New Name & Cold November Rain
“I don’t know how many times I’ve re-invented myself over the years, but here I go again…”
I went to play an open-mic the other night and yesterday I was so worn out after I got home, I tried to meditate and just clear my head. I have lots to do around the house (so I can finally get the xmas tree up, I’ve been trying to finish off three books for about a month, I’d like to do some artwork for gifts, exercize, and I’m trying to get a song recorded for a songwriter who sent me some lyrics. I have this mental picture of me being crushed by a pile of ideas and the weight of this makes me feel so zonked. In the shower a little while ago I was thinking about all of these things I feel I should be able to accomplish and started laughing at myself.
I wish I were there 24/7 now because I’m clearly not always in the moment. It seems like such a mountain, but maybe if I keep my head in the game I can climb it. And yes, I am aware how much 24/7 isn’t “now”, but it just seems right on.
So from here on in it’s gotta be all me on this blog, self expression is healthy and since there aren’t always willing ears around I got my words for the cyberspace. I read a quote on twitter the other day…
WomenOfHistory Inspirational Quotes Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. -Eleanor Roosevelt
It’s rainy here and definitely doesn’t feel like December, oh well, less furnace oil to get used. (I miss my wood stove:( & it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November Rain…)
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Apologasms & Thankgivings
“In today’s business, anyone can beat you on price, many can imitate your product or service, but nobody can take away the relationships you have with your guests.” – Ken Blanchard I
Crash Clarity: Taking the Fall
So I’m on the way home from a swim at the University last weekend, it’s raining, I’m about 5 minutes away and a vehicle decides to turn left from a stop sign in front of me. In the span of a few seconds, I explore my options: turn right and possibly get hit on the driver’s side (I’m alone btw), slam on the brakes and probably lose control thereby possible getting the same result, or try to turn left into a parking lot which just happens to belong to my mechanic. I choose option #3, we crash.
My first thought is are they OK? So I ask, I’m thankful they’re fine, but their van looks terrible. Mine didn’t look too bad but it would definitely need some work to be drivable. The question was how much? There was a 50/50 chance it would be a write-off. If it was, since the car was a 95 Grand Am, I wasn’t gonna get much compensation.
And that was just the beginning to a week with more than its share of twists and turns.
Crusade for Justice
Two days later I’m in the line-up for the election. At my post there are two booths, on one you’ll get through almost immediately, in mine you stand outside in the rain for a half an hour next to people that don’t seem interested in chatting much. I get in, I vote, I forget about it. Chances are it’ll be pretty similar results to the previous election.
Now recently I was appointed as administrator (temporarily) for a website that announces local events and things in my corner of the world, I open up the page the day after the election and notice that someone posted about the election without my knowledge. I didn’t think that what they posted was legal, due to the stipulations of the last federal election so I sent them an email. See, we in Canada weren’t allowed posting certain things until the final results were announced for all ridings in the last federal vote. So I got to thinking about justice and the rights of constituents as far as what was appropriate for the internet. I ended up sending a letter of apology though since I was pretty abrasive.
It all was getting too much for me, so I decided to check out Helium.com. It was recommended by a friend at the Writer’s Guild (check out a post I did for them) as a website where you were given a topic and you could possibly earn money for charity if your post gets published. The topic I chose was “Components needed for effective communication in a family”. Something I don’t always put into practice as much as I should but definitely worth exploring for me. I enjoyed writing it although I’m not sure if their readers will particularly dig my style. Oh well, I hope they’ll accept my apology.
Situations on Rotation
Lately I’ve been questioning my performance at one of my jobs and wondered Am I good enough? Can I fulfill all of my obligations? With all of these other situations rotating around in my head the week got more and more stressful. Friday night I was starting to get paranoid about life with all of my woes, the weather getting colder than I’m ready for, and fear about my possible impending financial doom. All alone at work in the dead of night approaching the witching hour I started getting the heebie-jeebies! I made it through of course and I’m thankful.
The Day Before Thanksgiving
Saturday morning, I decided to face my fears. I came to terms with the settlement I’d be provided with by the insurance company & worked out a deal to buy another car, I cleaned out ol’ “Granny” (my old burgundy 95 Grand Am that would’ve cost over $4,000 to fix up… what?) and whispered an apology for it’s needless upcoming trip to the junkyard, I talked about my concerns at work with my manager, I went to the farmer’s market and had a great chat with a friend and bought some excellent croissants, the sun was shining like it was August, and I got some free furniture. I was about to lay down for a long awaited nap and a friend from work who wasn’t getting along with me too well lately called. She apologized, as did I.
Idea For Apologasms
Lately I’ve been studying a lot about how to display better spirit in guest services and how to be a more effective employee. I’ve also been reading about Taoism and kind of thought up an idea for a character for a web-series while I washed dishes last night. He’d be an old dude with cauliflower hair, using funny and sometimes unexpected hand signs, with clothes all ol fashioned and crooked, giving seminars on how to be a better apologist, & a voice that’s a cross between Jim Rohn and that beaver gopher on Winnie the Pooh. He’d occasionally getting names wrong and a bunch of other inappropriate stuff for a sincere apology. The 1st half of an episode would be an intro to the audience telling stories of the famous people he’s sent apologies to (ex. The Queen, I apologize for not being at Wilma & Kate’s wedding) and video clips of people making apologies. The 2nd half uses suggestive anagrams like you might see on a PowerPoint presentation about how to properly execute an apology (ex. The C.R.U.N.K. technique, C=Compassion, R= Repentant, U=understanding, etc) & then Questions and demonstrations.
