Frank Lloyd Wright - An idea is salvation by imagination.

When I first learned to tie a double knot in my shoelaces I remember thinking to myself: "It takes too long to untie the double knot."  So I sat down on the slate floor and figured out a new way to tie a double knot.  My way involves one slight twist at the end that enables you to take out the double knot as if it was a simple bow.  I was about 5 years old at the time and I still tie my shoes that way.

So....what's your good idea for the evening?  Ideas do not have to be limited to the fantastical/political realm, they can creep into any part of our mundane/existential lives.  Did you have a personal epiphany you'd like to share?  Perhaps the farmer down the road taught you how to save time and money doing something or a mechanic filled you in about ways to check for a bad engine.

Taj was kind enough to play a private concert for me and my friends when one of our crew decided to take his own life.  Taj performed an amazingly thoughtful and reverent show in my friend's honor at the Egg in Albany, NY.

So here is my one small way of paying him back.  Taj is currently touring as part of a trio and his new album is called "Maestro".  You can find out more by going here or to his official site

Tour Dates below the fold!

I tossed hay today, 400 bails, just enough to cover the horses needs for the winter.  The farmer that lives down the road and his family came out for the day and taught me all about how to cut, dry, bail and stack it properly.  We bailed it and carted it from the fields to the barn and used his hay elevator to get it into the loft.  Two of us unloaded and two of us stacked.  We also talked about politics, taxes, schools and comedians.

The last time I tossed hay I was 5 years old and tagging along after my best friend's older brothers.  Well I remember hay being tossed at me, but I digress.  There was a house fire nearby last night and three out of the four family members that showed up to work with me all day also showed up at 3am to put out the fire.  So I was working with hometown heroes doing their everyday best to help their community simply get by.  They are unassuming, quick with a joke, strong as oxes and All American.

After an easy drive out to Sterling I had a little difficulty finding the venue, but like most things that are hard to find it was worth the search.  The "gate" consisted of two large trees on either side of the road with some friendly faces there to greet you.  Eric, the Arts Director came out and introduced himself, gave me some background on the venue, musicians and layout of the property.

I was lead to my spot, right in the middle of Vendor Row, quickly unpacked my things and set up my tent.  Stan, my neighbor in a big white converted bus, was the first to say hello, he gave me a tour of his bus and introduced me around to his travel companions.  Stan sells rocks, crystals and anything terrestrial and was going to head to Herkimer to get some more Herkimer Diamonds right after the show.

I exited the bus and was asked if I'd be willing to paint a sign for the Family Village area, a small hollow that sits away from the rest of the venue where things are quieter.  I said sure and was handed a beautiful piece of wood that had been reserved for just this purpose. I broke out my paints and started in on it. People walking by asked what I was doing and who I was and it was a good way to meet new people.

OK so what's a widget you ask?  It's a small bit of coding that webmasters and bloggers can plug into their sidebars, posts and pages.  Many blogging platforms allow for the instant inclusion of widgets which makes them very easy to use and install.  They are also viral, every widget contains a link for others to grab the coding.

I've been busy over at WidgetBox.com creating tools that allow anyone to place Progressive News Sources and Issues onto their own blogs and websites with the click of a button.  The latest one, which has taken off right away with the help of Jim Staro, is an Eternal Flame for the  Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

I made one for DailyKos too with an Orange background of course which you may find here.
And what would any netroots blog be without the latest news from DemocracyNow!

More below the fold:

So far y'all have named my dog and my web site, now I'm asking you to name my farm.  The farm will be growing organic veggies and trees to start with, it will be completely solar within a year and a half.  There won't be livestock but lots of pets and a couple of horses and a stocked pond.

I have tried a few times but can't seem to come up with anything.  I'll need a name within a week as I'll be ordering supplies and feed.  I left this for the late night crew because I think you are a little more creative than the daytime crew.  So once again put your leather and aluminum thinking caps on and let loose with thy names.

Free Video Below The Fold!

I just checked the Alexa rankings of the campaign sites for Hillary, Obama, and Edwards and was surprised the see that the Edwards' stats are so low.  A lot of this could be do to the fact that many Edwards supporters are here posting more than on the campaign site.  Regardless of the reasons his site could do with a bit of promotion.

The corporate media has not been covering John Edwards which means it is up to us to do their work...once again.   I'm not asking for money just a little bit of your time. There are endless places to submit a website:  Search engines, blog indexes, directories, news indexes, link lists, blogrolls, signatures, etc.  Your job is to add a link to JohnEdwards.com or a section of the site anywhere you can think of without spamming.

More on how to do that below the fold:

An eZine is in development and needs a fun domain name.  The name should be rather short as other projects will be served up from the same site on different folders. Recently I scoured through a list of 10,000 expired domain names and came up with nothing.  So maybe I was doing it wrong.  If you come up with the winning suggestion I'll.......ummmmm......uhhhhhh.....oh make and give your blog a free ad on the site.

In addition to name suggestions let me know if you'd like your own blog to be included in the mix as I develop tools for webmasters and bloggers to download and use on their sites.  Basically, if you'd like more traffic, let me know.

Put your leather and aluminum thinking caps on and jump!

I have to do some work on a new side project but I would like to ask that the netroots focus on a few things while I'm busy, they are important and should be getting more attention.  Perhaps we could follow the Stephen Colbert method of promotion.  You must pass these stories on to two bloggers that have more readership than your own blog....Deal?  Deal!

