Month: August 2012

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Beauty in obscurity

California coastline in the fogLife often provides a plate of unclear choices. Heather and I are in one of those places. Our plates are full.

There are several ways I can react to this lack of clarity:

1. Frustration

2. Work my butt off trying to find the perfect answer

3. Ask tons of people for advice

4. Take one day at a time and do the best I can each day

5. Relax

6. Pray

Each day gives me a different mix of which solutions I gravitate toward. The only one that I would argue is wrong is number one. That leads to nothing but anxiety.

What’s your mix like today?

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You don’t need the best to have fun

Over the weekend, we flew to California for my sister’s beautiful wedding. Fun was had by all.

To add to our fun (in other words, “my fun”), we paid a little extra and rented a Fiat 500. The road between San Francisco and Mendocino was amazing – super twisty with nicely banked curves. The Fiat had enough oomph to go as fast as my nerve would allow.

The more I reflected on the experience of my driving fun along that world-class road, I realized that I enjoyed myself nearly as much as if I had been in a Ferrari. And the Ferrari costs about fifteen times what the Fiat does.

Context is important. Ferrari owners live and breathe in a world of extreme luxury. My normal drive consists of a pedestrian Toyota sedan or our family minivan. The Fiat 500 provides a lot of contrast.

So enjoy yourself today! See how much fun you can have on a limited budget.

Fiat 500 driving through a tree

p.s. That’s my daughter in the photo. She enjoyed the sunroof as much as I enjoyed the car’s little engine.

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Sometimes new is better

Old mailboxes in rural Colorado

My wife and I have this debate. She is happy with a postal delivery person carrying our mail to the box right by our front door. I am happy for the march of progress. I wouldn’t mind if one of the newer mailbox sheds (or whatever they are called) replaced the individual boxes in our neighborhood. I understand and appreciate the efficiency they represent, particularly in light of how the US postal system is getting in deeper debt every day. Also, the “sheds” offer better security (not that we’ve ever had anything stolen from our box – at least to my knowledge). I do admit to their complete lack of romance and beauty.

Heather likes the convenience of delivery to our front door.

Which do you prefer?

I took these photos in rural Colorado. I thought it was interesting to see the old and new side by side.

Old and new mailboxes in rural Colorado

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It’s not about the hardware

Jay's dinosaur of a bike“You rode like the wind! Even on that dinosaur of a bike.”

That’s what a man told my son last weekend. My son just finished the Copper Triangle, a very challenging 80-mile race up and down three Rocky Mountain passes. The comment was made by a man who had a multiple-thousand dollar bicycle. Jay’s Mercier (less than a year old) cost all of about $350. Jay was able to complete the course with a significant margin over the fancy-bike man.

It’s all about the rider – and not the bike. This concept applies to just about anything. A true artist can make an amazing painting with house paint and dime store brushes. Many wanna-be artists spend thousands on supplies, only to produce paintings that are only seen in their own living rooms.

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Fun way to add spice to your website

letter f - as artwork. copyright JESSICA HISCHEun. Sometimes our blogs need just a little injection of life.

I found this great site by Jessica Hische called Daily Drop Cap. If you know just a tiny bit of html, you can add fun drop caps to any of your blog posts. (Thanks, Jessica!)

Now I’ll add some lorem ipsum text, courtesy of Hipster Ipsum, just so you can see what another of the drop caps look like.

ella mixtape american apparel, marfa raw denim flexitarian brooklyn. Viral semiotics bicycle rights, polaroid master cleanse chambray cardigan. Mustache aesthetic messenger bag, pickled yr you probably haven’t heard of them mlkshk Austin brooklyn cliche bushwick fixie tattooed trust fund wayfarers. Salvia hoodie pinterest cred, single-origin coffee.

And if you need regular lorem ipsum, here’s a great site to get that from: Digital.com’s Lorem Ipsum Generator.

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