Just another crazy idea after another crazy week. Thanks for reading!
Q: Anything you’re Thankful for today (in Canada) or next month (in the US)?
Although I believe it’s never too late to apologize here’s an ol’ favorite song of mine by One Republic about belated apologies. Great work by Timbaland as conductor on this track I might add.
Celebrating my (almost) first year of blogging & Tribute to Shannon Hoon & Blind Melon!
Keep on dreaming boy, cause when you stop dreamin’ it’s time to die.
Shannon Hoon
I knew it was getting close, but I wasn`t entirely sure when the big blog birthday was. Apparently I have 8 days to go but I just couldn`t wait any longer!
Here`s where it all started after a drive in town chasing a double rainbow last year after work on an awesome autumn night. My intro blog! Full of introductory idiosy, and nothin`s changed as far as my disregard for grammar`s chains and the dictionaries. I just finished reading http://wishiwerethere7.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/hello-world/ and felt good about it. It was a proud moment for a person who until that point had only used the internet for email, research, & of course killing time. Nowadays, I`d kill to have more time so I`m gonna keep this post quick…
Thanks for all the comments and an awesome year!!!
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The Soul One Cover
September 26th would’ve been the 44th birthday of Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon. I wanted to commemorate it as best I could with song. As I thought of which one might be appropriate, I relived some good times that his music definitely helped elevate.
When I first heard the name Blind Melon it reminded me of my old Cheech & Chong tape where a washed up blues singer named Blind Melon Chitlin was in the studio trying to put together some gold for an ambitious producer. A lot of people have probably heard the song “No Rain” which got a ton of airplay in the nineties. It was a great song for a band who was described as psychedelic southern rock. I spent many hours listening to the 90’s albums and enjoyed every minute.
After Shannon overdosed, they released an album called Nico which featured a song called “Soul One”. I really took that one to heart, being one of the few love songs written by the five-piece group from Indiana. It’s lyrics were full of the pain that a guy who spent so much time on the road might feel and soul was definitely there.
Monday night I tried to harness some of that energy when I set up my recording gear out under the stars in my front yard. It was an experience I’ll always remember and hope I can do again before this Indian summer comes to a close and the elements won’t allow for such foolishness.
And the Winner Is… Me???
Jan 5
Posted by PL Holden
“Time waits for no one. Tom Waits is not for everyone.” PLHolden (I think)
Does this qualify as a "Triptych"?
Over the holidays I found out that I had won an award for blogging! I have to admit I was pretty surprised since I have been neglecting wishiwerethere7 for quite a while but when I was looking back thru the posts of last year it was a pretty good variety of topics I’d covered and I rather enjoyed reading it myself after having time to forget it. Here’s the rules of the 7×7 Link Award and I plan to follow thru. Special thanks to Melissa at play101.wordpress.com it feels great to be appreciated and I think this’ll give me enough inspiration to get at least one post a week going. After all, I love blogging and why not take the time to enjoy it.
1. List your top posts (of all you’ve ever written) under the 7 categories below
2. Pass the award on to 7 of your fellow bloggers and let them know you did so
3. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to his or her blog
Here’s the 7 Categories & Posts that I’ve chosen…
Most Beautiful
Happy Earthday to you I really tried to come from the heart on this one since it is so important to appreciate the earth that is our home.
Most Helpful
A List of Apathy I got some great comments about this one which was actually written one a day when I was feeling a little hopeless about being able to get people to care about my thoughts.
Most Popular
The Artwork Page I was so grateful for the comments on this one, people really seem to love it. I have to admit I’m still feeling like an amateur as an artist because of having done so few originals but if I can push myself there will be some on the way.
Most Controversial
Wipe That Smile off your Face On this one I challenged the notion that men who don’t smile are more attractive, not necessarily for my cause, but for the young men who saw the same story on the news about a study that was done who might feel inclined to walk around with a big-ass snarl and expect their life to turn into an “Axe” commercial. In my opinion smiling is the cornerstone to expressing happiness (& it’ll keep your face looking younger too).
Most Surprisingly Successful
Birthday Wishes Last year I dedicated my birthday wishes to people who have it rough. I have been so blessed in life and I bet that the one’s I’ve wished well are at least 90% better off than they were back then.
Most Underrated
The Fundamentals of Planking I hate to be so cocky but I honestly thought that my first YouTube vid was going to go VIRAL!!! It was the first ever “Planking Day” and I saw stuff on TV about it. Low & behold I didn’t even get 100 hits on it. Oh well, maybe some day somebody famous will tweet about it “Just saw a video of some idiot from PEI falling off a swingset. #fail”
Most Prideworthy
Shadow Runners & A Campus Tour This one was about a seminar I attended about writing for kids. Although I haven’t taken the time to put a children’s book together yet, this was a very proud day for me.
Here’s my Favorite 7 (actually 9) blogs in no particular order, please check them out and don’t forget to look at their about page…
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Posted in Art, Commentary
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Tags: 7x7 link award, favorite blogs, favorite posts, Tom Waits