I really like Katie’s idea.

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Where to start? I guess a good place would be the fact that I am not supporting any particular presidential candidate at this point; I haven’t done enough research to justify support yet. I’m a long-time conservative, but I’m getting more moderate by the year (in part thanks to stupid conservatives). It’s also possibly relevant to this post that I’m pro-life, so naturally I disagree with Barack Obama on the issue of abortion.

However, that’s not what has me irritated at the moment. No, that special honor goes to James Dobson and Tom Minnery of “Focus on the Family Action.” I’m familiar with the Focus on the Family organization (hey, they make “Adventures in Odyssey,” my favorite kids’ radio program) and I’m guessing the “Action” suffix means that this is their political activism arm.

Well, if what I heard today is what constitutes political activism, I really wish they’d either give it up or do a better job of it.

The piece that got my attention was a forwarded email with the subject line, “Obama lashes out at Dr. Dobson.” A nice little bit of hype, right?

As a Christian, I am interested in knowing about faith-related views and actions of the candidates, so I took the bait and read the email.

The “lashes out” part? From the email: “On Tuesday, presidential candidate Barack Obama lashed out at Dr. Dobson and accused Dr. Dobson of ‘making stuff up’ about Obama.”

Okay, that merits some investigation, especially since the original email was directly from Dobson’s organization, but first I finished the rest of the email, which purported to summarize the events leading up to this point. Honestly, I can’t pick which parts to share, so I’ll excerpt the rest of the email here:

Here is what happened. On Tuesday’s Focus on the Family radio broadcast (paid for by Focus Action), Dr. Dobson and I dissected a 2006 speech in which Obama made some very disturbing statements about his understating of Christianity, the role of religion in government and specifically Dr. Dobson.

Please click here to watch Obama’s speech, listen to Dr. Dobson’s comments, and more.

Obama compares Dr. Dobson to Al Sharpton
In that 2006 speech, after stating that we are not a Christian nation, Obama directly compared Dr. Dobson to Al Sharpton. Obama then continued with an extremely convoluted discussion of the Bible - from Levitical law to the Sermon on the Mount - that caused Dr. Dobson to say Obama was “deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview.”

While Obama’s statements about Dr. Dobson are offensive, Obama’s misunderstanding of the Bible is alarming — especially considering the blind faith so many of our fellow Americans seem to have in him!

Again, I want you to hear and see for yourself what Obama said, as well as Dr. Dobson’s comments.

These are extremely important issues that we must contend with. That is why Focus Action sponsored this radio broadcast - and it’s why we will not stand by silently as any public figure drags biblical understanding through the gutter or undermines the role of people of faith in our society.

It struck me as a little odd that this clamor centered around a speech that is two years old, but I was curious about “drag[ing] biblical understanding through the gutter” and the accusation that Obama was “deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview.”

Frankly, I don’t follow enough of the political-religious uproar to be very familiar with Al Sharpton, but clearly Dr. Dobson was appalled at the comparison, so I finally decided to just watch Obama’s speech.

It was longer than I expected, so I tidied the office at the same time, eagerly listening for the gutter-dragging or the Dobson segment (since the email said that Obama “specifically” targeted Dobson).

Imagine my disappointment (well, more confusion) when the only mention of Dr. Dobson was a single rhetorical question that pointed out that American Christians can’t agree on the practical applications of their faith.

Following up on the point that Christians are not the only folks who live in America (hard to argue that, though believe it or not, Dobson tried), this is what Obama actually said:

And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would it be James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s?

Yes, that is the dreaded spot where “Obama directly compared Dr. Dobson to Al Sharpton.”

Do you remember in grade school where the teacher had you “compare and contrast”? To me, this is a whole lot more “contrast” than “compare,” but maybe I’m just getting caught up in semantics.

In any case, I don’t see how any reasonable person could find the statement offensive. I suppose that Dobson is probably a little hyper-sensitive because of the arena in which he operates, but that doesn’t seem like a good excuse for throwing logic out the window.

As for the distortions of the Bible, I really didn’t hear them. I was keeping my ears open for them, but just didn’t hear anything that struck me as “distorting” or even non-traditional (and believe me, I think you can do far worse than “non-traditional”).

Admittedly, though, I’m a person who can sometimes be swayed too easily by polished arguments, so I thought I’d let Dr. Dobson take a stab at enlightening me. After I finished Obama’s speech, I hit play on Dobson’s podcast.

It’s really too bad I’ll never get that 30 minutes of my life back again (but at least my desk is a little neater…).

