tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35635012011-09-11T06:38:20.916-06:00Helping Science Fiction Fans Create the FutureAnna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.comBlogger2161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-31698345241211429622011-08-21T12:14:00.003-06:002011-08-21T12:24:23.146-06:00

I am on a one-convention-per-year schedule. I've attended at least one, faithfully, for more than 2 decades now. When I lived in Oregon, Orycon became my home convention, and I'd hit a Westercon or Norwescon or Relaxacon when the fancy struck. Now my home convention is Coppercon, in Phoenix, AZ. It's coming Labor Day Weekend, and I am really looking forward to it. It's a weekend of hanging out

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-45323086518716488872011-06-09T17:28:00.002-06:002011-06-09T17:44:26.188-06:00

Today's prompt:What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?Live more lightly. Recognize that we and our world are deeply connected. Become alive to how the way you live affects plants, animals, the sea, the air, the soil. Gently take a step to live more kindly in this world.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-26313847406677993632011-06-08T22:43:00.002-06:002011-06-08T22:51:45.710-06:00

Today's prompt has not yet arrived in my email. At last I looked it up. The question is What is too scary to write about?This question falls at an interesting time. I just finished Calculating God by Robert Sawyer, and it did leave me afraid. I am afraid the world is ending. Maybe we have passed the tipping point in the changes we have made to our planet. Maybe the universe is quiet because

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-68792833486984172902011-06-07T21:31:00.002-06:002011-06-07T21:42:58.760-06:00

Yesterday's prompt seemed repetitive and not terribly applicable to me. I skipped it! I'm free.Today's prompt asks what I would say to myself of five years ago, and what I would say to the person I'll be in five years. Cool.Five years ago, I had just moved to Las Cruces. I'd tell myself that that comes out ok. I'm really pretty happy with the choices I made between then and now. I kept feeling my

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-71614124337837492502011-06-05T20:42:00.003-06:002011-06-05T20:47:35.376-06:00

Today's prompt asked in what areas of my life I was preparing to live, and how I could start living instead.That's probably more relevant for 20-somethings than for me. This is my life, already.Each day, I spend time with someone I love: my top ally, the fabulous Doug Weathers. 25 years of marriage have only given us a richer shared language and more appreciation for each other.I do work I love.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-27915960539288334942011-06-04T07:22:00.002-06:002011-06-04T07:38:32.240-06:00

Yesterday's writing prompt was for delayed action. The question is up on a Post-it. I'm thinking about it.Today's prompt is about where I'd most like to travel, and what I am doing to get there.I would most like to go to Vietnam. I've always been attracted to what we used to call the Orient. I like how different it is -- civilized and yet holding different mindsets. I like the art, the look of

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-36372474798404528712011-06-02T17:29:00.002-06:002011-06-02T17:34:10.103-06:00

Today's Trust 30 prompt asks about a strong belief that you _don't_ share with your closest friends and family. I'm going to ignore that last bit. I share all my strongest beliefs with Doug.I believe that we can build a future worth living in. I believe that humans can continue to explore, build, learn, and play, indefinitely, while keeping our world healthy. I write and coach in support of this

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-36361856094881693572011-06-01T07:53:00.001-06:002011-06-01T07:54:41.589-06:00

Today's writing prompt is to describe today in one sentence. Here it is:Today I faced the future and took one step.May it be that this will describe all of my days!Anna

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-31469326106426450432011-05-31T07:39:00.002-06:002011-05-31T07:59:15.670-06:00

I'm intrigued and excited by the Trust 30 challenge -- 30 days of writing, starting from daily writing prompts. I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen here. I look forward to the exploration.Interested in learning more? Check this out:Day 1 prompt for today: You have 15 minutes to live. Set a timer for 15 minutes and tell the story that needs to be told.Starting Fanurio. 15 minutes, check.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-92056794466529716752010-12-14T14:34:00.003-07:002010-12-14T14:41:39.056-07:00

How did I do on my game? At this point, it looks like I overshot by one cucumber and a heart of romaine. Not bad! Probably would have been right on target if I hadn't caught cold and only wanted hot food. We don't stress much about travelling. Doug and I follow Rick Steves' packing methods and fill our bags in only half an hour or so. The Christmas gifts are already gathered together, the

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-6224167281297056482010-12-04T08:15:00.003-07:002010-12-04T08:24:44.057-07:00

We are in the countdown period to our Christmas travel. One of the actions I take to prepare for travel, as a frugal householder, is to eat down our supply of perishable foods. It creates an interesting challenge. How do we continue to eat well with this extra constraint? How can I use the possibly mismatched items in the fridge to create attractive and balanced meals? How can I ensure we'll

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-14156435990337691682010-11-29T14:15:00.002-07:002010-11-29T14:29:51.730-07:00

Yesterday I read something in the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook that, once I decoded it, helped a lot of other pieces fit together. Here's the idea in a nutshell: Deep change only lasts when it has three supports. Those three supports are changed ideas, changed actions, and changed systems. Let's apply this to something concrete. Lots of people go on diets hoping to change their weight. They

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-27782437721921885862010-05-15T08:52:00.003-06:002010-05-15T09:03:30.268-06:00

I would like to give this away. I have a small women's mastermind group. We end each weekly meeting with a spiritual practice, and take turns setting it up. We leave the definition of spiritual consciously inclusive. Last month, it was my turn, and I asked their help completing a grace to say before meals. I didn't realize we wrote it on Earth Day until later! So here it is. It's free for

