Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Finally Spring!



Here in the lovely Pacific Northwest, spring has been slow to give us any sunshine. While we are beginning to see a glimpse here and there, what we DO get lots of are flowers. Here are a couple I spotted on my way to work this morning; may they add a little color to your day, no matter how grey! :)
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Awakening


"Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event, is hosted by Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this event is to get bloggers to spotlight and share the books they are anticipating on being released.

This week's eagerly anticpated novel is:

The Awakening
by Jeffrey Pierce
Release date: Friday, May 13th

From the author's website:
What if everything you thought you knew was wrong?
We're taught in Sunday School that angels are benevolent beings who watch over us, who love and protect us at every turn. Yet the Revelation of John from the Christian Bible states that it is the angels who will pour out God's wrath on humanity, murdering billions of people. If you were an angel and truly loved those you watched over, could you destroy them, even if God commanded you to? 
And if you couldn't, who would God send to do the job in your place? 
Suspenseful, thrilling, and controversial, in The Awakening we find a world where nothing is quite what it seems, where the truth of spiritual reality has been distorted by millennia of folktales and mythology. While angels exist, they aren't what we believe them to be. They are the Old Ones, living among us from the time they were sent here, over 2,000 years ago, with a dark mission they chose to reject. Having fallen in love with mankind, some of the Old Ones work behind the scenes, teaching our great spiritual leaders while other immortals have entered into relationships with humankind, their angelic blood mingling with our own, manifesting in gifts widely considered to be psychic abilities and prophetic dreams. 
Seamlessly weaving Hopi, Mayan and Christian prophesies with current events and the theories of quantum physics, The Awakening is a novel of the ending of a reality, of the reclaiming of a dimension that we call home. Told from a perspective beyond the filter of mythology, the beginning of the end is shown from a non-religious perspective while embracing the spiritual origins of our own existence.

 ... The first three chapters of The Awakening are available free on Jeffrey Pierce's website, and signed copies are available, as well. I can't wait!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

K is for Kanban

I have organizational challenges. This is no great surprise to anyone who has spent any amount of time with me. I also love gadgets and systems and things, and am forever trying out the new latest and greatest way to keep my life (brain, house, what have you) in order.

The latest nifty tool I've stumbled upon is so simple it almost seems silly. I've been playing with it four a couple weeks now, and am really enjoying my personal Kanban board! What is "Kanban", you ask? Well, from the Personal Kanban website, "A kanban is a tool to visualize, organize, and complete work." Todd Clarke at GetLit (an IT blog) offers his usage of the board, complete with pictures. I love the layout he has used, and thoroughly intend to copy it.  LOL  The whiteboard I have setup at home is much simpler, but doesn't quite do the trick. 


Todd Clarke's super-cool Personal Kanban board at LeanKit Kanban


In a fantasy world, I would have a big flat-screen monitor on the wall of my office, displaying my own personal Kanban using something like the LeanKit Kanban site - and everything could be done with a few clicks of the mouse! As it is, however, I think I'll make do with my whiteboard, colored dry erase markers, and different colored sticky notes.  :)