Postcards from the Funny Farm

These were the best I ran across on my safari this week. If you enjoy the links, please share them through social media such as:
Stumbleupon

Straining toward achievement & Ongofu - an LDS...
A very truthful anecdote comparing working out at the gym to the challenge of life for all of us.

Symptoms of inner peace
This is one of the better ones I found this week. The blogger does a great job laying out “symptoms” of inner peace, I sure want these symptoms, how about you?

Unlock Your Potential with a Little Secret! | Juic...
This 26 year old blogger has a great point here. Integrity is the one thing you should strive for at all costs. Great post and a blog worth looking deeper into.

Enhance Your Confidence & Blog Archive &...
This simple looking blog packs a powerful punch giving you step one of extreme self-esteem. If you could use some more (who can’t?) Read this post.

Love Homework: Include Your Spouse
A quick and easy way to foster more love in your marriage is to simply include your spouse in the things you do. This is a guestblog I wrote for a true bloggy friend of mine Chelle at “It Might be Love.” Check it out.

Bright Blue Rain
A very clever take on the phrase “the one who got away.”

Psychology Today: The Creative Personality
This post will help some of you see traits about yourself. It’s not a guide to becoming creative but rather an objective rendering of what creative people are generally like. Interesting.

The Age Blogs: Management Line
Wow. Who ever imagined someone would challenge personality tests like the Meyers Briggs … and make sense doing so! I mean these can be used as enablers as well, as in when people complain in drug rehab about being this or that “way” from birth. Shouldn’t alcohol rehab be a time of reckoning? Of course it should. This author brings into focus whether these tests are 100% helpful or not. What is your take on this revolutionary post??

Who is the Object of Your Blogging Affection? || B...
Michael writes an excellent “guidance” post for writers seeking to define their audience. This guy is great for nuggets regarding blog composition.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe via -or-

I have to share with you: the recent heavy topics here like bipolar and setting serious goals have been taking a toll on me.  From time to time I like to take a sideline from those highly important yet highly taxing posts.  Today I want to tell you about a furniture store online: Legacy Classic Furniture.  Now before you go running off to find another blog to read, hear me out because I just spent about an hour browsing this place and it is a really good bookmark.  If you’re like me, we are sort of “perpetually” organizing and decorating our kids’ rooms.  Our room looked oretty good when we moved in, but theirs have been works in progress for sure.  In clicking around this site my wife and I (yes I had to share the wealth with her) purchased most of the final touches on our 2 girls room (ages 3 and 1).  If your house needs furniture of any type, this is the place to bookmark, this is the place to spend some time browsing.  I feel so inspired now from buying furniture.  It goes to show you that sometimes spontanaeity works better than goals … sometimes ;)

I’ve written about how online dating worked for my wife and I on here before. Today I want to expand on that and recommend an excellent resource for choosing an online dating service. That resource is a website called: PrimeDatingSites.com. It is not a dating service, but rather a collective of reviews on the top dating services out there. You can weigh the pros and cons of each and pick the one that works best for you in your search. Dating websites have become the latest fad these days and as a result, you can get ripped off quite easily if you’re not careful. This website does the awesome job of researching these top sites for you and letting you in on the “behind the scenes” knowledge that it might take the average dater months to figure out, not to mention, having to pay the fees only to find out it wasn’t a good “match” for you. Listen to what they say about their vision on the about page:

Our inspiration in creating this site was based on the adage, “life is what you make it.” This is not just a phrase in passing; it came from the recognition that all of life’s opportunities are out there waiting to be seized.

All the reviews are great and informative. Two that particularly stood out to me while reading were the reviews of Yahoo Personals (where Sarah and I met), and Matchmaker.com, due to it’s local nature. Like any service, you can pick the one that’s right for you.

As you may have read, I have revived and re-launched my online diary, Damien at the Speed of Life. Tonight after seeing Mamma Mia with Sarah I was driven to write a review. I have been a huge ABBA fan since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. The acting and music in Mamma Mia is great and you just plain feel good the whole time. You’ll start to see less reviews here as I will be trying to be true to the psychology niche here as time marches on. I hope you get a chance to see Mamma Mia, Sarah is definitely going to buy the DVD when it comes out. (She’s seen it 3 times so far) You can read my review and see a cool YouTube video at this link: Damien’s Mama Mia Review. Thanks for reading. Tip: Get more use out of your home exercise equipment, play the Mamma Mia soundtrack repeatedly.

This is another link-love post. I call these Blog Safaris. I hope you like these links as much as I do.

