• rebannford
      • hello Rebecca Ford
      • Username: rebannford
      • In response to: "What was the comfort food you enjoyed most growing up?" Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Tomato Soup!
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    • Weather to Refresh the Soul

      • Fog

        The last two days have been wet and foggy and after weeks of unusually warm and mild sunny winter weather, I love the change of pace!

        My neighbor and I are frequently bantering and teasing each other about the weather, she applauding our nice weather and I usually pushing for snow. I would take two feet of snow anyway over the 100-plus degrees of summer!

        It's hard to say how much the weather really influences my mood because, on a day-to-day basis, I usually just take whatever comes. Over time, however, too much of the same thing makes me tired. I do feel the differences and variety in weather as a breath of fresh air in my soul.

        It seems to me that the variety in our weather is a gift from a loving God who always knows what we need. What we do to our weather patterns, however, and how we contribute to climate change by our individual actions . . . now that's an entirely different matter.

      • answered by rebannford on 02/04/2012
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    • Making a Difference in the World, Even When It's Not Apparent

      • design is ...

        I recently read a couple of articles about up and coming professionals who are changing the world. The first article was about forty individuals under forty who are making a difference in their areas of profession. The second related article was about individuals under thirty to keep an eye on.

        On one hand, I found the articles to be very inspiring and hopeful. Despite all of the troubles that seem to be playing out in our world today, we are blessed with some really good and talented characters taking the helm.

        On the other hand, one can't read articles like that without just a little bit of self-reflection: Just what am I doing with my own one, wild, single, crazy gift-of-life? I have an education. I have a full-time job. I have goals, dreams, and visions that I am striving towards. But, sorely, none of these have even coalesced into a career path, let alone a path that is changing the world.

        But what I AM doing, short of changing the world, is actively participating in the struggle of life. That is, I am still actively involved in the struggle to understand and bring to fruition my own unique vision and voice in the world. Perhaps it is divine spirit that will not let me settle for someone else's vision, or false security, or a job that isn't life-giving, doesn't fit, or just isn't true for me. I am hopeful that my effort--anyone's effort--to stay with the struggle, however slow, unsuccessful, and wrought with setbacks that may seem sometimes, really does make a positive difference in the world in so far as it contributes to the freshness and vitality of our world.

        The struggle involves at least two antagonists: the situational hand each person is dealt when they come into this world, and personal mistakes. Before we even realize what's going on, environmental factors and personal choices set each of us on a certain path that is fraught with consequences. In my own story, those consequences involved taking on someone else's vision rather than living and figuring out my own. Today, I struggle to chart a course from where my consequences landed me--in education and jobs that don't really fit--to activities and contributions that are more suited for my personality, gifts and talents. Generally, I am trying to chart my own course in the area of writing and design.

        Charting a course towards writing isn't too far of a leap even though I don't have a formal degree in writing. I do have a degree in rhetoric and communication, which lends itself to both writing and public speaking; in fact, a rhetorician would probably say that the difference is like splitting hairs. It is a significant difference to me, though. I don't enjoy rhetoric, or public speaking, or trying to figure out how to influence people one way or another. But I do enjoy writing, and I think I have a natural ability to write reasonably well. I've also been fortunate to have lots of practice in course work and employment. My favorite job was as the writer and editor of Grains of Wheat--the quarterly publication of the Dominican Sisters of Great Bend.

        The second area that I would like to pursue, perhaps even more than writing, is design. If time and money didn't matter I would pursue all of these: graphic design, web design, app design, interior design, architectural design, and maybe even landscape design! I especially don't have formal education in design, but I appreciate good design, and love to create and play with design.

        So, that's my struggle, offering, and contribution towards making the world a better place. I'm not there yet, but I hope that this will make a difference. What's your struggle? How are you making a difference in the world?

      • answered by rebannford on 10/23/2011
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    • The Art of "News Apps"

      • News Lab

        I think I've been enjoying my iPhone and iPad for well over a year now. Living in rural Kansas, it took awhile for the right internet and cell phone providers to make it to our area with reasonably good service. Ever since then, I've been fascinated with what these devices can do, as exemplified in the numerous apps that line the Apple App Store shelves. With child-like curiosity and exploration like I probably haven't experienced since childhood, I have been downloading, exploring, experimenting and playing with all sorts of different apps for news, productivity, and so on. At last count, I had accumulated between 300-400 apps. Since the iPad, especially, is a consumption device, a large percentage of these apps are news-related. Now really! There's only so much news and information that a person can consume!

        There are some news apps that I always go to first, just like a person--in the olden days--might have picked a certain section of a newspaper to read first. The CNN news app is one of my favorites. Top headlines, key bullet points from the article at the top, the rest of the story or video if you want to know more, and alerts for breaking news, this app is responsive, and gives a reasonable overview about what's going on in the world. I also like that there is a mix of articles and videos. Sometimes, I am not in an area with great reception and I don't have time to wait for the video download. Since there are plenty of other news articles, the app is still quite useful to me.

        I also like the Reeder App for my Google RSS news feeds. I work at a Catholic Social Service agency, so there are Catholic, non-profit, and other social issue news topics that I like to follow. Reeder has a nice user interface; it's simple, smooth, and quite functional so that I don't have to go into the Google Reader at all. The Reeder App is also available for my Mac computers so that everything is there, always in sync, and easy to use.

