I've been continuing to try to figure out just how I can help the people of Haiti. Of course I pray and give but I want to do more. I'm even considering going. Maybe you'd like to join me. At the very least I want to let you know about something else that people are doing and that you have the opportunity to be a part of.

I've written about Aaron Ivey before and how I not only greatly love and respect him as a person but also as an artist and activist. I think his latest album is fantastic, and one of my favorite cuts is "Amos Story." Here's the music video they just released for this song.

Unless you've been completely out of touch you know that Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake Tuesday, a catastrophe whose epicenter was right around the capital, Port Au Prince. I'd like to ask you to consider helping those affected by the Haiti earthquake by giving financially to Compassion International's disaster relief fund.

There are any number of strategies that are recommended when trying to produce a good blog. One, of course, is to offer valuable content. Amongst content that will be considered valuable is the ever-popular "how to" post. I've decided to tackle a big one. How to live in 2010. The following are not steps to be taken in a given order, but are, instead, what I consider to be essential qualities to life. I hope you find them helpful.

As everyone's aware (hopefully) we have entered a new year. Amongst other happenings, this is significant because it becomes a time for many people to set out on the road to the rest of their life with a fresh start. Many people mark this renewal by making resolutions, a list of hopes/dreams/aspirations/goals that they plan to accomplish in the next year. I have often been counted among these people. While I've never really taken it too seriously and often can't recall on December 31 what I had resolved to by then on January 1, I've still fulfilled my duty as a festive new year celebrator by making the list anyway. But not anymore. I will not be making any resolutions this year whatsoever.

In order to develop good ideas we utilize a process called brainstorming. Now, We’ve all heard of brainstorming and have probably been a part of a brainstorming process at one point or another. It became really big in business books about fifteen or twenty years ago, and is still used today. However, not everyone does “brainstorming” the same way. And I guess that’s fine. But let me present my 10 rules/guidelines/tips/strategies/concepts/techniques/methods for how to have an effective brainstorming session.