Michael's Not Here

You may have noticed that I haven't been around here in a while. I've moved. You can find ways to get in touch with me (as well as where I have been writing these days) at:

MichaelWrites.com

I, the Person: An Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates

Let me start by asking one seemingly simple question: At what point will politicians begin to realize that We the People don't give a happy horse shit about all the infighting between candidates?

Whether it is Barak Obama's pastor or Hillary Clinton's political advisors, somebody seems to be sitting in wait for every person who was ever related in any way to a candidate to say something that can possibly spark a debate. With that fact in mind, I want to share this open letter to this season's candidates for President of the United States - or should I call it "Presidential Idol"?

Dear Candidates,

By all accounts, I'm a nobody. I live a rather quiet life in central Alabama with a partner and our pets. I drive a crappy car that gets half-way decent gas mileage and I am a freelance writer by profession. I don't make a great deal of money but I don't have it all that bad, to be honest. Just the sort that you want to get political advice from, I'm sure.

The thing is, I am an average joe who clears less money in a year than you make in a weekend.

I am the one who cringes every time I go to the gas pump because I realize that the $20 I am pouring into my tank is going to get me far fewer miles than it did a few years ago.

I am the one who picks up pennies in the supermarket parking lot - not because I am broke (though not far from it), but because that penny puts me one cent closer to having more than $25 in my savings account someday.

I am the one who scours the Internet on a daily basis for information on how to save money in every way humanly possible because my partner and I live in constant fear that we are on a collision course with a depression that is even greater than the one our Grandparents lived through.

I am the one feverishly working on home grown vegetable plants because I worry that the day I cannot afford to buy fresh produce isn't as far off as I'd hoped it would be.

I am the one who turns on the television and wants to know what is going on in the world that affects me, instead of hour after ludicrous hour of "what do you think about what Obama's pastor said in the aftermath of 9/11". I lived in New York City before, during and after that tragedy and I can assure you that many people from all walks of life said and did much worse than the Rev. Jeremiah Wright did. To be honest, I said worse myself.

Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama, I am a citizen of your country and I for one am sick and tired of the sniping and back-stabbing politics that seem to have taken over this campaign season.

I am one of the citizens so graciously represented under the long-misunderstood phrase We, the People and I, the Person am ready to find out what You, the Candidate are going to do to turn the travesty of the last eight years around.

I, the Person want to know how you are going to attack the poverty and health care problems at home instead of how you plan to spend another few billion dollars fighting a war that cannot be won in another country.

I, the Person want more than some temporary relief from the insane prices at the gas pump, and I'm ready for you to grab the microphone and tell me exactly how you are going to decrease our dependence on oil - not just foreign oil, but petrochemical products across the board.

I, the Person am curious as to how you will repair the damage the current administration has caused to the reputation of the United States and begin to rebuild our relationships with our allies instead of shunning them at nearly every turn.

In the end, I, the Person want to know how You, the Candidate are going to govern this country. I don't want to know how your great grandfather did things or what he taught you unless that lesson is going to put food on my table, gas in my car and money in my pocket. I don't want to know who you think should be the next American Idol or what books are on your night stand.

The issues are what is important, but please make no mistake about what the issues actually are. You, the Candidates are politicians and We, the People are ready for you to do your jobs.

Sincerely,
Michael Nolan

It's May - Where the hell are my flowers??

Wow, is it May already?

I'm so far behind that I keep trying to convince myself I have plenty of time to get everything done but the truth is that it is May 1, 2008 and all of my precious vegetable plants are still confined to the pots I planted them in last month. They should all either be in the ground or in their final containers for the season by now, but like I said - I've been busy.

I read posts on other blogs that fill me full of plenty of great ideas and I find myself green with envy at all they have accomplished so early in the season. I guess for all of my desires to be closer to self-sustainability I still have miles to go before I sleep.

As mentioned earlier, a mockingbird took over my tomato enclosure and being the lover of nature that I am, I felt it best to wait until she had hatched and raised her young before I continued with the necessary preparations. Now that the kids have flown the coop, I have no more excuses and must get to the task at hand forthwith. Nature waits for no man, after all. Waiting is our job, and my seedlings are ready to get outside and do their thing.

My Kentucky Blue green beans will all be grown this year in containers and rather than build a complicated trellice, I opted to use what I already have (it is the frugal in me) and found two garden gates on the property that were perfectly sized for the job. Stay tuned boys and girls, this is bound to be a fruitful growing season one way or another.

Everyday University coming soon to a computer near you...

