Director Tom

Before the trail gets too cold and you begin to think nothing good will come through your RSS Reader as another blog has bitten the dust...

Quiet on the Set!

Director Tom says:

Remember, I'm a filmmaker and story katalyst; not some marketing guru.

This is how I see things; it's my 'lens.' Take what works.

Here’s the second question in the series:

Q. “In starting out, is it best to use a company name or my own name?”

A. It goes back to, “What’s your story?”

Life gives you clues to tell your “story” all the time. The hard part is being awake to notice them.

But if you pay attention, you will notice the clues.

When you catch them, noodle on them. Write them down. Blog them. Share them. Ask yourself what they mean.

You are constantly “churning” your “story.” See what rises to the top.

What will rise to the top? Better click through to Director Tom's posting and read the remainder.

Then, while you're there, cruise around a link or two check out his prior postings and see if this is stuff you could use. If so, add Director Tom to your RSS Reader.

Cut! Change the lighting and we'll roll again, from the top!

I have something to say about that - Hadley Beeman

The trail turns to one blog that had been quiet over the holidays but now appears to be back in a regular posting pattern. Hadley Beeman writes in her "about page"

In October of 2006, I found myself rewriting my CV for what felt like the thousandth time, emphasising yet another angle on my project-management/facilitating-collaboration/technology-for-business-goals career. CVs are quite restrictive in their format and content, and I was annoyed that I had to limit my communication with prospective employers to a discrete snapshot of my accomplishments when I’d prefer to include more of how I think and what interests me.

The solution came with a problem that was nagging at me: Blogs were clearly on the rise, but why on earth would anybody bother to broadcast their thoughts regularly? What normal day-to-day behaviour does this model? How do I fit this into my own life? Why should I bother? I sought out many blogging friends and colleagues for their perspectives. As the discussions built, I realised something about myself.

She writes on her iPod

Now, as a professional in a public-transport city, I don’t have the luxury of long hours in a dorm full of friends or a car stereo. For this, I now have an iPod. I can’t tell you yet what will be on the 2007 soundtrack of my life, but I can tell you this: It will come out of the 1,334 songs in my pocket.

Read Hadley's full post here on "if life had a sound track".

I recommend add Hadley's site to your RSS Reader and then joining the conversation.

Newspapergrl - Janet

The trail takes out to Utah today where we find Newspapergrl, Janet, writing about a comment that some one left on her blog:

“She is the expert on Internet marketing, and generous with her knowledge. With what she told me on our first date, I was able to increase the hits on my web site by 20%, which more than covered the cost of her meal!”

Read the full story -> A Date with me is a Wise Investment

Janet writes in her About Page:

I’m an internet marketer and writer. I’m passionate about internet marketing and business. I write about it, read about it, and try to learn everything I can about it.

Newspapergrl blog covers internet and affiliate marketing for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I talk about the tech industry and B2B marketing. Basically as a freelance journalist, or blogger, I write about what I’m thinking about and learning.

This sounds like a page you should add to your RSS Reader to keep in touch with Janet.

Valentine's Day Special

For this special day, let's do something different.

For those interested in marketing, if you have not already found Logic + Emotion, check it out.

For those interested in the confluence of ideas, if you have not already found Fire and Knowledge, check it out.

For those interested in "tools to help you change your beliefs, change your life, and create your world" then check out, Shards of Consciousness.

And after checking these out, you decide you want to create a presentation to share what you found and the connections you were able to make, for advice on this there is one place to turn, Presentation Zen.

Kavit Haria

The trail ventures forth across the pond (as they say) to old England where we find Kavit Haria. What does Kavit do? According to his about page:

Kavit Haria is regarded as UK’s #1 Music Success Coach, a public speaker and coach who helps musicians have more successful careers and live more fulfilled lives.

As an established musician himself (multi-percussionist), he has played with many top name musicians in a wide variety of genres (fusion-style music) throughout his career.

His deep interest in personal development, inspired by Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Topher Morrison, Deepak Chopra, Robert Kiyosaki and others urged him to take action in his life more than ever. Kavit is a certified and licensed NLP practitioner and Time Line therapist.

As a sought after coach and the founder and current C.E.O. of Inner Rhythm, Kavit has combined accelerated learning and results psychology with the music business in order to coach musicians around the world and speak to audiences in the UK about music marketing and the psychology of music success.

Did you know how big a market Valentines Day is?

I always knew Valentines Day was a big spending day but I had no idea it was a $17 Billion market. A research by eMarketer.com said that “the “2007 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey,” conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, estimates that the average consumer will spend $119.67 this Valentine’s Day, up from $100.89 last year.“

Kavit has a series of interviews underway with the postings to be found here. The most recent is with Curt Rosengren.

Consider adding Kavit's page to your RSS reader of choice!

In Pursuit of Happily Ever After: An East Coast Girl's Search for Love

The trail turns to the classroom today where it finds Miss BrowneyedGirlie writing at In Pursuit of Happily Ever After: An East Coast Girl's Search for Love. Miss Browneyedgirlie writes in Tales of a Substitute Student Teacher:

The one thing I failed to realize, mainly because it was the first fill-in experience with children who had no idea who I was, is that developing a bond with your students, a sense of respect, trust, and understanding, is paramount in teaching. Having the opportunity to do so while substituting is darn near impossible. Instead, the day played out with me glancing at the clock every now and then to see how much longer I needed to hold on.

Ah, yes. Those were the days. I did frequent the halls as a substitute myself and know of what she speaks. It is the truth. However in order to survive as a sub, one does have the opportunity to develop some defensive tactics. But that is for another time and place.

Here Miss Browneyedgirlie writes in Head Way Above Water:

There has also been talk around New College about the Job Fair, scheduled for March 9. My friends are terrified that we now have to start looking for real teacher jobs. Me? I say, "Bring it ON!" I'm beyond eager to begin searching for a school district in which to call home. To get to know the teachers - both new and veteran - with whom I will work closely and go to for advice. To get to have a classroom of my own, that I can decorate with pretty bulletin boards, a diverse student library, and in which I can design and teach lessons that will make them think, laugh, and expand their minds.

