Little Miracles Always Add Up to Big Miracles

/ / 100 Humanitarians, Kenya, Opinion

So, anyone who knows me knows that I have my eyes set on going to Kenya not once with 100 Humanitarians, but twice this year. That last trip to Kenya had a “wow” factor that I simply didn’t expect. Well, okay … I kinda expected, but not to that level. It was *big*. BIG big big.

 

Obviously, I want to go back. However, I want to bring my wife. She *needs* this. She has to see this with her own eyes to understand why I’m so invested. The number crunching and payment dates begin …

 

As many are aware, I was laid off for 11 months. No real income, no solid money coming in … it was kind of a bad thing. Except we were totally taken care of. It’s humbling. Little contracts here and there, Ubering, some unemployment assistance … somehow, we managed to make it. On December 5th, I started a new contract. 6 months with a *really* strong chance of extensions. I’m excited about that because that helps fund our trip to Kenya! And, of course, pay our bills. 🙂 Come on, people. PRIORITIES!

 

However, there are some bills we need to catch up on. And last week, I didn’t get to work because no one else was in, and most of my job is interviewing people for information that I put into our manuals. If they’re not here, as a contractor, it makes no sense for me to be there. So one whole week of no money. That’s a big chunk of cash that we didn’t get today. That makes me sad. AND next week will be a small check because I couldn’t work this past Monday, either. For those of you tallying at home, that’s *A LOT* of money we’re not making.

 

So how do I come up with the deposits for my wife and me to go to Kenya? Why, simply manifest the need and watch the miracles unfold. Case in point: last night.

 

I was asked to help format an upcoming book for Kindle. I’ve done this before. It isn’t hard work at all. In fact, if you know how to use Word with any kind of proficiency, it’s super easy. Now … I’m friends with a few of the collaborators/authors for this effort, and some of the proceeds of this book are going help our 100 Humanitarians group. The author/compiler of the book came to me and asked what I would charge for my services. I simply asked, “Would you be okay covering my wife’s and my deposit fees for the trip in June?”

 

“That … that would be perfectly okay! Should I pay the director directly? Or should I send you the money and you can pay her?”

 

“Oh, just pay her directly. That eliminates the middle man.”

 

“Ok. Thank you SO MUCH!” And so on and so forth.

 

This opportunity popped up last night AFTER my wife and I were discussing how we’d pay for the deposits. We were already on grace time, and January was looking pretty bleak to be able to make the deposit payments. Nope! Miracle manifested!

 

Miracle number dos. That’s “two” for all you non-Spanish speakers.

 

Remembering that the editor said that she had sent me the manuscript last night, I took some time during a break this morning to look at the Word file. I downloaded it from my mail server and looked over it. Clearly the editor had already formatted it rather well. There are some things that will need tweaking, but nothing very time consuming. It should be fairly easy.

 

Except I deleted the email from my server. Why? Because I’m tired and clearly not thinking straight.

 

See … the author called me this morning. She has additional pages that need to be included. “No big deal. Just send me the extra material, I’ll paste it in, and we’ll go from there.”

 

“Ok. I also need to send you the front and back covers. They’re pictures in a pdf.”

 

“Awesome! Send all of that to [email address].”

 

“Okay!! Thanks!”

 

A few minutes go by. I get a text from her. “Hey, so … is this the right email address? [email address]”

 

“Yah, ohhhhhhhh … except it’s probably getting bounced because my email server is almost full and not accepting large files. Could you send it to [other email address]?”

 

“Okay.”

 

That prompted me to go in and delete all emails over 100kb so that nothing else gets bounced back. I selected all the large-attachment emails, deleted them, cleared them from the trash, and stared at my handy-work in now having a near-clean email server.

 

Small problem: I had just deleted the email with the manuscript. Insert sad trombone sound here because it would be very, very appropriate.

 

I panicked! I freaked! I broke a sweat! I CANNOT call this lady and ask her to resend it. No way, no how. Not happening.

