Christmas cards to Dad mean others are thinking of him too
Posted on December 23, 2008 | Posted by DM in I Need A Lint Roller for These Warm Fuzzies
This week I am working on a sad and unanticipated task. When my dad was very ill, we started having his mail forwarded to my house. Then after we moved, I of course had everything forwarded to our new address. His mail has mostly been doctor bills and the occasional solicitation from the Danbury Mint, but now I am receiving forwarded Christmas cards addressed to him, from friends out of state who don’t know that he has passed away.
I just do not feel right about letting them go unacknowledged, so I am writing short letters to each of these folks, letting them know he is gone. A few stray thoughts about this:
It will no doubt be sad for each person to open their letter and read of the death of their friend – I hope they can at least see a bright spot in having received the letter itself.
The practice of letter-writing must be all but extinct – I can’t remember the last time I received a hand-written letter that wasn’t a Christmas card.
The hand-written note in one of the cards began with this hopeful query: “Al, when will we see you again?” My morbid humor aside, that one really was especially sad.
Last year on Christmas Day was the last time I saw my dad looking really healthy. He was out of the hospital and out of rehab, and staying at home, and drove himself down to our house for Christmas dinner. It had been a long and difficult month for him since Thanksgiving, and I remember thinking how perfect Christmas Day was.
Gardening challenges old and new
Posted on December 18, 2008 | Posted by DM in I Need A Lint Roller for These Warm Fuzzies
I have been in love with gardening since the mid-70’s, when I used to collect houseplants and make terrariums as a kid. I didn’t really get to have a permanent garden, though, until we moved to Holcomb Avenue in November, 1991.
While I had many lovely perennial plants and thoroughly enjoyed planting annuals each year, my primary gardening tasks on Holcomb were cleaning up the patio on the east side of the house, and clipping down the silver maple shoots that came up everywhere out of the shallow roots of the trees planted on the west side.
Patio clean-up was a ritual for me. The first green plants to pop up here each year were the hostas and surprise lilies, and seeing them would prompt me to get out there and clean up the fallen leaves and other debris from the over-winter. I would fuss with this space endlessly throughout the spring, often staying out til 11 p.m. or later. While the patio would again look awful from neglect and road dust by late summer, in late May/early June it always looked very inviting with the lattice fence, large hostas, and colorful annuals.
In the last five years we lived there, I dug and cultivated a new flower bed on the east side of the house – “the cottage garden,” I called it, though it never really lived up to that moniker. I loved that little bed too, and tried all kinds of plants there.
Another flower bed, this one by the driveway, held heirloom iris that had been planted by my mother-in-law, which she had brought over from her mother’s garden around 1942.
In and amongst the plants in these beds were my various bits of “garden junk” – not content with the usual assortment of statuary and gazing balls, I was always on the lookout for some bit of rusty equipment to use as a trellis or a unique container to hold some annuals, or anything I could repaint and use as decoration.
Although most of the “junk” was lost after the flood, I was able to take a lot of the plants with me to the new house. I spent a lot of time digging them up, putting them in temporary pots, and then replanting them in a holding bed on the new property.
Next Spring, when I have a good idea of what has survived the move, I will undoubtedly have the opportunity to plan some new gardening spaces – without Silver Maples, thank god.
Though, these fruit trees look like they are going to be a challenge.
Our flooded house is finally gone
Posted on December 15, 2008 | Posted by DM in These Things Keep Me Up at Night
The demolition of the old house is complete. Photo at left of the hole in the ground was taken Wednesday of last week, and looks east toward the neighbor’s house. Clean-up will continue, of course, but with the bitter cold it may be awhile.
I had a love-hate relationship with trees on this property. The tree standing upright in the center of the photo is one of those horrible wild sumacs – I call them stinky trees because they smell awful when you pull them up, which you can do if you get to them soon enough. This one, obviously, got away from me – its one redeeming feature is the big heart carved in its trunk, with “Steve + Janet” carved inside, that my husband put there while trying out a new wood router some years ago.
The leaning tree next to it is a black walnut – that thing played havoc with my patio every year, dropping little green pods, then walnuts, and finally early leaves, all spring and summer. “A filthy tree,” I used to say. The demo crew managed to save these two, but bulldozed the one I loved: a small redbud in the front yard, which we planted about ten years ago. It does look like a few other good trees survived, notably some nice old oaks in the back yard.
