Blog pimping: several new ones to show off

So I have a few new blogs joining the roll I'd like to introduce:

I am bossy. I loved this blog from first reading. She writes in 3rd person, which I wish I had started doing from day one. As it is, I'd have to go back to January and revise everything to say, "Parsing My World said ..." Or start a new blog. Bossy is actually Georgia Getz, and she's hilarious. Go read her. Right now. But come back, ok?

Audible Politics. From the awesomeness that is Tara Ariano. Love her musings and rants, even when I disagree.

Carolina Politics Online. Generally entertaining or at least smarmy. Which is no less than we expect here in the South. We need to know what's going on in politics. At least until November, right?

Church Marketing Sucks. I love it when someone names their blog so precisely. I also love it when there is irreverent information about the reverent. Check it out.

Dooce. The uber-blogger of mom-bloggery. Or would be if I was sure I knew what "uber" meant. I think it means "really cool." That being the case, go peruse Heather Armstrong's thinking out loud and then muse on the fact that she rakes in -- at least according to an interview she did with 20/20 -- $40k per month via her blog. Am I jealous? Well hell yeah.
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Hurricanes

To answer the question of why I get excited when I see a wave forming off the coast of Africa: First of all, I do not rejoice at the havoc and destruction that hurricanes or tropical storms can wreak. I take them seriously and do what I should to prepare. I also do what I can afterward to help out those who were in the path of one.

But here's the thing. I really like gray days, and the grayer the better. I think I have the opposite of seasonal affective disorder because I get really pumped when it's all gloomy looking or even just overcast. Too much sunshine and I just want to go back to bed. So a hurricane is something like the extreme form of that, I guess: very gray, very gloomy looking, very windy.

Now, I will say that the dumb-bell reporters who get out in the wind and rain to give us "on the spot" coverage of the storm ... that's just added hilarity. (And aren't they just stooooopid out there telling us how windy and rainy it is?)
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Where have I been? Don't ask

I know you're wondering where I've been. Can I just say "busy" and skip the details, along with the apologies (and accompanying guilt) for staying away from the blog for so long? Because a one-word answer of "busy" would be truth in its entirety. Busy: running back and forth to the "left coast" ... working on proposals and negotiating new contracts ... helping Connie and Alexis move back in (while Daddy is deployed) and helping Amanda move out and into her first apartment (!!!) ... cleaning my office. Oh my God ... my office was such as mess. Somehow, and I'm not sure how this happened, but the shelves holding my paper fell over. It's back in order now, but I had quite a time getting things in order. And Tony bolted the shelves to the wall this time.

So now that I'm back, it's a question of what to talk about first. I might have to take the rest of the day to ponder that. Movie reviews ... how many TV shows I'm currently keeping up with and whether that's a good thing ... why I'm excited every time I see a wave coming off the coast of Africa ... our upcoming vacation ... brilliant things Alexis says and does ... the spiritual insights I had traveling across the country ... the incredible boneheadedness that is John Edwards. So many topics to choose from.

More to come ... stay tuned.
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Possible new title

I did a story for the last issue of the Business Journal on the H-1B visa application process. It was basically about how frustrating the process is for people who come here from other countries to go to school and then want to get a job and stay.

Well. That obviously struck a nerve with some people out there who are having a hard time getting a job and who are blaming their plight on the H-1B visa applicants -- the gist of it being that if these people weren't coming to this country to work there would be more jobs for Americans. I don't quite buy that concept (it's not apples to apples), but I'm willing to accept that some people believe it and agree to disagree.

One such person sent an email to me with this note:

Why don't you simply open a newspaper classifieds section and look to see how many technology jobs are advertised. I'll save you the trouble. THERE ARE NONE. There is no shortage of technology workers in the US. Companies just want to pay slave wages and they rely on propagandist lapdogs such as yourself to do their bidding. Why don't you try helping Americans for a change?

