F2: Hot Spots

Welcome again to Friday's Feast¹. Today I'll be talking about favorite places you love to eat.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

• Tina Lane @ Florida Girl Meets the Midwest
  Fondue, Pajamas, and Valentine's— who could ask for more.

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My wife posed the question to me: "If you had a visitor from out of town and wanted to take them someplace to eat, where would you take them?" I always want to be accomidating, but I think that many times you want to take someone to a place that you love yourself. I try to avoid those places that I consider "Tourist Traps" that most people tend to go to and try to go to those "Diamonds in the rough" that are great places to go, but are known only to locals.

Since my wife and I Love breakfast, the place that we would take a guest to is Symphony's Cafe (I know this is not in Chicago— but this place is close to where we live). But the cool thing about this restaurant is that they also serve great lunches and dinners. I recently had dinner there and was amazed at the great choices that they have— it is quite upscale, but it's also inexpensive. This is one of those restaurants that have slowly become tops on our list of places to eat. If you're ever in Chicago, I would suggest giving it a try.

OK… what about you— if you had a visitor from out of town, where would you take them to eat?

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Next month is March— which means Saint Patrick's Day. I'm looking for posts that relate to this festive time. Ways to interpret this topic include…

• "Goin' Green"— foods that are (or can be) green.
• What Irish foods do you serve on Saint Patrick's Day?
• Why on earth would they dye the beer green… does it make it more potent?

So… if you have anything that relates to this topic, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in next weeks feast. Even if you have already posted on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

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¹ If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast— be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution. Also, if you want to see a particular topic— feel free to suggest it as well (I'm always looking for new inspirations).

Let your soul take flight

I came across an article by Aaron Wong entitled: Boarding the Positivity Plane: 10 Benefits of Optimism. In it he talks about being either on the "Pain Train", or the "Positivity Plane". This concept of relating your outlook to different transportation methods can also be applied to goal setting.

When we set our goals we like to look at all the possibilities. These possibilities give us options we can choose to set our course to reach those goals. Using the Train versus Plane analogy we can see how having a pessimistic or optimistic view can effect those options.

When you have a pessimistic view you tend to focus on the negative. This negativity restricts you to a narrow view much like being on a train restricts you to a narrow track. This track does not allow for much flexibility in the options you have when it comes to your destination. You are forced to follow the track and hope for a switch somewhere along the track. Whereas a train only travels along on the ground— a plane can travel in three dimensions.

The troubles of the world tend to weigh ourselves down. This in turn stops us from taking flight. Many times we talk about being grounded. This doesn't mean that our options should be grounded as well. With a positive optimistic view your mind is free to see all the possibilities ahead of you.

Therefore, let your soul take flight. Don't be afraid of heights and take those risks. Not only will you see more options to choose from— but the view is pretty great from up there as well.

The story's in the telling

We've probably heard the saying: "The Story's in the telling"— but what does it really mean? Does the way you tell a story change the story?

When I was in grade school we used to tell jokes while waiting in line for recess to end. I always enjoyed longer jokes because they could be lengthened or shortened to make the joke more entertaining. Depending on the audience I could stretch out a joke pretty well. I have noticed a parallel between joke telling and story telling.

If you get down to the bare bones of a story it usually is pretty straightforward and not very entertaining. I found that you can make a story more entertaining by adding various details. I know that I don't weave a yarn as well as I have seen others do so. This is something that I strive towards whenever I tell a story. What makes a good story great is how you add the appropriate details so you capture your audience and keep them entertained.

Switch gears again to writing stories and I encounter a few challenges. One challenge is that I do not know my audience. When I am telling a story I pretty much know who I am telling the story to. I can adjust the details in such a way that the people I am telling the story to "get it". When I write my stories, I do not have this advantage. I need to read through my story to see if it gets bogged down in the details too much and see if the details "make sense".

Another challenge that occurs with my writing is the fact that I am a technical writer. The goal in technical writing is to come to the point and say things with brevity. So often when writing a story I don't even bother putting in those interesting details that I would normally put in because I am used to getting to the point. When I review what I wrote I am often disappointed in just how empty the story actually is.

