Shoes Do Make A Difference

I have trouble finding shoes that fit my feet.  I wear anywhere from a size 10 to 12, and wide width.  There aren’t many pretty shoes out there for a woman with feet like mine.  About 4 months ago I had tried the Vionic gym shoe and loved it.  Arch support, lightweight, good shoe that…

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Business Books

There are a lot of business books out there.  Some are great, some are good and some suck.  This is a list that was submitted to me by Pete Campbell from www.traveloutthere.com  I agree,this is a good list.  Some of the books are really really good.  He’s missing a few I can think of: Small…

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Culinary Tourism

Every tourist has one thing in common … they eat.  Rebecca LeHeup of Culinary Ontario presented at Central Iowa Tourism and shared why and how to have culinary tourism. Culinary tourism is defined by www.culinaryontario.com  as the pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences. By combining travel with these edible experiences, culinary tourism offers both locals…

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World Book Night April 23

April 23 is World Book Night. Here’s how www.worldbooknight.org describes what they do: Each year, 30- 35 books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially-printed World Book Night U.S. editions. Bookstores and…

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Every Stone on the Road Precious to Me

Stanley Kunitz lived to be 100 years old and wrote many poems.  According to Poets.org: His honors include the Bollingen Prize, a Ford Foundation grant, a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, Harvard’s Centennial Medal, the Levinson Prize, the Harriet Monroe Poetry Award, a senior fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Medal of the Arts,…

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Rob Hatch: Owner, mission driven

Rob Hatch is the President of Owner Media Group; he’s much like the Wizard of Oz.  The guy behind the curtain.  Lots of people have heard of Chris Brogan, but fewer know of Rob Hatch.  I had the great pleasure of spending a couple of hours on the phone with Rob and he allowed me…

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I’m an AgNerd

I don’t live on a farm anymore, haven’t for over 40 years.  I am an Agnerd though.  I live in rural Iowa.  I work as a Chamber director and its behooves me to be knowledgeable about agriculture.  I actual think it would serve all people to become some sort of an agnerd.  Do you know…

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The Lost Art of Mixing: A Review

Erica Bauermeister wrote a book entitled The School of Essential Ingredients that shared the story of strangers connecting and cooking food.  I wasn’t sure she could write a follow up to that book.  But she has — The Lost Art of Mixing.   Lillian, the restaurant owner, mixes up the lives all the characters in…

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Prairie Silence

Melanie Hoffert … remember that name.  She’s a writer and I’ve had the pleasure of reading her first book.  Prairie Silence.  Her story tracks much like mine.  She couldn’t wait to leave the rural home and head to the big city.  And now that she’s acquired a place in that new,brave world – she’s missing…

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Partnering with Crafters – in rural Iowa

TownsEnd Winery is a little, family owned and operated operation located in Hansell, Iowa.  It’s also a small town success story.  I’ve written about them before and today I want to show you how they’ve partnered with other small businesses in North Central Iowa. September 1 and 2 was the 2nd Anniversary of the TownsEnd…

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