 

Guess what was still open on my desktop. Guess what I saved to my local documents folder.

 

So now I had a copy of the manuscript, but it’s a big file. I couldn’t email it to myself. I desperately needed a thumb drive.

 

I messaged my friend and told her that I needed a thumb drive. I did not say why, I just told her. I … manifested that I needed one.

 

Two hours went by. I sat at my desk, working on a project that involved (and will for the foreseeable future) editing horrifically written manuals. We’re talking incomplete sentences, lack of punctuation, punctuation where it has no business being, spelling errors galore … these manuals are currently in our customers’ hands. I cannot imagine how these made it past any kind of review. Ohhhhhhh, that’s right–former writer didn’t ALLOW reviews! Seriously … that’s jaw-dropping to me. Anyway, I digress. As I’m working on this manual, up to my cube walks this guy. “Hey, maybe you remember me. I spoke with you about a month ago about some documents we need help formatting. Could you take a look at these?”

 

AND HE HANDS ME A THUMB DRIVE.

 

“Just empty the contents on your desktop. You can keep the thumb drive. I’m sure you need it more than I do.”

 

Little miracles, people. Little miracles.

Hashtag Hell (or, How I Learned to Love the Pound Sign)

/ / Opinion, rantings, review

So, I hear a lot of people asking, “What is the point of a hashtag?” and saying “They’re so stupid! I hate them!” That’s because most people use them incorrectly. You *can* use a hashtag of #ThisIsTheLamestThingEverAndItSucksMoreThanBroccoliSoup … but no one will ever see it except you and your handful of twitter followers/facebook friends/instagram addicts, depending on where you deploy your tag.

 

Hashtags actually serve a very useful purpose. Think of them as a sort of index for your post. For those of you who have no idea what an index is (read: the under-20 crowd who barely know what a book is), think of your old text books or instruction books. In the back, you have an alphabetical index of key words that are very specific to a functionality or a task. If I’m looking at an HTML book, and I want to know all about “classes,” I can search the index, find “classes,” and it will give me a list of pages where you will find useful information. It’s the same with hashtags. You tag key words that you want to use to help others find your post on whatever social media platform you’re using. Twitter has been great for using hashtags for years and years. Instagram, a little less so, but definitely getting up to speed. Facebook … yah. A work in progress, and we’ll leave it at that.

 

In your post/tweet/pic, you have a point you’re trying to get across. You specifically mentioned something. For example, let’s say that I just took a picture of Old Faithful in Yellowstone. My caption reads, “Hey, check it out–it really *does* go off every 75 minutes or so!” My hashtags, IF I want them to be useful, would be something along the lines of #OldFaithful #Yellowstone #geysers #awesome (because let’s face it … OF is freakin’ insanely cool, as are most other geysers). The first two are specific to Old Faithful. They say where you’ve been specifically. The 3rd is a tad more generic, but it’s still specific to OF because it is a geyser, and Yellowstone houses the largest concentration of geysers in the world. The 4th shows your feelings (not a necessity, but sometimes a nicety), and anyone looking for something #awesome is going to find your picture. Eventually. Probably. I mean, I’m sure a lot of pictures or posts are tagged as “awesome” because most people view their vacation pics as such. “Awesome,” though, is subjective. YOU believe it’s awesome. Others may agree; some may think, “Really? Water blowing out of the ground is ‘awesome’? Whatever …”

 

Now … some people like to use hashtags as a way to rib their friends/followers. That’s definitely one way of using them. The odds of it being useful in a search are pretty close to zero, but it can be done. My friends and I do it all the time. Doesn’t mean we *want* people to find it; we’re just using them as a short-handed form of teasing. #Idiot, #LMGTFY … stuff like that. It’s pretty fun.

