Does the email you forward to others communicate something about you? If so, what does it say?
I receive a TON of email each day! A great deal of it is spam, but some of it is a "forward" from a friend or relative. I received one such email the over the weekend. Here is what the text said about this picture:
"The attached picture was one taken by the Voyager ~500 billion miles away from earth. It took a succession of 60 shots to get a panoramic view. Each picture had 146,000 pixels and each pixel took 5.5 hours to be downloaded. Months later, this was the picture they received (sort of disappointing). The bands of light are reflections of the sun off the space craft.Caught in a beam of sunlight on the right is a small pale dot. This is Earth. An astronomer described it as a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
The point was to show how great and glorious God is. However something stuck out for me. It said that each pixel took 5.5 hours to be downloaded. I don't know much about technology, but I do know that the pictures I send folks on my computer have tons of pixels and it takes only seconds to download them.
My dh, who is quite a bit more scientifically sophisticated than I, took issue with a few other things:
"Obviously, a pixel doesn’t take 5.5 hrs to load. Not only that but if that were the case, it would take 48,180,000 hours (5,500 years) for those photos to load. Another thing, any object as small as the sun viewed from 500 billion miles away would not be visible in a photo of this scale – let alone the earth, or any reflection from the sun."
It goes without saying that it is a good idea to investigate things a bit before we pass them along to friends and family or, even more importantly, business associates. If we pass along some bit of false information, we end up with egg on our faces. When Christians pass along misinformation like this, it just solidifies the intellectual's belief that Christians are a bunch of feeble minded and gullible simpletons.
A quick way to check out these types of things is to run it by Snopes.com. In this case, there was no entry. The next thing to do is to check Google for any reputable sites or blogs that counter the claims of the email.
Bill Gates is not going to send you money, Neiman Marcus didn't charge anyone $500 for their cookie recipe and neither did Mrs. Fields. Nobody was abducted and woke up in a hotel bathtub of ice with a note of instruction after being harvested for organs. And no matter how many people you forward an email to you won't have "good luck" or make a million dollars.
Forwarding emails like this can make your friends and family think you have lost your marbles, colleagues wonder about your business saavy and intillectuals more convinced that Christians will follow any silliness blindly.
As 2008 comes to a close, it is natural to reflect back on the year. So many are making New Year's Resolutions to lose weight or make more money. As a Christian, we should reflect to determine where we were able to glorify God and where we fell short of following His commands and plan for our lives. I call on each one of us to resolve to read our Bibles and pray daily for direction in our lives. But more important should be our determination to take the steps necessary to allow us to fulfill where the Lord leads.
I would like to offer three of the resources that have helped me to fulfill my Christian New Year's Resolutions each year. I pray they are a blessing to you and your family as well.
* Renew Your Commitment to Read the Bible Everyday One of my resolutions each year is to read the Bible cover to cover. I wanted to read the Bible from start to finish each year. I wasn't sure how much to read each day in order to reach my goal. I'd start off well but toward the middle of the year, I was never sure if I was on track and found that I frequently forgot to read it that day or that I had left my Bible in the other room (The other room was always the room what I wasn't in at the moment!)
I found a wonderful resource that has helped me fulfill this resolution this year. Since I am always online in the mornings when I had found was a perfect time for reading God's Word, I decided to read the Bible online. Unfortunately most online scripture studies that take you through the Bible in one year do so in a kind of jumbled way. They don't take you straight through the Bible. Instead they give you a little reading from the Old Testament and then a little from the New. The I found Search God's Word.org. They allow you to choose which version of the Bible you want to read and give you the days reading in order without having to go back and forth from Old to New Testament each day. I have found it much easier to keep my resolution to read through the Bible each year using this resource.
* Follow the Lord's Leading for Your Life One of the challenges in following where the Lord leads is listening to what He is saying for your life. How can we follow what we do not hear the Lord saying for our lives?