This week’s Safari (it’s a good one folks!) wheels in at Ginger M’s Useful Things in My Wallet. I love Ginger’s blog. I discovered her writing about three months ago and she’s a blog worth visiting. In between the kids screaming and during those precious breaks at work I always find something artsy, thoughtful and cool at Growing Happiness.

Next, I hit the berm and throw a curtain of mud and then Jeep into Jessica The Rock Chick’s Build Me Up. Most my readers know that I am a big fan of this blog. Jessica used to strive for A-List status at Technorati but she’s come to a realization as I have it seems that the good words are most important. Ranks and social bookmarks feed the image but it’s the words that bring (and keep) the peeps! Her blog Life is RANTastic! is a great read and she’s one of the coolest people on the web as well. I’m lucky I ran across her through a mutual friend.

Next, my Jeep stops at a big read heart (get it?): Chelle’s Free Date Ideas and Free Things… at her blog It Might be Love. I think every person who values love should have this blog on their reading list. It’s just a great idea that plays out post after post as the great idea it is. I also guestblog there from time to time. I have an informative and helpful series coming up there for couples called “Love Homework” so watch for that.
By the way, I ran across a website where you can buy exquisite silk flowers for the lady in your life. Check it out.
The next blogger is a delight. It’s Katelyn’s Feature Friday. Katelyn is always coming up with great ways to grow her blog. This would be a place for the noobs reading to watch and learn. In addition, she is dedicated to Etsy and other passions she writes about on her blog. Check her out.

I heard on the radio that George Carlin died and I was sad about it. He was a true American comic. I was getting tired so I jeeped into the Giraffe Bistro and ordered a thick Espresso. The next thing I knew I discovered that coffee is good for you. Soon after that I found that Twitter might be going under before long, which didn’t bother me much. Finally, I got into some always cool discussions at Blog Catalog.

I turned the muddy Jeep back toward camp after a pretty full day of exploration. Hopefully you found a few spots to take a gander at in your own vehicle of choice. See ya next time.

I do a lot of reviews in a year here on my blog. I am a consumer and then a consumer advocate when I have the time. Mostly I share positives of what’s out there and occasionally I will share with you what I think you need to steer clear from. Whether I am writing a sponsored post or not, I am always being truthful and honest on this blog and I must tell you today that SocialSpark is an awesome blog for pay network that you need to join and start earning at today. You spend your mind energy on your computer daily, why not get remuneration for it? I guess if you are independently wealthy, that makes no sense to you. On a teacher’s salary, I need other sources of income and I have found that in the new social network called SocialSpark

Bloggers: if you are looking to make money with your blog, SocialSpark can help you monetize your blog, build community and drive traffic.

If you have heard that SocialSpark is a disreputable enterprise (a lie going around the web) consider these ethics the company holds to:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

It produces posts by people like us all over the planet expressing opinions on everything. How can that be wrong? Part of my day is always spent at the computer. I have decided that my PayPal card is going to benefit as will my kids, my wife, and my whole family! More toys at the store, more eating out, … it’s a win/win folks. Below is a screenshot showing some of the exciting writing opps. If you join up (which I hope you do now!) Make sure and give me props there and I will do the same for you. My username is rileycentral. See you at SocialSpark.

Be Kind, Rewind to Nacho Libre

If all Jack Black’s movies were on VHS, I’d want to rewind his latest,
Be Kind, Rewind to the Nacho Libre mark.

Read my full review of this film published on on BlogCriti....

Online dating helped me find and marry my soul mate Sarah. I even found her during the “free trial” period so the service was free! I thought I’d write a blurb about Yahoo! Personals because I feature them as an advertiser. It isn’t just demographics that makes me do so (most my core readers are married). On the other hand, I chose them because I believe in their product. Most of all, I feature their ads because it worked for me.

I remember at that time feeling quite lonely in a new town with a new job and Yahoo! Personals connected me with Sarah when I really had no friends or family around to help me meet people. (interested readers can find more details on our &#....)

It works like this: You sign up and upload a small picture of yourself (actually this is optional but it really speeds things up!) Then, you fill out some profile questions and send out a few emails to members that you are interested in. Some, you will find, are indeed certified loony cases. Just keep telling yourself “All you need is ONE.” From there, as you sort through replies you will undoubtedly start to make email friendships. You will find yourself at your parents for thanksgiving sneaking to the computer to see what your online romance has to say.

If it works out perfect like it did for me, you’ll get married within a month! That was 5 years ago and now my wife and I have a wonderful family with laughs and memories that keep on going. If you are single and wanting someone special or if you know someone in your friends and family circle who feels that way, get tuned in to Yahoo! Personals. Trust me, it can work. All you Need is ONE. (and don’t be surprised when the ONE plus ONE turns into one or more beautiful kids! Be ready because it can happen fast!)