When Ninjas Convene
Before sharing with you about a pretty incredible meeting I had with a group affectionately referred to as the “West Coast Ninja’s,” let me just say that while I would love for this post to be the 24/7 Life phoenix rising from the ashes, it’s not. Perhaps this will lead to a couple more posts in the weeks to come, but I have a few more months of school to finish before diving fully back into the blogosphere. So I apologize to the 4 of you who wait with baited breathe for a new post. 
Nevertheless, because my meeting over the weekend involves several incredible bloggers I felt it only appropriate to jump back to 24/7 Life for a quick post about these wonderful people. So without further ado, my Saturday meet-up with the West Coast Ninja’s…
Several months ago when blogging was still high on my list of many priorities, I had the privilege of getting to know some great bloggers, many of whom I live near in the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the week we would read each other’s blogs, comment on a post that would hit close to home and tweet blog links to our respective blog followings.
A few months ago the term “west coast ninja” was used to differentiate those bloggers in the group who were located on the west coast from those on the east. This distinction lead to some good natured teasing, but also the organization of a blogger meet up.
Now you can imagine how difficult it would be to organize a meeting of busy people who live in various cities and states. Nevertheless that is EXACTLY what happened. Although not all of the “Ninjas” were able to make it, a group of six bloggers from Washington and Oregon convened at the home of Cindy Holman, one of the bloggers (by the end of the meeting on Saturday we had dubbed Cindy’s home “The Pink Palace” due to Cindy’s love for pink and it’s incorporation into her decor).
I have to say this was an incredible meeting. There was great food, wonderful conversation and more laughs than you can imagine. What stood out to me about this event was that prior to this meet up there were only a few personal connections. However we all had come together via social media and the blogosphere.
I find that it is not uncommon for people to bad mouth social media because “it could never create the same type of relationships that face to face interaction can.” However, from my several years of both personal and professional social media experience, the community and relationships formed through these various mediums have the potential to be legitimate. While I had only met a couple of the bloggers in person before, I felt as though I had been friends with the others for years, because I had gotten to know their personality, situation in life, and beliefs via their blogs, Twitter, etc.
There is no doubt in my mind that face to face interactions are vital, but social media has the power to help develop and sustain relationships that would never have been formed if in person handshakes and greetings were required.
I encourage you to check out the blogs of this awesome group of people. They are caring, genuine people who have a lot of great things to say.
Simply click on the name of each blogger to transported to their West Coast Ninja site.
Posted on November 7th, 2011 by David | 4 Comments »
From Marion, Indiana With Love
You probably all hate me and I can understand why. I haven’t posted in weeks. It’s a tough battle raging in my life right now for my time and attention. I have a wife and 6 month old daughter, a job, a second job, grad school, a blog, etc., etc., etc.
Is there too much on my plate…sure one could argue that. Heck, I’ve been arguing with myself about that and that’s why I haven’t been posting much the last month or two.
Right now, I’m in Marion, Indiana taking a couple classes for my masters degree and as a result, my wife is at home sick with our daughter…who is also sick apparently. My work email inbox is inevitably filling up, and I think I’m working on putting on the freshman grad school 15 by eating in the cafeteria for two weeks. Life is crazy and yet I feel so blessed.
I have such a supportive and amazing wife who is willing to let me pursue my dreams, a job with the flexibility to let me take off for a couple weeks…a second job that is flexible enough to let me take off for two weeks,…and a metabolism that is strong enough to still keep my weight barely in check even though I’ve had chocolate milk and soft serve ice cream the last two days. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by David | 9 Comments »
The Pain Of Pruning
I enjoy yard work for the most part (weeding excluded). That probably sounds crazy to most, but I find it to be somewhat therapeutic and the ability to create a beautiful landscape within which to live is exciting to me. Although I don’t have any real landscaping skills, I get a great deal of satisfaction from watching plants come into their own as they establish strong roots and grow season after season.
A couple years ago I purchased two small lilacs to plant with the hope that they would grow into nice, big, fragrant additions to the yard. When Monika and I moved into our house four and half years ago there was very little done in the way of landscaping and so I took it upon myself to change that. Since then I have planted, and transplanted dozens of plants, loaded and unloaded yards upon yards of bark and added new garden space.
I have also pruned like crazy.
Sunday night I was out working in the yard, mowing the lawn, and pruning these two lilacs as they have grown quite significantly over the last two years and I was struck by how counter-intuitive it seemed to be pruning them. Both plants had beautiful deep green foliage and looked incredibly healthy. Moreover, I was pruning them because they had grown to be quite tall, just like I wanted.
