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kyle steed
I write because I want to. I don’t have to tell you anything. But the term “transparent” is becoming more and more popular these days. Gary Vaynerchuk, Jason Fried and Aaron Irizarry come to mind when I think of being transparent. But what we call the internet is really nothing...
The project continues to be a challenge for me. Some have said congrats on making it this far, and thank you, but I still can’t imagine what it will feel like on something like day 229. I was thinking about this the other night. With my dedication to this project, as...
I was bored with color this past week. When I first started taking photographs all I shot was black and white film. I think it’s a good way to learn about light and composition, but I think it can also become a crutch. There is always a challenge with color. So...
I’m working my way backwards this morning. Starting at the end and going back to the beginning. Sometimes that’s the way I feel I’m living my life. We’re already in to the middle of February and it feels like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be but something big is about...
I wonder if we really understand the true meaning of social networking or if we are getting lost in the numbers. Inspired by this Friday Vidcast from Aaron Irizarry. Special thanks to Andy Rutledge for his brutally honest opinions....
Wow! It’s already been a month. I’m not going to act surprised or anything, this has been on my calendar for a while now. Doing these daily photos has really helped me appreciate each day, and each new challenge I am faced with. Usually the weeks just pass me by...
FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson
Book Alert: Picking Dandelions
Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love became runaway best sellers in the emerging category of memoirs. Readers were drawn like magnets to Lamott’s faith journey, set amongst her left-wing family in California and they were equally smitten with Gilbert’s personal growth as she explored Italy, India...
People who know me well would call me a little bit compulsive. I take that as a compliment. I know everybody has their quirks, and one of mine just happens to be finishing things. I love making lists. I love marking things off lists. I’ll even put something on a list that...
Want to Write Timeless Content?
“What goes in must come out.” That adage is something I always heard growing up, especially from my parents when I would read R.L. Stine books as a kid. And they were right. When I was ten years old, I wrote my first “book,” which was about 80 pages long in a spiral...
Don’t Wait for the Government to Help
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to share about Compassion International at a church in Virginia. The Sunday I spoke was just three days after I returned from Haiti. One of the things I shared was about how we can’t wait for the government to help Haiti. We have to...
I realize the blog has been quiet lately. This is partially due to the fact that after I returned from Haiti, I hopped a plane to the DC area for a few days. It’s also partially due to the fact that upon landing in Nashville on Tuesday, I was punched in...
Joe Blogs
Image by ° ρЯίтΛм ° [busy] via FlickrThere are numerous benefits to having an organized space, being more productive, less time searching for relevence, less clutter, increased attention, engagement and more control. I have many friends online across various sites and the ability to streamline the chaos provides many benefits.The...
Image by subcityphotos via FlickrArrived at the O2 Academy Brixton, full of excitement for the closing night of the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour in London. The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, Big Pink and Drums provided the live performances for a rapturous finale.Demand for tickets meant that I had to purchase...
Image by mikeinlondon via FlickrI recently attended the O2 Brixton Academy and wrote that I regarded it as one of London's leading music venues. I focused on the atmosphere, crowd participation and the area referred to as the mosh pit. Tonight, Brixton Academy had competition, my brothers band the Internal...
Listing All Those Empty Homes Out There
Image via CrunchBaseI'm sure that you have seen the 'Keep it Safe. Keep it Hidden. Keep it Locked' commercials that provide useful advice on how best to keep your property safe. Basics like shutting windows and locking car doors even when you are only gone for a minute, or keeping...
Image via WikipediaSouth by Southwest (SXSW) is a music, film, and interactive conference and festival that takes place every spring in Austin, Texas. SXSW is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 1,400 performers playing in more than 80 venues around Austin over four...
Image via CrunchBaseLast.fm is a popular Internet radio site for music, founded in 2002. Using a music recommendation system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the songs the user listens to, either from Internet radio stations, or the user's computer...
It's my life...
The Possibility Of Everything - The lengths mothers will go to help their children
When Little L was a baby she didn't sleep. At least not in her crib. Or her bassinet. Or the bouncy seat. She only liked to sleep attached to me, either in the sling or latched on my breast. At times I could swaddle her tightly and nurse her to...
Sick day #4 and the never ending rain
On Sunday evening I tucked in both girls and thought they felt a tad warm. Moments later C started coughing in her sleep.With two kids with asthma coughing is run of the mill around here, but this wasn't an asthma cough, it was a croupy cough and my heart sank....
Wordless Wednesday: Enough with the rain already!
Most of the country is sick of the snow. I'm just sick of the rain.... Happy Wordless Wednesday!...
