I need your help with part of the backstory.

I made a simple blog where I posted the legend of the holiday, and am in the process of adding posts that tie in to the pieces of the tale. As part of the printed invitations, we’re sending the employees to this blog, and I would LOVE it if there were comments from people they don’t recognize, reinforcing the existence of this holiday.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN!

Read The Tale first so you know where all this is coming from. Then …

Please comment on as many posts as you can – share your memories of past Plain Ol’ Chuck Day celebrations, turnip recipes or facts, fondue recipes or accessories, yummy or interesting breath mints, your favorite really odd music.

The invitations are going out Monday, Feb. 7, that’s in THREE DAYS! You need something fun to do on Friday afternoon, right? Or this weekend while you’re sitting in front of the TV or at your kid’s practice. Then tell everyone else to do the same thing.

Thank you so much! You are all awesome!

Now go read The Tale. It deserves to be told.

Photo by Tobias Steinhoff

Before you are two equally compelling choices, each with comparable risks. You’ve been waiting and asking for a spotlight to descend from the heavens to reveal the correct choice. But it doesn’t come.

What do you do?

How long do you wait?

Today I pickedup Visioneering by Andy Stanley and So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore. I’m hoping to clarify my future and make sure it’s not my own self-doubt standing in the way of my decisions.

But I’d really like to know what you do when your spotlight doesn’t show up …

Yum!

This is the kind of place where you know the food will be good as soon as you walk in. There’s not even a sign with the name on the outside yet. It’s decorated simply, with huge old gas station signs and other antiques. Half a ’48 Plymouth (I think) is mounted on the wall. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture so you’ll have to go see it yourself.

The focus is on the food, as it should be. It’s been open about five weeks according to Damon, the very friendly [owner?/manager?] who visited all the tables.

The menu has the basic BBQ offerings like ribs and chicken (plus a chicken salad if you want something a little lighter.) I had the 1/4 chicken with fries – excellent! Others had the BBQ chicken hoagie with beans, and the 1/4 chicken with greens, which they said were very good. Each of our meals was $7, and the amount of food I got was just right for lunch. I’d definitely go back again.

They also do catering and delivery (to downtown locations). They’re open just for lunch right now, from 11 am to 2 pm. Damon says they start cooking every day at 3 am! That’s dedication and I really appreciate it!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Bob and Sharon, who blog about restaurants in Modesto. Very nice folks. And they care about supporting local small businesses. Give their blog a visit.

Picky Eaters Index=1 You’ll do fine here. (I usually don’t even like BBQ sauce – sacrilege I know – but I loved this!)

One Hour Limit? Two thumbs up! My schedule was tighter than usual, but even with a room full of customers, we were out the door in about 40 minutes.

Meet New Peeps? Check!

What’s this lunch tour thing about, anyway?

The service is always good – I think I’ve had the same waiter every time I’ve been there. The appetizer – hot & sour soup – is REALLY HOT. I always ask for the alternative egg drop soup, but they don’t always have it, so I do without.

Picky Eaters Index = 1 (Well, if you’re super picky you wouldn’t be eating Chinese anyway. But if you do, you’ll find lots of good choices here.)

One Hour Limit? Thumbs up

Meet New Folks? No, but got to hang out with @seaners and Leslee, who has a twitter handle but never uses it. She’s a great photographer and loves to fish.

Yelp reviews

What’s this tour thing all about, anyway?

It’s about human beings and our need to be connected. I’m going to ramble a bit, but bear with me, please.

I was on a motorcycle ride with my husband and a few others, some of whom are life-long friends. We are connected by years full of trials and triumphs and we’ll treasure these connections forever. In case you didn’t know, motorcyclists have a signal. A secret handshake, so to speak. When you pass on the open road, going opposite directions on your journey, you extend your left hands – not quite a wave – in a low, discreet gesture that acknowledges another member of your tribe. You don’t know each other but you’re connected. To each other. To the road. To the environment you’re experiencing. You know something, you have something that people in cars never will. The connection is fleeting but it’s consistent and it’s satisfying. (By the way, Harley guys don’t usually give the signal to the sport-bike guys – maybe they have their own. That’s okay I guess.)

After the first few exchanges had reminded me how much I look forward to this connection, I started noticing other things along the road:

Cows. Don’t even know what kind they were, but they made me think of @raylindairy and his work to educate people about farmers’ and ranchers’ concern for animals and land.

Corn fields reminded me about @kmrivard who taught me the phrase “knee high by the fourth of July.” She in turn reminds me of all the other #agvocates. (@raylindairy is one of those, too.) Way to go, people.

Hay bales brought to mind @JeffFowle and the sacrifices he and his family (and countless others) make to provide food for us. “Thank you” feels too small.

A decaying house reminded me of this, which told me the house is about 125 years old. Cool. Thanks to Abraham I made a connection to the history of the foothills.

All those old buildings and the Gold-Rush-era landscape connected me to my past, as do the friends I’ve known forever. Technology is helping forge connections for the future. Those connections may be different. They may never be understood by folks who aren’t in the social media space. But they are no less real. And they have just as much potential to improve people’s lives in a big way.

I’m privileged to know so many of you (online and off) and I’m looking forward to the possibilities.

I connected cows to corn to hay bales to ruins to people. Have you made any unlikely online connections lately?

The “Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian? Scorecard”

151. On their profile page, they list the following hobbies, “Singing, reading and abstinence.” = +3 points

152. Simon tells them during one of the judgments that “your Christianity will get in the way of your career.” = +3 points

To add up your score with over 150 other ideas on this scorecard, visit stuffchristianslike.net.

It comes down to this: it’s not really about Twitter. It’s about managing the public face of your business. It just so happens that currently, Twitter is a really good way to do that. There are all kinds of other social media tools to help as well, but those are topics for future conversations.

People are tired of dealing with bureaucracies and mindless policies. They want to do business with people who care about their issues. They want to interact. They are real people who want to talk to real people.

In 2009 as I considered freelancing, this concept was really important to me. I am a real person with faults and strengths. I have expertise I can offer you. I intended to use this space, and some of my time on Twitter, to share things I learned about how to communicate better.

But somewhere I got lost in the fear that it had to be perfect. I forgot the conversation and the process. I let doubt crowd out the chance to grow and improve. Twitter became almost completely fluff (except for the valuable relationships I’ve made) and this space lay dormant.

Last week I read this on Michael Hyatt’s interview with Seth Godin:

Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.

This is what I want to do. Leave you better than I found you. Help you get closer to where you’d like to go.

So I’m not going to worry that this space isn’t completed yet. That my portfolio isn’t posted yet. That I don’t have all the bells and whistles done. That’s the process. Maybe down the road you’ll help me with some of that. But first let me ask you:

How can I help you?

In her honor, I’ve joined a team for Relay for Life to help fight against this terrible disease.

We could use your help in a few ways:

1. We’re having a yard sale on May 2 to raise money towards our booth at the relay. If you have items to donate to the sale, we can pick them up. You can also shop at the sale. I’ll post the address here.
2. Come to the relay May 30-31 and support Team Hope and the others
3. Donate in advance to our team. Every little bit helps!

And, well, I made a handy-dandy button from PayPal to make it really super easy to donate, but WordPress won’t let me paste it here. So here’s the plain link:   Donate to Relay for Life

Thank you very much.