Showing posts with label NaBloPoMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaBloPoMo. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - , 7 comments

November Wrap Up

I made it! To the last post of the November NaBloPoMo! I can hardly believe it. I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad that I don't have to do it anymore. But perhaps, what it has done is get me back into the habit of posting more frequently, now that I'm no longer in school. I don't have to be intimidated by the blank space.

To finish up the month, I thought it would be fun to have a kind of summary.
You can get one of your very own at Wordle.net. It will take the text from one page of entries on your blog and create a picture. You can edit the color choices, the font, the number of words used, and more.

If you want a whole month of blogs, like I did, go to your blog archive and choose the month that you'd like to feature. You should get a bunch of blog entries (depending on how many you did that month).

Thank you everyone who has supported me with your comments all this month.  I have really appreciated it!  See you in December.

P.S. This is my 200th post. *squeee*

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - ,, 6 comments

Caption This

What groovy captions can you come up to go with this?  Go ahead. You know you want to. ;)

Here's one of mine ...
Can someone turn on the A/C? The humidity is killing me here!
I know you punsters out there could have a field day with this. :D

Monday, November 28, 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011 - 5 comments

Happy Birthday Claire

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook as I may have mentioned in a post earlier this month. One of the things I love is getting glimpses into the lives of the people I care about who live far-far away. Some of these are the Koreans that I lived and studied with at seminary.

Recently, some friends posted pictures of their child's first birthday party. In Korea, the first year party or Dol is a big deal. It is an elaborate party with traditional dress and special rituals.
The thing that captured my attention, in addition to those happy people is the incredibly carved watermelon on the bottom left of the photo. This is no crudely cut  fruit basket but a finely carved flower.

What I learned is that this is an Asian art form incredible to behold.
So, Happy Birthday, Claire! May your life be filled with bounty and joy, but most of all, love.
(And welcome to Sammy Oh, born on November 24th, Thanksgiving day to parents Mikang Kim and Paul DongHwan Oh!)

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011 - ,, 2 comments

The Watercolor Test

I haven't done one of these quizzes in a very long time, and I always thought that they were kind of fun. I have been very proud that I haven't done any this month so far, but time's running out.  So a little frivolity on a Sunday.

You Are Highly Inspiring





You believe that your life has a higher purpose, and you do all you can to achieve it.

You are wise, and a lot of your wisdom comes from self discipline.

You try to live as moderately and modestly as possible.

You make room for rational, small indulgences... while living as ethically as you can.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Saturday, November 26, 2011 - ,, 6 comments

Blog Decoration

So yes, I know. I complained about early Christmas music. And I just spent the last two months unpacking and arranging things in my apartment, so I can't bear to think about trying to rearrange things for Christmas decorations and a tree.

But do you know what? It's almost effortless to decorate your blog for Christmas (or any other current season or event you like). The hardest part is choosing one. This year I decided to complete my mid-century modern look with this retro spread.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday. I decided to stay in. It's scary out there. :)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Friday, November 25, 2011 - ,,, 5 comments

Five on Friday - Latin Inferno

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My friend Travis over at Trav's Thoughts does this fun meme with Five Songs on Friday. It's fun and easy to play. Head over there and see what it's all about.

Since last week I featured a little bit of country, I thought that Latin would be a nice change of pace this week. Unfortunately I couldn't find most of what I wanted on Playlist.com this week, so I'm Youtubing it. The good news is that many of these have some great videos attached. (Notice I said "some." lol)

As always, I hope that you enjoy these as much as I did picking them out.

A Mis Abuelos by Arturo Sandoval (The music really changes @ 2:00.)


Con Los Anos Que Me Quedan by Gloria Estefan


Mambo #5 - Disney Version (I like this version better than the original. The only change is in some of the lyrics.)


Daddy - A little cha-cha by the incredible Della Reese!


La Cumparsita with great dancing from Tango Fire.



Have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011 - ,, 8 comments

It Feels Like It's 103˚ in Here!

I've been baking pies. My house now smells like pumpkin and sugar. Yum!

I've missed not having a kitchen. And now, I have a huge one.
Okay, so my kitchen table's a little cluttered. It's the "lived in" look.  Apparently, it's all the rage now according to the Making of HGTV, The Magazine (or something like that-lol).

