3) "A Picture of Me and My Friends", or, A Scrollable Slideshow of Superb Sidekicks. Seriously.

A picture of me and my friends.  This would be hard to do in one picture.  Luckily, I read this blog post, by the venerable "Brit", the other day and in it found a fine format to follow.  Now, 

A Scrollable Slideshow of Superb Sidekicks. Seriously.

My friends from scout camp!  I have made many wonderful friends from
working at scout camp.  Being with people all day, every day for an entire
summer can certainly bring you together.  This picture is meant to represent
 all of the great people I've worked with over the years.

This picture is not just for the two lovely folks you see but also
 for all camp friends in the off-season.  I love that we can be
grown-up (the jury is still out on this) but still crazy.

This one as well.  This is from a photo shoot with some more wonderful camp
friends.  It is one of the few shots that doesn't look like a
polygamist wedding announcement waiting to happen :)

This picture will represent a lot.  The wonderful individual seen
has been a friend for many years.  Come to think of it, I believe
it was reading his blog many years ago that made me want to start
one myself.  This picture also represents friends from high school
and the friends I made in Washington, D.C. (where this photo was taken).

This dapper shot is meant to represent my friends from the Folk Dancing
Team.  The bulk of my college social life involved these wonderful friends.
By extension, this shall represent the friends from the WSU Chamber Choir and other
extracurricular activities over the years.

Okay, here's the polygamist wedding announcement :)

This fine picture is to represent the many great friends at the apartments
where I live now.  I love how there is often something fun happening (like
the waterfall rappelling adventure shown above) and if there's not, you
can make it happen with the fun and adventurous people (as long as they're
not too busy with school).

And now, my greatest friends of all, my wonderful family.  I am so
grateful and blessed to have a family who also make up the group
of my best friends.  I love them and I love spending time with them
as I would with any of the friends shown above.  And this goes for my
siblings' spouses (who are just as much sisters and brother to me) and
my nieces and nephews as well.  I love my family!


Cheerio!
Andy

2) "The Meaning Behind My Blog Name", or, A Tale of a Tune

I'm liking this already!  I am now on the second of thirty blog post prompts (see here for the the list and first entry).

Today's topic: the meaning behind my blog name.

Alright, to begin go here and push play right now.  Let the music play while you come back to continue reading.  It's the backdrop music for the post.

My Blog name, "the joy of life," is the title of the Kenny G song you are listening to right now.

I love the happy feeling of this song.  When it gets going I love grooving to the rhythm and melody of it.  It makes me happy :)  Life can be joyful.  Think of something today that made you happy.  Really think of something, don't just read over this and move on.

Now think of something you can do tomorrow to make someone happy.  Remember these things; I'm going to ask you about them later.


Now stop reading and just listen to the music for a while; I hope it makes you smile and feel good.



Did you like that grooving part?  :)  I did

I think that on my old computer this was my top played song.  Writing this post makes me want to encourage it up to that area on "Top 25 Most Played" again.  It's a good song--and it's the meaning, or inspiration, behind my blog name.

As for the url, nilnoca, that's aconlin backwards.

Will you post in the comments something today that made you happy and something you can do tomorrow to make someone happy?  I'll post my thoughts as a comment to get it going.
Thanks!

Cheerio!
-Andy

1) "Interesting Facts About Me", or, How I Started a Blog Challenge to Prime the Writing Pump Within

This will be the first post of many in a list of blog post ideas (blog challenge).  I got the list from the Grange's blog.

As you can see from the title of this post, one reason for doing this challenge is to get the writing pump primed.  I want to develop a skill for using language and this challenge will give me practice and direction for doing so in writing.

The first topic is discussed below but first here's a teaser of what I'll be writing about.  Try it yourself.  You'll have to write, think, and you may even learn something about yourself in the process.

1. A recent pic of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself [this post]

2. The meaning behind your blog name

3. A picture of you and your friends

4. A habit you wish you didn't have

5. A pic of somewhere you have been (and part two)

6. Favorite super hero and why

7. A picture of something/someone who has the biggest impact on you

8. Short term goals for this month and why

9. Something you are proud of in the last few days

10. Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

11. Another pic of you and your friends

12. How you found out about blogs and why you made one

13. A letter to someone who hurt you recently

14. A pic of you and your family

15. Put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

16. Another pic of yourself

17. Someone you would want to switch lives with for 1 day and why

18. Plans/dreams/goals you have

19. Nicknames you have, why

20. Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future

21. A pic of something that makes you happy

22. What make you different from everyone else

23. Something you crave

24. A letter to your parents

25. What I would find in your blog

26. What you think about your friends

27. Why are you doing this 30 day challenge

28. A pic of you last year and now, how have you changed

29. In the past month what have you learned

30. Who are you?

Alright, for the first topic.

1. A recent pic of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I opted for two pictures.  The first one looks really cool and the second one's all adventurous (Mt. Nebo in the background).

