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Your turn: free-range posts
Found any fun new blogs lately? Started one yourself? Stumbled on (or written) something you think our Passionate Users regulars might find interesting... but that wasn't on-topic enough to put in a comment? Wanted to do a shameless self-promotion trackback that had nothing to do with the post, without appearing shameless? Now's the chance.
This is the first of semi-regular open posts I'm going to try, mainly so that I can sit back on my lazy rear while you do all the work...
I'll go first with a few random things:
1) I've been wanting to talk about Nintendogs even since I got back from Japan, but didn't get around to it. I'm still planning to do something on girls and video games, inspired by Nintendo's marketing of this game in Japan, but yesterday I found a wonderfully (long and detailed) review of the design of the Nintendogs game, that's got some great stuff even if you're not a game designer. (We should all be thinking like game designers) Read it on the Lost Garden blog (which I found via the Greenonions blog).
2) Passionate users regular Matt G has started a new new blog. It's brand new, so there's not much there yet, and I figured he wouldn't say anything himself about it, so I did. Sorry Matt ; )
3) I have a new horse trainer, Darren Wetherill (aka the "horse wizard"), who insists that we get on our horses without a saddle, by jumping up from the ground. Here's a cute video clip of his four-year old daughter trying to jump up on her horse for the first time. This is exactly how I felt a few weeks ago...
So... now it's your turn! Add a comment with links, or send a trackback to whatever you like. All topics are fair game, and don't feel like the link you post has to "contribute something meaningful". And I still reserve the right to delete links arbitrarily, at my whim, just to exercise my Typepad-given powers ; )
Posted by Kathy on June 16, 2005 | Permalink
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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Your turn: free-range posts:
» Welcome Passionate Users!! from The Basement
I'm famous! The genourous and wonderful Kathy Sierra mentioned me in her Free-Range Post today. Thanks Kathy!!! What a rush!
[Read More]
Tracked on Jun 16, 2005 12:56:48 PM
» Ok, I'll Be Selfish from GBGames' Blog
Kathy Sierra, an author from the Head First series of Java books, has made an open post where anyone can comment and trackback, no matter how off-topic or shameless. So, I'm taking advantage of it. B-)
Well, to make it more useful, I'll say that... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 17, 2005 9:25:27 AM
» Shameless plug for Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 from Mostly Muppet Dot Com
Hello readers of the “Creating Passionate Users”blog. I’ve taken the gauntlet of Kathy Sierra’s free-range post and trackbacked that entry. I hope you enjoy my discussion of the ABC show Lost and their viral marketing efforts.... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 17, 2005 1:29:30 PM
» What i did in 2003. from twoday.tuwien.ac.at/Enki
In 2003, when i was 20 years old, i was insanely driven by some ideas that i had regarding the future of networks. Back then i didn't know the best approach to make my ideas become reality, and so i was stumbling along on a weird journey, that led me f... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2005 10:25:29 AM
» Artificial Life: EvoCell from twoday.tuwien.ac.at/kybernet
Nicholas M. Gotts spekuliert in seinem Beitrag zu "New Constructions in Cellular Automata" [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2005 10:26:40 AM
» Current mood: Extremely not bad from Murphee K dot com
Friendster, myspace, Linked in, El Jay, ad nauseum. Social networking sites and blogs go hand-in-hand. And there's way too many of them. Blogging, thanks to the elections, is rising exponentially.
I recorded some things over the weekend, but I wo... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 19, 2005 2:38:15 PM
» Free plug from Orangepalmtree
Headrush is one of my favorite blogs. The writers claim the blog is about creating passionate users; but that doesn't give the site nearly enough credit. It offers far more. They've been good enough to offer up [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 21, 2005 7:22:33 PM
Comments
Hi, I have been loving your site for a while. Your "How to Create a Nonfiction BestSeller" and "Is Your Book Remarkable At Every Scale." really inspired me to finish and improve what I started.
As an engineer I have found the vast majority of people totally lacking in math skills and not caring about it in general. I wrote the first book in a series to teach mothers how to teach their children numbers and counting. The rest of arithmetic will be covered in the subsequent books.