 

Another thing to consider when using hashtags is the use of capitalization. In conventional writing, you typically capitalize the first word of a sentence, then the rest of the sentence is lower-case (except for the appropriate pronouns and proper nouns). However, with hashtags, to make them more readable, the smart tagger capitalizes the first letter of EVERY word–regardless of whether it’s a small word, big word, proper noun, gerund, objective prounoun … doesn’t matter.

 

This concludes my primer for tagging. I’m sure there’s a lot I’m leaving out, but these are just the things I’ve observed since using hashtags. They have their place, and they’re definitely a great tool … IF you know what you’re doing with them.

2015: The Year of … Something

/ / Opinion, photography, rantings

Well that went fast. 2014 is in the rear-view mirror, and our road ahead stretches in some as-yet-to-be-determined path. Is it curved? Looped? Straight?

 

Trust me … I’m not trying to wax philosophical; I’m genuinely curious to see what this year brings for me and my family. Personally, I have goals for this blog (“Yes … of course you do. We’ve heard this before.”), and I have a plan in place to make sure I follow through with it.

 

To start off, I’ve mentioned that I’m a huge fan of photography. Lately, I’ve been shooting raw images as opposed to in-camera jpg images. Here’s a very clear demonstration as to why.

IMG_9591a

 

As you can see, this picture looks a little dark. Pretty, kind of haunting … but dark. The image below is what I was able to do in Photoshop with some raw processing.

IMG_9591b

I don’t know about you, but glowing trees? Very cool. Now I just need to go in and get rid of the now-obvious wires that are dangling in the background, but for now, I’m happy with this.

I learn more every time I play with my camera, open Photoshop, and dig around online for tutorials on better post-processing. This is how anyone gets good at whatever it is he or she wants to do. I want to be a better photographer and do better post-processing, so I study, learn, play, try, fail, and eventually succeed.

 

You can do this too. Not necessarily photography, but whatever you want to achieve. Think it, dream it, do it. Just get at it!

 

No, this was not designed to be a motivational speech. It just turned all Tony Robbins-like cuz … well, it is what it is. You can’t become better at something if you don’t try and practice.
Now go forth and conquer.

Things For Which I Am Grateful

/ / Blah-ness, Opinion, rantings

Two Sundays ago, I woke up with a fever. I decided to do what everyone with a fever does–warm up. My method of achieving comfort involved standing under a steaming stream of flowing hot water … the exact opposite of what I needed. Instead of feeling better, I felt exponentially worse. As the water cascaded down around me, I could feel myself starting to slip into that very special hell reserved for those stupid enough to take a shower with a fever. My muscles fought tooth and nail against whatever oncoming infection was on the offensive. They lost. Badly. I eventually ran out of hot water and was left standing with a level of convulsions typically exhibited by those having a grand mal seizure. It was all I could do to dry off, get dressed, and crawl back into bed. Somehow, I pulled it off. I slept all day. Ended up in some state of delirium where all I could think of was the bass line from Big Data’s “Dangerous.” Not an entirely austere bass line, but catchy enough that I had it playing in my head throughout the entire psychosis that was my Sunday.

 

Then Monday came. My fever of 102.9 from the day before dropped to 100.1. Manageable, but still a fever. I stood up to go to the bathroom, and I felt an immense pressure building in my lower left leg. A panic and dread filled me with a speed rivaled only by light.

 

A quick trip to the ER revealed what I already strongly suspected: cellulitis. This bacterial disease infects the dermal and sub-dermal layers of the skin, and it creates a pain in every individually infected that is the male equivalent of giving birth. Think I’m kidding? Wait until you go through it. I sincerely hope you don’t have to because it’s horrible, but if you do, you’ll understand what I mean when I say the pain is just that intense.

 

I was admitted to the hospital Wednesday afternoon. I wasn’t discharged until Saturday around noon. 8 rounds of IV anti-biotics. More blood samples and tests than I’ve ever seen. Pills galore.

 

And not a penny of health insurance. Oh, this is going to be fun. Lots and lots of fun.

