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?