Two days later, my next trip is planned.

Needless to say, when I get bitten, the Planner/Organizer in me wastes no time taking over. Planning for a vacation this year is in sharp contrast to my trip last year, when I did very little planning. I basically had a
list of destinations/points of interest and just drove. As nice as it was to not worry about planning the trip beforehand and once on the road, not being ruled by a schedule, in the end I wasn’t able to fully enjoy most
destinations due to them either being closed when I arrived or having to rush a visit because I ran out of time and had to get on the road. I was also over budget since my nightly lodging was last minute and often lacking in choices due to the town in which I ended up. With learned lessons under my belt, I’m determined to find that healthy medium this year.

The destination this year? The southeast!

My primary destination is Congaree National Park in South Carolina. Much like last year, with Acadia National Park being the focus, another park is in my sights this year, another step closer to fulfilling by bucket list item of visiting every NP. Congaree is one of the “largest expanse of old-growth flood plain forest in America” and one of the tallest forests in the North America. I’ll spend a day hiking around the bottomland and canoeing along the river, then set up camp for the night in the park. The next day, I’ll head east to the South Carolina shore, specifically Litchfield Beach/Pawleys Island, a setting in one of my all-time favorite books, Flabbergasted. Unlike the 2hrs I spent on a chilly beach in Maine last July, I plan to spend most of a day relaxing on a much warmer beach before heading south to Charleston for the night. The following day, I’ll head further south and bum around Hilton Head for a while (never been there), before ending up in Savannah (haven’t been there either) for the evening. I’ll take in the night life of this historic town, maybe visit some local parks and historical monuments the next morning, then head out to Tybee Island for a bit (haven’t been there either) before heading back north. A scenic drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smokey Mtns will end with a night
spent in a cabin around Gatlinburg. After spending a day enjoying hikes around the Smokies, I might swing by Nashville to visit my brother and sister-in-law before returning home. I haven’t confirmed when this trip will happen yet, but I do have a week in mind, and it feels so far off…

Here’s my tentative route:

Well, there it is! Have you been to any of these locations? Any suggestions on things to do, places I can’t miss, restaurants I should visit along this route?

                

Related posts:

1. There and Back Again
2. Carolina On My Mind
3. Wilderness Adventure – Day 3

Listen:
Download audio file (Needtobreathe-Something Beautiful.mp3)

In your ocean I’m ankle deep
I feel the waves crashing on my feet
It’s like I know where I need to be
I can’t figure out
No, I can’t figure out
Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your wave crashes over me
There’s only one way to figure out
Will you let me drown
Will you let me drown

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire
Cause I just want
Something beautiful to touch me
I know that I’m in reach
I am down on my knees
And waiting for
Something beautiful

And the water is rising quick
And for years I was scared of it
We can’t be sure when it will subside
So I won’t leave your side
No I can’t leave your side

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire
Cause I just want
Something beautiful to touch me
I know that I’m in reach
I am down on my knees
And waiting for
Something beautiful

                

Related posts:

1. It Was Beautiful
2. Meaningful Lyrics
3. Slight Change in Website

                

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1. Honda Accord Meets Rube Goldberg
2. I’m Blessed
3. More Daylight-Saving Time

Goal: Increase emergency fund to 3 months of expenses
Category: Financial
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Right on target!
Grade: A+

Goal: Get to work on time
Category: Personal
Time Frame: Daily
Status: No where close…
Grade: F-

Goal: Perform a Random Act of Kindness at least once a month
Category: Charity/Community
Time Frame: Monthly
Status: So far, so good. RAoKs performed include: cleaning snow off a co-worker’s car anonymously, letting someone in front of me in line at the grocery store and taking donuts to work, anonymously.
Grade: A

Goal: Participate in a 5K/10K
Category: Exercise/Health
Time Frame: End of October
Status: Going to do the Redleg’s 5K with Dan (and hopefully Kristy!), but haven’t started training yet.
Grade: D

Goal: Read a chapter of Proverbs every day
Category: Spiritual
Time Frame: Daily for 6 months
Status: Started off strong, but have slacked through February.
Grade: C-

Goal: Visit Cuyahoga National Park
Category: Travel
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Have savings for the trip and a potential time frame of Memorial Day weekend
Grade: B

