Links ~ Blogs

So if you'll kindly look over to your lower left, you'll discover that I finally decided to add some links to my blog. These links may wax and wane over time, but I figured this was a pretty good start.

Anyhow, I thought I might give you a little introduction to each of the links, instead of just dropping them there without making any mention about why I've decided to include them.

First, we have Blogs.

These are other blogs that either belong to friends of mine or are just blogs I like to read. This section is arranged so that the most recent entry rotates to the top of the list. So, as of today, the list reads as follows:

Redfern Photography - Jim n' I worked with Lisa for a couple years until she moved on to bigger and better things in Calgary. In her free time she uses her creative eye to take fabulous photographs, specializing in weddings and portraits. So, if you live in the Calgary area and are looking for a quality photographer - who, incidentally, also has a wicked sense of humour - you should definitely contact Lisa!

Here's a bit from Lisa's bio: "My purpose in blogging is for my clients to have a chance to get to know me a bit better from the comforting glow of their own computer. I don't take myself too seriously, and want every session to be a fun experience for myself and for my subjects, while striving to capture beautiful images. The most frequent comment I get at the end of a shoot is "that was fun!", which is about the best compliment I could get."

Wendi Aarons - Ladies, some of you may remember that email forward infamously known as "The Always Letter" (a.k.a. Have a Happy Period.) Well, when I first received that email a few years ago, I checked it out on Snopes to see if it was f'real. Turns out it was written by this hilarious comedy writer, Wendi Aarons. As a result, I searched for and found Wendi's blog.

Now, if you want to read some funny stuff, check this lady out! Love. Her.

It feels wrong to include only a snippit of her bio, because I really didn't know what parts to snip. The whole thing is pretty funny, but I'll let you visit her site and see that for yourself. For now, here's the first paragraph:

"I'm the mother of two wonderful boys, Sam and Jack, and we live in the great city of Austin with our 17-year old cat Dickins who will never die. Most of the time I can be found near the 50% off racks at Target, or on the couch yelling at people on reality TV to pull their heads out. It really depends on the day. I'm a busy woman. "

Jim Hetrick - I "met" Jim at another site I used to blog at. He has such a positive attitude, a fabulous zest for life and an awesome sense of humour. Jim was instantly one of my favourite bloggers at that site, and now he's started up a new blog at Associated Content. (Just a note, in order to read Jim's posts, you have to click on the name of the post and not on his name, or else it will just take you to the AC main page for some stupid reason.)

To paraphrase his bio, "Jim is a fifty-six year old father of four and grandfather of three. He is an ex-school teacher who now makes a buck or two writing short stories and magazine articles. He is also a stage actor, director and playwright. Jim lives on a horse farm in rural Connecticut with his wife, two dogs, two cats, a Shetland pony, three horses and apparently, 100,000 ground moles."

Jeremy Hiebert - Jeremy is a great guy who Jim n' I also use to work with. His blog is the sort of thing that plants a seed of envy in the hearts of shutterbug wannabes, future parents and the uninspired. Just reading it makes you want to either grab a camera, have kids, or find a new hobby. To see what I mean, you'll just have to check it out for yourself...

Here's a quick bio on Jer: "Father of three, husband to one, word nerd, web geek, nature lover, INTP, over-analyzer, spinner of pedals, viola dabbler, skeptic, curious soul."

Life on the Bar Z Ranch - Like Jim, I "met" Jennifer through one of my old blogs. She was one of only a handful of Canadian bloggers at the site, and I really enjoyed her refreshing honesty. Here I link to Jennifer's public blog, which she refers to as her "boring" blog... but I don't think it's boring. I'd call it more a "slice of life" blog, which I like.

Here's a piece from her bio: "I sew, garden, ride my horse, play with the ponies, can too much jam and jelly, collect stamps, read obsessively, and have far too many hobbies to keep up with. Married, with two little kids that terrorize me. Live on an acreage in Alberta, Canada with one horse, one pony mare, her yearling colt, various outdoor cats, and two old man cockatiels."

Fosten Designs - I've known my girl Debbie since college. She's another one of my super talented friends, as many of them are. Deb recently created this blog as a way to promote her company, Fosten Designs. Fosten Designs provides affordable stationary and greeting cards for life's greatest events. You can purchase Debbie's work on Etsy and Zibbet.

Here's a blurb from her bio: "Born of a love of design, and the idea that it shouldn't cost you the earth, I created this business for two reasons. First, so that I can design free of the usual corporate restrictions and have FUN, and second, so that I may someday run the company full-time and be a work-from-home mom."

Okay, so that's it for now. I'll return at another time and whip up little blurbs about the various other links I've included and why.