Tag: blogging

Exponential Gratitude

It’s Sunday, and I’m taking the Sabbath off with the fam. Normally wouldn’t post, but figured a note of gratitude would be in keeping with the Spirit of the day.

autumn clematis in the alley

Thank you, Chicago Public Library, for reposting Confessions of a Bibliophile on your Facebook and Twitter feeds this past week. The traffic generated boosted this post into the top 12 for this site (see the list in the right sidebar).

Likewise, when folks shared The Tale of Two Heifers last week, or empathetic parents shared Club MOB, or fed-up citizens shared How the Government Can Save $3.14 Million This Year, those posts secured spots in the top 12.

And who could forget when the agricultural community embraced Milk Wars? It was number one until WordPress featured I Like My Bike on Freshly Pressed.

In fact, every post on the top 12 list has one thing in common: each was shared with others by readers who liked what they read here.

This will come as no surprise to the social media savvy. But to those of us who are still learning the ropes, the exponential power of social media is astounding. The term viral is apt.

Like something you see? Share it with others who might like it too. That’s how the community grows.

Speaking of community, heartfelt thanks goes out to Southern Guilford, spread now from coast to coast. Your response to Indian Summer makes me doubly homesick. I’m grateful to have grown up where I did when I did.

So thank you, readers, whoever and wherever you are for reading, commenting and sharing. I hope you enjoy your time here as much as I do.

And most importantly, thank you, God, for Your many blessings to us all, in spite of our failings, each and every day.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. See you back here soon.

Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all His benefits—
Who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
Who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 NIV

Thank You, Boyz II Men. Man, these guys can sing.

Posted on by Aimee 2

Linky Dos

evening on the farm, September 4, 2011

Good evening, night owls.

It’s late and tomorrow’s post is all queued up for the morning. Simply had to take a moment to share how much I’m enjoying these Linky Party things on blogs.

Linked up for the first time a couple weeks ago with Somewhere in Pennsylvania for Wordless Wednesday on friend Katie Pinke’s Pinke Post.

Then tonight I linked up with Sweet Slice to Family Friday on Zweber Family Farm News, a blog run by a super cool organic dairywoman, and I linked up with The Tale of Two Heifers to Farm Friend Friday on Verde Farm, one of the absolute sweetest farm blogs I’ve seen.

Two requests:

  1. If you are having one of these parties on your blog and I know about it, I am so there. This is a terrific way to read material from far and wide and share your stuff too.
  2. Once I figure out how to do this on WordPress, I’m throwing a party and you’re invited. So get your blog on and get ready to get down. (If you already happen to know how to do this on WordPress or if you have any Linky Party advice, the floor is yours in the comments.)

Tonight I also left a comment on an editorial post I liked on World Magazine. How cool is that? And to think, you can do it too. Anyone can. It’s like free-range media—a dream come true—and I’m lovin’ it!

Wise men and women are always learning,
always listening for fresh insights. Proverbs 18:15 The Message

Get Down with Audio Adrenaline because my Linky Party’s on the way and because I like this song. Buona notte!

Posted on by Aimee 4

We’ve Been Freshly Pressed!

Hello, subscribers, RSS feed readers, FB friends, and others who are scrolling through. A quick and happy note to share some exciting news.

big red super star

WordPress, my blogging platform, picked up last Friday’s post I Like My Bike for their Freshly Pressed lineup today. Click Freshly Pressed to see for yourself.

I Like My Bike won’t be on the front page for long. If it’s gone when you get there, scroll down and hit the Earlier button. Look for the shiny, purple bike.

Thank you for your readership, comments and encouragement. You’re the best!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 NIV

What better song than one of my favorites If I Stand by the brilliant Rich Mullins.

Posted on by Aimee 10

You Deserve a Break Today

one of those days

Ever have one of those days? Yesterday was one for me.

Worked all morning on Thursday’s serious blog post when, oh, look at that. It’s noon! And by the way, the post is mopping the floor with me. Hmm. Wonder what’s for lunch?

Stumbled to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of ambition. But I got nothing.

