Desert Pond

Category: Start Writing Again

I start writing again, although I never really stopped. I did stop writing for fun and only wrote for work (boring, plain papers, presentations, business cases and emails). Now, I want to start writing again for fun…for me. You might not enjoy it but I think my mother will be by often.

  • No Age Limit on Road Rage

    Toy Truck
    © Scott Rothstein | Dreamstime

    While attempting to enter a freeway from the service lane, a friend of mine experienced a most surprising incident of road rage.

    Only after he told me his story did I realize that I am probably guilty of gauging the possibility of irritating the drivers near me to the point of danger purely by age. The younger they are, the less likely I am to honk my horn or wave my hands in the air wildly as a sign that I think they just pulled a really, stupid move.

    Apparently, my thinking is a bit naive.

    The service lane my friend was on merges with the entrance ramp to the freeway. He made all the right moves to signal his intent to merge but could see a minivan coming up behind him. It was obvious the minivan had no intention of letting my friend merge – at least not easily. He kept the nose of his bumper just at the tail end of my friend’s car. (I won’t say where, exactly, this incident occurred but suffice it to say that drivers there are not known for passive and friendly driving.)

    In a split-second decision, my friend chose to merge anyway, stepping on the gas to gain that extra foot or so needed to clear the nose of the minivan. He must have misjudged because he ended up clipping the minivan’s front head-light.

    I can hear my friend now. “Crap.” (my parents read this blog)

    Not wanting to block the on ramp, he continued to enter the freeway and then pulled over on the shoulder expecting Minivan Man to pull up behind him.

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  • Making Friends Online

    There’s a lot of value in writing online.   One of the best benefits, though?  Making friends online.  I have friends all over the world.  Amazing, since the only country I’ve ever been to outside the United States is Canada.  (In itself, that’s odd considering I live only a few short hours from Mexico…)

    If you’re trying to make your way as an internet marketer, it’s easy to come across people online who are going through the same things you are.  Reading, learning, creating, writing….struggling.  There’s a lot of research that goes into putting quality work online.  Then – you find one with whom you just click.  You think alike, share ideas, coach each other, pull each other, and push at each other to keep moving.

    Emails whiz across the ether, over oceans, across deserts from one end of the world to another.   Sometimes the emails are bits of info – a new idea, a new website, a new tool we can use in our work.  Sometimes, they’re just funny because we’re tired, can’t think straight or really need a break.

    My online IM partner is a man in Spain I have never met.  I know him only through his words.  I know he is funny, intelligent and creative.  I’ve often thought our emails back and forth would make a great blog all in their own.  There are lots of internet marketing lessons in those emails.  Life lessons, too- valuable, pull-yourself-apart, put-yourself-back-together lessons.

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  • 80 Books for Free? A Writing Contest You Should Try

    I’ll admit, I browse my email. I get so much throughout the day between work and home that it’s nearly impossible to read every word. I need to come up with a better method because…I even browse email from my own family. That’s how I missed the note about a great, little writing contest being put on by one of my mother’s favorite blogs, Dear Reader.

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  • Sharpen Your Pencils

    That term came up in a call today and it got me thinking.  I started looking around my office and there wasn’t a single pencil in sight.  I haven’t written with a pencil in ages.  I have pens…lots of pens.  My kids have pencils (it’s a standard elementary school supply list item), but not me.  I have no pencils.  More importantly, I don’t really have a need for a pencil.

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  • Spina Bifida – Do Good Work in This World

    I’ve been working on a writing project that will help (I hope) the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania.  In order to gather as much information as possible, I’ve been poking around the web looking for material to help highlight the cause.  Twice now, I’ve come across folks whose stories really touched me.  I reached out to both of these individuals to make sure they were okay with my using their information or sharing their stories.  Both times, I received the sweetest, most favorable replies almost immediately.

    When you’re doing good work in this world (my Dad’s motto), people are so willing to share and help that it makes the work that much more enjoyable.  In fact, it makes it feel like it’s not really work at all.

    Do something good today: Leave a nice comment for a friend, Twitter a happy message to the world, write an article to highlight your own good cause.

    Donate some time or money to a worthy organization.

    Smile.

    Erin Solange blogs about her life with spina bifida in a heartfelt journal of life in general and the challenges she faces – emotional and physical.  Thanks, Erin for your quick email responses!

    I want to also thank Tyler Genest who took time out of his busy life – and without immediate access to the internet – to find a way to contact me to let me know he was absolutely fine with my sharing his story.   You can learn more about Tyler in the following video.

    Bless you, both!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im-IhZpRgio