Because I'm of the belief that unless I break up the monotony of margin aligning and the endless tweaking that every graphic designer must contend with, I wander around the internet a bit during my day. I'm going to start posting links to things that I've seen and noted throughout the week. Pithy or pitiful, you can judge:

Week of March 20th

50 and 50 is a little collaborative project that I've been following for the past few months. Basically graphic designers from each of the 50 states were given the specs for the project and then had to come up with a design reflecting their state motto. It's been a good amount of solid work and I hope that they'll be making a poster of the final cuts.

My first semester in college my roommate was friends with this girl named Amy Beth. Most of what I knew about Amy Beth, I knew from her hurried visits to our room and the glowing reports that the entire school had about this girl. She's in her mid-twenties now, and in the past year has been parenting five small girls she calls the Fabulous Five, all girls of single-parent fathers. She has a blog now that keeps me in stitches or tears, depending on the day. Read it.

I already linked to this post by Derek Levendusky, but if you're one of those people for whom passive links don't work, allow me to make a more active attempt. Read this blog. His insight on the word of faith movement and how its moralistic ideals eek into our prayers and thoughts on faith is well stated and worth the read.

Along the same lines, my friend Paul had a guest post over at his blog this week that was also in response to the word of faith movement. "Pain and suffering have a way of focusing our attention – bringing us back to our priorities, simplifying our lives, drawing our hearts back to our true heart’s Desire. It reminds us that this is not our home; that Jesus rose from the grave and has gone to prepare a place for us – a glorious place free of suffering and sin and sadness and death."

March 22 was World Water Day. I already blogged about this crisis and you're welcome to turn a blind eye to it; I certainly have for many years! I'm grateful that this season of life has me working in a non-profit that is specifically geared toward raising awareness in the water crisis, as well as human trafficking, specifically in India. Check out this new micro-site for the facts and, if you feel like you can give a bit, use the text to give option.

One of the things I love about living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is that there is always a plethora of great conferences and concerts. (I also love that my job will let me pick one to attend that will help me in my efforts!) The Echo Conference is coming up in July and I am SUPER excited about the lineup of speakers and teachers. It's going to be amazing and I highly recommend attending if you're interested in telling stories creatively!