Person of the Year

We realize there are six months to go -- but if you had to make a preliminary nomination for your "person of the year" for 2010, who might you pick? Who has had a big, positive impact on your life? Who inspires you by their example? Who has achieved something remarkable this year?

This week's theme is halfway through the year.

Plans and surprises

Which of your predictions for 2010 have already come true? What things unfolded pretty much the way you expected? What were this year's biggest surprises so far?

This week's theme is halfway through the year.

Halfway through the year

2010 is almost half over. How are things going? Is this year shaping up as well as you had hoped? Is 2010 working out better than 2009 for you?

This week's theme is halfway through the year.

Tell us a story: lost

Think back to your childhood, to a time when you got lost. Were you alone? If not, who was with you? Where were you? Where were you trying to go? Who helped you find your way?

Being prepared

At Blog Headquarters, we had an extended power outage this week -- which allowed for an interesting reflection on this week's theme of how important machines have become in daily life.

The trouble with power outages and similar emergencies is that they come by surprise. If you know that they're coming ahead of time, you can prepare and be in a much better position when the emergency arrives. It's not practical to be prepared for every possible emergency -- but what are some simple things you can do now that would put you in a better position for many different possible emergencies?

Making it your own

Do you personalize your machines? Machines can be adapted to suit your personal workstyle, customized to handle the specific tasks that you do most often, and decorated to express your personality.

Think of your own machines and devices. What is one that you personalized in some interesting way?

This week's theme is you and machines.

Gadget sacrifice

Thinking about all of those machines that you use every day, which one would it be hardest to live without? How would your life change if you could never use it again?

This week's theme is you and machines.

Your faithful assistant

If you had to pick one out of all the machines that you use, which one is your specialty, your area of mastery? When a job needs to be done with this machine, people are likely to defer to you or at least to ask your advice. Which machine reveals its subtle secrets to you and reliably does your bidding?

This week's theme is you and machines.

A thing about machines

How is your relationship with machines? Do you resent every gadget you're forced to deal with? Do you revel in every new toy? Do you just...coexist with them?

This week's theme is you and machines.

You and machines

Anyone reading this post is intimately connected with machines — anything powered by something other than muscle. (According to one thesaurus, synonyms for "machine" include: apparatus, appliance, device, contraption, contrivance, mechanism, engine, gadget, tool.) Machines take up a tremendous amount of space in our lives, whether you work as a programmer, a mechanic for NASA, or a baker. We really know how dependent we are on machines when we lose access to them, as in a power outage.

What are 5 machines you used today? What are 5 machines you use every day?

This week's theme is you and machines.

Tell us a story: compromising positions

What is the most embarrassing situation in which you've been caught? How did you end up that way, and who was involved? If another person was involved, did that person often get you involved in shenanigans?