I have found that one of the ways in which I hear the Lord best is by listening to how He speaks to others in theirs. Grace Talk Soup is my weekly podcast where I interview guests about how they heard the Lord lead them in their ministry. It has helped me a great deal to be able to recognize the Lord's gentle direction in my own. Here's how you can listen in live but all shows are archived and you can scroll down to Past Episodes to hear any of the previous shows on demand:
When: Thursdays at 8am PST/11am EST Where: Join us via your computerhttp://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736 Or Join us via your phone:
Phone Number: (724) 444-7444 Call ID: 19736
* Resolve to Share God's Word More Often
If you have felt the Lord leading you to become more involved in sharing and defending the faith, I would like to encourage you to take the steps necessary that will lead you more effectively in that direction. One very important step you can take is to get a copy of Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith. These are the steps my children and I have taken to prepare us to more effectively share the Word of God with unbelievers in our own family as well as those we meet.
We have received such amazing feedback about this study.
"This is such a needed class and I can see how easily both boys are learning some of the ways to respond (and ways not to respond) to some of the common things people say. I can see how they are understanding their faith in new, deeper ways and making their faith their own. This class has also helped to facilitate discussion in our family around the dinner table. You have a way of presenting things in a straight forward way that is so understandable.Thank you JoJo" -Marcie, Homeschooling mom of two
And...this coming January we are going to begin offering ongoing online classes teaching this study. We will be going through the study one week at a time and then starting over again. This means that you can join the class at any time and take the class over and over as often as you like. Soon we will be adding lessons from our upcoming More Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith and Even More Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith! Because there are so many questions and misconceptions the world has about the Lord and the Christian faith.
Our commitment to our customers is to prepare them to fulfill The Great Commission and you and your family can join us beginning in January 2009! We will be announcing the details on this class soon so keep watch.
One of the recent stories that came across my desk for my Defending the Faith Review newsletter was about an Atheist (Penn of Penn and Teller) who asked why Christians wouldn't share their faith with him if they really believed his eternal soul was at risk. It makes perfect sense. If we really believe that Jesus is Lord, that He commands us to read the Word of God, listen to God's leading for our lives and share the Good News with others so their eternal soul is not lost in the Lake of Fire...why would we NOT follow?
This year, let's resolve to do just that! Let's make a renewed commitment to read God's Word, to listen to His leading for our lives and to share His love and His free gift of salvation with others. Make 2009 the Christian year of action. Let's all take action to walk the walk and not just pay lip service to what we should be doing as Children of God.
Wynonna Judd was a guest on Touched By an Angel in an episode about a single mom who was losing her son to cancer. She sang this song Testify to Love as the 151st Psalm. It reminds us of what God has done, is doing and can do in our lives.
For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love.
Be a witness in the silences when words are not enough...
If you are a regular Grace Talk Soup listener or if you caught yesterday's blogpost, you know that Stephen Kendrick, author of The Love Dare and creator of Fireproof, had sent me 12 Love Dare books to give away after being my guest on the show.
Our first Love Dare winner is.......Amanda Dixon!
We are looking into some creative and fun ways to determine who will get the rest of the copies so check back here or, better yet, subscribe to our What's New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter to find out about our next that we will be announcing tomorrow! We will be giving away FIVE Love Dare books in this one so don't miss out!
Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing!
Congratulations Amanda! And stay tuned to Communication FUNdamentals for information on our next Love Dare Giveaway!
The Play Book: A Play What You Mean Activities Book is a fun way for children to learn communication skills! For just a few dollars, you can give the gift of creative fun learning one of the most vital skills needed in today's society: effective communication! This little gem of an eBook contains games, activities and crafts that teach children the basics of effective communication. Check it out!
Give the gift of warmth this winter/Christmas with FIMM Wear from Art of Eloquence! FIMM is fun and he now has his own line of winter wear to help remind us all to communicate more effectively and in grace. FIMM is our lovable but bumbling communicator mascot here at Art of Eloquence. His weekly miscommunication episodes have entertained and educated thousands over the years! Now you can keep warm and cozy with a fun Foot in Mouth Man sweatshirt or check out all our other FIMM Wear here!
During this Thanksgiving week, I would like to challenge you to think a bit more about the communication you send-especially when you are giving someone feedback. Is it necessary to be nice? Or, in the interest of saving the time you would have to take to choose your words carefully, is it acceptable simply to be blunt and blurt things out?
I receive a great deal of correspondence, mostly from Christians and sometimes from Pastors. You would be surprised at how often a Christian is unkind in his or her writing. Sometimes it is directed at me and sometimes it is directed at someone else. Either way, I am sure that many times it isn't how they meant it to come across.
It only takes an extra moment to check over your email before you hit that send button. It only takes a brief period of time to make sure the words you choose are said in grace. After all, there is a real, living, breathing, feeling person behind the other computer screen too.
"Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:6
The Birthday Bash on Grace Talk Soup was such fun! I had a ball and so, apparently, did the attendees! Several rated the show a 5, others said they'd be coming back next year, some said they'd be coming to the show each week! I think it's safe to say it was a hit!
"I had a BLAST!...I spent yesterday at the Grace Talk Soup Birthday Bash and we played games, laughed and most of all, learned valuable communication skills and lessons. We even had our Littles playing the “um game” together from all around North America!!" -Shannon R.
"My Katie is still so excited about winning the game." -Angela M.
" Loved your show today! Wish I had been able to join in sooner though. Will catch up with the recording soon." -Rose S.
"I enjoyed the last 30 minutes of the Birthday Bash, and can't wait to listen to the rest of it. Thank you for all you do to help us learn to speak the truth with grace and in love. Shalom," -Joie
"
That was fun! Thanks JoJo!" -Shannon
For those who couldn't make it to the Birthday Bash on Thursday or who came in late, you can still listen in on my mini seminars and play along in the contests with the recorded audience! Just go to the Grace Talk Soup TalkCast and go down to "Past Episodes". Click on the orange "Listen Button" and have a great time!
Spam: we all get 'em! It's become its own form of communication. I don't know about you, but I often wonder..."Where did this come from?" as I am hitting the delete button. Well, I'll tell you. So instead of getting frustrated with spam today, let's have a fun and creative investigation of the phenomenon we call SPAM. At the end, I have a fun little survey for you.
According to Wikipedia, it is widely believed that the term SPAM began with a TV sketch on the BBC's Monty Python's Flying Circus depicting a cafe where all the items involved SPAM lunchmeat. This was a reference to rationing during WWII when canned SPAM was about the only thing widely available in England. In the 1980's, the word SPAM was used in chatrooms often referring to the Monty Python skit and there were some early spammers who would frequently post quotes from Monty Python as a tactic to stop newcomers from chatting. Later on, the technique of multiple posts became known as spam and is now defined as unsolicited bulk email.
Spam as we know it has many forms. It is best known as ads for Viagra and Rolex but it can appear as a sales letter, a long lost friend, a request for help, a solicitation from Nigeria from a deposed king's daughter who is asking you to keep money for her because she has nobody else in the world to turn to for help, Dr. Seuss wannabee nonsense words and even completely blank emails!
According to information compiled by Spam-Filter-Review.com, E-mail spam for 2006 can be broken down as follows.
E-Mail Spam by Category
Products
25%
Financial
20%
Adult
19%
Scams
9%
Health
7%
Internet
7%
Leisure
6%
Spiritual
4%
Other
3%
Now living in the United States as I do, and knowing that most every country speaks English as well as their own native language, I never expected my spam to come in any other form but English! However, over the last several months, I have been receiving a large amount of spam in various languages. Since the second most popular language in the world is Spanish, you would expect to see most of your spam in English and Spanish, but you'd be wrong!
In terms of volume of spam: According to Sophos, the major sources of spam in the first quarter of 2008 (January to March) were:
The United States (the origin of 15.4% of spam messages, down from 21.3% in Q4)
Russia (7.4%, down from 8.3%)
Turkey (5.9%, up from 3.8%)
China (5.5%, up from 4.2%)
Brazil (4.3%, up from 4.0%)
Russian spam? Yes Russian spam! In fact, in the last several weeks, the most of the spam I get is in RUSSIAN! My daughter is away at college studying Russian and European history and in her first year of Russian this year. I can't wait for her to come home for Thanksgiving to tell me what this spam is selling! lol
Spam has recently changed from annoying emails you receive about topics and products you have no interest in to frustrating emails in languages you don't even understand! So here's my fun survey for you today. As you go through your own personal SPAM, can you even read it?
Come share what language most of YOUR spam comes in?
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
Several months ago, I was in my car listening to a Christian radio station when the DJ asked about clutter in your purse. I thought it was an interesting commentary on your PURSEonality so I posed the question to my Grace Talk Soup listeners: What is the craziest thing you have in your purse? I received several answers including a metronome, a tape measure and diapers!
