CNN is Everywhere

Gary Tuchmann on CNN is in Marietta, Georgia today. He just mentioned having been in Reno County, Kansas, a week and a half ago covering the tornadoes and fires. Nothing gets your attention quite like hearing about where you live on CNN. I didn't even know they were here. CNN really is everywhere.

MCC Sale

Greg and I went to the Mennonite Relief Sale tonight. We ate at the German buffet and both nearly made ourselves sick. We had verenike, borcht and bohne berrogi. I also had some zwiebach and Greg had cherry moos.

It rained most of the day and it was windy and cold tonight. But, it didn't seem to hurt their crowds too much. It's a pretty devoted group. They had us come in the building and go upstairs, then walk around the top of it and back down on the other side. I'm sure they were trying to keep from having people out in the rain. But it stopped about 4:30.



I bought some New Year's cookies to bring home. But at the moment I'm still stuffed. I, at least, had the good sense to get a small bowl of borcht. But, I had two bohne berrogi, which is about double what one person should consume. And did I mention both Greg and I ate pecan pie? It's hard to resist all that food that's prepared by real people, not machines. And, the people who prepare it do so with wonderful intention, which I'm convinced impacts the food also.

Oddly enough, I'd heard of very few of these things until I moved to Kansas. I'm not even going to try and explain them, but if you google them you'll get an idea. Some of them sound really disgusting, but somehow when they're made my little Mennonite ladies and served at the Kansas State Fairgrounds en masse it works. I don't know why, it just does.

Tomorrow they will have the quilt auction, which brings in lots of money. Some of those quilts go for thousands of dollars.

The churches work on this sale all year long. They raise tons of money for hunger relief all over the world. It's an amazing operation. They seem to think of everything.

One of my favorite spots is what they call the "Quilter's Corner," where they have fabric and quilt blocks and books and that sort of thing. They also have a little section devoted to hand crocheted items and linens. I always come home with some and tonight was no exception. I noticed tonight in my bag they had a little flyer asking people to remember them when cleaning out their sewing rooms and said they had raised $75,000 over the last 10 years.

They have a variety of things - something for everyone. I guess in some areas Mennonites are pretty radical, but the groups here are fabulous. The MCC sale gets widespread support from the entire community.

Art of Gracious Living # 17

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Writing a bio this week caused me to consider what we choose to share with the world at large. Bios tend to be a recitation of facts, but have very little about who we really are.

To really connect with others, we must give them enough information to know something about us as a person beyond where we went to school and what we do for a living.

Click here for the Art of Gracious Living PCN #17

The bio that got me thinking:

Patsy joined the Hutchinson club in 2003 and was the Retention Committee co-chair in 2004-2006. During that time she created an event that resulted in more than a dozen new members. She has attended all conventions and conferences.

Patsy�s BA is from the University of Kentucky in Communications, with emphasis in journalism and telecommunication and a minor in psychology. She is Executive Director of the Mental Health Association. Previously she worked as a journalist, broadcaster, editor, writer, and public relations and marketing professional, which encompassed being a graphic designer, special event planner, ad designer, webmaster, and public speaker. Her experience includes radio, television, newspapers, ad agencies and foundations.

She currently serves on the boards of Horizons Mental Health Center, Arts and Humanities Commission and Community Health Coalition. She also serves on the Kansas State Suicide Prevention Task Force and the National MHA�s Branding Committee.

Patsy can often be found creating art in her studio, working on her 100 year old home, researching genealogy, collecting rocks, studying ancient Egypt, journaling or cooking. She loves to entertain and hosts regular gatherings in her home. Patsy also loves to travel - finding American roadside kitsch or treasures abroad. She creates two weekly podcasts, writes a monthly magazine column, helps organize an annual family reunion, and does occasional voice work, freelance writing, web and graphic design. She also chronicles her life in a blog at www.patsyterrell.com.

She has worked on projects for the Kentucky State Oral History Commission, CBS and NPR and been published in The India Times as well as various newspapers around the U.S. Her photography and other artwork pieces have been in a number of exhibits.

Could Be the Last Time

I had a very full day today and at 12:05 a.m. it's still not over, but I'm taking a little break.

I had to go to Kingman this afternoon/evening for a Horizons board meeting. It's about a 40 minute drive and I arrived just in time for the meeting. I intended to leave earlier, but just couldn't get away.


The drive is pleasant enough. I've lived in Kansas a long time, but I'm still struck by how desolate it is in places. I live in an area that's considered very populated by Kansas standards, but the entire state has only about 2 million people. More than a quarter of those live in Sedgwick and Reno counties, where I live.