I found the program in turns ignorant, misleading, and manipulative. I honestly can’t tell whether Dobson and his cohort really never listened to Obama’s speech or are just deliberately being obtuse.

They consistently took segments out of context—if a production assistant trimmed the speech to those sound-bytes and that’s all the hosts had to go off of, that could explain the lack of intelligent discussion, but I would sincerely hope that their journalism skills are a little better than that (of course, the alternative is probably worse).

Beyond that, they jumped to crazy conclusions (some were almost laughable, if it wasn’t for the fact that these things that actually matter), for instance, that Obama was accusing Dobson of wanting to expel non-Christians from the country. They attacked his brief summaries of biblical viewpoints (which I found to be pretty accurate—his summaries, that is, not their attacks). They just generally made fools of themselves.

Finally, after sitting through the whole broadcast in the interest of being informed and fair, I did a search to find out what Obama actually said when he “lashed out at Dr. Dobson.”

This article covers it pretty well, and essentially, Obama simply rejected Dobson’s attacks and said, “I think you’ll see that he was just making stuff up, maybe for his own purposes.”

Well, I’d pretty much agree with that.

A quote from the article:

“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said.

Asked about Dobson’s assessment, Obama said “somebody would be pretty hard-pressed to make that argument” that he was distorting the Bible.

You think?

Gosh, that is a vicious and hurtful attack, now, isn’t it?!?

Give me a break. And please stop using illogical, out-of-context rhetoric to sucker your devoted listeners, most of whom will probably follow your lead and not listen to the actual speech.

Dr. Dobson should hold to a higher standard, “especially considering the blind faith so many of our fellow Americans seem to have in him!”

photo credit: xfuture911

I’ve heard lots of discussions about renting vs. buying big items, and I pretty much sum up the best advice this way: Rent things you use less than a couple times a year; buy things you use more.

Very straightforward. (Of course, there are probably some exceptions, but it’s a good rule of thumb.)

One piece of advice I read about when to rent caught my eye, though, just because I hadn’t seen it before: when possible, rent the car you’re going to buy for a few days before purchasing it. You’ll get a much better feel for it than on a quick test drive.

This assumes two things:

1. You’re going to buy a new car. That’s not usually a good financial move, given the instant depreciation and the fact that you can typically buy a slightly used model for thousands less, but some people will ignore that and buy new anyway.
2. You’re buying a car that rental places rent. Not all cars, and particularly not all packages, will be available for rental.

However, if those two things are true, and you’re at all picky about the car you drive (I’m not; we bought our last vehicle off of eBay because we spotted a great bargain), it makes a lot of sense to invest a little upfront to make sure the big investment is one you’ll be happy with.

photo credit: sunshinecity

I do well with rewards, and now that I’m caring about my fitness and health again, it seems like a good idea to set some goals and tie some rewards to them.

This go-round, I’m going to do three types of rewards: “doing the right thing,” metrics, and performance-based treats. Here’s what I have in mind…

“Doing the right thing”

Sometimes it’s easy to fall off the bandwagon when I’m not immediately seeing results, so I’m going to give myself some rewards just for doing the right things, regardless of results, in hopes that this will keep me doing them.

Here are my daily “right things”:

• Logging my food
• Logging my weight on Physics Diet
• Putting my shoes on in the morning (no excuses for not walking, etc.)
• Maintaining a 500-calorie deficit on non-biking weekdays, break-even on weekends and biking days

Weekly:

• Minimum of two strength-training workouts (the SELF Challenge workouts)
• Minimum of three half-hour cardio workouts (most of my bike rides are significantly longer)

The rewards

I know I’m not perfect, and only rewarding myself when I am will definitely backfire, so the criteria for a reward will be five consecutive days doing the right things. I will get one of the following rewards (in order!) for each successful round:

• “Skin care shopping spree” made up of Neutrogena® Summer Glow Daily Moisturizer SPF 20, Neutrogena® Build-a-Tan™ Gradual Sunless Tanning Face SPF 15, and the Clean & Clear Advantage kit
• Anarchy perfume (a cheap knock-off of Donna Karan’s Chaos, which Daniel liked but is discontinued these days)
• Weleda Baby Pregnancy Body Oil (it’s supposed to help prevent stretch marks!)
• Levenger Circa Bookcloth notebook (Junior size) + Desk Punch
• One book from my wish list (for all future weeks until I come up with other rewards )

Metrics

These are a little more straightforward: I hit the goal, I get the prize. For each number, the goal is considered “hit” when I maintain it (according to my daily average on Physics Diet) for seven consecutive days. (For the record, these rewards are all going to be modified if I get pregnant!)

