th@talldude

Tattoos, Right Or Wrong?

Tattoos are all the rage amongst my age bracket, the under 30 group, and it can be a very sensitive subject.  Personally, I think some tattoos are 'cool.'  However, what I think doesn't matter, even though I will NEVER get one.  I gave it a lot of thought a few years ago when I got back from Iraq, it's kind of the thing to do amongst veterans, get a tattoo to commemorate your time overseas, but there was always something in the back of my head telling me it was wrong.  If you have one, I won't condemn you for it, that's not my place.  I might even compliment you on it.  However, even if I don't tell you to your face, and I know that you should know better, I will be very disappointed, because Biblically speaking, it's a sin, whether we want to admit it or not.

Do You Ever Wish You Could Punch The Planet?

Today has been one of those days.  Maybe it's because of the Church picnic we had this weekend, which involved a delicious potluck, lots of amazing tubing on the lake, lots of relaxation, and camping out with our 'Young Singles' group.  And by camping, I mean setting up tents, then staying up all night while talking around the campfire, then starting a grease fire while trying to cook bacon on tin foil for breakfast.  Or maybe it's because I had this sudden realization that I have a lot of stuff I need to do, and taking 4 Gb of pictures and videos this weekend didn't help that cause.

Small Town Blog, Will You Help?

I want to start a new blog, but I need your help to do it.

As I'm sure you've realized by now, I've got a passion for Small Town, USA.  Even more so, my small town in North Dakota.  I've got a soft spot for farmers, shown back in March when I wrote We're Long Overdue to See Food Prices Rise.  While I didn't go into very much detail, or even include some of the significant expenses in the figures I had there, it got me thinking more about those farmers and the impact they have on the economy.  After much discussion with local friends and online friends, I wondered what we would need to do to survive, prompting me to write Small Town USA, Would You Live There?  That prompted a lot of comments, and some discussion on Twitter.

A friend on Twitter posed a great question, which led to the thoughts in Is Small Town USA Ready For Expensive Gas?  The Wall Street Journal riled me up, with a bit of ranting in Rural America's Mobile Coverage Is Pathetic.  I'm still trying to determine whether the more recent news of Verizon's attempt to acquire Alltel will be a good thing or a bad thing in a state that relies on both of them.

Some discussions around the area over the past few months have led to some realizations by some people, mostly that they have some upgrading to do.  Unfortunately, a realization is not the same as taking action, and I vented while writing Actively Inactive, Reluctant To Change. 

Unfortunately, my blog became quiet for a couple of weeks, as I had a lot of things I needed to get done, and the blog fell to the back burner.  After cruising around Hettinger County with Dad the day before Fathers Day, I had some pictures I just had to share.  It was nice riding around with Dad, hearing about where people grew up, and what some of them are doing now.  Mostly, it was great to visit the old farm again.  Rural North Dakota, A Blast From My Past talks a little bit about where I grew up.  And a lot of recent discussion about town celebrations led to some question asking on Elgin Days, Small Town North Dakota.

The last several months have brought me to the conclusion that I want to continue talking about Small Town issues, how to address them, and creative ideas specifically for rural America.  A short interview from Becky McCray even led to a guest post on her blog, Small Biz Survival.  I want to run a blog dedicated to Small Town America.  I want to have a one stop place where small town leaders can come to for great content, and great content discovery.  A place where people can learn what has worked for others, and what has failed.  I want to have other people passionate about rural America to have a great place to write guest posts, for a larger audience than the typical personal blog offers.  But I need money.

Before this blog can be, it must be designed, and with the design, it needs a home.  I have determined that I can get a great hosting solution for $150, which will prepay the first 2 years at a hefty discount, and provide ample bandwidth and storage.  I hate to ask for money to do this, but I've been trying to scrap the money together for a couple of months, while trying to recover from some bad choices in my past, and the bills aren't going away quickly.  I hope you'll consider helping me get this rolling, I appreciate it a lot!

Elgin Days, Small Town North Dakota

On June 6-8, Elgin, ND had their annual celebration.  It wasn't anything spectacular, in fact I've been told it was actually hamstrung this year, as they're trying to skimp on things in anticipation of the 2010 celebration, when the town turns 100.  Nevertheless, I still managed to get some good pictures of some of the events.  I'm not a rodeo fan, so I stuck around main street most of the day.

When I was younger, events like this always seemed more fun.  I don't know if it was because I was still a kid and absolutely thrilled by a parade with candy, or if it was because events were targeted at me.  Now that I'm older, and trying to figure out how I can help revitalize these towns in my area, I can clearly see that kids up to about 12 years old have stuff to do, and people older than 35 or interested in rodeos have stuff to do, but high school to those in their early 30s have nothing to do virtually all day.  I filled the time gap by taking pictures, but not everyone has an interest in photography.

Rural North Dakota, A Blast From My Past

My dad went to run some errands this weekend, and while I normally wouldn't go with, he said he was going to go out to the farm, so I grabbed my camera.  It's been years since I've been out there, despite only being 19 miles away.  Nearly 2 years ago, my parents decided to sell the farm, so while it isn't actually ours anymore, there are still a few things that haven't changed, even though many things have.

First we stopped at the first farm we lived at.  It wasn't much of a farm, it was really just an old yard that we lived at.  The actual farm was where grandma and grandpa still lived, but it was only about a mile away.  The house was sold and moved years ago, but the old shed is still there.  Way back in the day, my aunt went to school in that shed.  I only remember it being a 'shop' of sorts, and somehow dad managed to put a full size, regular cab pickup in there.

There were some intriguing finds inside too, as we discovered what I am told was my first bed.

I've Been Busy

I know a bunch of people have suddenly started dropping emails and DMs/@s on Twitter, asking where I've been.  Well, I'm still around, I've just been busy.  Right about the time Twitter decided to start redoing stuff, I got busy.  It kind of works out, because I have yet to find a Twitter client that I like, Witty doesn't work on my computer, and Twhirl is way too difficult to scan.  Obviously, I need to put more effort into it than trying 2 clients.  Twitter, please bring back GTalk, NOW.

Anyways, I've been working on lining up a job, which is part time for now, but could lead to full time soon, and I'm really excited about that.  We also had VBS, which is put on by about 6 Churches, working together.  In Small Town, USA, with populations dwindling, you do a lot of working together, so you can do things better, perhaps exemplified the most around here with the community Youth Group and community VBS.

The neighboring town of Elgin also just had their summer celebration, Elgin Days, which isn't what it used to be, but the rodeo is still a big attraction.  Their 100th anniversary is coming up soon though, and that should be a big event.

Anyways, maybe I'll go into things with a bit more detail later on, but for now, drop by Flickr to check out the pics from VBS and Elgin Days, I had a lot of fun taking the pictures, I hope everyone had a great time at the events too!