When I saw these cows this afternoon I realized how rare of a scene it is anymore to see cows grazing in a field. Instead they're usually in a feed lot where there is no vegetation left because they're all crowded in together. It was pastoral.

At the same time, I was shocked to realize that something I took for granted - cows grazing in a field - is something that's largely gone.

The meeting was a bit intense and driving back I decided to take a little jaunt up to Cheney Lake. Because of the time change, the sun hadn't set yet, so I decided to wait for the sunset over the water. Why are they always better over water?







Whenever I watch a sunset, or have any other similar experience, I always think it could be the last one I ever see. I guess most people don't go through their daily lives thinking this way, but there has never been a tomorrow for me - there's always just right this second - and that permeates my existence.

I always think every phone call with someone I love could be the last time I hear their voice. I always think a kiss from a lover could be the last time I ever feel their lips. I always think a beautiful sunset could be the last one I ever see.

I guess it may seem morbid to some, but I never think of it that way. I just think it keeps me in the moment, appreciating what is happening right then.

I don't know why I'm this way, but I always have been. I don't remember, even as a child, ever thinking any other way. I can remember closing my eyes tight and covering my ears and trying to imagine what it would be like without someone I loved in my world. It was so horrific that I couldn't stand it but for only a few seconds. But at the same time, I always knew the day would come. And it did. With every person I did that with as a child.

I was writing to my friend, Jim, recently, that it's hard for me to remember that people do not understand grief because it has been part of my life from a very young age. I lost the first person I really cared about when I had just turned 6. My great Aunt Ann had been a fixture in my life. She was only 58. My father died when I was 11, my only grandparent - my beloved Mama Myatt when I was 13. My great Aunt Carrie died the next summer, my Aunt LaVerne the next year, my other favorite aunt, Audrey, less than three years later, and my great Aunt Tina the year after that. All those people were gone before I turned 20. I grew up with the idea that every year or two brought a significant loss. It has stayed with me, I suppose.

So I always look at every event, every occasion, every meeting as potentially the last. I try to burn every sunset, every painting, every experience, into my brain to carry it with me. I never wave goodbye, say goodnight, or whisper I love you to someone that I don't consider if it's how I'd want them to remember me for eternity. When I part from someone I always take one last look at them, in case it's the last time I ever see them. Because sometimes it is.

Bios

I've been working on a bio tonight for a project and trying to figure out what to say about myself. Does anyone really care where I went to school? What boards I serve on? What I do for a living? What I used to do for a living?

I want to tell people the important things about myself - what I think about, what I dream about, what I want. But, we seem to be destined to read a recitation of these regurgitated facts that make up a bio. So, I'm guessing mine will fall into that category eventually.

It leads me to consider where it is that we can truly be ourselves. Where we are allowed to express the parts of ourselves that really matter. Does anyone want to know those things?

I guess some people do, because it's those things I tend to blather on about here. And, much to my surprise, people read it. I can't tell you how incredibly flattered I am by that.

I'm never sure what the purpose of a bio is. Am I trying to impress? Sorry, I can't really do that - I haven't done anything too impressive as of yet in this life. Am I trying to make someone like me? Not sure I can do that either - I just am who I am and you'll either like me or not, but you probably won't be indifferent. Am I trying to say something about who I am? That must not be it because that is not found in the details people give in bios. So, I don't know... maybe if I knew what I was trying to accomplish I'd be able to do it better.

Good Business?

Apple has announced today that it's introducing software to allow Macs to run Windows XP. If there was ever an indication that your product is not serving the public well, it would be that you must offer your customers your main competitor's product to get them to remain your customers.

I'm not going to enter the Mac v. PC debate as it has been beaten to death. But, from a pure business standpoint, they have pinpointed a need - the Mac doesn't work with a large amount of the products computer users desire. Their solution for this need is to create additional market for their main competitor's product instead of changing their own product. The added irony is that windows is the very same product dedicated Mac users have badmouthed for years, all the while apparently coveting it if we are to believe the press material.

Apple's thought is that selling more of their competitor's product will increase their own market share somehow. That's an interesting approach. I'm afraid that PC users do not believe in the superiority of Apple products, regardless of how often their executives say it, so I'm not sure that's going to work. I managed to make a living for years as a graphic designer without ever touching a Mac, although to hear some devotees talk, you would think that impossible.