Most evenings M and I tag team, I feed the kids while he cleans up, or I fold laundry while he feeds the kids. Then we tag team the bedtime routine, books for one, teeth for the other. Whoever isn't with the kids at that particular moment is cooking the...
"Aim for the moon, at the very least you'll land among the stars." Makes sense right? You aim for the very very best and even if you fall a bit short you still know you did well, you're still proud of what you've accomplished.I have big dreams. They involve hard...
Ending a tough day with a little magic
When C woke up this morning she quietly, but very clearly, told me that she wasn't going back to Kindergarten. No way. No how.I was torn. I don't like to let her quit. It was one more day. There was really no reason to give in. And yet my gut...
Let's Live Forever!
Goodbye from the LLF office (it’s very hot here). I’ve decided to wrap up this blog. I’ve thought for some time I might be able to keep doing occasional posts, but I don’t think that will work—not for me, anyway. The main reason is to do with focus—I find when I am...
Last weekend a band was recording at our place (photo above), and one of the guys gave everyone a printed copy of a quote from Martha Graham. Martha Graham was a dancer and choreographer who lived throughout most of the 20th century. I loved it so much I thought I’d share...
Shirley 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....
Keeping Body And Soul Together
Deepak 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...
Saturn, 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...
Photo 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...
This Eclectic Life
Two garments live side by side in my closet. Hanging together … as they did many years ago. Neither is particularly attractive or stylish; both have seen better days. Their fabric is “pilled,” as so often happens with knits that have been washed many times, although I...
I don’t feel guilty for my opinions, but I’ll atone for them anyway on this Only The Good Friday. A few days ago, I wrote a somewhat snarky post questioning a man’s artistic ability. He called himself a “folk artist,” and I was skeptical. I didn’t think...
Darkness fell as we were driving across Central Texas, and Mr. Tucker and I were feeling a bit “peckish,” as we had not had any supper. Because we wanted to continue our drive, we didn’t want to find one of those “sit-down” restaurants I like to discover. We...
All of the five cats at my house are neurotic. Wait a minute … if I say “cat” and “neurotic” in the same sentence, am I being redundant, and repeating myself, also, too, as well? No matter. The point is my cats are all crazy, but one...
I stood on the wooden planks of this suspension bridge in Waco and closed my eyes, trying to conjure days long ago. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, it wasn’t hard to imagine a herd of Texas cattle, with their eyes rolling in fear, jostling and shoving each other on...
My perspective is changing as I attempt to “go green.” I don’t like to say that I’m on a “diet” (nobody likes to go on a “diet!”), but I don’t know what else to call it. I’m on an “energy diet.” In order to lose...
Eternal Ramblings of a Confused Mind
At The Top That Is Not The Top
I wanted to be one of the first, but in an unexpected turn of events, I was one of the last. At least for awhile… Last week I was in Dubai on a last minute trip to get away, have a change of scenery and spend some time with Ulco, who...
Anyone who knows me, is aware that I am having a hot and steamy love affair with my camera. So, taking a lead from Ulco's photo of the day idea, (click here and then click on "1per24" in the menu to see them...) I have decided to start a new...
I haven’t been blogging that much lately, and there’s a reason for that. Lots of them, actually. When I started blogging, it was all about being funny, making myself and other people laugh and recording the adventures I shared with my wonderful friends. And then just over a year ago,...
I was at the Coffee Bean in Delhi, sitting a couple of tables over from a monk in red and orange robes who was being kept warm by a Burberry scarf and entertained via the iPod earbuds he had in his ears as he nursed what looked like a large...
I can’t believe it has been six weeks since I have posted anything here. Six whole weeks, with my last post being about toilets. I meant to write more after that, but one morning I woke up and decided I just wanted to live life, not really write about it...
Anyone 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...
37days
There is no enlightenment outside of daily life. -Thich Nhat Hanh...
sunday sounds : it's a very worthy line and it's getting worthier all the time
(Many thanks to Katey Kintzer for pointing me to this)...
simple action saturday : write one today
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. Meister Eckhart In August 2009, I started writing a thank-you note every morning. It has created an overwhelming spirit of thankfulness, gratitude, and spaciousness in my life. Where I look for reasons to say......
When I did a reading last summer in Bend, Oregon, a fantastic, young blind woman was in the audience, and also at a fire circle my host Beth Patterson held afterward. "I'd really like to read your book," she told me after the reading. "I'll record it for you," I......