One of the things the City may regret is that the demolition crew took up the driveway and all the cement my husband had poured in the side lot to the west of the house. If the silver maple trees there survive, the entire property will be a silver maple forest next year – nearly impossible to mow, because the silver maple roots lie almost on top of the ground and send up “shoots” every few feet. I used to spend hours every summer clipping these things off all over the yard, and digging chunks of root out of my flower beds. If left alone, the shoots easily grow 8 feet high in a single season – great if re-foresting is a goal, not so great if you are looking for that “wide expanse of open green lawn.”
Five Questions with… Larry Bradshaw
Posted on December 10, 2008 | Posted by DM in Five Questions
Five Questions With… is a series on DMweblife highlighting Des Moines area bloggers and their blogs! This edition features Larry Bradshaw of Living Downtown Des Moines. Although the blog started out as a place to simply share bits and pieces of downtown living, it’s growing to include resources for those looking to keep up on downtown-related news or even find their own downtown housing. Larry’s also a dedicated volunteer, and this past summer received the Wells Fargo Volunteer Service Award for his work at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa.
1. What’s the main reason you began blogging, and how has your blog changed or evolved in the time you’ve been keeping it?
I started up my personal blog, LarryBradshaw.net, in September 2006 as a way to post things of interest that I thought my friends would also be interested in reading about. I could have emailed them, but I wanted to provide a forum in which they could post their comments on the items I had posted. Using Apple’s iWeb software and MobileMe service it was really easy to design a good looking website to share mainly with my friends.
My more public facing blog, LivingDowntownDesMoines.com, I started this past summer after moving downtown from the burbs this past spring and realizing what an awesome place downtown can be. I wanted a place where I could share my excitement and energy about living in downtown Des Moines. Having moved to Iowa from South Florida a little over five years ago, I’ve seen tremendous growth and change downtown and wanted to become part of that change.
LivingDowntownDesMoines.com has grown a lot over the past several months, based on the wealth of new information I constantly receive as well as my web development skills. This blog is running on the WordPress platform which allows a lot of flexibility as an open source software tool. The site now not only contains the blog, but an extensive downtown photo library, a comprehensive downtown housing section, downtown news feeds, and more. With the help of some ad sales, I hope to bring even more content and features to the blog.
2. What aspect of blogging do you enjoy the most?
Sharing interesting and unique perspectives on living downtown and getting comment feedback from others on the posts. I know there are a lot of readers out there (who) read the blog on a weekly basis but don’t really comment on the posts they read. The readers that do comment, are my favorite.
I also love being an amateur photographer and the blog provides me with a resource to share the pictures I take of downtown. I know my friends from back east had no idea Des Moines had such a large downtown. A lot of people think of corn fields when they think of Des Moines, but I aim to change their minds.
3. What’s an activity besides blogging that you can’t live without?
Photography, hands down. It’s not just taking the picture, but learning how to really use Photoshop and take an ordinary or not-so-great picture and turn it into a work of art. I’ve spent countless hours manipulating pictures and trying different techniques just to come up with something unique. Most of my friends will tell you, you can always expect something truly unique and personal from Larry for a Holiday gift.
4. What’s the best advice – personal or professional – you’ve ever received?
“The greatest risk is not taking any risk at all.” I whole-heartedly believe this. I consider myself a cautious thinker, but I still understand that in order to move forward and grow in life, one has to take some risks. Too often, peoples’ inability to act is more risky than choosing a path and later realizing that you will need to make some corrections on that path. For even though the choice may have not been the best choice, it is still better than making no choice and sitting still, accomplishing nothing. You always have to ask yourself, “What would I really lose by trying this?” I would rather try it and find out than to always be wondering, “What if I had done that?”
5. What’s something you’ve accomplished in the past five years that you are particularly proud of?
For the last three years I’ve been a Big Brother to my Little Brother Austin as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa. This is a program that I had always wanted to be part of for a number of years, and finally three years ago I committed myself to do it. It has been very rewarding for both me and for Austin. There are so many kids out there that don’t have positive role models outside their immediate family that could benefit from someone willing to spend some time developing a relationship with a child and mentoring that child in ways that can have a lasting impact on their lives. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization.
And the secret sixth question I asked Larry after reading his initial five answers:
6. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about Des Moines as a community, and to what degree is that misconception inhibiting our growth?
