this book is written by friend and fellow blogger, fred first. it’s the kind of book that, for me, i can put down and pick up, put down and pick up again, enjoying the words and thoughts of this reflective writer.

each essay in this book is a nice length for a short read but if i want i can go on and read more essays. peppered within the pages are images of fred’s that give some context to the stories. the images look excellent i think, too.

i will say this though: fred makes me think. he’s a nature lover like myself and he challenges my thinking about how much of my life revolves around technology versus being out in nature. i like it when my thinking is challenged. plus it is fun to read essays that spring from a place that you somewhat know. after living out here for five years, i think i can own that thought. thanks fred. i’ll post a more thorough review once i’ve read more.

I’m trying out this new theme called, “Grid Focus.” I like the lean look and the crisp lines of this theme. I haven’t been updating this site at all lately . . .it’s been over a month! But I’ve been working on my finishing up my masters degree at Virginia Tech, so that’s my only excuse.  But we took our son on a hike this weekend, which was good fun. Photo below:

Jonah on the big rocks . . .

i started using a couple of tools recently:

stickyscreen and nowdothis. screenshots below. the cool thing is that each of these remembers what you put in from the last time and they help keep the focus going. nice!

just one stickynote on a screen is all!

nowdothis. just this one thing. that's all.

this was my work scene today. my vste coffee mug and my mouse. this is my typical work scene on most days, too.

Obama’s People - The New York Times

even though it’s just photos, i enjoyed reading the descriptions and looking at the pictures of the people who will be in the administration. nice photo essay.