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mind :: my brain and yours We are now officially a nation of idiots. Ten rules for writing fiction! I loved these! I might be in trouble with number 5! What do you think! Even if you don't read fiction, read them! They apply to writing in general! (Thanks to......
A Wayward Journey
I seriously doubt I’ll have a chance to get a real blog entry written today and we may be leaving tomorrow, so I figured I better put something here to let you all know we are safe and sound. The rioting here in Piura is over and I spent the...
“We think you should stay here today and leave tomorrow,” Nena told me when I started hauling our stuff downstairs to pack. “I talked with my friend who owns the hostel in Piura and she said it was really ugly yesterday. You should stay here.” Last night the owners of our...
Today was very, very, very , very boring. We were going to leave this morning by there was a very bad riot in the town we are going to so we decided to stay here. In the riot, there have been three people killed. I did my math and watched...
Today I was surprised when I woke up because I wasn’t extremely tired. I was wondering why. When I asked how far we were going I wasn’t anymore. We were only going 40 kilometers so I could sleep in a little bit. So I got out of bed and did...
If you’ve been reading this blog lately, you’ll know that we’ve been struggling. Big time. So far, we hate Peru. We keep trying to tell ourselves this is just one part of the whole country, but I’ll admit it is hard to keep that focus. We are feeling exactly as...
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Sullana, Peru)
I woke up to big ol’ raindrops falling from the sky. We hadn’t put the fly on the tent, so scrambled around furiously packing our sleeping bags before they got too awfully wet. I could tell it would be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. When I went outside...
GirlsAskGuys.com - Recent Questions
When he introduced you to his friend?
OK. so I barely know this guy and were new neighbors, but we have the same class, and he always comes up to me before class and talks. OK, I've talk to him only a couple days and then he brought his friend over and introduced him, talked to him,...
It has nearly been a year since me & my ex girlfriend broke up over me liking someone else we haven't talked since then & I've missed her like crazy so I'm going to surprise her tomorrow and bump into her when she finishes work with a bunch of roses...
My boyfriend said that don't call him, let him call me?
were doing good but know he told me that don't call him let him call me I want to know what to do and why guys all was say something like that....
what kind of impression does it leave when you hug a guy you like, and your put your arms over their shoulders. Last night I was at my friends house, and when I hugged him, afterwords I started thinking about it.I guess, I kind of pressed my chest against him,...
My boyfriend and I dated for over 2 months, and just recently broke up. I asked him if he would consider getting back with me, and he said he would have to think about it. A day later he texts me saying that he would rather be single so he...
actually we are going for our honeymoon very soon , and we are going to Miami beach for that , what you guys suggest a girl should wear on beach , what can be a perfect beach wear for girl , so I can gift few beach wear to wife...
Pun Intended’s New, Spectacular Sister Site…
Photo by inottawa The days of PI being a solo site are now behind us. Please give P.I.’s little sister a warm round of applause: Tick Tock Timer This site is designed to help you kill procrastination and get things done. It’s free to use any hour of the day, for whatever you...
1. Forever rid yourself of all that is unpleasant or mundane Need to deal with a mountain of laundry? Send clone. Got jury duty? Send clone. Held at gunpoint, and forced to massage a homeless man’s bunion-laden feet? Send clone. 2. Win the science fair It doesn’t matter if you’re in grade school. Heck, you...
Ode to The ‘Epic Beard Man’ Who Whooped Ass
Note: It may be necessary to watch the above video prior to enjoying this post. Epic Beard Man, you wanted a shoe-shine; not an exchange of blows… Epic Beard Man, after a heated exchange, you got yo’ ass up and moved to the front of the bus to leave the drama behind… Yet the...
1. Synchronized Swimming Is there anything more pure and beautiful than dancing in unison with a few of your closest friends, in a large body of chlorine, while sporting shower caps? This Olympic event is the perfect fusion of swimming and contemporary dance. 2. Curling Of all the weird Olympic sports, curling is by...
Use ‘The Art of War’ to Overcome Any Bad Habit
Illustration by deedlitmon Happy Chinese New Year! In honor of the Chinese New Year, I’m sharing pearls from The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Let’s begin: “Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations...
7 Ways to Accelerate Global Warming
Illustration by ~Nato-VanDookie For many of us, it’s cold this time of year. Unbearably cold. And let’s be honest, nobody enjoys shoveling snow or losing a toe to frost bite. That’s why I propose we do all we can to artificially heat up this lovely spinning sphere we call home. Although it’s...
wowOwow | The Women on the Web
Sybil Sage: Am I Turning Into Andy Rooney?