No caffeine in the house. No appetizing morsel awaiting me in the fridge. Blood sugar is plummeting. Approaching meltdown status.

Suddenly I felt the urge to escape. To break free from the four walls of the house. Flee from the heavy subject matter I’d been tackling. Make a run for the border. Come on, baby, drive south!

That’s it, I thought. I’ll simply escort myself out. Next thing I know, I’m in the truck driving down our friendly neighborhood street. Headed for some destination yet unknown to me.

Had I been showered and dressed I’d have gone to the mall. Where else does a Gen X girl go when in flight?

But a shower had evaded me that morning, I hadn’t even brushed my hair, and I was still wearing Monday’s outfit. Nix the mall.

Bread Company? Been there. Qdoba? Done that. Chinese? No. Salad bar? What?

How about a drive thru? Nu-uh. That would mean I’d have pick up and go home to eat alone. I was escaping, remember?

The truck, sensing my distess, turned south on a major thoroughfare.

“Ah,” I said. “I know where we’re going.”

The truck didn’t answer. It just carried me forward, meticulously obeying traffic signals all the way.

“We’re going to McDonald’s, aren’t we?” I said.

happy meal 4 me

Sure enough, we soon arrived at the Golden Arches. Three dollars and 71 cents later, I had lunch, CNN, and people watching. And no one cared about my hair or how I was dressed.

There are healthier options than a cheeseburger, like making a salad at home. More ecological means of transport than the truck, like riding that shiny purple bike. Maybe I’ll try those today. Or tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow’s looking better already.

But I’m reminded how my grandparents used to take us kids to McDonald’s as a special treat. How the Happy Meal was elevated to near comfort food status.

And I for one am thankful McDonald’s will still do fine for lunch in a pinch on a day otherwise in peril.

Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up.
Expect God to get here soon. Psalm 31:24 The Message

Bad Day by Daniel Powter. We all have ’em.

Posted on by Aimee 8

Dream Sequence

Remember earlier this month we got a new Mac to replace our dying Dell?

Over the weekend, took the Mac back to the techies at the store for the data transfer. The wait was five days when we bought it. Now it’s only 48 hours. Gulp.

True, it’s been a bit of a circus hopping between two machines. Will be nice to have everything on one computer again. But I was becoming proficient.

Felt like I was commanding the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. “Uhara, pull up the photos on the Dell. Spock, hit Publish on the Mac. Beam me up, Scotty!”

Maybe it’s the anxiety of being laptop-less for a couple days that got to me. Whatever it was, last night I had the strangest dream.

I dreamed I traveled to a writing seminar where there were no computers. It was old school, the way we used to do things. Back in the 80s.

In the course of my stay, I ran out of paper. So I wrote poetry on the bed sheets in my room, folded them, and turned them in as my project. My thesis. My magnum opus. And I passed with highest honors.

Read into it what you will. It was sweet and it was mine.

Now give me back my laptop, Mac guys, before I start writing on your sheets too.

And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.”

“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.” Genesis 40:8 NLT

Last night I had the strangest dream… Oh, I already said that. Enjoy Blue Lagoon’s fun 2004 cover of Matthew Wilder’s Break My Stride.

as seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Dreams by Langston Hughes (1926)

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is
a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Posted on by Aimee 2

A Word to the Menfolk

silly smiles

Some of you may be relieved to know tomorrow’s post is gender-neutral.

Apologies to male readers if yesterday’s post made you feel uncomfortable or left out. Always pushing the limit around here.

I’m a girl after all, but the moral still applies I think. And although I love being a girl, I love my guys too! Remember Club MOB?

Hope you’ll come back. Thanks for reading. And thank you for your support.

(Oops, there goes another undergarment pun. Forgive me. I couldn’t resist).

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises. Galations 3:28-29 The Message

No Doubt, Just a Girl. Taken with a grain of salt and a giggle, please.

Posted on by Aimee 4

Welcome to the Wild West

image used with permission from Dan Dreyfus, dreyfusphoto.com

Life on the blog is life on the wild frontier. Bring your bravado. There’s no established etiquette, no paved roads, and often no rules.

How many posts per week? One, two, seven? How long should they be? There are no rules.

