My mom asked me to create a link for her to the Sonlight Rewards Program.

Great idea!

I created the graphic, added it to my blog, sent her the code and thought, 'If my mom wants this for her blog, perhaps others out there want it too.'

So I added a badge for Sonlight Rewards to the Widgets page. Here's the super cool thing: If you are logged into your Sonlight Account while on the Widgets page, your Rewards ID code is automatically included in the HTML.

Say what?

Log into your Sonlight account. Copy the Rewards badge HTML. Add it to your blog/website. A visitor who clicks on it will automatically be brought to the friendly "create an account to save money" page. And if he or she creates an account then, you'll earn points on his or her first purchase.

So cool!

Unfortunately, Facebook does not let you use HTML on your Facebook page.

But wait!

There is something on the Widgets page for you, faithful Facebook fans! That's right: New Flair, now with the twenty-ten logo.

Huzzah!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Yesterday I linked to a fantastic article on popularity. In his article, Paul Graham argues--among other things--that high school has no real purpose; the stated goal of "educating" is little more than a farce except in the instance of the few shining examples of truly great teachers.

That certainly rang true for me. Attending a public high school wasn't about learning. In fact, I readily told everyone at the time that if I had really wanted to learn something, I would have stayed home.

No, I had another reason to be at my public high school: Ministry. I was there to change the world.

Granted, as I alluded to yesterday, I was involved in tons of extra curricular activities as well. I believe I "lettered" officially 19 times. I gave myself two non-official letters I deserved but was not awarded. I fully understand the draw that wood shop, band, sports, theater, clubs and school publications offer. But those are secondary. Education tertiary. My primary reason for going to school was to stretch my wings as a minster of the Gospel.

And I had a blast. I really enjoyed high school.

But my younger sister did not. We overlapped by two years, and I can still remember her clinging to me and crying right before I graduated. She was about to be alone in a pointless world without a friendly soul to turn to.

She still talks about her horrible experiences and the waste of those years.

My wife, on the other hand, was homeschooled through high school. We met in college. She's bright, well educated and--in many ways--better adjusted than I.

My point is this: There are excellent and worthy reasons to attend high school. But I would caution against those reasons which are of the academic nature. You absolutely can homeschool your children through high school. You need not worry about the larnin' of yer students.

And if you're just beginning your homeschool journey, remember:

Sonlight offers homeschool programs from pre-school through high school.

We've got your covered.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

The trees had dropped their leaves. The sun was pale through the window. He sat hunched in his desk looking at his trigonometry textbook. Actually, he was looking at the slip of paper on his text:

Ballot it read.

"Please nominate the top five males and top five females for Winter Homecoming Royalty."

His mind had gone blank. Five? Which five? Then a smile crept across his face. "Hey, everyone," he said loudly. The classroom turned to look at him. "Put down Luke Holzmann."

There was a moment of silence.

Then his friends turned back to their ballot, shrugged, and started scribbling. A few months later he was crowned king by default because the football player he had tied with was at a game that night.

My fifteen minutes of high school popularity were courtesy of a whim and a technicality. I couldn't have asked for more irony (except, of course, that the queen was one of my good friends and leader of our weekly prayer meetings).

I had come a long way from the kid who ate lunch by himself in the Cross Country locker room. I had risen from the new kid who was loud and odd to "that tall, loud guy" whom everyone at least could recognize. I had restarted the swim team. I would be captain of the Cross Country team next year. I lead FCA. I participated in musicals. I wrote for the school paper. I was everywhere. And while I had many acquaintances, I didn't have any friends.

At least, no true friends that I would bother to contact after I graduated. None that I hung out with outside of school.

I was popular enough with my peers, the other slightly nerdy yet incredibly involved and successful students. I was mostly comfortable in my skin. I was overly zealous in my convictions. And I was homecoming king.

I realize very few of you have time to browse my Other Posts of Note, but one by Janine Cate really got to me today. Well, the post is great, but the linked article absolutely blew me away.

Definitely worth reading. It's long. But so, so good. Please go read Paul Graham's article on popularity. It brought me back to some of those moments in high school and reinforced the incredible benefits homeschooling has when it comes to socialization.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

I've heard that Colorado gets around 300 days of sun every year.

And that's nice.

Today it's supposedly 60° out there, but the breeze was cool while we ate at the picnic tables. Still, that's a lot warmer than it's been recently. And it was nice to eat outside again. The solar energy felt great on my pasty white flesh. Vitamin D is a very nice thing.

While we ate, refueling after a morning's work, something else was soaking up the rays:

Sonlight's Solar Power Array

It's been going since noon, so the data is a little sparse right now. I'll definitely give you a better link when we've had a chance to get all the monitoring stuff working properly.

I'm not a huge fan of the political side of "Going Green," but I am a major proponent of caring for what we've been entrusted with. That's why I'm so pleased with how much Sonlight recycles, and this latest solar initiative is another great opportunity to be a good steward of what we have been given.

Sonlight: now partially powered by sunlight.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

I once wore t-shirts all the time. But now my wife has me wearing polos. And, I'll admit: I look better in a polo.

But given the right opportunity--like a a Saturday, or every evening when I get home, or the perfect outing to sport a Myst t-shirt--and I'm wearing one again.

Old habits die hard.

Are you looking for a great reason to wear a t-shirt again?

I thought so! That's why I'm giving you the perfect opportunity to wear a t-shirt: Sonlight's 2010 T-Shirt Design Contest. After we get some entries, pick a winner, get the shirts made, you purchase one, it arrives at your house... well... then, then will be the perfect time to wear a t-shirt again. You could wear this t-shirt with pride to:

• a homeschool convention
• your school reunion
• a rock concert
• the Sonlight picnic
• your book club meetings
• to bed
• while cleaning the bathroom
• the possibilities are only limited to the number of outfits you will wear in your life...

T-shirts are very versatile.

But here's the deal: We need some submissions.

Do you need to be an awesome artist?

No.

Here's proof:

Luke's Submission to the 2010 Sonlight T-Shirt Design Contest

And that sweet-awesome logo that I used? Yep--you can download it on the t-shirt design contest page. Don't have an incredible graphic design program? No problem! We point you to a couple really cool--and free--options on the contest page. We give you templates and encouragement, links and specifications, not to mention information about what we're planning on doing whenever someone buys a shirt. So, come on: Check it out!

Update: Winners

The R. Family
Barb, Joe, Joe Jr, Matt
Sherrie, Sarah, Amanda

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

P.S. I almost put "t-shirt contest" in the title, but added the word design to hopefully stave off google searches that would prove to be less than fruitful for those looking for something more... er... umm... non-Sonlight related.