Soup to Nuts Carnival! The First Course

It's time for Dinner...a Progressive Dinner. I am amazed at the number and calibre of entries for the First Course of the Soup to Nuts Carnival...I can only believe if the entries received by the rest of the hosts for this Dinner are as interesting as mine, this Progressive Dinner will be a great success.

I would like to thank everybody involved, especially Jason, Kimberly, Lisa and Kilroy for their promotion and aid in organizing and their time, which was given so freely.

The First Course can only be described as eclectic. From discussions of World politics to Education to the Restaurant industry to Spirituality...the conversations are quick and lively, with something to interest everyone. Please follow the links to read each entry and feel free to leave a comment to join in the discussion around the table.

I can only be called a hesitant host, having no experience at it, but Kilroy talked me through and tried to decipher my emails to him with great panache. Thank you, Kilroy.

I sought to come up with a novel, creative way to list the entries, and have failed miserably. I only know what I prefer, when I visit a Carnival Post...and that is a simple list. In this way, I can peruse and visit each blog very easily. It becomes a little like a surprise gift, then...what will I see when I open the page?

And so, without further ado....here are the submissions for, listed in the order in which they arrived, the First Course...Bon Appetit!

1. Aaron from Today is That Day submitted his post Personal Development as a Result of Ignoring the Rules.

2. Barbara from Britannica Blog asks What to do About Insane Governments.

3. Jason from the Shabam School blog expounds on Making Rules Visible in the education system.

4. Praveen from My Simple Trading System tells about Wealth and Luxury in Ordos, China.

5. Praveen, again, in another blog named Tao of Simplicity, inspires with her Mother's Day Story in Chicago Tribune.

6. Banquet Manager That's Me, on his blog So You Want to Be a Banquet Manager lets us peek into the Hospitality world with his post entry Why Can't We have an Executive Steward?

7. Amanda from Pajama Mommy Community asks businesses What Can You Do For Me?

8. Tip Diva tells us "Tip Diva unfortunately had her wallet stolen yesterday. Luckily, her ATM card and driver's license were not in the wallet, but the perp decided to buy $200 worth of train tickets using her credit cards. Here's what to do in case your wallet is stolen." Here is her post.

9. Jeff talks about the movie American Graffiti on his blog Stuff Running 'Round My Head.

10. Cindy from her blog Cindy King enlightens us with her post on ICANN. In her words..."ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers overseas a number of Internet related tasks. ICANN met in Paris this week. There were a few interesting things that came out of this meeting." Please read her post entitled Use of Non-Latin Characters in Domain Names to be Reviewed in November.

11. My friend Anthony, with his blog What I See Out My Window, brings us views from all corners of the world. This post is Zack's view from his office window in Chicago.

12. Kilroy, of Fear and Loathing-The Gonzo Papers, interviews Hunter S. Thompson on his book Kingdom of Fear.

13. Anthony, on another blog he writes called The Lives and Times..., submits his photos of Entrances to Hell.

14. Kilroy, from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Things I've Found in the Blogosphere), shows his photographic side in his post A Little Farther to the Right.

15. In his blog A Photographer's Eye, Kilroy shares another photo of a Gazebo here.

16. Karyn educates us with her blog All About Orlando. Her story about Orlando's Best Attraction can be read here.

17. Jacob, on his blog JobMob, announces the 2008 JobMob Guest Blogging Contest.

18. Kim, on her blog Profitable writes..."Ah, always a good idea to have the meal before the dessert. The same holds true for making sure that you don't file an amended tax return before the IRS receives your original return! ". She tell us about it in her post Bad Tax Idea.

19. Isabella, on her blog Change Therapy, announces the Blogathon 2008: Countdown to Insomnia where she will post a blog entry every 30 minutes for 24 hours for her favourite charity.

20. Helene, on her blog Work At Home Mom and Dad, advises us on Finding A Great Home Based Business.

21. On his blog, Savvy Daddy, Tony writes about his son's first words in 2 Years In, the
Sentences Begin.

He states..."Ever wonder what kind of words a toddler picks up first? Well, here's my son's list of his first 123."

22. In Mad Kane's Political Madness, Mad Kane gives her opinion in verse in her post A Humorist's Lament (Covering The New Yorker Cover Brouhaha In Verse) - Updated.

23. In A Night At the Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk, Damaris posts about an evening there. As an added bonus, she gives us a great looking recipe, on her blog Within the Corners of My Kitchen.

24. Brent, on his blog The Ominous Comma give us a dose of dry, witty humour. This particular post may perhaps not be the most appetizing subject for a Dinner Party...but it would certainly liven things up. Read his post Aromatic Audio Offering.

25.Vegoftheweek, the author of a blog called, appropriately enough, vegoftheweek, gives a fabulous use for Mirin, one of my favourite ingredients. And she includes a recipe. Read her post Mock Egg Salad Recipe: Look ma, no eggs!

26. Brice contributes financial advice along with the power of positive thinking on his blog Financial Zip. He gives a great example of beliefs in his post Believing is Achieving.

27. At Mixed Metaphor, Jenn presents a fictional story about reconnections to the past. Read her lovely entry entitled Her Debut.

28. In Manely Montana Memories - Come On Inn, innkeeper GP gives us a very hilarious take on some long ago hints from the previous Heloise...read the account called Innkeeping Heloise Style.

29. Kimberly in How To Make Money From Home Part #3 shares great ideas on finding one's passion. Do you know what your passion is? Read Kimberly's blog How To Make Money to find out.

30. SalesDiva in Stories of a Travelling Diva tells a hilarious account of a trip to the Island of Dominica in her post Cooties in the Caribbean. And this was supposed to be a relaxing trip?

31. Jacob, in his post How to Run An Awesome Group Writing Project, shares his knowledge on running a successful project such as this. Read Jacob's blog Group Writing Projects...he certainly knows what he's about.

32. Kimberly, in Terrier Lover, talks about eye stains on those adorable white terriers. Read her story Eye Stain-Home Remedy for Maltese Terriers.

33. In her blog How to Lose Weight Fast, Kimberly gives a link to an online diet generator. Her story, The Fat Loss 4 Idiots Online Diet Generator will be a great tool to use, in the ongoing weight control battle.

34. Lastly, my own entry Relaxation. Perhaps, after a First Course with such diverse guests, a little meditation is required.

Please also visit the other hosts who have contributed time and effort and also considerable expertise in running the Soup to Nuts Carnival.

Kilroy has done a yeoman's job in making sure all entries were submitted to each host for each course. He hosts the Main Course on Fear and Loathing- The Gonzo Papers.

Lisa at Stories of a Travelling Diva is hosting the Hor's d'oeuvres category.

Jacob serves the Appetizer category at his blog Group Writing Projects, and Kimberly dishes up the Dessert Course at Blog and Butter. Sounds yummy!

It's been great fun, putting the First Course on the table. The conversation grew heated at times, with humour added for great measure.

I met lots of great bloggers and renewed old friendships. What could be better?