Be IN! Coffee = INspiration. Books = INformation. Beer = INtentional Enjoyment.
I have gotten this question a lot over the last weeks.
“Where do you think I should go?”
Spring break for our study abroad students starts tomorrow and leading up to it I have been asked many times what I recommend for travel destination. I have just one answer:
“Where do you want to go?”
There is no “should” here.
Just go.
Somewhere.
Anywhere.
Go. [Read more…]
My personal “check engine” light has been glaring at me for the last weeks. I look at the date and think “Where did January go?!” I have been busy, yes, but certainly not so much that I could miss an entire month passing by.
Somehow I thought that life would find this magical place where the hourglass would even out and I would have time. Yet alas, no. Not yet.
Looking at my posts for the last year and taking stock, it seems this is rather a continuous problem for me. Whirlwinds of adventure mean that time goes quickly. It is a reminder to appreciate moments but also that maybe I should finally take stock and figure out a bigger chunk of what I am doing. Hello Adult-Type World, I guess I am in you now.
In addition to figuring out my big-girl-pants next life steps, I’ve been in the process of trying to come to terms with this blog. See, at the end of December I broke my steak of blog posts. Once I missed one, I missed many. It is sad to say that a habit can so easily fall apart.
Instead of wallowing, however, I’m pushing myself to get the thing done and, imperfect as it will seem to me as soon as I hit publish, I will ship this today… or at least “today” Eastern Standard Time. Sounds like a rather inauspicious beginning but such has been the journey to this point and so at least that wild streak will continue.
The conclusion that I have come to, my dear reader, is that Wednesdays don’t work for me. It isn’t anything that they did, you see, it is just me. I’ve changed. I’m not breaking up with them entirely though, I hope we are going to remain friends.
Greetings from the launchpad!
My word for 2012 is “liftoff.” I can say without question that this week, if all goes close to plan, will live up to that. I’m coming off of a lovely long ride this morning – thank you complete rest day yesterday – and a round of kettlebell fusion with a weight-vest which made me feel pretty much like a badass. It has been a great way to start a heckofa week.
I’ve a few projects launching and my Great Adventure starts on Friday so I’m going to start linkage with personal links, if you’ll indulge me, before moving on to the typical fare. I hope you are gearing up to launch something amazing this week. To wit… [Read more…]
A new dad himself (Happy Father’s Day all!), Jeff Goins’ Writer Series – Steal – Day 6 held this gem:
“A good writer curates. She scoops up all the little pieces of inspiration around her, melding and mashing them, putting it all together in a hodgepodge mosaic that makes something new.”
I aspire to be this. At the same time, I reject the idea of taking it so grandly.
If I shift my thought to accept that I create and not just curate, maybe I can be more comfortable wearing the mantle of “writer.” For now, I like being a smoosher and blogger.
It happily stretches and challenges me to connect this to that, contemplating and dissecting experiences, to tie it all together into linkage or my posts. Mucking about like it is arts and crafts instead of a oh so serious craft, gives me great pleasure.
This is my virtual sandbox. CBB is my little corner of the Internet to play about in. I bring in the bits and bytes I find to create castles of ideas, bridges of thought, and impressionist abstractions.
A New Hodgepodge Mosaic? Maybe. But I just call it Linkage…
In case you haven’t seen it elsewhere, an update on Operation: Bears Good Cancer Bad.
Through the mysterious joy that is the Internet and Twitter, Dani saw my post about signing up for the Plummet at the Summit and decided so say “I’m IN!” too. We have so much in common, including reactions to that decision and WDS, it is quite scary . To have found another Internet (soon-to-be-real-life) buddy is definitely intentional enjoyment and a reminder that we are not as alone as we think we are.
Yeah, I’m linking my own content. A Post for Hack Library School on preparing for ALA — or any conference.
It is prime camping season, have you packed your most important survival tool: tampons?
This chart of the American diet explains so much and is so very sad.
Simple, straightforward, rules of the road for beginning cyclists.
“Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice.” Tracking our time and being more honest with ourselves and others by shifting “I don’t have time” to “it’s not a priority” (via @nerdfitness)
Haven’t gotten slapped in a while, about time. Name your fears.
How to Succeed by Seth Godin. On a side note: he had a typo in another post this week. It was a great reminder that our heroes are fallible.
My favorite banquette table was already occupied so I nestled into one of the 70s era couches with my red-eye. Sipping pleasurably from the thick ceramic rim, peaking over the bonaroo logo, I surveyed my old local, noticing how much had changed in the many months since I had been here. It still felt so comfortable and right.
The little pixie of a barista/bartentress with warm smile and delicate latte touch remembered me and we joked about the new accoutrement: electronic cash register, bar shelves, and stage curtains. Despite the additions, the feel of the place hadn’t changed. The newer trappings began to blur into the whole as I set down my coffee and with a sigh, opened my textbook, falling into my own own routine and letting the sounds and sight become background to productivity.
An hour or two later, switching to a fresh poured (post-cycle approved) beer, I was able to reinhabit my old converted-door table. Laptop humming, sounds of drifting conversation and nervous laughter, the espressoo machine expressing its high grind and whine every now and then, it was then I really appreciated the moment. I realized how much I missed my coffeeshop. How much I enjoyed — and got done — in that space. I’m saddened that I turned in – for fiscal and time reasons – that part of my weekends in favor of my lonely desk at home.
No more.
a·bout /əˈbout
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