Dare I? Should I even bother? I’ve been ambivalent about what I want to do with my blogging lately and between that and the fact that I’m now about three times busier at work, there just haven’t been much time for updates. I’ve also been feeling uninspired of late. Just don’t want to write anything. Well not anything that even feels remotely like work, anyway.

So, should I dare to commit? Some blogger friends have taken on daily blogging as a project for 2010. Should I even jump on the bandwagon only to fall off later? It’s gotten me thinking…

I decided to stay off the wagon, but maybe follow sedately by instead. I’ll attempt to blog daily or as often as I can but I won’t be kicking myself if I stumble either. I’m 5 days behind the 365 project so should I call mine the 360-project-give-or-take-a-few? Sounds good to me!

So here’s to day 1 of the 360 project give or take a few. LOL!

A couple of typhoons went through the Philippines a couple of weeks ago and left devastation in their wake. It’s one of the worst storms to go through the country and left many people flooded out of their homes and livelihoods. One of the affected communities is my mom’s hometown in Pangasinan. I posted some photos and appeals for donations for the region on our newsletter, the Sagunto Star.

Just from that small region alone, I know of many farmers and small businesses whose livelihoods were virtually washed away. They have nothing left. Their investments, which were often financed through micro-loans, were flooded out before they could harvest. The full impact of the damage brought on by these two super typhoons, of the same category as Katrina, will be felt for a long time. Even though the sun is shining again, these small businesses will not be out from under the cloud for years.

Kiva.org is an organization that enables small entrepreneurs in developing countries to be able to receive financing for whatever endeavor they may have dreamed for doing but had never had the capital to start up with. Funding comes from individuals who sign on to the site and lend a little of a lot. What’s a little to us in dollars can mean a lot to someone else in a third world country. The basic idea behind Kiva is what that old saying about teaching a man to fish says. Relief goods are fine for the short term but if you enable someone to make a living, you’ve helped them for a lifetime.

HaveImpact.org is a Kiva lender. They have sponsored several entrepreneurs all over the world including the Philippines and they are holding an interesting challenge. They have pledged to donate $5 for every comment people leave on their blog post to Give a Hand to Philippine Entrepreneurs Affected by the Floods. Yes, that’s all you have to do to help. Click on the link and leave a comment. It’s not a hoax, read the updates from the blog author. They are running this campaign until October 31 so please take a minute and go leave a comment.

Even before the campaign is ended, loans have been given out to entrepreneurs. Check out the people who have already received their loans from your comments.

 
 

I love shopping at Amazon. So I was thrilled when I learned about the Associates Program that allowed us bloggers to make some money from doing what we already do anyway, referring people to Amazon. This week however, I’m going through all my blogs to remove badges and links back to Amazon. Why? because I can’t be a part of the Amazon Associate’s Program anymore. They’ve closed down my account and I won’t be earning anymore money from them either.

The reason I’m no longer an Amazon Associate is because I live in North Carolina and North Carolina is about to pass a bill that will tax affiliate type companies like Amazon for doing business in the state. Amazon claims that this is unconstitutional and therefore decided to drop all their associates in NC. That means me among them.

From what I hear, NC is not the only state that has been dropped from the program because of their tax policy and with California being in the economic morass its in, I hear they are contemplating a similar tax scheme which means that the days of Amazon Associates in California may now be numbered.

I can of course understand the rationale behind these states wanting more revenue but it comes at my expense. Now I have to find another revenue stream. Got any good ideas?

Here’s another update on what’s been going on in our other blogs.

On our review blog, FOUND NOT LOST, we posted about a site we found on how to fold money origami, entered a book giveaway, and found a site to keep guys out of the dog house.

On our food blog, COOKED FROM THE HEART, we had the bunny baos, the black bottomed pie and steak Diane.

 
 
 
 
 
 
IN OUR BACKYARD, we’re just getting the beds primed for planting again. We have, however, just harvested our first crop of greens and managed to sock a couple of bags away in the freezer already! I’m excited. I can’t wait for the tomatoes, beans, zucchinis and herbs to come. We also now have four fruit trees that grew out of the compost. We now have peach, pear and cherry trees! Only on their second year, the peaches already have some fuzzy buds coming out. I can’t wait to see if they will put out some fruit this year.