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-13157445502367814082010-04-28T09:06:00.002-06:002010-04-28T09:14:27.934-06:00

I recently worked on the Shelters International website, shelters4all.com. I was very happy to have this project fall into my lap. These folks are doing some good work. It's great to see an innovative, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly solution for housing. The shelters they offer could improve the lives of a lot of people. They also are part of a system that helps restore economies and

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-54850380410554754072010-03-31T11:54:00.002-06:002010-03-31T12:40:19.478-06:00

So, I was seeking more kim chee information, and I stumbled into an entire world of fermented foods. It really tickles me when sudden new vistas of knowledge open up like that. It's as if there are hidden openings into spacious new plains tucked into the corridors of my life. It's pretty cool. (Or worlds in wardrobes. Yeah, I read C.S. Lewis at an impressionable age, too.) I have not yet

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-25189824775594437072010-03-23T16:21:00.002-06:002010-03-23T16:39:10.411-06:00

I heard about Pasteur at far too an impressionable an age. It's been quite a struggle for me to accept that I am constantly in a field of living organisms too small too see. I can be a little fussy about how I wash dishes and trying to sleep outdoors, and stuff like that. We were never meant to live in a completely sterile environment. We need bacterial help to digest our food, for gosh sakes

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-9233492775958168122010-03-09T20:56:00.003-07:002010-03-09T21:13:16.968-07:00

I added "Read three times" to my weekly practices for this year. I'm seeing a lot of benefit from that. I'm enjoying seeing my stack of unread books shrink. I'm learning new things. I have had an easier time finding books to review for my newsletter, Creating Space. And I am gradually feeling more rested. Reading restores me. I've always loved it. Somehow, in the months -- or years? --

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-53984247839001018542010-02-12T10:58:00.002-07:002010-02-12T11:12:17.845-07:00

I've been spending a fair amount of time lately playing Kingdom of Loathing. It's my reward to myself after a good morning's or good afternoon's work. Of course, sometimes it's my way of avoiding a bit of unpleasant work. I do have my quirks and foibles. Anyway, this morning as I left the grocery store parking lot, I was planning a piece of Kingdom of Loathing tactics. If I did this first,

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-86310091894339650762010-01-31T16:09:00.002-07:002010-01-31T16:30:28.440-07:00

We had rain yesterday, and today it is clear and mild. A few days ago, there was snow on the Organ mountains. We are coming up on four years in Las Cruces, and still the mountains present new faces to me. The light and shadows bring out the depths of the crags or flatten them. They reflect the colors of the sunset, or clouds wrap their tips. They are always beautiful. Las Cruces agrees with

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-5104092451758117482010-01-28T19:45:00.002-07:002010-01-28T20:54:22.182-07:00

Grinding is what poker players call it when they play steady, small edge poker, to make a small profit over time. Do you hear how harsh they think it is? Just imagine pressing yourself against a coarse, rolling millstone, hour after hour. It takes immense discipline to keep playing well through luck's variations. Good play pays in the long run, yet in the short term, when your good play

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-84988424152250783632010-01-23T07:47:00.002-07:002010-01-23T08:22:35.198-07:00

Hello, everyone! My last year felt much like it was absorbed in the Martha Beck Coaches book project. It was on Dec. 9th, 2008, that I proposed on the Martha Beck coach forums that we try putting together a book. On Dec. 1st, 2009, after a year of writing, editing, and co-ordinating, we released Changes of the Heart. Our launch did well: we reached #29 on the Amazon Self-Help bestseller list

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-34872028324039892932009-02-23T14:53:00.002-07:002009-02-23T15:04:30.045-07:00

Hello, everyone! Last Friday, I held a second Demarle party. We had good company show up there. It's a pretty entertaining way to spend an evening. My bakeware had come ten days earlier on a Tuesday night. In that time, I made four recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, plus four batches of cornmeal muffins. Not a bad production! Fortunately, I found people to give away a lot of

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-15911034509996910772009-02-08T05:52:00.002-07:002009-02-08T06:42:12.414-07:00

I've been wondering what I'd do with 'em. The Demarle party left me with a fascination for cupcakes. Sue made a cake in one of the Demarle pans -- it was lovely. Light, moist, beautifully browned -- it was remarkably good, the best cake I've had in a long time. I picked up a muffin tray and a charlotte tray -- originally with the admirable intention of making low-fat individual crustless

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-19967017442842306242009-01-29T09:30:00.002-07:002009-01-29T09:47:05.221-07:00

Hi, folks! Well, I'm making my first try at having a cookware party. Here's the flyer I handed out:Bakeware PartyJanuary 31st at 11:32 amSee what absolutely non-stick cookware can do!What if muffins popped right out of the pan? What if cleaning up after roasting vegetables was a snap? What if even eggs wouldn’t stick? Come see a demo of Demarle bakeware. Come hungry, and eat the results!