 

Despite the fact that we don’t have health insurance right now, I’m incredibly optimistic about our future, and really life in general. Some things for which I’m grateful:

 

  • My family is amazing. Supportive, loving, awesome.
  • My friends are equally amazing.
  • Aside from the cellulitis, I’m generally healthy.
  • We have essential oils all over the house that help with our physical and psychological health. This cellulitis is definitely the exception and not the rule.
  • I’ve lost over 42 pounds in the last 3 months. Go grab yourself a bag of rock salt for your driveway or water softener. *That* is how much I’ve lost. Tell me that’s not awesome.
  • My new job is so understanding of everything. They know I’m down for the hard count, and we have this massive, looming deadline that is non-negotiable … but we’re working through it. My manager overnighted all the materials sitting on my desk so I can have them at my disposal here at the house, allowing me to work from home as I can.
  • We have food in the cupboards and a good supply of extra in the basement.
  • Both of our vehicles are running just fine. They need oil changes and fluid checks, but other than that, running just fine. AND they’re both paid off.
  • Our house is getting better and better as we make improvements.
  • We have more music and movies than I care to admit. I collect … so … yah.
  • If it comes down to it, I have some very useful talents like tie-dyeing that I could use to help pay off some of the hospital costs. I would include photography in that list of talents, but it’s more of a hobby than anything else. Could I turn a profit? Maybe … but it’d take a lot more studying, practicing, and research before I even attempt to go that route.
  • And above all–most important to me–I know who I am, and that is a son of a God who loves us and watches over us. I know why I’m here, and where I can go when I die. Do bad things happen to me? Sure. Do I blame God for them? Not at all. Sometimes, the only way to grow is to go through the refiner’s fire and see how you come out. I’ve been through challenges exponentially worse than this, and it was only by clinging to that knowledge of God’s love that my family and I made it through the challenges we have.

 

Like I said, my optimism is pretty high. The first sign of medical bills might kill that, but I’m going to work really hard to make sure it doesn’t. I’d much prefer a positive attitude to a crappy one.

 

Oh well. Onward and upward.

App Review: Endomondo–An Exercise Companion

/ / iPhone Apps, Opinion, rantings, review, software

Yup. I’ve actually taken that step: I plan on using an exercise app. SEE? I’m committed to this weight loss and health thing. I downloaded Endomondo, an exercise app for iOS devices. Probably around the same time I downloaded other iBike and MapMyRide+.

 

Except all I’ve done is download it and open it; I haven’t used it to its full capacity yet. I plan on doing that this weekend, when we go to Moab and hike all over the place. We spent a lot of time last night doing laundry for the things we want to pack, like sweats, shorts, t-shirts, and sweatshirts. Hey … gotta layer while we’re down there, right? Average morning temps in the 40s, average afternoon highs in the 70s. Again, layering. Yes.

 

Honestly, I’ve had this app for a long time. I don’t know exactly how long, but it’s been a while. I’ve never used it. I’ve opened it and looked at the user interface (UI) some, but nothing exetensive. Now that I have a solid game plan in place, I thought I’d open it up and look at it more closely.

 

When you first open the app, it asks if you’d like to log in or create an account. Obviously, being the exercise buff that I am, I had already created an account couch potato sloth that I am, I needed to create an account. Once I took care of that, it opened to its main page, where the first thing I noticed was the ad at the bottom of the screen. Distracting, right? To be fair, this *is* a free app. There’s an option to upgrade to Endomondo Premium, which has a bunch of extra features (namely, NO ADS), but it’s subscription-based, and it costs $3.99/month or $29.99/year. $30 is not a lot to ask for a digital personal trainer, right? Maybe I’ll explore that later, but not right now.