Mac users have an emotional attachment to the product that I don't think is something you can duplicate in the general public. The brand name on my box doesn't excite me in the least. If something comparable had been $12 cheaper, I'd own that now instead. I'm brand loyal to very few products and so far no computer company has done anything to engender my loyalty. Software companies, on the other hand, have managed. I'm running XP, how about you? Apparently nearly everyone wants to run XP - even those who own Macs and despised anything Bill Gates ever touched just months ago. I couldn't have made a living as a graphic designer without Photoshop at my disposal. I don't care what else is available, I want my Photoshop. So, software, yes, I have some loyalty. The box it's running on - as long as it works well I don't care. I don't even care - shock - what color the plastic casing is.

Most computer users are just that - users - we are not into the intricacies of how they work. We just want to sit down and do what we need to do with little fuss. How we use computers has changed dramatically in the last few years. At one time Macs were a tool for largely stand-alone products, used by graphics people, newspapers and print shops - and a wonderful tool from what I understand. That's not how we use computers now - they are communications tools. They have to do much more than create a product that exists in a vacuum. And they have to speak the same language as the other computers. If you speak only French in an English speaking country, you're going to have a hard time fully communicating with most people. Admittedly, they've gotten much better at this in the last few years, but it's still a struggle at times - at least for people I know who have Macs.

When I worked with printers a lot, I was continually frustrated by their inability to use the products I was bringing them, camera ready, because they were on a Mac. I learned to put in the bid that I would deliver the product camera ready on my software and if they had to redesign it on their end I was not paying additional for it and I was not taking responsibility for proofing their work once it was done. They would show up with a proof, wanting me to look it over when I'd already done all that work once. I also stopped trying to export files in a dozen different ways until they found something they could use on their system. I gave it to them in my file format and it was their baby after that. Apparently everyone got tired of that game about the same time because printers suddenly realized they had to move out into the real world with the other 95% of us and use PCs. It's fine if you love your Mac and are devoted to it, but don't make more work for me because of it. It's OK with me if you're still watching betamax because it's the superior format, too. I'll just use my DVD player.

The computer industry has always offered new business models and this is certainly a new twist - promoting your competitor's product - but it worked in "Miracle on 34th Street." I don't have an MBA, but selling someone else's product seems less than profitable to me. But, we've been surprised before and maybe in two years we'll all be happily running windows on our Macs and thinking it's the best of both worlds.

_____________

Apple Introduces Boot Camp

Public Beta Software Enables Intel-based Macs to Run Windows XP

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac(R), and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS(R) X or Windows XP. Boot Camp will be a feature in "Leopard," Apple's next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in August.

"Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple's superior hardware now that we use Intel processors," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch."

Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD. After installation is complete, users can choose to run either Mac OS X or Windows when they restart their computer.

Pricing & Availability

The public beta of Boot Camp is available immediately as a download at www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp, and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time. The final version of Boot Camp will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS X version 10.5 "Leopard." Apple does not provide support for installing or running Boot Camp and does not sell or support Microsoft Windows software. Apple welcomes user feedback on Boot Camp at bootcamp@apple.com.

System Requirements

Boot Camp requires an Intel-based Mac with a USB keyboard and mouse, or a built-in keyboard and TrackPad; Mac OS X version 10.4.6 or later; the latest firmware update; at least 10GB of free space on the startup disk; a blank recordable CD or DVD; and single-disc version of Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later.

Tulips Abound

The bulbs I planted in December are doing their thing now. I'm hoping I still have many more to come up because I know I planted many more than are blooming now. I have no idea how these things work, but hopefully more will poke their heads up and bloom yet.




I took time to snap the photo and then went back in the house to get a vase to take some to the office. They were such a cherry thing on my desk all day.




When I got home tonight I decided to pick a few to bring inside. Susan gave me this beautiful Czech glass pitcher when I was at her house.

She collects Czech glass and I admired the beautiful green of this one and she just gave it to me. I told her repeatedly it was not necessary, but she insisted that she would just give it to me later anyway.

Even then I pictured it with tulips in it. It's just as pretty as I anticipated it would be.

I had lunch with Trish today and we had a good conversation. That is a friendship I really treasure. She makes me think. And she's one of those friends who will accept you however you are at the time - happy, sad, puzzled, whatever. There's a lot to be said for that in a friend.

I popped in to see Diana briefly between visiting the bank and going to lunch.

Then I had dinner with Teresa, which is always fun, so it was a nice day of friends. I even worked in a call with Peggy this afternoon while doing some catch up work at the office.

Tonight I've been working on various projects. I'm devoted to the idea of making a living being me, so I'm investing a lot of time and energy in that these days. It's not leaving me a lot of time for other things, but I know it's the thing to do in the long run.