant to be lived. But this could not be further from the truth. After beginning the process towards becoming a financially… -
RaisingGreatFamilies.com Featured on AllTop.com
10 Oct 2009 | 4:18 amThe All Top website recognizes Charlie Seymour Jr's family-related website THIS blog has been recognized as a Top Blog by the top blog: AllTop.com People like Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Tony Hsieh, and Chris Brogan are there. Mashable, Mac World, The New York Times, and Copyblogger are there. And now so are Charlie Seymour Jr (and our guest writers) and RaisingGreatFamilies.com. So… if you have a topic that interests you and you want to find a blog that fits in that category, go to AllTop.com. If you want great reading automatically fed to one location (so you don't have to…
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Razor Branding Blog
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$3,000,000 for a Pair of Shoes
20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 amair jordan by nike One of the worst cases of miscommunication over a brand has been occuring in Floridan over the past few weeks of basketball season. The University of Central Florida, Adidas and Marcus Jordan (son of Michael) have been embroiled in a series of “he said, he said” that has ultimately cost the school a $3,000,000 endorsement contract. On October 21st, the Chicago Tribune announced that UCF promised Marcus Jordan during recruitment that he could wear Nike Air Jordan shoes and that Adidas had agreed to the exception. As the Orlando Sentinel reports, Marcus Jordan… -
Best Commericals of the Decade
18 Nov 2009 | 3:23 amBest Commericals of the 2000s Adweek has launched a poll asking which commercials (non Superbowl) are the best of the 2000’s. The list of contenders: Adidas “Hello Tomorrow” (TBWA|Chiat|Day) Bud Light “Swear Jar” (DDB) Budweiser “Wedding Toast” (DDB) Cadbury “Gorilla” (Fallon) Comcast “Rabbit” (Goodby, Silverstein) Dove “Evolution” (Ogilvy & Mather) Got Milk “Birthday” (Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) Guinness “Noitulove” (AMV BBDO) Honda “Cog” (Wieden + Kennedy) Honda… -
Are You Different Enough?
17 Nov 2009 | 3:57 am“In advertising not to be different is virtually suicidal.” - Bill Bernbach With the amount of clutter surrounding us every day, it is a wonder that we can see anything. It is estimated that the average person is faced with close to 5000 product messages every day. The messages that are too similar are the easiest to overlook. If you are focused on the same features as everyone else - best price, best people, best service - then you will get lost in that shuffle. Zappos has been able to turn ‘best service’ into a true advantage. But make no mistake about it, they… -
Brand Buzz: YouTube
16 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pmEver wonder how you can use YouTube more effectively? Amazed at the traction that BlendTec has received and their ability to increase sales 600% through their use of YouTube? On this week’s episode of Brand Buzz we will be talking about how to expand your brand through YouTube. Tune in every Monday at 5:20pm to KPEL 105.1 on your radio or online at www.kpel1051.com for another installment of Brand Buzz. How are companies using YouTube? Are they able to increase sales? What about public relations? Tune in to Brand Buzz on KPEL FM 105.1 at 5:20pm every Monday or if you miss the show… -
Healthcare and Social Media and You
16 Nov 2009 | 3:44 amIt’s no surprise that one of the biggest trends in human communications today is social networking and social media. It may also come as no shock that since this medium is growing at an alarming rate, certain industries are reconstructing the way they do business to in order to be a part of it. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become fixtures in the daily lives of most Americans, and now, entire industries have discovered the potential of connecting with their once elusive audience. But it is no about selling something. Some industries are using social media very well by engaging in a…
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Journey Mama
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Day Twenty-one: Back to our regularly scheduled program
21 Nov 2009 | 9:06 amLast night we had a talking circle, to come to consensus about a decision that needed to be made in the community. There weren’t too many of us, just Cate, Chinua, me, Johanna, and Renee. Everyone who is here so far. For those who aren’t familiar with Rainbow Gatherings and rainbow culture, in a talking circle you pass a talking stick around and the only person speaking is the person with the stick. If you have nothing to say, you can pass the stick to the next person. When you are trying to come to consensus, you pass the stick until there is silence and then you make your decisions,… -
Day twenty: When will it end? ( now )
20 Nov 2009 | 6:36 amCat wins the prize for getting it first! Tell her what she’s won! “Well she gets full digital rights to every one of the photos used in the marathon day eighteen post! She can make T-shirts, Mouse pads, and even tattoos of this image with a completely free conscience!” Second prize goes to Bethany for the best reaction. Yeah the scream says it all. backstory: the original picture is an advertisement for an actual guru in Varanasi who seemed to believe this was a perfectly acceptable way promote his spiritual services, and that maybe he would even see an uptick in business as… -
Day Eighteen: Cont…
19 Nov 2009 | 8:04 amheres a hint. -
Day Eighteen: Guess a Guest Post
18 Nov 2009 | 10:02 amI am a mysterious mystery guest poster. Who am I? I don’t like chocolate at all. Nope. Rachel and I have similar hair, even the same length. I love William Blake, and am sure that his poem, Little Lamb, is about her. I am. I have seen her surrounded by a thousand bright silver fishes. (Not a thousand silverfishes. That would be terrible) And this is not my photo. No, it just isnt. Who am i? -
Day Seventeen: Today I’m re-posting this:
17 Nov 2009 | 9:33 amThis is what I want to tell you. There is a kind of attention that is not bad-breathed or oppressive, not angry or amused or derogatory. One day when I was young, which is about eight or nine or ten, I pretended that I had fallen into a frozen creek. In reality, I was walking on the thick, thick white ice, and I sort of purposefully slid myself into the bitterly cold water. And then I flailed. Ahhhh ahhhh, and all that. It was for attention. I fell into the creek one winter evening, and then walked home with jeans that were soaked with icy water, shoes sloshing with it, small icicles…
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Chai Life
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“Going Rogue” Goes Rogue
18 Nov 2009 | 8:39 amThis aired on Jimmy Fallon’s show last night and is absolutely hilarious. To sum it up, Sarah Palin’s new book goes rogue, flees, and shoots Rachel Maddow. Enjoy the surprise ending! Share this on FacebookTweet This!Digg this!Share this on del.icio.usShare this on RedditStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on MixxEmail this to a friend? -
I couldn’t agree more…
14 Nov 2009 | 7:19 pmShare this on FacebookTweet This!Digg this!Share this on del.icio.usShare this on RedditStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on MixxEmail this to a friend? -
RIP Dollhouse
11 Nov 2009 | 6:09 pmAccording to the AP, Fox has officially cancelled Dollhouse. If you, like myself, are a big fan of just about everything Joss Whedon has ever done, then you are distraught at this news. Sure we all saw it coming after the cancellation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but it is still sad. Reports are saying that they will finish out this season and Joss is promising a big finale, but it will be a finale none-the-less. Lets just hope his new project comes sooner rather than later and he has the foresight to market it to a cable channel that will treat his shows the way they deserve, such as SyFy… -
Can’t find the book you want?
6 Nov 2009 | 7:43 pmShare this on FacebookTweet This!Digg this!Share this on del.icio.usShare this on RedditStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on MixxEmail this to a friend? -
Best Month Ever!
1 Nov 2009 | 10:25 amThis has been the most active month that this blog has ever seen. I’d like to personally thank everyone who has stopped here at Chai Life throughout October of 2009, but with a total of 12,096 unique visitors, that would be tough to do. Instead, I’ll just post my thanks here. Thanks for reading! Share this on FacebookTweet This!Digg this!Share this on del.icio.usShare this on RedditStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on MixxEmail this to a friend?
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deCOMPOSE
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Redemptive Movies (NC-17 version)
20 Nov 2009 | 9:37 amToday’s release of Warner Herzog’s The Bad Lieutenant has reminded me about two things: (1) How spiritually powerful the original film is, and (2) How moral rigidity keeps us from appreciating such films. Abel Ferrara’s, The Bad Lieutenant, was released in 1992 to an NC-17 rating. And for the record, it earns every bit of it. Harvey Kietel plays the tortured lead character — a police lieutenant embroiled in gambling debts, drug addiction, bribery, and prostitution. Sicko, perv, and reprobate, are just a few of the words that come to mind regarding this man. But,… -
The Best Scenes are Silent
18 Nov 2009 | 9:37 amMost writers have heard the adage, Show don’t tell. The idea is that action is superior to dialogue, description, and backstory. Telling your reader what is going on, what happened before it went on, and how your characters felt as it was occurring, is not the ideal form of storytelling. I recently read something from playwright and film director David Mamet that reinforced that concept… with a twist. The perfect film is the silent film, just as the perfect sequence is the silent sequence. Dialogue is inferior to picture in telling a film story. A picture, first, as we know, is… -
I’m Conflicted About Sarah Palin
16 Nov 2009 | 7:40 amWith her memoir in the chutes, and a slate of top-tier interviews on the docket, Sarah is all the rage. Love her or hate her, she is politically front and center. For some, an easy target; for others, an object of adoration. Nevertheless, as a conservative, I am conflicted about Sarah Palin. What I Like About Sarah Palin: She seems genuine — Call it political savvy, but this is a huge part of her appeal. She does not carry herself like a career politician, but like a mother, a neighbor, and a blue collar worker. To the average person — especially one disenchanted by politicians… -
Ted Dekker vs. the Women’s Club
12 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amI’m not sure what I found more shocking — an actual list of words censored by a Christian publisher, or a Christian author willing to publicly criticize that publisher. In a recent posting on Facebook entitled What’s Wrong with This Picture?, mega-best-seller Ted Dekker ripped Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Guidelines. The Love Inspired imprints are touted as “hip, fun and smart fiction created specifically for modern and savvy women of faith.” However, the author guidelines looks like something right out of the Pharisees’ Handbook. For instance, some… -
Real Rebels Dance During Worship
9 Nov 2009 | 6:27 amScripture says, King David “danced before the Lord with all his might” (II Samuel 6:14). Luckily, David was King, so no one could stop him. However, if King David showed up in one of our churches today, I’m afraid his two-step would get him the boot. So we were in church yesterday, and the worship band played the popular song, “I am Free.” The chorus goes like this: I am free to run (I am free to run) I am free to dance (I am free to dance) I am free to live for You (I am free to live for You) I am free (I am free) Yes, I am free Pretty simple huh?
