Episodes
Saturday May 29, 2010
Who is the Master?
Saturday May 29, 2010
Saturday May 29, 2010
Who is the Master?
There is no love more true than that of a pet, and for a pet. There is something magical about interacting with a different species, often being the sole source of food and water, love and affection, and attention and care.
I’ve had many pets over the decades, starting with a grey and white Chihuahua. Cece was a wonderful pet, providing many hours of patient love and attention to me. She had puppies which we sold, and I went off to college and left her behind. I seem to have a natural ability to get along with dogs. There really have been very few dogs I haven’t been able to connect with, and pet almost as soon as we meet. There was one Doberman who wanted to bite me once when I was trying to deliver flowers, but luckily I had on tight enough pants the teeth just kept slipping off the denim. And then the owner answered the door.
My children grew up having pets around, and they really were members of the family. Some of them have been purebred, and others were mongrels. We seem to attract cats to our house, and since there are mice running around in the fields, we feed them and that makes them want to stay. I really don’t like cats as much as dogs, but don’t tell the cat who is living with us now. My daughter rescued him years ago from someone who couldn’t have a cat anymore. He stays outside and rubs up against me when I go outside, and likes to be petted. Most cats aren’t really that social around the dogs we nearly always have around.
Really the only dog who has bit the hand that feeds her was a cute little Schnauzer who had just been run over by a car. She was one of the sweetest dogs, and as she was crossing the street, someone who was texting didn’t see her and both my wife and I watched as this poor little dog rolled under the car. I had read you really shouldn’t pick up a dog who is hurt, but when one of your pets is hurt, most of the common sense we have goes away. As I tried to pick up this dog, she firmly latched onto my hand, then bit my wife and bit me again. I told my wife to go get a towel we could wrap her in, and we took her to a vet, but she was too seriously injured and died shortly after the accident.
When the kids have grown and left, sometimes the dogs become the kids. The shock of seeing this small innocent animal killed was too much of a shock for my wife not to replace the dog, and the very next day she drove for several hours to get our newest addition to the family.
The small Maltese has been a wonderful ray of sunshine in our house, though we still miss the other dog. She gets along with the cat, who likes to paw at her, and I think the cat might think this small dog is really a white rat. The other dog gets along with her really well, and though the older dog is a border collie, she thinks she is also a lap dog.
The Border collie only wants to serve, and since there are no sheep around to chase, she often herds me to the backyard where she loves to play. Once this dog learned to catch a Frisbee, there was no stopping her insistence that anytime is playtime. I once tested her while I was watering the garden, and kept throwing the Frisbee, trying to determine how long it would be before she got tired of it. She faithfully brought that plastic disc back every time for over two hours, only stopping briefly to dunk herself in our small pond so she could cool off. I got tired before she did, and I think she would have rather dropped dead from exhaustion than stop catching the Frisbee.
So what does a house with two humans and two dogs look like? I wonder who the master is sometimes. I have to check and make sure there is food and water, and if the food runs out, I am the one who has to go to the store and buy more. When the dogs have been good, they get treats, but I don’t get treats for training them so well. It would be nice to have someone scratch my every itch, but they don’t even worry about if I have an itch. They just want to be scratched and petted, and would like nothing better than a continuous head to toe massage.
I think I want to be someone’s pet. Where do I apply?
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece Who Is The Master?Saturday May 29, 2010
Advanced Placement
Saturday May 29, 2010
Saturday May 29, 2010
Advanced Placement
Sometimes barriers are placed in our way to test our resolve. Obstacles are clearly meant to be overcome, but how we overcome some of the obstructions in our world depends on our own creativity and convictions.
After taking the ASVAB, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, which tests to see if you know which nut belongs to which bolt and other things, I found out I could be a lawyer. The interest survey included with this test lets students choose the kinds of work they think they would like based on questions about their strengths, hobbies and desires. I think my category told me I was socially oriented, and in that category were teachers, social workers, and lawyers. For no other reason than I wanted to make lots of money and I thought being a lawyer sounded cool, I decided I would be a lawyer. I had no other interest in law before that, and luckily, I ended up as a teacher. I love my job and wouldn’t trade it for all the cash in China. But to get to be a teacher, I had to think I was going to be a lawyer first.