She also writes in Irony:

We were practicing with them during my observation, which was also being videotaped. Like I wasn't nervous enough. The children were holding up their individual cards (greater than or less than) when they had the answer to a question I placed on the board. As I noted each child's selection, I noted whether or not I'd been able to trick them.

I used this same phrasing and playful tone during Thursday's lesson and thus, didn't think anything of it. The kids are always excited that Miss Browneyedgirlie can't trick them. Well, today I did. In fact, I tricked the same girl - twice.

Some students were tricked yesterday and didn't seem phased by it. This little girl cried. On camera. With my supervisor, her classmates, and my cooperating teacher in the room. I wanted to crawl under the rug.

So if this teaser has worked, you can add Miss Browneyedgirlie to your RSS Reader of choice and follow on with her exploits as she completes student teaching and then hunts for a permanent job.

Planet Nomad

The dusty trail winds up on the edge of the Sahara Desert at Planet Nomad, which "Nomad" describes:

Sometimes, it’s like another planet–one filled with nomads, where sandstorms are a part of life and where things just look a bit different. We’re an American family living and working in Nouakchott, Mauritania, located where the sands of the Sahara Desert meet the waters of the Atlantic. This blog chronicles the various aspects of our lives, from university students to leaking water heaters to the kids learning Arabic in the French school. I am wife to Donn and mother to Elliot, 11, and boy-girl twins Abel and Ilsa, 9.

Nomad's blog is one of many "expat" or expatriot blogs, which are blogs written by Americans living in other countries. There's a whole directory for you to puruse, if you like reading about how life goes on for some Americans in other parts of the world. Culture shock is often the least of what they routinely deal with.

Here, Nomad shares insights from one of her friendships:

I love my friend Aicha for many reasons. We have that soul connection that makes friendship possible across the boundaries of culture, language, political and religious views, and even diverse topics like race, or what constitutes beauty. Why are we good friends? We just like each other, in that mystical way that happens when you find a real friend. We like being together; we like talking about things. We may disagree, but we listen to each other.

One of the many things I appreciate about her is the way she has, more than any other single person, introduced me to Mauritanian culture. She has opened the door to me. Aicha comes from a very conservative tribe but she is university-educated. Her traditional background makes her a great source of information. The culture was always somewhat divers, made up of various tribes each with their own oddities and special areas of expertise--the scholarly tribe; the warrior tribe; the tribe of griots, or singers. Different tribes have embraced modernity to varying degrees. Aicha's tribe is well-connected and educated in general, but they have also fiercely held on to their traditions. Talking to her, I get a glimpse into another world.

Here, she chronicals the "simple" adventure of taking a trip to a conference in a post entitled: You Never Know What Skills You'll End Up Needing.

Debbie and I decided to attend a conference being held in Dakar, Senegal. Neither of us wanted to drive, because when driving cross-country in Africa it’s handy to have some men around; to deal with police checks (police relate better to men), to change flat tires or deal with engine trouble, to scrape locusts off the grill in the event of an invasion, to deal with the myriad problems that can arise. Flying is expensive. So we decided to take bush taxis.

The ride from Dakar to Rosso takes about 8 hours. We left about 6 a.m. The taxi whizzed along, stopping occasionally in tiny roadside villages for cold drinks and snacks. By about 11 a.m. we were in dire straits. The taxi had stopped in a really remote village, and Debbie and I crawled out to stretch our cramped limbs. We were desperate for a spot of privacy, so in great determination we crossed the road, heading for a field with some lovely big tall weeds. We soon discovered, however, an obstacle; a deep ditch full of fetid water, too large to leap, extending as far as we could see alongside the highway. What to do? We glanced back at the taxi and saw that it was ready to depart, waiting just for us, a taxi full of men glancing our way. Some of the villagers were also out for a glimpse of the white women squished in the back of a taxi. We looked at each other in despair. There was no way we could get back in that taxi and wait any longer to relieve ourselves.

Nomad writes with insight, humor, and compassion, while giving us more than just a peek at life on the Sahara.

Ramblings from a gypsy soul

From France to the Philippines can be a long flight, or a single mouse click. In this case, the click worked and we find ourselves visiting Christine at Ramblings from a gypsy soul. Good thing that we are kind of hungry, there are plenty of appetizing recipes here.

Come along and see how to make chutney:

Yesterday, I did just that. I almost danced a little jig as I crossed out mango chutney from my 'list of food to try and make at home', from hereon we will refer to simply as The List. Our chutney supply comes from my tita who lives in our village. The fact that our source is only a few blocks away has proven to be so convenient especially when curry is served for Sunday lunch and we whip out the jar only to find that we're running dangerously low on chutney. So while on one of these chutney runs I thought, why don't I make my own? And so that was the day it was added to The List.

And read about Lunch at Charley's

I think we were all so excited about the food and the company that we weren't prepared for the scene that awaited us. Hidden behind a massive stone wall lined by mahogany trees, was a beautiful first-class ranch complete with thoroughbreds roaming freely. Perhaps I was expecting something a little more rustic because it was out in the country. But whatever it was, I was pleasantly surprised.

If these items wet your appetite, then make one click to add Christine's page to your RSS Reader of choice.

A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects - Elizabeth

The trail takes us to France where Elizabeth writes A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects. In her post this week she writes:

This is the difference between skills and knowledge - let’s leave aside innate ability for the moment which our prof de danse obviously had in spadefuls. Skills are things that help you gather knowledge: competences, abilities, whatever buzzword you want to use. Knowledge is teachable and therefore learnable. Some people would argue that skills are teachable. I agree to a certain extent but there is a difference between teaching communication skills and teaching how to manage a risk. Skills are things you can build on, improve with practice and awareness and you can cover up your lack of them by being excellent in other things. Missing knowledge lets you down with a bump.

Read the full post here.

