Catharsis of the Bogue

Podcast 10: Being Mediocre

Justin Matthews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:42:14 +0000

Hey folks welcome to this weeks podcast! I can hardly believe this is number 10. This podcast references another post from earlier this week so go read it if you haven’t yet.

Thanks for coming back and listening I promise that there will be much better audio in the near future!

Delving into Mediocrity

Justin Matthews — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:45:03 +0000

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket is a very old saying that is still true. Even in this electronic day and age, putting all of your everything into one thing is not good. It is also not good to be spread too thin, having too many projects that just get put off as life intrudes.

The hard part is the balance. I have been fighting that balance for the past couple of weeks and losing. I have too many things going on. I thought everything was beginning to balance and then some little punk goes and hits me with a virus that totally shuts down my main computer. Not that I don’t have another that I can use even if it is slower, but still, have you ever had to stop and half rebuild on anther machine? It is frustrating.

I have spent entirely too much time trying to fix that other machine without success. Now I have decided to give up on it for a while and get back focused on this business that I am trying to build! This blog has suffered the most, posts have been few and far between. I haven’t been to other sites to comment and to be around much. That is all hurting traffic and rankings if not credibility.

I would like to think that I just need a really profound couple of posts strategically placed in queue that will bring so much traffic that all will take care of itself. A nice thought if not very practical. I have to get back to work on here as well as run our family business site to actually make some money for us.

But I need to find the balance. The balance between writing here, writing my fiction, and working on that other site while keeping the family happy. That has been a challenge. Whatever is said about how sad it is to send kids to school in the fall, it is a darn good thing for getting work done at home.

So this is my conundrum this week. what exactly to do with 3 websites that I really don’t want to die of course. I don’t think that there is a huge push on any one site right now so none will shine. They all need the magic though, so they all will get a bit of attention. That is the mediocrity that I seek this week. Not the relative obscurity of the reset, or the flash of the fantastic, but the mediocrity of still being here.

How many of you out there have done or need to do the same thing? I have written before about the need to just reboot and start over at times when you get overwhelmed. Today I am not so sure that is a viable option, at least for now. David Risley wrote this piece about “The Shallow Pride Of Being Overwhelmed” that brings up a great point, it is up to you to figure out where overwhelmed can be trimmed back and brought into balance, or even mediocrity.

That is mediocrity until you put the greatness out. Never stop the creation or the pursuit of greatness. Let me know what you think, the comments are waiting for your input.

-Justin

PS. It is amazing what happens when you put someones name in a post like David Risley. Zemanta goes crazy as does my WordPress tag suggestor. I will have to see if I can tell how much traffic just his name brings in. Thanks Dave, next post I will try to use Jesus and see if he is as popular to the plugins.

HopeKids

Justin Matthews — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:10:42 +0000

Hello folks! Today I wanted to tell you about an organization that we belong to. It is called HopeKids. HopeKids is non profit charitable organization that is all about helping families of kids with terminal diseases and afflictions do “normal” things. They primarily were founded with cancer kids in mind and have since broadened out to include all sorts of diseases including, heart disease and Kidney disease.

They recognize that all of these diseases affect the whole family. They are permanent diseases that can be treated somewhat, but in most cases kids can’t do things that other kids can. Most of the kids in HopeKids here in Utah are immunocompromised, including my daughter.

Please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/ameliaskidney and sign up to be a sponsor for our team!

If you don’t know, immunocompromised means that they are in treatment for especially cancer, or they take drugs to suppress their immune system so that the cancer cells can be killed or, like my daughter, so she does not reject her kidney transplant. Most kids in this situation have to be very careful where they go because they can get sick very easily. Even a simple cold can turn into pneumonia because these kids can’t fight the bugs.

HopeKids gives families a place to go where everyone is special because everyone has some disease. It becomes very close knit and it is great when you go to a place where people understand what you are going through and all of the kids can be treated normally.

I can’t tell you how many people would turn away or walk away from us in the store when my daughter had a feeding tube in her nose. Or if they caught sight of her dialysis catheter that was in her upper chest wall. I saw people look in horror as we would give her medications. And she did not have many things to show. There are kids with breathing tubes, as well as feeding tubes, or wheelchairs or crutches. I have seen people avoid all of these type of kids.

HopeKids doesn’t. No one cares what these kids are hooked up to or what they have in them to keep them alive. No one cares that some are bald from chemotherapy or that they have to wear a mask to keep any germs out. I still make my daughter wear a mask about half of the time, and that is over a year out from her transplant. No one thinks twice about that at a HopeKids event.