When a phone call with Adobe Flash Player Tech Support pushed our reader over the edge …A Friend Stopped By | 03/06/2010 6:00 am Editor’s note: Sybil Adelman Sage, one of the first women to break into television writing, is currently working on a fictitious memoir titled Diary of an Overachiever:...
Join Mr. wOw in wOw's Oscar Night Reader Forum
And here are Mr. wOw’s top five movie picksMr. wOw | 03/05/2010 2:00 pm Mr. wOw hopes that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences realizes the ridiculousness of ten best-picture nominees and goes back to a more manageable five next year. Either way, it doesn’t make the process of...
Can We Have it All? Americans and Obama Disagree, by Liz Peek
Voters see daily life impacted – and it’s putting them in a very bad moodWall Street Weekly | 03/05/2010 12:45 pm Bears, Bulls, Chickens and Pigs: wOw’s Wall Street Weekly with Liz Peek (Week of 3/1) Editor’s Note: Liz Peek is a financial columnist. The results of a new and completely unscientific poll are in:...
A Day With Scorsese on Shutter Island, by Jill Larson
The cinematic Old Master only wanted Jill to play this part — but about this part …Entertainment | 03/05/2010 6:00 amEditor’s Note: Actress Jill Larson has played the popular character of Opal Cortlandt on "All My Children" for the last two decades, and also has a long list of credits...
Liz Smith: Brad and Angie's 'Pillow Talk'? (What Would Doris and Rock Say?)
Also, Liz’s shout-out to Mischa Barton … And muffle your ears, close your eyes – TV’s ‘Archer’ is outrageous!The Liz Smith Column | 03/05/2010 5:00 am"AT LEAST my problems can be solved in one bedroom. Yours couldn’t be solved in a thousand!" No, that is not an inside glimpse of the...
Love in the Time of Viagra Part 3: 'Can't You Just Say Yes or No?' by Sara Davidson
Our writer boots Billy the Bad … then changes her mindLove in the Time of Viagra | 03/05/2010 2:00 am Editor’s Note: Sara Davidson, author of the bestselling books Loose Change and Leap!: What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives?, has contributed articles to The New York Times...
kerrianne.org
My Heart Is A Nautical-Themed Pashmina Afghan
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“You can’t create fate because then it’s not fate, it’s Voodoo.”
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Because My Brain Is Otherwise Occupied
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MarriageTweets
study: Happy marriage cuts fatal stroke risk for men
study: Happy marriage cuts fatal stroke risk for men: A study of 10,000 Israelis found both bachelors and those in loveless marriages had a far higher risk of fatal stroke than happily married men. As a society we should invest in relationship support because happy relationships benefit us all by...
How can I tell if my marriage is in trouble, and what can I do...
How can I tell if my marriage is in trouble, and what can I do to prevent breakup? Sue Johnson identifies warning signs in a marriage and what you can do to prevent issues from destroying your relationship....
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World’s Longest-Married Couple to Answer Your Questions Via...
World’s Longest-Married Couple to Answer Your Questions Via Twitter! The ‘Tweethearts’, from North Carolina, US, tied the knot in 1924. They have been married a whopping 85 years! You can find them on Twitter and Facebook. Link: Mashable news ...
Iowa State sociologists find older adults turning to online...
Iowa State sociologists find older adults turning to online options for love, marriage The research found that spouses who met online are older and have much shorter courtships — averaging 18.5 months of dating before getting married by comparison to 42 months for those who met in more traditional ways offline....
The Marriage Ref Jerry Seinfeld is back and in the...
The Marriage Ref Jerry Seinfeld is back and in the producer’s chair for a funny and revealing series about the unpredictable and hilarious institution we call marriage. Jerry has been out of the TV scene for 12 years and married for 10 years. I’m looking forward to the show. ;) Link: @themarriageref...
Hitchedmag.com
7 simple steps to creating an evolving keepsake that’ll keep friends and family up to date....
Staying the Course to Become a Spanish Resident
Just when everything is coming together, becoming a legal resident requires a lot of persistence and patience to stay the course....
Tips to Arrive to a Peaceful Home
Honey, I’m home! Learn how to have stress-free homecomings every day....
11 Sportsmanship Tips for Parents
Good sportsmanship starts with good parenting both on and off the field....
How to Mend the Gap in a Disconnected Marriage
Use these tools to help repair and strengthen your marriage, now....
French Green Lentil and Spinach Soup with Cilantro Yogurt
Healthy, a great source of protein and easy to prepare. Why this lentil recipe should be on everyone’s kitchen table....