Anyway, I love it! I can make whatever I want, whenever I want. I don't have to worry about bothering anyone or being judged by what I eat.

And, I can even make a pumpkin pie.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - , 6 comments

OMG! Do I Have a Social Life?

Despite taking great pains to decorate my space and jealously pouring over Williams-Sonoma catalogs for the past 30 years (Yes, I started young. lol) I haven't had that many opportunities to entertain.

I'm not quite sure about all the reasons, but here in Idaho, I'm finally getting my chance. For one thing, so many people at the church that I'm working at were very kind to me. This especially applies to the people that helped me move my stuff into my apartment.

And I'm actually receiving invitations. This is something that's basically unheard of in my life. Naturally, one needs to reciprocate, right? I think that part of this has to do with my job at the church.

Even though I'm not ordained clergy, the people there are basically treating me as the associate pastor. There's some justification for this, in as much as my duties are pretty close to those of an associate pastor. I actually had to ask one nice lady to stop introducing me to people as "our new pastor." (Trust me. I did it very diplomatically.) And besides which, they seem to really like me.

In any case, now that I'm finally fully unpacked, and my apartment no longer looks like a disaster area, I could start repaying all the kindness shown to me. My first guests had to be Tom & Maureen Holmes. They are the lovely couple that allowed me to stay with them my first three weeks in Idaho. (They're the ones with the deer living in their yard.)

Better guests could not be imagined. Wine was drunk. Easy conversation was made. The food turned out good. I finished off the rest of my Italian Parsley. I even provided a bit of a show when I turned on the wrong burner on the stove, and it had a burner cover on it!

I couldn't figure out why I was seeing, what I thought was, steam, but my sauce wasn't simmering. When the burner cover started turning black, and the smoke started having a certain scent, I began to suspect the truth. Luckily, it was all resolved before the stoke detector went off. lol

Finished off with some fresh strawberries and a cup of tea. (Did I mention that Maureen is English?) They properly ooh-ed and ahhh-ed over my apartment. It was a wonderful evening.

Whom shall I invite next? :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - ,, 17 comments

Come Along ... If You Want

Only eight more days left of the National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) challenge!  Actually, it hasn't been nearly as tough as I thought it might be. While every post hasn't necessarily been the height of literary greatness, overall, I think that the content has been pretty solid. I'm really enjoying the experience.

Apparently, one significant thing happened to the whole NaBloPoMo franchise this month.  It relocated or was incorporated into BlogHer, a website/platform/whatever whose focus is to promote women bloggers. Their vision statement is:
To create opportunities for women who blog to gain exposure, education, community and economic empowerment
And you know what, that's great. I have no issue with supporting and empowering women. What I don't understand is why this is the place to host NaBloPoMo?  Is this now a "female" event? Should it really be FeNaBloPoMo?

Are men excluded from participating? No, not exactly. In the kickoff post for November, we are told, "Yes, men are always welcome on BlogHer."  That's fine in theory, but in reality, I find male voices conspicuous by their absence.

This month I have seen one, one male participant, who acknowledges that he may be the only man playing this month. That doesn't mean that there aren't others, but it can't be many.

It's like a woman going out for a night on the town with the girls, and turning to her guy and saying, "Come along ... if you want." It appears that it's an invitation that many men have been quite willing to refuse.

One of the things that I wanted to do during this challenge is expand my blog circle. As mentioned on Vinny Bond's blog last Friday, many of the people on my blog roll aren't as active or as interested in blogging as they used to be. The prolific posting during this monthly challenge proves that there are plenty of people out there who are active, but I'd like to hear from some men too.

I think that BlogHer is great, and I think that NaBloPoMo is great. I just don't think that they're great together.

It almost seems ungrateful for me to be complaining about this. After all, according to my stats, I've had over 3300 "reads" of my posts since the beginning of the month. That's almost half as many as I've had on this blog for over 3 years.

I've had a featured NaBloPoMo post (which provided over 1100 of those reads). Moreover,  my post from yesterday is/was listed as the featured sports story on the home page for the whole BlogHer website (of which NaBloPoMo is only a small part).

