NEW CASTLE —
What have you read online recently that has inspired you?
This is sort of an odd question, one that doesn't quite seem to fit with our goal of asking questions of ourselves to work things through and better ourselves.
It certainly fits with the venue, though, in that I'm posting these blogs in an effort to inspire people in some way.
I'd love your answer to be "this one, of course!" but I'm not kidding myself here. I'm a mediocre writer at best, and if I manage to come up with one inspiring blog in a hundred, I consider it a lucky day. I do my best, though, which is apparently good enough that you're here reading again. (As always, I'm grateful!)
I'm going to tell you a little secret, though: I get most of my inspiration from surfing the Internet. Yeah, yeah, I know — the Internet is the devil and time on the computer is time wasted ... blah blah blah. But here's the real truth — just like the real world, the world wide web is exactly what you make of it.
Just because your ex spent all day looking at the online Victoria's Secret catalog or your teenager loses entire weeks fighting zombies doesn't mean the Internet is evil. It's just a channel for whatever you MAKE it a channel for. Just as you can make it the passage to entertainment or education, you can also make it the path to enlightenment.
I'm a huge fan of the website Stumble Upon. If you haven't tried it yet, take a couple of minutes and check it out. A little orange button on the top left of your screen "stumbles" you to random websites, and it can be further customized by taking a minute to plug in your own personal interests. The stumble button will then take you to websites you would have never stumbled upon (ahem!) otherwise.
Oh, and best of all, it's free.
Honest to goodness, if it hadn't been for this site, I never would have taught myself how to fix a leaky faucet, nor would I know that the words facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious (which means containing arsenic, just in case you wondered.)
Anyhow, my point is that I find dozens of inspiring things on the web each week, and the questions I post for this blog are usually borne from one of them.
So don't wait for inspiration to strike. Go out and get it wherever you can find it!
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About Lisa Madras: Lisa is the advertising dispatch at The News. She has agreed to blog about her personal pain in an effort to inspire others going through similar circumstances. She’ll share her thoughts each Monday.
Discussion
Lisa Madras: I don’t always Stumble Upon answers, but I get plenty of questions
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Gary Church: Don’t tell my wife, but I’m talking dirty today
I often hear my wife questioning my sanity. There are things I do sometimes that make me question it myself. Since my day job is being a garden writer, companies send me free plants to grow, and perhaps I write about them.
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Lisa Madras: It wasn’t Nirvana, but it certainly was better
When you look into the past, what do you miss the most? For a bunch of my co-workers, who are still floating around on cloud nine from last week's concert, the answer would probably be New Kids on the Block.
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Josh Drespling: Breakfast for dinner? Yep, as long as I’m makin’ bacon!
A while back I was rummaging through the kitchen tying to figure out what to make for dinner. My daughter was in the the other room complaining that she was hungry and my wife was echoing with the usual, “What are you doing for dinner?”
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Gary Church: My life? Vanilla? I’m cool as ice, ice, baby!
Sometimes my life is so exciting, I can hardly stand it. At the ripe old age of 68, I still am discovering new adventures to explore.
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Tim Kolodziej: Yep, New Kids are STILL on the block — here’s why
Milli Vanilli. Tone Loc. Taylor Dayne. Tiffany. New Kids on the Block. OK, let’s play the old “Sesame Street” game: One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong. (With a concert photo gallery.)
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‘The Couch Potato’: Thanks to on-demand selections, I can watch classic TV any time
When I was growing up, we weren’t poor. We weren’t rich either, but it’s not like we were barely scraping by. I had my sweet Nike kicks, a comfortable brick ranch and as many snacks as we could handle.
BUT WE DIDN’T HAVE CABLE! -
Gary Church: Dish gardens weren’t exactly a mob hit back in the day
I started working at Welker's Greenhouses back in the early 1960s. Mixing dirt was not the most glamorous job, but I worked my way up in the company. By the mid-’60s, I was promoted to route salesman.
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Lisa Madras: Despite emotional moments, I’m a Big Apple believer to the core
What is your favorite place on Earth? I have an embarrassing secret to share with you. Two weekends ago, I took a bus trip with some of the Jameson Hospital staff to New York City. When we came through the tunnel and saw the city sprawling out before us, I burst into tears.
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Josh Drespling: Students get a summer vacation — what about parents?
About nine months ago, we parents were all prepared to attack the new school year with vigor and determination. We had a new stash of supplies, including the perfect pencils and pens, a crisp new backpack, and all the other wares our children could ever need or want.
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Gary Church: Fast-acting chocolate angel food cake? Now THAT’S a new wrinkle!
I've been having a little trouble understanding what some vocabulary words mean lately. While I'm ironing my shirts, I have a problem with the words written on the collar, "NO IRON."
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