Why two bloggers?  Well because there are two items. That's all, just two little projects that could make a huge difference to many many people if you simply participate.

TKK, myself and a few others are working on a new project aimed at bridging the gap between military and civilian life.  To that end you can help us out by completing the simple questionnaire below the fold.

Please provide your initial gut reaction to the questions posed.  If you'd like to help with this project please let us know in the comments also tell us what your particular field of expertise is.  Currently we could use one more IT person and a civilian blogger as well as people to beta test the new site and provide feedback on any level you can dream up.

Large Image Version

This is a simple graphic in support of the Pretty Bird Woman House Fund Raiser that can be used as a flier, small poster, made into t-shirts, stickers, etc.  Post it on message boards at colleges and coffee shops, turn it into an online postcard, send it to an email group.  

Sound like too much work?  Well Tigana has taken care of that for you.  Her image is officially licensed and available on all sorts of gear.  You can buy some gifts and spread the word at the same time!  While there, take a look at the amazing body of work Tigana has created for various progressive efforts, perhaps her work alone will inspire you to do a little more.

A challenge has presented itself to us, the netroots, as a whole.  An offer for the shelter has been made based on donations already received from places like DailyKos, Docudharma, MyLeftWing and a myriad of other fine blogs.  We need to raise more cash in order for them to stay in the bidding.  I would like to go beyond that request however and request that we raise the remainder of the money tonight.

Currently the total needed is $70,000
So far we have raised $38,677

Let's do this thing and allow a community to begin healing.  It's in the spirit of the season and it's the right thing to do.

Donation Information, Links and Info Below

xposted

Admittedly I did not apply the philosophy below to my own local elections this year.  But this is the method I followed to help a Progressive Democrat win in Western New York.  The candidate had been posting some things on a site I ran and I noticed his campaign site needed help.

1. Make sure your coding is correct so that the search engines will be able to index your site properly.  Your site should be ready to go before you announce, if not make it a priority ASAP as media articles referring to you will sometimes include links to your site and you don't want it to look like a mess. Yes a blog is a must.  An events calendar is also very helpful as people feel welcome to join in the fun right away.

2. Post photos of the candidate interacting with people at local events.  At the same time begin advertising the site in every conceivable location, if the site is broken down into issues register those sections of the site with indexes that are related to the topic, register news feeds with aggregate sites and search for local engines and link lists.

xposted here and here

On Friday at 4:43 pm this report,  regarding conflicting accounts from a State Department official and his own brother,  hit the news wires.  The most interesting part of this article is that Krongard, the official in jeopardy,  "had begun the hearing by denying the "ugly rumors" that his brother was associated with the company, which is under scrutiny for a September 16 shooting incident in Baghdad in which 17 Iraqis were killed."  According to the article he then took a break and came back into the same exact room and recused himself from the probes into Blackwater.

This is a clear example of a Public Official  so used to doing things the Bush/GOP way that he didn't even bother to check his facts before taking part in a hearing of this magnitude.   I'll say that again,  this is a clear example of a Public Official  so used to doing things the Bush/GOP way that he didn't even bother to check his facts before taking part in a hearing of this magnitude.

Did it sink in?

This poem is an attempt to sum up various experiences and thoughts during the summer.  Poems like this help me to remember many things without having to write it all down in diary form.  It's a shorthand of sorts.

From Where We All Came

red dry surface scratched through blue sand
under tow of Prater's Wood
in pine roots writhing through granite stands
trumpets on vine or blooms of rust
into this that simply must
unendure tales of freedom
while wails of woe
set forth lizardlike
tasting present on huge fern
climbing fast in search of sunny spots
burrowing through
scuttling about
or perfectly still
the call at night from yards away
eagle presents
moose commands
mouse vanishes
dragonfly befriends

So John Kerry is going to do his damndest to get his face on every TV station there is for you and me.  Doesn't this tickle you to death?  Are you wriggling with the chance to see his visage weeping with Katie and the rest of the MSM?  Have you ordered in the popcorn (minus the toxic butter flavor of course)?  Do you have your slippers within easy reach?  Good, relax, John Kerry has you covered!

John seems to think that if only he can talk to enough pundits that he can change things in Iraq.  A failed presidential candidate believes he has the clout that you and I don't, after all we are just bloggers...right?    

Hopefully you know the drill by now, this is where you get to share your own personal knowledge gained from intrepid, stupid, fearless, bold, subtle, creative experiences.  As fate would have it, many of mine stem from the stupid variety tonight, so if you feel like laughing at someone other than yourself, have at it.

Moon was almost full, Air smelled of late summer, Fire was burning in ancient forms, Stream spoke softly of dreaming in blues.  Caterpillars crawled along the ceiling of your tent and 1 2 3 jump!

As we all know the internet ranking systems almost all include a paramater for popularity.  With that in mind I thought we could do our best to ensure that the links on our sites and blogs point to the right sources of news, information, social involvement, and even progressive businesses.  Don't have your own site or blog?  Don't worry you can still participate by sharing at least 10 of your favorite bookmarked sites.

In order to save everyone time you may simply post the URL of the site. Title and description are not required but appreciated as it will save the rest of us time when it comes to posting them on our sites.  Sites already linked to on the Kos homepage will be taken for granted and need not be repeated here.  It's fine to pimp your own blog or a friends, science links, culture links etc.  Just please link to the main site and not a story on the site as the concept here is not so much a google bomb but a google hurricane.

So let it rain: