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I’m off to the Great Smokey Mountains & Gatlinburg, TN to attend a weekend retreat called “High in the Smokies”, which is an annual weekend of “caring, sharing, growth and serenity” for recovering people (AA, ACA, Al-Anon, CoDA, etc.) and their families. I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends and spending some quality time with my family, as well as the Saturday hike to the top of the mountain! I know the kids are excited about hanging out at the pool and hopefully just having some fun in the great outdoors… there are also going to be kids there around their ages so that should be cool! It should be interesting as we’re definitely stepping outside of our comfort zone as far as vacations are concerned, but I’m open to the uncertainty of the trip as I know that everything will work out fine. Before, I sign off for the week—enjoy a couple of my favorite photos from our last trip to the Great Smokies in the fall of 2007… hopefully, I’ll have plenty more to post when I return. Have a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend! Peace!

I saw this really cool video today in Mac|Life’s weekly newsletter that featured a fan-made music video of the song “Again and Again” by the band, The Bird and The Bee. The video is a montage of various applications and features of Mac OS X that are edited together using Screencasts, which are basically a series of video screen shots. Pretty cool stuff… it’s creator, Dennis Liu says it took one month to plan and three months to create. Check out the video below… Enjoy!

About a week ago, I purchased the new Nikon D300 D-SLR camera as I decided it was time to step up from my aging Nikon D70 and start to get serious about this photography career. Unfortunately, I was sick last week and the weather was terrible so I didn’t get a chance to go out and shoot until my son Bailey’s soccer game on Saturday. Feel free to check out my first images with this camera and let me know what you think! Click here to view the complete set on Flickr.

The following is one of the best posts I’ve read on ZenHabits… a wonderful piece written by a Dad to his Son. The message and advice is great for children, but for any of us taking this journey in this world. As a Dad myself, it is my hope that I can be an example and instill these values in my children. Thanks Leo!

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ESPN The Magazine has conducted a detailed survey of sports fans across America, and the survey tells a fascinating story of how teams treat their fans and what fans think of their teams. Around 60,000 voters went to ESPN.com to answer questions in seven categories about the 122 teams that comprise the four major sports leagues: NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. (more…)