Month: August 2009

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Time and changes

stamp-container

As time goes by, things change. We all know that – it’s a basic fact of life. But we don’t always accept it in our deep-down inner-selves. Somehow we expect things to remain the same. Relationships, our children, our home, our life. Even if it’s not a pleasing thing, when it changes, some of us get upset. Some people thrive on change and others hate it. You’re probably somewhere in the middle.

Anyhow, remember lick-em postage stamps? As we were clearing out my mom’s stuff, I came across this little stamp case – good for holding about 10 stamps in a compact secure way in your purse or (probably not) pocket.

In that case, change was good. Adhesive-backed stamps are superior in every way I can think of.

What coming change in your life is one you hate? Love?

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I realized that era is over

passport-pix

I went to our little safe to get my birth certificate. (I needed it for some business relating to my mom’s recent death.)

Low and behold, there was an envelope containing two little extra passport photos. I love Ben’s photo. He must have been all of 8 years old. And it was fun to see my goatee. (Missing in action, about four years ago. My kids want me to grow it back.)

When we lived abroad, we always needed extra passport photos. When you’re an alien in other countries, you are required to prove your identity over and over – to many different governmental agencies. The complexity of bureaucracy does not relate to how “modern” a country is. In fact, normally the more modern a country is, the less the bureaucracy. (Maybe that’s a lesson for developing countries!)

So anyway, it’s good to be back home.

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Grow where you’re planted

grow-where-planted

Sometimes life is hard. We wish for more. More water, more sun, more fun, more life. But sometimes if we just dig a little deeper, we can see that there are enough resources to survive – and even thrive.

This is a concept you’ve heard before, but I’m just reminding you – and me.

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Snow Leopard

snow-l

Yes, all you Mac users out there, Snow Leopard is available Friday.

The most significant reason to upgrade is that if you have an Intel Mac, it will run faster (or at least that’s what they say).

If you buy it from Amazon, via these links, yours truly will get a few pennies commission: Single User ($29), Family Pack (5 licenses for $49). Thanks!

Even if you’re not an early adopter (my friend Dave is not), buy it anyway. Wait a few months and then install. By then the bugs will have been worked out.

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Dying for a drink

dying-for-a-drink

I was amused at this sculpture that lies (sleeps?) in downtown Denver.

The man is lying face down, sipping from the pool he is doing push-ups in.

Happy Monday. Go grab a drink of water – but don’t die doing so.

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Mainstream vs. hard-to-find

mesa-verde

Last month for our family vacation, we camped in Mesa Verde National Park. (We tried to go eight or nine years ago but couldn’t, due to a massive forest fire.)

Seeing the famous cliff dwellings was indeed interesting. A fascinating fact the park ranger told us is that only about 5% of the cliff dwelling sites in the area are visited by tourists. The rest are simply to hard to find or to access.

Obviously the most picturesque or grand scale sites like this one are hit by the average visitor. But I wondered what visual treasures lay just out of reach!

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Simple is better, part 2

back2nature-cereal

I bought this cereal because it was half price.

I like the “natural” cereals because they are sometimes less sweet than the mainstream brands. (I can’t stand that ultra-sweet stuff, though ironically I love some pastries.)

I also liked the fact that the packaging was simple – few inks, unbleached cardboard and a good view of the actual product. I would love it if package designers and marketing people “de-escalated” the in-your-face-ness of all the bright colors and brashness in most normal food product packaging. Simple can be better.

Sadly, Back to Nature was pretty sweet. Also sadly, it’s too expensive for me to buy for normal consumption.

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