We are hearing a lot about change these days. It seems like everywhere we turn, someone is promising to change something. Or someone is wanting something changed. It has gotten so extreme that even the conservative standard-bearer is running for president as an"agent of change." (And if you believe that, I would like to talk to you about a fabulous real estate investment.)

I was thinking about change this week as I am preparing to teach a series of workshops to small business owners. One of the great challenges in growing a business is resistance to change – by employees, by owners, even by customers. Everyone wants the perceived benefits of change – improved cash flow, healthy bottom line, better working conditions, job security – it is just the actual "changiness" they resist. They don’t mind change as long as they can keep doing things the same way they have always done them.

They aren’t called "work habits" for nothing. Research on habit formation found that it isn’t necessary to try to "kill" a habit.  Concentrating on developing new habits will create new pathways in our brains that bypass those old roads. One of the ways to create new pathways is through kaizen.

I walked out to the mailbox the other day and found The Issue--you know, that city-centric magazine with the Obamas on the cover? Instead of burning it or defacing and returning the subscription cards, I sat down and read through the cartoons until I bumped into Elizabeth Kolbert's "Turf War." Though technically a book review, Kolbert's piece is really an overview of our green problem. Specifically, our American fetish: The luxuriant, well-manicured lawn that stands in for our ideas about propriety, character and achievement.

Oh hai, Austin!

Here in Arizona, we have our very own despot - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Crazy Joe thinks it's a good thing to feed his fellow humans outdated food (the famous "green bologna"), and to cut costs by feeding them this substandard sustenance only twice a day.

Crazy Joe has his own richly deserved page on Crazyspace. Just take a look at his "friends"!!

Just to prove that I've got control of my envy about all those who are heading off to Austin tomorrow to party without moi, I figured, why not have a Bon NNoyage party and send you all off with style!

So be nice, ye fortunate ones, no gloating! And if, like me, you're not heading for Austin, do let us know in comments below so we can plot out some revenge fun stuff during their absence!

(FWIW Note: Crashing Vor has a roll-call diary going for non-attendees.)

Quick Disclaimer - This story has a happy ending!

It'd be nice if we could sort all our associations into two groups, one with white hats and the other with black hats.

Gosh, then when I am pissed off at my friends I could remember very easily.

Oh, yeah. White hat. It's no big deal.

And likewise, when they are pissed off at me, they could go. Oh, yeah. White hat. Ain't nothin' but a thing.

The problem, of course is, as in recent political dust-ups, it ain't that easy, is it?

There was a time that Sundays would come around and you could find me posting action diaries in the afternoons/evenings. I haven't had time to put them together for a while - it takes a bit of time each day throughout the week and in the past year and a half I've had quite a few big changes and moves, in addition to working too much. I'm starting to get settled where I am now and I'm hoping to begin that Sunday series again soon - although next Sunday I'll be traveling back from Austin and Netroots Nation. I'm sure many Sundays will find me canvassing around Iowa - I fully intend to drive wherever I'm needed, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to post in the evenings on those days.

Anyway, I thought I'd provide those of you who never read one with a little preview of what's to come every Sunday. Those who have read in the past - I hope you find them useful once again.

This may be something of a follow-up to Emeraldmaiden’s delightful Thursday diary,but it was not my inspiration. Rather, I was inspired by an entry in the Accidental Hedonist concerning a wafer cookie in an Asian market. What made this cookie so special? The flavor was durian.

Look, I'm not the Martha Stewart of sustainability, but I do make my own small, idiosyncratic effort to be a little less wasteful, a little more energy efficient and a lot more conscious about what I eat and where it comes from. There are many more things that I could do but today I took a step toward reducing the green in my life by buying a secondhand reel mower.

Pizza pie, that is!  

I've spent part of the afternoon making pizza dough, and preparing to have three little girls top their own pizzas.

One, of course, wanted CHEEEEEEEESE!!! And nothing but CHEEEEEEEESE!!!

But, hey - she's six. It's almost a given, isn't it?

Middle child goes for the meat - pepperoni AND sausage! Should I have told her that the Italian sausage was chicken? Muhahahahah! This is a child who will NOT eat spaghetti sauce, or ravioli, or anything tomato sauce-y ... but pizza sauce is okay. Hmmm.

Oldest child, twelve, did a funky combo of the two little kids. Hers was half cheese, one quarter pepperoni, and one quarter sausage.

Kids are strange.

As brillig so wonderfully pointed out last night, we're just one week away from Netroots Nation, which is the third annual gathering that started life as Yearly Kos. As a volunteer helping to put this convention together, I'd like to share a bit with you from behind the scenes. Make the jump with me for more.

But first! The purpose of this diary is to showcase some of the spectacular contributions that keep us coming back to this site. Diaries have the Rec list and Diary Rescue. Comments have recommends and Top Comments! If you see any comments during your day of work avoidance and brain feeding, please send them along to:

top comments at g mail dot com

Please make sure that you include your user name so that we may credit you with the submission!

Hey! Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations made at TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks. Include your username so we can credit you, and send 'em in by 9:45pm Eastern to ensure they make the final diary.

These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.

Please come in and make yourself at home...

Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations made by YOU! Remember, if you see a comment worthy of wider notice, send it to TopComments at gmail.com by 9:45 Eastern. Please include your user name, links to the comment and diary in which it appears, and a few words about your choice.

These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis. But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.

Please come in and make yourself at home...

On January 25, 2003, Markos went out of town and left Daily Kos guest blogger Steve Soto in sole charge of the posting reins. Steve's first post that morning was So Much for Dismissing "Old Europe", written a few days before the SOTU, on Bush Administration and their push to commence hostilities against Iraq. Two comments signed MeteorBlades appeared that evening; the first reads in part:

Instead of the shrieking John Wayneism that we've endured from Bushboy since last April, he could have started by making his pretty good speech at the U.N., another at NATO, and even as a guest speaker at the Arab League. Instead, from the get-go, it's been the hollow clop-clop-clop of chest-pounding backed up by lies, lies, lies. Now, his cojones are at stake and he may not feel able to back down, even with most of the world, half the Pentagon and a good portion of the public against war under the current circumstances.

Go read the rest of it.

Were these truly the first comments written by MeteorBlades on Daily Kos? Yes. And no. This seeming contradiction will be explicated...over the flip.

Ten years ago, my now-husband and I were sitting on the front porch of our apartment building, watching the world go by and talking about Someday. You know: that mythical time when you'll travel to exotic places, build that house of your dreams, be the perfect parent, learn that esoteric hobby you once read about in a magazine and have remembered ever since. There, with the trolley car line singing overhead and the hustle and bustle of a city all around us, young and in love, we dreamed about...

Chickens.

Well, not as such. More like "Wouldn't it be fun to get out of the city and live somewhere we could have a garden and an animal or two?" Fast-forward a decade, and here we are, doing "chick check" on our first little flock. Sometimes, little dreams come true.

This is the document that started the ball rolling, the group far from their ancestral homes who eventually became the juggernaut known as the United States of America.

Yo! Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations made at TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks. Include your username so we can credit you, and send 'em in by 9:45pm Eastern to ensure they make the final diary.

These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.

Please come in and make yourself at home...

Hey! Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations made at TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks. Include your username so we can credit you, and send 'em in by 9:45pm Eastern to ensure they make the final diary.

These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.

Please come in and make yourself at home...