Let me be clear in saying that I am very grateful and honored by the exposure that I've had at BlogHer. All I'm just sayin' is it would be nice to have more men in this month's NaBloPoMo.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011 - 2 comments

Falling Back in Love with Football

There is a memory of my dad that I will never forget. He was in the Army, and we were stationed in Germany in the mid-70's. He ran down the hall from his bedroom to share his joy. The Vikings had just scored a touchdown!


It was one of the rare weeks when the Minnesota Vikings were being carried on the Armed Forces radio network. (Yes, I said radio.) You think it's bad when your favorite sports team isn't being shown on your local tv station? Think about it when you're thrilled that it's on the radio!

As you can imagine, we moved around a lot, with my dad in the Army, but there was one constant. We followed the MN Vikings during the football season, and the MN Twins during baseball. There have been a number of seasons with heartache (like this year), but we had our up years too.

There weren't many years when we actually lived in Minnesota, so we often watched other teams. Even after I became an adult my dad and I would watch games together.  Sometimes, it was more like I fell asleep on the couch, and he watched the game. lol Nevertheless, it was a comforting ritual.

It was a ritual that I couldn't participate in for the first couple of years after my dad's death. By then, I was out of the habit. I found myself getting excited about the season towards the end of the playoffs ... and then it was over! I felt thwarted.

But this year, I'm getting in early. It only took me three years to figure it out, but I did it.  And now, I get a chance to fall back in love with football all over again.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011 - , No comments

A New Idea in Flower Arranging ...

Want to hear a wild and crazy idea for flower arranging? Forget the flowers. lol

One of the most delightful things that has happened to me since arriving in Idaho ... and there have been many ... occurred just as we were getting ready for our first hard frost for the season. I was meeting with some families in the church, a sort of meeting & greet kind of thing, and one family offered me some of their Italian Parsley to take home.

I've got to tell you that Italian Parsley is one of my favorite herbs. I will make due with the curly variety if I must, but Italian makes my heart sing.

So, right after the meeting, the Essingers take me to their house. Mr. Essinger grabs a shovel and digs out a whole plant to take home with me! And boy, they had a bumper crop. This thing is HUGE!

I really don't have the capacity to cultivate the plant, so I cut off the roots and stuck it in a vase.



I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked, so bright and green.  And I got to have fresh parsley for weeks!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Saturday, November 19, 2011 - ,,, 2 comments

Two Things That Don't Go Together

Current events in Syria and anticipated theme park rides. But there it was on my screen.



I was reading a story in the LA times about the increased pressure the Arab world and specifically the Turkish government was putting on Syria. Then, there it was. I could hardly believe my eyes. There was an ad about the Top Thirteen Theme Park Rides for 2013.

Really? I guess everyone needs a little escapism to get a rest from the violence and mayhem. Though I guess their oxymoronic plan worked, I did click on it. I suppose, there's no accounting for taste. ;)

Earthquest Adventures, Houston, Texas
Now, I've added insult to injury by bringing the Cookie Monster and Sesame Street into it. My apologies to them both.

For the record, I couldn't be more pleased about how the Arab League has taken the lead in the diplomatic measures with Syria. (Though, naturally, they took a 1/2 a step back since the news article was written.) Sooner would have been better, of course, but you can say that regarding just about anything. A step in the right direction, at least. That is if democracy in the Middle East is "right."

Friday, November 18, 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011 - , 8 comments

Five on Friday - A Little Bit Country

My friend Travis over at Trav's Thoughts does this fun meme with Five Songs on Friday. It's fun and easy to play. Head over there and see what it's all about.

Yes, I'm a child of the 70's, and that means that when I was about 7 years old, I watched Donny & Marie every week, probably while wearing purple socks. (If you don't know what I'm talking about you're either not from the United States or under 40 years old, or both. No worries.)

The point of all this is that Donny & Marie had a segment called "A Little Bit Country/A Little Bit Rock and Roll." And today, I'm featuring a little bit of country on my playlist. These are some of my favorites. Hope you like them too!



