It's funny how sometimes I don't want to tell you something. Like the scenes that made me want to cry in this movie. You just know there are real people actually living the reality of being born into a situation. It makes you realize how lucky you are, really.
I'm going to sleep on this. But, in the meantime, I'm willing to say this is an insightful movie, rife with poignant scenes that may make you think about how tough things may be for some people.
Image originally obtained from NASA GSFC - by James Aber, of Emporia State University
Image originally obtained from NASA GSFC - by James Aber, of Emporia State University
There are times when change happens so slowly, it is almost unnoticeable. Years pass and someone finally says, "Hey, things are so different now!"
There are also times like these for people like me, who work feverishly to keep up with the constant changes in online communication, specifically, what affects search results. While I still thank Microsoft for making things so difficult for so many users (as this fact provides a steady income for me), I'm now starting to see Google in the same light.
Every change Google makes to the way it ranks content for search results results in the need for another creative way to explain how this is going to impact your potential customers' ability to find your website when searching for your product or service. So, thanks, Google. This is the first time I can recall ever being able to use the word, "results," twice, consecutively, in a sentence that makes sense.
And, if you've come this far, ah, that's nice. So, did you make the association of the image to the topic? If so, good for you. Now, be kind and drop me a line, so I'll know you were here. Thanks.
This will be a "short" article, as that's where people on Twitter seem to have focused their attention this morning.... (French Open 2015: Stan Wawrinka's shorts become talk of Twitter - source: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/08/tennis/stan-wawrinka-shorts-french-open/)
How very APROPOS!
Commentary on television: "He ended three times as many points as Federer." This was said after they showed stats on the winners and unforced errors on the two players (Djokovic and Wawrinka) battling for the championship in the French Open. Ending points with winners or errors says lot about a player.
The point was made that unforced errors combined with winners is an important factor in determining the outcome of the match. GOING FOR IT is incredibly important! I was reminded of Gretzky's, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Further research yields stats on guys like Jordan and Ruth. Even Lincoln was a failure for many years and used this phrase in his most famous speech: "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here...." There's more to say on this, but I promised to keep it short.
1. You simply have to do something. Either that, or remain ignorant. This means discomfort to some of us. Like, I don’t really want to put a photo of my mug on Social Media. But, it makes sense to do this and change it as necessary to represent truth in advertising. I’m not really a cute little mouse, with screwdriver in hand, so I’m going to leave my logo where it belongs, on my websites.
2. It might take time to accomplish a worthwhile task. Take writing an article to post on my blog, for instance. Yes, I love to write. But, this had to be written, now! Thanks, Melissa Galt, for the first three things that prompted this blog post.
3. You may have to learn something new. Great – so, now, I get to start with that feeling of inadequacy, prior to the exhilaration of a sparkling new accomplishment. Cringe, heavy sigh, bow of head, look to the ceiling, and I press on. What the heck does she mean? How do I layer my networks to enhance my Social Media visibility? More is better? Let me find out.
4. I’m not even going to scroll down on the Twitter page, for fear of another handful of “good advice” – I’ve got enough to make me write this and I was in the middle of three other things! So, here’s the fourth great reason. Sometimes, you have to stop the daily grind, to allow you to put good advice into practice.
5. Oh, great! I couldn’t resist the scroll down and now she’s telling me to take a break. So, this one has all four of the above great reasons. Something I have to do, that will take some time, will definitely be something new, and I have to stop the daily grind. She may be right.
That's one huge title. In this article, he's talking about living in "an entirely different world." There isn't a whole lot more to say on this subject, for me. Simply put, I admire the obvious realization that no two days are the same. So, each performance by Bob Dylan was an original.
My interest in Bob Dylan was piqued by something I heard him say on television. The gist of it was that he could not possibly write today in the same way he had written in the past. My vague recollection is that he said something like: "Try to write that." I took that to mean that some of his writing was divine inspiration. You cannot just crank out good songs, great lyrics, poetry that can be set to music. Some of this good stuff just flows through you.
I wish I had more to say. That is all.
Waiting for Words
There is so much joy in silence. The pause that draws attention to you from your audience allows for time to think. What will you say next? Where is that one word from your immense vocabulary that will perfectly convey a concept? It’s coming – just wait.
Let them wonder.
What the heck is he doing? He’s supposed to be speaking, but it’s so startlingly quiet right now! He’s pacing, he’s smiling, he’s looking into the audience, but he hasn’t said anything for like, forever! How long can we endure this tortuous peace?
And then it comes to you.
Perspicuity pervades the outpouring of verbosity.
It was worth it. It was worth the time and effort and insufferable silence we all experienced together, just so we could hear you say exactly, precisely, what it was you wanted us to know now.