What kids of things do they do? Movies, arcade visits, plays, we have seen the dress rehearsal of the nutcraker from a pro ballet troupe for the past couple of years. They do a birthday party each quarter for the kids who have birthdays in that quarter, and each kid gets a personalized present from HopeKids. We got to go to this event: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700031968/Hope-Kids-offers-a-modern-fairy-tale-for-children-with-illnesses.html.

All of these events are free to the HopeKid and the family! Which brings me to another point today. While HopeKids is always looking for donations, we are participating in their yearly fundraiser. It is a 5K run/walk or an adventure walk if you prefer. Here are details from the site itself:

Date: Saturday, September 11th, 2010

Time: Registration starts at 8 AM, Races start at 9 AM

Fundraising Goal: $40,000

Come and join us for the 2010 HopeKids Wasatch Adventure taking place at the beautiful This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City!

All proceeds to benefit HopeKids Utah.
HopeKids is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Get a fundraising team of up to five together and choose one of four activities to participate in:

The Adventure Walk: Suitable for kids and families, walk the Park grounds visiting each of our Adventure Stations. You never know who you might meet!
5K Walk.
5K Run.
Remote Participant: If you are unable to be at This is the Place on September 11th, feel free to get one or more teams together in your community and walk or run for Hope!

When you walk or run to support HopeKids, you are raising the spirits of hundreds of kids and their families in their greatest time of need. You are giving them the gift of HOPE!

It’s simple. Use this page to create your team fundraising page. From there, share the team page with family and friends, and spread the word about your WALK OR RUN FOR HOPE. You can walk the 5K or run the 5K.

You can collect “offline” gifts of cash and checks and list those on your fundraising page. Bring those donations with you to the Run/Walk in an envelope clearly marked with Team Name and total enclosed. You can also collect everything “offline” and not use a fundraising page. (All checks made payable to “HopeKids”)

We hope you will show your support of HopeKids with your time and energy and help raise money when you come and WALK OR RUN FOR HOPE!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Like last year, there is no registration fee, but we are asking that all teams raise a minimum of $100 for participation in the Wasatch Adventure. Team sizes are limited to 5 participants. If you have more participants, consider starting a second team!

Encourage your family and friends to support you! This could be donations to your team, or they could join your team and create their own fundraising page. Or they could create their own team and compete against you!

So Here is the deal, our family is going to participate in the Adventure Walk. We are going to strap on the hiking boots and get the baby in the stroller. We are looking for sponsors for our walk! We are looking to raise $100 or more by the September 11th deadline. If you can possibly help with $1 or two, I would greatly appreciate it. All of the money goes directly to HopeKids and helps to fund the yearly activities that we can be a part of.

Please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/ameliaskidney and sign up to be a sponsor for our team! As a bonus if you do sponsor our team, aside from the gratitude of our family and the satisfaction you get from contributing to a worthy cause, I have some free bonuses for you.

All of these products are very interesting and helpful. They all come with Master Resale Rights as well. The products are:

Starting your own online business: 96page ebook plus bonuses
How to develop the guts to talk with anyone: 46 page ebook plus bonuses
404 Self improvement tips: 119 page ebook plus reseller icons and logos.

Please donate any amount to our cause at http://www.firstgiving.com/ameliaskidney and send me an email to justin@justinsbrainpan.com letting me know that you did. I will immediately send you all three packages! I will not even add you to any email list unless you want me to.

Thank you in advance for any and all help that you can give!

-Justin

Podcast 9: Equipment Sucks!

Justin Matthews — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:45:13 +0000

sometimes technology is a pain in the rear end. Too Many things are not working for me right now. Bah!

download this podcast via iTunes! Link will be coming, look for Catharsis of the Bogue in the podcasts area.

Links from the podcast:

http://brendasquiltshop.com

http://cantankerousoldcoots.com

ebay: anvilforgelimited

SAHD Friday: One Thing you must teach your kids

Justin Matthews — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:47:03 +0000

Hey Folks, Welcome to Friday! I hope you are all well. Just over a month ago I was writing about Independence Day and the founding of our Country. I still think that it is very important that your kids know about this country and why it is we can do all of the ownderful things that we do here.

I found this video, it is a pro-produced reading of the Declaration of Independence. Just listen, and see if it moves you like it does me.

Have a fantastic weekend

-Justin

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Catharsis of the Bogue

Podcast 10: Being Mediocre

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Delving into Mediocrity

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HopeKids

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Podcast 9: Equipment Sucks!

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