 

The app defaults to a pre-set screen that has a start button in the bottom left corner and a Duration counter in the top left. Nestled between these two prominent features are, in clockwise order, a distance tracker, heart rate in terms of beats per minute, workout type (defaults to basic), and your chosen sport (defaults to running, ha ha). Now … here’s the great part. ALL of these fields–the prominent and the sandwiched– are customizeable to whatever you’d like within the options. When I tap on Duration, I have options of displaying calories, heart rate, speed, distance, aveerage speed, and hydration. When I tap Sport (cuz, yah … I’m not running), I have close to 60 options, ranging from badminton to yoga. In anticipation of tomorrow, I’ve selected Hiking.

 

My favorite feature on this screen is the GPS function. In the bottom right corner, there’s a little green arrow-looking button. When I tap that, a map slides open to display my current location. As I go for a walk, or hike, or bike ride, my location is constantly updated on the map. Once the workout is done, it displays the path I took. That’s pretty nifty. I know that’s a standard feature for a lot of these kinds of apps, but come on! That’s awesome!

 

In the interst of fairness, the data wasn’t *entirely* accurate. According to the stats on my quick walk, I gained 33 feet in elevation, and lost no elevation. So, I went up the equivalent of 3 floors in a little over .16 miles … according to this. Not possible, since all I did was walk in a circle. At some point, there should have been a descent. Minor quibbling points, but worth mentioning all the same.

 

In the top right corner are three little horizontal lines. Tapping that icon takes you to a series of options. You can upgrade to premium (which I may do just to see what’s offered. Hey, I can use all the help I can get, right?), add Endomondo friends, see your workout history, add a training plan, accept challenges, see workout routes of local users, and update your settings.

 

In all, this looks like a complete app. I’m excited to get down to Moab and test it (and me). Is the $30/year worth it? Dunno yet … but I may soon find out. For now, though, the free version is packed with a bunch of great features.

Family Vacation Time

/ / Opinion, rantings

Well this is super awesome. I don’t know how on earth I married so well … but shucky darn and slop the chickens, I did.

 

I start a new job in a couple of weeks. As such, I have this surplus of vacation hours from my current employer. I plan on using some of those to leave a bit early tomorrow, drive to Moab, UT tomorrow afternoon, and then spend the next 4 days down in some of the most rugged, rocky terrain in the world. *THIS* is going to be fun. and I mean FRICKIN’ UNBELIEVABLY NICE.

 

This is why I upgraded my camera to a Canon 6D. The low-light capabilities on this thing compared to my old T2i are astounding, to say the least. The nights are supposed to be super clear, which means star pictures will be an option. Orion is in full view on the eastern horizon pretty late–around 1 am. Now … the question is whether I can stay up late enough to get pictures. Guess we’ll see.

 

One thing for sure that I want to do is get a shot of Dead Horse Point at sunrise. Not just any shot, though … I want to get a shot of Dead Horse looking dead on. The overlook is a bit north east of the bend, and it doesn’t offer a straight shot at it.

dead_horse.jpg

 

 

I know where I need to go to get it, and I have it marked on my GPS. That’s definitely happening.

 

I plan on pushing myself pretty hard this trip. I’m on the verge of being down about 40 pounds from where i was a little over 2 months ago, and I feel great. To put that in perspective, rock salt for a water softener comes in 40 pound bags. THAT’s what I’ve lost. I don’t have to lug that around with me this trip. Last time we went to moab, I was about 310. Not this time. So yah … I *want* to push myself. I don’t want to kill myself, of course, so this may be a relatively light trip, and then I’ll work on cardio and endurance.

 

This will be fun!

 

I took this last year when we went in July.

 

delicate

It was hot. Very, very, very hot. My Camelbak was bled dry before we even started back down. I have no idea how we survived. But we did. We will this year too. I hope. It’ll be significantly cooler–at least 25-30 degrees, if not 35 degrees. I’d like this to be the backdrop for a night shot of the Milky Way, but it might not happen this trip. That’s fine. Someday, it’s gonna happen. Maybe in April or May. That would be ideal.

 

I also picked up one of those awesome Olloclip lenses that will make for some fun phone pics. I’ve played a bit with it around the house, but nothing serious. I’ve seen what it can do indoors … I’m betting we can get some amazing shots outside with it.