        I've also elected to hang on to my Flipboard App for news. Like Reeder, Flipboard also syncs with Google Reader news feeds, though, that's not why I'm keeping Flipboard. Flipboard also syncs with Facebook and Twitter so that you can keep up on that kind of news, though, I really prefer to see my Facebook stuff IN Facebook. I like Flipboard because of the access, choices and layout for all sorts of other popular news sources that I can choose from, according to my own tastes. Flipboard is my goto spot for all sorts of technology-related news, but I have a few other favorites plugged in as well.

        I'm also keeping The Daily App, though, this app has recently become part of the "Newstand" feature in the most recent iPhone/iPad upgrade. At first, I was skeptical about paying for a news subscription when there is already a plethora of free news! But, there was a free trial period, and I had to see what it was all about. I liked what I saw very much. It's a quality app, with some intelligent, thoughtful news articles…..a little bit different from your quick need-to-know-what's-going-on-in-the-world news. It's reasonably priced, and I like that I can just purchase a few issues at a time when I want, or I can opt in for a whole subscription.

        Finally, I've elected to keep the BBC News app because it's international perspective, and a couple of the local news apps that have made it to the App Store for our area. One is a newspaper app from up north; the other is a television news app from down south. These are both simple, basic news apps, but they give me an overview of local Kansas news when I need it.

        That's it! Those are the news apps that I go to first. So what' wrong with the others? Why are they being deleted from my iPhone/iPad? Some are just far too complicated. Huffington Post gives a dizzying amount of news, commentary and opinion--generally, too much for me. Others are purely video news apps, and so, sometimes, I just don't have time to wait longer for the news to appear and play.

        It's nice to have such beautiful choices for news consumption! It's fun to see how different editors, designers and developers put things together for our news consumption! Truly, their's is a work of art, which I appreciate, and enjoy viewing! On the other hand, their's is also a truly competitive market as they vie for our attention, support and loyalty in the sea of news and news app choices. Thanks for creating these choices for us. Thanks for the work you do!

        Now back to the news!

      • answered by rebannford on 10/20/2011
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    • Just Listen

      • Listen

        "If you had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, what would you say?" I thought that this was such a great question when I first read it that I asked my friends to chime in on what their response would be. It was interesting to me that all of the ones who responded said something of a religious nature: "Accept Jesus," "Love one another," things like that. Being a religious-minded person myself, I agree that those are very important messages! My response to the question, however, is slightly different.

        If I had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, I would simply say: "Listen." With all of the chatter, noise, and information overload that already bombards us daily--billions of voices already clamoring for your attention as it is--it's all the more critical to take time to listen. Listen to others. More importantly, listen to the deep still voice within. After all, who am I to tell you what you need to know or do when the best, truest, most authentic, most humane, most loving, most appropriate, and even most religious answer lies in the quiet stillness of your own heart.

        So, take time to listen. Go for a walk in the woods. Go away by yourself for a weekend. Spend some quiet time in a scared space. Go to your room and close the door. Wherever and however you do it: Just listen.

      • answered by rebannford on 10/19/2011
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    • Making Friends with Today's Technology

      • There was a day when I was very careful about how much I let technology invade the rest of my life. Over the past year, I have found that increasingly hard to do because I am fascinated by the new technologies that have come out, first with the iPhone, and then the iPad.


        iPad, iPhone

        There was a day when I was very careful about how much I let technology invade the rest of my life. Over the past year, I have found that increasingly hard to do because I am fascinated by the new technologies that have come out, first with the iPhone, and then the iPad. In general, these two devices make it possible for me to do all the things I often wanted to do with the computer, and so many more things besides.

        What I love most about these two devices is that they have simplified my life tremendously. There's no more need for piles of books, papers, photographs, etc. lying around gathering dust. There's just less "stuff" to worry about, or move if I ever have to find another place to live.

        For example, consider a few of the different things and gadgets a simple iPhone and iPad can knock out: alarm clock, phone, camera, numerous bookcases and file drawers, encyclopedias, scanner and fax machine, address book and calendar, flashlight, calculator, newspapers and magazines, television, bible and prayer books, Walkman, games and puzzle books, video camera, computer and store. Seriously, the iPhone and iPad should be THE devices of choice for any savvy traveler.

        As an Eco-consultant, I find all of this "stuff" that's replaced by an iPhone and iPad to be a beautiful thing indeed! Specifically, it means there's less stuff to make, and then to toss out in the nearest landfill. Granted, new versions of these devices come out of a revolving door like there is no tomorrow, and e-waste has become one of the top four culprits of waste behind food, paper, and plastic. Still, the size of an iPhone or iPad is much smaller than all of those other things they replace! With attentiveness and alternatives, we can solve the problem of e-waste, too.

        There's much that I have come to enjoy about today's technology. Using devices such as the iPhone and iPad, I am aware of having the same raw curiosity, awe, and fascination that I used to have as a child. I still have moments of tentativeness about the consequences of so much technology, and I do believe that, as with all good things, it needs to be used with moderation. For now, however, I definitely consider today's technology to be my friend! I can't say that all my friends agree.

      • answered by rebannford on 09/21/2011
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