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Have a good weekend!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011 - ,,,,, 4 comments

The Rest of the Story - The Force of Volkswagon

You may recall when I posted about the superior Volkswagon Superbowl Commercial featuring a pint-sized Darth Vader. As a self-proclaimed Star Wars enthusiast (original trilogy), I was utterly delighted. Here's a little something to refresh your memory.



As I was reviewing my Favorites on Youtube ... Unbelievably Mini-Vader was not among them. I have corrected this oversight ... I came across a "making of" video.  Truth be told, it's so much more than that. It helps me understand baby-Vader like I never have before.



And now, you have the rest of the story.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - ,,, 4 comments

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Well, the weather is forecast to be frightful starting tomorrow., but if you know me at all, you know that I have no faith in weather forecasters. (Sorry Deb! lol)
 
Now, if you're over one year old, the title of this blog post might have reminded you of a particular wintery song, "Let It Snow."  Many parts of the country have already gotten more than they wanted. The ski resorts are probably praying for more as they start up their snow machines. 

It's been snowing.  It could be reasonable to sing "Let It Snow" even if you meant it ironically or sarcastically.  What's not reasonable is to hear Christmas Music on the RADIO before Thanksgiving! I was just coming back from lunch, and what notes should be delivered to my ears?  A Christmas song. I can't tell you which one. My mind has blanked over the traumatic memory.

I mean, I know. Musicians need to practice Christmas music early for performances. Christmas music is recorded in the summer for later release. There's even an instrumental version of  O Holy Night that I leave in rotation on my music player all year round.

I know that stores start putting Christmas decorations out with the Back to School sales, but can we please wait to hear it on the radio until after Thanksgiving?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - , 2 comments

Do I Need a Personal Website - Part 2

So, yesterday, I told you all about my old webpage, and how I've never come up with the time, energy, and patience to recreate a new one that fulfilled me like the old one.

I guess the first question is if I continue to have a website, does it have to be like the old one at all?  What is the purpose of having a website?

The purpose of my old site was a place online to introduce myself to the world. Without giving out enough information for a villain to track me down, I tried to present things that showed others who I am. What kinds of movies do I like.  Where do I like to travel. That I like to travel at all. What kind of art interests me, and pictures that I could share with family and friends.

Decorating my site was like decorating my apartment. It also demonstrated my personality and how I wanted to be perceived.

My blog does many of these things, but the website was like a summary of all my blog posts.  Facebook does many of these things, but quite frankly I hate (Yes, I said "hate.") the aesthetics. It might not be important to other people, but it's important to me.

The thing is that no one ever viewed my personal website anyway. How is anyone going to get to know me through it if they never see it? Really, it's pointless.

Perhaps the reason that I could never seem to get the new one right (no matter how hard I worked on it) is that the time of personal websites has passed.  I think that I just need to give up that idea. It's not that big of a deal I guess, but it still makes me a little sad.

(P.S. I have now officially made it half-way through November's NaBloPoMo! *squee*)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011 - , 2 comments

Do I Need a Personal Website - Part I

When I was a new driver on the internet superhighway, one of my first ISPs was MindSpring (which eventually became Earthlink). One of the perks that came with the service was you got x number of email addresses and the same number of websites ... depending on your plan.

At that time, blogs were a very new thing. I don't think very many people understood the best way to use them, how you could customize them, and create networking communities. But companies were developing their websites at a rapid rate. In the mean time, there was experimentation with personal websites. (This is all pre Myspace and Facebook, you understand.)

So, I thought that I'd give it a shot. MindSpring provided moderately customizable templates. And if you were HTMLly inclined, you could be quite imaginative. I had another website where I stored all of my images, mostly emoticons of some sort, but there may have been the odd picture of Orlando Bloom. ;)


It was really nice. (I mean having the website, not the picture of Orlando. Though truth be told this pic still took my breath away.) It allowed me to share illustrated stories about my travel adventures with friends and family. I was able to redecorate with the seasons ... Hmmmm, that sounds remarkably like what I have here (in some ways) and on Facebook (in others), but I digress.

The thing is that when I went away to seminary, I closed my Earthlink account, and thereby, lost my webpage, something that I had continued to maintain despite the growth of other forms of social media. I tried to replace it with a free product from Wix.com, but I have never dedicated the effort required to take it to the level of personal expression of my previous site was.