The book is available at http://www.zigguratmath.com/ and the blog is at http://zigguratmath.blogspot.com/
I want to thank you for your ideas and inspiration.
Would you like a free copy of the counting book? Just email me.
Posted by: Stephan F | Jun 16, 2005 11:04:16 AM
I am a fairly new visitor to your site. I find your entries to be helpful and interesting.
I started a blog on marketing a few months ago. It's called Kinetic Ideas. If you want to review it to see what you think, please visit:
http://www.wendy.kinesisinc.com
Kinetic Ideas provides interesting and fun tips, ideas, strategies, and anecdotes related to marketing and promotions to help your business succeed!
Thanks so much, Wendy Maynard
Posted by: Wendy Maynard | Jun 16, 2005 11:14:01 AM
Wish I had something to promote shamelessly here for myself, but I'm getting married in a month and have been otherise occupied.
As such, I humbly recommmend Jonathan Nolen's blog:
http://www.jnolen.net/blog/
Skip the two most recent posts, and you'll get into some really good meat about community-driven technology (wikis, etc.) and how shared, open information can benefit both businesses and their customers. Jonathan's a passionate advocate of the Internet as it should be, an extremely well-versed techophile, and (here's the clincher) a really great writer.
Thanks for your site- I forwarded to everybody in my department your treatise on the dangers of PowerPoint. I truly think you saved lives.
Posted by: Jason | Jun 16, 2005 11:20:03 AM
Thanks for a great site. I created a new blog around my passionate dislike of a single word: http://literally.barelyfitz.com/
Posted by: Patrick Fitzgerald | Jun 16, 2005 11:32:08 AM
OK here's the plug for CafeGeek:
(http://www.cafegeek.com)
I recently started a site called CafeGeek. The goal is to build an online community of cafe and coffee lovers. Coffee drinkers are passionate, and to the best of my knowledge until now there has not been community based site for reviewing cafes.
Soon to come will be competitions, interviews (text and podcast) with featured reviewers and baristi, and a community newsgroup.
cool huh?
Posted by: Rob Barac | Jun 16, 2005 11:55:11 AM
Wow! Shameless self promotion ENCOURAGED?!? All right, here goes:
First, love the site. Long time lurker, first time commenter.
I've recently launched a new business called The Blog Studio (www.theblogstudio.com). We are design oriented blog-mad writers, web designers and marketing dudes (no dudette yet, but I'm working on it).
We're running a launch special, so if you know anyone who wants a business blog that is going to really make a mark, please send 'em our way.
Thanks very, very much.
Posted by: Peter Flaschner | Jun 16, 2005 12:50:14 PM
Simplify Your Life
http://www.advisador.com
Steps along the journey to living a simple life in today's world. No, this doesn't mean we grow our own vegetables or make our own opossum cheese -- it's about simplifying the millions of choices and decisions we have to make every day. Hopefully pointing out some of the more mundane ones and ways to remove them from your brain.
Afterall the brainpower you save, could be your own.
Thanks for allowing me to post. I really love this site...it has helped me tremendously in my quest to build a little business into a bigger one.
Posted by: Mr. Advisador | Jun 16, 2005 1:26:20 PM
The nonprofit I work for, Free the Slaves, is dedicated to eradicating modern slavery around the world--27 million people are slaves today, including some 10,000 slaves in the United States.
We've just set up a blog on our site, and I'd love to hear any feedback on it from your site's visitors.
Posted by: Jacob Patton | Jun 16, 2005 1:33:42 PM
I'd like to promote our blog - newpersuasion. http://www.newpersuasion.typepad.com/ I think the post you might be most interested in is our discussion of the types of stories companies will tell in the future and what resonates. it can be found at http://newpersuasion.typepad.com/new_persuasion/2005/06/i_just_finished.html
I love your blog - it's full of great thoughts. Thanks.
Posted by: nellie lide | Jun 16, 2005 2:10:03 PM
First I would like to say that Head First Design Patterns is incredible and I look forward to reading more Head First books. I just started reading this blog and will become a regular due to the content being so great.
