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Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

New GONZO Carnival Hosted on SaveSaveSave

Online NOW!

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

End of One Journey - The Beginning of Another

My Daddy passed away peacefully last night, with his family all around him, in his own home, just as he wanted.

Thank you for all your prayers and concern for us.

ERIC Has Issues? Find out about our Newest FEATURED BLOG VILLAGER

There's a lot of Mommy blogs out there (nothing wrong with that), but here's a unique view of family life through Dad's eyes. Honestly, I don't know what Eric's issues are - he sounds intact to me. My advice, visit his site; you'll learn a thing or two. Leave your own comments on the death of Brad Delp and talk about what St. Patrick's day means to you. Hope you enjoy the Village News with Eric.

Gatekeeper: Eric, would you share a little bit about yourself? You know, where are you from, what is, or are, your passions? What do you do for a living?

Eric: I'm a 40 year old stay at home dad, that makes me either the busiest or the laziest person in the house, I'm not sure yet. I grew up in Temple City, California. Not only the home of the Camellias, but the very first Winchells Donut shop, and the set for most all of the downtown scenes for the TV series "The Wonder years."

My love of music and creating music is the driving force in my life. My formal training is in Lutherie (stringed instrument building). For 20 years I've been involved in the music industry in one way or another. I worked for Taylor Guitars for 11 years, managing the mill and parts production. This job took me around the world looking for exotic woods that we could use in our production, most notably the "Liberty Tree Guitar." I'm currently designing an electric guitar here at the house.

Gatekeeper: Would you like to tell us how you met the love of your life? I thought the post about her birthday was adorable.

Eric:
On a rainy day in 1979, our middle school combined the boys and girls PE classes to play war ball (dodge ball) in the gym. There, for the first time, I was introduced to a cute young lady. She was a singer, and dancer. For many years we had the same circle of friends. We started dating our junior year in high school.

After High school we went to the same JC. She took it seriously while I dropped out after 3 semesters to pursue the music thing without the background of a formal education. (Bad Choice on my part) After finishing her GE, she moved to San Diego to finish her degree in Biology. We spent weekends driving back and forth for two years. Finally I got a Job in San Diego in 1990. We were married in 1991, now we are the classic "Nuclear Family" with three kids, a dog and a cat.

Gatekeeper: I read about your involvement at your daughter's school. Has volunteer work become a very important part of your life? Tell us about the garden at your daughter's school, if you can.

Eric: Our twin daughters attend a Charter School. Part of the charter requires families to spend an hour a week at the school helping out. Last year I told the girls' kindergarten teacher that I would help out in her raised garden box. I planted carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce. At the end of the year the class had a potluck and I made a salad out of what the kids had grown in their garden. This year I was promoted (sentenced) to manage the entire garden for all grades.

(Use this link to get my take on volunteering)

That Which Is Worth Doing (part deux)

Bottom line… you can pour your life into a job, hobby or whatever, but if you have kids, I feel that they are the best investment. I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the greatest father in the world, but I try my best.

Gatekeeper: Is music an important part of your life? How long have you been playing guitar? Have you written any original songs? Would you like to? Have you recorded anything? Something we might be able to showcase on Blog Village?

Eric: Music I would say is my most passionate outlet. I got involved with music in the 4^th grade, when the high school kids came and demonstrated all the instruments in the band. At the end of it all we had the opportunity to sign up for one, so I did. I started playing the flute, much to the chagrin of my parents. Later on I picked up the saxophone.

No one else in my family has any musical ambitions. I went to work for a music store after school. It was there that I picked up the guitar, and the love of making musical instruments. Then at twenty years old I went to a trade school to learn the art of building guitars.

For the last ten years I've been playing guitar for our Saturday night church service. My love of music brought me from the last pew in the auditorium to the stage. For me, I would rather be up on stage playing worship, than sitting within the congregation. This is when I have my strongest connection to God, and I feel like I'm fulfilling my life's call.

As for my musical tastes, I'm a Rocker. I grew up listening to Jethro Tull (flute) Peter Frampton, Dire Straits, and Van Halen…blah blah blah. The 80's are my favorite decade for music.

I suffer (my wife actually is suffering) from: G.A.S.—Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. This is a disorder that causes me to think that I'll stop after my next guitar. Needless to say there is no cure for this ailment. So here's the inventory:

3 electric guitars

4 acoustic guitars

2 ukuleles

1 piano

1 harp

1 flute

I have written two instrumental pieces for guitar. One was recorded in 1990 for a Christmas album that my wife and I made as Christmas gifts for the family. We used a state of the art technology called the cassette tape.

Gatekeeper: Tell us about your blog—Eric Has Issues. Why did you start blogging? When did you start blogging?

Eric: My blog came about on a whim. I signed up in 2005 after a friend was promoting his blog. I created my own under "myname.blogspot.com." I actually made my first post in January of last year. I started off slow, it wasn't till April that I really got going on it. After seeing my therapist for a year or so she made this statement; "You have issues." And the new version was born. This also allowed me some anonymity.

I started it as a way to organize what I was thinking and feeling, set goals, and chronicle my life. This is basically a dad blog with genuine moments of greatness. I try not to be forceful on my opinions, but I do take a stand from time to time. From the stats, I get anywhere between 5 to 20 hits a day. Most are family and friends. I post about every other day.

