Friday, March 18, 2011
Happy Birthday to Me!
My birthday was a few weeks ago, but because I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to go out to buy my birthday present. I decided to give myself the day off today because I've been working so hard, and I took advantage of the day to do a little shopping for myself...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Reactions
As I might have mentioned in previous blog posts, I read a lot of news online. While I appreciate almost immediate updates and breaking stories, one of the things that has often frustrated me are the reader comments you often find at the bottom of these stories. Some comments are interesting and carefully thought out and generate great discussion. Unfortunately, however, many of the comments aren't that great. People often use the moment to step on their soapbox to push their personal beliefs. And while everyone does that to some extent, others just take it to extreme lengths. These reader comments truly highlight—and not always in the best light—the differences of the world, and usually those differences fall along racial, religious, or political lines.
With the recent earthquakes in Japan, there have been plenty of news stories and plenty of opportunities for soapboxing. Fortunately many of the comments are positive and show compassion for what is happening in Japan. Still, however, there are the comments that continue to divide people along political or religious lines. Democrat vs. republican. Religious vs. non-religious. Why do we need divisions at a time like this? If anything, a moment like this should serve to remind us that we all share this planet and that we should all respect one another. At the very least we should try to respect one another a little more. Every now and then there should be a time when you are able to put your differences aside to look for—or at the very least hope for—something positive in a bad situation, because you never know if you will one day find yourself on the other end of the story and in need of that same compassion and respect.
With the recent earthquakes in Japan, there have been plenty of news stories and plenty of opportunities for soapboxing. Fortunately many of the comments are positive and show compassion for what is happening in Japan. Still, however, there are the comments that continue to divide people along political or religious lines. Democrat vs. republican. Religious vs. non-religious. Why do we need divisions at a time like this? If anything, a moment like this should serve to remind us that we all share this planet and that we should all respect one another. At the very least we should try to respect one another a little more. Every now and then there should be a time when you are able to put your differences aside to look for—or at the very least hope for—something positive in a bad situation, because you never know if you will one day find yourself on the other end of the story and in need of that same compassion and respect.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Delays and Distractions
It has once again been a long time since I've last written here. I'll give you, the reader, three guesses to explain why I haven't been able to write. You probably need only one. Yes, I've once again been really busy with work. I've also taken on another freelance project to make some extra money. The freelance project is just a project management job, meaning I'm just taking a manuscript through the stages of editorial production. It's basically what I do for my "real" job. And the project doesn't need to be finished until July, so I have a comfortable schedule to work with. So that explains the delays in my writing.
Today, however, was all about distractions. The "lesser" of the distractions happened to be another wildfire that broke out in the foothills of Boulder. At about 10:00 this morning, we looked out our office windows and saw huge plumes of smoke rising from the foothills. The smoke was dark brown and in some places it was black. And it seemed like the area of smoke was spreading really fast. Whatever was happening in the hills was made worse by strong, gusty winds we were having all morning. People were evacuated from their homes, but according to the latest news reports, no structures were destroyed. Fortunately, however, it seems like firefighters were able to gain control of the fire fairly quickly. Last reports said that it was 25 percent contained, but at least it wasn't spreading.
My other "bigger" distraction of the day were the earthquakes in Japan. It's always horrible to see a natural disaster in any part of the world, but this one shook (no pun intended) me a little more because one of my best and dearest friends happens to be in Tokyo right now for work. I went about my normal routine this morning. After my shower, I turned on the TV to the news, but then went into the kitchen to start making my breakfast. While I was in the kitchen, in the background I heard that an earthquake hit Japan. I came back into the living room and saw that the earthquake was an 8.9. I almost dropped my cereal! Fortunately I found out that my friend was safe, and I was extremely grateful for that. Still, though, I felt like I was on edge for the rest of the day, and I had a hard time being productive at work. I found myself taking lots of breaks to read the news to see if anything new had happened. I didn't get much work done, but oh well. I guess that makes up for all of the extra hours that I've been working over the past few weeks.
Today, however, was all about distractions. The "lesser" of the distractions happened to be another wildfire that broke out in the foothills of Boulder. At about 10:00 this morning, we looked out our office windows and saw huge plumes of smoke rising from the foothills. The smoke was dark brown and in some places it was black. And it seemed like the area of smoke was spreading really fast. Whatever was happening in the hills was made worse by strong, gusty winds we were having all morning. People were evacuated from their homes, but according to the latest news reports, no structures were destroyed. Fortunately, however, it seems like firefighters were able to gain control of the fire fairly quickly. Last reports said that it was 25 percent contained, but at least it wasn't spreading.
My other "bigger" distraction of the day were the earthquakes in Japan. It's always horrible to see a natural disaster in any part of the world, but this one shook (no pun intended) me a little more because one of my best and dearest friends happens to be in Tokyo right now for work. I went about my normal routine this morning. After my shower, I turned on the TV to the news, but then went into the kitchen to start making my breakfast. While I was in the kitchen, in the background I heard that an earthquake hit Japan. I came back into the living room and saw that the earthquake was an 8.9. I almost dropped my cereal! Fortunately I found out that my friend was safe, and I was extremely grateful for that. Still, though, I felt like I was on edge for the rest of the day, and I had a hard time being productive at work. I found myself taking lots of breaks to read the news to see if anything new had happened. I didn't get much work done, but oh well. I guess that makes up for all of the extra hours that I've been working over the past few weeks.
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