Over the past few weeks I have been working on more writing projects than I thought would be possible to juggle simultaneously. Who knew freelance writing could keep me so darned busy? Since last week's update I have written a total of 145 pages from a combination of projects for clients, the websites and blogs that I write for and I've made quite a bit of headway on an e-book project for Everyday University. Of course nothing ever ends up being exactly the way it was initially envisioned, and my e-book is no exception to that rule whatsoever.

What started as a simple writing idea about self-sustainability has turned into a monster that is already over 14 pages and I have barely scratched the surface on the first topic area (there are quite a few topics to be covered). I've come to the conclusion that this particular project is going to end up being more like 3 or 4 e-book publications, possibly more. These publications will be the backbone of the EU project, and since this is Everyday University, Each topic will be handled in levels, much as higher education is.

These are the topic areas that are in the works and will be covered in depth over the coming weeks and months:

Gardening
• Intro to Gardening and Agriculture
o Gardening 101
o Gardening for Small Spaces
o Organic Gardening
o Tomatoes 101

The Environment
• Intro to Environmental Issues
o Growing Green 101

• Intro to Sustainability
o Sustainability 101

• The Environmental Debate

Finances
• Intro to Budgeting
o Budgeting 101

• Intro to Frugal Living
o Frugal Living 101
o Emergency Frugality
o Frugal Food
o Fun on a Budget

• Planning for the Future

Self-Help
• Beating the Odds
• Love begins at Home
• Intro to Better Health
o Better Health 101
o Weight Loss 101

Frugal Living 101

Time for yet another edition of "Michael's Shameless Self Promotion"

In this edition, I want to tell you a little about my new website, called "Frugal Living Tip of the Day".

Like the name says, the point of that particular site is to focus on offering my readers a different tip for frugal living every day of the year. Frugality used to be the butt of a lot of jokes but given the current economic climate not only in the U.S. but all over the globe, people everywhere are looking for new ways to save a few dollars here and there.

My own journey with frugality started when I was quite young, and it wasn't out of some urgent need on my part, I simply felt like living simply and by extension with frugality was the right thing to do. As I got older I never completely lost sight of that, but it has been my last few years living in Alabama that has allowed me to embrace it on a larger scale than I had before.

One of the aspects of frugal living that appeals to me the most is how frugality and simple living seem to naturally align themselves with being environmentally conscious. I am a firm believer that this is the only planet we've got and taking better care of it does not mean we need to find more power and more resources, it means that we need to learn to better use what we already have and start putting conservation into practice on a daily and ongoing basis.

I didn't mean to get on a soap box here, but I did want to offer some background on the "Frugal Living Tip of the Day" website and my reasons for starting it. I do hope you'll stop by and let me know you were there!

Moc - yeah! King - yeah! Bird - yeah! Yeah- Yeah!

I mentioned in a recent post on Tomato Casual that I had found an active mockingbird nest among the brush that sat atop my tomato enclosure. I thought that it would be fun for you all to see what I saw, knowing that you'd understand why I didn't mind delaying my tomato gardening season a few extra days. This is a short video clip showing the mockingbird and her new babies.

For those who wonder just how "urban" my urban gardening pursuits are, you will hear quite clearly the engine of a semi truck in the background audio. I live within spitting distance of a large trucking company. It doesn't get much more urban in Alabama than that!

Don't forget me when I'm gone!

"but if my silence made you leave, then
that would be my worst mistake." – Billy Joel

It appears as though I have been remiss in my bloggerly duties herein, or to put it in simpler terms I haven’t posted much here at Everyday University lately and for that I sincerely apologize. I have been blogging at my other hangouts though, so here’s a list of my recent entries therein (or, ‘over yonder’ for those of you reading from the south):

Tomato Casual
Tomato Casual is one of my absolute favorite places to write. It is a tremendous community of tomato lovers that span the globe and you get that international flavor in the wide variety of tomato centric posts. Here are a few of my recent entries:

• Tomatoes in the White House – the story of the Abraham Lincoln heirloom tomato.
• The Tomato Whisperer – wherein I reveal one of my innermost secrets.
• When Mother Nature has other Plans - believe it or not, some things are more important than tomatoes!

Urban Garden Casual
Another member of the Casual family, UGC is devoted to the lost art of city gardening at its casual finest. It has just been restarted and is already packed full of some great information so be sure to stop by for a look and be sure to say hello!

• Gardening on a Budget Part 1: Free Seed Starters – why buy what you can make at home for free?
• Growing your Spirit Part 1: Gardening Zen – There’s more to gardening than just planting a seed.

As you can see, I have been quite the busy little beaver lately, but I hope you don’t take that to mean I don’t love you all dearly for stopping by my little corner of the webiverse.