Check it out. Super last minute a few days ago, I saw Tinna had participated in an Alphabet Walk, with the letter K, and I wanted to see if I could be a part of it. This Alphabet Walk is the brainchild of One Sydney Road. Basically, everyone has a letter, and they get to take photos of stuff using that letter as inspiration. How cool to participate in a group blog thingy, and get to use my camera skills in the process. Only problem was that I didn’t have a ton of preparation time, and my camera only came out with me today. So I took advantage of a Walk that I needed to take for work today.

I went through the streets of downtown San Francisco, on the way to a conference, and this is what I found. How convienent that I was assigned the letter ‘W’ and I happened to walk by the hotel bearing that very name!!

The 'W' Hotel

The 'W' Parking Garage

the sign directing me West

found it

Make sure you check out all of the other participants in the Alphabet Walk!

So this post isn’t mine. I didn’t write it. It was written by a blogger that I don’t know, and likewise, I have contributed a blog entry to someone elses blog out there in blogland as well. You can find links to all of the participating blogs here.  Today’s post is part of the Blog Share. It’s interesting participating in these blog shares, as the topics usually stray from the theme of the hosting blog. The below post is a perfect example. Enjoy.

I don’t write about religion on my blog. I am religious. It’s not cool to say this, but I like being religious. My faith makes me put other people first. It makes me think about what I can do to be a better person and what I can do to make the world a better place. It keeps me humble. It keeps me grounded.

I don’t take most of the Bible literally, and yet, I realize my religious beliefs are unrealistic and maybe a little bit crazy. The story of Jesus isn’t exactly the most believable, sensible story. I know that, but I still believe.

I don’t care if other people are religious or not. I don’t care if they are religious but believe in a different religion than I do. The ultimate thing, really the only thing that matters, is to try to be a good person. Unfortunately it seems to me that other people care that I’m religious. And they think that because I’m religious, they are smarter than me. It’s stupid, but one of the reasons I don’t write about religion on my blog is that I can’t stand the comments from people who think they’re smart because they’re not religious. When I read other posts about religion, there are almost always comments about how stupid religion is, how religion is only for weak or ignorant people, how they are so much smarter because they figured out that all religion is a lie. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m an idiot because I’m Catholic, and I really don’t appreciate that attitude.

After writing a big boring thing about how I don’t want anyone picking on my religion, I have to admit that I’m struggling with being Catholic right now. I still like my faith. I like going to my church because I really like my priest and my parish. At the same time, I don’t want to be affiliated with a bureaucracy that has protected child molesters and that teaches that homosexuality is wrong. Can I help to change the Catholic Church from within it? Do I need to leave the Church? I don’t know what the right thing to do is. I know there are hardcore Catholics who think that if you don’t agree with everything the bureaucracy does, then you aren’t really Catholic. Personally, I disagree. I’m afraid that if all the people like me leave the Church, then it will never change.

After the success of the last blog share I chose to participate in, I decided to jump in on this opportunity that Bright Yellow World brought to me as well. On Monday, the author on my blog won’t be me. In fact, some of my writing will be somewhere else floating around as well. The beauty of the blog share is everything is anonymous. You don’t know who wrote on mine, and you won’t know where my writings are. Pretty cool way to speak your mind and not have to deal with the repercussions.

Below are the participants in this blog share. Feel free to have a look around their blogs prior to Monday, but definitely check them out on Monday. There will be a lot of good stuff (so I hear).

A Little Coffee With My Cream and Sugar
And You Know What Else
Another Bloody Mary
Bright Yellow World
Cake or Death
Dispatches from the Failed Mommies Club
Feel Me Don’t You
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Kirida
Malfeasance
My 33 People
Nothing Is Easier Than Self-Deceit
Postcards from Inania
Rediscovering Me
Snow Covered Hills
Tales of a tree-hugging 2L
The Gay White North
The Little Goat
The Opposite of Classy

There is so much love to share on the internet! No, I don’t mean the pervy kind of love that Chris Harrison comes and arrests you for later. I mean the blogging community has so much to share that The Domestic Dork hosted her very own Valentine’s Day gift exchange!

I was lucky enough to a)be able to participate, and b)get paired up with a partner who just seemed to get me from the get go. Miss Dot is saving the world one cupcake at a time….now thats a language I speak! She also has a Mustache Monday feature spot on her blog, and you know how I feel about mustaches.

So the other day as part of the exchange it was my job to buy her something that I think she would like. Well…I did something like that. I bought her something that I would like. That’s the same thing right? She got it yesterday and liked it, so I guess I succeeded.

My gift to her was a combo of two things I love. Great art and a great story. Artist Camille Rose Garcia recently had the opportunity to illustrate Alice in Wonderland. I purchased it for myself, and then one for Miss Dot as well. I think its amazing. Its likely one of the only ways I’ll get to have her art in my home, seeing as though her stuff ain’t cheap! You should buy one too!

Kind of creeptastic huh? You should see the rest of the book…its just as amazing.

She got me this adorable apron that I had written about on an Etsy Tag Monday in the past. Shows she actually read my blog…so yay for me! Someone is reading it! You can read her blog entry on this gift exchange here but I’ll show you the cuteness that I get to wear in the kitchen anyway. Isn’t it fun? I love it and its a perfect fit!