The question is, Do I really need to do that? Tomorrow, I'll continue to explore this question, and maybe we'll be able to come up with a satisfying answer.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011 - ,, 6 comments

Snowcapped Sunset

I have an article/blog post that I've been wanting to write for almost two weeks now, and this weekend was going to be it. I was finally going to fight back the chaos of my apartment and give it the time and attention it deserves ... And then I got a cold.

So, instead I'm going to treat you to a sunset view from my apartment window. The light was captured in the clouds just right, so I couldn't resist.

My highly indignant piece will have to wait for another day ... or two ... or three. :)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday, November 12, 2011 - , No comments

Saturday 9 - How Long

It's Saturday 9 time! A fun little meme with only 9 questions each week. This week the questions (or at least one of them) is inspired by "How Long" by Ace. And away we go!

Saturday 9: How Long

1. Have you discovered a betrayal? If so, did you ask, “How long has THIS been going on”?
Betrayals come in all shapes and sizes. Sure, I've felt betayed before, but as far as the "cheating" kind? Not really. Nothing that made me shout, "How long has THIS been going on?" at the time. I usually figured it out eventually anyway. [How much of a "non-answer" was that? lol Not really my intention, but ... ]
2. What is the longest line you've ever stood in? Would you do it again?
I hate standing in lines. I will often arrange my schedule, so that my wait will be the shortest possible. It might come from being raised in the Army, where you have to wait in line for Everything. So, I have definitely had my share.

But the longest? That's a hard question. It could be during the baseball playoffs, when I went in with my Homer Hankie to watch the Minnesota Twins. More than likely, it was at Disney World. At least most of those lines move pretty fast, and you're entertained while you're waiting. Are those worthy of waiting again? Heck, yes!
3. Someone has hung a sign around your neck, and you have to wear it all day long. What does it say?
Today, it would be "Contagious." I have a cold ... bummer.
4. As the Christmas season approaches, what song is it that you just can't wait to hear?
I have lots of favorite Christmas song, so it often depends on my mood. Today, I'll say, "Christmas Time Is Near" from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
5. What Christmas song do you dread to hear?
I really couldn't say. Must be the cold or something. ;)
6. How often do you read the last chapter of a book first?
Never. I don't ever recall doing that. I have looked at the end once or twice to see who the murderer was in a mystery, but that's only because I really didn't like the book. lol
7. Do you have a favorite movie that you just love to see each year during the holidays?
Again, that varies, but having recently watched the Halloween special, I'll say A Charlie Brown Christmas.
8. Do you enjoy winter in the area that you live?
This is my first winter in Idaho, so I'll have to wait and see. But they are very excited about winter activities around here. They seem to celebrate it rather than huddling in their homes, so I have high hopes.
9. At the holidays I think we all show more kindness. In your opinion, is this a “concept” that has value (like money or other tangible things) or does it exist as simply emotion? Why?
oooOOOooo, a deep question. Interesting. I would say that the business world puts a value on it. They tap into those feelings of good will to get us to buy more things. Charities receive the bulk of their funds during this time as well.

I think that it has value, even if those things were taken out of play. It's the caring for others that manifests itself through this buying and giving. But it doesn't have to be just that. It can be the doing as well.  Perhaps, that's part of why people are also more apt to feel depressed and lonely during this time. They don't feel that they have the opportunity to participate in the love fest.

So, the moral of this story is show a little kindness. Share a kind word. Let someone ahead of you in line. Don't get mad when someone cuts you off in traffic. They may be someone who just had a bad day and wants to return to their refuge at home.

Let's all get some rest, so that we'll be ready for the holiday craziness. :)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Friday, November 11, 2011 - ,,, 4 comments

Five on Friday - Veterans Day

My friend Travis over at Trav's Thoughts does this fun meme with Five Songs on Friday. It's fun and easy to play. Head over there and see what it's all about.

As Veterans Day falls on a Friday this year, it only seems appropriate to have a Five on Friday themed in their honor. For all the military folks who have ever put their lives on the line to protect their homes and families and for those families who love them so, this one's for you.


Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones

Have a great weekend!

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