 

Above all, though, I just want this vacation to be *fun*. We’ve had some pretty high stress around our house lately … we need this trip to help alleviate that stress and get us back to a balanced center.

End of an Era with a Very Odd Horizon

/ / Opinion, rantings

Sometimes, you just need to shake things up. Move on. Make wholesale changes. I’ve come to accept the fact that, sometimes, things just won’t ever be the way you’d hoped they’d be, and that’s okay. Most of us are equipped with the capacity to enable changes in our lives that will provide whatever it is that we feel we may be lacking, *or* we just find ways to cope with those changes. To that end, when these shake-ups come along, whether it’s by design or by happenstance, you’re ready to go with the flow.

 

Those who know me well know that my typical day-job revolves around writing manuals. This has mostly been done through defense contractors. Working in this environment for the better part of 12 years, I’ve come to understand the government mentality, processes, and procedures that go into writing military-approved procedure documents. This has been my home for 9+years of the 12 years I’ve been in the professional world. I’m grateful for the time I’ve had here. I’m grateful for the experiences I’ve gained, and the things I’ve learned will carry forward with me … but it’s time to move on.

 

As a general rule, I don’t make wholesale changes. I tend to accept positions with companies that have a similar feel to them … hence my time with the DOD over the last 12 years. Having said that, sometimes, ya just have to shake things up and go for the big 180–the polar opposite, as it were. And so it is that I end my career with the defense sector and move into a wholly, heretofore unexplored area of professional life.

 

I have accepted an offer with Jamberry Nails, starting October 28. No, I will not be a consultant. They have a real need for documenting internal processes, policies, and knowledge databases. That’s where I come in.

 

Like I said, sometimes, the change just needs to be that different, right? Well this one’s *big*. And I couldn’t be more excited.

 

Some are going to ask why I’ve decided to move on. Those reasons are my own. They’re personal, and that’s that. Those who need to know, know. 🙂

 

And that’s that. SO excited to start this new chapter. If you read this, thank you, JW, for your trust and faith. It will be richly rewarded … 🙂

How To Be Not Fat(ter Than You Are)

/ / Opinion, rantings

So I’ve lost some weight. I could be doing more about that, but for now, I’m down 27 pounds in 5 weeks. I’m kind of surprised by that, actually. My exercises have been minimal–just walking around my building’s perimeter at lunch. Nothing heavy-hitting, by any stretch. Tonight, though … I think I’m going to hop on the bike and meet my wife at her running park–a short ride of probably less than 2 miles there, but then she’ll run some, and I can circle around while she runs. We’ll see. It’s a start!

 

The thing I don’t like about my bike is that it’s a mountain bike. It’s not designed for street use. It’s heavy, the tires are super knobby, and it makes it extremely difficult to ride over even terrain, like pavement, roads, paths, etc. I plan on getting a “new” bike as soon as possible, so I can ride to work (a current commute of 4 miles one way; on a good bike, it’d take maybe 20 minutes with traffic).

 

Having said all of that, though, I think the real kicker is the change in eating habits. I eat *way* fewer processed sugars than I used to consume. I’ve eliminated soda entirely. I actually eat vegetables in small quantities, like a salad with a low-fat dressing, cucumbers and zuchinis blended into protein drinks (a peach smoothie with zuchini is indistinguishable from a peach smoothie without zuchini), and bless my wife’s heart, she made a veggie lasagne with more veggies than I’ve ever seen. I … well, let’s just say I really appreciate her efforts, but like I said, “you can’t expect a newborn to jump right into a 7-course meal when they’re used to baby food. It’s called ‘firehosing!'” Maybe someday I’ll get there. Last night was not that day. but her heart was in the right place. She’s an incredible woman with insane culinary skills. I’m sure that, as far as veggie lasagnes go, it’s delicious. For me … it’ll have to be a meal for another day. Or … year. 🙂

 

The fact that I’m even considering it an option down the road should tell you how my mentality has shifted over the last 5 weeks. I kid you not that eating vegetables for me is a *HUGE* step forward. So is exercising. I’ve led a pretty much exclusively sedentary life style. It … well, it shows. However, my genetic make-up and dispositions are such that, even just walking at a semi-brisk pace allows me to lose weight. I’m curious to see where more biking leads in terms of weight loss.

