We've been surfing again. No, not at the ocean or in Hawaii (more's the pity -- hi, Rosa!) but across the blogosphere.

We've been reading Jennifer Rice (welcome back, you were missed), Dennis Kennedy (lawyer extraordinaire -- mainly because he's human; sorry, Dennis, we had to say it); Matt Homann, who writes about a product we've been contemplating lately; Michele Miller, who just gets better and better (wish we could go to WOMMA, too...but, alas...it will not be this year); Evelyn Rodriguez, who puts everyone else to shame -- well, not everyone, she is in good company with many others -- read her blog and you'll see who they are; Susan Getgood, who wrote the post we wanted to write, so now we can't, but then...she did a better job; Toby Bloomberg, ever the best friend, supporting others we love, while still sharing her own excellent advice; Maryanne, our very own sister who brings a smile to our lips, and yours, we hope, by connecting us to the greater world of women and men and families, complete with all those underlying idiosyncracies we all have; B.L. Ochman, of course, the outspoken lady who reminds us so much of Katherine Hepburn (one of our favorite people in the world, BTW); Bob Bly who challenges our thinking on copywriting and writing to inform; Rosa Say, who introduces us to fabulous new bloggers all the time; Jill Fallon, who stimulates our mind and our memory, and who reminds us what's important in life, and who finds the best stuff on the net; and so many, many others.

Why this long list of connections? Because we sometimes feel that we're out here lecturing to an empty room. Our stats say otherwise, of course, but...stats are just numbers. They reveal a few clicks of the mouse. The real power in everything we do and think and feel and try to relate to you, is in the words of all the people we read. Not only those on the net or in the blogopshere, but those we meet with and connect to on a weekly basis. We offer you these connections to some of our friends because they are all worth your time, because we have great fondness and respect for them, and because this is what word-of-mouth is all about.

And so, we also wish to introduce a new friend -- Bruce Peters, a new client (we are hoping) who wants to "take over the world" so he says -- we think he wants to inspire, educate, motivate, and help others achieve their goals, and in this pursuit, he feels he will take over the world. Someday we hope to ask him what 'world' he means, and, what he plans to do with his 'world' when he finally achieves take-over.

Meanwhile, Bruce gave us a book -- there is no greater gift in the world than a book -- a book that gets your synapses tingling, your thought processes fired up, your eyes blinking. This book: Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing by Lee Thayer, comes with this description on the back cover:

"Here is THE guidebook for those who want to go beyond reading about leadership and actually do something about it." [no, the image is NOT Bruce...it's Jane, after reading all of this great stuff, and yes, we are totally naked.]

Needless to say, after reading all of the other bloggers, who use words so eloquently, so expressively, so expertly, and then burying ourselves in this marvelous book that adds valuable lessons to the brain-food we have already consumed, makes us feel powerful. Powerful enough to face another day, come what may.

We hope, dear readers, that you find friends and writers who do the same for you.

What's not to like about that?