Much like my jokes— if you have heard the story before you may roll your eyes and beg for me not to tell the story. I have seen this with someone who I thought was a great story teller and felt a bit sorry for them because they did not capture their audience. What is worse, is that in the blogging world you cannot tell the author that you have heard it before. What probably happens instead is that people take a quick look at the headline and don't read any more. I know I have done this myself when looking at posts on my reader (Oh, I've heard that before…), then I move on to the next post. I admire those amazing writers who tell those everyday stories that you normally would overlook in such a way that you can't help but read on.

How about you… Do you find that writing stories is different than telling stories? Are there obstacles that you find that make writing stories difficult to you?

Curl Me

Being that we have been withing the Olympics this past week, I was very pleased to watch some of the curling events. I have heard people say that the event is like a combination of hockey and shuffleboard. I don't see how it could resemble hockey except that it is played on ice. I can see the shuffleboard idea since you are pushing something a long way down the field. I think of it more like a combination of shuffleboard and pool.

I am not a very good pool player. Once when I was playing 9 ball I complained to my friend how I made a terrible shot. He proceeded to tell me that even though I did not get the ball in, that I proceeded to make it more difficult for my opponent to make a shot as well. This little bit of strategy is what makes curling be more like pool to me.

I have always wanted to learn how to play the game. From what I hear there should be some places nearby that I could learn, but usually whenever there is an Olympics I tend to think that a lot of other people have the same idea as I— so I think I may wait.

When I first hosted dinner for my wife and her two kids, my now step-son decided he was going to curl my tea pot. He took the pot off of the stove and proceeded to try and slide the pot over the tiles in the kitchen. I somehow suspect that he has taken to the sport as much as I have.

What about you… are there any particular Olympic sports you have taken a liking to. Do you change the channel when curling comes on, or are you mesmerized by the sport as I?

F2: We Love Breakfast

Welcome again to Friday's Feast. Today I'll be talking about meals we love.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

• Gretchen @ Second Blooming
  Finding Love in a can of Beef Broth can't be too bad.

If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast— be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution. Also, if you want to see a particular topic— feel free to suggest it as well (I'm always looking for new inspirations).

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My wife made a comment the other day that she loves going out for breakfast more than any other meal. I tend to agree. Not only is it less expensive than dinner, it also offers a lot of choices to choose from.

One would think that I tend to order the same thing every time. My wife never knows what to expect from me. I will order Steak and Eggs, or even Biscuits and Gravy, and have even ordered an omelet from time to time. Being a Coffee drinker, I will always order coffee, but have also ordered either Grapefruit Juice or Tomato Juice to go with it.

What about you… Is there a meal you absolutely love to eat? Do you prefer going out, or ordering out?

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Even though Valentine's Day is over, the topic for the entire month will still be "Love is in the Food". Here are some possible ways of interpreting this…

• Talk about a Valentine's date you went on that involved food.
• Does love "really" go into cooking?
• Talk about some foods you love.
• Made by Mom with love.

So… if you have anything that relates to this topic, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in the next weeks feast. Don't feel obligated to come up with something if you have already written on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

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Writer's Workshop: Cover Mummies

In honor of Mamma Kat's Writer's Workshop I have decided to tackle Prompt #4:
Childhood memory time: Write about something you loved to do as a child.

Living in the Midwest we all have our fair share of cold. As a child I used to get up at the crack of dawn to watch the Saturday Morning Lineup. Being the youngest of two I was young enough that I did not have to worry about battling over which cartoon to watch— I had the living room all to myself to watch what I wanted. By the time the winter months rolled around I pretty much had my line up "lined up"— all I needed to do now was to line myself up and settle in for some much anticipated cartoons.

I laid out three or four blankets in the middle of the living room one on top of each other. I then stretched myself on one side, grabbed an edge and proceeded to roll myself up in one of the blankets. Once on the other side, I grabbed the next edge and rolled the other way. I did this until I rolled myself in all of the blankets, then hopped up on the couch and commenced with cartoon watching. On really cold days I would slip my cocoon under the side table so that I could catch the forced air out of the register and keep warm.

Many a Saturday was spent wrapped up like a cover mummy watching cartoons— I loved those days.

Do you have any childhood memories? If you do… be sure to stop by Mama Kat's and let her know.

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Just Being

I recently posted a request to concentrate on some topics in my post Focus Me… Please. I have gotten two requests to cover the topic "Just Being":

Frogs in my formula said…

Just Being always intrigues me, because I have trouble getting out of my head. Major trouble.

