RockTheDesert

Creating WOW Product Experiences

Please read this article. I found it on Michael S. Hyatt's excellent blog "From Where I Sit." It will change the way you create worship experiences, product experiences, and life experiences!! I recommend printing out the main points and posting them where you can read, re-read and begin to internalize. This is one of the best articles I've read in a long time!!

Creating WOW Product Experiences

As I have said before, we don’t need more books. Instead, we need better books. Specifically, we need books that “wow.” But what is wow and how can we develop it?

The first step is learning to recognize it. Most of us have experienced wow moments. We just haven’t taken time to think deeply about them.

"She Reads" Cold Tangerines

"I believe in a life of celebration. I believe that the world we wake up to every day is filled to the brim with deep, aching love, and also with hatred and sadness. And I know which one of those I want to win in the end. I want to celebrate in the face of despair, dance when all we see on the horizon is doom. I know that Death knocks at our doors and comes far too early for far too many of us, but when he comes for me, I want to be full-tilt, wide-open, caught in the very act of life."

Just a short from excerpt from "Cold Tangerines" (page 231) to whet your appetite. For an audio sample of this excerpt plus a little bit more, click HERE.

This book can be read all at once. Or one chapter at a time. Or random chapters at a time, not necessarily in sequential order. It is raw and honest, funny and self-deprecating, beautiful and celebratory, and deeply satisfying.

Shauna Niequist is a masterful storyteller, with vibrant metaphors weaving personal stories and experiences together into a compelling, life-giving tapestry of real life. Check out her blog for more stories, pics, great links and three full chapters from the book!

Our newly formed book club, "She Reads", is reading "Cold Tangerines" in May and will meet for discussion, snacks & beverages on Thursday, May 29 at 6:30pm. For directions/RSVP, click HERE.

The Monster Workout

Well, I've been working out for 6 weeks, minus last week due to my whirlwind travel schedule (Nashville to Phoenix to San Diego to Phoenix). I hardly had time to rest last week, let alone work out. I did have the best of intentions, as did my traveling companion and fellow Lifework 2.0 attendee, Krellfish. I even dutifully packed my workout clothes & tennis shoes just in case the Country Inn Suites had an acceptable work out facility (it did but our timing was all off).   

So, in addition to being dead tired on Monday after an incredibly intense yet wonderful Mother's Day service on Sunday, I managed to acquire a massive head cold fueled by a raging seasonal allergy. I've been miserable all week and we've run out of kleenex more than once. I was in no mood nor physical condition to get out of bed on Monday and drive 30 minutes to Fitness Together, yet somehow, probably, mostly the "pay-in-advance" incentive, I found myself riding the Lifecycle at 8am, heading in at 8:15 for a brand new workout with Joe, called "The Monster Workout." I guess Joe is trying to keep our muscles and fat-burning mechanism at optimum levels by switching up our workout routines fairly regularly.
Let me just say, The Monster kicked my butt. As is our usual practice, we (the golden girls) headed over to the Good Egg for a quick, protein-packed meal and wind-down time together. Debbie insisted on paying for the food. That is, until the manager approached our table with the surprising news that a generous patron had paid our bill anonymously. Wow! That has never happened to me before. Quite overwhelming and confusing and humbling and touching all at once. We should have ordered the smoothies too!

Kalein Songwriting Retreat

"Kalein exists to provide a place to encourage and equip gifted artists and leaders to discover, develop and discipline their dreams. An esthetically pleasing and solitary refuge where respected and recognized master teachers provide personal training, encouragement and mentoring to small groups of leaders and artists."

Randy Elrod, founder of Kalein, has just announced the first-ever Kalein event:  a Songwriting Retreat and Master Class, taught by two of the finest songwriters in the world; Mark Lee (Third Day) and Bryan White (Country Music Recording Artist). This once-in-a-lifetime is being held at Round Cove, June 9 & 10, 2008!!

Auditions are now being accepted for only 6 songwriters. Go to the Kalein website HERE for an application. Also, just take a few minutes to cruise thru the Kalein website - you will be inspired by the depth of the vision for Kalein.

I visited Kalein in February and was blown away by its simplicity and beauty. It is absolutely breathtaking, with trees everywhere, clear blue skies, hills with incredible views, nature resounding with praise to its Creator. Click HERE for a detailed account of my visit to Kalein!

WCW - Epicurean Art

Today is Watercooler Wednesday - join me around the Watercooler at Randy Elrod's Ethos blog for a carnival of sorts - lost of creative, innovative bloggers posting once a week on topics related to arts, culture, creativity, etc. Join the fun by reading, commenting, and blogging!! Read Randy's post HERE!