She writes in her about page:

Although I work as a senior project manager and writer, the views on this site don’t necessarily represent the views of my employer or my co-workers. They are just my ramblings!

All links on this site open in a new window, except when they refer to another blog post here.

This site looks best using Mozilla Firefox.

Terms of engagement: I’ll endeavour to post an article each Monday. If you get something else during the week, count it as a bonus.

I can confirm that her site works better in Firefox. I tried to copy the text above initially with IE and failed. Firefox was able to copy the text nicely.

Consider adding Elizabeth to your RSS Reader to keep current with A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects.

Balanced Life Center Blog

Continuing to explore the trail amongst the long tail, we find Nneka writing at the Balanced Life Center Blog:

Hi, I’m Nneka (pronounced en-nay-kah), the daughter of a musician and a closet fashionista. That’s me singing. I was born and raised in the southern-most island in the Caribbean, Trinidad. At 8, I was taught to meditate and I’ve been experimenting with it since (present commitment to daily meditation). I was exposed and acculturalized to diverse creeds and cultures.

I’m passionate about expressing Spirit in my life and helping you do the same. For me, right now, that means writing about spirituality and how to apply it to life on Balanced Life Center. For you it may mean composing a symphony, being a conscious entrepreneur, a magnetic salesperson, or a patient, loving stay-at-home mom.

In the Fab 5 on Friday posting, she writes:

Going even further down the rabbit hole with Steve Olson’s post Do You Know What is Real? We can go in circles all day long with this stuff, but Steve explains it in everyday language that takes the circular logic out of it. The concept is still mind bending, but it’s easier to swallow in this post.

She recently interviewed good buddy Phil Gerbyshak:

Nneka: What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Phil: I love the community and relationship aspect of blogging. Since I started blogging in March of 2005, I’ve been able to call many bloggers, yourself included, my friends. Not readers, like you would call people who read a newspaper or magazine column, but friends. People that if they were coming to town, you would change your plans so you could spend time with them. And the old saying of birds of a feather flocking together is true. If you want great people to come into your life, start a blog and share of yourself in an authentic way. Soon, you’ll have more friends and more community than you ever dreamed possible.

Read all that she talked about with Phil here.

Consider adding Nneka's site to your RSS Reader.

All Things Workplace- Steve Roesler

Another blog on the plentiful trail amongst the 2000 Bloggers, we find All Things Workplace where Steve Roesler writes:

Have you ever noticed that business people seem to read the same popular business books?

Then we ask people to "think differently" about business.

I'm keen on exploring new ways to look at how we live, work, and connect. I find that the latest "10 Things You Must Do To__________" gets stale. I don't want to just think about what to do. I want to know "why" and "how" and then apply it to my own situation.

Do you sometimes feel the same way?

Read Steve's full posting here.

Steve's writes in his profile page:

I'm Steve Roesler, the guy behind the blog. Let me take a moment to give you a glimpse of who I am before telling the business story.

I am married to "B" and we live 20 miles from Philadelphia in a tranquil, wooded area surrounded by lakes. (We don't live in the woods because we were asked to leave the city--we just like it here). It's a welcome break from the many days of international and domestic travel that are a part of the consulting business.

Read Steve's full profile here.

Consider adding Steve's blog to your RSS Reader.

Family Oral History Using Digital Tools - Susan Kitchens

At Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, Susan Kitchens writes:

They tell where you come from. They hold secrets to who you are. This site explores how to use digital tools and media to record and preserve spoken memories of family members. Your host: Susan A. Kitchens (I got into this by talking to my grandpa; at the time he was 99 years old.)

Good idea. With all the tools around to use, why not capture your family history?

Read on for tips and tricks!

Trinity Rep Blogs!

Yes, Trinity Rep has not just one blog but two. One for their normal theater business, the other for customer reviews of their performances.

Their blog is TRC Blog. A list of the recent posts reveals the following:

• Speak Your Mind!
• Acting company workshops continue in the New Year
• Check out the OUR TOWN TV spot!

The posting on Speak Your Mind! announced the re-opening of the Public Square, their customer review blog. The blog actually is one post per show with comments allowed and moderated to enable the customer participation. I submitted my review/comment with the link to the full review on my main blog.

If you are in New England, try to schedule some time to catch a performance at Trinity! You'll be glad you did. No matter where you are, you can at least keep up with what is on stage.

Kelly Mooney's Blog

Continuing along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find Kelly Mooney writing about shopping and the online experience. Kelly writes:

I admit it. I am a demanding consumer. But, aren't we all? We want everything better, faster, easier, and more personalized than ever before. We want to feel like we're important to the companies we do business with. But why is it that despite every marketing milestone and breakthrough many web experiences often fail to meet our expectations?

Blame company structure or budget or legacy systems or leadership or the weather. But the more you excuse it, the worse it gets.

I've made a career out of studying, advocating for, and creating customer experiences and sharing them with clients, in columns, speeches, a book, and now this blog.

A listing of her recent posts reveals:

• 'Twas the Season to be Shopping Online
• Williams-Sonoma Delivers Hot Chili on a Cold Day
• Beware the Risks of, um, Personalization
• Banana's Checkout a Slippery Deal

Consider adding Kelly's site to your RSS Reader!

Table for Five - Elizabeth

Along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find Elizabeth writing at Table for Five.

She celebrated a birthday milestone and woke up feeling no different.

She made do for a whole weekend without cable TV or Internet access.

She wonders why she doesn't get invited to cocktail parties?

She writes frequently as a mommy blogger. Consider adding her site to your RSS Reader!

The Thinking Blog - ilker yoldas

Along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find The Thinking Blog. Yes, you heard right. Thinking.

Sounds like this place is right up my alley!

How about sending an email to your future self? She writes:

I've seen this before, and maybe some of you have seen this as well, but I'm sure most people haven't. Even so, its time to bury your own personal time capsule! Ever wonder where will you be one year from today? Preserve your thoughts, resolutions, and memories on Future Me, then specify the date in the future when you want them emailed back to you.

Read her full posting here.

