Gossip for Nomads

I'm sure gossip has been around since the beginning of man, but with the invention of checkout stands at grocery stores, the industry has flourished. In today's world it is just too easy to find out gossip about celebrities thanks to instant communication, social media, and fine publications like The Enquirer. I'd like to see dirt digging ventures like TMZ really earn their money and make a living without the Internet or modern technology.

Can you imagine trying to run a juicy celebrity gossip business a thousand years ago if you were living with a bunch of Nomads in the desert? You would have to write everything down on a scroll or tell others your exciting stories when you came across a caravan or bought supplies at a market. I'm guessing the big stories and headlines might sound like the following:

"One of the rich man's goats went into it his nice tent and it angered him. One of his wives said this is a common occurance!"

"Naaman adds yet another chariot to his lavish collection. How many vehicles does one person need?"

"The servant caught trying to stay in the shade when his master was not watching now acuses him of being cruel and having a wicked temper."

Yeah, it's definitely more entertaining gossip these days. I'm pretty sure the paparazzi could not have made a living in ancient times. I'll bet those racy engravings of the queen sunbathing didn't circulate as quickly as they do today either.

Gratitude

I have been meaning to write a post about gratitude for a long time. Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to finally share some thoughts on the subject. First, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that my family has received many blessings this year. Some of them are things we have been looking forward to for a long time. There are three particular events that have been a huge deal for us.

1) After a longer than usual wait, we had another baby this year. I know many people look at us like we are crazy or irresponsible for having 10 kids, but it is something we feel strongly about. It would be more affordable, convenient, clean, and quiet, if we had fewer kids, but my family is the best part of my life and each one of them makes the world a better place. Besides, I am not going to get my own reality TV show unless I can surpass the Duggars. Our newest addition is such a bright spot for our family and I can't imagine what it would be like without her.

2) After 14 years of living in a home with absolutely filthy carpet (click here for proof), we were finally able to re-carpet our house. I'm really not into material things, but it is amazing how after being surrounded by nasty carpet, when you get clean flooring, it can boost your spirits and make you feel so much better.

3) We finally went to Disneyland! Our family has not been on a real vacation for over 11 years. We have been to family reunions and over the weekend events, but not a full blown family vacation. I had been telling my kids we were going to go to Disneyland for over 10 years, but each year the money just wasn't there and we ended up putting it off for another year. As a result, I have become the boy who cried wolf to my kids and they would just say "whatever" when I told them we were going to go this year again.

This year as the date was approaching, things were still not panning out. I know Dave Ramsey would rip me a new one if he knew I was taking my family on a vacation under our current financial situation. Somehow, a string of miracles occurred over the last few months that allowed us to pull it off by the skin of our teeth.

I love Disneyland, especially the magic of seeing kids reactions to it for the first time. I'm not sure how my 5 year old was able to maintain such a calm reaction going over the falls while her older brothers thought they were going to die.

I have so many things to be grateful for, but I am particularly thankful for these three events that we have patiently looked forward to for a long time.

Pinterest Update

Several months ago I did a post about Pinterest and basically made fun of it for being a glamorized digital version of scrap booking. I was going to give it a shot and see if I could create a testosterone laced page until I found out that signing up would automatically change my Facebook account to the timeline format. A couple of months ago, I was moved to Timeline against my will anyway, so I decided it was time to give Pinterest a shot. I'll admit that 90% of the content floating around on it is total chick stuff, but I have still been able to create some fun boards and I actually like it. Feel free to check it out.

My Pinterest page

This year I have really been distracted from my usual blogging habits and production as a result of Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Twitter. (Sorry Linkedin, you are too boring to be classified as a distraction). As a result, I have done fewer posts and they have probably been lower quality too. I feel like a slacker.

I'm probably not the only one who has experienced this, so I thought I would list some of those links here for my blogging friends in case they'd care to get connected on some of these other social networking sites.

My Facebook link

I have also recently come to the realization that in order to market successfully in today's world, you have to have your business listed on Facebook. As a result, I have started using it for my personal training business and have also started a YouTube channel for videos. Feel free to check them out at the links below and like or subscribe. I will continue to blog on Chaka's World, but I am also going to be spending more time on some of these other sites.

Your Fitness Quest on Facebook

Your Fitness Quest Videos on YouTube

On a side note, I am glad the election is finally over. I am not going to miss all the political ads! I have been sickened over all of the divisive talk over the last several months. Regardless of your political persuasion or how you feel about the outcome, I just hope that we can all come together as a country and work together to solve our nation's problems. Hopefully we will be mature and civil enough to do it on our own without having to be compelled to be united by some natural disaster or being attacked by aliens. I really hope things improve for everyone in the future.

I stole this from Kristina P.