When talking about downtown Des Moines, I think the biggest misconception from those who live in the suburbs is that it’s too expensive to live downtown. I think as a community we do a good deal of marketing our higher-end properties, but not our starter and mid-range properties. Whether you are looking to buy a condo or rent downtown, there are affordable properties. I’ve seen condos this year sell for as low as $96,500 and there are downtown apartments with rental rates as low as $500 a month. Now granted, you will not get as much square footage as you would in the ‘burb, but what’s not stressed enough is that you are not just purchasing square footage – you are purchasing an urban lifestyle. And to that point, I don’t think our realtors do a good job of selling that urban lifestyle. Sure they can sell a unit, but very rarely sell what you truly get from living downtown. It’s my hope that my blog as well as other downtown bloggers can help educate others on how awesome it is living downtown Des Moines.
UPDATED with video: She’s going… but she’s not going quietly
Posted on December 8, 2008 | Posted by DM in Endless Navel-Gazing
Got a call that they were set to demolish our flooded house today, so knowing that work goes quick, headed over to watch it happen. About 2 minutes into the work, something broke off the giant claw and just like that, they were done for the day. Now the house is sitting partially busted up and exposed and likely to stay that way for a few days while they wait for a part and/or deal with this week’s winter weather. I know, it’s just a house – and an empty shell at that. But it’s painful, seein’ it like that – seems like there’s just no dignity for this poor house. Video above shows the entire 2.5 minutes of work that was done on Monday, 12/8. The audio of a voice saying, “DON’T, no no no,” is me telling a news photographer I didn’t want my picture taken.
Five Questions With… Ginger Johnson
Posted on December 3, 2008 | Posted by DM in Five Questions
Five Questions With… is a series on DMweblife highlighting Des Moines area bloggers and their blogs! This edition features Ginger Johnson of Snap! Creativeworks. Online, Ginger’s all about connecting, communicating, and thinking creatively. In person, she’s your liveliest girlfriend with the infectious laugh and extra dose of confidence. Here, then, are Ginger’s answers to the Five Questions!
1. What’s the main reason you began blogging, and how has your blog changed or evolved in the time you’ve been keeping it?
Mike Sansone pointed his finger at me one day after we had connected a few times and told me ‘You’re gonna blog.” Okay – few people have the chutzpah to do that, and even fewer really know me or figure me out enough to know when it’s a great fit. Mike did and he does. And I am ever grateful. If you would have told me I’d be a blogger, I’d have said “What?!” Not that I wasn’t open to it – I simply didn’t know much about it at all- which is a very common thing.
I have had the excellent professional and personal guidance of Mike, complemented by other adept bloggers, to help me learn grow and thrive in the blogosphere. I only wish I had all 24 to give it each day! It fuels my passion of connectivity and creativity, it introduces me to concepts, stretches my mind and thinking, and the relationships – WOO! those are the icing on the amazing blog cupcakes.
It’s evolved into something that has a direction, a purpose and I find it highly rewarding. Especially when I hear from people that I don’t know (yet) – who have taken the time to read me. Very cool. Truly a blog is a tangible very obvious display of connectivity – so it’s a great fit.
2. What aspect of blogging do you enjoy the most?
The fact that, for me, it’s an outlet and opportunity to pull all my (seemingly) random blatherings together. The mission – connectivity – is the exact reason I can pull them together. Sometimes the connection is so blatant to me, I laugh out loud. Other times, I love the subtlety of it and hope it enlightens others, makes them rethink.
3. What’s an activity besides blogging that you can’t live without?
Cooking & Entertaining – they are intrinsically entwined for me.
4. What’s the best advice – personal or professional – you’ve ever received?
There’s almost nothing you can’t sleep on. Figuratively, keep your powder dry, think it over. You’ll be glad you did.
5. What’s something you’ve accomplished in the past five years that you are particularly proud of?
The friendships – however they start (via business, social, professional, grocery store line, etc.) – that I have been able to maintain (with moving) and the new ones that have and continue to develop, most importantly that of my fine husband.
And the secret sixth question I asked Ginger after reading her initial five answers:
6. Define “connectivity” as it relates to what you do and tell me why it’s valuable. How does the Internet impact the quality of the connections you’re able to make in the world?Connectivity is the act and practice of really getting to know people. Not asking “what do you do”, not asking “where do you work” – it’s first and foremost finding out who people are what drives them, what makes them do the things they do choose to pursue, academically, professionally, personally, etc. Connectivity… is a foundational part of who I am. Getting to connect and really know people is a forte and passion of mine. So no matter what it is I am ‘doing’, I am always connecting- whether it is to other humans, other animals, the Earth, my environment, whatever it may be. Everything – to me – is connected. And because I am extremely in tune to connecting and how big an impact it can make (professionally and personally), it makes me a great (if I do say so) connector to help other people find solutions using connectivity.
