Skiing Above (and in) the Clouds

Family ski trip time at Big White, British Columbia. This mountain is little sister to Whistler. Summit is  7,606 feet and base lift is at 4,950 feet. Famous for Okanogon champagne powder and glade skiing through snow ghosts.
If you like sitting in the basement and watching family vacation slides, here you go…

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Recipe: Greek Quesadilla

A fusion of Greek (think Skordalia) and Mexican. This can be done on the stove top, grill or campfire. A good use of left over mashed potato. Yes…  mashed potato quesadilla!
Tools:
Flat Griddle or large flat pan
Basting or pastry brush
Chef knife or pizza cutter
Ingredients:
Corn tortilla
Vegetable oil
Mashed potato (soften left over potatos with milk if needed)
Garlic cloves- [...]

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Recipe: S’moresgasbord

Ahhh. S’mores. A campfire tradition and for good reason. Participatory food. Interactive eating.
The standard recipe for s’mores is more than marshmallow, graham cracker and Hershey Bar. It’s roasting your own goodness on a stick over an open fire, usually with good company and good conversation. Cowboy fondue.
Then there’s the construction step. A personal, almost ritualistic experience. [...]

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E-mail Servers and Clients

E-mail is a fundamental part of the daily workflow for many of us. It has changed not only how we communicate but also our expectations. As an e-mail hosting provider, I can tell you that folks expect their e-mail service to work fast and all the time. Despite standard industry fine print that states the [...]

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To Blog or Not to Blog

More than once I have had a client say to me: “I was told that if I’m not blogging, I’m missing out.”
My first thought is “who told you that and did they explain what you’re missing?” What I usually ask first, though, is:
“So you mean like a WordPress Blog where you have a web-based interface for posting your [...]

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Parable of the Peanut Farmer

One day an operations manager of a newly formed corporation met a peanut farmer in the town square. The operations manager said, “I see you are a peanut farmer and I have need of a large quantity of peanuts.” “Tell me more” replied the peanut farmer, “the new harvest is coming in as we speak.” [...]

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Smell the Coffee

The Pantlind Hotel Blend Still Lives at Herman’s Boy in Rockford
The Pantlind Blend has been enjoyed by folks (first in Grand Rapids- and now around the country) since the early 1900’s. I get a little nostalgic this time of year. So if you don’t mind, I’ll share the story:
In 1901, the Coffee Ranch opened for business [...]

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Recipe: Garbage Can Dinner

This recipe, thanks to my brother-in-law Kevin, is great for a large crowd at an outdoor party and has been used on the Steve Karr Group campus for several swanky events.
Start with one garbage can (preferably clean).  Make sure the lid has holes drilled in it.
1 ½ – 2 Dozen ears of corn (detassled, but leave [...]

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SEO for Copywriters

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a big and getting bigger topic. Not to be confused with SEM (search engine marketing), one piece of SEO is copywriting.
There is just about a library of congress full of material on the subject of SEO. Have at it as you are inclined. Here are the very most basic basics a [...]

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The Levitation Story

Still Floating
In 1996, the web was still novel and I was figuring out how to work it. To make a web site with the newest and coolest tools (NetObjects Fusion Version 1.0), I needed content.
So I took an original piece of short, short fiction and made a little 10 page “web book” called “Levitation or [...]

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