I checked to see what kind of education was necessary for lawyers, and noticed I was not enrolled in the right classes. Tracking is a way schools channel students into various classes, and even though it is technically not supposed to exist, the tracking of students takes place every day. I was a trouble maker in school, so I didn’t really belong in the advanced classes. But to be a lawyer I had to go to college, and I could get college credit while still in high school by taking advanced placement classes. I would have to pass the AP test at the end of the year, but I have always been a good test taker.
Getting into AP history was easy enough, and once I was signed up for one AP class I wanted another. AP English. But I had to take a test to see if I really could be an AP student, when really, it should have been up to me to try and fail on my own. But the entrance test showed I should be able to handle the class, or they just wanted to shut me up, so I was enrolled.
I was a busy senior, acting in plays, doing the morning announcements, even speaking at graduation. But this meant I was not always in class receiving the precious words of wisdom from my teachers, which meant there was no way I would be able to pass the test at the end of the year. Both of my AP teachers told me not to waste my money by taking the test. This only strengthened my resolve.
Think about the benefits of passing the test. If I could get a passing score, I could have 24 college credits on my transcript before my first day at the university. Back then, you didn’t even have to pay to get the college credit; they just added it to your total. Today, most colleges charge what the tuition would have cost for those credits, but at least you don’t have to spend the time. I would get a double free-ride if I passed!
I’m not sure why we discourage people from trying to achieve. Maybe we think the specter of failure will permanently disfigure them. What really happens is most people who are knocked down and get up again gain a valuable lesson. They learn how to get back up again when they are knocked down. It’s really not so bad on the ground, unless that’s where you stay.
I’m sure both of these teachers thought they had my best interests in mind when they told me not to take the tests. But I don’t take that kind of obstruction seriously. Easily overcome, I marched into the tests with my head held high, knowing I was the master of my destiny, and if I failed the tests, I would only be out a hundred dollars or so. But if I passed the tests, I would save myself thousands of dollars and cut time off my degree.
I passed both tests and had 24 credits. After I took some other College Level Examination Program tests, I had tested out of a year of college. I finished a four year degree in three years. If I had listened to the nay-sayers who were sure I wasn’t college material, I would have missed out on all the fun I’ve had since then.
But then again, I was in the work force full-time by the age of twenty-one. Maybe I should have overcome those obstructions at a slower pace. I must really love my work.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece Advanced PlacementThursday May 06, 2010
Rebirth
Thursday May 06, 2010
Thursday May 06, 2010
Rebirth
The best thing about birthdays is it is a chance to think about beginnings. We all come into the world helpless and dependant. By the time we are old enough to take care of ourselves someone else has invested lots of time and money to make sure we survive growing up. Then we might get a chance to take care of somebody else and help them make it to the point the can take care of another generation. A birthday is a starting point, but it can also be another beginning. It’s a day we can stop and look at the past year and see what we want to do the next year.A rebirth can take place at any time, not just on a birthday. The miracle of rebirth is always present in nature, and an example or two can help us understand the process as it could also occur in us. I’ve recently planted some pine nuts, and they have already sprouted. Even though I planted them upside down, they are correcting my mistake, sending up the main root and turning back into the soil. If we think about the single pine nut and the potential it can have, it makes me wonder what our own potential could be. These pine nuts were for sale at the side of the road, and the guy who sold them to me wanted to roast them. I had other plans. Where a bag of pine nuts could have been a snack, I intend to turn them into a little grove of pine trees in the back yard. I might make some of them in to little bonsai plants, and since I sell stuff on Ebay, they will probably end up somewhere else in the world. They may grow to full size and produce pine nuts of their own.
The dependable way in which seeds sprout and grow into full grown plants is amazing to me. No one can make a seed, but every time we plant a seed, we have the expectation they will grow. We don’t expect them to grow into something different, so maybe here is a lesson for us. Can we grow into something we aren’t, and who decides what we are and are not?