Gatekeeper: How many blogs do you write and how often do you post? How many blogs do you enjoy reading or do you have time to read other blog authors?

Eric: I have just one blog that I maintain. I've been working on an online portfolio for my woodworking projects that I've made over the years. I'm interested in starting a blog with multiple contributors that would stand as a forum on current topics and without bashing. One of those "free market of ideas." Any takers?

I use bloglines to organize the blogs that I read. It allows me to subscribe to individual feeds, and lets me know when the blogs are updated. It's pretty convenient. Google reader does the same thing, but I prefer bloglines.

Blogs that I read regularly are:

Old and in the Way

LiteraryGirl

How to Change the World

The Daily Nooz

Cool Tools

Gatekeeper: When did you join Blog Village and how did you hear about the Village?

Eric: I signed up with the Village in early December. I ran across it by accident if I remember correctly. I'm not really a joiner, but I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have a large list of links nor am I a blogger that likes a lot of banners and fluff on my page. I'm trying to keep it simple.

Gatekeeper: Do you have any favorite Villagers you try to read a few times here and there?

Eric: Honestly, I've perused through the Blog Village listings only a few times. There is a lot of ground to cover, and I really don't have much time.

I've stopped off at:

Alabama Kitchen Sink

Anti Itch Meditation

Points of Light

It's kinda confusing right now

California Breeze

The Gonzo Papers

Pieces of Me

Gatekeeper: Which one would you like to see interviewed next?

Eric: I threw a dart, and this is who I hit: Anti Itch Meditation.

So, what do you think? DOES Eric have issues???

Confused???

I'm sorry that my change on the way your blog shows on BLOG VILLAGE has been so confusing to so many of you. I'll try to explain what's happening, so maybe I can put your mind at ease.

When I reset everyone to zero Saturday night, no one showed on the list until they had a vote from their own blog banner or text link.

The gotop100 servers cycle through all the members for all the toplists they have, and that takes some time. That means that you will not instantly see your vote "count." Until the server recycles, which is usually every 30 minutes, even though you or someone else voted for your blog, IT WILL NOT SHOW ON THE LIST. Once you have ONE VOTE showing, your blog will show on the list until the monthly reset. Then the list will go blank again, until someone votes.

If you vote for yourself, and your blog is still not showing on BLOG VILLAGE after waiting an hour, by all means email me, as something is wrong, and hopefully, I can fix it or tell you how to fix it.

The fact that so many of you are writing me, asking for help understanding why your blog isn't showing, is a good thing (although frustrating for both of us). It means you CARE!!!

I'm trying this new method because so many of our almost 300 members aren't keeping their blogs active or with a good voting link. There have been way too many blogs whose only vote all month long was MINE, when I've been doing the monthly check in! And, there have been as many as 25 or so each month that I end up emailing repeatedly, trying to get them to put the voting link back up after template changes, etc.

Please be patient while we all get used to this different way of displaying your TopList entry each month. In the long run, I hope it makes for a smaller, but more active and useful list, with fewer "dud" blogs to wade through to find the "good stuff!"

Doing my best,

Rosemary



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

NOTICE!! **********NEW Reset Procedure STARTS TONIGHT!!

As you probably already know, our BLOG VILLAGE TopList is set to change all votes back to zero once a month. This allows every Villager the opportunity to be on the front page of the list, depending on how many votes your blog gets. It has been my habit each month to go through and vote for each blog, as a way to reacquaint myself with blogs I've lost touch with, as well as check for dormant blogs, or those that no longer have the voting link displayed.

We are very close to a membership of 300 now, and real life has cut into my time for blogging considerably lately. I have decided to change the way our TopList is set up, so that only those members who have at least 1 vote will show up at all. That means each month you will need to assure yourself a place on the list by voting for yourself from the link on your own blog. The gotop100 server cycles through the votes in about 30 minutes, so you may not see your blog appear in the list immediately. If you vote, and your votes does not show up within an hour, it may mean that there is something wrong with your link, or it may be a server problem I have no control over. Please email me if you cannot get your link to work, and I'll see if I can figure out what the problem is.

I have my blogs listed with some directories, etc., that I have never visited again, once I had them set up. BLOG VILLAGE was never intended to be that kind of place. I chose the name very carefully, to convey the feeling of friendship and caring for each other that I have tried to make a part of our community. So it seems reasonable that the Villagers who are interested enough in our Community to vote for themselves once a month should be the Villagers whose blogs are listed. Of course, we hope you get lots of votes from lots of other visitors, as well! But to get your banner or name on the list, you will now need to vote once for yourself.

This change in procedure will have several positive results, I think, and no negative ones that I'm aware of. It will free my blogging time to more productive tasks, such as reading and commenting, instead of "policing." It will cut the size of the TopList, so that the active blogs will be those people see. And it should encourage new members to add the voting link quicker, cutting down on the number of emails I have to write to individual members.

I am always open to suggestions about the way BLOG VILLAGE is run, but ultimately, the decision is up to me as to how to proceed. I will evaluate this change to the reset system for awhile and will let you know if I decide to make further changes.

Hoping this change will be a positive step forward for all our Villagers,

Rosemary


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.