The grass is always greener on the other side. What is it about us that makes that old cliché ring so true? Last Friday, Kim and I went to an Andrew Peterson concert. It was a pretty small venue, and we got great seats. After only a few songs, I was in total awe. I was mesmerized by Andrew's musical gifts, melodic harmonies, and brilliant songwriting. I secretly wished that I could be so musically inclined. I was bummed -- and a bit jealous -- that God had not bestowed upon me the ability to play a guitar in a fashion that wasn't reminiscent of a train derailment. …
Archives for January 2006
Affiliate This
Attention bloggers, web site owners, and e-zine administrators: If you're interested in the idea of making some money with very little effort, take a gander at the brand new Kim & Jason affiliate program. …
Recapturing What?
I love books that give me ideas of things to do to either make my life more fun, more fulfilling, or more simple. Usually these books make their points quickly in short chapters, which happens to be a style I enjoy. Without slamming this title, I picked up a book the other day that seemed as though it was going to give me ideas of things to do to recapture ‘my youth.’ I thought I had found something right up my alley until I read a few of the chapter titles. Some of the ideas were just plain irresponsible and dumb, things such as ‘Yell at someone,' ‘Pierce something other than your ear,' and …
Passion: Good For What Ails Ya
What are you passionate about? What do you absolutely, unequivocally LOVE to do? The one thing that makes time fly by like a caffienated roadrunner? Now for the Ed Sullivan "really big" question: How much time do you spend doing it? If stress has its death grip on you and you REALLY want to Escape Adulthood (and if you don't, why are you here?) you need to spend more time on the things you are passionate about. …
Time Travel on a Budget
Be honest. When was the last time you read a children's book...minus the audience of a child nearby? It's been a while for me, but I can easily remember some of my favorites: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, George's Marvelous Medicine, The Twits, and Where the Sidewalk Ends. True classics. My third grade teacher read the Roald Dahl books (Medicine and Twits) to us in class, and I still remember the colorful descriptions painted in words. Jen Robinson has a pretty cool blog promoting "the love of books by children and the continued reading of children's books by …
EA #6: How To Annihilate Adultitis
In this podcast, brought to you from Madison, Wisconsin, we discuss our plan to annihilate Adultitis, interview someone who is joining us on our crusade, reveal the winner of the promotion from our last podcast, and talk about our newest favorite TV show. All this plus a money back enjoyment guarantee. What a deal, huh? Listen now by clicking play below. …
The Conspiracy Against Childhood
". . . in all our efforts to provide "advantages" we have actually produced the busiest, most competitive, highly pressured and over-organized generation of youngsters in our history and possibly the unhappiest." Eda LeShan, US writer I couldn't agree more. If we don't get our acts together, it's going to be awfully hard to find someone twenty years from now that has a childhood worth looking back on. Shame on us. (See also Einstein on Ritalin) …
Possibly Relevant
I was interviewed on a Catholic radio station (Relevant Radio) a few weeks back. Here's a link for those of you interested in listening. (You can find my ramblings about halfway through.) …
Sweet Tooth’s Trip Down Memory Lane
I'd wager a bet that you probably have a list of favorite candy from your youth. Between Little League games and swimming lessons, my family spent a lot of time at the park, patronizing concession stands. (In fact, I was co-manager of the Peru pool concession stand one summer.) I remember being a master at stretching my allowance, claiming an assortment of Pixi Stix, Blow Pops, and Laffy Taffys for just 50¢. I've wondered if they still make any of these treasured candies, or if they're only available on the shelf of my memory. …
Get it Right, Doctors
I’m not one to really follow the lives of celebrities. Honesty, I feel like celebrities are the high school “cool kids.” Why do we care about them? I’ll admit that I know much less than most people about the latest Hollywood gossip. Even though I’m pretty clueless in this area, I sure seem to hear a lot about celebrities contracting the disease called…Exhaustion. The list is astounding really – Colin Farrell, Ashlee Simpson, Mariah Carey, Ruben Studdard, Eminem. The list goes on and on. Recently Helen A. S. Popkin, a MSNBC contributor, wrote an article joking about this trend. She writes: …