Blog

Wondering what the Fireside Writer’s Conference might have that’s of interest to you? How about…

A college professor with an MFA, published essays and a passion for writing…

One of the most experienced social media experts in Lancaster County…

A blogger closing in on 1000 followers…

A Zen Buddhist who just published a new book of poetry…

A blogger who landed a book deal with Tyndale House and is currently working to transfer said blog to new book…

A 20-something who lost her husband to cancer, and is writing about it…

A successful business women who lost her daughter in a farming accident, lost hope, found hope, and wrote about it…

A man who started a nonprofit after his son committed a terrible crime, hoping to save other young people from a similar fate…

Or maybe just lots of ellipses.

I mean, if none of these folks interest you, then there’s nothing I can say.  But, if you are interested, they’ll all be at the Fireside Writer’s Conference, and they’re all ready to share what they’ve learned with you.

For more details, click HERE

And even if you can’t come, at least go HERE and like it.  That would make me feel better about myself.

30 bloggers. 30 days. $30,000 for charity:water. That’s our goal. Tyler Stanton and Bryan Allain have assembled a group of 30 bloggers; September has 30 days…now we need your help on the $30,000.

Check out this one minute video about what life would be like in NYC if there was no clean water:

Jennifer Connelly in charity: water Public Service Announcement from charity: water on Vimeo.

Some things you should know about charity:water…

* 100% of the money donated goes towards water projects. Private donors take care of all overhead.
* $20 provides 1 person clean water for 20 years.
* Our money will go towards building water projects in Central African Republic
* If you give, charity: water will keep you up-to-date with the status of your project, provide you with GPS coordinates of exactly where the well you contributed to is being built, and take pictures and video along the way.

Think about going HERE and checking out the graph on our progress or donating some money to the cause – your $20 gift would provide 1 person with clean water for 20 years!  If we can reach our goal of $30,000, we could provide clean water to 1500 families!

Please share the page above on twitter, Facebook or through whatever outlets you can think of.  And if you’re a blogger, consider taking one day this month and blogging about this goal and inserting this link in your post.

Stay tuned, as we try to make a difference in the next 30 days.

Did you ever try to sell lemonade when you were a kid? You know, set up one of those little tables along the street, bribe your mom into making a big batch of lemonade and maybe some cookies?

Then your first customer pulls their car up along the sidewalk and gets out.  Just as they’re about to step up and buy a 25 cent lemonade, you hold both hands up and halt them in your tracks.

“You have to pay five cents to come look at this stuff.”

What?

This is what Costco does.  How do they get away with it?  I’ll tell you how.

1 – They put someone at the door. If you want people to want to go somewhere, just put someone at the door to make it feel exclusive.  They’re not there to check your card – they don’t even look!  One time I held up my Avis card and the guy just smiled and waved us through.  They’re just there to make you feel like it’s someplace special.

2 – They give you an ID card. I love ID cards, especially official looking ones with my picture on it that the people guarding the door don’t even look at.

3 – 102″ televisions for $19.99 – you can’t beat huge televisions that cost less than a rack of ribs.

4 – Towering stacks of tires. My kids love the  pile of tires.

5 – Industrial sized boxes of . . . anything you want. Toothpicks, AAA batteries, nutmeg.  You name it, you can get a lifetime supply.

6 – They have a 12-cup rice cooker. Some day I will buy a 12-cup rice cooker so that I can feed Maile’s entire side of the family (they are Hawaiin – they eat a lot of rice)

7 – Free samples of tasty food we never buy. Sometimes, if our older two are getting raucous, we just send them off to find the free food.

8 – The entire checkout situation is so intense that it feels like going through customs at the airport: cart on this side, you on that side, show your ID card, show your debit card.  Why is this good?  It’s not.  But it makes the whole place feel like an impenetrable fortress that you simply must have access to.

9 – When Maile and I were there last week we visited their snack bar on the way out and fed our family of 6 for $7.55. That usually doesn’t even get you an appetizer at TGIFridays. Amazing.  I told her we should go there every night, but then she said she’d have to stop writing her food blog about how important it is to eat real food.  I told her she could just start writing her posts about recycling the grease from the pizza to change the oil in your car.  It didn’t fly.

10 – Someone checks your receipt on the way out. And as a bonus they draw a smiley face on it for the kids.  Sign me up for another year.

So what do you love or hate about Costco?

prop: a support placed beneath or against something to keep it from shaking or falling

As a Christian I love living in America.  Mostly because it makes being a Christian really easy.  For example, I don’t actually have to go out and help the poor or feed the hungry or visit the folks in prison – all I have to do is make sure I vote for the person who will put policies that support these things in place.

And if I don’t like this neighbor that I don’t know, and they decide to put a car on blocks in their driveway and I don’t like how that affects the value of my home then I don’t have to walk across the street and find out why their car is on blocks  – all I have to do is write a letter to my Home Owner’s Association and we can pass a neighborhood law prohibiting cars on blocks.  It’s so easy.

The coolest part about democracy is that when I feel my neighbors, or any of the 300 million people in this country for that matter, are living immoral lives, I don’t have to get to know them and try to figure out why they do what they do.  I don’t have to become friends with them and gain influence.  I don’t even have to take time out of my busy day to pray about that issue, or rely on the Holy Spirit to help them (or me) achieve a better life.  All I have to do is start a petition, and call my senator, and try to pass a law that prohibits their immoral activity.  Never mind it doesn’t change the way they act (it only makes it illegal) – I feel a lot better about myself when there are good, moral laws in place.

It gets even better when it comes to foreign policy.  No longer do I have to go anywhere or see anything firsthand.  I don’t have to help start an actual orphanage or touch one of those AIDS infected bodies – all I have to do is donate $100 to the president of my choice.  He’ll take care of it with the next $1 billion international relief budget.

I love democracy.  It makes being a Christian so easy.

When you wake up in the morning in August and the house is chilly, and you have to put on a sweatshirt and hot coffee finally makes sense, you know it’s a good day to smile.

But if your smiler still needs a kickstart, check out these oldies but goodies:

And finally, the original “Truth About” video that made Bryan Allain famous: The Truth About Bears

Have a great weekend!

Sorry House Studio…actually Thursday mornings are for the random…

1 – If you think can play ping pong like Donkey Kong, check out yesterday’s post about the upcoming ping pong championship in Gap, PA

2 – Either a store is very smart or it’s customers are very dumb (or the place is just amazing), when they can get you to pay for the right to shop there (ahem, Costco; and yes, I am a customer)

3 – Don’t forget to register for the Fireside Writer’s Conference before September 1st if you want to receive the discounted rate

4 – Thanks to Ken Mueller of Inkling Media for helping me set up a Facebook page for the conference…I know, someone my age should probably be able to do that themselves

5 – I spent 3 hours last night hanging out with my Amish relatives, getting information for my upcoming Stoltzfus Family History book – who would have thought that discussions about ancestors, appendectomies and church splits could be so much fun.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.

6 – If I could go to any restaurant right now, at 7:20 am, it would definitely be . . .

(feel free to finish that sentence in the comments)