Diana & Beau

Hiatus

Summer ended, Autumn began, and I've ended up with plenty of situations and lots of images to boot. It's a good time for reflecting, catching up, and looking forward.

Hobie

Rest in Peace, big boy. You will always be the family "King of the House." We miss you.

Thirty Day Challenge

Yes, the Thirty Day Challenge.
It's not for losing weight, smoking cessation, or getting rich fast.
(Although, I'm certain all three of those actions will occur within the ranks of the participants!)
It's a month-long journey of awareness.
Anyone with common sense, a willingness to learn and some personal dedication can take advantage of this phenomenon.

It's truly not too late to join the experience, although there would be quite a bit of catching up to do. In fact, so many people have joined the party after the official August 1 start, Ed and Dan are bringing in beefier servers to handle the traffic.

So what's the scoop? You learn how to use everything in the Web 2.0 world, available to us all. At no charge. That's no charge for the Challenge, no charge for the tools, no charge for the Difference it makes in your knowledge-set and your ability to market.

For me, the greatest part of the 30DC is Connection. I'm collaborating with people across the globe who are, in my humble opinion, completely Bad Ass.

Paul, creator of the 30DC Team Xtreme, could not find a team to join, so he came up with his own...a team for the teamless. I guarantee this band of rogues, of which I'm proud to be a part, will end up one of the greatest casts of individuals in this year's Challenge.

Armed with a dial-up connection and the Manitoba landscape, Paul's a leading example of conquering the marathon that is the 30DC. And a great example of the use and future of Social Networking. It's not just for staying in touch...it's for collaborating with others making a powerful difference.

Enjoy your sunrise where ever you are.

cups & cakes

Now how tasty does that look?
Pretty darn tasty if you ask me. Check out this and other marvels of having your cake and photographing it too by babygoldfish on Flickr.

Last night I went to bed with a song in my head; Cups and Cakes by Spinal Tap.
And it all started with a chat I had yesterday with my friend Jama.

Jama loves to make treats; cake, fudge, cookies, you name it. And she's really great at it. In fact, she'd like to make it more than a hobby and I think she'd be a hit.
We've started talking about how effective writing and maintaining a cool blog might be a good way for her to share her cake passion with the world.

She discovered an outrageous blog, Cupcakes Take The Cake (I like it so much I've just put their link over there in my Tasty Links section). Alizinha, Nichelle, and Rachel have put together daily postings of eye candy for the cupcake-loving blogosphere.

Yum.

From the blog there's also a link to their Flickr photostream of the same name. Amazing people sharing their very cool cupcake creations with excellent photos. I love it.

Just goes to show some of my favorite character traits of the entrepreneurial spirit:
acting on your passion, expertise in your craft, and the kindness/willingness to share with others.

I'm planning to post images of my cupcakes there one day soon. Sounds like I need to learn how to make them. I'm really looking forward to viewing Jama's creations there...she's gonna be a big hit and I'll point the way to her blog once it's up and running. Oh...Jama, remember peanut butter is my favorite flavor, in case you're looking to make more samples.

Boar's Head Inn

The staff at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, VA is simply Second to None.

Attitude and Service that's genuine. If I could box these people up and cart them around the country, I'd make a mint installing them in virtually any organization where mediocrity is the norm.

This crew understands the beauty of kindness and attention to detail. So instead of my shots of the wonderful grounds or even the staff's smiling faces, I thought I'd offer a detail from their property: a macro of the immaculately clean doorstop from my room.

Next time you're in Charlottesville, stop by and stay a while.

Charlottesville

Virginia, that is.
Had the pleasure of visiting this week for the VFRI (Virginia Fund Raising Institute) conference. My workshop presentation, Technology: Not Just For Geeks Anymore, seemed to be a pretty good hit.
Non-profits (and small businesses) can utilize tons of online content for free or very little cost to help market themselves and their missions.
It's amazing how much more there is to learn and even more astounding to me how many people are just figuring it out.
Feels great to make a difference.

It's so easy to say 'make a difference'.
Are we really making a difference? The following image at World Press Photo is my daily reminder of how GREAT things are for me and why we have an obligation to be change agents.

I look at that and ask 'what have I done today'?