With each cut I made I had to keep reminding myself that this is in the best interest of the plant and that new growth will be fuller and even more lush. This may sounds ridiculous, but it wasn’t easy to do. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 29th, 2011 by David | 6 Comments »
Shoot I Love This Song Too…
So literally, just a few minutes ago I posted a video by Kris Orlowski, but I have to post this video as well. I love the video, the strings, the singers and the most importantly the song itself as it speaks of many of the best places in my home away from home, Bellingham, WA.
Enjoy!
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by David | 5 Comments »
“Waiting” By Kris Orlowski
I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the things that I absolutely love is connecting people with each other.
I find it to be exciting.
And so tonight, I want to introduce you to Kris Orlowski. Kris and I both went to Western Washington University and in fact had a some classes together. I doubt he’d remember me, but when I saw his name on a schedule of local concerts I had to check to see if it was the same guy I knew from college.
And sure enough it was.
Kris is a talented musician and if you haven’t heard of him before, hopefully this little introduction will be “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
If you would like to hear more of Kris’s music you can find more music videos on YouTube or you can check out his website.
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by David | 13 Comments »
It’s Time For A Course Correction
I am working on my fourth year of blogging. When I began blogging I started a blog called “An Anthology of Thoughts” and I blogged like crazy. I was a posting virtually every day and often times I would post multiple posts. I was a blogging machine.
Although my blog was anything but focused it ended up acquiring a fairly nice audience of people who were just interested in talking about life.
I ran “An Anthology of Thoughts” for a year and then shut down shop to began ”24/7 Life” and have been blogging here ever since.
I began this blog because I wanted to be more intentional, more focused.
I wanted to find my proverbial “niche,” and at times I did.
I would begin shifting my blog in a particular direction convinced that this was what my blog was supposed to be about, only to realize that there were other topics that I wanted to share thoughts on.
Truthfully, I kind of feel as though I am at one of those places now. There are some great topics that I would like to write about but I can’t decide what specifically to focus my limited time on and that has resulted in a lack of inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 17th, 2011 by David | 14 Comments »
My First Father’s Day Gift
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I proudly present to you my first Father’s Day gift!
Posted on June 17th, 2011 by David | 2 Comments »
Creating Change In And Through People
When was the last time you stopped to truly think about whose life you’re investing in?
Was it recently or somewhere in the distant past?
Could you even come up with a name?
I was watching the music competition show “The Voice” last night and a surprising thing happened. Blake Shelton, one of the coaches chose to save a contestant on his team who quite honestly is not a favorite to win. While she has a beautiful voice, she is young and inexperienced especially compared to the other other members of her team who were vying for this spot in the next round of the competition.
However, Blake said he chose her because there was more opportunity to create change with her than with the other two competitors. There is no doubt about the fact that this is true. Xenia, the teenage girl he decided to keep is a diamond in the rough. She has talent, but little in the way of confidence or stage presence. She really is a project, if you will.
http://youtu.be/5G3G_cpGLoI
Posted on June 15th, 2011 by David | 11 Comments »
Friday Feature #15 (On Monday): Laura Miles (AKA Mom)
As promised, here is last week’s Friday Feature…today… on Monday.
There are a lot of women that blog, in fact there is a vast community of mom bloggers who regularly post on life as a mother. However, there is one mom whose blog I am quite fond of and that is my mom.
My mom, Laura Miles has been blogging for several years now about the ins and outs, ups and downs of life and she never fails to do so in a humorous and/or heartfelt way.
If you knew my mom, you would know that her writing sounds exactly like the way she speaks and perhaps that’s one of the things I enjoy the most. Every post she writes is like having a conversation with her and that’s a nice thing.
Over the last several years as I have blogged and engaged in reading the blogs of others I have come to really appreciate those blogs that are open and honest. Heck, if they’re not honest, what’s the point.
Well my mom’s blog, In The Midst is one of the good kind. It’s an open and honest reflection on her life, both the joys and frustrations.
So if you are looking for a new gem of a blog to begin following, I would definitely encourage you to begin following In The Midst, by Laura Miles (aka my mom). It is a great read and full of wonderful laughs, insights and “tidbits” of knowledge.
Check it out and leave her some comment love.
http://lauraemiles.blogspot.com/
Posted on June 13th, 2011 by David | 6 Comments »