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-91721601391386321912008-09-17T14:46:00.002-06:002008-09-17T14:55:00.780-06:00

Hello, everyone! I've created two new blogs to hold my business posts. www.creatingspace.annaparadox.com now contains all of my Creating Space newsletters. I even broke the entries into categories so that you can look at just the Book Reviews or Small Steps portions of the newsletters if you wish. (When I say I broke the entries into categories, I actually mean I hired Joe Rossow of Rossow

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-63657892548780675742008-09-11T09:17:00.003-06:002008-09-11T09:29:34.661-06:00

A few days ago, I received a request from a friend to blog about invisible illness. It wasn't a term I knew, so I asked her for more information. Recently people with health challenges that are less obvious than wheelchairs or seeing-eye dogs have begun networking. One of their challenges is that, because they don't look ill, they may receive glares when parking in disabled spaces, or have

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-74323112573488164862008-07-27T08:39:00.001-06:002008-07-27T08:41:14.412-06:00

Hello, everyone!I'm practicing taking weekends off. It has been a very good practice for me. Plus, I get to play with concepts like "What is off?" and "What do I do when I'm doing things just for me?" and "What am I trying to avoid by staying so busy?" Lol. I suspect that for many people, such questions feel more like work than play. I enjoy them. That may be why I ended up a coach.Cooking is my

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-54363067244715253882008-07-09T09:59:00.002-06:002008-07-09T11:46:15.383-06:00

Fifteen or twenty years ago, I was captivated by Bob Kanefsky's song Creature in the Wood. I patiently replayed the tape, learning the tune in the slow way my ear requires, copying out the lyrics, and I sang it often, with much gusto, for several years.Part of it was the expressiveness of Heather Alexander's performance of it. So rich and nuanced! Very beautiful. She performed the parody of

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-14785271446746070762008-07-05T21:05:00.002-06:002008-07-05T21:27:09.459-06:00

Today I put my first novel up for free download over at my other website. If you're interested, you can pick it up at www.annaparadox.com/my-writing. For the moment, that page is very basic. It will serve the needs of the moment. Space Pirates, an anthology that contains my third sf sale, will soon be available. In my bio, I offered The Cracked Bell to readers. So I'm setting it in place

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-12040429955686116662008-06-06T13:10:00.003-06:002008-06-08T14:46:52.783-06:00

The first day I trained for my brief employment, I found myself wishing there was a taco cart in the parking lot. Our breaks were short, and we were far from restaurants. I felt far too rushed driving to the nearest fast food place to purchase a lunch. The second day, miraculously, a woman pulled up to the building in a station wagon. She had coolers full of fresh, hot burritos. They were

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-48196176351310326852008-05-27T07:09:00.002-06:002008-05-27T07:42:30.330-06:00

I took Memorial weekend thoroughly off. I told people I was unavailable. I did not give my attention to keeping up with email. I even refused a leisure activity or two that did not sound like fun. It was wonderful. I'm going to adjust my affirmations. I've used a series of goals for my business -- it has left too little attention for the things I really enjoy. I like to have time when I

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-56790964301688091512008-05-19T11:34:00.002-06:002008-05-19T11:41:29.615-06:00

Today, I copied my barbecue recipe for a friend. Lots of tomatoes in there. Then, I boiled up some beets. I sliced them and scraped away the skins, getting my left fingers noticeably pinkened. Then, I made some red sauce. I had purchased some ready-to-prepare dried red chile, and I followed the instructions. It became thick, and bubbled and splattered. I tasted it -- a little too hot for

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-30459916421108437062008-05-15T05:31:00.002-06:002008-05-15T05:46:21.849-06:00

Well. I think I failed the faith test. Rereading my last post caused me to smile ruefully at myself. I took a small detour since then. I was really getting stressed by not having enough income to cover our monthly expenses. So, I got a job. I've just worked at Convergys for six weeks, and quit yesterday. It was an interesting experience. I admired their systems. I liked the people I

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-32808141407328614722008-03-11T10:32:00.002-06:002008-03-11T11:07:34.871-06:00

The moment I most liked in all of the filmed Lord of the Rings trilogy was when Legolas had despaired. He was ready to give up, and Aragorn counseled him to hold -- to do the best they could as long as they could. So they fought. And they held out long enough for help to arrive and rescue them. And I realized why despair is a sin. We usually think of hope as the opposite of despair. However

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-44810861019037221192008-03-10T10:20:00.002-06:002008-03-10T10:29:40.801-06:00

I'm still traveling on the impulse of that moment of insight I captured last post. I feel launched into Terra Incognito. I do not know where all of this leads. Meanwhile, I crafted a page at annaparadox.com/boutique-editing to talk about the service I do offer. It's my goal to offer the fullest support to writing your own book of any editor on the web. And I do have some unique advantages

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-8253788392551072802008-03-05T06:49:00.002-07:002008-03-05T07:17:13.788-07:00

I woke up feeling manifesto-ish. Since I started calling myself a writing coach, I've heard about a lot of people who will:1. Strategize your book launch so that you rise to the top of a bestseller list.2. Write your book for you, so you don't have to.3. Do both together.I truly believe that these actions, especially when done together, will eventually cause the value of being a "Bestseller"

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-21861822700290509162008-02-25T13:59:00.003-07:002008-02-25T15:18:02.407-07:00

I'm working through Fabienne Fredrickson's Client Attraction course. Today's assignment: see if you have a compelling story, and if so, consider adding it to your marketing materials.This is a fun assignment. I don't know if my story is compelling. But here it is:Doug and I had moved to New Mexico. I was taking poker coaching, and very much enjoying it. Wasn't quite sure I wanted to start

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-10502031773085185962008-02-23T21:09:00.003-07:002008-02-23T21:23:37.913-07:00

