Monthly Archives: June 2012

Politics

Q: How can you tell when a politician is lying?

A: Their lips are moving…

I always think of that old joke anytime a political ad comes on the TV or radio.  I don’t know if they are lying all the time, but I am sure they are more often than not.  And yes, ladies and gentlemen, those ore the people leading our country.  I know I had said many times I would not talk about politics here, but I just needed to vent a bit.

I watched the first ad for Romney the other day, and sure enough it wasn’t an ad saying what he could do for us, but said what Obama did not do for us.  Is that Romney’s platform?  Telling us what Obama didn’t do in his term?  I don’t think we need some rich dude to tell us that.  If he wants my vote, he NEEDS to tell us what he can do for us.  The more negative ads I see for a politician, the more I will vote for the other guy because of it.  It’s probably not the right thing to do, but it is MY vote, and I can use it as I see fit.

I have talked with a number of friends lately, not specifically about politics, but just general conversations, where “voting” comes up.  I was surprised on how many people do not vote because of the ad campaigns.  They are intelligent people mind you, that simply toss their vote away because of the bickering.  I was a little upset when I heard this, but the more I thought about it, I changed my view.  It is THEIR vote to use as they see fit.  Part of me also would like to not vote as well, but I feel voting is my RIGHT, and I want to exercise that right as long as I can.  Who knows when/if it will be taken away.  Stranger things have happened…

So, just a bit ago, I got a knock at the door.  It was some lady running for a local State Representative position.  It was actually her knocking on my door.  I hear about this kind of thing happening on the news, but this might be the first time one knocked on my door.  She asked me what kind of changes i would like to see happen.  I was so caught off guard by not only the knock, but by the question as well.  Why would she care about what I would like to see?  I don’t have deep pockets to fund her campaign.

Strangely, that is seriously the first thought that crossed my mind.  I instantly thought of corruption in the government.  Why?  Because off all the negative ads we all see.  They, as politicians, are hurting themselves whether they know it or not.

I told her that I was really not a very political person, and she should ask someone else.  She told me that she was getting A LOT of that same sentiment from other people she meets.  She said she was trying to change the negative ad approach in her campaign.   I nodded and took her pamphlet.  She left.  I did notice her lips moving, and that is what prompted me to write this.  I wonder if she really was lying…

POTD – June 22nd

Long shadows on the trail of life

Writing Endeavors

I have been away for a bit for a reason.  It’s called vacation!  The family and I went down to Mexico, Puerto Penasco (a.k.a. Rocky Point) to be exact.  We left DIA on Wednesday, the 13th, for Phoenix.  We over-nighted at the In-Laws house before driving the 4 hours down to their condo on Thursday.  We stayed there until Monday, when we drove back to the oven, otherwise known as Phoenix.  We flew back to DIA on Tuesday.  It was a nice little break from the hectic schedule we all keep.  Sense the sarcasm…

Yeah, I know..  How hectic can it be, being unemployed?  Well, pretty darn hectic!  Ok, not so much, but this vacation had a HUGE bright spot – I got a job offer!  I had a last minute interview on the morning we left, and I got an offer by Friday.  It was all good!  Now, I look forward to starting on July 2nd.

Other than that, I am about to start up a new writing project.  I really cannot tell too much about it, because the site isn’t officially launched yet, and I am not even sure my submissions (all 3 of them) will be accepted.  If they are, I will be a serial novel writer for pay!  I use the words “for pay” loosely, as the pay is not great.  But, once the first chapter is live on the website, the readers can “vote” for the 30 or so stories they want to see come back.  There is some kind of monetization there somewhere, and we’ll see if it all works out.  It might be something great.  It might be a complete waste of time.  I’m not worried about it really being a waste of time because it is at least getting me to write, right?  I am hopeful that at least one of my submissions gets picked up.  I will obviously link to it once (and if) it happens.

Enough about that.  I have a TON of photo’s to get caught up with.  I also have a new recipe to share with everyone.  It comes from a cooking class we attended down in Mexico.  One word – YUMM!

