Jamie Roberts and I attended the annual Soup Cook-Off today over at NFIB's Nashville Headquarters. In addition to donating the grand prize and helping choose the winners by voting for our favorite soup, we also participated in the Origami Boat Regatta. Read on to find out how the "Pots O'Gold" fared in the race and which soup was declared king.

Happy New Year! Well, kinda. If we still measured our year according to the Julian calendar, March would be the time we’d sing "Auld Lang Syne" instead of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” In the March/April issue of American Spirit, which we publish for the DAR, Bill Hudgins writes about the challenges that came with Colonial America’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar—and the confusion the switch still causes genealogists.

Whether or not your grasp of etiquette would past muster with Emily Post, be relieved that you didn't have to abide by the rules of courtesy books, 18th-century manuals on the proper behavior of gentlemen and women, which we also spotlight in this issue. From table manners—“Make not a noise with thy Tongue, Mouth, Lips or Breath, either in eating or drinking”—to personal appearance—“Wear not your clothes foul, ripped or dusty, but see to it that they be brushed once every day at least”—these books provide surprising glimpses into the everyday lives and aspirations of early Americans.

The issue also covers the recent International Preservation Trades Workshop, where experts demonstrate hands-on techniques for preserving historic structures. We feature some talented craftsmen and women who are whizzes at reglazing vintage windows, renewing wood finishes, repairing ornamental plaster, carving bricks and stone, and dozens of other traditional methods of historic preservation. This story is especially fitting now that DAR has embarked on a multimillion-dollar restoration of its many historically significant buildings, including the century-old Memorial Continental Hall. The next time you’re in D.C., stop by for a tour of the complex, only steps away from the White House. On 1776 D Street, of course.

Rope, our trusty 8-year old e-mail server passed away this morning. Fortunately, we had a back-up server running, as well. According to director of technology Patrick Ragsdale, the server has received more than 18 million in-coming e-mails. Of course, most of that was spam. History sidenote: This was our second server named Rope. The first lived from 1996-2000.

On some level of course, America’s Marines don't really need an introduction. They've been protecting our shores for more than 232 years. But because they are, famously, "The Few …" there's a lot about becoming and being a Marine that most Americans never see. To correct that, the United States Marine Corps has launched a broad-based community and public relations campaign designed to give the rest of the world more insight into what it takes to be a Marine. A centerpiece of the campaign is a new TV spot that was taped at locations across the country, featuring the Corps' legendary Silent Drill Team. A companion Web site, OurMarines.com, documents the video shoot and collects stories about Marines and their families. The site also contains an extended version of the TV spot.

One of the photos from the making of the commercial, taken in Columbia, TN, a few miles from Hammock Inc.'s Nashville offices, graces the cover of the March-April 2008 issue of Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League, which we publish for the League.

Elsewhere in the issue, we encounter a different "kind" of Marine - one made of plastic and aluminum and electronics. The Marines and other services increasingly use robots to perform highly dangerous tasks such as reconnaissance, investigating potential explosive devices, even retrieving wounded comrades under fire. While there is not now and never will be a true substitute for boots on the ground, 'bots will take on new and more complex tasks as another weapon in the Marines' arsenal.

Speaking of that arsenal, the Marine Corps League co-hosts three trade shows a year that bring active-duty Marines together with military suppliers. The Marines are not shy about giving the vendors (many of them veterans) a quick and incisive analysis of their products. And the vendors hustle to fix, upgrade and adapt their products and services to meet the warfighters' needs. Semper Fi reports on the Marine West Expo in January aboard Camp Pendleton, CA; we'll be at the next one, Marine South at Camp Lejeune, NC, in early April.

The February/March issue of MyBusiness is out now, and we're tackling an issue facing small business owners every day: Surviving in hard times. While we might think of today's current economic woes when we hear that, for a small business, "hard times" might also mean losing your top salesperson or Wal-Mart building a new store down the street.

Created by the National Federation of Independent Business for its small business owner-members, MyBusiness magazine handles tough topics like this every issue. A regular feature the past few months has also examined how small business is dealing with the health care crisis. We examine possible solutions, and NFIB's role as the voice of small business on critical issues like health insurance.

Hammock has produced MyBusiness since 2000, but it's only available as a benefit for NFIB members. You can take a sneak peak at MyBusinessmag.com -- also created by Hammock.