I found the above picture through a post on Eugene Cho’s blog (highly recommend you visit- he discusses good stuff.)
The photo is from a series by the Boston Globe. I also highly recommend you view all of the images, which total around 40. They show many sides of war- the good, the awful, the painful, the hopeful. I especially like that the photographs capture both American soldiers and Taliban soldiers, as well as the people of Afghanistan. There are several very painful shots that I chose not to post. This one struck me because I love the book A Thousand Splendid Suns. Series 1, Series 2.
AP Photo/Credit to David Guttenfelder
Spring flowers, from our yard. No extra rent charge for these beauties. Lovely, right?
I milked a cow for the first time this weekend. It was way easier than one might think. Simply pinch, and roll. And then put a big goofy grin on your face.
On to other things I don’t understand… so, I was at the mall this afternoon shopping for baby shower gifts and Jonathan’s birthday present. You’d have thought it was the night before Christmas. I circled forever trying to find a spot! At the Apple store there were so many people that I had to fight my way through the crowd to get Jonathan’s arm band for his ipod. (He knows I bought this so I’m not spoiling the secret). People were buying laptops and nanos and phone like it wasn’t a thing! Recession? What recession?!? I don’t get it… when I got home we looked up the arm band on Amazon and found it for half the price I paid. Naturally, we’d already ripped open the package BEFORE looking on Amazon. Brilliant.
Finally, the last thing I don’t understand is Sacramento’s shrubbery service. In SacTown we’ve got a LOT of trees which equals a LOT of branches and leaves during Autumn. Instead of putting the leaves in a big trash barrell, everyone puts their trimmings on the street in piles. Then, once a week, a truck comes to pick up the trimmings. What happens is that for most of the week, we have piles up and down our streets with big bunches of leaves making it impossible to park. It’s the ultimate (and only) real sign of fall so far besides Starbucks Pumpkin drinks, as Anna Q pointed out last week.
- For anyone: Check out the Top 100 Blogs in the World!
- For blog readers: Say you read a scathing article about Palin or Obama and you want to know what the blogosphere has to say about it. Use the Technorati Anywhere Bookmarklet. Sign up for a free account, then drag the bookmark object into your favorites toolbar on your web browser. When you read a blog or news article and want to find out what others think of it, just click the bookmarklet for a search! (I have not been using this feature, but read about it in my new Clear Blogging book– so all credit goes to the author)
- For blog writers: Claim your blog on Technorati and then add it to the blog directory! Need some motivation? The best part is that when you register, the “authority” button shows you every other blog out there that links to you or mentions you. Fun stuff. The more people linking to you, the higher your “authority”.
If you’re a blog stalker then this is your new ticket to finding new blogs to read. If you’re a blogger, this is your best way of finding new stalkers who will read your stuff, comment on how creative and wonderful you are, and generally give you a big ol’ popularity boost on the World Wide Web.
Take tonight, for instance. Tonight is just an ordinary night at home, like last night. We hit up Applebees with Jeremiah. I’d never been to Applebees so I splurged and got the trio appetizer plate as my dinner and haven’t regretted it one bit. Strawberry lemonade, artichoke dip, buffalo wings and mini burgers? Bring it on. I earned it after all. We ran 6.5 miles this morning in the heat. Ick.
Then, we came home and I spent a long, long time making a grocery list. I then went to the bank, Blockbuster and Save Mart where I had a very enjoyable shopping experience. Usually I brave Trader Joes on Sunday afternoon which is basically the very worst time to go grocery shopping. I almost have an anxiety attack in there every week between all the people and the kids and the shopping carts and the…everything. Tonight no one was at Save Mart! Of course! They were all doing way exciting Saturday night stuff. But guess what? Shopping on a Saturday night pays off! The cashier gave me free sliced chicken! Carrot sticks! And…drumroll…Barbie fruit snacks!
Good thing too. I came home and was a polite hostess to Jonathan and all his guy friends who are over here playing Rail Baron. They wolfed those fruit snacks down like they’d never eaten before. Mmmm… I’m such a good wife, right?
Among other exciting things this week– watching the Bucket List, reading a new investigative book about the Fellowship (from the library! yes! love it) and buying new storage containers and a shower liner at Target. All the things I haven’t gotten to do when gallivanting around the U.S.
In the meantime, I turned Lori down for a fun weekend together and felt really bad about it. I’m trying to be better about setting boundaries for introvert time since I’ve apparently not been good with this skill recently. Sorry Lor. I’ll see you tomorrow in Fantasy world and promise to visit soon.
Enjoy your weekends!
It guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that my favorite new blog tool is Del.icio.us, the most popular “social booking” site in existence. This website is sort of like a virtual three ring binder. Except it’s a lot less bulky.
What is social bookmarking? Well– have you ever been to a website or an article that you really like and want to remember for the future? Perhaps you mark in in your brower’s favorites tab. But what if you want to access that website at work? Or maybe share the interesting Newsweek article with your sister? With delicious, you can do both of those things. As an example, I read a hilarious fantasy football article last year by a woman whose husband is sports obssessed. Last weekend I found the article and tagged it in my delicious account. If you want to read it, you just click on the delicious tab on the right side of this page. So easy!
So, feel free to browse through some of the articles I’ve been tagging recently. There aren’t many yet but keep checking back! This is also a great tool for many companies. I created an account for my company and have tagged all of our client’s media coverage. Now when a potential client asks to see our media work I can simply show them our delicious account.
Last weekend I was introduced to something—actually someone—who it seemed like everyone else knew about but me. It’d be like not knowing who David Beckham is if you’re a soccer fan, or who Miley Cyrus is if you’re a fourteen year old. It’s like when I realized all my friends were wearing Bare Essentuals make-up and I was the only one who wasn’t. And then I discovered how glorious it made my skin feel and I was thankful to have women in my life who gave me such advice.
The Summer Games kick off in less than a month, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit my excitement. The 2004 games in Athens were so fun to watch. Most nights we’d all gather at Jonathan’s house in Goleta with Caleb Rhoads, Justin Dipinto, Reid Spencer, Rob Broadus and a bunch of other fun guys. They would naturally find at least one athlete to make fun of each night while the rest of us rooted for Michael Phelps to break records. This time around, I’m looking forward to all of NBC’s great shots of Beijing, cultural highlights and reliving the two times I’ve been lucky enough to explore this magic city.
However—I will be wearing my “Expose Beijing” headband while watching. (Thank you Sarah Miller for so kindly buying matching ones for Jonathan and I at the Free Tibet Rally in San Francisco. You know the way to my heart.)
Again, in case you haven’t gotten my disapproval in earlier posts, China should not have been giving the honor of hosting such an important international event. If you think I’m over reacting, read just a few of the tidbits in the media this week (courtesy of CNN, Sports Illustrated):
· The Chinese government continues to block and threaten foreign journalists despite repeated promises to lift media freedom restrictions ahead of the Olympic Games, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
· Everyone who comes into the country will be monitored, and dissidents and underground religious followers in other parts of China have either been jailed or banned from leaving their cities during the games to prevent them from staging protests in Beijing.
Human Rights Watch has created an entire website dedicated to the Games, that I highly recommend you visit before the they kick off. Their major concerns include: forced evictions and school closures, labor rights abuses, repression of ethnic minorities, controls on religious freedoms, HIV/AIDS rights advocacy obstruction, use of house arrest system and ties with rights violators.
Take action– write to the IOC President to speak up for those who cannot!