Another exciting example of rebirth is some impatiens flower plants I had in the yard last year. They were really from the year before, and I had kept them alive over the winter and done some cuttings. This isn’t a new plant, but a part of the old plant. These flowers are sensitive to cold, and they have great stems for cutting. I took longer stems, cut them, put some rooting enzyme on them and put them in a new little pot. By spring I had dozens more to plant, and they all came from the same few flowers I dug up in the fall and kept in the greenhouse.
I did the same thing last fall. I dug up quite a few of the second generation flowers to prepare to get a third generation ready for next summer. I was surprised how many plants I had, and they were flowering very well as the snow fell. Unfortunately, the cat bumped the plug for the heater for the greenhouse before I noticed, and it got below freezing for a couple of nights. About two-thirds of the flowers died back to the soil, and the rest just died. The amazing thing is I still have some to work with, and spent the weekend getting them cleaned up and repotted. I should have a record number of bright purple impatiens ready for the spring.
It’s the same with this program. “Abundance” is the root stock of optimism, and I want a little bit of that idea to get planted and nourished in your life. I know when you stop and think about all the things we have to be thankful for in this modern world, your part of this growing idea will flourish, and before we know it, there will be a bounty of thankfulness. I do it in the hopes that I will be truly conscious of giving thanks, and remember to acknowledge the blessings of living in a world where many of us live a standard of living far above the royalty in the past.
Stop at least once each day and pay attention to the wonders all about us, that have become commonplace to us because we wake up every day and they are available to us. A thankful attitude will help you understand how truly blessed we are. Be reborn to the miracle of life every day you are given, because there will be those who weren’t given this gift of one more day. Get out there and grow into the real you today.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece RebirthWednesday May 05, 2010
The Benjamins
Wednesday May 05, 2010
Wednesday May 05, 2010
The Benjamins
Everybody has to be born on one of 365 days in the year. Statistically, if you get 23 people in the same room, chances are better than 50 percent two people in the room will share a birthday. With 57 people, the chances increase to 99 percent. Of course if you get 366 people in the same room, someone will share a birthday. If you want to read an explanation, there is a math one at Wikipedia.
I share a birthday with Benjamin Franklin. He was called a Renaissance man, a person who was experienced in many differing disciplines. He gave us the lightning rod, but probably didn’t do the kite flying experiment. He started one of the first volunteer fire departments, libraries and insurance companies. He helped found the first civilian hospital and medical school in the United States. He invented the glasses I wear – bifocals.
We know him best for his contributions to American Independence. I didn’t know he was the person who designed the “Unite or Die” snake which represented the colonies. You’ve probably seen that flag if you ever studied American History.
I really like his list of thirteen virtues, and though I have discussed them before, I think the 304th anniversary of his birth would be a good place to review them. I’ll bet he had an English accent. I’ll use it when I am quoting from his list.
TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
Don’t eat too much I get, but I’m guessing Ben was a quiet drunk.
"SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
I wonder what Mr. Franklin would think of our preoccupation with celebrities.
"ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
Everything in its place I fail, and I do way too many things.
"RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
Think of what you ought to do. Then do it.
"FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
Oops. I spend too much and waste more.
"INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
I like to sleep too much, but I do like to do lots of things. Mostly unnvecessary.
"SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
I can pass this one. I may be too sincere.
"JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
I’m big on causing no injury. I could be more generous.
"MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
I’m getting better at not resenting, but I am still pretty extreme.
"CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
I think we actually shower and bathe more than back then, but my car does need to be cleaned.
"TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
I think I am the ultimate easy-going, laid-back and tolerant person. Maybe too much.
"CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
Let’s just say I’m healthy.
"HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."
I wish I was more humble. I am the poster boy for the song “Oh, Lord It’s Hard To Be Humble”.
But I do have a list of my own.
In my motivational presentation “B Positive, More than just a blood type” I focus on how to be our best selves, and the phrase “My Best Self” represents the following ideas, with each letter of “My Best Self” starting each idea.
In the word MY
M represents Make a positive contribution
Y means we Yearn to be better
In the word BEST
B stands for Believing in your potential
E means we Exercise
S stands for Smiles
T means we Trust in the Creative
In the word SELF
S represents Specialization
E means we Expect great things to happen
L means we Learn from others and the final letter
F tells us to Fearlessly forge forcefully forward.