And now for 15 interesting things about me:  (not numbered because they are in no specific order.  If I change my mind and decide to order them for a reason, this message would be edited out and you can see that that is not the case)

--There are some things that I enjoy doing that are not too common (some specifically because I'm a male).  They include: crocheting, tap dancing, and yodeling.  These are not my only hobbies but they are some that are among the more obscure.

--I have two sprigs of bamboo as pets: Kawayan and Maiksi (meaning "Bamboo" and "Shorter" in Tagalog; thanks to Britney for the name suggestions).  I talk to them (or think at them) on occasion (ideally daily).  I enjoy having plants in my house.  Feng shui all the way!

--I love looking at maps and knowing where things are.  I graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's degree in Geography.

--I really like making lists (currently using Evernote as well as various text editing).  One of my lists is a reading list.  It is currently in various forms waiting to be compiled and condensed.  I will be making my own "essential reading list" based on famous lists of classics/essentials as well as others' lists of recommended reading and my own list of books I want to read.

--I was an intern at the National Geographic Society in the Education Department.  It was a wonderful experience, not only the intern part but also the opportunities from working at NGS and living in Washington, DC.  [S.S. (side script) This week is Geography Awareness Week! Celebrate The Adventure in Your Community!]

--I started wearing eyeglasses when I was 22.

--When I was young my trademark haircut was the buzz.  Juxtapositionally (I wanted to try that word. It says it's spelled wrong, I think it's juust right, and perhaps new), I grew out my hair for almost 17 months and can now sympathize with those with long hair; I've experienced it! I kind of want to grow it out again...

--I've been skiing since before I could walk.  According to my mom, I was 11 months old the first time I went skiing.  Thanks to the sacrifices of my mom and dad, me (and my siblings) grew up skiing almost every week in the winter. Thank you to my wonderful parents!!

--I really like dancing.  I enjoy ballroom dancing, swing dancing, folk dancing, tap dancing, and clogging.  However, put me in a contemporary dance scene and it will be quite a while, if ever, before I feel comfortable moving about (by contemporary I'm referring to the type of dancing done in various social settings found among people my age, not the style of dance sometimes called modern dance).

--I love playing the piano and singing.  It can be a great way to express feelings and even vent emotions at times.  I also really enjoy accompanying others as they sing.  Once I played the piano until my finger bled on the keyboard.  I have a picture to prove it.

--I have a profound proclivity for libraries as well as their used book sales (and buying books at the D.I.).  I like the smell of university libraries when back amid rows of books.

--I'm pretty good at drawing the world, freehand and without looking at a map. It's all up here.

--I haven't used deodorant in about 18 months.  I ran out right when going on a camping trip so I didn't take any with me, someone mentioned there could be negative things about deodorant, I was (am) a hippie, so I stopped using it.  I count myself blessed that my body doesn't require it as much as others.  S.S. (side script, remember?) Lots of people are taken aback when I tell them I don't use deodorant, which is understandable, but I think it's just the thought of it that gets them at first.  It's like someone not worrying about getting hurt 'til they realize there's blood, then they freak out.  I have asked multiple people who I trust to tell me honestly and they have told me that I am doing fine without it.

--Whenever I go somewhere, even if just a short distance or for a short while, I will frequently take plenty of things to do (usually in the form of lots of books).  These are often carried in one of two purses (or both).  And yes, I did just infer that I use not only one, but multiple purses.  One is a small satchel from Guatemala and the other is a Mountainsmith lumbar bag.  It's easiest to just call them purses myself.  I don't mind calling them that and people then get halted in their attempts to make fun of me :)

--My family and I like to sing.  On significant occasions (weddings, birthdays, Christmas parties) we will come together and plan a musical number to perform (often put together quickly but with quality).  I love my family!

Well, that's 15 interesting facts about me.  And the completion of the first blog challenge item!  I'm looking forward to these writing prompts.  I hope you'll find them interesting or that they will prompt you to think about yourself.  When that happens, I recommend that you record it in a journal or a blog.

Cheerio!

-Andy

Touching things once

I remember something my mother once taught me (actually, she probably taught it to me on many occasions).  She said that, if possible, you should only touch things once.  This is in reference to things like laundry.  It's better to take care of it all at once rather than taking clothes and putting them in a basket, then later taking it to your room, then later putting them away.  Once you pick something up take care of it all the way.

This is something I am going to try to do better.  Instead of putting something in a drawer or on a shelf to sort through and decide about later, I will take action at the time.  This can certainly apply to digital things as well.  Take care of e-mail when you first "touch" it.  Answer it, delete it, do whatever you need to do with it then.  Don't just let it sit, waiting for it to be taken care of someday.

I'm going to do better with touching things once and not putting them off 'til later.  I challenge you to do the same.

-barefoot Andy