I'm a PURSE-A-Haulic and found this topic fascinating, especially since it revealed something about what your purse communicates about you. I couldn't resist so I had a quiz on this blog about what type of purse you all preferred. It wa so much fun that when I found a purse quiz online today, I thought I'd post it:
My problem was that I have sooo many purses that the quiz answers varried depending upon what purse I had in mind when I took the quiz. So I got to thinking and came up with another quiz that might be more revealing about what your purse says about you:
1.How many purses do you own?
2.In general do you like small purses or large purses?
3.In general do you like lots of pockets or just to dump stuff into one big pocket?
4.What is the color of your purse or, if you have more than one, what is the color of most of your purses?
5.Do you like leather or fabric purses?
6.If you didn’t have to be practical, what kind of purse would you LOVE to have?
7.How old is your oldest purse?
8.When was the last time you got a new purse?
9.Did you play with purses when you were a kid?
10.Does your wallet have to match your purse?
Here are my answers:
1.How many purses do you own? (Too many to count!)
2.In general do you like small purses or large purses? (larger)
3.In general do you like lots of pockets or just to dump stuff into one big pocket? (I like both, but generally I like the ones with a few pockets and a big place in the middle to dump stuff in)
4.What is the color of your purse or, if you have more than one, what is the color of most of your purses? (my current purse is purple, but most of them are either black or brown or tan)
5.Do you like leather or fabric purses? (Both: why limit yourself?)
6.If you didn’t have to be practical, what kind of purse would you LOVE to have? (Been looking for one of those old carpet bag purses with the twist closure that women had in the 40’s or so)
7.How old is your oldest purse? (I have no idea. I have some purses that belonged to both of my grandmothers. Could date back to the 30’s or 40’s)
8.When was the last time you got a new purse? (got two for my birthday this month and my dd sent me one which hasn’t arrived yet.)
9.Did you play with purses when you were a kid? (Oh you bet your plastic lipstick I did!)
10.Does your wallet have to match your purse? (I like it to but it isn’t always possible. I had a Purse Connection in my dh who used to work for Leegin Creative Leather the company that makes Brighten Bags. I have several wallets in all colors so I usually change off with my purse but, alas, I don’t have a purple one!)
What say you? Are you a PURSE-A-Haulic too? Post your answers here!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
Is there a Computer Doctor in the house? It's making me nutz...so maybe I need a Cyber Psychiatrist! I feel like we don't speak the same language. So perhaps I should be looking for a Techno Translator who can speak 'Deranged Computer'? Methuselah is just about at the end of his life and, if we don't get everything transferred over to the other computer soon, so, I am afraid, am I!
This past weekend we were all set (my dh, my father and me) to transfer the documents and programs I need from Methuselah to his great, great grandson, a Dell Pentium 4550. But alas, nothing is as easy as it seems.
We lost many things in the move, not the least of which was the cable that allows us to transfer programs and files from computer to computer. The cable is probably being used by my mop to transfer my kids' birth certificates from this house to cyber space.
Methuselah was having a senior moment and would NOT allow us to put any of the files on CDrom. So my dad ran home to get his flash drive, but as luck would have it, Methuselah had a problem with Flash too! It took us hours to get not nearly everything on to the flash drive and uploaded onto the other computer.
Then we tried to reinstall Office. It didn't work. So we figured we could at least get it hooked up to the internet. Not so fast Kawalski! I tried calling the cable company to see if they could help get it set up but they told me to call Dell. The machine is two years old and out of warranty. We think the ethernet card is bad. So back we need to go to Fry's! If this works, it might have been less expensive and a WHOLE LOT LESS time consuming to have bought a brand new computer!
Meanwhile, back at the monitor, we hooked up my ONLY one year old, just out of warrenty, big beautiful flat screen monitor to my son's computer just to see what would happen. We were hoping the monitor was being affected by Methuselah and it was turning itself off every few seconds in response to Methuselah's aging pieces parts. Experiment FAILED! It's the monitor!
My dad is coming back over this afternoon to see if we can't get Office loaded and the internet working today. Prayers gratefully accepted!
If this works, Methuselah's labotomy is scheduled for next Thursday!
If you need me, I'll be in my padded cell...
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
I am 46 years old today. I know I don't look a day over 45! But seriously, with a daughter in college this year, I am starting to feel my age. Especially when you consider that when I was a child:
* There was only NBC, CBS and ABC.
* Pac Man and Pong were the latest things!
