Vaughn Ripley's Blog, page 2
June 6, 2013
What is the Magic with Magic
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959) announced that he was HIV+ back in November of 1991. That is nearly twenty-two years ago!! So I ask again, What's the magic with Magic? There is much speculation surrounding the question of why Magic Johnson (and many like him) have successfully stayed alive despite this death [...]
May 31, 2013
Love Your Family As If You Will Die Today
One of my favorite quotes is from James Dean. I love the quote so much that it hangs (with a photo of him) in my den. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." -- James Dean (2/8/31 - 9/30/55) This quote holds so much power, and it's sort of ironic [...]
May 27, 2013
Memorial Day 2013
More than 1,280,000 Americans have died in war since the American Revolutionary War. Memorial Day is a time to remember not only these soldiers, sailors, pilots, and marines, but also ALL American military personnel who have died while in service of their country. Let's start by clearly defining what Memorial Day is. I've heard many [...]
May 22, 2013
Easy Secure Password Formula
The best password is totally random(ish), twelve characters long, and contains all four character types (uppercase, lowercase, number, and special character). It is also very important to use a different password for each and every account login you have. This can become VERY cumbersome and painful to track ... It's almost impossible, unless you have [...]
May 16, 2013
Believe in Your Dreams and Believe in Yourself
Rome was not built in a day. Like the Romans, you are creating something that will take incredible amounts of time and effort. You are working on yourself. Making you a smarter, stronger, wiser, healthier, more loving, believing, hard working, patient, and understanding person takes time. You absolutely can improve yourself in a day. You [...]
May 15, 2013
Urban Legends and Myths Demystified
Throughout "the Secret" section of my blog I have tackled a bunch of subjects from staying healthy to preventing the spread through safe sex. Many of these topics have been fairly taboo. This topic might just prove to be the most taboo of all. However, I would be remiss if I didn't put a little [...]
May 6, 2013
Make Your Creative Juice Flow
Our last On Writing blog article was about the choice to outline or not. Now that you've gotten past that stage, let's talk about where you can find some creativity when you aren't feeling particularly creative. The world is full of wonderful things that can help boost your creativity. Sometimes I find that a simply [...]
April 30, 2013
The Truth About Hemophilia
A better title for this article might have been, Hemophilia is a Pain in the Butt! Or even, Allow Myself to Explain -- Myself. However, I stuck with this one. Basically, I thought I would introduce you clotting readers to the easy bleeding community through a story. I'm currently dealing with a bleed in my [...]
April 23, 2013
Eyes of the Hawk’s, Part Three
This is the last day. The last day of the first week of the next chapter of our lives. Kiddo has been transformed into a walker at school, from having been a bus rider. Just as unexpectedly, I have transformed into a singleparent-fulltimeworker-everythingrestsonme type person. It is Friday morning. As I pull out from the [...]
March 13, 2013
Eyes of the Hawk’s, Part Two
We strap on our collection of lenses and survey the parking lot. It's busy here, but not unmanageably so. This will be a good day on Hawk Mountain. I've been meaning to come here since I found out about the place while studying Forestry in college. My return to the East coast has broadened and [...]
