Away a Long Time

Well, it's been a long time since I've last posted here. I do intend to get the posts back up and running, but I have had a lot of changes going on recently, and keeping up with my own life has been quite a bit distracting. This weekend, I will be heading to Grand Junction, CO for a conference where I will be presenting at two workshops, and trying to build connections for IRI. After that, I will be coming back home, and, with luck, be able to catch up with myself again.

Some of the ongoing events that I am working with include:

• The recent acceptance of my PhD application in Intercultural Education (hooray!)
• Making class selections for the program in August
• Weekly youth programs focusing on cognitive development and critical thinking
• Preparation for the Grand Junction Trip
• Rebuilding the IRI website (we should have a new site up in the next few months)
• Preparing for a training trip to the Philippines and Hong Kong
• I will be in the Philippines for several weeks in May
• I will be in Hong Kong for June and July

In short, I'm keeping busy. I didn't intend to stay away from the blog for so long, and I can't say when I will resume regular posting again, but I do intend to get things up and running in the near future.

Long Time, No Post

So it's been a bit longer than normal between posts here. This is, in part, because I am getting other work which is keeping me busy. While my work with IRI is important and is not ending, the simple fact is that we are in a financially slow period, which means I have been focusing less on overseas work and more on local matters (improving finances, updating our website, and so on). While I am in one place for a while, I am also getting some side work to supplement my income, preparing for next year when things should pick up a little for me in terms of travel.

The upside of extra work is more income and a busier schedule. The down side is that I have less time for blogging. I don't intend to stop Incoming Insights, but it will slow down a bit. As it is, I have been posting mostly short apologies for not posting most of the month anyway, instead of the more interesting information I wanted to post.

My plan is to cut back on Incoming Insight's posts, at least for a bit. I am going to aim for one post in November, one in December, and then twice a month starting in January. Hopefully, the slower pace will help me focus more on what I want to say, instead of just posting something in order to get it online.

I appreciate everyone who's been reading - your interest is encouraging! Take care, and I will see you around November 20th or so.

Job-Related Things

I'm still working on the next set of content for the blog. This may take a while, as I am also looking for some part-time work to supplement my income (working for IRI is mentally and spiritually rewarding, but not as much materially - and I like to eat). I am also working on my PhD application, a revamp of IRI's website, and some local volunteer work. I may post more about some of these things in the future, but suffice to say I have a lot to do, and it's keeping me quite distracted.

WIP

I'm in the process of putting together my thoughts for the next Incoming Insights. I'm thinking of looking a bit more at direct vs. indirect identity, but there are a few other topics I'm looking at as well. I should have a bit more focus by next week.

What? It's Monday Already?

Sorry everyone - I'm not quite ready. I don't have any really great excuses, I just had a lot of stuff going on, and fell behind on the writing I was planning. My apologies. I will get back to education-talk ASAP. In the meantime, enjoy a picture of a funny little dog:

Not my dog - a friend's dog, but a funny little dog.

This is the best picture I could get - that little guy moves fast!

Travel Takes Time

I'm currently in the Dallas, TX area. I started in Spokane, WA, and have been driving through Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. I return to OK tomorrow. These trips are primarily to meet with supporters and partners. We want to keep our connections with the people helping us, and the best way to do that is in person. It is a great trip, and I get to meet lots of incredible people, but it is tiring. It also makes writing up posts difficult at times, especially when I am moving from place to place every day, and each trip is over 4 hours.

That's the long way of saying I don't have much to post this week. Next week is much more relaxed, as I will be staying in the Tulsa area for a while.

It Turns Out Trips Take Preparation

Just what the title says. This particular trip will be about two months long, and involve at least five states where I will be presenting/speaking that I know of so far. I think it's getting to me a bit, but I want to keep posting regularly, so here's the update: I am getting ready for lots and lots of driving broken up by periods of speaking and presenting. I expect I will be exhausted by the time I am done, but I plan to keep posting during the trip. Speaking of which, the next post will be a kind of "recap" for those people who have just started visiting recently, and may not be up on all my "Insights Into" posts. My plan is to give an overview of the topics I have currently covered along with links, so newcomers can catch up without having to read the less interesting posts (like this one). I may also try to give a quick overview of where I am headed with the posts, as well, depending on the amount of time my travels afford me.

Next post - probably from Kansas or Colorado.

Missing Post

It appears the post I had for last week is...gone. I don't have a copy of it, nor does it appear to be on the website, so I don't know where it went. My apologies, I didn't realize, but apparently the internet ate my blog post.

Technical Delays

I've been having some trouble with consistent internet connections today. I'm trying to figure out what the issue is, but I have the feeling that it is holiday bandwidth bottleneck season. I'll update with another post once I get things sorted out.

Changeing to Google

I have made a change in my blog to link it to my Google+ account. For those friends of mine on Google+ who were happy only hearing from me very infrequently, sorry. I finally decided to start tying systems together to see what happens.