So this post isn’t mine. I didn’t write it. It was written by a blogger that I don’t know, and likewise, I have contributed a blog entry to someone elses blog out there in blogland as well. Today’s post is part of the Blog Share.

This idea comes from -R- from And You Know What Else. Its a great idea for some random thoughts to get out there on the interwebs…

Enjoy the following post from my guest contributor. I have also included links to the other Blog Share participants’ blogs are included below this one. Do you think people write differently because its anonymous? I know my post wasn’t in the theme of The Little Goat. It was nice to have a different outlet to write. I will definitely participate next year too…if they will have me. With that said….ENJOY.

Trials and Tribulations of Best Friends

We are (were?) best friends.  She married that guy – a guy who once threatened to kill me – and I stood by her.  I called her regularly, I gave her money, I stayed quiet when she told me stories of his awful behavior.  He regularly screamed at my friend, he never had a job in the entire seven years they were together, he stole money out of her purse, and he smoked cigarettes and marijuana in their home in amounts so great that I couldn’t stay at her house because of the smoke and smell.  When she decided to have a baby with him, I again held my tongue and stayed supportive.

She had that baby and I was so conflicted.  The baby was so cute! The baby made my best friend so happy!  But his daddy was a total jerk! An abusive jerk!

She left him when the baby was seventeen months old and I rejoiced.

It is here that things get so difficult for me.  Her behavior since then has been less than stellar.  She started sleeping around with all kinds of guys.  I tried so hard not to be judgmental, but the same low self-esteem that led her to her ex in the first place was leading her to make such poor decisions.  She ended up pregnant and I couldn’t help but be happy when it ended in a miscarriage.

I wanted to support her, to let her know that it was hard right now, but it would get better. I told her over and over again that she didn’t need a guy, that she had her son, and that she had family and friends.  Being a single parent is difficult and I know it, but the decision to leave her ex was best for her and best for the baby.  At the end of every conversation, I would beseech her to please, please, please don’t do anything stupid (read: please use a condom).

I’m not a stuffy, uptight prude.  But her behavior was disturbing.  Sure, she wasn’t letting her son see someone smoke marijuana every night, but instead there was a string of men coming in and out of her house.  She kept saying that her son was too young to remember it and I agree that he won’t remember in fifteen years, but I guess I’m more concerned about what he remembers tomorrow.

Her parents watched the baby for a long weekend and we took a girls trip to a city midway between where we live.  It was fun, but all weekend long she kept texting these men she was dating.  I told her it was rude, to put the phone away.  We are not teenagers; we are in our early 30s.  This type of behavior caught me off guard and I was sad that our friendship meant no more to her than her latest fling.

Things got worse when she started the divorce proceedings against her ex. She told me that she didn’t want her son left alone with the ex.  She didn’t trust the ex.  She felt like leaving an active child alone with her ex, who lives with his mother and his mentally handicapped older son, would be a dangerous proposition.  But when the divorce lawyer said that she had to give her ex visitation, she caved and said the baby could stay there once every other week for a night.  She told me, “He loves the baby and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. Plus, I need a night off once in a while.”

I get it.  Single parenthood can’t be easy.  She absolutely does need time off once in a while.  Send the baby to his grandparents once a month.  Let him stay with his aunt and uncle.  But don’t send him somewhere you know deep in your heart is dangerous.  When I mentioned my concerns, she blew me off.  I don’t know what it’s like, she said.  She is right. I don’t have a clue.  My husband is a good man, a loving man, and I took a long time to choose him.  We don’t have kids and I know she is resentful, probably rightfully, whenever I question her parenting.  Maybe her ex wouldn’t hurt the child on purpose, but accidents happen, especially when someone is frequently stoned.

Then she started a blog.  And what she wrote there hurt my feelings over and over again.  She repeatedly thanked people for being so helpful to her when she left her husband, but she never thanked me. She once wrote that she didn’t like to read other people’s blogs because she thought they were boring.  I interpreted that to mean she didn’t like MY blog, although I guess I could be overly sensitive about it.  She writes endless entries about these men she’s “dating.”

I don’t want it to be about me.  I really don’t. It’s her space. It’s her writing. It’s her dealing with her own issues and her own pain.  I get that.  I want her to have that space.  I love it when she writes about how free she feels now, how much happier she is when she was married.  But sometimes I feel each word she writes as an arrow through my heart, a well aimed point that she doesn’t need me or want me anymore.

I love my best friend. We have been friends since college and I want what’s best for her. I hope I don’t sound bitter or mean, but I’m just not sure if I can be the friend she needs.  Am I rightfully concerned?  Am I just being unfair to her? Is her behavior understandable and completely normal?  Do I give up?  Should I continue to be the supportive friend or should I be more forceful when I think she’s messing up?

I don’t know. I just want the baby to be happy and safe and I want her to be happy and fulfilled.  But I don’t know if I can help her anymore.

Not the Daddy
O is for Olson
Red Red Whine
Rediscovering Me
Reflections in the Snow-covered Hills
The Reluctant Grownup
Sauntering Soul
Serendipity Now
Snarke
So, This Is a Treadmill
Thinking Some More
Time for Change
Together They Come
Wondering and Pondering
And You Know What Else
Andrea Unplugged
Arctic-ulate
Bright Yellow World
Bwildered
Catheroominations
Did I Say That Outloud?
Dispatches from the Failed Mommy Club
Full of Snark
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Just Below 63
The Little Goat