Should every post be announced on Facebook or is that annoying to your friends? What about your friends who only know about a post if you announce it? Should you ask them to subscribe? There are no rules.

What about RSS feeds? You can’t see them. How do you know you can trust them?

What about a Facebook page for your blog? Rihanna’s page has more than 42 million likes. What’s the harm in suggesting your kemosabes like yours? What good is it if you never reach 42 million? There are no rules.

Should you tweet? What qualifies me, a lone ranger, to have a Twitter account? What qualifies me to have a blog? There are no rules.

Speaking of lone ranger, should you join a blogging network? Seems helpful to form alliances with fellow cowpokes, but this desperado is right fond of her freedom. Will a network support or hinder it? There are no rules.

image used with permission from Winsdown Farms, winsdown.com

What if someone knowingly borrows your ideas or words without a link back, credit or notification? Should you challenge the outlaw to a shootout at sundown? Hope they ride off into the sunset never to copycat again? There are no rules.

What about photos? WordPress suggests using your own pictures or grabbing photos off the net and crediting sources. Copyright, anyone?

What about excerpts or ideas from other writers like Hope Edelman, Hara Estroff Marano, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, or Erica Jong? Is it okay if you credit and notify them? These authors didn’t seem to mind when I did it. They sent me kind emails, not cease and desist orders.

What about YouTube, that roving band of gunslingers wearing 36 black hats at least? Should you wait for the lawyers to draw lines in the sand?

And what comes of all this? Is blogging really a job if you don’t get paid? Is the next step to write a book? A screenplay? Secure a sponsor? Wrangle a doggie? Settle down in some quiet little town and forget about everything?

We drive on into the unknown for love of the great wide open. For breathtaking sunsets on the edge of civilization. There’s a lot to learn. Some of it we make up as we go. Have to because the landscape itself is in a state of flux.

image used with permission from Dan Dreyfus, dreyfusphoto.com

So sidle up to the saloon and raise a toast. To the west, young woman, as far as this horse will take you.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 NIV

Happy trails, pardners. Before you go, check out Don’t Fence Me In by David Byrne of Talking Heads. You may find yourself humming it all weekend long.

Special thanks to my friend Kari for use of the photos of her beautiful horses.

Posted on by Aimee 2

Family Business

look, ma. no tooth!

This is a rare and unplanned Saturday post. It’s quick so don’t blink.

First, THE major development: the child lost his first tooth today. It’s been noticeably loose for almost two weeks and finally popped out this morning at breakfast. The toothless look becomes him. So do the freckles.

The other development: while playing on WordPress this afternoon, I discovered another widget. It’s that Facebook page link over there to the left. Click like to declare your like of everyday epistle. 

That’s assuming you do like everyday epistle. If not, what are you doing here? Get off my blog!

Just kidding. Stay as long as you like and enjoy your weekend, folks.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… from Zechariah 4:10 NLT

Posted on by Aimee 4

Crows and Eagles

public domain image

Yesterday I posted a suggestion for how the government could save money by stopping those Social Security mailings fictitiously describing how much we will receive in retirement. I conservatively estimated we’d save about $3.14 million a year. Well, I was more than a little off.

Within less than two hours, my friend Amy read the post and informed me the SSA decided a few months ago to suspend the mailings for a savings of $70 million. I repeat: $70 MILLION. That should make you laugh and cry at the same time.

I love social media. Not only was I pleasantly corrected by a friend, but we all gained some information we didn’t have a mere day ago. Apparently, the government doesn’t have to notify us that they will no longer notify us. Or something like that.

Another friend who works for the government explained in a comment on FB that common sense doesn’t necessarily dictate. There are many easy ways to save money, but the government “likes to make things as complicated as possible.” Hmm.

Lessons learned? You betcha.

1. Dig deeper.

For me, that means to do so preferably before posting. Here’s the link to the SSA page about the mailings: http://www.ssa.gov/mystatement/

2. Share the love.

Thanks to Amy for speaking up. Follow her lead. If you know something, say something so the rest of us will know too.

