One Stop Market

So if you’re serious about renting out your second home or condo, if you own a Bed and Breakfast and want to take it to the next organizational level and stop using pencil and print-out calendars then (in this day and age) computer software is where you’re going to be headed some time or another.  You just have to, it’s not really an option anymore.  If someone walks into your establishment and you’re writing things down on paper and erasing and re-writing and all that, you’re business is going to come off as half-ass and less than sub-par. 

It’s time to invest in a new fandangled flat-screen computer and put some reservation software on it.  And let’s keep the MAC freaks at bay here – you know with specialized software like this, PC is clearly the way to go.  But that’s besides the point.  Whether you own or operate a campground, motel, rent out your condo or house, or are starting your own B&B (an increasingly popular trend these days), you’re going to need appropriate reservation software so let’s just face that now and move on…the links below all go to the same place but I figured you’d feel better about yourself if you clicked on the one that applies to your situation so go for it!

Campground Reservation Software
B&B Reservation Software
Motel Reservation Software
Condo/Vacation Rental Reservation Software

If you’re looking at this article, you’re probably a total Photoshop nerd.  If so, you will definitely be interested learning the following strategies to give your own personal photos a very unique and artistic edge or your photography-related business will benefit greatly from these strategies that normal, everyday Photoshop users know nothing about… 

• how to manipulate a photographic image without loss of focus, enhancing color and edges, creating a lifelike watercolor look while preserving the essential elements of the image

• how to make your digital painting look like you’ve spent countless hours creating brushwork and texture by working with only a few Photoshop filters

• how to create the shimmering hues and values that great watercolorists use

• which filters to use and how to combine them to create the illusion of a handpainted watercolor picture

Definitely worth learning these skills if Photoshop is something you use regularly as a serious hobby or even in your business or line of work (ie: marketing, blogging, photography - weddings, band photos, etc.)

Cheers my photogenic friends!

Well this is going to be perhaps the most practical article on this blog ever in the world forever (excellent grammar usage). 

 I’ve had a slow leak on the tire of my car for the last couple of months and I was driving it to gas stations that offered free air and filling the tire up whenever it was convenient OR once a week.  Then…I freaked out because I started having to fill the tire up every single day. 

So I looked online and found my solution and I thought I’d pass it on to ya’ll so you can benefit and refer anybody looking to fix a slow leak in their tire without having to buy a new tire or ALL new tires (which they’ll make you do if your tires aren’t brand-spanking new).  The product I bought for less than 10 bucks is called Fix A Flat and it works.  Check it out below and leave me a comment if you tried it and it worked. 

Fix A Flat saved me from buying new tires…

Definitely the most normal, everyday, practical article to ever make it onto this site.  I apologize if reading this article was the absolute boring, low-moment of your day!

I love controversial, generalized, overstated titles. 

I go to church and I like going to church and that’s why I go to church.  There, I said it.  I’m not the pastor, I haven’t been to seminary, I don’t get paid (in fact I usually pay, or “give” as it is often called), and I’m not scared of hell.  Well, I’m not scared of hell anymore, that is.  Religion (including Christianity) is completed misunderstood and therefore totally rejected by popular culture and popular intellectual culture in this our modern time.  But I often find myself in debate with people who argue against religion from a “religious” perspective and I’d like to take this opportunity to call them (or maybe YOU) out on that.

Since we’re on the idea of enjoying controversy, let’s talk about gay marriage.  I’ve heard the arguement against the Christian idea of marriage that goes something like this: “Your religion’s random idea of marriage is unfair and not based in the freedom every human being has to decide how to live his or her life.  Besides, it discriminates against gay people because it says what they’re doing is wrong and that’s judgemental and not loving.  Don’t impose your religious ideas on me or anyone else…that’s just arrogant and prideful.”  Actually, the arguements are not usually that well articulated and succinct, so I’m helping my previous debate opponents out a little here. 

You may feel the same way they do and that’s perfect, that’s exactly where I want you to be right now.  I will now make you more angry than you ever have been if you’ve been on the non-religious side of an arguement like this before:  You are arguing from a Christian (not just religious) perspective.  At the core of your arguement you are asserting your belief in a God who cares about human justice, freedom, expression, absolute truth, human history, individuality, morality, and finally (like Bono) love.  Please take this opportunity to yell at your computer screen (I’ll give you a couple seconds at least)…

…Okay, first: morality cannot be man made (and it exists so therefore it’s God made), neither can justice nor truth (YOU cited all three of these in your side of the argument) and you should go ahead and look this up in even your most liberal philosophy books from even the most ancient philosophers. 

Second: the Christian God is the only God of any religion who cares about human things such as individuality, human freedom, relationship, expression, and even humility (YOU called me arrogant).

Third: it can therefore be deduced that, according to the foundational statements of your arguement, you are appealing to the truth of the Christian God of the Bible, upon whom your country (the USA) and your constitution are originally founded.  

PLEASE reply to this post with your angry comments — or come up with another argument for why religion is an invalid source for reason in decision making and debating and why the Christian perspective on gay marriage is absolutely horrible without affirming it by arguing according to the same foundational principles.  

Ha ha ha ha ha - you have Christian morals!          

LOS ANGELES - Pop star Britney Spears’ 2-year-old son was taken to the hospital over the weekend after he had a reaction to something he ate, a statement on the singer’s Web site said on Monday.

Jayden James was admitted to a Mississippi hospital during a visit by the singer and her two sons to her family home in Kentwood, Louisiana.

“Jayden James Federline was admitted to the Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center on Sunday, November 9th. Doctors concluded he had a reaction to something he ingested. He is expected to be discharged tomorrow (Tuesday),” said the statement from the Spears family posted on the official www.britneyspears.com Web site.

People magazine, quoting a source close to the family, said that Jayden had suffered “a terrible allergic reaction. He had hives, was itchy and irritable.”

The source told the celebrity magazine that Jayden “is doing fine” and Spears, 26, and her mother, Lynne, spent Sunday night at the hospital with him.

Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper had reported earlier that the toddler suffered an apparent seizure.

The trip by Spears to Louisiana, her childhood home, was the first time she had been allowed to leave California with sons Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden since their father Kevin Federline was given full custody in July.

Charlie Kaufman is best known for the quirky screenplays for Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He’s written and directed the new film Synecdoche, NY. Host Scott Simon talks to film critic Desson Thomson about Kaufman’s brain-teaser movies — films that make the human mind the landscape of the story.