I now have potentially three places to blog. I'm running a minutely detailed journal of my training in business, my marketing efforts, my new realizations, and in-jokes that are funniest to sister Martha Beck coaches within the protected Martha Beck coach forum. I've started a new journal to gather my newsletters at blog.annaparadox.com -- it is not quite ready for prime time. I'm having

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-82145958930808929822008-02-16T18:24:00.002-07:002008-02-16T18:36:23.444-07:00

I'm way imperfect. I've made a load of mistakes. I'm subject to bad moods, I've occasionally refused to listen to reason, and I can be incredibly stubborn. And it was a major teaching moment for me when my coach said, "Anna, you are so, so perfect." Oh. Because everything is. You are, I am, everything is. So, so perfect. Oh. A couple weekends ago, I was at the OneCoach Mind, Marketing

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-86584828653288625802008-02-13T07:28:00.003-07:002008-02-16T18:24:13.809-07:00

Hello, everyone!Martha Beck and her group recently created a forum only for Martha Beck Certified Coaches. (Oh, yes -- they also changed the name of our certification from North Star Certified to Martha Beck Certified. Either way, I have that certification.) After a few weeks, I decided to start a thread that collected all the thoughts and actions I took to work on building my practice. Some

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-62980641188862576462007-12-20T19:28:00.000-07:002007-12-20T19:36:52.269-07:00

So, Mark Joyner has a new course on blogging. I find his Simpleology one of the most useful tools on the web, and have recommended it to a number of folks. So, I'm going to give him a chance, by posting the following exactly as he offered it: I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-23784869496752855292007-11-26T12:57:00.000-07:002007-11-26T13:07:12.832-07:00

Hey, folks,Glad to say I am doing better. My work is gaining traction, and I'm no longer so pressingly impatient with the process. Sometimes a small amount of progress -- just so I can see that progress is happening -- is remarkably reassuring. So, on to a much more interesting topic -- what I'm trying in my smoothies. I recently read that if you have a high powered blender -- in the three or

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-56709524964465033762007-10-25T10:59:00.001-06:002007-10-25T11:13:04.556-06:00

I gained some perspective and felt pretty good for a couple days there. Today again, the despair hit like a ton of molasses. It seems so hard to move. Everything is bogged down and slowed. The requests I send in for support receive slow, slow attention -- so slow that in some cases, I don't know if anyone has heard me at all. We have run out of Kim Chee seasoning. I know four ways to order

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-25058519743080162692007-10-22T17:45:00.000-06:002007-10-22T18:08:40.416-06:00

So, I joined OneCoach, and started a process to play business on a larger scale than I ever have before.It went amazingly well for the first few days. I had some great ideas for new services I could offer. I made a plan to cooperate with a member of my networking group to offer more value at a seminar he is giving soon. I was making fast progress.And then the fear hit. Really, truly petrified

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-72657908010960724052007-08-23T08:55:00.000-06:002007-08-23T09:14:31.931-06:00

I have two professional websites now: wingsofinfinity.com and annaparadox.com. Until recently, I had wingsofinfinity.com redirected to annaparadox.com. Then I copied most of annaparadox.com over to wingsofinfinity.com. Now they are beginning to diverge. On the one hand, my ideal vision for my life coaching practice is to be the premiere life coach for science fiction fans in the English

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-19822578883942801562007-08-16T06:58:00.000-06:002007-08-16T07:17:07.768-06:00

Check out Doug's blog at www.gdunge.com. He has a really great update on what we've been up to. I've been working and reworking my business website, www.annaparadox.com. I'm looking for the words that will connect me to the people I can serve. It's surprisingly hard. I'm very happy with the recent upgrade to my graphics. Meanwhile, I have a handful of clients to serve, and that is going

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-63453682494389547822007-07-30T09:37:00.000-06:002007-07-30T09:48:06.519-06:00

I recently upgraded my web browser to the latest version of Camino. Looking through the preferences for a way to turn off the spellchecker (story for another time), I found an option to block Flash. I love this! Many websites are loading much more quickly. I don't get distracting motion in my field of vision. It saves me time and bandwidth. For example, I had one site that sends me an email

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-38824682812977133752007-07-24T13:07:00.000-06:002007-07-24T14:26:11.913-06:00

Las Cruces used to get most of its annual moisture in a two week 'monsoon season'. Two weeks in summer would have a lot of thunderstorms -- gully washers, even -- and that would be it. The rest of the year would be dry.Last year, monsoon season uncharacteristically lasted twelve weeks. It's running long this year, too. My theory is that higher temperatures lift more water out of the gulf, and

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-5454729024465506692007-06-29T13:50:00.000-06:002007-06-29T13:53:46.687-06:00

All of a sudden, it seems we keep on top of the dishes and the vaccuuming. It's very odd, really. At some point, Doug and I both looked around and said, hey! this place looks better with the floors and counters cleared. And the habits to keep them that way just seemed to happen. I'm glad to report that I still don't fold fitted sheets as neatly as flat sheets.May what's important to you come

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-82940956897166856282007-06-15T14:15:00.000-06:002007-06-15T14:20:44.083-06:00

Hey!It's been a while. I have been measurably swamped. With good stuff. The life coaching business is picking up speed, and Tommy's book nears completion. I can hardly wait to be able to show it to people. Do you know, silverware tastes wrong to me with Chinese food. So I tasted metal and I tasted wood, and wood tastes better to me. Something I probably never would have noticed if I hadn't

