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Just thought you’d like to see what $10,000 looked like.

Hey, you remember the Age of Conversation Book, right? There’s the button over there on the right. Well, back when the project was first conceived, one of the goals was to use the book to raise $10,000 for charity.

Well, Drew McLellan announced that as of yesterday, we have raised (sound of drum roll) $9,997.60!

Yep, you read it right - we only have $2.40 left to reach the goal!!! Now ain’t that just the cat’s meow, folks! (Sound of cat’s meow.)

So, in order to sortof shoot beyond the goal, Drew is sponsoring a little contest over at Drew’s Marketing Minute. Y’all go on over and check it out - now’s your chance to be rich and famous for just the cost of a book!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Well! I think it’s fair to say this Special Edition of What I Learned From… was a smashing success! Congratulations, everyone; well done!

Once again, I am honored by your participation in our monthly group writing projects here at the Middle Zone; and particularly by the excellence of your entries. As always, I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks for your quality contributions to the General Body of Knowledge!

It’s another great turnout for this month’s Special Edition Topic: CHANGE! Yep, this month we have a total of 19 entries in all - a new record! We also have an unprecedented two-parter this month! Wow! (Sound of crowd wildly cheering! Cue the fireworks!)

Anyway, below you’ll find the entire list of entries (in semi-sortof order of receipt). Do yourself a favor and check them all out. (Almost) every one finishes the phrase:

What I Learned from…

• … Writing Online: It Does Make a Difference, by Rosa Say at Joyful Jubilant Learning
• … My Chaotic Life, by Gavin Heaton at Servant of Chaos
• … Seth Godin, by Bill Austin at Arizona High Tech Talent Partnership
• … Phil Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship, by Herman Najoli at Epic Flow
• … (blank), by Patrizia Broghammer at VOIP
• … My Client’s Expectations, by Karin H. at The Kiss Business Too
• … What Have You Done So Far This Year, by Samara Leigh at Mindful Banter
• … Changing My Children’s School, by Pete Aldin at Freaked Out Fathers
• … Changing My Blog Template Every 15 Minutes, by Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
• … networking out of my comfort zone, by Joanna Young at Confident Writing
• … Mother Theresa, by Anna Lenardson at Anna’s Attic
• … Change…ing Majors, by Sam Brougher at Forest Azuaron
• … Change, by Bob Glaza at One Reader at a Time
• … not (quite) changing, by Jon Swanson at Levite Chronicles
• … 3 Things I Learned From Change, by Phil Gerbyshak at Slacker Manager
• … Phil Mickelson: Applications for Change, by Herman Najoli in a follow-up to his first post listed above at Epic Flow
• … Changing My Shopping Habits, by Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts
• … Getting Up Early, by the Homeschool Diva at Homeschool Diva

and of course last, but hopefully not least –

• … Network Marketing, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
  

Y’all give yourselves a big hand, my friends; and as always, a big tip O’ the hat to ya! What’s next month’s topic going to be, you ask? Well… that would be telling!

Don’t forget to tune in the first Monday of EVERY month for the next What I Learned From… group writing project. Come to think of it, while you’re at it, why not tune in pretty much every day? You might just be glad you did. (Then again, you might not – but what’s life without a little risk, eh?)

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

OK, by now you have absolutely no excuse! Procrastinators, you have only yourselves to blame!

That’s right, folks; only two more days left in this month’s special edition of our What I Learned From… writing project. So, put down those twinkies, turn off the TV sets, and give your kid back their Game Boys, ’cause Bubba, you’ve got some writing to do!

Not to worry! We’re open for business until midnight Sunday…

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Warning: This story contains, um, potty humor. Feel a bit daring? Well, read on…

Back in the year 2000 (gee, that sounds like the opening line to a novel, doesn’t it?) I was living in Portland, Oregon, and I have to say it was truly a moving experience.