Find ways this week to be your best self. Make a positive contribution, yearn to be better, believes in your potential, exercise, smile, trust in the Creative, specialize, expect great things to happen, learn from others, and fearlessly forge forcefully forward.
Be your best self. I hope your spirits have been lifted this day. Go out and find all the reasons we have to be thankful for in this abundant life.
Today, I’m grateful to share a birthday with Benjamin Franklin. With a couple of hundred Benjamins, nearly any problem could be solved. And I don’t just mean money.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on Amazon, Paypal or Google Payments button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece The BenjaminsWednesday May 05, 2010
Caesarians
Wednesday May 05, 2010
Wednesday May 05, 2010
Caesarians
Birthdays are interesting, but I don’t remember anything about the day I was born. I do have two daughters, and I was at both of their births. The World Health Organization recommends that no more than 15 percent of all births should be by Caesarean, which is where the mother’s abdomen is cut to deliver a child. We have exceeded this by quite a bit in my family. Both of my daughters were born by Caesarean. We have a 100 percent Caesarean rate.Watching the birth of your own child is an amazing thing. Watching a Caesarean delivery is incredible. We didn’t plan for our first daughter to be born this way, but that’s what happened. We went to birthing classes so I could be at the birth, and we had to watch a special video on Caesarean delivery just in case. After about 18 hours in labor, my wife was getting very tired, and the process was stressing the baby, so the doctor’s told me to go scrub up and get ready to watch my first child delivered by cutting my wife open. I was only away from my wife’s side for a few minutes, but that was the only time I was really worried. I hoped nothing would happen while I was away. In surgery, everyone looked very serious, and watching a doctor use a scalpel on your wife stomach is a nerve-wracking experience, but it had to be worse for my wife, who was conscious and watching a man approach her with a sharp instrument.
Surgery is a complicated process where a thousand things can go wrong, but the professionals in our hospitals are very good. I was actually at ease watching them work feverishly to bring my firstborn into this world. It was an amazingly fast process, and very quickly the incision was made, and just as quickly a small face appeared. There was a small cut on her face where the scalpel had gone too deep; where her face had been pressing. All of the operating room personnel looked at me. I smiled, but I think they were wondering if I was going to sue. I was just happy to have everyone all right. Our new daughter was not too happy and was already crying; after all her greeting to the world was a cut to the face. I got to hold here almost immediately, and was assured my entire family was going to be fine.
This was in California, but we were moving and the doctors insisted both mother and daughter stay in the hospital for a week rather than the normal day or two. Then they both got on a plane with my mother-in-law and flew away. I drove a U-haul to our new home.
When our second child was due, it was recommended my wife have another Caesarean. Our second daughter’s delivery was much easier. When a Caesarean is planned, not suddenly needed like our first daughter, then you get to pick a date to have the baby. You even can choose a time of day. I have a pretty poor memory, and it seemed like a good idea to choose November 15th. It was the middle of the month, and since my anniversary is the month before on the 14th, I have been able to remember her birthday. I just don’t remember my anniversary sometimes. Another great advantage to planning the time and date is you can make arrangements at work, get a baby-sitter for the older daughter, and even make it home to relax for the afternoon.
This second Caesarean was much less tense. Everyone knew what to expect. The doctors even provided a mirror so this time my wife could watch the operation. I don’t know why anyone would want to watch a sharp instrument cutting into your own stomach, but she thought it was great. We were both a little apprehensive since there was still a little scar on our first daughter’s face, but the mood in the room was very good. The doctor made sure I had a nice place to sit and watch, and as he started the procedure, he turned to me and asked me if I was okay. I told him, “As long as you aren’t cutting me I am fine.” Everyone thought that was funny, but I was serious. I can’t even watch the needle when I get a shot.
So all the excitement produced two beautiful daughters, and sometimes it makes me wonder what we did back in the good old days before hospitals, doctors, nurses and support staff. I don’t want to go back to those times, but the whole process seems a lot more complicated than back then. But it does make for some memorable moments, and some interesting birth days.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece CaesariansThursday Apr 29, 2010
Proclaim Thanks
Thursday Apr 29, 2010
Thursday Apr 29, 2010
Proclaim Thanks
What is “Abundance”? It is a chance for you to celebrate with me this incredible universe, where we are given 3 million seconds a year to spend as we wish. We may have to work during some of that time, we all have to sleep, eat, travel from place to place, and perhaps do other things we might not really want to be doing. I hope you are doing those things which bring you happiness and joy.