Here is a link to my blog (Discoveries in Software Development and Technology):
http://franklyphil.blogspot.com/
Hope you check it out :)
Posted by: Phil Spitler | Jun 16, 2005 2:37:32 PM
This may work for ya:
http://www.misterorange.com/2005/06/burnout-and-muse.html
The dangers of too much blogging and de-evolving your own blog.
Posted by: Evan Erwin | Jun 16, 2005 2:47:05 PM
Well, here is my blog. I'm an independent musician/composer/coder/generative artist, as are so plentiful in the world today. But I think I'm better than average, at least on the musical end. And I think I write fairly well about what I'm doing and various obstacles that I'm struggling with:
http://acousvnt.blogspot.com/
I hardly get any comments there, but I would love to get more. Hint hint! :)
Also, why not skip the link-surfing and go straight to the hit singles:
http://www.keithhandy.com/tunes.htm
Thanks!
Posted by: Keith Handy | Jun 16, 2005 3:09:18 PM
Thank you for the opportunity! The site that I'm passionate about is http://www.winforme.com. WinForMe.com is a site that helps members enter online sweepstakes quickly and easily. It's a fun site and has helped many of our customers to win.
I've been enjoying your blog's tips on how to instill our customers with the same passion that I have for the site and for the work we do.
Posted by: Sandra | Jun 16, 2005 3:24:34 PM
...no cute video of YOU jumping up onto your horse? I really enjoy your writings and thoughts. Thanks, keep up the great work. jim.
Posted by: Jim Scolman | Jun 16, 2005 3:29:32 PM
Hmmm...My idea to Blog was more of the urge(as is to my observation every other blogger) that you just can't keep locked up. So you unlock it and set it free.
Kathy talks about wonderful thing, and I've taken a bit of liking to her book and will be hanging around here more often.
OK so my blog http://tarrysingh.blogspot.com is more about what I think (and strongly believe) what the world has been and what it will be because of what it has been. I am massively enjoying writing my poems again (it has been a while since I did that.). But more importantly I've found the direction and now it's time to march. The poems will/may reflect some of that thought. But you can also read and just enjoy reading them.
Peace and keep churning fellas
Tarry
Posted by: Tarry | Jun 16, 2005 3:47:02 PM
Thanks for all the great articles. My girlfriend is writing a small home-grown technical manual for a niche software product she uses (and is passionate about), and when I recommended your site to her, she printed out about 40 pages worth of articles to pore over. I will be referring to this site often if I ever get my own software dreams going, but for now you still provide valuable lessons that apply to life in general. Great work!
So, My shameless plug:
My relatively new blog is Human Advancement. It's about how the human race can advance in the areas of Life, Intelligence, Technology, and Freedom. I've had Creating Passionate Users on my blogroll from day one because of the things you guys have to say about learning and about motivating the people around us - both vital to Advancement as I see it.
An article your readers might enjoy is my "ABC's Of Customer Service" at http://www.humanadvancement.net/blog/index.php?itemid=33
--Kyle Bennett
Posted by: Kyle Bennett | Jun 16, 2005 5:33:04 PM
If you have nothing better to do (and who has?), please check out my highly opinionated and occasionally enlightening "PeaceLove's Musings" blog, which I have subtitled "Random musings on the Sacred Geometry of the Web, Technology and Pop Culture, Psychedelia, Global Transformation, and the End of Everything."
http://www.peacelovesmusings.blogspot.com/
I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks!
Posted by: PeaceLove | Jun 16, 2005 5:33:35 PM
Now you've got passionate users - so what's your problem? You're enormously busy. You need to know more and have no time.
www.siftstar.com
Business, science, culture, art, and sports - sifted for entrepreneurs.
Posted by: Jeremy Heigh | Jun 16, 2005 6:21:41 PM
I'd like to point out a blog that connects to The Mental Fitness Center.
Stretched your mind lately ?
If not, go to the blog and the site that links to my name. My wife's writings will challenge you, entertain you and hopefully, help you get better.
Thanks for a great blog and this chance to yell out our name.