POTD – June 21st

Brighton Beach, England - 2005

POTD – June 20th

Prairie flowers

POTD – June 19th

Grove of Aspen trees.

POTD – June 18th

Hanging Clouds

POTD – June 17th

Magnificent Mirrored Lake.

POTD – June 16th

Lone tree, during the sunset.

POTD – June 15th

Lone tree, before the sunset.

POTD – June 14th

A grove of Aspen trees, in Sepia.

POTD – June 13th

Old church in the country side of England.

POTD – June 12th

Brighton Beach in England, from 2005 vacation

Current status

I have not forgot about Paul-Kohler.net you so soon, although it might look that way.  I have still been updating the POTD entries, but as for writing content, I have been focusing on my fitness blog.

One day last week, I blogged about platforms and blog content, and realized that I might be better off with a few specific blogs after all, and not include everything into one “department store” variety blogs.  So, I worked the last few days of last week creating a Fitness blog and loading a number of entries into it for my current beginners running program.  That entry was pretty successful on Pinterest, that it prompted an entire blog.  I officially launched that blog on Friday at 6:00 p.m. mountain time, and the results have so far been pretty good.  From the launch, I have almost 2,500 hits to the site.  The hits here have been up as well, but nothing comparative.  Most of those here are still residual from the initial Pinterest pin from last week.  I am going to continue to post over there as well as over here.  No fitness updates here, and no writing updates over there.  there will be links back and forth between them, but just from the about me pages.

beyond that update, I am contemplating yet another blog.  The new one will be about our basement finish.  I think it can develop into more than just a recap of our basement finish, but more into a basement finish solutions blog.  I am not sure i will have time to get it complete before our vacation, but maybe once we get back it can go live.

So, yeah, we are going on vacation on Wednesday!  Flying off to Phoenix first, then driving down to Mexico the next day.  Four days down there, and then back to Phoenix for a few then flying home.  It will be nice getting some beach time in.

POTD – June 11th

In the trail. Colorado Trail, circa 2008.

POTD – June 10th

Simple Wild Flower

POTD – June 9th

POTD – June 8th

Perfect timing for a perfect sunset. Well, almost.

What is in a Platform?

From years past, I have struggled to get regular readers on my blog.  I think that is partly why I let it expire in 2005.  Nobody cared.  I certainly did, but that wasn’t enough to keep things going.  This time, I want to make things different.  I want to grow my blog, and to do so, I need subscribers or regular readers.

Google to the rescue!  I did a search and found a number of blog posts on building readership and subscribers, and  a number of them continue to mention to stay focused on your platform, and not veer from it that often.  I spent the rest of yesterday and last night contemplating what my platform is, and I came to the conclusion that i really do not have a “single” platform.  I have a ton of interests, and as you might have read from an earlier entry, I “had” blogs for half of them.  I consolidated, so that I could remain focused more on content than on multiple blog layouts.  I wonder if that needs to be rethought..

So, until I rethink my thinking on my platform (which currently is “Generalities”) I think I will keep on keepin’ on.  I know, a lot of thinking going on there, and nothing to show for it.  My problem is, I want to write.  I want to write about writing.  I like the fitness aspect, and I want to write about fitness.  I like to cook, and again, I like to write about it.  Photography?  Same same…  What is a guy to do?

Also, many of the blogs I read about this also said to limit your posts to one a day and not much more.  I “kind of” agree, but “kind of” not.  I hate getting a ton of emails saying ‘so-and-so just updated…’ but as it stands now (for this week at least) I have been posting 2 to 3 times a day.  I have the Photo Of The Day post.  I have had a recipe here and there.  I’ve had a fitness post, and I’ve had a few generalities themed posts, lightly linked to writing.  Perhaps I should keep everything separate.  I don’t know.  I really don’t.  Again, I think for now, I am going to keep on keepin’ on.

POTD – June 7th

Castle remains in the country of England, from our trip in 2005