If not, it might be time to re-examine what I believe is an incredible opportunity for you to find out why you are here, what it is you are supposed to accomplish, and how you are to bless the lives of others. It really isn’t just about ourselves, but being happy in what we do is one component of the plan of this universe for you. I believe we all live in a time of incredible abundance, and with all of the creativity and potential of the billions of people here on this earth, we can all find a way to find our own individual purpose.
Why do I try to proclaim thanks here each week? I want to show you how a grateful attitude can open your eyes to the abundance which surrounds all of us. I celebrate the 1001 things I am thankful for in my list of 1001 Thanks, so that you might start to proclaim a thankful attitude for all that you have. I try to share with you the ups and downs of my life to show it isn’t all a bed of roses. But maybe when we look back on those terrible times, we might be able to laugh about some of them, but at the very least, be glad for the strength we had to make it through the especially tough times, to the better times today. The real message might be that even if today looks especially dark and gloomy, we have experienced those kinds of days in the past and survived. We have grown and strengthened our resolve to succeed, to help others succeed, and to offer thanks for even the smallest success.
Robert Byrne once said, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” I also believe this, but I want to modify it a bit and say the purpose of life is a life on purpose. This means we are doing what we do because we have chosen to do what we are doing. You may not want to go to work, but you may choose to go to support your family, to earn a living, or maybe to pay your bills. This is a choice, and we make it every day when we awaken. But unless we know why we are doing what we do, we may still be asleep, walking through a life which seems to have purpose, but is only a connected series of events.
I know you wouldn’t enjoy the things I do. They are for me. I’ve been given a set of skills and talents, and when I use them in a productive way, I get a feeling of peace and happiness. You might think it strange to enjoy mowing the lawn – you may even curse the time you spend doing it. But I know I have to do it, or pay someone else to, and I’m much too cheap for that. So I have decided to make the best of this weekly summer chore by paying attention to the job at hand, but also celebrating the following facts: I am healthy enough to work the mower; I have the disposable income to buy a mower; I have a lawn, I have the time to mow; The lawn grows mostly without my supervision and makes my home more attractive; I have a home. I think you can see why my list of 1001Thanks is really just a few notes about the incredible abundance which blesses my life. Have you stopped to consider the abundance in your life today?
I hope you are doing something to help others, because this may be the best way to show our thanks for all we have, and also the best way to find out how much we really do have. My mother is a volunteer at a local hospital. She loves the work, and throws herself into it. A hospital administrator once introduced her as an employee. She corrected him, and said she was a volunteer. She didn’t want the pay, but she does want the satisfaction of doing for others. If you have been able to help others, you will understand it really isn’t about an hourly wage, but about a personal feeling of fulfillment.
What is “Abundance”? It’s all about learning to say “Thank You.”
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece Proclaim ThanksWednesday Apr 07, 2010
United We Stand
Wednesday Apr 07, 2010
Wednesday Apr 07, 2010
United We Stand
Do you remember back to a time when you were young and carefree? The time when all seemed right with the world, and nothing threatened your sense of security and safety? As children, we seemed not to have a care and didn’t worry about what was happening anywhere else but right where we were. We didn’t know about problems around the world, about problems in our country, or even problems in the neighborhood.
As we grew older, we were gradually introduced to the evil which can exist in the world, and we may have lost that wonder and awe we had back then. We also want to protect our children so they can have that same feeling of protection; that cocoon which helps them feel safe in their world.
Our bridge to the future is the upcoming generations. We are all getting older even though we don’t want to admit it. This is one of the reasons I like working with younger people. It gives me the impression I am much younger than I am, but that’s not a bad thing. Until I look in the mirror and the wrinkles betray all of the life experience I have been blessed to have.