Boss Sanders
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(With my face cupped in her hands, Lorelei says…) Lorelei: “You pretty. This eyebrow pretty. This eyebrow pretty. This (eye) pretty. This pretty eye, too. Here (nose) pretty. Lips pretty. Hair pretty. You just sooo pretty, mommy.” Me: “Thank you, sweetie. You are beautiful.” Lorelei: “Thank you. I love you mommy! (Then, a...
Life lessons in the smallest things
Lorelei: (shouting to me from outside the shower/tub) “Mama! A BUG! Look!” Me: (pulls the shower curtain aside. I see a little “thing” but couldn’t tell if it was a fuzzy or a bug) “Honey, just leave it alone. I can’t see what it is. I’ll look when I get out...
Dear “Rora,” I can’t believe 10 months has passed since we first welcomed you into our lives. You have grown so much — and time has passed too quickly! Your favorite toys are NOT baby toys. You love Little People and baby dolls and some of the most random toys like Lala’s...
It’s tricky having a toddler with my stubborn-ness. She’s desperate to learn but doesn’t want to be confined by any RULES, especially when it’s ME. Today, I found this new GREAT website: www.starfall.com There’s more to it than just ABCs, but that’s what we’re working on now. Just this morning, she wanted...
ONE Lorelei (looking at and holding her baby, says to her/it in a whisper voice): “Baby. You look at me! Don’t say ‘dammit’! No.” Then, she proceeded to open her mouth insanely wide and…bite her. Me: *looked at her, mouth wide open in astonishment* Lorelei: “What?” (as if she was just doing the...
Momma Muse
Rice Pudding with Leftover Rice
It’s been forever and a day that I enjoyed homemade rice pudding. It’s a memory from when I was about 7 years old, my grandmother and I would make both rice pudding and egg custard. This evening, one of my daughters made dinner. It included rice – of which...
Weeds, on Showtime Mondays at 10pm, is about a woman whose husband dies and she still has to pay the bills. Her and her two boys live in cookie cutter suburbia and she’s jobless. She makes ends meet by selling pot. It’s such a good show, the...
For about a year, I coveted Amazon’s reading device called the Kindle. While there are other reading devices available, I liked the Kindle because you can be just about anywhere, browse Amazon’s books and download a new read in less than a minute. For Christmas, my husband said,...
It’s only the middle of summer, but as a home school family, I’m already looking at the next year. I don’t have to worry so much about buying supplies from the school required list, or making sure we have clothes for the first day of school and I don’t...
They Don’t Care About Us – Lyrics, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson “They Don’t Care About Us” Lyrics 4 Single released from the Album HIStory, 1995 They Don’t Care About Us video: Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, aggravation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food Bang bang, shot dead Everybody’s gone mad All I wanna say is that They don’t really care about us All I wanna...
Ibn Ibn Battuta
Spicy Fingers: Notes from an Ethiopian Eating Adventure
One of a few final posts looking back on last month's visit to Ethiopia. I first ate Ethiopian food when I was 14, during a class trip to a restaurant back home in Baltimore. In my memory, the food was peculiar but delicious. Injera, the purplish-grey spongebread with which the...
Amharic: A Language Apart from a Land Apart
One of a few final posts looking back on last month's visit to Ethiopia. Though geographically landlocked, culturally speaking Ethiopia is an island, distinguished from its neighbors by its unique history, ethnicities, cuisine, calendar, and most of all by its language. Amharic, the mother tongue of the Amhara (Ethiopia's dominant...
The Moment You've Been Waiting For: Ethiopia Photos
Pictures are finally here! (and a few videos too!) Now that Jacqueline and I are back home in the Land of Internet, I've been able to sort through and upload photos for all my previously posted Ethiopia entries. Especially for those readers without a mental image of what Ethiopia looks...
Mulling It Over or: I Lost My Passport in Kombolcha
Soon after our return to Addis Ababa and our subsequent decision to return to the US, I dug around for my passport so we could head to the airline offices. Not in that pocket, nor in that pouch, nor in that bag. Hmmm... The passport, it turned out, was in...
A Great East African Odyssey, Abbreviated
From Lalibela we drove a day to the town of Kombolcha, from where it took the better part of another full day to reach Addis Ababa. Our northern road trip was over, and it was time for Jacqueline and I to decide on our next move. The plan, of course,...
An Ill-Fated Walk in the Simien Mountains, Part I
Gonder, the northern town that was Ethiopia's capital in medieval times, still boasts a series of imperial castles that look like they were lifted straight out of old Europe. But Jacqueline and I weren't here for sightseeing - Gonder was our jumping off point for a multi-day hike in the...