See, for those of us from other parts of the United States, the Pacific Northwest can be quite an extraordinary transition. I mean, everything is so green, the trees are absolutely humongous, and (particularly amazing when you’re from the coastal plains of Texas like yours truly) there are mountains everywhere! Whoa Nellie – I can see Mt. Hood and a few other well-known mountains (can anybody say “Mt. St. Helens”?) from here!

Anyway, I was working at a semiconductor plant in Beaverton, and our office facilities were just a grouping of portable buildings set up on concrete blocks. It’s not an unusual setup for a field engineering operation like ours. However, one major drawback to this kind of working environment – well, it’s not exactly stable.

OK, maybe that’s the wrong word. It, um, sortof jiggled a lot. Alright, here’s what I mean: Every time somebody walked down the aisle, you could feel the building shake a bit with their footfalls. And closing a door – any door – shook the walls, too. Sometimes working in a building like this takes a bit of getting used to.

So what does potty humor have to do with all this? Well…

One fine afternoon I happened to be in the restroom, washing my hands (What? You don’t wash your hands? What are you, a Neanderthal?), when suddenly the entire room began to rhythmically sway from side to side! And we’re not talking about the normal shake, rattle and roll from people walking or doors slamming; no, it was like, for 30 seconds or so, our entire set of offices decided to do an Elvis impression!

It was strong enough that you could actually hear the water sloshing around in the toilet stalls, one of which, unfortunately, happened to be occupied by some poor unfortunate soul. (Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time!) After it finally subsided (it’s amazing how long 30 seconds can seem!) there were a few seconds of stunned silence. Then he exhaled noisily and exclaimed, “Waahoo, what a ride! Let’s do that again!” (I don’t know who he was, but he must have been from Texas!)

OK, I realize that some of you may be thinking to yourselves, “Pfaugh! You call that an earthquake?” Well, first of all: here, borrow my handkerchief and clean that up - it’s disgusting! Then all I can say is, Hey, this was my first one ever, and it was quite enough for me, thank you very much!

As you have no doubt surmised, I managed to survive that harrowing experience with little more than a bit of induced mental trauma (you’re probably wondering: how would you know the difference?), and as I was thinking (sound of grinding gears) about that little episode I came to realize there’s an interesting tie-in possible with our current What I Learned From… project about CHANGE. (And I bet you thought I might forget to mention it, didn’t you? Hah! Not a chance!)

Y’know, deliberate change can sometimes be as disorienting as an earthquake. I mean, think about it for a minute (sound of LOTS of gears grinding). When we set out to change something – whatever it might be – then everything we’re familiar and (dare I say it?) comfortable with – that’s right, all the stability we’ve come to count on… well, suddenly isn’t!

Hey, who wouldn’t be a little flustered, excited, or just plain upset about that?

Ah, but change has a way of rewarding us, doesn’t it? New neuron connections, new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing the world; hey, eventually a new equilibrium is reached, and you just might find yourself saying, “Waahoo, what a ride! Let’s do that again!”

So why not give it a try?

(p.s. If you decide to accept the challenge, you still have a few days to write a post and let me know. The project is open until midnight CST (-5 GMT) Sunday, September 9^th.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Mrs. MZM has a saying whenever she’s surprised: “My stars!”

I remember once when she was teaching Vacation Bible School one summer, she used it when one of the kids said something particularly surprising.

There was a moment of silence, then one kid leaned over to another one and asked under his breath, “What did she say?”

“She said, ‘My stars’,” he shrugged.

No doubt something might have been lost in the translation.

However, YOU should know what it means, right? It means, “My stars! There’s only 4 days left to write and post your entry for this month’s Special Edition What I Learned From… project!

Oh! My stars!!!!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

It’s always gratifying when someone tags you for a meme, isn’t it? It means somebody “out there” is thinking of you (they like me – they really like me!) I don’t know about you, but it always gives me a quick boost of energy. This time, Chip Sterling is the culprit.

