The month of July seemed to zoooooom right by! As I’ve written before, August is perhaps the busiest month of the year for me and my family. So, here goes!

Some of the projects and fun things I’m involved with this crazy month: family birthdays, finalizing details for our trip to Texas for our Rethinking Everything adventure (and the trip itself is later this month), playing gigs with Dark Follies, getting my new e-book ready to release (coming soon soon soon!), preparing for an exciting author event in September, doing the kids’ end-of-year portfolio review, finishing my new guest post for Kind Over Matter, reading and reviewing books for some fellow authors, gearing up for the start of Dryst’s soccer season, volunteering at a couple of events…wow. I’d better finish this post and get busy!

In other happy news, my phone died. No, really, I’m glad! It’s the same phone I’ve had since 2006 (no joke) and I thought maybe it was completely indestructible. I’m going to finally join the new decade with a phone that can actually do some stuff, like taking pictures, and having enough memory to save and share them! More on that soon…

In the meantime, here are some links to brighten your weekend.

Of all the stuff I read this week, this one was the clear winner.

If the last few weeks have seemed especially intense, perhaps it’s the influence of the planets. Here’s another overview that might help, too.

This post is centered on dancers, but can apply to nearly any creative endeavor, especially ones you share with an audience. I found it thought-provoking.

Some silliness I can’t resist: the best cities for hippies. But, come on, why isn’t Portland, Maine on the list?

Are you a fan, like me, of the Harry Potter books? I saw this article on Facebook and had to read it – it has new information from J.K. Rowling on the lives of the characters after the book.

I love this post about how to raise your kids to be good writers. Seems like common sense to me!

There’s been some controversy going on in the online unschooling community over the past few weeks. I haven’t gotten directly involved, by choice, but I did appreciate this grounded and thoughtful post about it.

Have a terrific weekend and enjoy the summer weather!