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-44837836413377056142007-04-22T07:10:00.000-06:002007-04-22T07:20:53.795-06:00

I just sat down to make myself a to do list, and added over sixty items to it. Hmmm. Some of them are simple, like feed the cats. Some of them are entire projects in themselves, like build a Paypal shopping cart. After all, I still need to create the products that would go in the cart.I didn't even notice Tuesday passing without a blog this week. Not until Thursday. So it's quite possible

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-32233429418790657042007-04-11T13:08:00.000-06:002007-04-11T13:12:37.134-06:00

My rose bushes are a bit rangy. So I'm very fortunate that they are also in full bloom. I took the traditional dozen buds -- and they even had decent length stems -- and placed them in a vase. Ah.P.S. In other good news, the spaceport measure has unofficially passed by about 240 votes.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-22769520888165847702007-04-04T06:29:00.000-06:002007-04-04T06:51:39.515-06:00

As of this morning, the Dona Ana county bond measure to build the spaceport in southern New Mexico is passing by a margin of 204 votes. All regular votes have been counted, although the results will not be official for another week. 541 provisional votes -- cast by citizens whose voting eligibility could not immediately be confirmed -- remain to be canvassed and counted. Historical trends

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-67715475484308763832007-03-27T07:56:00.000-06:002007-03-27T08:08:26.332-06:00

I forgot it was Tuesday!Perhaps a crash was inevitable. After the rush of Ad Astra one weekend and the marathon of editing the next, I slumped into a bit of non-productivity. Drat! Things were going so well. It wasn't just that I was getting a lot done -- although I like that a lot. I was also surprised by frequent, sudden bursts of joy. Everything felt so right with my world. Bright hopes

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-16685199688064057392007-03-13T18:52:00.000-06:002007-03-13T19:08:15.180-06:00

Hello! Feels like I just came home from Ad Astra, and here it is Tuesday again. I've been happy all week. Just before I left, I received my first iPod. It's an 8G Nano Product (red), and I had copied my Holosync in uncondensed audio format to it. Having an audio meditation aid made it possible to travel through delays and arrive in reasonable condition. At some point in the trip, I looked

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-80087530428912244262007-03-06T18:45:00.000-07:002007-03-08T22:54:12.442-07:00

What a trip it was!I prepared myself with a light travel backpack, my liquids 3-1-1'd, in case I wanted to carry it, my new iPod loaded with Holosync, Paraliminals, and music, a bit of reading material, my journal, lots of business cards, one page of talking points for each of my panels, my passport, my printed receipts from the web purchase of my airline tickets, and my hotel reservation

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-47671072845306325722007-02-27T06:45:00.000-07:002007-02-27T07:21:26.905-07:00

Last week, I changed the template and couldn't think of a thing to say. This week, almost too much has happened, and I'm preparing for another significant event. On Wednesday, Doug's father Mo went back to the hospital. Lois found him groggy and confused -- much unlike him -- and called an ambulance. Her first thought, after his recent heart troubles, was stroke. As it turned out, he had a

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-87623397472255482532007-02-13T05:47:00.000-07:002007-02-13T05:43:04.275-07:00

I put it off as long as I could. I resisted every invitation to move to the new Blogger. At last, they made it mandatory this morning. And of course, despite offering to keep my template, the template is broken. So soon I'll have to say goodbye to this format. I don't know when I'll find time to delve into the html and recreate the lovely corners I used to have. Maybe I will just

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1170187277092787652007-01-30T13:01:00.000-07:002007-01-30T13:01:17.436-07:00

Hello, world, it's Tuesday. Today it's raining in Las Cruces. Pumpkin intrepidly followed Doug out the door when he left for class. A bit later, I went into my office to check some items off my to-do list. For the first time, Pumpkin was on the exterior sill of my office window. She greeted me, and made some questioning noises. Pumpkin has a lot of control over her voice. She can say a lot

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1169687311312171892007-01-24T18:08:00.000-07:002007-01-24T18:08:31.353-07:00

I had a great time at Cosine last weekend. It was a small sf convention in Colorado Springs. The very gracious Connie Willis was guest of honor, and propelled a large proportion of the panels. She had much of interest to say. Wil McCarthy was also in attendance, and reports progress on his way to Wellstone. He talked about how they have been discovering marketable advances along the way. It

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1169042277077895882007-01-17T06:57:00.000-07:002007-01-17T06:57:57.506-07:00

Disappointed to read here that Derek Kelly has lost his case that poker is a game of skill. It was a very high road approach to take to the case. His statements to the Gutshot forum indicate he is willing to fight on. I wish him every success. I've restarted my morning tour of the perimeters of the rooms of my house. When we first moved here, I was finding a cockroach, about one per day,

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1168351643637936152007-01-09T07:07:00.000-07:002007-01-09T07:09:54.573-07:00

Home again, after very nice holidays with Doug's parents -- it feels like the new year starts now. I have plans, long lists of actions to take to advance my business. The lists actually make me happy. I spent time thinking of my next actions, my long term plans, and the reasons I want them over the holidays. The return to center to gather my thoughts and choose my directions really