Unfortunately, getting tagged again (along with opening my big mouth and volunteering to write for a few group projects) has just about overextended little ol’ me! Besides, I was poked (ouch – hey, that hurts!) by this one a while back.

But what the hey, I’ve got a few minutes to kill (sound of gunshot); let’s grab a flashlight and sneak on down to the basement (sound of creaky door opening) and see what we can rustle up here…

(Sound of tentative footsteps descending rickety wooden stairs. Slight rustle of unseen creatures hiding from the light. Ominous flapping sounds – possibly a bat. Suddenly – a tremendous crashing noise as years of accumulated junk comes crashing down! The flashlight goes out. Then – silence…)

Ah! Here we are:

• I have a personal library of almost exclusively science-fiction paperbacks, most of which I’ve read many, many… uh, many times. When I find one I really enjoy, it stays in the library pretty much forever.
• In my lifetime, I’ve had three dogs as pets – all dachshunds. I dunno; there’s just something about the cute little guys I really enjoy.
• My shortest commute ever – I once spent three months working for the Department of Homeland Security (now, don’t you feel safer knowing that?) at the Las Vegas airport DoubleTree Hotel. Upon leaving my room each morning, I walked down the hall to our working suites (about 100 steps, tops).
• I remember a kid in elementary school named Larry Martin, mainly because he was the fastest runner I’d ever seen. Once, during a race, I watched him actually stumble and miss the starting gun, and still beat the heck out of everyone else! It was truly inspiring; a lot like watching Eric Liddell in the movie Chariots of Fire.
• I have a thing about ants. I’d rather not talk about it.
• One of my clearest childhood memories is of me lying on my back in a large green field, watching a kite I had built float lightly in an April breeze. I particularly remember the clear blue sky, and the smell of the grass. To tell you the truth, I have no idea if it really happened or if I’m imagining it. I don’t care – it’s too wonderful an image to give up.
• If I could have any car in the world, money no object, I’d get a brand new silver Mustang GT. I think Ford did a great job redesigning it without losing the original look.
• When I was very little, I remember going to my grandparent’s farm in Louisiana. When Grammy needed some potatoes for dinner, Grandpa grabbed a shovel, went out to a nearby field, and dug some up! I was astonished! I mean, who knew? So I went home and dug up every plant in Mom’s garden. No potatoes.

OK, here’s where I’m supposed to tag eight more folks. But I think I’ll just open it up to whoever wants to jump in.

I mean, it’s not like the Meme Police will show up and cite me for “Failure to perpetrate a meme”, right? (Sudden sounds of pounding on door and shouts of “Police! Come out with your hands up!”)

Whoops! Gotta go!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

A while back I started a meme called My Home Town, to help us and our readers celebrate their roots, and in the process, take us on a sortof “world tour”.

Well, although it’s not exactly burning up the blogosphere (I’m afraid it rivals the infamous “turtle meme” for speed!), there are now enough participants to start the Grand World Tour list!

So, for your reading enjoyment, I give you:

• Charing, Kent, United Kingdom – Karin H. at Stop/Start
• Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands – also Karin H. at Stop/Start
• East Koy Four Corners, New York, United States – Robyn McMasters at BrainBasedBiz
• Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – Markk at My Opinions Are Important
• Edinburgh, Scotland – Joanna Young at Confident Writing
• Belgrade, Serbia – Danica at Belgrade and Beyond
• Abilene, Kansas, United States – G.L. Hoffman at What Would Dad Say
• Geneva, Illinois, United States – Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc.
• Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States – Edith Brown at Jeteak Press Writer Blog
• Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business
• Montego Bay, Jamaica - Galba Bright at Tune up your EQ

If you’d like to contribute a post about your own home town to the tour, I’d love to hear from you! Drop by the original My Home Town post and leave a link in the comment box and I’ll post it right here for all to find!

p.s. Anybody know how to make a mashup? Wouldn’t you love to see these places on a world map?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!