* My father bought his very first calculator for $100 and all it did was add, subtract, multiply and divide!
* A postage stamp was 13 cents, 3 cents if you were mailing a postcard.
* Nobody even knew what a computer was.
* Man had just landed on the moon!
So a sweet friend of mine sent me an antique Bible the other day. What a precious gift! I am holding in my hand the Word of God printed in 1913 that had blessed and nurtured and comforted another person living in a year when:
* February 3rd: The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income taxes.
* March 3rd: The First Women's Suffrage March took place.
* July 3rd: Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg draws thousands of American Civil War veterans and their families to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
* December 1st: Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line, reducing chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes.
To put things into perspective, 1913 was the year that these famous people were born:
* Jesse Owens
* Rosa Parks
* Lloyd Bridges
* Danny Kaye
1913 marked the last year of these famous people's lives:
* Harriet Tubman
* JP Morgan
* Aaron Montgomery Ward
I can't wait to look through my Antique Bible in the year 2013 and feel the pages that have been sharing the Word of God for 100 years!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
My friends over at Values-Driven Family (www.valuesdrivenfamily.com) is hosting an end-of-summer “Ebook Extravaganza.” You will get an amazing package, valued at over $150, for only $20!
But today is the last day, August 26.
This package includes 3 Values-Driven ebooks: The Values-Driven Family, Values-Driven Discipleship, and The Growing Homeschool, plus the Children and Chores multimedia tutorial and Defeating Depression audio seminar package—and a dozen other bonus gifts worth over $100.
Not only that, but you’ll get a FREEBIE just for stopping by—a 6-page excerpt from Growing to be Like Jesus…Coloring and Activity Book--this is the first offering in the soon-to-be-released “Values-Driven Kids” line-up!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
It's been a week since we moved in! Well, to be more accurate, it TOOK us a week to move in! ROFL
It took us 13 hours to pack up the house. Why 13 hrs? Because that's how long it takes 10 people to pack up a 2500 square foot house and put it into a 26 foot Uhaul! More accurately a 26 ft Uhaul and two cars! When we were finished with that Uhaul, there wasn't a square ounce of AIR between the items!
My dd strategically placed each one of her 27 karate trophies to fit into a Kia Spectra. Ok so she had to disassemble about four of them to make them fit (some were as tall as 6 feet!) But we hooked up that Trophy Car and towed it all the way to Arizona on that Uhaul!
Behind me in the Honda Fit was no shortage of STUFF including two huge ice chests of refridgerator food, 3 bags of overnight clothes and computer equipment!
We left the old driveway after 8pm when my dh's leg just about gave out so we drove the short trip to my brother and SIL's house to stay the night. She was a perfect hostess and it gave us a chance to say goodbye to her and my adorable neice Sienna!
My overnight bag was mistaken for Uhaul fodder and packed under mounds of furniture in the middle of the Uhaul! I arrived with access to just the clothes on my back.
We left on our trek early Sunday morning. It took us 8 hours to drive the Uhaul (at sometimes ripping speeds of 35mph!) all the way to Arizona. I found it frustrating to move that slowly so my dd and I played with my dh all the way by making turtle comments directed at my dh on the walkie talkie!
My mom had prepared a delicious dinner after which we drove to the new house to unload. If it weren't for the help of a local homeschool family we met online while still in California, we would probably STILL be unpacking the Uhaul! A great big thank you goes out to the Olsen family! What a blessing you all were!
We were able to take the truck back the next day and we have been unpacking a little each day. We had to wait to get internet access. Friday was our Internet Freedom Day. So far I LOVE Cox Cable. We are not used to such wonderful service after Cable Clods!
Yesterday we tried out a local church. MUCH smaller than we are used to but it was very intimate and lovely! We are going to try out a different church each week for a while til we find our new church home.
Rich hasn't found a job yet. Please continue to pray as we search for him. I am sure the Lord will provide as He got us this far!
Yesterday was Kelsey's last Sunday with us. I got my very last church hug. She and her dad leave for Nashville on Friday and it is just too soon for me! She is excited. We've been college shopping for the last few days for things she needs to bring with her. I can't believe my little girl is leaving home!
The people here are sooo friendly and we just love the fact that everything is so close!
Well, today begins another week as Arizonans. I think that's what you call us now. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I can't walk around calling myself by the wrong state association, now can I?