Posted by: Mike | Jun 16, 2005 7:42:12 PM
Kathy,
No shameless plug here, just some kudos to Head First Gang. I'm a new visitor to the site after picking up a copy of Head First Design Patterns (should y'all be called the "New GoF"?). I have throughly enjoyed your book so far even though I'm a C/C++ developer! I'm almost want to get a copy of Head First Java;-) Your whole method of empowering the learner has moved me to totally rethink the beginning C++ class I teach at a small university! It's got me pumped really!
Also after reading some posts on your blog, you've given some encouragement for a handful of Christian educational games that I've been scribbling down on paper the past few years:-)
When are you going to do a Head First book on C++ and Design Patterns in C++??
Keep up the good work!
P.S. Yes, I'm from da South for those noticing the "y
'all" in there.
Posted by: Jay Atkinson | Jun 16, 2005 8:07:44 PM
All About Users (http://allaboutusers.blogspot.com/), is a blog about user experience and interaction, something that I am passionate about. Some of the entries are about software but I do write about everyday stuff as well. Thanks for the opportunity Kathy.
Posted by: Percy | Jun 16, 2005 8:41:02 PM
Hey Kathy,
I'm in Japan and recently I've started a site/blog giving away cool little things from Japan. It's called Free Stuff From Japan, and it's not a pyramid scheme just a simple draw (spam-free I promise).
http://www.FreeStuffFromJapan.com
I am glad to have this chance to do a shameless plug because I have been having difficulty getting word out further than 2 degrees (i.e. friends, and friends of friends) so if anyone else thinks it is worthy or cool please link to us. Comments and feedback are also welcome.
I hope you enter Kathy, thanks for an excellent blog.
Posted by: Ian Cheung | Jun 16, 2005 11:02:06 PM
Bill Clinton reads my blog http://www.adrianopalermo.com/blog
Posted by: Adriano | Jun 16, 2005 11:06:03 PM
Kathy, I've been reading your weblog for a few months now, and I try to incorporate as much of what you advocate as I can in both my workplace and on the web sites I curate.
At least in a small way, reading Creating Passionate Users helped our site to be Yahoo's Pick of the Day last Friday: http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/ (Botany Photo of the Day).
Many thanks!
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin | Jun 16, 2005 11:51:23 PM
Kathy,
You said we should all be thinking like game designers and, what do you know, I am a game designer. ;-) I keep a blog on the subject at my personal website: http://www.ronkes.nl/blog/
I also blog about running a shareware business, so from time to time there are articles about my approach to creating passionate users, too. :-)
Posted by: Joost Ronkes Agerbeek | Jun 17, 2005 3:00:42 AM
Kathy,
I've only just found this site a couple of weeks ago and haven't had time to really sift through all of the interesting articles yet, but what I have read is great! I'm also a big fan of the Head First series of books. I've read Head First Java, Head First Servlets & JSP and Head First Design Patterns so far.
I'm using all the knowledge I gained in those books to build my own weblog system and I'm documenting my progress on my current weblog at http://www.davidlains.net
Thanks for the mind blowing learning experiences!
Posted by: David Lains | Jun 17, 2005 3:21:13 AM
Love your site and books Kathy. Here is my home for random musings.
http://dougporter.blogspot.com
Posted by: Doug Porter | Jun 17, 2005 6:18:09 AM
Hello...
After reading this daily along with Hughtrain and a couple others, I spiked in my flag and created my onw.
Not much there yet, but it'll grow.
Rock and Roll.
http://kowpasture.blogspot.com/
Thanks
Brad
Posted by: Brad K | Jun 17, 2005 6:30:47 AM
Those interested in GTD and Time management can check out this webapp I originally wrote for myself:
http://www.tasktoy.com
It's attracted many raving fans. I post updates to my weblog:
http://blog.kiwitobes.com
Posted by: Toby S | Jun 17, 2005 9:01:13 AM
Well Thank Heaven,
I was all excited about a recent Money Magazine article on collaborative divorce (it saves money and heartache), and sent out a press release and emails to newspaper editors. No response. I was feeling media lonely. It was a treat to see this open forum for shameless self promotion.