• 145 pounds: Bra Cup Racerback Tank
• 140 pounds: Tempered Short
• 135 pounds: Side Sheer Bottom
• 133 pounds (my goal weight): Dipper Pant
• 29% body fat: Bra Cup Vee Neck Tank
• 27% body fat: AT Short
• 25% body fat: St. Martin Wedge
• 23% body fat: Reversible Tie Back Tankini
• 21% body fat: Layback Linen Pant
• 19% body fat (my goal): Solid Reversible 2-in-1 Tow-In Top

Performance-based

This is the most nebulous, just because I need some input from Daniel. What I’m thinking: when I can do the road ride up to the local ski hill in a certain number of minutes, we get a mountain tandem. (But that’s why he needs to be in on it, too.)

I’ll update this post as needed.

photo credit: Dafydd359

Feeling much more upbeat this week. I think a little legitimate discontent was exactly what I needed to push me in the right direction.

I tend to do life in cycles. Right now, I’m moving into a fitness phase where I care again about being healthy, so I’m going to shift some of my time and activities around to fit that goal. It helps that the weather is getting nicer, making it much more appealing to venture outside.

I’m shifting the format of my plan a little, too, to reflect the areas I’m working on.

Business

The goal

My big business goal is to get on top of it, stay on top of it, and then replace myself.

We’re planning on getting pregnant and having a kidlet (no particular time frame, as these things happen when they happen, but could be sooner rather than later) and I don’t want to be tied to a job at that point.

That’s not to say I won’t work; I’m pretty sure I’ll always work, just because I like it so much and find it interesting. I just don’t want to have to work.

My coach, Marla, helped me a ton last week by proposing a schedule. I’ve been having trouble balancing the big projects (that need regular effort to move forward, but don’t have the same sense of urgency as the little ones) and the quick, “it’s just a little change” jobs.

The path

• Stick with the schedule. Today that means doing the two big projects for two hours each this morning, taking breaks, and doing the small projects in the afternoon.
• Send invoices! (Meant to do this last Thursday…)

Health

The goal

I’m stuck around 150 pounds and 30% body fat, and I want to be at 133 and 19%. This will make me faster on the bike (making it more likely the boy will spring for the mountain tandem idea!) and be more congruent with both the things I want to do and my identity. The current disconnect is slightly stressful.

The path (for today)

• Create a list of goals and rewards. These are very motivating to me. (Done!)
• Move during my breaks (2 walks a day) and during phone calls.
• Find and subscribe to a couple of spiritual podcasts to listen to during walking breaks. (Making them spiritual gets two birds with one stone. )

Extra-curriculars

The goal

Other major initiatives I’m involved in right now include the Black Ink Project and singing every other week for music at my church. I need to make a point to devote sufficient time to each of these.

The path

• Participate in the first Black Ink call (and have my headphones handy so I can walk while I’m listening!).
• Buy the three songs I need to practice today, and set them to play while I’m doing less mental work.

Want to jump in yourself?

Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.

I’m generally a very positive person, but last week’s demands just about killed my positivity. The Mac issues I mentioned turned out to be a crashed hard drive. There were definitely some things to be thankful for (that I had backups of almost everything; that the software I bought arrived fairly speedily and recovered most of what I didn’t have backed up; that I have my laptop and wasn’t dead in the water); it just added significant stress to an already-stressful week, partially due to the time required to work on the problem, partially because I’m just not as comfortable coding on my laptop, and a lot of it just the mental stress of juggling everything.

Still not quite done with the Mac joys. I have the backup on an external hard drive but still need to replace the dead one to get up and running. Don’t know when I’ll find the time to do that! Feeling overwhelmed by that and all of the other “should do” tasks that are getting trampled by urgent ones.

The title of this posts pretty much sums up my struggles (in a positive way!). I have all of these opportunities that just need a tiny little push to turn into something, and I’m having a hard time pushing.

I’ve bought ad space but not sent in my ads; I have potential clients who are asking me to do work, and haven’t found time to reply yet; I have all the content done for my main site but haven’t put the design up to make it all accessible; I have all the makings in place for several new services I haven’t found time to promote.

Ugh.

What do you do when you feel like this?

Thinking back to what’s worked before (because I think that’s my best bet), I do better when I have a concrete list of steps; I don’t do well with ambiguity. So here’s what I’ll do today, before 5:20pm when I am leaving for music practice:

• Close all tabs and reboot my computer (if you think this sounds trivial, you don’t know how I use tabs…)
• Write a list of all known outstanding projects (both client and business development) and break them down into tasks
• Schedule those tasks
• Create my ads and send to Wendy
• Send out promised review copies of ebook
• Process all emails in my inbox (only 42!)