This didn't offend me personally. I simply reported on one aspect of the immigration problem, and I was objective in my reporting.

I did, however, consider whether to have business cards printed up with "propagandist lapdog" printed on them. Might be more noteworthy and memorable than "writer/editor."
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Fun fun fun

I keep getting great ideas from Chez Crazy Aunt Purl -- the latest her birthday resolution to spend at least three minutes every day having fun.

I think I can do that, especially given that it's ok to go beyond the three minutes if things are going well and I don't have to be anywhere or call anyone any time soon.

So the question is: what constitutes fun? I'm having a hard time coming up with a decent list. So far I have:

1. Walk around Charles Towne Landing (not only fun but some days it's a spiritual retreat).
2. See a movie (preferably a comedy).
3. Playing games (Apples to Apples, Scategories, etc.) with my family.

See, I'm stuck already. And actually, all of those take way more than three minutes. What are some easy, do-able things that are fun?
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More on less is more

Ok, I think I've narrowed down the definition of essential versus nonessential. At least as it applies to what I plan to do for the rest of the year.

From July through December, I will not purchase anything that can potentially clutter up my home. This excludes food and drink because those will be consumed (some things -- wine cabinet, I'm looking at you -- more quickly than others).

So I'm putting a moratorium on buying books and magazines (exceptions: magazines we're already subscribed to or books I need for work purposes ... no really, I do need some of these ... really), home decor items, DVDs (exception: I had already planned to get the first season of Burn Notice ... and I'm on the lookout for War & Remembrance in DVD -- I have it on VHS but want to pare down -- so if I find it I'm getting it ... but only those two ... no really, I mean it), and other gadgets and what-not for the kitchen. Basically I'm talking about staying out of Wal-Mart and Target for six months.

And office supplies. I'm planning to do this with my office too, so I have to stay away from Staples and Office Depot. This will be the ultimate sacrifice, people. But the truth is I have all I need to run an office (exception: copy paper as I run out and daytimer supplies and calendars near the end of the year, but that's it ... no really, I mean it).

I'm also planning a yard sale soon to further declutter. All of this has a dual benefit: streamlining the place and saving money.

Oh ... and I've been saying "I" and "me" but I really mean "we" ... assuming Tony's on board with all this.
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Less is more, so they say

I think I might be inspired by a recent blog post over at Chez Crazy Aunt Purl to do a mid-year resolution to buy only essentials for the rest of the year.

It's a great plan -- and I applaud her for doing it and for her efforts so far -- but the reason I use so many qualifiers ("I think I might") is because I'm trying to decide what I'd consider essential. Here's a tentative list of what I currently spend money on that I can't possibly live without:

>>> Chocolate (goes without saying)
>>> Food and beverages
>>> Other household staples (cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.)
>>> Personal hygiene stuff (shampoo, deodorant, etc.)
>>> More chocolate

See ... at some point I get stuck because it's not strictly a yes or no but how much of something I actually need. Take the food item, for example: I don't think we spend outrageously, but then again, we could probably cut the food budget down a bit by choosing less expensive meals. Not sure whether the beverages item includes wine, but I don't want to give up wine for the rest of the year. As for things like shampoo -- I'm certainly not giving that up (ick), but at this moment, I do in fact have four different types of shampoos on the side of the tub. Yes, I use them all (not all at the same time but alternating between them) ... don't judge me.

One purpose of the mid-year resolution (hereafter known as MYR) is to quit accumulating stuff, and I'm all over that, if I can just steer clear of Barnes & Noble. I once put a moratorium on book-buying as a discipline during Lent, and let me tell you: It was rough. But I have to be honest -- books clutter my house (and my life) in a serious way. I have dozens -- no, probably hundreds -- that I haven't read yet. Why am I buying more?

Well. I'm still at the pondering stage of this. If I do it, I want to do it right, making a serious commitment. So I'm giving myself until July 1 to decide exactly what is essential in my life and what isn't.
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