I've been blogging at lawlady.typepad.com for a month or so promoting tips for lawyers and discussions about a new way to do divorce. I like Headrush immensely and promote it often on my site-- if I could only master trackback you would have seen the compliments!! I refer to you as a must-stop blog-stop.
It is possible to do law differently. Many of us are. Isn't that news?!
Stefani Quane
Collaborative Divorce Attorney
Seattle, WA
Posted by: Stefani at Lawlady, Inc. | Jun 17, 2005 11:19:12 AM
one word - Ideascape - kick-ass, imaginative business users only!
Caution: Ideascape will make your people hyperactive and manic! Heart rates should be monitored and emergency equipment readily available since some ideas are so sexy users are forgetting to breathe.
Posted by: jim wilde | Jun 17, 2005 1:24:04 PM
Awesome site (and book series, too!) Keep it up...
http://opticalpoptitude.com
Posted by: Tom | Jun 17, 2005 2:44:19 PM
I have been following this site for some time and incorporating the ideas into my own work and writing.
This site has been recognized by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Blogosphere, my joint venture with Troy Worman, focused on finding blogs and introducing them to the rest of the world. http://hgttb.blogspot.com/
I write about running at http://passionaterunner.blogspot.com/
And I write about my passion for the good customer experience at http://p4tgce.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the opportunity! Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Steve Sherlock | Jun 17, 2005 5:42:10 PM
I'm passionate about photography and design. Read more about it here: http://www.focusontheclouds.com/
Posted by: Matt Harris | Jun 17, 2005 7:35:01 PM
Here's a blog about...well, it has customer service observations, process deployment thoughts and coming soon, some Microsoft Project Server how tos. It hasn't quite jelled yet, but you might find some interesting reading. Y'all come and visit! :-)
Posted by: Evil Dr. PorkChop | Jun 18, 2005 12:22:45 AM
Not something I've done myself, but something being done by friends of mine - http://www.theadenoids.co.uk/ - new British Punk band, literally just starting, but they've got some excellent ideas and bags of energy and creativity, so they deserve a "big-up".
Posted by: Matt Moran | Jun 18, 2005 1:02:10 PM
I would guide you to my super fabulous blog all about learning Java, and to my dream diary...but I'm stuck with this Java textbook that makes me cry a lot, so I really dont have time to make my site all pretty, but you could go to http://anonymousgirl.com and dig around the half empty site and hey someone could analyze my dreams because they disturb me. Soon as my semester is over I am going to spend my break reading Head First Java because it makes me cry with joy unlike my other book and I will really learn something. So there's the shameless part now here are two really cool blogs to check out --
http://easybakecoven.net/ -- her brain is so cool! and hmmm, lemme see.... oh! Check out
http://geeksmakemehot.com. I dont know her but I love her.She makes beautiful things.
Ok one more thing, if you wanna trash the rest of this comment that's A ok, but please make sure the world discovers the following fabulous musicians - Maria McKee, Fetchin Bones/Sugarsmack, Soul Coughing. Thanks. Bye.
Posted by: Anonymous Girl | Jun 18, 2005 7:28:02 PM
I thought you would never ask!
Doyle Publishing:
http://www.doylepublishingutah.com
Blog:
http://brandonbert.bravejournal.com
Posted by: Brandon Doyle | Jun 18, 2005 10:10:51 PM
Fun idea.
I'm Frank Ruscica, founder of an Amazon.com-/Microsoft-approved startup in the market that Peter Drucker and others believe will be the world's biggest within thirty years: customized education and career services.
The centerpiece of our market-entry strategy is a sitcom, Land of OpportuniTV. The pilot episode will be submitted to the upcoming NY TV Festival, which features a who's-who of network programming execs on the festival's board.
If our submission is well-received, then, it may usher in a new basis of competition in business: the ability to bring a company to life through profitable entertainment programming (i.e., through 'startup comedy').
Better still, the airing of Land should turbocharge the build-out of the industry that is exceedingly likely to be the leading source of good jobs for Americans in the coming years.
Extensive details online at http://Landof.OpportuniTV.com.
Let me know if you have any questions, etc.
