Things I've Seen

Movin' Meg

Well, here goes #2. Out of the dorm and into a house. A big old house in Grand Rapids' Heritage Hill area. With three guys.



It doesn't seem all that long ago that we moved her into East Hall at Davenport University, where she stayed through freshman year.

Even though she lived and attended class in Caldedonia and worked out here on the north end of town, she somehow made quite a few friends who attend college downtown, specifically Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University. All three of her new housemates are students at Kendall, and so is her boyfriend, who also lives in a house on the Hill (it's complicated and as a mother, I say it's probably better that way).

One of the guys had been living downtown and was looking for new people to share a house - something nicer than what I understand his old digs were. Meg "signed on" right away, then they rounded up two more and went house hunting. What they found is a beauty. Kitchen, foyer, living room, dining room, "library" downstairs, three bedrooms, laundry and a bath upstairs and a two-room bedroom in the attic. Hardwood floors. Bay windows. Window seats. Heat and water included. Very well maintained and well, beautiful.

She says she can afford it. She is working a lot of hours this summer as a server at O'Charley's and she already  has her schedule planned for school. She'll be taking the shuttle bus from DU's downtown campus out to Caledonia three days a week to save on gas. She and one of the boys are going to pool their money on groceries.

We're entirely supportive of her (although she was very nervous about telling her dad she was moving in with three young men). She got a taste of living away from home last year and she liked it. I'm impressed by her maturity and everything she did to make this move happen. She won't be home nearly so much this year as last, but what are you gonna do? I'm proud of my downtown kid. Best to you Meg!














Clay and Drew, packin' stuff

This old tree

  So this tree is probably a hundred years old or more - who really knows with trees? It is the messiest thing ever, and boy does it have its seasons.

Two weeks ago it had little pink petals pushing out with the leaves as they started their spring growth. We swept those off the patio just as grass-cutting season was beginning.

Right now it's in full bloom and, as happens every year, the week or so that the white flowers are in full is the windiest week of spring, so we get a constant "snowing" of tiny white petals all over the yard. It also has an overpowering sweet smell that engulfs the neighborhood.

Once the blooms are finished, the hard green cherries will appear, which hopefully will be very few in number again this year. The tree is old as I said and it has "on" years and "off" years, with the "off" years being more prevalent recently. Which is good - because once we get to late August the tiny black cherries are falling everywhere, staining the patio, the outdoor furniture, and more than one spot on the carpet indoors as kids track them in with their shoes.

It sheds sticks and branches all year 'round, especially during any kind of wind, rain or snow storm. Thankfully the leaves are comparatively small and make for pretty easy raking.

Like I said, it has it's seasons, with this being perhaps the one it shows off best.

 Beautiful, isn't it?

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For reasons I haven't yet discovered, Typepad has done something funky with how photos are displayed here. I'm not happy with it, but it you want to see a larger version of this photo, click on it.

Writing tips, via Friendfeed

Steve Rubel pointed today to Kaylow Media's Six tips for generating terrific blog posts. (Actually, Rubel shared this in Google Reader and it showed up in Friendfeed. Oh, how do you properly attribute sources in these social media times?!) From the post:

Notice everything ... I realized that the very experience I was having would make a great post

Be prepared ... I have a stack of index cards and a pen with me at all times, so I can immediately jot down any idea.

Talk with a variety of people ... the internet represents as diverse a community as you’ll ever find. Look beyond your bookmarked blogs ... Poke around the global neighborhood and see what you’ll find.

Create a "blogging only" workspace ... a person’s environment can influence their behaviors ... I’ve conditioned myself to associate [the blogging-only space] with writing, so my brain goes into “writing mode” as soon as I sit down.

Step away from the blogosphere ... Time spent away from the computer is just as beneficial as reading inspirational posts.

Create a crappy first draft ... but of course. You'll never write anything if you don't get something down in writing first - no matter how bad it is. That is writing 101 (my comment)

Nothing earth shattering - these are good tips for anybody who's writing anything - but a good kick in the ass for me since this blog continues to languish a bit.

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On that last point: I've been editing quite a bit at work lately - more than usual as we go through the growing pains of hiring new people and shifting others' roles around. And I must say I'm pretty damn good at it.

One thing I've noticed time and again is how so-called seasoned professionals will let that crappy first draft stand as final. I mean, it's one thing to just get your thoughts down on paper. Turning them into thoughtful, powerful, persuasive prose (or copy) is something else altogether.

Weasel words and phrases (so much the province of old-school PR), over-long sentences, weak verbs (forms of to be and to have, in particular), over-use of adjectives vs. good strong verbs ... these are just a few hallmarks of weak writing that I encounter every day. It's disheartening to say the least. Especially when you consider the fact that words are the tools of our trade. Worse still? I'm sometimes convinced that the folks I'm editing truly don't know the difference between an OK sentence and a compelling, even powerfully written one.

And that's just kinda sad.

Photos my kids send me

From Susan, as seen in the parking lot of O'Charley's the restaurant where she and Meagan work. The accompanying message said, "Look it's Harvey."

Obama in Grand Rapids

I didn't go.

At about 2:00 Josh picked me up in his NEW Lancer and we took a quick ride down to the Van Andel Arena - just a few blocks from Davenport University where we work - to check out the crowd. T-Shirt hawkers were stationed on one corner. Several hundred people were lined up in the mist and chill, waiting.

At about 4:30, I got a "check in" message on BrightKite from Brian saying he was at the Arena. I'd heard his wife had already been standing on line for awhile. Amanda headed down there just before 5 p.m.

I went home and checked WoodTV8 online for some live video before tuning in on TV.

John Edwards spoke first, throwing his support behind Obama, finally. Funny thing, I thought, that he praised Hillary Clinton for about the first three or so minutes before he got down to the business of endorsing his candidate.

Then Obama came on. Now I haven't followed him all that closely,  so I don't know if he veered from his usual stump speech or not. I do know that the crowd -  about 13,000 inside and lots of overflow listening  outside  - was wild about what was a really rousing, old-time democratic values speech.  My own  gut stirred to hear him  - and  I was moved to see the  diversity of the crowd.   I even thought to myself, wow, 40-some odd years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke like this to crowds in hope of uniting a nation to acknowledge simple, obvious rights for people of color. Now, here is a black man running for President.  And - wonder of all - he has a great chance of winning.

All week I've insisted that you couldn't pay me enough to stand in line to see a rock-star anybody - no matter how short or long the wait or what the weather. Josh said to me, "But this is historic - he could be the next President." But I didn't waver.

You know what? I should have gone.