She also heard about First Life and writes:

Go Outside. Make some real life friends. Live your life. Second Life is a popular virtual world which recently crossed one million residents. To parody Second Life, Darren Barefoot created a one page satire site called Get a First Life which is a '3D analog world where server lag does not exist.'

So other than sending an email to yourself, or getting to live your first life, stop by and see what's up at The Thinking Blog.

Serenity Quest - Tisha Best

Along the trail of the 2000 bloggers, I stop and find that Liz Strauss just called Tisha an SOB.

No, that is not a bad thing. Tisha loves it!

Ha ha ha SOB stands for “Successful and Outstanding Bloggers” and Liz has got it in her head that I deserved the recognition.

Well my loyal readers I bequeath this honor to YOU! Yes to all of YOU, even the lurkers who come around to ogle my profile pic, I don’t even want to know what kinds of activities that has engendered, darts, mas…chuchum, and to all of you who comment sharing with me your thoughts, ideas, likes, dislikes, traumas, perversions, psychoses, YOU have become my friends [I am one sick little puppy to have friends like you] and YOU deserve the credit, THANK YOU!

Read her full posting here.

Jump on over to Tisha's place and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

Hitchhiker Guidelines

Troy Worman's first post here said:

The blogosphere is a giant time capsule that offers a panoramic view of our world. It is a collection of personal expressions that represent virtually every human perspective of our times. It is filled with millions of personal accounts, diaries, essays, stories and photos. It is filled with art. It is filled with emotion. It is filled with thought. It is our collective conscience. Better than any collection of books or articles, the blogosphere will capture the story of our existence.

My initial posting here said:

... consider this a trail head.

We are both hiking in the blogosphere.

We have our individual likes and dislikes, our passions
and a common desire to share the experience with fellow hikers.

As we find a blogger voice that sounds like something you might be interested in
we'll post it here.

So continuing the trail and hiking analogy, when you find a site you like and think others would be interested in, share it here.

We tend to focus on the less than A list blogs. Those already have a great level of readership and generally don't need any help. Occasionally, they may still get mentioned here just because.

How to share the site is open to your creativity. Good writing on most any blog will include links to the site, perhaps some specific postings, quote from the site...

You could follow the Blog Tipping guidelines

You could create a story like David has done, sample here.

One of Karen Shanley's recent entries can be found here.

Bottom line, the objective is to create something that will entice a reader to go there and explore that blog, and of course, come back here for more!

Inklings: On the Hunch that Science Rocks

The trail makes a pit stop at Inklings: On the Hunch that Science Rocks , a science magazine full of legitimate, though quirky, science articles.

The "About Us" page describes the magazine's mission as:

"dedicated to science as we see it. Founded in late 2006, we cover the science that pervades our life, makes us laugh, and helps us choose our breakfast foods."

Here are a few recent articles:

Pop Culture
For Those About to Hypothesize: We Salute You
A top-ten list to brighten the day of even the most oppressed Petri-dish slave.
by Kate Fink
24 January 2007

Health
Your Health This Week
Advice for a long life: swim safely, stay in prison, drink cranberry juice and keep a lid on your anger
by Anna Gosline
24 January 2007

Travel
Science Bloggers Avoid the Spinach Dip Brush-Off
A cocktail of lessons from last week's Science Blogging Conference
by Eva Amsen
24 January 2007

Health
Fighting Malaria with Mosquitoes
Malaria researchers learn to hijack mosquitoes' immune tricks for good
by Kurt Wong

I'd have to say I think they succeed at their mission. It's always funny and interesting.

Dipping into the archives

Looking back at who was found at this time last year is always interesting...

Tamarika is still writing here.

Christina is still writing here.

David is still writing here.


So if you don't find something current, don't hesitate to dip into the archives. They are full of goodness!

Kavit Haria

At this next stop along the trail we find Kavit writing:

Welcome to the official weblog of Kavit Haria. This is the single blog where Kavit combines all his work, writings, philanthrophy and his quest for lifelong fulfillment.

Kavit Haria is regarded as UK’s #1 Music Success Coach, a public speaker and coach who helps musicians have more successful careers and live more fulfilled lives.

As an established musician himself (multi-percussionist), he has played with many top name musicians in a wide variety of genres (fusion-style music) throughout his career.

Kavit writes:

Here’s another great music marketing strategy you may like to try out. Once your fans sign up to your mailing list at your website, offer them free audio samplers of your music. Then over a period of a few weeks, email them frequently and become their friend, not the sales person. Being the friend always is a good thing as they can see you taking an interest in them and what they are involved in.

Read the full posting here.

Kavit writes:

How clear and so useful for us today, no matter what religion it originates from. Start chunking down your bigger goals, ambitions and wants in life into smaller, simpler activities and just notice that you’ll get to the goal faster. Maybe you’re the kind of person that knows you’ve got to get something done, but you just don’t do it and sometimes you don’t even know why you don’t take action. Well most of the time, it’s the mind that’s afraid because it’s such a big task and if you don’t complete it, you put yourself down, lose focus and frustration. Well not any more. Follow the Tao’s passage above and break things into smaller and simpler tasks and then just take action.

Read the full posting here.

Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader of choice.

Live your bext life - Tim Draayer

The trail continues meandering today to eventually find Tim Draayer writing at Live Your Best Life.

A sample of Tim's recent postings reveal:

• Attitude of Gratitude
• Who are you working for?
• XELR8 Conference in Vegas and the Guru Complex
• Creativity Quote
• Are You a Motivation Junkie?
• Road Blocks, Time and YOU

Tim writes:

When I was younger I had little regard for my health and what I ate. My mom always told me 'You are what you eat'. I laughed at this but I think that the true saying is that 'We are what we think' because as the passage above states, our thoughts precede our ever action, create habits and then defines our character.

If you believe yourself to be successful, you are. If you think you have nothing to live for, you won't.

Read his full posting here.