Beyond this, I've been reading Creating for some time now. Very good stuff.
Enjoy,
Frank Ruscica
Founder/CEO
The Opportunity Services Group :: Have Fun to Get Ready
Posted by: Frank Ruscica | Jun 19, 2005 11:06:01 AM
This is my blog of interesting enteries from the local newspaper police report section:
http://www.newsofrecord.com/
Posted by: culley | Jun 19, 2005 6:11:15 PM
Kathy,
What a great idea ... "Shameless Plug Day"!
It will be interesting to see what the ramifications / results are (for both you and the other participants).
Keep up the great work!
Dave Wheeler
Here's my shameless plug for my blog on note writing, art, marketing and other various brain droppings:
www.theshot92.blogspot.com
Thanks again for the opportunity!
Posted by: Dave Wheeler | Jun 20, 2005 6:06:37 AM
Ever wanted to resign from being an adult? Check out my blog at
http://www.EscapeAdulthood.com
It's never too late to have a second childhood...
Thanks for the opportunity to share. I'm a big fan of this blog!
Posted by: Jason Kotecki | Jun 20, 2005 8:36:55 PM
Kathy,
Thanks for the great blog! I read it as regularly as I do any blog, for your message applies well to the management consulting and facilitation I do. Thanks, too, for these free-range posts.
I've been actively blogging at Making Sense With Facilitated Systems ( http://www.facilitatedsystems.com/weblog/ ) for a few months now. It's mostly focused on helping people in business think and act more systemically, but I stray into areas of interest to all of us as citizens of the planet. I'd welcome any of your readers who would like to drop by, read, think, and perhaps leave a comment or engage in dialog.
Posted by: Bill Harris | Jun 21, 2005 9:07:25 AM
Hi - I just found your site and I'm really enjoying it.
My blog of random musings, political rants and whacko humour is called The Queen of Sheba... cause I'm the Queen, baby!
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sheba/
Posted by: Jodi | Jun 23, 2005 12:44:45 PM
Thanks for giving us permission to shamelessly self-promote. I started a blog in December, focused on customer experience -- Customer Experience Crossroads. I don't think it's helped my consulting and marketing research business any, but I've learned a tremendous amount just from writing it, and I believe my writing has improved. I'm working my way towards a book effort this summer, and the Passionate Users blog will definitely be a source of insight and inspiration -- you've been on my blogroll since I learned to spell blogroll. I've met some interesting people along the way as well. Keep up the great work, and especially the wonderful graphics!
Posted by: Susan Abbott | Jun 23, 2005 1:35:54 PM
Thanks for giving us permission to shamelessly self-promote. I started a blog in December, focused on customer experience. I don't think it's helped my consulting and marketing research business any, but I've learned a tremendous amount just from writing it, and I believe my writing has improved. I'm working my way towards a book effort this summer, and the Passionate Users blog will definitely be a source of insight and inspiration -- you've been on my blogroll since I learned to spell blogroll. I've met some interesting people along the way as well. Keep up the great work, and especially the wonderful graphics!
http:/www.arc.typepad.com/customercrossroads
Posted by: Susan Abbott | Jun 23, 2005 1:38:29 PM
OK, this post would probably qualify as shameless self-promotion. I am in the process of creating a free online course site for Java (and possibly other) technologies. The address is:
http://training.foundline.com/
I am the only instructor now. I am planning on adding four courses that use the Head First series of books. If you are interested in helping me teach some of these free classes, or you are interested in taking a free class please register at http://training.foundline.com/ and post a message in the General Site Discussion Forum. Hope to see you there!
Posted by: Bradley Holt | Jun 27, 2005 10:16:56 AM
In fact, I did start a blog in February. I was inspired by this Creating Passionate Users blog, which I heard about from another Babe of Blogging (although she hasn't been nominated yet) Sacha Chua http://sacha.free.net.ph/ . Sacha maintains the Emacs Planner mode. You want an example of a passionate user? Browse the alt.religion.emacs newsgroup some time. :-)
Be well!
Posted by: Luddite Geek | Jul 4, 2005 9:22:27 PM
Ha! Couldn't resist the title...