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1167230188587564502006-12-27T07:13:00.000-07:002006-12-27T07:36:28.600-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. After a big family dinner at Izzy's on the 23rd, six of us went to the coast together. Doug's parents are doing well. Mo has regained much of his energy following the heart attack in October. Lois was cheery and generous as always. Doug's sister, Charis, came, and brought her good friend Andrea. They are both pastors. Then Doug and I completed the party. The

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1166564085599335282006-12-19T14:34:00.000-07:002006-12-19T14:34:45.653-07:00

Hey!We soon depart for Oregon for two weeks. We'll be spending the time with Doug's parents. Mostly in Portland, two nights on the Oregon Coast. The Oregon Coast is known for dramatic weather. We should have a good chance to remind ourselves about rain and humidity. We seem to be forgetting pretty quickly. I look forward to doing some shopping in Portland. It is still the best shopping

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1165417662154644742006-12-06T08:07:00.000-07:002006-12-06T08:07:42.220-07:00

Good morning!We've been walking more recently. The repair on our car, originally estimated for 2 days has reliably been extended by a day each day for the last 4 business days. Of course the shop is closed on weekends. I'm a little out of the habit of it. It's very easy to become accustomed to the seductive dinosaur-burners. Las Cruces has an elegant bus system. It does almost everything

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1164721604732271812006-11-28T06:46:00.000-07:002006-11-28T06:46:44.786-07:00

This morning's breakfast consists of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mashed squash. Obviously, this is a post-Thanksgiving meal. All three of those veg are too starchy for Doug's low carb diet, so normally I don't have any of them in the house. But our good friends David and Susan sent us home with Thanksgiving leftovers, and I am enjoying them very much. Turkey is almost gone.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1164127385724357022006-11-21T09:43:00.000-07:002006-11-21T09:43:09.696-07:00

Well, I missed a week. Keeping quite busy. In fact, I overdid it a little, and crashed. Have to remember to schedule self-nourishment when working with time management systems. Tomorrow, we head north to Albuquerque and spend the holiday with David and Susan and Kaitlyn. Every year, I appreciate Thanksgiving more. The whole concept, of taking time to give thanks, is nourishing to self and

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1162998529000197922006-11-08T08:08:00.000-07:002006-11-08T08:08:49.446-07:00

What a beautiful morning! I believe the Bush administration is about to receive one of my most rigorous blessings: "May you receive a clear view of your own faults" -- and not a moment too soon. The moral is: Embrace CITOKATE* before CITOKATE gets imposed on you. I believe in science. That means that testing one's ideas against reality is necessary to progress. To cut off error detection

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1162660211637751202006-11-04T10:10:00.000-07:002006-11-04T10:10:11.736-07:00

Yesterday, we had our first follow-up call for the members of my Life Coach training group. Our facilitator, Kim Barber, pointed out that saying we were 'in training to be a Life Coach' is one of the ways we sabotage ourselves. All of us have the skills to coach, right now. She's seen them. I admit, I have been a little skeptical that our training was sufficient. We had reading material and

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1162412045433191932006-11-01T13:14:00.000-07:002006-11-01T13:14:05.500-07:00

This week went by like lightning. Mo continues to recover. Doug had some follow-up to the X-Prize to do, and then a lot of missed homework to catch up on. He returned from being with his father on Wednesday. I was really glad to see him. Last night I was drooping a little at the end of the day. I've been busily doing my Life Coach homework every day. The stated assignment is to spend at

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1161790210325547842006-10-25T09:30:00.000-06:002006-10-25T09:30:10.500-06:00

My Life Coach training completed last weekend. It was intense. I have effective tools for fast change now. And I know what it is like to have them used on me. Then, when I came out of class, and turned on my cell phone Sunday night, I discovered that Doug's father had had a heart attack. Shortly after attending his father's funeral, Mo went to the hospital with unexplained pain. They tested

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1161118200461887942006-10-17T14:50:00.000-06:002006-10-17T14:50:00.526-06:00

Hello, it's Tuesday. This week has gone very quickly. Doug has work, around his classes, helping to set up the computer network for the X-Prize Cup. I've had editing and more web work and more preparing the house to hold a home office. We seem much busier than we were just a couple weeks ago. Doug is really grooving on the airport where he's been at work. It's a small municipal airport, and

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1160570780366304822006-10-11T06:46:00.000-06:002006-10-11T06:46:20.413-06:00

I highly recommend this article: ProhibitionPlease take a look.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1160500075035905262006-10-10T11:07:00.000-06:002006-10-10T11:07:55.143-06:00

Doug said he could tell I was angry last week. I even left in a couple typos. Definitely out-of-character. Feeling better now. Had more time with the subject. And, as further analyses come in, it appears that the legislation will make less difference. The most interesting effect has been that the publicly traded online poker services have been pulling out of the US market. The privately

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1159804210919892292006-10-02T09:50:00.000-06:002006-10-02T09:50:11.013-06:00

I'm really rather angry about having my ability to play online poker restricted. Last night, Senate majority leader Frist attached language making it illegal for US Banks to send money to online gambling sites to a port security bill. Since this is a Homeland security issue, Bush is almost certain to sign it into law. It was a backhanded, last minute way to slip a new law through. Very end of

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1159292897803038952006-09-26T11:47:00.000-06:002006-09-26T11:49:07.793-06:00

Is it true that one week ago I had never heard of WordPress? Wow. Now I have two sites well under development. Many little steps taken toward building the restaurant review site and the life coaching site. Restaurant reviews are ready for public access at www.dininglascruces.com. The life coaching site will only go live after my training. I am enjoying playing with it, and it will be good