Tim writes:

There is a lot of responsibility in making a New Years Resolution because you are placing a request upon yourself to make a change in your life. Changes are never something to take likely, especially if they will alter your life in big ways. For example, if you've chosen to loss some weight in the coming year. This means you will be fighting a battle of willpower but there is also allot of thought and planning that goes into it.

Read his full posting here.

Consider adding Tim's site to your RSS Reader of choice.

901am - David Krug, et al

The trail today turns to the z-list and one of the sites that has posted the collection of icons with links to each of the blogs.

901am is a website covering new media news. and blogging. My name is David Krug, I’m the founder. I have a lot of history in the blogosphere. Back in 1999 I started a publication called BloggerMag which was the first blogging news site in the industry. Over the years I’ve run blog networks including nanologs.com, and a Religious Blog Network. Over time I’ve changed about as fast as the blogosphere has changed. At times its hard to keep up with the two of us.

David is joined in this effort by Thord Hedengren and Muhammad Saleem

Recent postings include:

• How To Remove Blogger’s Block
• 2000 Bloggers, 2000 Faces
• 2008 Presidential Technology Race, Who’s Using What?
• The disgusting side of new media advertising

901am also provides podcasts and a newswire.

Plenty of good stuff here. Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader of choice.

Jessica Claire - Photo blog

The trail turns to take in a wonderful photography site where Jessica writes:

Welcome to my blog! Feel free to browse the entries for different shoots and events going on in my life. Please email me with any comments or questions, I'd love to know who is out there checking out my life!

The photos are wonderful. Jessica is an amazing artist!

Check out her blog.

Check out her FAQs for photographers.

Click through and check out her photo site.

Grasshopper New Media: Health

Yes, the trail has found another in the Grasshopper New Media sites, this one focusing on Health. This site should have some appeal to all of us, we should all be on the look out for good ideas and inspirations to maintain our health.

GNMHealth is a multi-media channel featuring blogs, podcasts and video, aiming to provide a full and rich content experience for people interested in getting healthy. Our goal is to inform, entertain and engage the community.

GNMHealth is managed by our Executive Producer, Kevin Kennedy-Spaien. He helps produce and promote all of the content, while adding new features and value to our audience.

A sample of two recent days postings reveals the following titles

• The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show, episodes 17 and 181.18
• A Better Day: New Cardio Exercises and Positive Thoughts (Episode 68)1.16
• Health Hacks Podcast #18: Let An Evil Robot Help You Keep Your Resolutions!1.16

So with written word and podcasts to choose from, you can obtain good health info in a manner fitting your convenience.

Grasshopper New Media: Parents

While the trail has turned down the wedding aisle, it is appropriate to turn next to a site for parents.

GNMParents is a multi-media channel featuring blogs, podcasts and video, aiming to provide a full and rich content experience for parents at all stages of parenthood. Our goal is to inform, entertain and engage the community.

GNMParents is managed by Megin Hatch. She helps produce and promote all of the content, while adding new features and value to our audience.

There are a bunch of contributors spread across the world from Scotland to the Pacific Northwest and multiple parts in between.

Two days worth of postings reveal diverse titles

• Bangor Maine Bans Smoking in Cars with Kids1.19
• We Interrupt This Program for a Little Friday Meme: My Life as a Movie1.19
• Ten Reasons I’m A Youth Coach (and reasons why I think you should be too!)1.19
• When a Parent Has a Chronic Condition1.18
• The Second Festival of Family Flair!1.18
• No More Excuses1.18

If you are a parent, or know of one looking for some advice, or even looking to share some of their parenting advice, this is one stop to investigate.

Electrolicious - Ariel

The trail turns down the wedding aisle today.

Hey there. I am Ariel Meadow Stallings (bio), a native Seattlite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious.com is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, hits bookstores in February.

Such reads the quick bio blurb on the home page of Electrolicious, Ariel's blog.

Her book has its own website and it's own Flickr group.

Be sure to check out the photos from the wonderful day in 2004 when Ariel and Andreas got married.

If you know of someone getting married soon or thinking about getting married, this book and web site collection should be on the reading and preparation list.

Grammar Girl

Continuing in the trail along a path of improving one's knowledge, the basics of communication using the English language can pose challenges from time to time. How do you say this? How do you properly write that?

Grammar.

Sometimes the rules are clear. Sometimes, there are style guides and not rules to follow.

Let Grammar Girl help you.

Her podcast and regular publication of the text that accompanies the podcast provide quick and easily understandable insights into the English language we use and sometimes abuse without trying. The grammar that maybe you came to dread in school. But now, the times are different. You may be ready to approach grammar and use it to your advantage. It is a critical skill to know and use on the trail.

Subscribe to Grammar Girl's podcast.


Thanks to Bryan Person whose interview with Grammar Girl can be found here.

60 Second Science

The trail requires preparation. Sometimes you can get by with what you have already. Sometimes, you need to increase your knowledge to continue to make it along the way.

How can you continue to expand your knowledge of the world around you?

The trail turns to Scientific American which publishes a 60 second podcast.

You can afford a little time to do this. It's only 60 seconds.

Just enough time to get a nugget a day, or to enjoy several at a time. Recent podcasts covered:

• The biochemical cascade caused by the common cold virus ultimately produces a protein, called carabin, that stops the sniffles.
• The energy requirements of mammals combined with the energy costs of hunting prey mean that no carnivorous land mammal could ever be much bigger than the biggest polar bears.
• A new study finds that lost dogs are found more often than cats, probably because a much higher percentage of dogs than cats carries some form of identification.

Check out Scientific American for their 60 Second Science

You will be glad you did. You will be more prepared for the trail.

2000 Bloggers - Tino Buntic

Tino Buntic is worthy of getting clicked to along the trail today. He is putting together a site that will ultimately contain 2000 bloggers. That's a whole lot! The Hitchhiker Team has found more than 500 since it began the trail in March 2005.