What does it all mean? I’m glad for the time I have left to prepare this world to be a better place in the future, but that also means there will be a time I have to leave. Those who are the next leaders, movers and shakers are slowly filling the ranks and gently pushing us out. As they gain their confidence and move forward to own their own future, we may be relegated to the dustbins of history. I already feel some of this when I try to comprehend the new technologies, the myriad of things I need to know how to do I never imagined I would be able to master, and those things I choose to let pass by me and don’t bother to learn.
I’m not a good at texting, but I do text at times. We’re talking a couple of texts a month, compared with those with the dancing thumbs who can text 20 or 30 thousand text messages a month. I don’t want to be sending a thousand text messages a month. I don’t have that interesting of a life, and I don’t know a thousand people who would be interested. I know these massive totals are texts to a lot of the same people, but why would I want to keep reading text messages from someone who isn’t standing there with me, ignoring the people who are standing there with me.
I also don’t want to become an online gaming addict. I’ve already been through enough of the time wasting on video games in my past, and when my kids got their first Nintendo, I will admit I spent enough time to master the Loony Tunes game where you meet Max at the end. Sadly, some of you will also know what I’m talking about.
As we cross the threshold together, there will come a time when we must let go and let those who will be running the world do it the way they want. Until that time comes, what can we do to help ensure a better tomorrow?
I believe it rests with our positive outlook, and on focusing on the abundance around us. We can’t inspire a new generation with negativity and pessimism. If all the younger generation hears from us in the older generation is how much better it was in the good old days, what kind of message do we send to those we want to trust with the future? Have you ever been given a task by someone who expected you to fail? It’s hard to be inspired when those who give you the job don’t think you can do it.
Think about it. The negativity and pessimism of the current generation could be our fault. If our attitude is things will never get better, but only worse, and we show our lack of faith in the younger generation by undermining their confidence, we may deserve what we get. It’s an interesting proposition. Can you continue in your complaining, and expect a better tomorrow?
Get on board and get positive. Those who want to make a difference in what tomorrow brings need to help the solutions appear by thinking solutions are possible. We need to encourage those who will follow us by telling them they can do it, not that they can’t. When we combine the energies of those who have seen better days with those who want a brighter future, the outcome will be amazing. We can do whatever we set our minds to do, and with positive expectations, we will get there together.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece United We StandTuesday Apr 06, 2010
Artificial Me
Tuesday Apr 06, 2010
Tuesday Apr 06, 2010
Artificial Me
Sitting in the dentist chair for two hours isn’t fun, but I do like having my teeth is good condition. I have the world’s worst teeth, but you may already know this. What amazes me is the incredible techniques that have been developed to help us stay well. I tried to pay attention to what was going on, but I have no idea what all the jargon and technical words meant. I just know they fixed my teeth, and the only thing that hurt the next day was where I had to get shots to numb up my mouth.
I don’t even want to consider what people had to endure just 100 years ago as dentists, doctors and barbers tried to fix people. That’s right. Barbers were an inexpensive doctor back in the day, especially if you needed blood-letting. The red and white barber pole was an advertisement to have your hair cut, or your blood let, which means taking out some of that bad, bad blood which must be making you sick. Many people died of blood-letting in the past. The explanation for the death must have been that not enough blood had been drained. Scary.
George the Second and George Washington both died after substantial blood-lettings. It has been largely discontinued, but recent research shows the iron build-up in blood may result in various diseases. The solution? Blood-letting.
Think about some other technologies I carry around on my own body. I have a bridge in my mouth. Someone in the past thought to themselves about how to cover up that big ugly gap where a tooth is missing. Why not build a dental device which bridges that gap, and attach it to the teeth around the gap? And think about the first patient this was tried on. Bridges in mouths are common today, but the first patient had to be convinced to have two good teeth ground down so the bridge could be attached. I would have loved to hear the dentist explain it. Maybe the first experiments were dentists who needed a bridge. It surprises me how many of the medical advances of the past were tried on the inventor first. Sometimes they experimented on their families.
It is thought Marie Curie may have died from her continued exposure to radium. Her fingertips produced so much radiation that her lab books showed fingerprints when photographic film was placed between the pages. From x-rays to casts to filled cavities in my mouth, the medical advances I’ve used seem commonplace today, and it makes me wonder what parts of me will be replaced in the future.