...my blog is produced from (near) the southern tip of Africa, Free Range Ideas, is all about making new connections across many areas of business, tech, and peoples' worldviews.
Why do I blog? To find my voice I suppose, in an Artists' Way kind of way. And to improve my writing, it seems, though judging from the last sentence, I have room to improve.
Thanks Kathy, for great writing and being a passionate user of life.
Simon
www.ideafarm.co.za/blog
Posted by: Simon de Haast | Aug 15, 2005 5:29:23 AM
Lots of your readers are programmers and I'm hoping they might like some of my "break the rules" thinking about how applications should evolve in the future: Creating passionate users via software design that helps the user get past bugs and missing features interactively -- and learns from them!
http://obiefernandez.com/articles/leniency1.html
Posted by: Obie Fernandez | Oct 17, 2005 1:29:18 PM
I have just gone live with a new website called ChicksSpeak.com, geared towards college age women (18-24yrs).
ChicksSpeak is both a blog site with featured links and a secure & private journal. We've been up for a week and already have gotten literally thousands of hits simply by current college connections and the power of forwards.... I'm a recent graduate and don't know exactly what I've gotten myself into with all of this, but am passionate about this concept and project.
My hope is that it will evolve into a powerful resource for women on topics ranging from fluff and fashion to the deeper issues that we each face while in college.
Our site probably sums up our purpose best in saying, "ChicksSpeak is your resource for getting real world advice, getting connected and sharing your experiences and thoughts, both publicly through our Blog Spots, and privately in your own secure Journal. Consider ChicksSpeak.com your personal invitation to be your whole smart, sexy, social self- no excuses or sugar coating needed. Make this your own. You'll be amazed at what you do along the way."
Here's the link:
www.chicksspeak.com
Posted by: Christina Twomey | Dec 15, 2005 7:30:06 PM
LOVE THIS SITE! Way to go on creating something innovative, fresh and SMART>
Adore the 'girls only' concept.
Good luck to you!
Posted by: Jackie Taylor | Apr 10, 2006 8:06:40 PM
schooner: March 5th, 2007
When history has made a full circle, strange things happen, some prophetic and numerological, others are disdained as intricate lies. Both are predictions and yet another method is mathematical, statistical. There are number-meanings that we use to foretell future events and those that we use to define things in the present. schooner in the present moment is statistically young of age, but the core of the band and the thinker of the brainchild is a man with a more ancient history with music. That history with music isn't being counted in days, months, or years, but in the behemoth yet still circumstantial "Era". It is with the molten, magmatic age used in measuring historical "Eras" that we can predict at least part of the future of the band called schooner. For if they escape the chronicles of this age, it is a mistake on the part of the chroniclers and a loss to the exact documentation of history. As a ship, a.k.a. a "schooner" leaves the harbor on a great voyage of discovery, Steve's compositions sail off to unknown lands, both Utopic and Dystopic. The intention, I think is Utopic, but you never know whose ears will capture the sound. His music might be by far the preferred acoustical landscape of psychopaths, and this we will never know, because psychopaths escape history. Though he is not such a one, Steve too has the calculating genius of the psychopathic murderer. But his plight is the creation of beauty which he executes with an untamed freshness of sound. His sound is weathered by time, gathering momentum with the passing, cyclic historical ages of being thrown-in-the-world. The music of schooner, to me, is the sound history makes, or the beautiful forms it takes in its more "abstracted", logical, and "dynamic" performances. The performance we are speaking of is magical and timely. It vacates the emotional, bioelectrical charges accumulated in the "geologic time" of historical sedimentation. Yet it is new and original, fresh as a spring breeze, as they say. This is because real, existential music is still in its infancy. And though these active participants in the era of "the cemented and ceramic music of being" are sailing their ship, i.e. life-enterprise, into new, unknown lands, they are not colonizers. Instead, they are free agents whose sound sculptures interest free agents of choice. schooner is a choice, not a consumer product. It is something like a way of life to the initiate. And in the realm of number-meanings exposed earlier, their numbers are a thousand and one. A thousand for the number of years it takes to create a song of such purposiveness and divine sweetness, and one because, and this may sound cheesy, schooner is number one in my book. It