There are dozens of social networks that bring the blogosphere together, with Technorati and MyBlogLog being two of the biggest. I wanted to bring a whole bunch of bloggers together on one page. 2000 bloggers to be exact! As I write this there are 300 bloggers on the page to start. If you want to be included in 2000 Bloggers, leave a comment here with a link to your blog and your name and I will add you. Two requirements, though: 1. You must have a photo of yourself somewhere on your blog, and 2. Your blog must have been created prior to January 1st of this year.

Tino also writes on his own blog:

Have you heard of Ziki? The first 10,000 people that sign up will get their names in a free sponsored listing on Google or Yahoo. Here's what I mean... Click on one of the following names to be taken to their respective search results:

1. Andrew Wee
2. Ben Bell
3. Nox Dineen

Read Tino's full posting on Ziki.

So two of Tino's links will get you many more links... how good is that!

Oh, and major thanks to Phil for the tip and link to Tino.

Driftwood Horses

The trail takes a turn to visit a place where weathered art melds with raw anatomy. The artist, Heather Jansch, fashions her magnificent life-size horses using driftwood pieces she collects from along the beaches in the beautiful Westcountry of England. Her creations are beautiful and eerie at the same time.

When asked where she got the idea to work with driftwood, she replies:

Entirely by chance and from seeking to find a unique form of creative expression that felt like my own. I was tired of following in other people's footsteps. I had been working with copper wire and the sculptures were like Da Vinci's line drawings but lacked the power I wanted. One day while I was out, my son couldn't find any kindling wood to light the wood-burner and had chopped up a piece of ivy that had grown round a fencing stake. He'd left behind a short section that I immediately saw as a horse's torso of the right size to fit straight into the coper wire piece I was working on. The next question was where could I find more or similar shapes, and the answer was of course driftwood.

Heather also works in bronze.

Two for one: Mother and Daughter

The trail turns and follows a few twists to end up finding Susie Writes and then her daughter writing at Sweet Tea on Avenue C.

Miss Parker's profile reveals:

I am a newly transplanted Southerner living in the East Village with my wonderful boyfriend, John. I work at the Humane Society of New York. I wish I knew how to play the drums. I think good manners are incredibly underrated; I long for the days when people addressed one another as "Mister" and "Miss." My talents are spread out among writing, knitting and photography; consequently I'm mediocre at all three. My real passion is history. If you need a quick historical fact, I'm you're girl. I love it when lists of things are alphabetized; I love making lists in general. [I'm a virgo, in case you haven't guessed that by now.] Oh, and did I mention I really really really miss sweet tea? No? Well, I do.

Miss Parker writes:

In six days I have to get on a plane. I haven't been on a plane since 2003 when I flew home from Ireland. [A terrible trip home, which I will one day have to recount for all you Voxies. I should have never left Ireland early.]

This shouldn't be a big deal anymore. I have traversed the Atlantic several times, and flown domestically all over the country. I've been flying since I was two. Nothing has ever happened. But it is a big deal. And, logically, I cannot explain why. It just is. And that should be enough.

I don't know where/when things went wrong. I wasn't afraid of flying as a child. And then suddenly I was, and I don't know how it happened. Maybe I just reached a certain age in my early teens and suddenly it clicked that being shot through the sky in a tube wasn't the best idea I'd ever heard of. The source of this fear is irrelevent. The fact is that it's there and it's unshakeable, and I have had a stomachache since my plane ticket home was purchased in November.

Read the full posting titled: All I Want for Christmas is to Not Die in a Fiery Plane Crash

Back to her mother, Susie Parker who recaps an eventful 2006 and says in part:

You know...point A leads to point B and if you make it to point B it will undoubtedly lead you to point C and, before you know it, you realize, a lot of it is rote and pointLESS.... At least, that's how it used to look from where I formerly sat. And then, well, I changed seats. I upgraded.

Read the full posting to find out about the upgrade.

Susie also writes:

The article came out and, I have to say with no small measure of relief, Ms. Amy Hotz got it right. She most certainly respected the guidelines I requested and, in the process, earned a huge measure of respect (and relief!) from me.

Read all about the article and what earned Ms Holtz Susie's respect.

Then consider adding both the Mother and Daughter blogs to your RSS Reader.

This Blog Sits at the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics - Grant McCracken

The trail takes a turn to stop at This Blog Sits at the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics.

An anthropologist who studies America is struck by the fact that there are some people in this culture who believe they know better than other people in this culture. It's not always a delusion and when indeed they do know better, we are well served. Smart, thoughtful people give us the benefit of their advice.

But too often the critics act as if they are they only ones who "get it," that without them the rest of us wander without light, unable to see what is wrong, unable to see that something is wrong, and certainly unable to put wrong things right.

Read Grant's full posting here.

Grant writes in his About page:

In the First World, culture is constantly formed and reformed by commerce.

Back to school for the anthropologist: in my case, to economics and complexity theory. I hold a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago and I have taught at the Harvard Business School.

The places that culture and commerce, anthropology and economics meet most often: marketing in general, branding in particular, popular culture, Hollywood, advertising, television, magazines, and, increasingly, blogging.

Grant had lunch with Tom Guarriello (who had previously appeared here)

... innovation is the buzz term of the moment and that it is now a untrustworthy term, over used and under thought.

Tom G. and I fell to thinking, "What if he's right?" What if the problem is not innovation? I think Tom and I decided that the real problem is probably dynamism, specifically that the world has got more various, more changeable, more discontinuous, and therefore harder to stay in sync with. (Tom will forgive me, I hope, if I am misrepresenting him.)

In this view, innovation is a symptom of a larger problem. Innovation matters because dynamism is upon us and the corporation is in danger of falling out of sync.

Read the full posting to find out what else they discussed.

I watched heroic quantities of TV over the holidays. And I was struck by how much comedy now comes from characters who are self interested, self serving, self aggrandizing.

I'm thinking of Charlie Harper played by Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, and Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris on How I Met Your Mother. Both Charlie and Barney are in it for themselves. They have no empathy. They have no principles. They have no shame. They are serene in the knowledge that they are without moral reflex of any kind...and that that's ok. The rest of us a struggling to live a good life (more or less, give or take) and these guys just couldn't care less.