How much of me has to be replaced before more of me is artificial than real? What happens when scientists can transfer my mind into a computer? Is the computer me, or just me up to that point in my life?
It’s enough to make my poor human brain hurt. But I like to think about what people in the future will think when they find my dried out skull and notice most of the teeth are filled, drilled or fake. Will they even know what a bridge is by then? Think about this. Centuries ago people used to drill holes in people’s heads. We know because we have found skulls with holes drilled in them while the people were alive. I don’t know why they would drill a hole in someone’s head, but there are people who still do this, and let other people do it to them.
As we live in the bridge from our past to today, to whatever the future will bring, I expect there to be an abundance of discovery, adventure and experimentation. I just did a commercial for pain patch which places capsaicin directly on the skin as a patch to help with the pain from shingles. Think what makes peppers hot. Then concentrate it at eight percent. It has to hurt when it is put on, but apparently shingles hurts much, much more.
As we discover more and more about how and why the body works, there will be more and more amazing cures and advances. The amazing pace of change seems to get faster and faster. We may experience a time when something earth-shattering will happen every day. As the amount of information available continues to increase, how can we hope to keep up? Maybe that is your assignment. Invent the next technology which coordinates the light-speed developments so we can connect point A with point B and get the real solutions we need in the future. Sponsor someone who is innovating; contribute to those who are trying to get us to that better tomorrow.
I hope to see you in that brilliant, creative, innovative tomorrow, and maybe I may have some real parts left.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece Artificial MeSunday Apr 04, 2010
Double Preparation
Sunday Apr 04, 2010
Sunday Apr 04, 2010
Double preparation It’s kind of scary when the doctor tells you to get a colonoscopy, not just because of your age, but because he saw a freckle in your eye. That may take some explanation. A regular eye exam showed a spot on my retina. The optician casually mentioned this type of spot might be cancerous. That’s a jolt to hear. I was really worried, and continued to worry until I saw another doctor and he told me it was benign – just a freckle that should be checked every year. Then he casually remarked I needed to get a colonoscopy since this type of spot was associated with colon polyps. I began to worry again. It’s a strange thing to be uncertain. It’s a reminder of our mortality, and most of us aren’t ready to get off the ride. In the second before the doctor says I’m okay I’m exactly the same as the second after. So why do I feel so much better just because the doctor says I’m okay? It’s a strange thing. We put our trust in doctors. We pay them to tell us how we are. We hope they will find a pill to fix what we are feeling, and when they tell us what to do, we usually do it. I’m not sure why we have such faith, but we do. Maybe it’s a placebo effect – we want to feel better, so we get checked out by a doctor, and then we feel better because we did something. Anything. Well, almost anything. There are other professionals we trust. Lawyers, judges, teachers, law enforcement, airline pilots and others are called professionals. What does the word mean? We “profess” we have a skill. Others believe in our “professions”. But we all know some people are better at their jobs than others. I once had a dentist who was not the best. I wound up getting all of the fillings he did replaced by someone else. I’ve been to another dentist who gave me enough laughing gas that I had an out-of-body experience and was floating in the corner of the room watching him work on me. But now I have a dentist I trust. How do we eventually find where we are comfortable? I’ve had opticians I trusted, but when one of them told me I had old eyes, he never saw me again. I was really impressed my current eye doctor found this freckle in my eye when others had missed it. I even kept going to him when he left to start his own practice. And why do they call it practice? I don’t want to be “practiced on”. I want my professionals to have practiced on someone else, and get to me when they have finished practicing and become an expert. We have a strange list of words we use to describe some of this practice. Aseptic – it means clean. A procedure – this usually involves removing a part of me. Prescription – here’s my best guess at what will fix you. Symptoms – another word for problems. Developments – something we didn’t expect to happen. Effects – usually something bad. Abberation – something really bad we didn’t expect to happen. It makes me stop and think about those who consider me a professional at what I do, and it’s a reminder to stop and think if I am doing things which are unprofessional, if I am undercutting the belief of others in what I do. It’s a good check-up for us to do on ourselves every once in a while. So when someone tells you to get ready for a colonoscopy, there are some interesting preparations. You get to be cleaned out, and I won’t go into the details. So I got the phone call and someone said to get ready, I got ready. I showed up at the hospital at the appointed time, and tried to find someone to give me a colonoscopy. It was a Saturday morning and the place was deserted. My wife and I wandered to the front of the hospital to see if anyone knew what was going on. Someone helped us figure out that no colonoscopies were performed on Saturdays, but I was welcome to come back on Monday to get one. Which meant another round of what is affectionately called “colonoscopy prep”. Yep. I had to do it again on Sunday to be ready for Monday. I was extra clean. The colonoscopy found no polyps, but I was told to come back in five years for another checkup. I’ve had the follow-up, and now I don’t have to go back for ten years. It was like a reprieve on a death sentence. If you’ve done a colonoscopy prep, you know what I mean. Especially if you’ve done it twice in a weekend.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order
Essential Oils -- create your own business -- click on the logo to begin
Click on the player to hear an audio version of this piece Double PreparationSunday Apr 04, 2010
Advanced Placement
Sunday Apr 04, 2010
Sunday Apr 04, 2010
Advanced Placement
Sometimes barriers are placed in our way to test our resolve. Obstacles are clearly meant to be overcome, but how we overcome some of the obstructions in our world depends on our own creativity and convictions.