Goal: Read 20 Books, at least 12 of them non-fiction
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: 5 down so far, working on 3 more. I’ve picked out 14 of the books I want to read.
Grade: B+

Non-fiction:

• Uprising – Erwin McManus
• Men Are Like Waffles-Women Are Like Spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell
• Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely
• Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
• Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
• For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women – Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn (Finished)
• How the Mighty Fall – Jim Collins (Finished)
• Choosing to Cheat – Andy Stanley (Finished)

Fiction:

• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
• Last Mango in Texas – Ray Blackstone (Finished)

Goal: Finish painting house
Category: Home Improvement
Time Frame: End of May
Status: Umm, no progress. Maybe warmer weather will motivate me…
Grade: F

Goal: Reach 175 found geocaches
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: I’m currently at 147 found geocaches. Planned out another dozen to find as weather/time permits.
Grade: B-

                

Related posts:

1. 2010 Goals
2. 2008 Goals Checkup
3. Year In Review

                

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1. Mahna Mahna
2. Bohemian Rhapsody, The Muppet Version
3. Two Muppets named top scientists

• Great first episode of the final season! Didn’t get many questions answered, and many more were introduced, but still an action-packed and intense episode!
• I really like the dual threads/alternate reality, a.k.a. flash sideways. Brilliant!
• I wonder if, at the end of the show, the two storylines will collide and each person will have to choose which one they want to stay in.
• No Shannon on the plane. Boone says she said stayed behind in Australia. Turns out that in real life, her busy schedule didn’t allow her to film any scenes and they had to re-write the back story. I thought Boone’s was a lame explanation, though, and didn’t fit with everything else that has happened in the LOST universe, such as certain people needing to be on flights to recreate conditions. The writers could simply have said Shannon was sitting elsewhere, in the bathroom or otherwise led us to believe she was on the plane, even if we didn’t see her.
• Where were Michael and Walt?
• There were several other things that were different with the “rebooted” storyline on Oceanic 815, e.g. Hurley being luckiest man alive, Desmond on the plane, Jack and Rose’s exchange. Were these butterfly effects from the explosion? Wonder what significance, if any, these particular differences have…
• I guess Juliet had to die at the Swan site since there are parallel worlds and she would still be alive back at Dharma land? Couldn’t have Juliet A run into Juliet B… And the Others/Dharma folks still on the island?
• Did Jacob’s last gasp of “They’re coming,” to which Fake Locke (a.k.a Flocke a.k.a the Man in Black a.k.a. Jacob’s Nemesis) seemed worried, reference Jacob’s bodyguards – Illana, Bran and crew? I hope not, because
  that wasn’t a challenge for Flocke at all.
• LOST probably has one of the largest casts on TV. We have the group from the fuselage, the tail section, the Dharma folks, the Others, the French, the freighter, the Ajira flight, all the folks from the flashbacks/forwards and now the temple dwellers (and those are just what I can think of off the
  top of my head).
• Seems we now know what kept Richard (and the temple dwellers?) young and what healed young Ben – the spring in the temple.
• Was Jacob the source/influence of the spring’s power, or did he use the spring to keep himself young? Did Flocke kick him into the fire so we couldn’t be brought to the spring to heal?
• Were the risks mentioned by Dagon concerning putting Sayid into the “dirty” spring related to Sayid’s state (almost dead) or the state of the spring (dirty)? If it was the spring, seems that the temple dwellers have experienced this before, or how else would they know the risks?
• Is Jacob now in Sayid’s body?
• Hmm, thinking about Jacob’s conversation with the MiB, and some other factors, there’s a hint of The Matrix in LOST (In The Matrixm, The One keeps appearing over and over until he really is the one and can make changes. In LOST, Jacob keeps bringing people to the island – to make progress – waiting
  for them to succeed.)
• Richard was in chains…on the Black Rock?? Is there a story of redemption here?
• Where exactly is “home” for Flocke/monster and what’s keeping him from going home? (Jacob can get off the island apparently…)
• Very interesting that in the alternate reality – on the plane – Charlie shouts “I was supposed to die!” He said the same thing on the island.
• What’s the deal with the blood on Jack’s neck in the plane bathroom?

Series finale is scheduled for Sunday, May 23rd. Mark your calendars!