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
The Discovery of the Week on KnowledgeNews.com was this little article on Dolphin Communication. Facinating stuff! Take a look at an excerpt from that article:
Researchers have known for years that individual bottlenose dolphins (and members of many other dolphin species, too) emit unique signature whistles using the nasal passages beneath their blowholes (here one). But until recently, no one knew whether the whistles actually convey identifying information, like the sounds that make up our names do.
To find out, a team of scientists synthesized a series of bottlenose dolphins' signature whistles, then called out to other dolphins through an underwater speaker system. The synthesized whistles lacked any features of an individual dolphin's voice--the same way a computer-generated version of your name would lack any features of your voice. Yet the dolphins often turned to listen when they heard the synthesized versions of their kin's whistles, and largely ignored the whistles of unknown dolphins.
No one's claiming that such signature whistles are equivalent to "Chuck" and "Edna." But the research suggests that dolphins do more than just recognize the tone of a familiar voice. They identify and respond to signature sound patterns even when a stranger whistles them. What's more, we now know that mother dolphins whistle their signature sound patterns--their "names"--to their babies following birth. In fact, they whistle them ten times more often than normal during a calf's early days, when it's most likely to get lost.
Communication is vital for every day life! Even for dolpin moms and their babies! How much more important is it for us? Food for thought...
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
I thought this was kind of fun! TV is one method of communication. Do you know the answers to these early TV questions? Try your hand and I will post the answers tomorrow.
Early TV Quiz:
In what year did television make its debut?
In what year did commercial television with 13 stations become available to the public?
At the end of WWII, approximately how many television sets were in American homes?
By 1951, how many TVs had been sold?
What was the name of the first top rated show in 1948?
What show was credited with creating the demand for TVs?
What was the name of the star of that show?
What was the name of the first children's television show?
What was the year that show came out?
When did the SitCom make its first appearance?
What was the name of the first SitCom?
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
If you have read my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I have been at odds with my cable company for two years. From the entire month it took them to install our service when we moved in to the unidentifiable billing process to the service interruptions every time they "upgraded" something and the customer service phone tree resembling an Abbott and Costello routine, I am giddy to know that Cable Clods does NOT serve the Arizona area!
As my parents were helping us find a home in Arizona, they knew they didn't have to take into account the school districts because we plan to continue to homeschool our son. However, they were happy to report that anywhere we moved inside of the Phoenix area was outside the domain, MIScommunication and MISmanagement of my comedic friends at Cable Clods!
I do hate packing and I will not be excited to drive all our "stuff" 5 hours to get to Arizona but I will not miss very much about California. And on the very tip top of the list is our internet provider slash telephone service slash cable company I affectionately call Cable Clods!
In three weeks I get to "drop their line" for a change!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? Where's FIMM? Come find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that is different from all the rest. Email what he looks like and where you found himm to fimm@artofeloquence.com and you could win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of your choice!
We know how busy life can get (after all, we're MOVING!) and there are always a few of our readers who email us saying they forgot to order in time to take advantage of the special. This is only the second time in over five years of business that Art of Eloquence has had a half off sale so we wanted to post a reminder so nobody misses out!
There are less than 24 hours left to take advantage of our 50% OFF SALE because the voucher code willexpire at midnight (EST) tonight. So, in case you missed my previous post, here are the details again:
Inventory Reduction Moving Sale!
If you have listened to my show, Grace Talk Soup, or read my blog here at, Communication FUNdamentals, you know that Art of Eloquence (and our family) is in the process of moving from California to Arizona in the next few weeks. While we have moved several times in our 21 year marriage, this is the first time we have ever moved out of state. In fact, I haven't moved out of state since I moved to California with my parents back in 1977. (Any of you remember 1977? LOL)
There's a lot to pack!! Boy do you accumulate stuff when you've been married for 21 years! Stuff you don't want to throw away-like the booklet about Jesus my 18 year old daughter made when she was 6 years old! Gotta keep THAT! We have a lot more furniture than we did 21 years ago too so we want to get rid of as many things as possible.We've got to find a way to get it all in a UHaul and survive the 6 hour drive east.
What's that got to do with you? Well, we know that this year has been tough for some of you with gas prices quickly climbing to $5/gallon and almost everything else going up in response. Many of you tell us you are waiting to purchase your homeschool materials or waiting for sales. If you were waiting for a sale, you've come to the right blog because, through the end of this month, we are offering our customers 50% OFF!