Use your words. This is good advice. You only need to know the ideas, the concepts you intend to put forth. If you haven’t written every last word of your speech and practiced it, you may not know what you are going to say. Knowing what you mean and trusting that the words are available (and accessible) to say it, are just as important.
That’s all I’m trying to say.
Wanting to find an article written by my friend, fellow Toastmaster, and business associate, Meilani MacDonald; I searched - "G+ Meilani Tots" and found exactly what I needed!
The breakdown goes like this:
1) First the classifications;
2) Then the search criteria;
Why do I wish I had thought of this sooner? Because, by including G+ in my search term, it filters the results in a very meaningful way! The first seven of the top results had content that was an exact match for my needs.
Conclusion: If you are a G+ user, searching for content from someone in your circles, add those two characters to the search to get results that match what you were hoping to find.
Log into smile.amazon.com with your Amazon credentials.
Click the name of the current charity, to the right of, "Supporting."
Click "Change your charity" at the bottom left corner of that window.
In that field, below where it says; "Or pick your own charitable organization:" enter the name of the organization you want to benefit by your (and Amazon's) charity. Click Search. Click "Select" to the right of the name of the organization in the search results.
Do you remember when I tried to tackle you and you turned the tables on me? I do.
I barely know you, but have some idea that I knew enough about you to present a challenge. When you met that challenge with aggression, I knew I was right.
You are a tough guy. Take it as a compliment.
Don't be dark. Smile, take a snapshot, and make it your cover photo. We'll wait.
That's probably all I need to say.
So, there.
Uncle Brian
One of my clients is an attorney in Palm Springs. She and her husband have a home in Bighorn Golf Club, in South Palm Desert. Her husband became my client a bit later, in May of 2013, fully eighteen months ago, now. He is an attorney also, with his practice in Glendale.
I've been told I talk a little too much when I'm working on tech issues for clients. This is a report on the details of one of those times. Perhaps it was a bit forward, but I couldn't help but ask.
"With your practice in Glendale, why would you choose to live at Big Horn?" I asked.
"I love that woman, she likes living here and I will do anything to make her happy." was his response.
I've never forgotten this brief conversation and probably never will.
Thinking I should write something, this was all that came to mind: tabula rasa
Yeah, so I linked to the first thing I found. Sosumi
If you get this, please send a message, via any means. Thank you.
Image from LA Times Business Technology Now
Image from LA Times Business Technology Now
During the 40-minute Q&A session, Ma also revealed that he met with Kobe Bryant on Monday and said the two discussed the movie “The Bodyguard.”
“I said I learned a lot of things from movies,” he recalled of his conversation with the Lakers star. “I learned how to make a speech from the movie called 'The Bodyguard' -- Whitney Houston. When she sings the songs I look at her and say, 'Wow, that is the way you make a speech.'"
Those first two paragraphs are a direct quote, from this article, published in the LA Times.
Jack Ma is the founder of Alibaba - the largest IPO ever. We can all learn something from the movies. Everyone can learn to make a speech, too; right, Toastmasters?
When you find you need better brakes....
When you find you need better brakes....
Have you ever been tooling along, on your way to wherever, making green light after green light, doing just over the limit, without risking much of anything, when the light ahead of you turns yellow, and you think to yourself, we got this! The we, in this case, unfortunately, includes the guy in front of you and you know for sure, indeed, you say to yourself; “if I can make it, surely he has it made.”
Then, for reasons you never see, inexplicably, the rear end of his car raises those brake lights so much higher than they ever should be and all of the crap that had been on the seats of your car is now all over the floor, and you are praying like a madman that you are not going to hear that terrible mashing sound!
Expletives deleted here, for the sake of tender ears, but you are cussing a blue streak at this point. There's just no way in hell to explain what just happened here. In the space of a couple of seconds, we went from happily flying down the road, to the taste of fear on the tongue, to complete outrage at the driver who just really doesn't care about getting there.
This just happened to me. But I wasn't driving. I was reading something. The green lights were green. Birds were chirping. The sky was clear and the air was pure and crisp through my open windows. Then the story, or the continuity of it, went right off a cliff. I did not find the brakes in time. I'm now falling through, down and into, the vast canyon, hopelessly sure of my fate. I've often dreamed of flying, without a plane, so this is that!
Nothing, save a complete re-write of this one section, can save me. That's all I can say.
Image Attribution: TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341d417153ef010536a2e7a0970b
Links to weblogs that reference Cartoon of the Day: Running off a Cliff:
Listening to my "Home by the Sea" channel on Pandora, now I hear Pink Floyd. Yes, "Wish You Were Here" clearly mirrors my sentiments. Margaret is in Anaheim Hills.