Little Ms Blogger said…

I'm with Frogs in my Formula, I'm intrigued with "Just Being" and would love to see what you can do with it.

So… without further adieu, I will bring you the concept "Just Being".

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I am the kind of person who tends to invent tiny catch phrases to explain more profound concepts. The phrase itself "Just Being" may seem confusing to some— so I have decided to break it up into separate parts then piece the two together into a more cohesive whole.

Just

When I use the word "Just" I tend to think of other derivatives of the word such as "Justify". A paragraph can be aligned to the left or the right, but I tend to think a justified paragraph is one that is evenly spread throughout the entire line.

When one is Just they tend to be evenly spread. They are not leaning in any particular direction, and are not swayed by any influences that would align them otherwise.

Being

To quote Shakespeare: "To be, or not to be— that is the question:"

I tend to use the word "Being" interchangeably with the word "Be". The word "Be" can be considered the state— whereas "Being" is more the action of that state. We are in a state of being in that we exist. The fact we do exist makes us be.

We may ask someone if we can be with them. This means that we are asking permission for them to accept our presence. We are creatures who can exist or "Be" along side others. If this simple act of existing does not have any hidden agenda, and does not imply moving either party in some direction— this act is now just. In this case we are now "Just Being" with them.

Do you ever find yourself "Just Being" with someone?

Love it is a wonderful thing

This is one of my six line poems in honor of Valentine's day. I rather like the imagery that it portrays— especially since I consider Love as something intangible.

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Love it is a wonderful thing
it makes some cry and others sing.

It takes some in and lets some go
and is always there and helps you grow.

So don't let your love play the opossum
and let it blossom like the early spring.

86'

Do you have any poetry on Love you would like to share?

F2: Is Love in the food?

Welcome again to Friday's Feast. Today I'll be talking about Love¹ and cooking.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

• Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
  I like the name of this post— it seems to fit with today's topic as well.
• Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
  Here's a sweet recipe to make for your sweetheart.

If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast— be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution. Also, if you want to see a particular topic— feel free to suggest it as well (I'm always looking for new inspirations).

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We tend to talk about things like "tasting the Love" in cooking. What is meant by that? Is this some magic ingredient that can be measured and put in a recipe (Add 1 T of Love). If you had a taste test, could you be able to determine which dish was cooked with Love and which one wasn't?

When I cook, I try to follow the recipe well enough so that it doesn't end in disaster. I can understand it when people know a recipe inside and out and take that extra care to make sure it is delicious— but it is difficult for me to justify that as "adding Love". I do not think that the skills of a cook come into play when it comes to putting any sort of feeling into their dish.

We can be proud of our creations. It feels good to know that what you cooked is liked by the people you serve your dish to. Even if the people love the dish, does that mean that the dish was cooked with Love?

I tend to not think about the people I am cooking for when I cook (I'm probably more concerned about avoiding disaster). I am sure that some do think about the people they are preparing the dish for when they are cooking. And when they do, they are feeling love towards those people. Is this feeling then translated into the actual "Love" that goes into the dish?

I know I've asked a lot of questions and no real answers. I'll leave it up to you to give me your opinion on the matter.

¹ I am choosing to use different cases to designate the difference between "Love" and "love". One way to consider this is by representing "Love" is tangible and "love" is intangible. You could also consider "Love" as being the noun and "love" as being the verb or adjective use of the word.

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Even though Valentine's Day is on Sunday, the topic for the entire month will still be "Love is in the Food". Here are some possible ways of interpreting this…

• Talk about a Valentine's date you went on that involved food.
• Does love "really" go into cooking?
• Talk about some foods you love.
• Made by Mom with love.

So… if you have anything that relates to this topic, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in the next weeks feast. Don't feel obligated to come up with something if you have already written on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

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What to do with your left-over crayons

Focus Me… Please

I have been looking back on my posts since the beginning of the year and realized that I have been complaining a lot of the time about how I haven't been posting enough. I think I may have isolated the reason:

I have been working on transitioning to a new system at work and that seems to occupy my normal brainstorming time that I normally use during my commute to work out posts. Yes… I know that we shouldn't take our work home with us— but in actuality I guess I don't switch gears as quickly as I would like and feel that I am scrambling to get a post out at the last minute.

I would much prefer to have quality over quantity and have posts that are well written. I want my readers to actually like reading my posts and not just gloss over them. So… I need your help faithful readers.