                

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1. What If Lost Were a Nineties Sitcom?
2. The Muppet Show Season Two
3. UK’s Season Comes To An End

Mmmvelopes, bacon-flavored envelopes!

And something else I missed is…

BaconPOP, bacon-flavored popcorn!

Bacon, FTW!

                

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1. Bacon – “The Candybar of Meats”
2. Bacon Salt
3. Pastor Hands $14,000 to Congregation

In Fear the Boom and Bust, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century, come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there’s a “boom and bust” cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it.

We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits

[Keynes Sings:]

John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro
The man you need when the economy’s off track, [whoa]
Depression, recession now your question’s in session
Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson

BOOM, 1929 the big crash
We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash
Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages
Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous!

I had a real plan any fool can understand
The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand!
C, I, G, all together gets to Y
Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly

We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits

You see it’s all about spending, hear the register cha-ching
Circular flow, the dough is everything
So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason
We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus season

So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head
Like I said, in the long run—we’re all dead
Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift
Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never lift…

because…

Business is driven by the animal spirits
The bull and the bear, and there’s reason to fear its
Effects on capital investment, income and growth
That’s why the state should fill the gap with stimulus both…

The monetary and the fiscal, they’re equally correct
Public works, digging ditches, war has the same effect
Even a broken window helps the glass man have some wealth
The multiplier driving higher the economy’s health

And if the Central Bank’s interest rate policy tanks
A liquidity trap, that new money’s stuck in the banks!
Deficits could be the cure, you been looking for
Let the spending soar, now that you know the score

My General Theory’s made quite an impression
[a revolution] I transformed the econ profession
You know me, modesty, still I’m taking a bow
Say it loud, say it proud, we’re all Keynesians now

We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Keynes] I made my case, Freddie H
Listen up , Can you hear it?

Hayek sings:

I’ll begin in broad strokes, just like my friend Keynes
His theory conceals the mechanics of change,
That simple equation, too much aggregation
Ignores human action and motivation

And yet it continues as a justification
For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations
You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch
Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch

If you’re living high on that cheap credit hog
Don’t look for cure from the hair of the dog
Real savings come first if you want to invest
The market coordinates time with interest

Your focus on spending is pushing on thread
In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead
So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective
Prepared to get schooled in my Austrian perspective

We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits

The place you should study isn’t the bust
It’s the boom that should make you feel leery, that’s the thrust
Of my theory, the capital structure is key.
Malinvestments wreck the economy

The boom gets started with an expansion of credit
The Fed sets rates low, are you starting to get it?
That new money is confused for real loanable funds
But it’s just inflation that’s driving the ones

Who invest in new projects like housing construction
The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction
The savings aren’t real, consumption’s up too
And the grasping for resources reveals there’s too few

So the boom turns to bust as the interest rates rise
With the costs of production, price signals were lies
The boom was a binge that’s a matter of fact
Now its devalued capital that makes up the slack.

Whether it’s the late twenties or two thousand and five
Booming bad investments, seems like they’d thrive
You must save to invest, don’t use the printing press
Or a bust will surely follow, an economy depressed

Your so-called “stimulus” will make things even worse
It’s just more of the same, more incentives perversed
And that credit crunch ain’t a liquidity trap
Just a broke banking system, I’m done, that’s a wrap.

We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No it’s the animal spirits

                

Related posts:

1. Economics
2. 10 Years on the Web
3. Town Hall For Hope with Dave Ramsey

As I’ve written about in previous years’ posts, I don’t like setting resolutions. Resolutions are a recipe for failure, usually involving changing a behavior immediately, then trying to keep that behavior change over a time period. When a resolution is broken, motivation is quickly lost and the resolution falls to the way side. (The typical resolution lasts through mid-February.) Goals, on the other hand, are something for which you strive to complete, taking baby steps along the way to keep up motivation and to mark progress. Goals are a steady climb towards new behavior and lasting change, not an unrealistic immediate change. For example, imagine how many more people would get into the shape they want if they changed a resolution of “Lose weight by going to the gym every day this year” to a goal of “Lose x pounds this year by: going to the gym with a friend once a week for the first 2 months, then twice a week for the next two months; sign up to walk a 5K in June, etc…”

One of the best ways to create and follow through on goals is to make them S.M.A.R.T. These goals that are:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

You can read more about S.M.A.R.T. goals at goal-setting-guide.com, as well as numerous other sites on the web.

