How can we seize the day - pursue life with passion and conviction - without falling into the trap of doing, climbing, competing, striving, getting, consuming, accumulating?   

From the beginning of Facebook, people have used their real names to share and connect with the people they know. This authenticity helps to create a trusted environment because you know the identity of the people and things on Facebook. The one place, though, where your identity wasn't reflected was in the Web address for your profile or the Facebook Pages you administer. The URL was just a randomly assigned number like "id=592952074." That soon will change.

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I rarely cross-post pieces between here and my blog at Beliefnet.com, but I have a sense with this one that I am supposed to do it,  so here goes...   

I have a birthday that stops people in their tracks. An elder Generation Xer, I was born on June 6, 1966. Yup. 6.6.66.

People at motor vehicle and police officers stopping me for speeding (call me 'lead-foot') would take my identification, read silently, look up with the same playful-yet-mildly-freaked-out expression and say something like, "Whoa, 6.6.66, huh? That's some birthday." Kids, who were not so polite, would say, "Hey, is that carved on your head?" (The Omen hit the big screen when I was about 10.) 

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 Came across this video on a new Facebook friend, Collen Mckeown's blog. She called it "What Limitation Holds You Back."  The quality of the video is not great, but you'll get the picture...

On the eve of Memorial Day a friend, the mother of a Marine, sent me this video. Now, just so you know where I'm coming from, I am a sucker for Memorial Day. I expanded upon this sentiment in a recent post at Beliefnet,com.  While the politics of war and hierarchical military directives can be a challenge for this outsider looking in, I find supporting that special breed of men and women who put their lives on the line in service of country to be a simpler task. That's why this video challenged my thinking and raised a number of questions for me, both as a Christian and a supporter of our troops.  

Questions like, what does it mean to share one's faith? How can/should a professing Christian navigate between a call to share their faith when operating in an environment where rules preclude it? Is it right to manipulate the meaning of words to make our actions outside the spirit of the law fit within the letter of the law? Would love to hear what you think...

Attention authors and those who aspire to be. The following was a top story in today's Publisher's Weekly newsletter. It will be interesting to see how this impacts an already ailing book/publishing industry, especially in light of the Kindle.  

Amazon Launches Publishing Program

By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 5/14/2009 7:50:00 AM

In its most significant foray into publishing, Amazon has acquired world English rights to a self-published novel by a midwestern teenager called Legacy. The acquisition is the first for the e-tailer's newly launched publishing banner, AmazonEncore. Amazon is re-releasing the fantasy title, in hardcover, in August. The book, by Cayla Kluver, is part of a planned a trilogy--it was published under the banner Forsooth Books, founded by Kluver and her mother--and, according to Amazon, is the first in a currently unknown number of titles from AmazonEncore.

Jeff Belle, v-p of books at Amazon, said the new publishing program, while focused on self-published books with promise, could also target out-of-print titles from major houses. Belle was vague about both the criteria used in the selection of Legacy and the terms of the deal with Kluver. (Kluver does have an agent, but Belle would not disclose any details about the nature of the deal Amazon struck with her.) 

In terms of the criteria used to select Kulver's title, and future AmazonEncore titles, Belle said the company is relying on a combination of sales data and customer feedback. When asked what feedback was used, in addition to the customer reviews on the site, Belle said "customers have many ways of interacting with us" and would not elaborate. And, when asked about the validity of the customer reviews, which in the past had come under question with certain customers (or authors) submitting multiple reviews, Belle said "certain controls are built into the process for customer reviews." (Kluver currently has 15 customer reviews for Legacy, 12 of which are five-star reviews.)

Belle said that Legacy was one title on a lengthy list of potential AmazonEncore books, although he declined to say how many books Amazon may release annually, noting the list will be decided by "how many great books we can identify." As for the editorial process used by AmazonEncore, Belle said a "team of editors" read a number of manuscripts on the list and their literary judgement were taken into consideration along with "what they think the incremental sales opportunity might be."

In addition to the hardcover, Amazon will release Legacy as an audiobook (through Audible) and as an e-book (as a Kindle edition). Belle said the company will make a decision about a first printing--the company's using an offset printer for the title--based on pre-order information and other data. And, moving forward, print runs will be made on a title-by-title basis. Amazon will also work with wholesalers to get the title into bookstores.

When asked if he thought publishers might be leery of the industry's most dominant online retailer moving into what looks like traditional publishing, Belle said he doesn't see why AmazonEncore would make anyone fearful. "I wouldn't say this is a new model; there are other examples in the marketplace of retailers who've done similar things," he said. He then added that a number of publishers he spoke to about the program gave positive feedback, noting that "publishers want to see how we could work together on this model," returning to the example of AmazonEncore bringing back into print a publisher's top title.

I came across a funny story earlier this week... 

A South Florida woman said she was cooking fried salami when she noticed the word "GOD" on the meat, Miami television station WFOR reported.  Nancy Simoes said she had three pieces in a skillet and flipped one of them and saw the letter G.  "Then got the O and I thought to myself how cool will it be if the third letter was a D."

Simoes realizes people may think she's crazy.  "I can't make this up. ... it's there in the burn marks." For 20 years, her family has enjoyed fried salami for breakfast. Now Simoes is wondering how she will preserve the "holy" salami. 

A friend sent me the following note in response to a post I wrote on Beliefnet as a tribute to my mother on the first anniversary of her death. I wanted to share Julya's wise and practical thoughts on dealing with grief and mourning. Julya writes...

I had the privilege of meeting up with you for the first time in nearly 20 years just two weeks ago. When we met up you were remarking about being in the middle of the first anniversary of your parents tragic and untimely deaths and how they were less than 3 weeks apart. You said,..."The month of April is always going to suck!." I know it does now-but here's a little uncanny advice (from me to you)...It's going to take a lot of your inner strength but you can do this and maybe spread it to your siblings or other relatives and friends. 

Each year slowly try to make April the greatest month of the year by celebrating the lives of your parents separately and together. Some examples: If your dad loved chocolate chip cookies-bake dozens and send them to those who knew it. Include a note remembering him that day. If your mom was a fan of a certain musical group, make a CD and send it to friends and family with a note reminiscing about her air guitar abilities. Then play it really loud and dance around the house. If your parents loved the beach, take your husband on a romantic date with a picnic to the sand and water like your parents would have done. Maybe you can have an annual dinner. Not a pity party but a celebration of their lives with your siblings, family, friends and order in what they would have liked-Chinese, pizza, whatever and enjoy. 

Try to turn a negative into a positive. Mom was a nurse, so send roses to a nurse (any nurse-anonymously) thanking her for her hard work in memory of your mom. Your dad was a New York City firefighter, so send a cake to a firehouse for the crew to share with an anonymous note for them to celebrate a brothers life and their own. Don't let April consume you with grief-as time passes good things will occur in this month again. Your children could marry in the month of April, your future grand children could be born, you could be named to the NY Times best sellers list!...Make April a good Month for Mom, Dad, you and yours.