There are British origins to this character, let's call him the unapologetic male. John Cleese's character on Fawlty Towers, Martin Clunes' character on Men Behaving Badly, and Rickey Gervais' character on The Office all made a contribution. It is worth pointing out that these British tokens of the type were just as likely to make us cringe as make us laugh, whereas the American instance is appealing even when appalling.

Read the full posting on The Birth of the New American Male

Assuming these teasers have wet your appetite, add this site to your RSS Reader to read what else happens in the future at This Blog Sits at the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics

Dean Bruner's Blog

The trail takes a turn and re-appears at the Univ of Virginia, Darden School of Business, where Dean Robert Bruner blogs.

The distinction between puzzles and mysteries was drawn by Gregory Treverton, a national security expert. A puzzle has a “simple, factual answer” and is solved by getting more information. The location of Osama bin Laden is a puzzle. Finding the answer requires increasing the collection of intelligence. A mystery is different—it may have many contingencies and is solved by more analysis rather than more fact-gathering. What will happen to Iraq in 2007 is a mystery. Solving puzzles depends on what we are told; solving mysteries depends on what we hear, on listening well.

Gladwell argues that the financial community needs to make a transition from fact-gathering to true analysis. This is not a new plea. In my book on merger failures I wrote about the disastrous combination of the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads in 1968 (the merged firm went bankrupt in 1970). The classic lament then was that the analysts could tell you how many miles of track lie between New York and Chicago, but not whether the firm would survive. Too many business and financial analysts dwell on fact-gathering and fact-recitation.

Read his full post on Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article on Enron.

This is the final act of a tragedy that began with the optimistic hiring of a Jack Welch lieutenant and soured with the revelation of Nardelli’s pay package and brusque style. The fact that Home Depot’s stock price fell was the last straw for Relational Investors and others who called for the Board of Directors to intervene. Nardelli’s exit package of $210 million will stoke outrage among investors—but that’s grist for another day’s posting.

Business schools have a great deal to say about one’s career progression and climb up to executive power. And they have a great deal to say about keeping one’s position. But business schools are relatively mute about leaving office, or one’s “greatness.”

Read Dean Bruner's assessment of the Roberth Nardelli exit at Home Depot.

The answer to this question is that “fun” is not why I took this job. The fact is that any job has its less appealing aspects—they call it “work” for a reason. But I took this job out of a sense of fulfillment and a sense of mission. It is absolutely fulfilling to help great people get on to accomplish great things. Darden attracts a very high caliber of student, faculty, and staff. To help facilitate their successes is thrilling. The whole community benefits from these wins, the celebration of which gives me deep satisfaction.

My satisfaction is also sustained by a sense of mission. At a very macro level, great business schools help to discover and disseminate best practices into the business profession—this helps to elevate growth and profitability in the private sector globally, thus creating more jobs, paying more taxes, and inventing better products and services. Our graduates serve business and communities in a variety of ways—their leadership has a visible impact in the world. Ultimately, business schools help to increase human welfare.

Read his full posting on "Are you having fun yet?"

And if these snippets were enough to indicate that adding Dean Bruner's blog to your RSS Reader might add some good reading and a sense of fun to your day, please go ahead and do so!

Deb-Tech by Deb Shinder

The trail takes us to the world of technology where Deb Shinder has been writing one of the better newsletters for some time and make a stop at Deb-Tech, one of her blogs.

This blog is a place for readers of my books, print and online articles and WXPnews newsletter to come for more tech-related info, and a place where I can expand on the ideas expressed in those other formats and answer questions posed by readers.

She does her personal blogging at Deep Space 10.


Her website provides a view into all the writing she does.

Who knew that she

is a former police officer/criminal justice instructor who now makes her living as a technical author, trainer and speaker. She has written or contributed to 26 books, published over 200 articles and has been living online, along with her husband Tom (whom she met via the Internet), since the mid-1990s.

Consider adding Deb-Tech to your RSS Reader and keep up with the happenings in the world of technology.

Daily PlanIt

The trail takes us along to the Daily PlanIt where the blogging is done anonymously but consistently and well.

You can read about the Discovery of the day with the most popular articles at the Harvard Business Review or the top 10 New Year's resolutions and how to achieve them.

You can read about important skills running projects

• Recognizing a project that is one of the 20% that require planning beyond the next action.
• Recognizing a task that is too vague, and knowing how to make it specific.
• Recognizing an incoming task, and knowing where to put it in your system.
• Deciding what tools to use to capture ideas and manage projects.

Read the full posting here.

Then consider adding this site to your RSS Reader to keep up with the Daily PlanIt.

The Deuce - Clint Dempsey

The trail takes into the soccer (football) world today. We have not ventured far on this trail before but were able to find that Clint Dempsey has a blog. Thanks to Carolyn for the lead.

Who is Clint? Who is Carolyn?

Well, Clint is only one of the more promising US Men's National Team players. He scored the one legitimate goal for the USA in the 2006 World Cup. We were fortunate to see him play frequently for the New England Revolution.


Oh, and Carolyn happens to be my daughter, shown here with her hero. The picture was taken in April, 2006 at a meet the players event for season ticket holders. Needless to say, Carolyn was very excited to accompany me.

Her smile has changed somewhat to a frown on hearing that Clint will be going to the Premier League for a now record MLS transfer fee.

Congratulations, Clint!

This picture is now increasing in value Carolyn!

Check out Clint's site for a picture of his fiance, for a video highlight reel of his goals scored, for audio clips of his singing/rapping, and for updates on what he is doing.

Sensei and Sensibility

The trail today takes us to NYC where an unidentified woman writes

At least four times in the course of the class, these flowers shifted and changed like pieces of glass falling into different patterns when the wheel of a kaleidoscope is turned. It is always fun, at the end of every class, to see the range of arrangements that students have created. We choose from the same materials, after all. This week, I saw a range and different possibilities within my own flowers and that was astounding.

I learned a lot in this lesson. For starters, “boring” is just a piece of information. I chose to see it, hear it and press on. I’m so glad I did! Once I weighed in with “boring,” the class—and the learning--really took off.

Read the full posting here and don't be bored!

Upon seeing some Christmas trees already being discarded on 12/26/06 she writes:

back to the trees . . . . I was saddened to see them on the street, abandoned, their glory done. If they are recycled, that would help. They would still be thrown away—by someone, but, with the changed form, the tree would still be useful.

Recycling doesn’t pain me in the way that planned obsolescence does. I don’t like throwing away something that is “still good.” I really don’t like to see others do it either. Maybe it’s the influence of the frugal Iowa upbringing—or knowing that resources are finite. In any case, there’s some Ben Franklin “waste not, want not” feeling here.

Read the full posting here.

With a gift for some neighborhood birds, she writes

I haven’t been to the neighborhood park in weeks, but now I have a purpose. I’ll hang the seedcake and see what birds are present. This little adventure is in the “simple pleasures” category and I’m looking forward to it!

Though there was no list of ingredients, black-oil sunflower seeds are prominently visible in the cake. These seeds, in most locations, are said to be the best all-around attractant to birds. They have a high meat-to-shell ratio; they are high in fat; and their small size and thin shell make it easy for small birds to handle and crack them.

Read her full posting here.

Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader. I will. Her about page has a wonderful picture but no information, name, likes, dislikes, etc. For someone with such sensibilities as have been written about (see above), there is now a desire to know more about this person.

Who is she?

Dipping into the past

A year ago this week, we highlighted Marianne Powers at Doing the right thing. She is still writing and doing the right thing one year later!

On the trail, we found Robert Brady writing at Pureland Mountain. Robert is still writing almost daily from Japan.

Also on the trail, we found Sherry Chandler down in Kentucky writing about poetry. She is still writing regularly.

A year ago today we found David Warlick writing at 2 Cents Worth. David has continued to write about using technology appropriately in the classroom environment.


Keep it up Marianne, Sherry, Robert, and David!

Happy New Year 2007

jonny baker blog

The trail takes us to England today to visit with Jonny Baker. Jonny writes:

i realise that i haven't blogged about kalle lasn's design anarchy either. this is a huge fat book that i think is amazing. it condenses many of the themes of adbusters over the years into one huge volume. it's available from somewhere like magma. my favourite ever adbusters issue was no 37 called design anarchy and seems to have been the inspiration for the book.

read his full posting here.

I like his 2006 Baker's Mosaic.

He answers the 5 Things Meme

He is leading a special worship session outside of London

In this week (half term for some), Jonny Baker looks at how churches can develop a culture of creativity, especially arts & media, and how to make the traditions of worship live again. Jonny works for Church Mission Society, developing and supporting mission and new ways of being church. He is part of ‘Grace’, an alternative worship community in St. Mary’s, West London.

read the full posting here.

These tidbits should entice you to add Jonny Baker's Blog to your RSS Reader of choice!

The Post Money Value

Rick's Rants or A VC Loonie with a Toonie.

Rick Segal writes at The Post Money Value highlighting the longest signature file ever found.

He writes on expense policy:

The lesson for you in start up land is set tone early. People will normally do the right thing. If the whole culture/tone is do the right thing, those people that are inclined to pick up the tab, have the shrimp cocktail, etc, will stop or will move on because the rest of the team will reject them as an anti-body.

It's funny how when you are paying, you bring a sandwich from home; when you're not, you'll have the soup, Caesar salad, salmon and a double espresso. If you can break this habit, set the tone of a sandwich, you'll be amazed at how little you will have to worry about this stuff. People are generally good.

Read the full post here.

From his 2006 wrap-up, he writes:

While on the road with Shel Israel, I was able to sit back an enjoy watching, up close and personal, the spotlight on Shel when it came to blogging and passion about one's topic. In three separate events, I was not important, rather blogging and the blogging book author was. It was great. All over Europe blogging, Web 2.0, Social Media and all the stuff was taking off. Watching people hungry for knowledge combined with somebody eager to share was a blast. I've always told people that the key to success is to hire/hang around people smarter then you. Shel is working on a book called "Global Neighborhoods" and is doing it out in the open, more or less, on his blog. I'd encourage all of you who blog, hang out on/in the Internet to head over to his blog and give him feedback on the various proposals he has posted. Good luck with the book, Shel.

Read his full posting here.

Assuming you like what you see with these teasers, add Rick's site to your RSS Reader and keep in touch!

8 Wishes - Paul Sanchez

Paul Sanchez has a BHAG! Actually 8 of them. And he is running out of time (self-imposed) to get these 8 accomplishments by January 10, 2007.

What's a BHAG?

A Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

The cause is worthy, the major objective is to raise $1 million dollars

for children with learning disabilities and dyslexia through the Dyslexia Awareness Resource Center. The DARC will award $10,000 scholarships to 100 kids across the United States.

Since this is December 28th, December 29th for most of you reading this (or even later!). There are two things you can take immediate action to help him with.

1. contribute to the cause
2. visit his web site

Good luck Paul!

Visit Paul's website. Contribute via the ChipIn button.

Thanks to Phil Gerbyshak for helping to tell Paul's story.

Thanks to Seth and others on the Z-List

Welcome to all!

The Hitchhikers Guide has been around since March 2005 exploring "the long tail"

Well over 300 blogs have been "hiked" and a trail report has been written about them. You can cruise through the archives.

For the record, the links on the z-list from 37Days through Joyful Jubilant Learning come directly from my blogroll. I added more links in two other postings to extend the listing but these additions were not as neatly presented and I assume thereby not replicated. See neatness does count!

My thanks to Seth Godin and the others who participated in the z-list meme.

PS - The Hitchhiker Team is looking to expand. The trail is long, time is short. There are so many blogs to find and write about, if this suits your interest, and you have some time to spare, let me know.

Merry Christmas

Via signbot via The Generator Blog which was found by the Hitchhiker Team.