I wonder if there are any alternatives to the Peace Corps that:
- allow married people with dependents to go to the same location
- have similar student loan benefits, or pays well enough that such benefits don’t matter
Maybe the LazyWeb will know…
Author: Brendon
Link dump
I posted a bunch of links on the Link Harvest this afternoon. Some shouldn’t be missed, so I’ll recap them here…
- First, be sure to read Spinsanity’s take on F-9/11. Spinsanity is always a good read.
- Next, read Bill Kristof’s article about calling Bush a liar.
- Next, read about how Bush is asking for church membership directories to help his campaign. Not good.
- Next, be disturbed by this article on truckers as national watchdogs.
- Finally, recognize the absolute pettiness of all of the above links as you read about Sudan.
Embarrassing
Bush was interviewed by an Irish jounalist (the first such interview in 20 years). He didn’t come off sounding too good. Not surprisingly, there isn’t much press about it…
Unfortunately the video clip is loaded with commercials, but it’s worth watching. If you can skip ahead, go to around the six minute mark.
Mini Extreme
I wish I knew someone who makes movies. I’d like to pitch a couple for this competition. I’ve got two ideas, here’s the first: a really comprehensive look at extreme sports in the PNW. Just completely showcasing the region–mtn biking, rock climbing, surfing, skating, snowboarding, cliff jumping, etc… I think it’d fly off the shelves at local shops. But I think my other idea would have even wider appeal: showcasing kids under 10 who do all the stuff that I listed above. Mini Extreme (credit for the name comes from the scene in Step Into Liquid when they show the little kids surf comp–Tru wants to watch that section over and over!) would be about kids having fun doing “extreme” stuff all over the world and blowing the big guys away! Everyone would want to watch it–kids like Tru would watch because they love watching other kids do fun stuff. Adults would watch it just for the mind-blowing realization of how good little kids can be at sports. I’d have little interviews with many of the kids, and some interviews with parents too. I think it be a fun movie to watch and even funner to make… So I am officially available for collaboration on this project. 😎
Surfing
Went surfing this morning with my friend Nate. We went to Nelscott in Lincoln City and found shoulder-high waves…very fun! There were just three of us out and that made it a nice mellow session. The other guy was an older longboarder who lived in the area…cool cat.
I just noticed that my friend Karah Fisher has a new website for her editing services. Check her out at WordStrengthEditing. And just one more plug: my other friend, Jon, built the page for her… 🙂
Pinkerton
Just got turned onto Pinkerton’s blog. It’s worth reading… I particularly like this post. 🙂
Writing books
I wanna write some books. I’m going to start by writing about what I want to write about. Makes sense, eh? Some of this is pretty vague in my head and it’ll probably sound more vague here, but here we go…
First, something along the lines of “A slacker’s guide to the workplace” or “A slacker’s guide to staying employed.” It’d basically be a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to be a good employee. I entertain ideas of a “slacker’s guide” series…guide to being a manager, etc… I’ve actually written about a chapter and a half on this one. I had two big goals this year: launch finaidpro.com and write this book. The website is up, but at the pace I’m writing, I’m not too optimistic about finishing the book.
Next, a book about “conscious living.” Writing this book would be an education unto itself. I’d want to cover lots of ground with this one–decision making; financial awareness; spiritual awareness; environmental awareness; values awareness; etc. I’ve got an outline mostly finished, but each section would take a l-o-n-g time to research and write about, to say nothing of tying it all together.
The last one might actually be the easiest one to write. I’d like to write a book about being a dad. Particularly about being a dad to a kid like Tru–adopted from Korea. Having lived and worked in Korea, Amy and I have a unique perspective on raising a child of Korean heritage. Beyond that, I’d just like to write about what I’ve learned as a parent, the ways that my love for Truman is manifested (and vice versa, as I observe it) and how I hope to continue learning and growing as a dad.
Ok, now you know. So don’t be surprised when I start begging you to buy my books…
Gmail
Got me a new gmail account, thanks to Dane Carlson over at the Buisness Opportunities Weblog. Thanks Dane! Now everyone has yet another way to email me: brendon.connelly@gmail.com. (see how unafraid of spam I am?)
Pacific City vacation
Amy’s folks and brother were in town last week and we spent a few days at Pacific City. No surf…well Sunday it was about 3 feet, so I paddled out, but otherwise it was flat. All 105 pictures are here. If you don’t like ’em, don’t blame me. Jeff is responsible!
Truman’s favorite poems
Tru’s got a bedtime routine. It generally goes like this: bath, jammies, two or three books of his choosing (more on this another time), and then off to bed for a couple more stories that I make up about dinosaurs or other adventures starring him. I started reading him some stuff that I remember being read when I was a kid and two poems have become favorites: Beautiful Soup and The Jumblies. No matter what other story I tell, he usually wants to hear both of these. Beautiful Soup always sends him into fits of laughter–probably because of my falsetto duing the refrain. And he often recites the refrain of The Jumblies as I’m saying it.