I See What You Meme

So the Huffington Post was counting down the Most Viral Posts of 2010 .  I usually consider myself a person pretty clued in to pop culture but I only recognized about 5 of these websites or buzzed about pieces of media.  Does this mean my hip quotient is only at 10%?  Does it make me 90% more productive than the rest of the world? Maybe it doesn't mean anything. How many of the 50 have you seen or followed in 2010? BTW, I think my favorite new find was the April Fool's Math Class Shadow.   ENJOY!  Happy New Year!

In preparation for my recent respite from the daily grind, I went in search of reading material.  This is not the time to tackle War and Peace or to catch up on the latest in my professional journals.  I needed some easy reading.  Well, what to my wondering eyes should appear? Be Happier This Year...in 9 easy steps. SOLD.   Now that I've read the articles, I'm ready to go sit on top of a mountain and dispense sage advice to wondering and wandering seekers of truth.  All snark aside, I was intrigued by the title subject.  Now, I not only have some insight into the concept of "happiness" but I also have a recipe for sweet potato veggie-chili that sounds super yummy.  I'd say I (at the very least) got my money's worth. As we head towards a new year, everyone is talking about Resolutions. Why do we set New Year's Resolutions if not to pursue some ideal that will make us, in the end, happier.  That's really the goal, right?  The commercial airwav

Yes, my friends, it's the Holiday Season.  Hanukkah has come and gone, Advent is winding down, and Christmas is imminent.  I guess it's time to go to church.  I have become a Chreaster.  Those of you who fastidiously followed our story with Charlotte may remember my previous discussion on Chreasters .  A Chreaster is a person that shows up at church on the main holidays in the Christian calendar, principally Christmas and Easter.  Other than those holidays, you'd be surprised to see them in a church at all.  Some go out of obligation (or guilt), others go because they just don't generally feel comfortable in church on a regular basis.  Perhaps they don't have a regular church home but it feels right (or necessary) to make an appearance on the holiest of days in the Christian calendar.  For some, that's the realm of their spiritual experience.  It's not right or wrong, although I suppose some might see it as a derogatory term.  For me, it just is what it

I would like to take this opportunity to say that I think the ipod is one of the single greatest inventions of all time.   The biggest storage challenge in our house is figuring out where we will put all of our CDs.  When you have two musicians in one house, you acquire a lot of CDs.  Fortunately, many of these were procured through Roger's small but frequent gigs moonlighting as a radio DJ.  Plus, 90% of any discretionary income we ever have goes to music and books.  Books, music, chocolate, and wine.   That's pretty much what makes me happy. ( note to self: book blog post imminent for sure) This is about 1/2 of our collection.  Just half.  My tastes are pretty eclectic.  The CD shelves hold pop hits from the 80s and jazz standards from the 60s, Disney classics and classic Genesis, well known artists like Sheryl Crow and the Counting Crows and lesser known fare like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Mighty Busso  ( seriously...don't ask ).    For this reason

Now that we've had a few posts to settle in with one another, let's get personal, shall we?   It's almost an understatement to say that this has been a difficult year.  The last few weeks, especially, brought back a flood of memories.  This time last year, we were in the home stretch .   We were watching our daughter die.  I have spent the weeks since Thanksgiving thinking of our final days with her.  I miss her terribly.  I miss her laugh and her smile and her stories.  I cry a lot.   This is going to sound funny but I don't cry the way I used too.  In the past, if I got upset, you would KNOW that I was upset.  Now, it just kind of leaks out.  I'll be sitting somewhere: waiting in line at the store, working, driving in my car....and the tears just start to flow.  I don't even necessarily "break down" and sob.  I just leak.   Anything can trigger the leak.  Usually it's a memory of Charlotte.  Sometimes I'm reminded of a child or a family i

I told you I was addicted to blogging. So much for once a week.  In my defense, I did add the qualifier "or so".  I just have a lot to say, ok?  And if you are going to listen to me, I'm just going to keep on talking.  Ask my husband about that. So there's this new-fangled thing called Facebook.  Apparently, all the hip kids are doing it these days.  Actually, when there are now fan pages for everything from Heinz Ketchup (494K+ fans) to Birds Eye Vegetables (22K+ fans) I'm trying to figure out how many people, businesses, and ideas are NOT found on Facebook these days. In the early days of Google , there was a phenomenon called Googlewhacking .  The concept was simple: put two words (without quotes) into the search bar and try to come up with one (and ONLY one) result.  Try it.  I've never succeeded.  I think that's where Facebook has gone these days.  Try searching for anything and see if there isn't a fan page of some kind.  I'm the first

Psst...wanna hear a secret ?   I'm addicted to blogging.  The idea to start my very own blog has been germinating in my brain for a little while.  The journey here began early in 2009 when we started our CaringBridge page for sweet Charlotte. As our vision for CJSTUF grew, we graduated to a "real" blog  dedicated to the actions of the Foundation.  Through this process I realized a few things: 1. I like writing. 2. Some people actually seem to like reading what I write. 3. I have an opinion. Ok, I have lots of opinions.  And I like sharing them.  Facebook is good for this.  I don't tweet (yet) but I have this love/hate relationship with Facebook.  I resisted it for years as friends and family joined the fray. Once I joined, I quickly descended along the slippery slope of media addiction.  Now I don't know where I would be without my daily Facebook check-ins.  We'll leave all my thoughts on Facebook for a future post but let's just say that i