3. Reach out.

I’m delighted to eat a little crow on this to the tune of $70 million. But the patriotic eagle in my heart is rising. I wonder. What are the other easy ways we could save money?

We’re in a budget crisis as a nation. Many of us are in one at home too. I know some of you watch your family budgets like hawks and sniff out ways to save like bloodhounds. Some of you work in government agencies or have ties to them. You have a ringside seat to witness where we could cut back.

All of us intersect with the government in one way or another. What are you seeing in your experience and expertise that could be simplified or cut with a cost savings for our country? What ideas do you, the People, have?

Would love to know your thoughts, so do share. You can always comment anonymously. If we get a few good ideas going, perhaps we’ll send them to our folks in Congress or the White House.

It’s our country after all. And it’s worth saving.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27 NIV

Get those patriotic juices flowing with School House Rock’s Preamble.

Posted on by Aimee 8

Autopilot

sold

We lived out of suitcases 23 days in June.

While my husband traveled for work, my son and I tagged along, toured museums and rode public transportation in America’s finest cities. Each time we came to a new place or experience I thought to myself, “This is my favorite part of our trip!”

That was true until we came to the next destination where I thought, “This is my favorite part of our trip!”

Themes emerged. American history. Aeronautics. Waterways. Jellyfish. My brain is heavy with ideas. Watch for fresh stories on the blog.

The bigger story now, perhaps, is what happened while we were away. The house we’ve tried to sell for two years finally sold. No more open houses or missing moisturizer.

We negotiated a contract on the road in Illinois, finalized it somewhere in Michigan, endured inspections in Pennsylvania and Maryland, received the buyers’ signoff before leaving Virginia, and placed change orders for the utilities in North Carolina. Today we closed back in Missouri.

With our real estate agent’s help, we found a place our family can rent for the next few months. Signed the lease agreement in an Outer Banks hotel lobby.

Also while we were away, everyday epistle seamlessly churned out posts. Thanks to many of you, one post entitled Milk Wars sparked a small but exciting viral episode. Readership spiked to set a new personal record for the little blog that could. Count on more from the farm side in the future.

Other things happened too, other stirrings in thought and action. A likely partnership in one case. A necessary breakup in another. An overarching resolve to press on with new ideas, ventures and stories collected along the way.

We left town in one place and have come home to another, not by our own doing. We left determined to take a break from the concerns. Put life on cruise control. Engage autopilot.

We set it aside, but God didn’t. He never does. As Henry Blackaby and Claude King write in Experiencing God, God is always at work around you.

Wonder what He’s up to next?

 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19 NIV

If you haven’t heard Need to Breathe, you’re in for a treat. I love these guys. Go directly to this link for their song Lay ‘Em Down. Just do it.

Posted on by Aimee 19

So Right, It’s Jong

Erica Jong, image from ericajong.com

See the sidebar quote? Over there. To your right. From Erica Jong.

Jong is famous as the writer of “Fear of Flying,” a 480-page tome published in 1973. I read it in my undergrad Modern American Lit class.

It was vile. I hated it. Not sure I read the entire thing, yet still managed to ace the test. Even without reading it all, I could guess what was on the next page.

The same thing that was on every page before. A gross account of protagonist Isadora Wing’s promiscuous encounters as she traipsed around Europe. Vile, I tell you.

Quintessential women’s lib. Unrestrained, revolutionary, Boomerish. Must be why my overeducated class of Gen-Xers was assigned to read it. There could be no other reason, save more than 18 million copies in print.

Fast forward to 2011. I’m planning this blog, working on the inaugural post Maiden Flight. Fear of Flying flits across my mind, mostly because of the title.

Here I was, preparing to launch into the unknown in a way I hadn’t before. It could fly. It could bomb. It could lead to something. It could lead to nothing. I was afraid, excited, nervous.

On a whim I entered her name on Brainy Quote: Erica Jong. What appeared next was love in alphabetical order.

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.

Like.

And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.

Like. Like.

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

Will someone please plaster this to my site—and my forehead?

Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.

Maybe I’ve misread this woman.

I have accepted fear as part of life—specifically fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.

You didn’t turn back and neither will I.

