The Digg.com Contest

I am currently holding a Digg.com Contest.  I want to reach 10,000 Diggs before August 31.  If this goal is reached, I will place FOUR 250 x 250 Ads on my sidebar for the site or product of four users who Digged my site.  It will be chosen at random, and those diggers will be contacted via e-mail.

If 5,000 Diggs is reached, I will place ONE 250 x 250 Ad on my sidebar for one lucky digger and FOUR 125 x 125 Advertisements for four other diggers.

This Ad will be exposed to thousands of readers every month and will increase the amount of traffic to the winner’s site.  Also, I will include a linkback to the winner’s site in a post or two.  This will help to increase the amount of backlinks to the winner’s site and help rank them higher on search engines.

Why do this contest?

There are a few reasons I am holding this contest.  First, I want to gain more readers and content exposure.  When people Digg this site, they are exposed to my content.  I’m just hoping people actually like my content and subscribe to my RSS feed.

The second, and most important, reason would be that I want to help support Suicide Prevention.  The more people who visit this site, the more people who actually help support suicide prevention on my sidebar.  This month, 11 people have helped raise money to support suicide prevention.  Please, it only takes a minute, and better yet, it’s completely free! For more information, visit this page.

The Winners

The winners will be contacted via email in early September.  The Advertisements will stay up for exactly 30 days, but the backlinks to your site will be a permanent part of this site.  Good luck, and get digging!

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Are you having a mid-summer crisis?

It’s the last day of July and you’re just realizing summer is quickly coming to an end.  What’re your plans for the last month?  What do you want to achieve before falling back into the monotonous rituals of school time.  Make a list of the things you still want to do.  Then make sure you take time out of your schedule to actually do the things on your list!  No one ever looked back and said “Wow, that was a really productive summer in ‘05!”.  Get up and make some memories with your friends and family.  You never know when your time is up, so make the most of today.

Share your summer plans below.  New ideas are always exciting and appreciated!

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Thought-Food: 9/11

I recently found a very interesting video.  It makes a lot of sense, but I won’t spoil it for you.  Click here to view it or watch below.

If you really want to actually open up your mind and think outside the box, watch at least the first seven or so minutes of the video, then make a decision for yourself.

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Ongoing Subject: My Goals, 5/26/09

I think it is not only a good idea to write your goals down, but also to go over them every couple weeks to make sure you’re actually making progress reaching your goals. Goals should not just be things you want to achieve, goals should be things you should be working to achieve.

My Goals

Here are my top five goals right now, one in each aspect of life.

Goal One- Finances: I would like to save a thousand dollars by the end of this year. That would be about 37 dollars a week saved. Also, I’d like to have my car payments saved up for the first semester at Grand Valley.

Goal Two- Blog: I want to have my blog be a hit by the end of this year as well. I would like to have at least a hundred (hopefully more) people who regularly visit my site and actually value my opinions and suggestions.

Goal Three- College: I want to work really hard this semester at GVSU and get all A’s. I want to look good when I apply to Med School, and these classes are the classes that actually count towards my end goal.

Goal Four- Friends: I learned the hard way that time is short, and I don’t want another Nikki Allen on my hands. I want to stay in touch with the people who actually matter to me. I want to not regret losing touch with the people who made me who I am today. I obviously don’t think that I’ll be able to do this forever, but I can fight my hardest to not lose them.

Goal Five- Travel: I would really like to take another trip to Florida this year. Florida was amazing last year. I’ve learned that it’s easier to just get up and go as a young adult than as an adult with responsibilities and a full time job. Plus, trips help us appreciate life and breaks us away from the monotony of everyday life. As goals constantly are changing, assimilating, and evolving, this is an ongoing subject.

I will be periodically updating this section as my life changes, and I hope that I can inspire someone to do the same.

NR

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The Thought Behind Thought-Food

Thought Food is a section of my blog that is devoted to helping people think outside the box on subjects that are usually accepted on face value and never questioned.  My goal, as a writer and a free thinker, is to help others become more self-sufficient, free thinking, and dependent on only themselves and the facts.

The Media has a huge impact on these.  Advertisements, 24/7 news, radio… All of these impact the way we view the world.  Take the recent swine flu ‘pandemic’ that most news stations went crazy about.  Even now, there are a relatively low number of deaths, especially when compared to deaths caused by AIDS, the “regular” flu, and traffic accidents.  Honestly, it’s a bit outrageous.  Ladies at my job were up in arms about the pandemic, talking about the need to wear masks out in public.

Taking Things At Face Value

The people that annoy me the most are people who can be fed a bit of information and be completely convinced that that information is right without any type of proof or data to back up that information.

Recently, an acquaintance of mine from college was listening to a conversation a few friends and I were having about global warming.  She butted in and said that she doesn’t buy global warming, that it doesn’t seem right to her.  I replied in saying that it’s good of her to take her gut instinct over the strong recommendations of highly trained scientists, professors, and people who have a hundred times more experience and schooling than she does.

The theory of evolution is another good example.  A theory, in the science community, is the closest thing that scientists accept as truth.  It’s estimated that 99.9% of scientists accept evolution.  I’m glad that people, such as most of the people from the small farming uber-christian town that I grew up in, can then say that those scientists, who are a million times more trained and educated then they are in these matters, are completely and totally wrong and some mystical magical force created everything.

Conclusion

Basically, I’m going to be choosing topics that I find obviously flawed and dissect them to their core.  This way, you can take out what you will, knowing all the facts about the subjects, becoming the self-sufficient person you were meant to become.

Until next time, friends.

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Is it a fireman? How about a police officer? Your mom or dad, perhaps?

People who risk their lives often come to mind first. But what if I told you my hero was a completely normal person, who never really did anything risky, and really only talked?

In my opinion, a good artist can change the world more than anyone else.

Have you ever heard a song that moves you? A song that brings you back to a completely different place and time? Maybe it makes you feel relaxed, sympathetic, or makes your heart skip a beat?

Can a song really change the world?

I think it can.

Without music, without a way to express our feelings, we would be emotionally dead. How often do you listen to music? It’s often them you think. The radio in your car. On television. In stores. At your workplace. It’s almost impossible to get away from music.

Why is that?

Music moves us. It gives us hope. It inspires us. When you are down, a good song helps to bring you back to normal. Music helps us to love. Words are underestimated. Sticks and stones will break bones, and words can hurt just as badly. But words can also change the life of a person. Music is encouragement at it’s roots. I can honestly say that without music, I would not be what I am today. Music helps to inspire me and my writing. It brightens up my day, and helps me to keep going when I’m down in the dumps.

So don’t disreguard me when I say my hero is a person who just likes to sing for a living.  Who is your hero?

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