In fact, we would like to extend the offer of 50% OFF to all of our products including all of our eProducts andPackages! This way you can mix and match and purchase any Art of Eloquence product for half off through the end of this month!
To take advantage of this offer, just order as usual ANY Art of Eloquence product or products. Then use voucher code 406085050 at check out and it will automatically take 50% OFFyour entire purchase!
This is only the second time in five years of business that Art of Eloquence has offered a half off sale! So do take advantage of it before the end of the month when the voucher code will expire!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week? FIMM is now hiding on a new page on the Art of Eloquence site. To be entered into the drawing to win a free Art of Eloquence eProduct of YOUR CHOICE, find the only Foot in Mouth Man picture that looks different from all the rest and email us telling us what he looks like and where you found himm!
According to my Weird-O-Meter, my family is pretty unusual. First, there is only one other relative on my side of the family who is Christian. We homeschool, didn't vaccinate our son, like watching documentaries and infomercials and playing along with Jeopardy. We have a family business instead of having me work outside the home. I didn't own a car for about two years a while back. We don't listen to pop music and don't know many of the new pop artists folks talk about. We love to use natural remedies instead of antibiotics and other man-made cures. We believe in Chiropractic (most of my family thinks that's akin to snake charmers). My 18 y/o dd wants to court and has no interest in dating at all, but only after she graduates from college, law school and has started her career as a Judge Advocate General. (Grandma isn't a name I'll be called til I am at least old enough not to care if all my hair is grey!) We don't buy trendy clothes and find it difficult to buy much of anything in the stores. My dd dresses even more conservatively than I do and that's saying something!! I don't wear bathing suits. Getting the picture?
My family is gracious but they really think we're weird. lol How weird are YOU? Here are some of the criteria on the Weird-O-Meter, but feel free to add your own!
Homeschool
Don't watch TV
Like to spend time with kids/don't look forward to when kids go back to school
Didn't vaccinate
have more than 2.4 kids
kids read dictionary or other for fun
Like watching educational tv
have your own business instead of working for someone else
use natural things
Don't own a car
grow your own food
Make your own soap, bread, whatever
make your own babyfood
listen to Christian music not popular music
didn't date (did court)
Don't allow dd's to date
Don't buy trendy clothes
Weird can be good! It communicates that you aren't just following the crowd. Let's face it, it's hard to be weird sometimes. To buck the vision of the average family. If you do, it means you are unique, strong in your beliefs and you are noticed.
So...how does your family rate on the Weird-O-Meter?
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon...
Brain Teaser FUN: Where's FIMM? Did you find himm this week?
If you did, you could win a free gift from Art of Eloquence!
No more pencils. No more books. No more teaching. Just plenty of packing!
Today begins the seemingly endless, mind-numbing packing marathon! Did I Dump all the Junk? Well, not entirely. My office is just about done but we still have the downstairs closet and the GARAGE to do. The kids and I can do the closet, but my dh will have to help us tackle the dreaded garage. So for now we are...The Tabares Moving Company!
I have to tell you that the sound of this makes me even more tired than I already am! I have been so tired the last few days. But since we can't hire someone else's family to pack us up, it comes down to one slightly used 45 year old mom, an 18 y/o college girl and a 9 y/o computer wiz kid with scientific tendancies!
Let's see how much we can get done before the bell rings at 3:30pm! That's quittin' time! That's when we need to leave for karate class.
What are you up to this week? Anyone else packing?
I was raised by two Atheists of Jewish heritage, married a non practicing Catholic and became a non denominational Christian due, in part, to some Amway meetings and a Jehovah's Witness who came to my door. My purple crayon writes with humor and almost always a little out of the lines.
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This blog is my creative and fun way of sharing my thoughts on communication skills relating mostly to homeschooling and sharing and defending the faith. It also reveals a bit about how the Lord took this shy Agnostic girl and allowed her to find her voice and her purpose, a zany voice to the Christian community with insight as to what unbelievers need to hear about Christ Jesus.
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I'll share news items, quotes, family friendly humor, tips, trivia, and my newest feature: Question of the Week. I invite you to come share your thoughts!
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For more creative fun with JoJo you can visit www.ArtofEloquence.com
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"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -Proverbs 25:11
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