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1159292339921148132006-09-26T11:23:00.000-06:002006-09-26T11:38:59.936-06:00

Is it true that one week ago I had never heard of WordPress? Wow. Now I have two sites well under development. Many little steps taken toward building the restaurant review site and the life coaching site. Restaurant reviews are ready for public access at www.dininglascruces.com. The life coaching site will only go live after my training. I am enjoying playing with it, and it will be good

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1158672217488009242006-09-19T07:23:00.000-06:002006-09-19T07:27:54.553-06:00

Changes AfootWeb changes are on the way. I've spent a lot of the last week looking into hosting and web design. I'll likely move this blog to a paid host within a few weeks. I'll redirect and post links at that time.It's amazing how much time searching for a good template, or even a good template idea can absorb. I really enjoyed it. Kept being startled by the darkening of the evening sky.

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1158033604107388862006-09-11T21:34:00.000-06:002006-09-11T22:00:04.186-06:00

Body, imageWe ate tonight at a new restaurant that had a full wall of mirror in the dining room. I haven't had a full length mirror to reflect in since we came to Las Cruces. As usual, I'd forgotten how solid my torso is. I measure 42-38-42. Some ways off the designated 'ideal'. I do have trouble finding pants that fit well. What I saw was not fat, but armor. Here's the layer covering my

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1157463886012103052006-09-05T07:25:00.000-06:002006-09-05T07:44:49.990-06:00

Happy Tuesday!Doug is due in class in an hour and a half. He has his first graded quiz today. School is agreeing with him. He keeps saying things like "Whoa! I can do that on the way home from school!" and "I love this calculator!". All the signs are good. This morning, we hope to catch breakfast at ChaChi's, which has become our neighborhood restaurant. Their menu is largely Mexican, with

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1156858426464593472006-08-29T07:13:00.000-06:002006-08-29T18:18:23.260-06:00

Doug's first day of class went well.Whoa! you say! Since when is Doug is school?!!!!Good question. It all happened so fast. One day, NMSU, the University half a mile from our new home, announces a new Aeronautics Engineering degree. Doug discovers it, calls the college -- two weeks later he's enrolled, and Thursday August 24th -- surely a day that will live in perpetuity -- he took his

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1156246210737073982006-08-22T05:19:00.000-06:002006-08-22T05:30:10.790-06:00

Group NakednessCheck this out: From Cardplayer online:195 Show Up To Paddy Power Strip Poker TournamentJohn Young Wins and Bares More for Poker CharityOne day, many years from now, John Young will sit down and amaze his grandchildren when he tells them he once won the world’s largest strip poker tournament.Young, of Slough, England, beat out 194 other hopefuls at the Paddy Power World Strip

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1152706075658421602006-07-12T05:40:00.000-06:002006-07-12T06:07:59.196-06:00

5 am events"Doug," I say, "I smell skunk. That means one of two things, and one of them is very bad.""I was dreaming someone was using a lighter," he says. We stumble out of bed, no lights, I put on my bathrobe and go smelling around. Doug turns off the cooling system. The smell is strongest in our bedroom and in the laundry room by the furnace. Doug finds a flashlight, and by its light I

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1152358097728107552006-07-08T05:28:00.000-06:002006-07-08T05:28:17.746-06:00

Our Europe trip was amazing! We started with a single night in London. I went down to Gutshot, the poker club whose website publishes my articles. (See my article archive - here ). The manager, Jim, made us very welcome. I'm glad to report that the food, beer and atmosphere are all excellent. I tried a little pot limit Hold'em, which is their most popular game. Mostly folded everything,

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1149944903970616972006-06-10T07:08:00.000-06:002006-06-10T07:08:27.273-06:00

Cook locallyWe took a little time out last week to play tourist in our new home region. We had a local Visitor's guide, and followed one of the day trips in in. Drove over to Mesilla, the Mission era town on the edge of Las Cruces. Once Mesilla and Las Cruces were separated by the Rio Grande and the border between the US and Mexico. Then the river moved. Mesilla retains a lot of colonial

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1149428947899088032006-06-04T07:49:00.000-06:002006-06-04T07:56:01.823-06:00

Counter ChangeRight now, my counter is making me very happy. We have a beautiful kitchen. The previous owners revamped it. The cupboard doors are hunter green, the counters, edges of the cupboards and door pulls are medium oak. They made a lovely backsplash of small green tiles bordered by oak trim, and covered the wall behind the sink in a pattern of stone tiles exactly to my taste. Mostly

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1148215111564201512006-05-21T06:38:00.000-06:002006-05-21T06:38:34.576-06:00

StuffMy last post will have informed the alert reader (Hi, Doug!) that we have arrived in Las Cruces. Yes, we have been here since April 27th, and our stuff arrived in the truck on May 3rd. Time has just been flying. There is so much to do. Unpacking, small home improvements and repairs, learning where all the services of Las Cruces can be found, and adapting to local usages. I love it here!