Looking at this list, it seems kind of pathetic, but my gut tells me to stop while it’s still manageable. No doubt this short and unimpressive list will keep me hopping!

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.

It didn’t respond to any of the happy “kill program” commands, so I finally hard-rebooted it and now it’s not coming back. I’m no Mac guru, but I’ve tried a whole bunch of remedies found via Google, and no luck yet. Computers are finicky beasts, though, so I’m hopeful that something will work. I’m going to call my local Apple-friendly computer store when they open and see what they suggest.

In the meantime, I’m incredibly glad I installed FolderShare last week, so most everything is backed up on my laptop (where I’m typing now) as well as my JungleDisk. If I need to work on my laptop, I can, it’s just not as nice for coding.

My big priority for this week (other than getting the misbehaving Mac working) is to finish up some outstanding projects that are really stressing me out. I have new projects lined up for next week and am going to have a nervous breakdown if I have to do them all at once, so the obvious answer is to finish up the current ones first.

One of the projects is a client’s web application and the other is the ebook.

For today…

I’m going to focus on the client project and make as much progress as I can there. I have about seven other obligations for the day, but this is going to be my core task.

For the week…

I’m going to keep working on the client project, and do the following for my ebook:

• Decide on a final name
• Get a cover and site designed (starting the process today)
• Set up sales and affiliate program
• Format the book
• Do an interview to promote the book

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.

I’ve spent today catching up on the neglected clients and projects. It’s draining to feel behind on everything (though admittedly, it’s getting better). I decided to take a break and go get the mail—getting the mail is one of the great (small) pleasures of my life.

Imagine my excitement when I got a package! I love packages!

And then I opened the package!

Oh, now you know that’s going to be good!

Now I know you are all incredibly jealous… look at all that fudgy goodness!

A little back-story on the fudge: when I checked my email on Monday morning, I had a super-nice note from Reonne of Earth’s Sweet Pleasures. Over the weekend, she used my WordPress videos to learn to install her blog, appropriately named Chocolate Fudge Cafe (is your mouth watering yet?!).

She appreciated the videos and offered to send me some fudge. Now what sane woman would turn down that offer?!? Not this one! (Though I guess at this point my claim on sanity is a little tenuous…) I didn’t realize that Reonne was going to send me 16 pieces, though!

Honestly, even more than the fudge (which is fantastic, by the way… I kept it intact just long enough for the photos ), I’m really touched that she went out of her way to do something so nice. After a very stressful few days, it’s like my soul just sighed with satisfaction.

Ahhhhhhhhh…

Don’t underestimate what your gestures of thoughtfulness can do for another person.

Right now I have three major client projects in the works, I’m writing an ebook (due to my editor on Wednesday), and I’ve signed up for Jimmy D. Brown’s Six Figure Formula coaching, which starts today. I’m also helping some friends organize and promote a 300-mile, 5-day bike ride (meeting today) and am in the middle of about six smaller client projects. Oh, yeah, and I’m supposed to be launching my new site and doing some business development work that will make my life easier down the road.

Aaaaauughh!

Today I am going to focus on doing just a small list of (big) things:

• Finish writing, entering, and first-draft-editing ebook chapters three and four, and send to my editor
• Read and follow the first lesson of the S.F.F. course
• Attend bike ride meeting
• Clear inbox (48 messages, most of which require some action or response)

I really want to add more items to that list, because I have so much more to do, but I think that’s realistically all I can handle in the next eight or nine hours. If I get it all done, I can always do more! Part of dealing with email will be communicating my slipping schedule to affected clients.

The big challenge will be not getting distracted. My inbox alone contains enough distractions to suck up the whole day, so I’m going to take Mark Forster’s approach and create a backlog of non-essential items that I can do later (like reading other e-courses), just to get them out of my immediate view.

I’m also going to turn chat off for today. I’ve just started following some ladies on Twitter that I’d really like to get to know, but I’m going to have to save that for another day when I can give it my full attention.

When I complete my tasks for today, I will reward myself with… um… man, I’m so mentally busy I can’t think of anything non-food-related that I want right now. Okay, I will reward myself with permission to read all of my neglected blog feeds, and check my blog stats.

Furthermore, when I get my finished draft of my ebook to my editor on Wednesday, I will get my hair cut on Thursday or Friday.

On the upside, I’ve already succeeded in clearing my clogged kitchen sink. That’s got to count for something!

Want to jump in yourself? Just leave a comment saying what you’re going to do today, or post on your own blog and leave a link.