Check out the new look of the Detroit Free Press website

A couple of months ago the Detroit Free Press website made some dramatic changes to its look and functionality. They added the ability for readers to add their comments to articles and narrowed the column format along with other not so noticeable changes. Now the color scheme has changed along with a more refined style that seems a bit cleaner than the previous versions. It will take some getting used to, but I think I like it.

See for yourself - www.freep.com.

To the Top of 'The Mighty Mac'

One of the first stops on Susan Agers summer trip around Michigan was to the top of one of the 552-foot tall towers that hold up the Mackinac Bridge. She received over 1,000 suggestions from readers on where to go in Michigan this summer. You can follow her travels at her blog www.freep.com/gosusan. You can still keep giving her suggestions via her blog. I don't know exactly how she is choosing from such a plethora of options. It has to be difficult to trim down the list and experience a tiny bit of what Michigan has to offer this summer.

I look forward to her the rest of her Michigan trips and will keep you updated on the interesting locales she visits.

Read her first-person account of going up the tower and the beautiful scene she took in at the Detroit Free Press. It had me feeling claustrophobic as she entered the "coffin-like" elevator and weak in the knees at the thought of only having a 42-inch high railing keeping you from falling off of the 552-foot high tower.

Tell Free Press Writer Where to Travel in Michigan

Susan Ager, a writer for the Detroit Free Press, is asking her fellow Michiganians to suggest places in Michigan for her to visit. Head over to Susan's blog to check out all of the ideas people have suggested. Even if you can't think of anything to suggest, you might find some of Michigan's hidden gems that you will want to pay a visit. Actually, I thought I would go over there and make some suggestions, but I got caught up in reading all of the great ideas. I'll try to think up something really unique to add to the ever growing list.

Detroit Free Press Turns 175 on May 5, 2006

As Cliff Clavin (from the popular Cheers television show) might say - it's a little known fact that the Detroit Free Press will celebrate it's 175th year of existence on May 5, 2006. All week long the Free Press will be featuring bits of trivia from its history. A quick piece of trivia from today's article -

"the Detroit Free Press has outlasted nearly all its peers, becoming the second-oldest continuously operated business in Michigan."

Eat Dinner as a Family

Mitch Albom has a great column from Sunday's Free Press on the advantages of families that eat dinner together. As a kid, the dinner table was where we talked about our day at school and learned that if you complained about how you had more vegetables on your plate than your sister you ended up getting another heaping spoonful. Families that have dinner together won't be without their trouble. However, I am willing to bet that a family that cares enough to make it a priority to eat dinner together is already ahead of most other families. It shows a commitment to the family instead of extra music or sports practices, or meetings you just couldn't say no to.

It is scary how busy families are these days with individual activities. We are so busy having "fun" that we have forgotten how to have fun without being busy. A fun and full life is not about how many different activities you can be involved in.

We recently had a missionary at our church that made a statement that has stuck with me. He was in Africa and one of the Africans laughed at him for wearing a watch. He said to the missionary, "In America, you have watches. In Africa, we have time."

Time. All the money in the world won't buy more when you realize you don't have much left.