is the choicest meat of the connoisseur but also a torrent of spring-like, natural creationism to the unacclimatized observer. This says something about the universality of the beauty of schooner's sound, and its place distinctly outside the historical. Giant leaps for giant musicians, co-creators of the age of the innate sound of genuine existences. But history all too soon forgets such things. For history is written by the winners or wars, and schooner is a band of losers, unique, creative, and passionate individuals who have abandoned ship in the war for the predominance of routine consumerism. In this sense, they are reminders of anarchy, not the often anal, political vision of anarchism but the superbe realisation of the anarchy of oscillations and distinct wave patterns held together through meticulous orchestration and hard work. In fact, they are not losers at all. All that is lost is the archaic memory of a time when all we cared about was opening Christmas presents. In this sense, schooner is of an unforeseen maturity, i.e. statistically ageless. And once more, if we are to calculate their ordination in numbers, the number is fifty-one. Fifty-one because the scale is just slightly tipping to the side of popularity, which I predict will soon cause the four individuals who make up schooner to jettison everything off the sinking boat in a mad gesture to keep afloat. This will be their perfect act of autonomous existence. But if the ship sinks, it will only find a familiar background of sunken, titanic steel and the hidden manna of pirate treasures. And it is in a process of letting the music "sink in" that is the best way for us to give schooner their chance at success in the industry. Let's remember, even "Puff, the Magic Dragon", as innocuous as it seems, met up with the most violent opposition and iconoclasm in the nineteen-sixties during the big "Drug Lyric Scare".. So schooner should easily find its place in a world now in the twenty-first century where the image is god, because it is the image of timelessness. Just listen for yourselves and be the judges. My prediction is that the scales will tip in the favor of this band in the coming years. One last memento. Perhaps the "image of timelessness" which this band profers up and which I believe makes them truly contemporary can best be exemplified by another metaphor rich in meaning: The desert oasis, Utopic and a sure object of our long-awaited assuagement. It is the long-awaited, timeless image of beauty in a barren, desert landscape. Yet it is a mirage, a magician's act. And schooner is of a mesmerism capable of hypnotizing the world. And the dreamy state that they will surely cause many to fall into is both distraction and ecstasy, forgetting the trauma of life and enjoying it. I know that I love to steal a peek at "the dream echoing into the unknown, far away land" of these musical somnambulists. But my aim is not to convert you. I'll let the Jesuits take care of that. My only wish is that you recognize the possibility that some bands are as big as Jesus Christ, that is, that their sound is astronomical in proportion to the everyday rumble of disjointed noise. schooner is a rumble of disjointed noise, but with a purpose.
a. gagnon
(ghost-machine harmony)
Posted by: schooner | Mar 8, 2007 12:52:00 PM
From Inga's petition site
Inga was born in Soviet Latvia in May of 1983. When she was seven years old, she left Soviet Latvia and traveled with her mother to Denmark. Shortly after their arrival in Denmark, the U.S.S.R collapsed - leaving Latvia to become its own independent country. At this point Inga became "Stateless" a person without Nationality. Her and her parents were born in a country that no longer exists, and were not there during the registration period to get residence in the new republics.
For the past 17 years Inga has remained without Nationality. She has asked and has been denied political asylum in three countries in which she has lived, including the US and Canada.
Currently, Inga is being held in detention prison in South Florida, United States. Inga was detained after having not left the country after being served a voluntary departure order. She could not have left even if she wanted to. She is STATELESS and has no passport and no travel documents. Even though she is married to an American citizen, this does not get her status or freedom.
Early on when Inga received the deportation letter, we called UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) and several other organizations for help, however we were turned down being told she has to be detained before they can help.
Inga is now detained, so we are respectfully requesting the help of the UNCHR, the U.S. Immigration, and the international communities to arrange the resettlement of Inga to a country in which she can live and be free.
Please go to ingamusic.com and click the link to the online petition.
Thank you from her father-in-law
Posted by: Inga | Jun 30, 2007 10:27:56 PM