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1148168582551093652006-05-20T17:43:00.000-06:002006-05-20T17:43:02.610-06:00

Today we walked down to get breakfast. Along the way, we wished our neighbors a good morning, admired the blooming cactus -- fruit of Monday's cloudburst.Great breakfast.Walking home, Doug stopped to admire a rock wall. The builder of it said we could have what we wanted of the leftover rocks. Back we went, with handtruck and gloves. I chose, and Doug and Mo, his father, loaded one rock onto

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1144932395298361852006-04-13T06:46:00.000-06:002006-04-13T06:46:35.376-06:00

Acts of FaithWe are about to move 1500 miles. Lightening up is a good idea. There will be no making a second trip to gather the items we couldn't quite fit in the first time. We have a lot of stuff. Last time, we used U-Haul's largest truck, plus two runs with my stepfather's trailer. We've bought some additional furniture and stuff in the five years since then. Pruning is ongoing. We

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1143827763332446042006-03-31T10:56:00.000-07:002006-03-31T10:56:03.396-07:00

For a while, I've known we were moving. It becomes more concrete every day. We spent March 12th through 18th driving to Las Cruces, choosing a home and making an offer on it, waiting for the offer's acceptance, and driving home again. We've accepted an offer on our home. It was listed for only 2 weeks. So, now, if all continues to go well, we close on the home here in Bend on April 24th,

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1141949874081480602006-03-09T17:17:00.000-07:002006-03-09T17:17:54.123-07:00

Time for a confession. I'm postmodern. I spent years not even knowing what postmodern meant. That was pretty postmodern in and of itself. In fact, I still may not know. Well, that's one of the things about it. Not knowing is essential to being postmodern. It isn't entirely despair. Like we had optimistic and pessimistic existentialists -- assuming I understood them correctly, which may be

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1137942060162349972006-01-22T07:38:00.000-07:002006-01-22T08:01:00.183-07:00

Recently, my sleep pattern has changed. I find I only need six hours. I'm crediting it to the Holosync. It might just be maturity.This morning, I am at my brother and sister-in-law's home in Winnemucca. They both rose early, went out for coffee. Doug lies abed, getting his beauty sleep -- and it must work, he's very attractive! And I am thinking about early mornings I have known. My sister

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1136043782330740572005-12-31T08:43:00.000-07:002005-12-31T08:43:02.390-07:00

I like to take a few chances. One is pursuing the perfect bowl of oatmeal at high speed. Microwave oatmeal is break-dancing on an antenna. First steps involve a lot of falling. A lot of boil-overs and graceless flailing. I looked deep into the heart and oatmeal, and found this is what it needed: a larger bowl. So, I make my morning oatmeal like this: two teaspoons of sunflower seeds, one

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1135102258989459022005-12-20T11:10:00.000-07:002005-12-20T11:21:04.960-07:00

Dear Readers,So many of you have forgotten about writing personal letters. Is there no place in the world for time spent, writing one person to one person? Here is an art, crafting words for one other's eyes, that is practice for truth, for relationship, for empathy and presence. There is value in the old forms. Yes, I know you are busy. Phone calls are faster, and hearing a voice is its own

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1134928862364140302005-12-18T11:01:00.000-07:002005-12-18T11:01:02.420-07:00

I have a really great marriage. When people fantasize about their ideal marriage, their fantasy is only half of my reality. I mean, look at this: It's snowing. It snowed all day yesterday. So we need to clean the walks. Doug takes the snow shovel. I take a straw broom and make like a Russian grandmother -- now, why I keep feeling like a Russian grandmother, I don't know. I have no

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1134435313801547012005-12-12T17:55:00.000-07:002005-12-12T17:55:13.846-07:00

The earliest memory I have of a motel: we were on our way to Christmas. I don't know why we stopped -- usually we made the trip in a single day. It was late. We checked in, Dad dashing to the office through the rain, and moved into a room. The roof leaked into the center of the second bed. So somehow, we arranged two adults and three -- or was it four? -- children around the relentless drip

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1131896691825797742005-11-13T08:44:00.000-07:002005-11-13T08:44:51.873-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had a strange sensation. I'll try to describe it. It started nearly as intense as pain. I felt as though my skin was off. I was that sensitive to happenings around me, new thoughts and feelings, the presence of other people. It was almost as though "I" extended amoebic feelers into the world, some ways beyond my skin. Not just through space, but to

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1131294876517027182005-11-06T09:34:00.000-07:002005-11-06T09:34:36.570-07:00

We had a glorious Halloween. Surely this holiday makes us all richer. It's like mental training for entrepreneurs. One day, where we institutionally reward becoming someone else, and demonstrate that abundance is yours for the asking. Just as American as the festival of goods that is the main thrust of Christmas. Most of the stores around here leapt from Halloween decorations to Christmas

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1130722586547700652005-10-30T18:36:00.000-07:002005-10-30T18:36:26.590-07:00

Itunes offered a handful of inexpensive audiobooks on sale recently. I picked up _Julie and Julia_, abridged. The author reads it herself. One day, depressed, 29, and feeling like a failure, Julie Powell decided to cook every recipe in _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_. She went into hysterics when meeting difficulties. Eventually, as she blogged about the experience, gained an audience,

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3563501.post-1129153772616506622005-10-12T15:49:00.000-06:002005-10-12T15:49:32.663-06:00

I'm making my second batch of kim chee today. The first batch was last spring. We split the seasoning packet in half -- thinking one quart of kim chee was plenty -- and enjoyed the curious process. The kim chee overflowed when we opened the quart jar to try it. It's a fermented product, like wine or beer, but much faster. Toward the end of the quart, we were a little tired of it. I

Anna Paradoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816448902589533180noreply@blogger.com0