All posts by ariah

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applying GTD: It’s harder then I thought

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When I decided I wanted to implement some form of organizational system I thought it was going to be easy. I’d just read a book, follow the step by step instructions and ‘viola!’ suddenly my life was organized and happy. Well, that has not been the case.
I got this cool workflow diagram off of David Allen’s website (it was free, let me know if you want me to just email you a copy). Basically the diagram explains the whole book, but in a whole lot less time. The system is all there right in front of you. The problem is how you choose to set it up for your unique situation. None of the organizing things I’ve looked at seem uniquely tweaked to my job and my duties.
It’s so easy to continue just doing things in what ever old way you do them. Trying something new is a challenge. Usually, I like the way that I have things set-up, but it always gets to the point that I realize I could probably use a better system then I currently have.

Any advice for the disgruntled organizer?

gtd

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The Revolution: Clean Water (a chapter review)

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I finished the first chapter of The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing your World, and I wanted to share with you the best paragraphs from it (in my humble opinion).
The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World

When we know that nearly 150 children die every hour in Africa from complications surrounding lack of clean water and proper sanitation, and we do not feel the same sense of urgency that we feel when American children begin to die from lack of clean water, we must look at the reasons why. Do we have a hierarchy of life based on the principles of patriotism, or are we provoked by the mandates of Jesus Christ?
These stories are not simply tragic. They are the stories of real injustice. A tragedy would be something that we are helpless to stop. This is injustice because we have the ability to help Africans gain access to clean water. Nearly 80 percent of all deaths in developing countries, more than twenty thousand deaths per day, could be prevented. Information regarding the lack of clean water and proper sanitation shows that it is the poorest and most vulnerable parts of society that have to go without.

(italics and bold are mine)

If you want to read the whole chapter you can do so here.

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I love your comments! (and you silent readers)

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I stepped back and thought about it and I realized there have been a lot more comments on my blog lately. A number of them have been simple and encouraging “amens” to what I wrote. I absolutely love those comments because they encourage me to continue writing and they let me know my writing is benefiting others besides myself.
A handful of other comments have been very insightful for me, sharing more information I might not have known about a particular topic and helping me to grow in a great many ways. Thank you so much for those, I have grown a great dal from your knowledge and wisdom.
Finally, there are some comments that seem sort of competely unrelated to what I write in my post. Some of these are mean personal attacks (sometimes they disappear), others are just unrelated. I enjoy these too. I also like that my blog has at times has become a forum for others to carry on discussions. I’m glad this can be a place for that.

All of this was simply to say thank you. I appreciate your time and I love your comments. Please continue to let me know how I can serve you.

p.s. a great way to acknowledge my appreciation of you would be to drop a quick comment below…

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Dr. Cornell West: Preaching at Saint Sabina

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I’m listening to a sermon by Cornell West, courtesy of Logan. It’s quite amazing thus far, and I’m not even half way through. He’s saying some very good things. Here are my brief notes.

  • Coretta Scott King’s funeral was co-opted by the White House. People who where important parts of her life where uninvited to the funeral.
  • The imperialism of the United States is a Gangster mentality, and we should all be honest about that.
  • Our criticism of terrorist and yet our violent and aggressive war and torture and spying are very hypocritical.
  • 20% of children live in poverty in the richest nation in the world is injustice.

Cornell West
Interested now?

Listen to a Real Audio Recording of Dr. Cornel West> at Saint Sabina.

UPDATE: Cornell West St. Sabina.mp3

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Donkey’s for Christ? Let’s be honest here: A Podcast

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This weekend Mindy participated in the Baccaluarate and Commencement at Wheaton College, her now alma mader.

The Baccaluarate message was titled: Donkey’s for Christ. The message was about Jesus riding in on a donkey on Palm Sunday. Basically the preacher was telling all these Wheaton College grads they where donkey’s for Christ. But when you think about it, college graduates from a presitigious school aren’t exactly ‘donkeys’ they’re more like throughbread stallions, so let’s quit with the fake humility.

Here’s Mindy and Ariah cooking and giving their thoughts on “Donkey’s for Christ.”

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39mpg in my Civic vs. a Hybrid vs. an EV vs. Biodesiel

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HondaMindy and I took a road trip this weekend to Wheaton. We drove about 1040 miles on about 26 gallons of gas (and we managed to find some of it at just $2.55 a gallon!). Basically we ran close to 39mpg average. Now as far as your normal gas powered car goes, that’s pretty darn good. But, maybe it’s not good enough.
When we where looking for a car last fall (our good ol’ Mitsubishi bit the dust), I was definitely interested in a hybrid. They supported my ethical belief that our dependence on oil is bad. They also cost a lot and I couldn’t find a used one in the entire state of Tennessee. Yet, I figured someday Hybrids would become cheaper, or at least there’d be more used ones available.
Today I ran across this guy’s post about his Toyota RAV4 EV (electric Vehicle). It runs on a big fat battery, no gas needed. All in all it’s pretty impressive in light of current gas prices. At the same time people have criticized EV cause their huge battery and energy intake is just as bad on the environment as gas.
Finally, there’s the cool hippyish idea of running your car on vegetable oil and grease. biodiesel very much interest me. I almost bought a tiny dodge rabbit (was that the model?) that had been converted to biodiesel off ebay in North Carolina. Yet, I also heard that rising demands for biodiesel is causing it to be manufactured, rather then just converted from byproducts, which is just as harmful for the environment.

All that to say, I’m not sure where I stand on the whole what vehicle to drive thing. I’m all for raising the gas prices a lot, that’ll force people to choose alternatives (but I’ll still search for the cheapest stuff). All in all, I’m a fan of biking (like I’m going to do right now from work, cause it finally stopped raining.

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Going for more No-Look Blogging

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no-look passThe no-look pass is one of the coolest moves in basketball. Magic Johnson was famous for it. The no-look pass is fairly self explanatory, you passed the ball to a place you were not looking. The reason it’s such a cool move is mainly because of the confidence it exhibits. It’s like Michael Jordon closing his eyes on one of his free throw shots and sinking it. You have to trust your abilities, trust your instincts and just go for it.
No-look Blogging is done with the same confidence. You trust your abilities and instincts and you just write and then post. I’ll be honest as my readership has grown, I’ve lost some confidence in my blogging abilities. I worry someone will read my first sentence and quickly lose interest. My “Drafts” started piling up, waiting for me to reread them when I’m more confident and in a better writing ‘mood.’ I had a week or so go by with very few actual post. I started looking where I was blogging.
Well, the only way to do the no-look pass well is just to start doing it. It’s the same for no-look blogging. I’m going to do my best to write more confidently on my blog. After all this is my blog, it’s an opportunity for you to read, but it’s also an opportunity for me to write.
So, please excuse my grammar mistakes (I’ll still try and spell check), feel free to correct any major errors. Let me know if a video or image isn’t working right. But in general enjoy Ariah: The unedited version.