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Jessica Foster Confections. As a disclaimer, I've never met Jessica Foster, I'm not a paid representative of her company, and I'm not a food professional. However, I am absolutely, totally, in love with her confections.

I first received two truffles in a cute little bag as a wedding favor a couple of weeks ago. After one tiny bite, I was instantly hooked. I've never tasted anything quite like these truffles. It's like they turn to liquid when they hit your mouth, melting and caressing every single taste bud for a brief second before taking your senses of smell, texture, and taste to an all new level.

According to her website, "For Jessica Foster, making truffles is an expressive epicurean art...As a gifted chocolatier, Jessica continues to develop new, enticingly exotic truffles that, with their rich, inspired flavors and natural purity, reflect the creative energy and love that she puts into each succulent piece."

My favorite flavors so far: white chocolate meyer lemon, dark chocolate orange ginger, milk chocolate honey almond. Huge sigh. Dreaming of which one to try next!

Anyone have a favorite form of Epicurean Art? Care to enlighten us and our tastebuds?

WCW - Where Would You Live?

It's Watercooler Wednesday - join me and many others around the watercooler at Randy Elrod's Ethos blog. Randy's post today is about Walking. Check it out!!

Yesterday afternoon the temperature hit 102 in Phoenix. Every year when the thermometer rises to uncomfortably hot levels, I desperately want to move out of AZ. After being in Santa Barbara, CA over the weekend (friend's wedding), I'm ready to move there. Right along the coast. I'm even willing to live in an RV if I have to. In fact, I'd live just about anywhere along the coast of California. The ocean has an undeniable call and I'm ready to answer it.

Another favorite spot is Franklin, TN. I'd live relatively close to downtown and soak up the small-town, Americana, vibey way of life. Each time we've visited Tennessee, we've fallen in love with its breathtaking beauty. All those trees. All those leaves. WOW!

Of course, there's always New York City if I want to be in complete denial about the icy, impossibly cold winters. And the potential muggings. The arts and culture has got to outweigh the snow, freezing conditions, and safety issues.

In all actuality, I'm most likely to end up in a ruggedly beautiful spot in East Africa.

How about you - if you could live anywhere - let's limit it to the US - where would you live?

18 Hours of Beauty

Here's 1 pic from The Wedding...more to come later - I am in dire need of rest - I think I just about took it to the limit in the last 4 days. The makeup, hair, dress, have all faded away into everyday life. It was pretty nice being a princess for 18 hours.

WCW - Earth Day

This post is part of Watercooler Wednesday, a weekly gathering of bloggers, posting on arts/culture at Randy Elrod's Ethos blog...check out Randy's post on Redemptive Satire!

In celebration of Earth Day, which was yesterday (I just got the memo), I've decided to talk about eggplant. Yes. Eggplant. 

It is so lovely in its plant form. I'd love to have this growing in my garden just for the pretty factor.

However, for every flower on the plant, I might be forced to harvest and dispose of the equally lovely, deep purple fruit of this plant.  This is because I've recently decided (yesterday) that I don't like eggplant. At all. Actually, I despise it. I remember eating eggplant when I was a kid and wondering why anybody would want to eat it...it was slimy, flavorless, disguised as something crunchy and wonderful, covered in sauce and melted mozzarella. I think I tried eggplant again in the late '90's. This time it was hiding in a lovely ratatouille, served at room temperature over crostini.  A far better way to eat it if you have to - but still slimy. I tried it at a restaurant a few years ago, coated in breadcrumbs, smothered in bechamel and marinara and 3 cheeses. I really wanted to like it. I tried to will my tastebuds to acquire an appreciation for the texture and flavor. My final attempt at eggplant was yesterday. I followed a recipe for eggplant rolls. The cast of characters included breadcrumbs, olive oil, ricotta, marinara, pesto, and pasta. I'm sorry to report that it just did not work out the way I had hoped it would. I've had to place eggplant permanently on "the list of foods I will never eat again." And it's a good thing I made this decision, because after doing some quick research (wikipedia), I've discovered that "Eggplant is richer in nicotine than any other edible plant, with a concentration of 100 ng/g (or 0.01mg/100g)." 

Is there a least favorite food in your life? 

Happy Belated Earth Day!

Life Without Limbs

This is Nick Vujicic...he's Australian...watch this entire video, it's incredible! I searched the internet and found tons of interviews/videos/articles about him. ABC News recently featured his story as well.