 

As of this morning, I weighed 287. That’s the least I’ve weighed since about 2005 or 2006. My goal is 250-260, but it’s not just the number that matters: it’s how I get there, and what sustainable activities I incorporate into my routines that help me maintain that weight once I achieve it. Numbers mean nothing if you can’t maintain that number or relatively close to it.

 

And of course, I’ve picked the 5 months from hell to start this, right? October through February are just brutal for food. October: Halloween. November: Thanksgiving. December: Christmas. January: Football playoffs and associated parties. February: Superbowl AND Valentine’s Day.

 

Honestly though … it’s not the seasons that worry me–it’s the potential lack of self control. I have hope though. I’ve seen signs the last few weeks that my mentality is changing. I’ve turned down cupcakes, ice cream, cookies, brownies, fudge, fritters, donuts … all voluntarily–not because the boxes were empty. Instead, I’ve had cashews, walnuts, pecans, bananas, grapes, protein shakes, water, cheese sticks … exponentially healthier items. I’ve “cheated,” of course. I’ve had chocolate, some candy, the afore-mentioned turned down items … but I’ve done so in extreme moderation. And in exercising that moderation, I don’t have to miss it, but I don’t have to engorge myself on them, either.

 

And it’s all paying off.

Crafty Weekend, Coming Up

/ / Opinion, rantings

This weekend is going to rule. Our area of the world is getting slammed with the X-class Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that our nearest star spat out. Solar flares are generally the cause of the borealis–both auroral and australial. In layman’s terms, the northern and southern lights. You know … those eerily green and red dancing lights that we all lament over when we see the amazing pics on Flickr or wherever? Yah. Tonight, I get to try to see one live for the first time.

 

That’s *after* I make over 100 tie dye bottles. That’s right–114, to be precise. “What?! *WHY*?!?” Cuz. I can. It’s all about choices, baby! 20 different hues of blue. 18 greens. blacks, greys, reds, yellows, oranges, browns … khaki, moss green, cerulean blue, baby pink, #2 pencil yellow (yes–that is an actual color on dharmatrading.com) … I’m going on a dyeing KICK. Halloween is right around the corner. Pumpkin and ghost tie dyes are gonna be a huge hit. 🙂

 

And to what will I be listening while doing all of this? Why U2’s new CD, of course! Songs of Innocence was a *huge* surprise announcement at the end of the Apple event on Tuesday. More than that, U2 ARE GIVING IT AWAY UNTIL OCTOBER 13. 500 million subscribers to iTunes, and all of us get it gratis. We pay nothing. We are the recipients of a gift.

 

Yet some people are squaking up a storm about how it’s “clogging up [their] phone.” Someone actually tweeted “Who the f*** put U2 on my phone?” Honestly? Who complains about free music? I don’t care if U2 isn’t your cup of tea; the fact that they’re literally giving away an entire CD speaks volumes about their character and generosity. And unless your name is Bob Lefsetz, you *should* be able to find something positive to say about that alone. But no … there are plenty of nay-sayers. Bob is one of the most vocal among them, but whatever. He’s bitter about something. Probably had to take a tablespoon of Goldenseal (don’t ask … just trust …). But I digress.

 

One of Bob’s points is that U2 are too old to be relevant anymore. “Yes, older people build the tools, but it’s young people who utilize them.” It’s stupidity like this that makes me want to bash my head against a wall. And … what experience do all these younglings have that gives them the right to tell U2–or any older band–that they’re no longer relevant? OHHHH … wait a sec. That’s just Bob’s opinion, right? Because ACTUAL musicians appreciate the groundwork that was laid for them. They stand in awe of their predecessors … especially when it’s abundantly apparent that it’s merited, as is the case with U2.