Connecting is valuable for whatever your own reasons may be. As my business is based on connectivity (and brainstorming) the reasons are certainly a large part of my making a living. This is a talent and skill that I can share with others, teach some others and therefore it is a service that others can greatly benefit from. The ability to open minds, and generate new ways of thinking is enormously rewarding for my clients and for me.
The Blogosphere is really the crux of (Internet connectivity) for me – the internet is obviously critical since it is the vehicle that makes blogging possible. There are so many social media tools – and a huge majority of them are internet/computer based. I think the irony is that the internet opens the world and it’s participants in totally new ways, a lot of them cold and static. The blogging community is one that is almost anti-thema to the internet – bloggers develop real relationships, put themselves out here just like they would in person (for the most part) and are authentic. Reaching out and getting an extended arm back, as it were, is what makes the internet and specifically blogging so incredible. I’m always eager to meet more great people and get to he opportunity to connect with them.
Des Moines-area bloggers: to be considered for this feature, just drop me an email with your name, location, and blog address, and answers to the first five questions I’ve asked here. I’ll reply with your “Secret Sixth Question”!
The ongoing saga of our flooded “stuff”
Posted on November 28, 2008 | Posted by DM in I Need A Lint Roller for These Warm Fuzzies
One of the loose ends still hanging from our summer of loss and relocating is the fate of all our “stuff.” Lots of people have asked whether we were able to save a lot of stuff prior to leaving the house. Though you’d think this was a simple yes or no question, it really isn’t.
First, I always reply, we were able to save “the irreplaceable stuff” – photos, mementos, papers, keepsakes, that sort of thing. During the voluntary evacuation period, we remained at home but as a precaution packed up these types of items into plastic tubs and then loaded the tubs into the camper and car. (I drove around for a week with my car loaded with my family’s most precious items. Around this time I couldn’t have told you where my latest pay stub was, but I could open my trunk and show you the topper from my parents’ wedding cake, circa 1960. Such was the miscellany floating around in my car.)
Second, I always point out that even though we saved what was truly irreplaceable, that didn’t diminish the pain, inconvenience and expense that came with losing the rest. It’s an interesting dichotomy: In good times, I happily take used items out to the curb in hopes that a junk picker will come by and snatch them up. By contrast, when we were cleaning up the flooded house, we hauled ruined belongings to the curb for several days in a row – and it angered me to the point of confrontation to have opportunistic junk pickers going through our slime-covered stuff. Why? Because it was still my stuff – I wasn’t ready to part with it, and I felt like vultures were circling around, waiting to profit from my misfortune.
Finally, the last piece of the “stuff” puzzle is the process of re-stocking the new house. We have worked very hard to make the limited funds we had go as far as possible. We tried to prioritize, but we bought the absolute cheapest of some pretty important things simply because we had an overwhelming number of things to buy.
And, there’s now the added problem of wondering whether the stuff we did save is worth keeping. Excluding the family photos and mementos, of course, I’m referring here to the stuff that got covered in river muck but that was saved – for example, my clay project collection. These were things I bought not because they were essential, but because I liked them and had an emotional connection to them. The question for these types of items during voluntary evacuation was, “Do I take the time to pack all this up, knowing it might not flood and I’ll have to just unpack it all again? Or do I decide to chance it, and clean it all up later?” For the most part, we chose the latter strategy. And, now that I’ve lived without that stuff for a few months (a lot of it’s still in storage), I find myself reluctant to bring it back into the house. Not because I dread the clean-up, but because I’m just not sure I really need it any more.
I am sure that much of the recognized “psychology of clutter” is at work here, as we continue to struggle with what to keep and what to toss. Maybe there’s even a helpful message in here somewhere as we all embark upon the biggest stuff-gathering phase of the year, the holiday shopping season. Ultimately, the answer to the original question is this: yes, we saved lots of stuff – the important stuff. Even so, we still lost a lot of stuff we really liked, and we weren’t prepared emotionally or financially to lose or replace it all.
I love PicClick.com – no more paging through Ebay or Amazon search results
Posted on November 26, 2008 | Posted by DM in Online Tools
Today I spent a few minutes using a new web tool called PicClick (www.picClick.com), which vastly improves the way I scan and view search results from eBay and Amazon. I’m still digging into it, but it immediately made me think, “WOW this is great!” – so, thought I’d better share it.