After taking the ASVAB, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, which tests to see if you know which nut belongs to which bolt and other things, I found out I could be a lawyer. The interest survey included with this test lets students choose the kinds of work they think they would like based on questions about their strengths, hobbies and desires. I think my category told me I was socially oriented, and in that category were teachers, social workers, and lawyers. For no other reason than I wanted to make lots of money and I thought being a lawyer sounded cool, I decided I would be a lawyer. I had no other interest in law before that, and luckily, I ended up as a teacher. I love my job and wouldn’t trade it for all the cash in China. But to get to be a teacher, I had to think I was going to be a lawyer first.
I checked to see what kind of education was necessary for lawyers, and noticed I was not enrolled in the right classes. Tracking is a way schools channel students into various classes, and even though it is technically not supposed to exist, the tracking of students takes place every day. I was a trouble maker in school, so I didn’t really belong in the advanced classes. But to be a lawyer I had to go to college, and I could get college credit while still in high school by taking advanced placement classes. I would have to pass the AP test at the end of the year, but I have always been a good test taker.
Getting into AP history was easy enough, and once I was signed up for one AP class I wanted another. AP English. But I had to take a test to see if I really could be an AP student, when really, it should have been up to me to try and fail on my own. But the entrance test showed I should be able to handle the class, or they just wanted to shut me up, so I was enrolled.
I was a busy senior, acting in plays, doing the morning announcements, even speaking at graduation. But this meant I was not always in class receiving the precious words of wisdom from my teachers, which meant there was no way I would be able to pass the test at the end of the year. Both of my AP teachers told me not to waste my money by taking the test. This only strengthened my resolve.
Think about the benefits of passing the test. If I could get a passing score, I could have 24 college credits on my transcript before my first day at the university. Back then, you didn’t even have to pay to get the college credit; they just added it to your total. Today, most colleges charge what the tuition would have cost for those credits, but at least you don’t have to spend the time. I would get a double free-ride if I passed!
I’m not sure why we discourage people from trying to achieve. Maybe we think the specter of failure will permanently disfigure them. What really happens is most people who are knocked down and get up again gain a valuable lesson. They learn how to get back up again when they are knocked down. It’s really not so bad on the ground, unless that’s where you stay.
I’m sure both of these teachers thought they had my best interests in mind when they told me not to take the tests. But I don’t take that kind of obstruction seriously. Easily overcome, I marched into the tests with my head held high, knowing I was the master of my destiny, and if I failed the tests, I would only be out a hundred dollars or so. But if I passed the tests, I would save myself thousands of dollars and cut time off my degree.
I passed both tests and had 24 credits. After I took some other College Level Examination Program tests, I had tested out of a year of college. I finished a four year degree in three years. If I had listened to the nay-sayers who were sure I wasn’t college material, I would have missed out on all the fun I’ve had since then.
But then again, I was in the work force full-time by the age of twenty-one. Maybe I should have overcome those obstructions at a slower pace. I must really love my work.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD
Click here for a complete INDEX
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
Click on the Amazon button to order