Posted in Faith
March 13, 2010 – 11:59 am
I am sure there are people who have read my blog who think I am quite taken with myself. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I am my biggest critic, always trying to fix what is wrong with myself and rarely sitting back to enjoy my achievements. I see life and blogs as processes that are always resetting themselves. Under the surface of my blog is a person who believes in the value of humility (regardless of how it may appear).
Jesus talked about being humble. In addition, there are Proverbs in the Old Testament that exalt humility (oxymorons of each other?) In the same way, I admire people who are sincerely humble. Jesus talked about doing things for our heavenly Father to see and not for men to see. This is easier said than done. We can “fake” humility expecting rewards. This is NOT true humility. Humility “does” for the betterment of the other person. It is more a state of mind than a way of speaking or acting.
Today, for example, I dropped my dog off to get groomed. We have waited too long this time and her Lhasa Apso fur is a bit matted. We’ve made this mistake before and when we do it’s always an ordeal getting a lecture from the groomer.
Today, the groomer was humble and gave me some friendly advice on how we can avoid her hair getting so matted for next time. Without going into details, she was friendly and used general statements rather than blaming me for the dog’s hair being so long. Now, I agree we need to make sure we get in there sooner, but it was nice to not be yelled at about it. The woman was an example of a humble servant, and I appreciated it.
Now for the personal application: How do you serve others? Maybe it’s on your job or with your friends. Do you point fingers or are you a humble servant? Something to think about.
Posted in Blogging A to Z
Just like the many mens ties I’ve worn through the years, I’ve used a myriad of methods and formats to host and insert photos into my blog posts. I have learned a lot and come up with some “non-negotiables” for my own images.
Don’t use Gallery
Gallery is free and as such there is no support to speak of. If you used the urls of your photos from the gallery and the gallery breaks, all the photos on your site break. There really isn’t anyway to repair that, especially if you have a lot.
Don’t use the native Wordpress image upload and self-hosting features
If you use Wordpress that is. The problem with this is that when you change themes, your images can potentially all be affected. So what should you do?
Create an “Images” folder on your sever
You can resize your photos with the width=”xx” declaration in the img line. Or, you can resize them manually with Photoshop. Don’t use the “WYSIWYG” editor in Wordpress to make your image links. Instead, use the html editor.
I have found that using these features to hardcode my images hosted in a dedicated “images” folder is the best way to feature and backup my images. What method do you use to host and insert images on your blog.
Posted in Blog Safari
This is a weekly collection of 6-12 excellent posts and stumbles I ran across through the week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Posts:
Predictions for the Academy Awards – DJ/Blogger Malcolm lists his predictions or the Academy Awards. Now that they’re over … see if he was right! I always like to promote his blog because it is a really cool way to keep in touch with pop culture and read about what’s happening.
Sweet Romantic Pickup Lines that Work – Chelle write this clever and fun post on her blog last week. I loved it. Not that I need them these days as a married man ;) But they are fun anyway. I’m also not saying they will have you going out buying wedding favors if you use them, again … they are just a whole bunch of fun.
Site Speed: an Important SEO Factor – DiTesco writes about this highly interesting topic. Included are resources to check your site speed.
Citrus Jerky – Holly writes a review of some really exciting new flavors of jerky.
Top Stumbles:
Inspiration in Uncommon Sources – This gives some great insights into getting inspired in some of the most unthought of ways.
Those Lovely Illiterate Christians – This sign shows one reason I find it hard sometimes to ally myself with “Christians.” People who make signs should spell them correctly.
Sketchy Santas – By far the most fun I’ve had at a blog in a long long time.
Posted in Teaching
With about 34 teaching days left until the high stakes California standards test, I and my colleagues are sprinting toward the finish line. I’ve done a few things to make sure my kids get what they need to grow. As teachers, we have many measures we use to determine if we’ve been successful but the standards test is a universal parameter. That’s why test-prep is crucial this time of year.
I’ve been using all sorts of sample questions up on the screen to model through guided practice and assign as independent practice. The results are good but I have a ways to go until I can really sleep soundly.
This is one of the most difficult jobs in the sense that you do all you can and work tirelessly to teach when ultimately the way you appear as a teacher dictates your career. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that if you work hard and target the right things, you will have good test scores. It’s just very nerve wracking sometimes knowing that the perception of you lay in the hands of 104 kids on a single test.
I believe my kids will do well but there is always that extra thing I can do … I’m never done until test day.
Any teachers out there getting butterflies about the test?
Posted in Faith
When tough times come, think about tough times in your past. In my experience, they have always passed. You might say that God’s track record is good with me and my life’s crises. God has always pulled me through to a better day. It isn’t always easy to tell myself that when I’m having a tough time. It can seem that the whole world is falling apart around me sometimes. I try not to lose hope in those times because of God’s track record.
You base chance percentages on what has occurred and if you are like me there are many occurrences of God’s saving grace throughout my life’s history. If you can’t find any, how about the fact that your are alive right now? Something to think about. God’s nature is exemplified through our life histories. When we call on Him we can be sure He will be true to his nature and get you through. For me and in my eyes, that is God’s track record.
Posted in Self Improvement
We all have dreams, some big some small, all important to us. People around you, be they your boss or co-worker, friend, or family member, have dreams and we all need encouragement. I just saw a hilarious movie called “Couples Retreat” in which a masseuse goes up to everyone squeezing there derriere and saying: “encouragement.” It is very funny and it “works” because people actually might even let someone grab their butt if it actually gave them some. All the fitness equipment in the world can’t build the encouragement muscle like the words of someone else.
There are times in our lives when we need encouragement toward our dreams. Be sensitive to the hopes and dreams of those around you and be ready and willing to encourage them to get there. The way you do it will depend on you and your “style.” In the past, I have tried to encourage people in my life through gift cards, a pat on the back, or even just a thumbs up from across the room. Encouragement comes in many forms. The most important ingredient is caring.
What’s in it for you? You might ask. Well, maybe nothing. Probably though you will feel good about helping someone to get what they want. We spend so much time in today’s society looking out for ourselves, it can only be good for us to think of someone else, for no reason, for a change.
Posted in Blogging A to Z
I’ve met all kinds of bloggers in my journey and they range from “I don’t care about stats” to “I’m doing stuff for hours a day to increase my stats.” Stats are important to me and I check them daily but they aren’t the only thing I blog for. At the end of the day (and if you blog like I do it’s usually a late one) it’s about the enjoyment you had blogging. Some people can have enjoyment in blogging without money or a large readership … for others. without that it seems a waste of time. I fall into the latter camp.
If you care about success, you will define it. I have defined mine as about $2-400/month and at least 200 unique visitors a day. If I am hitting those benchmarks, I feel successful blogging. I made these goals after years of tracking my stats and seeing what was “good” for me.
I check two things every time I log on:
- Google Analytics – This is the best free way to check how many visitors I have each day.
- Google Adsense – This tells me the money I make by clicks on my many pages.
I used to check a lot more but found I was taking time away from creating content. That should always be the top priority, in my opinion, of a successful blogger.
My after-school guitar students always come in with two questions: “When can I take a guitar home” and “Can I have a pick.” To the first question I reply that they need to play 3 chords reasonable well before I will let them take a school guitar home. To the second I say: “Learn to play the guitar first, then get your own pick.” The fact is, a pick is only necessary and helpful when you actually know how to play something. Kids are surprised to find nowadays to see that the Guitar Heroes on