 

Whatever. One article by one grumpy gus does not  a career ruin. Well, at least not U2’s career. Bob’s may be dead in the water, with all his ability to assess talent and relevance.

 

And on a more positive note, I’m gonna get started on those dye bottles and make some wearable art. Pictures to come!

To Those Who Suffer from … Well, ANYthing

/ / Blah-ness, Opinion, rantings

I read a friend’s blog post today. I won’t divulge the name here; it’s not my place to share. However, it has me doing a lot of introspective soul-searching about who *I* am, and how *I* view life.

 

In short, I consider myself a rather happy person.

 

That is, by no stretch, a bragging point. If anything, I say it with a wipe of my forehead and a whisk of my hand to rid myself of the beading sweat. I say it because I just got lucky in that regard. Now … having said that, I think that I have had my bouts with depression. Nothing long-term or ongoing, but indeed, I’ve felt actual, physical pain from being in a funk. So I have to ask myself: is that what depression is? Was I, at that point, actually depressed?

 

I don’t know. I’m not really in a position to say with any degree of certainty that I was. Or wasn’t. I know what and how I felt, and I hated it. I hated feeling like I hated it. I hated facing the fact that I felt compelled to try to determine what this “funk” was. I hated that I didn’t want to be around anyone, including my wife and kids. I hated the fact that I wanted nothing to do with blogging. Or photography. Or Facebook. Or tie-dyeing. Or … anything.

 

But for as bad as I felt, at no point did I ever consider offing myself … and I think that’s why I feel safe about saying that, even if I was mildly depressed, I wasn’t nearly as badly depressed as I could have been.

 

Which brings me to my point: my friend’s blog post.

 

See, this person has been to the “contemplation” end of depression. This person has put on the brave face in public, and wept furiously when alone. S/he smiled at people, but inwardly frowned the ultimate sad face. Did any of this person’s friends know the depths to which this person had experienced depression? No. Because this person chose to keep it personal. To keep it close. To not expose.

 

To not let on just how bad the hurt had grown.

 

Now … that was this person’s way of dealing with it. Others act and react differently. Ask yourself this : on any given day, how many people do you see who are grumpy, sad, crying, or otherwise engaged in what is so obviously an emotionally/spiritually/psychologically tough time? A few? Dozens? ONE?

 

And here’s the logical follow-up–the one question you must have to ask yourself: what are you doing about it?

 

Do you just … I dunno. Walk by? Obviously turn the other way? Pretend your fiddling with your phone to avoid the awkwardness?

 

What if that person is literally praying for someone to just say hi? Or what if that person has just decided that their life has no meaning, and that their only relief is at the bottom of a ravine after a jump off of a very tall bridge, or at the end of a gun barrel? WHAT IF YOU ARE THE ANSWER TO SOMEONE’S PLEADING?

 

Why would you not try to help? Why would you walk by and not offer someone a shoulder to cry on? Or a listening ear? Or whatever it is they need? Why would you walk away

 

One word: don’t.

 

Don’t just walk away. Don’t turn a “blind” eye.

 

Another word: help.

 

Be that listening ear. Offer that small glimmer of hope. Give that hug.

 

Yes, it may take leaving your comfort zone, but the end result … wouldn’t it be worth knowing that you helped someone? Maybe saved a life?

 

People, all I’m asking is for some common decency. ALL of us have hurt at one point. Some of us have hurt exponentially worse and longer than others. You know how that one small painful experience was for you; imagine living every day like that.

 

Challenge of the week: find someone you don’t know at all and wish them a good day. Or buy his/her coffee/hot chocolate/morning drink. Or smile at everyone for an entire day.

 

Help. Help everyone.

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