Listen carefully to the beginning of this track and you'll hear a bit of what sounds like the end of an argument. The woman says, "Well, which is it?" And you just know he doesn't have an answer.
This is rare. I’m actually planning to write a post for my blog. Almost never is how often I plan my writing. Usually, I just launch my browser, log into either rouleywrites, or Rouzell.net and start typing. My jaded thinking compels me to “just do it” and then fix it as I go along.
Today, I actually consulted my own eBook, entitled; “Ridiculously Simple Topics for Bloggers.” There I found the topic of “television”, then recalled that I had already posted on Facebook today about Tavi Geninson (see below for details). It was more of a rant, about how New York magazine completely distorted the image of a pretty face. All of this came after watching a segment of Sunday Morning on CBS – a weekly ritual for Margaret and me.
In that same eBook, there is an article about something I posted having to do with that same CBS program. In fact, I can recall several blog posts that are about topics raised on Sunday Morning. One of them is one of my favorite quotes: “When you write, you go to heaven.” As I hope that’s true, although it was spoken (by Ted Danson, speaking to his wife) about writing music.
So, here we are. I’ve written this piece, with just a bare modicum of planning. Writing this in Word, now I have to copy and paste in into my blog and I’ll still have to fix it. It needs an image and some links, so there’s some post-production work to be done now….
Sometimes, I know what I am trying to say. This might not be one of those times.
The Giver - a movie that hearkens back to "Soylent Green", where that one scene depicting how lush and wonderful the world once was absolutely crushes me as a viewer. This current movie multiplies that effect tenfold and there were times when I struggled to regain my composure. The same thing happened when the tree came down in Avatar; I lost it. I hate crying at the movies.
As a result, I have to say, save yourself the pain. Don't see it. Avoid the prospect of a bleak future, where the lack of history and memories is designed to protect a would-be utopian society from reality. No emotions, no pain, no feelings means no broken hearts.
I wish I had time to tell you what I've learned since election day, 2008.
On that day, I read a report in the Wall Street Journal, that explained how the housing bubble and the mortgage backed securities debacle had come to be. It surprised me to learn that "bubya" had been sounding the warning about this crisis, long before it came to be the burden that caused the near collapse of our economy.
I'm slightly impaired now, given the time of day, so I'll continue this post tomorrow.
Have a good night.
Every host has its way of allowing you to post embedded content. Let's see how this looks.
That title is a modified version of a line from a Bob Seger song - "Turn The Page."
The original line is this:
"And you don't feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through."
My heart aches. Not just for Robin Williams, but for all the tortured souls of the world. Those who suffer silently, or outrageously, through their pain, whether public or private. Contrasting Robin Williams with Amy Winehouse may not make much sense to many. But, that's what I meant by the "public or private" phrase. We all knew of her struggles, but I knew little of Robin's depression.
It feels strange to be writing this. Like I just don't know what to say.
Phrases masquerade as sentences at times like these.
There was one great post I saw on Facebook, shared by someone in my circles
(oh, wait, that's G+)
- oh, yeah, I remember now. It was Ann Davis; sharing Anne Lamott's post.
https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott
http://barclayagency.com/lamott.html
I'm not thinking of much more to say here. So, this will have to do. Deep breath, heavy sigh.
"212 Blog Post Ideas" - That's the title on a link I just clicked. Clicking it drops me on a landing page where, guess what? They want my email address and then I will be able to download the file with two-hundred-twelve things I might consider before writing my next blog post.
Well, this is my next blog post and I can tell you I did not download that file. Who has time for 212 anything anymore? Seriously, if someone is giving me more than a dozen new things I am to consider, I seriously consider skipping it altogether. Depending on what they are offering and how much I think I do or don't need whatever that is, anything more than a handful may be too many.
Pausing to go through some of my bookmarks to see how many things have a number of things I'm to get from the pages....
Looking in just the first two bookmarks folders I've created, I find:
• Ten basic android terminal commands....
• 10 ways to make your content more fun....
• 7 Old post revival techniques....
• 54 Things Everyone Needs To Know How....
• 63 Blogging Tools That Will Make You Insanely Productive....
• 10 Effective Steps to Amazingly Inspirational Writing....
• 100+ Blog Post Title Templates That Grabs Attention....
I could have made each of those lines live links, to prove they are real, but I won't. You can select any one of those lines and Google that text for yourself. You'll find many things to consider. Insanely productive I will not be, if I spend the time it takes to go through 63 Blogging Tools. Or, maybe I'm wrong and I'll look at the first few, to see why I am not insane.
So, I'll never have time to get through all of the stuff I've saved that supposed to make me better at what I'm doing right here! Do you create content that has numbers of things people are supposed to do? Are you one of the many consumers of this content?
Comments, please.
And, thank you.