So often I have a lot of concepts that I would like to write into posts. Because I have so many, I tend to not concentrate on any of them. This adds to the anxiety of posting which should not be the case. I have written a lot of them down, but have not prioritized them. I need your help in focusing my attention on those concepts that sound interesting so that I can have quality posts. Here's what I have floating around in my head so far:

• Ancient Spirit
• Climatology and ranges of things
• Comforting vs Arm Chair Advice
• Conceptual Learning
• Follow-up
• Giving credit where credit is due
• Initiative
• Initiator vs wall-flower
• Just Being
• Motion and Position
• Out of sight- out of mind
• Relationships Relate
• Social Evolution
• Spiritual Callousness and Suppleness
• Standards and Morals
• State of Equilibrium
• The ones we love and the ones who love us
• The story's in the telling
• Waves and synchronization
• Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How we ARE

Please let me know what your top three most interesting concepts you want to hear about. If you need any clarification on these, let me know and I will be glad to clarify. If these concepts trigger other topics that are not listed that you want to hear, be sure to mention those as well.

F2: Candy Hearts

Welcome again to Friday's Feast. Today I'll be talking about those little candy hearts that you get for Valentine's day.

Participants in this weeks Feast are as follows:

• Beverly @ Beverly's Back Porch
  We must not forget that February also has Groundhog day. Here's a recipe that has ground hog in it.

If you don't know what Friday's Feast is all about, please read the Friday's Feast page for a more detailed explanation. If you want to join in on the feast— be sure to leave a comment and include the URL to your post so I and others can know of your contribution. Also, if you want to see a particular topic— feel free to suggest it as well (I'm always looking for new inspirations).

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Back when my wife and I were still dating (and before we were even engaged) we both attended our church's charge conference. Unfortunately, this meeting was held on Valentine's day and I had to attend in order to report. My then girlfriend bought some Necco Valentines candies to share in order to make the meeting at least somewhat festive (she has this amazing sense of occasion).

During the meeting we were passing back and forth the candies much like you do when you pass back and forth notes in class. At one point, I pulled out a candy that said "marry me" on it and gave it to her. She may have smiled a bit, but we were so much in the moment that I didn't pay it much mind (I probably thought others were more funny and plain forgot about what I passed to her).

Fast forward to our one year anniversary. On that day, my wife gave me a small box with a lot of little trinkets in it. If you are familiar with the movie Clueless, Tai does the same thing in that she collects those little trinkets that remind her of the relationship she has. One of the trinkets that my now wife gave me was this same candy heart that I completely forgot about.

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Because this month includes Valentine's Day, the topic for the entire month will be "Love is in the Food". Here are some possible ways of interpreting this…

• Talk about a Valentine's date you went on that involved food.
• Does love "really" go into cooking?
• Talk about some foods you love.
• Made by Mom with love.

So… if you have anything that relates to this topic, be sure to leave a comment and include the URL so I can include you in the next weeks feast. Don't feel obligated to come up with something if you have already written on this topic in the past— your links are always welcome.

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Babe… I've got you babe

Random Note: I have realized that I have not been posting too much lately. Yes, I know that I have been busy, but I think the real problem is that I have been up to my eyeballs in ITIL. If you don't know what ITIL is… look it up.

The other day my wife and I caught a little bit of Groundhog Day and it got me thinking. There are a few movies that I have to watch over and over and try to determine the point at which the main character changes. In Casablanca I have to try and figure out when and if Rick falls in love again, and at what point he decides to do the right thing. The same holds true with Groundhog Day.

If you are unfamiliar with the story Phil Connors (not Phil the groundhog) is apparently doomed to repeat Groundhogs day over and over. Throughout the movie you are wondering how he is going to get to the next day and wonder what he needs to do in order to start the clock again. Is it when he helps the homeless man, is it when he decides to take piano lessons, or is it something else?

The movie itself was filmed in Woodstock which was a short 15 minutes from my home at the time. We had a person who was in our theater company who got cast as Chris Elliot's double, and it is always fun to watch the movie and know all of the locations. My wife and I both have our locals that we watch for— me with my "Tish watch" and her with her "Rio watch".

Besides the local flavor that appeals to my wife and I, we both enjoy the story which is not only funny— but has a good moral as well. If you have not watched this movie, may I recommend it to you.