I write lustily and humorously. It isn’t calculated; it’s the way I think. I’ve invented a writing style that expresses who I am.

And you opened the door for us to write as we are. So I may not care for Isadora’s sexual diary? She may not care for my Bible verses.

Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.

Love.

No one has ever found wisdom without also being a fool. Writers, alas, have to be fools in public, while the rest of the human race can cover its tracks.

Swoon. And she used the word alas.

Show me a woman who doesn’t feel guilty and I’ll show you a man.

Amen, sister.

Solitude is un-American.

Prescient creature spoke the basis for social media decades before we all posted our status updates.

Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

I scurried to the basement, to my boxes of books. Searched for my copy. Alas, it must have fallen victim to an earlier purge.

Checked the library and reserved all her books. Surprisingly, Fear of Flying is no longer among them. Fell victim to a purge there as well.

Her poetry and other books remain. Her poetry is what I prefer, from “Fruits & Vegetables“ to “Love Comes First.” I skip the sexually loaded lines, as I imagine she might skip the Bible verses if she read me.

No matter. We’re family now, she and I. Grace abounds between relations.

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:14 NIV

Everyone I know’s been so good to me. Twenty-five years old. My mother, God rest her soul. I just wanna Fly…

You Are There by Erica Jong

(from “Love Comes First,” ©2009, pp. 13-14)
 
You are there.
You have always been
there.
Even when you thought
you were climbing
you had already arrived.
Even when you were
breathing hard,
you were at rest.
Even then it was clear
you were there.
 
Not in our nature
to know what
is journey and what
arrival.
Even if we knew
we would not admit.
Even if we lived
we would think
we were just
germinating.
 
To live is to be
uncertain.
Certainty comes
at the end.
Posted on by Aimee 2

Privacy Schmivacy

private property

“I have bad news for you,” said my pastor one Sunday morning from the pulpit. “In a hundred years, no one will remember us.”

I love this guy.

He’s also said things like the opposite of longing is not contentment, but apathy. And if your life feels unbalanced, identify the busy peripheral activity, shoot it in the leg, and allow it to go off and die by itself in the corner. I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

As you’ve read here before, I only joined Facebook six months ago. This is hard for you to believe given how technologically savvy I am. Not.

Now that I’m participating, I’m quite taken by social media. Why then was I such a late adopter? One word: privacy.

What if someone from my past friends me? Or rejects me? What if they make fun of my pictures? What if they email me?

What if a serial killer selects me out of the billions of people on earth because of a Facebook comment about how much I miss Ronald Reagan? It could happen. That’s not an invitation, by the way.

violators will be prosecuted

Furthermore people do not need to be in my bidness, the trash talk pronunciation of business. They don’t need to be in that either.

As you’ve also read here before, I’m not sure how much longer I will live. Neither are you. I know. It’s sad. On the bright side, mortality adds perspective.

Privacy is a luxury. Think I’m wrong? Give birth or be hospitalized. Apply for life insurance. Be a victim of crime or get caught commiting one. Run for public office. Face financial ruin. Get divorced. Zip! There goes privacy right out the window with modesty, dignity and safety.

A Bible teacher of mine once told a story about President Theodore Roosevelt. The President took guests to one of his estates, let’s say Sagamore Hill on Long Island, New York. At night, they would walk with him under the dark, vast sky near the bay, silently taking in thousands of bright stars.

Then Roosevelt would say to them and to himself, “Feel insignificant yet?”

If you’re a private person, that’s fine. Continue to be private. It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you.

But if you’ve got something to say, somewhere to go, something to do, there’s no time like the present. Mind you, don’t hurt yourself or anyone else intentionally. Do live fearlessly now. What do you have to lose?

no trespassing

Think I share too much? Think you know everything that goes on in my mind and in my household? This is the tip of the iceberg. There are stories I’ll never tell.

Besides, one hundred years from now none of us will be here to remember and no one who is here will care.

I hope to be in a better place with no more death or mourning or crying or pain. So for the here and now, I’ll live the bravest life I can.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13 NIV

So long status quo. I think I just let go. You make me want to be Brave…

Posted on by Aimee 4