The problem with the two sites (though mostly on eBay) is that the process of scanning my search results can take a long time because they are spread over several pages. With PicClick, I can type in a favorite search phrase along with my preferred price range and get all results displayed on one page, in the style of a photo gallery. I can sort the results by start or end time or by highest or lowest price, etc.
For eBay searches, each item in the gallery gives me a photo of the item, time remaining on the sale, and the current bid. (“Buy It Now” items have the word “Buy” in front of the price.) I can mouse over the item for its full title, then click through to view the full description or submit my bid.
This format works great for me because the types of searches I do are distinctly visual – I might search for “vintage tablecloth,” where each item is going to look a little different. It’s also an improvement, though, if you’re searching for the best price on a single item such as “Pampered Chef garlic press” – you know they’re all going to look the same, you just want to scan the prices for the best deal.
Over on the Amazon side, I also get all search results displayed on one page – but the scope of Amazon’s site makes results-surfing a little harder. For example, when I searched for “Hemingway,” I not only got search results for Earnest Hemingway’s books but also for things like the “Hemingway” table lamp from Kenroy Home or a 1990 edition of Playboy magazine featuring Margaux Hemingway. The solution is to make use of the categories listed on PicClick’s main Amazon page. If I first click “books,” then search for “Hemingway,” the results are infinitely more browsable – assuming, of course, that I’m looking for books by Hemingway.
Another thing I appreciate about the site is that it’s monetized not by making me pay to use it, but invisibly so that the person who developed it gets paid if I purchase an item by clicking through one of his links. That means the developer gets paid if I buy something, but I don’t have to pay for the convenience of the improved browsing. It makes me wish two things: 1). That I had thought of it; and 2). That I had the skills to write the code.
At any rate, my hat’s off to deveoper Ryan Sit. (hat tip to Mashable.com.)
Should Christians be judged more harshly for rude behavior?
Posted on November 20, 2008 | Posted by DM in These Things Keep Me Up at Night
Shane mused yesterday about the value of having Christian bumper stickers on one’s car – and there was something he said that got my brain going in a slightly different direction. Shane observed:
With others you just see a disconnect with what is on the car and conduct while driving the car. Nice seeing somebody with a Christian bumper sticker cut someone off driving or speeding or just lousy driving in general.
So here’s my thought-provoking question of the day: when someone identifies themselves in some way as a Christian, do you automatically hold them to a higher standard of behavior in society, and by extension, react with a sense of betrayal when they fail to meet those higher standard?
For example, is “lousy driving” really un-Christian? Is it reasonable to chastise the driver of an Icthus-bearing car more for driving rudely than we would the driver of an “unmarked” vehicle?
How about customer-unfriendly business practices? I know a business owner who purports to be a Christian, even promotes his business in Christian business directories, and talks in everyday conversation about his faith and Christian lifestyle. Yet, he has sometimes conducted his business in ways that knowingly cheated customers. And yes, I find myself more disappointed in him when he allows these things to happen than I am when other business people behave this way.
Is that fair? Does acceptance of Christ automatically mean that you set yourself up to be judged more harshly by society when you make a mistake or exhibit rude or negligent behavior?
Finally – I didn’t want to leave this comment on Shane’s blog because he really was trying to make a serious point. But I have to admit, his mention of the humorous variety of Christian bumper stickers reminded me about one my all-time favorite keychains. It had a psychedelic background and in bold lettering said, “Jesus is coming – Look busy!” (Lord I apologize…)
10 Signs You’re Addicted to the Internet
Posted on November 19, 2008 | Posted by DM in Oh I Crack Me Up
You might be addicted to the Internet if…
…you catch yourself speaking the phrase “L-O-L” when someone says something funny to you in person.
…you keep an always-open browser window pointed to the Drudge Report so as not to miss the blinky siren of breaking news.
…you can name a few moonbats as well as a few wingnuts.
…you find you are motivated to leave the house only because you think it might give you something to blog about.
…you refer to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup as a “great mash-up.”
…you use the following sentence construction at least once a week: “I’m in yer (noun), (verbin’) yer (noun)z.”
…you used to ask mom, now you ask.com.
…you spent Election Night tweeting the funny bits from Wonkette’s Obama live-blog.
…you Tweet the stuff you Digg.
…you understand that ‘tweeting’ has nothing to do with Sylvester or that annoying yellow canary.
Flickr photo by Nataliej.