Keeping this template in mind, my goals for 2010 are as follows:

Goal: Increase emergency fund
Category: Financial
Time Frame: End of the year
Specifics/Comments: I currently have one month of expenses stashed away in a money market account at Vanguard. I will increase this to three months by the end of the year by adding 7.35% of each paycheck to the account.

Goal: Get to work on time
Category: Personal
Time Frame: Daily
Specifics/Comments: As I get more comfortable and settled at a job, I roll in to the office later and later, largely because I’m not a morning person and hit the snooze a few times too many, but also because I spend too much time on the web in the morning. I will reduce the amount of times I hit snooze to one and/or set my alarm for an earlier time (7:00 instead of 7:15) in addition to reducing the amount of time spent on the web in the morning, leaving the house no later than 8:20, instead of 8:40.

Goal: Perform a Random Act of Kindness at least once a month
Category: Charity/Community
Time Frame: Monthly
Specifics/Comments: I have been blessed more than I deserve and have been inspired by Southland’s John Weece to make a difference in people’s lives. At least once a month, or as God lays on my heart, I will perform a Random Act of Kindness (RAOK), all anonymously (or at least an anonymously as possible). RAOK’s I have in mind are leaving an extra large tip at restaurants, paying for the meals of people behind me in the drive-through, bringing donuts into the office for co-workers and sending encouraging cards to friends.

Goal: Participate in a 5K/10K
Category: Exercise/Health
Time Frame: End of October
Specifics/Comments: I didn’t do any 5K or 10K events last year and missed the feeling of being fit that resulted from the training. I will sign up and participate in at least one event this year. Events in mind right now are the Flying Pig in May, the Redlegs Run For Home in June and/or the Susan G. Komen in September. Decision on which one will be made by early April.

Goal: Read a chapter of Proverbs every day
Category: Spiritual
Time Frame: Daily for 6 months
Specifics/Comments: I will read a chapter of Proverbs each day as a way to reinforce the wisdom therein and to keep it “written on my heart.” There are 31 chapters, so I will read the chapter based on the current day (chapter 6 on Jan 6th, Feb 6th, etc.). Starting in July, I will choose a different book of the Bible (James?) and continue reading a chapter a day.

Goal: Visit Cuyahoga National Park
Category: Travel
Time Frame: End of the year
Specifics/Comments: One of my life goals is to visit every National Park. This is a baby step toward achieving this goal. As close as it is and despite having been to Cleveland a few times over the years, I have not yet made it to this park. First, I will research this park to determine the best time to visit and how much time should be allotted to visiting the park. Then, I will schedule a time to make the trip and start saving.

Goal: Read 20 Books, at least 12 of them non-fiction
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Specifics/Comments: This list may will change over the course of the year, but here’s the first few in the queue, in no particular order –

Non-fiction:

• Men Are Like Waffles-Women Are Like Spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell
• Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely
• Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
• Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
• For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women – Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn (Finished)
• How the Mighty Fall – Jim Collins (Finished)
• Choosing to Cheat – Andy Stanley (Finished)

Fiction:

• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
• Last Mango in Texas – Ray Blackstone (Finished)

Goal: Finish painting house
Category: Home Improvement
Time Frame: End of May
Specifics/Comments: I painted the main level of my house last year, but procrastinated when it came to the 2nd level. My goal is to have this job completed by the time the weather starts getting nicer, though hopefully much sooner. I have the paint and all the supplies, so it’s just a matter of forcing myself to do it. In finer detail, the stairwell and upstairs hallway will be done by end of January and one of the bedrooms done by the end of each following month.

                

Related posts:

1. 2010 Goals – Checkup
2. 2006 Goals -Year in Review
3. 2006 Goals – June in Review

Listen:
Download audio file (Leeland-Follow You.mp3)

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away

All my needs you have supplied
When I was dead you gave me life
How could I not give it away so freely?

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the world

Use my hands, use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
‘Cause faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was shed
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the world

I give all myself
I give all myself
I give all myself…to you

And I give all myself
Yes, I give all myself
And I give all myself…to you

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the World

Here’s the official video:

                

Related posts:

1. Music Monday: Give Me Your Eyes
2. Music Monday: Say Your Prayers
3. Giving Grace