Tuesday, January 29, 2008
For a good time call......
In the ever evolving connection between marketing and politics, there is a new way to promote candidates. (or make a joke at their expense) If you go to Mitt Romney's website you can actually make a personalized phone message to send to your friends. This is epically fun to send to your liberal friends.
Monday, January 28, 2008
A little slice of justice
The CEO of Countrywide, a defunct sub-prime lender that is being bought out by Bank of America, is declining his severance pay of $37.5 million. It's refreshing to see someone in the business world willing to do without their golden parachute. (Click)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Greening my food
For some time now I have been thinking more about what I eat. Not only how can I eat healthier, and loose a couple of pounds in the process, but how can I have more of an environmental impact with the food choices that I make. To do this I have decided to try to grow some vegetables in my apartment.
I will be the first to admit that I do not have a green thumb. Here is a picture of the only plant in my apartment and the remains of some other plants.
It is a species of Elephant Ear plant. The only reason that it's still alive is because it can live on very little water. Usually I notice that it as almost dead and then give it a good drink and forget about it until it's brown again.
So I ventured out to Home Depot and bought some supply's. For $25.00 I got a tray, some soil, and some seeds, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and baby carrots.
I also bought a little device that grows bean sprouts. I'm not a big fan of bean sprouts but it looked idiot proof.
It takes almost two weeks to see if any of the plants are going to grow, and about 45 days until I could be eating my first salad. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
I will be the first to admit that I do not have a green thumb. Here is a picture of the only plant in my apartment and the remains of some other plants.
It is a species of Elephant Ear plant. The only reason that it's still alive is because it can live on very little water. Usually I notice that it as almost dead and then give it a good drink and forget about it until it's brown again.So I ventured out to Home Depot and bought some supply's. For $25.00 I got a tray, some soil, and some seeds, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and baby carrots.
I also bought a little device that grows bean sprouts. I'm not a big fan of bean sprouts but it looked idiot proof.
It takes almost two weeks to see if any of the plants are going to grow, and about 45 days until I could be eating my first salad. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Why I won't vote for Hillary
I would not vote for Hillary, if she makes the democratic nomination, for one reason.
Not because of her politics. Not because of her persona. Not because she is a woman.
I won't vote for her because if she is elected as President, for 24 years the United States will have been controlled by two families. The Clinton's and the Bushes. Irrigardless of their politics, their failures and their accomplishemnts I do not think it is a good idea for the office of the President to be held by the same people for so long.
Not because of her politics. Not because of her persona. Not because she is a woman.
I won't vote for her because if she is elected as President, for 24 years the United States will have been controlled by two families. The Clinton's and the Bushes. Irrigardless of their politics, their failures and their accomplishemnts I do not think it is a good idea for the office of the President to be held by the same people for so long.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
No Forclosure No Eviction
Yesterday there was a small victory in the sub-prime foreclosure market. A woman in Dorchester with the help of City Life, was able to avoid her foreclosure on her home for a few days. (Click) I am encouraged to see people organizing around this issue.
I recentiely took a first home buying class, where the teacher, said rather bluntly, "They signed the paper they knew what they were getting into." Sure there should be some responsibility placed on the individuals. On the other hand Countrywide is being bought out by Bank of America, and there has been some talk about helping out other mortgage companies, but what about the people who would loose there homes? Who will help them?
Maybe we have to help each other?
I recentiely took a first home buying class, where the teacher, said rather bluntly, "They signed the paper they knew what they were getting into." Sure there should be some responsibility placed on the individuals. On the other hand Countrywide is being bought out by Bank of America, and there has been some talk about helping out other mortgage companies, but what about the people who would loose there homes? Who will help them?
Maybe we have to help each other?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Relationships
Having left my church 8 months ago to pursue a less formal way of following Jesus I have discovered an unexpected benefit. The other day I was having dinner with a friend and I realized that I am satisfied with my relationships at the present time. I have two friends that I meet on a weekly basis and a second circle of friends and neighbors that I meet on a monthly basis.
When I was attending church I always felt unsatisfied with relationships. Thinking back I realize that, at least for me, it is not the ideal place to foster relationships. Think about it. I went to a church of about 700 people for about 7 years. Every Sunday there were say 100 people that I have had some sort of a connection with who I could talk to or would want to talk to me in the 15 minutes before and after service. Those numbers don't add up to forming satisfying relationship.
To solve that problem most churches these days have small groups, another 12 people that I know and should have a relationship with. Lets be honest, you meet once a week. Being a former small group leader I can tell you that it takes a good 6 months to a year to build intimacy in a small group, and by that time people are moving on or the leadership is pressuring you to spin off new groups.
On top of that, most churches want you to be involved a ministry of some sort. Mine was worship team (Teams of about 6 people on average). This was the most frustrating area of relationships for me. I played with a band three weeks in a row with 5 weeks off. It was mostly focused on practicing and playing the music, and relationship building took a back seat. With the exception of one person I didn't have any sort of regular contact with anyone else on the band outside of the worship team.
So there you have it about 100 people that I am connected to in some way that I feel obligated to have some sort of relationship with due to my church structure. Many people can function just fine in this environment. Being an introvert, I am not surprised that I am more fulfilled with a smaller amount of relationships that I have now.
When I was attending church I always felt unsatisfied with relationships. Thinking back I realize that, at least for me, it is not the ideal place to foster relationships. Think about it. I went to a church of about 700 people for about 7 years. Every Sunday there were say 100 people that I have had some sort of a connection with who I could talk to or would want to talk to me in the 15 minutes before and after service. Those numbers don't add up to forming satisfying relationship.
To solve that problem most churches these days have small groups, another 12 people that I know and should have a relationship with. Lets be honest, you meet once a week. Being a former small group leader I can tell you that it takes a good 6 months to a year to build intimacy in a small group, and by that time people are moving on or the leadership is pressuring you to spin off new groups.
On top of that, most churches want you to be involved a ministry of some sort. Mine was worship team (Teams of about 6 people on average). This was the most frustrating area of relationships for me. I played with a band three weeks in a row with 5 weeks off. It was mostly focused on practicing and playing the music, and relationship building took a back seat. With the exception of one person I didn't have any sort of regular contact with anyone else on the band outside of the worship team.
So there you have it about 100 people that I am connected to in some way that I feel obligated to have some sort of relationship with due to my church structure. Many people can function just fine in this environment. Being an introvert, I am not surprised that I am more fulfilled with a smaller amount of relationships that I have now.
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