Elegant Distractions

I believe there are people who have spent more on self-help than me. Must be but I don't know them. Books, tapes, seminars, the whole gammut. Some of it was even useful. I'm about to save you thousands of dollars and tons of grief.

I'm going to tell you several secrets to changing any aspect of your life that you desire. But here's the real secret: none of this is a secret at all.

Your life is exactly how you made it.

Look at your home. It isn't a metaphor for who you are, it represent the physical embodiment of who you are. Everything about it, from the location to the color of the towells, came from you. Your life represents the sum of all the minute and grand decisions accumulated since your first breath.

Run your own brain

Too many people spend their lives at the mercy of whatever their minds throw at them. Once you decide that your mind is under your control you begin to find the answers you been searching for. This is a very good thing.

The meaning is up to you

Three people witness the same event. One is disturbed for days. Another forgets it almost immediately. The last appreciates his family more. Why?

Our days are full of experiences. The meaning that we apply to those experiences is up to us. This is also a very good thing.

Do-be-do-be-do

What you have is a reflection of the things you've done. What you've done with your life is a reflection of who you are.

Who hasn't gotten this backwards? "If only I HAD x then I could DO y, then I would BE z." Ayn Rand said that no man may be smaller than his money. (Please, no gender comments! Let it alone for a minute, OK?). She was trying to point out that who we are determines what we do and that leads to what we have.

If you want to have a different life then you must do different things. In order to do different things you must change who you are. Be different, act different, have different.

Your future is how you imagine it

Successful people from all walks of life have (at least) one thing in common: they actively visualize the results they seek. This is how to change yourself internally (BE).

Pick one thing you want to be different about yourself. Now, imagine that change having already taken place. See yourself acting differently, feeling differently, in as much detail as you can manage. It may be strange at first, and that's OK.

Do this at least once a day when it works best for you. Some things are better in the morning because they will keep you awake with the energy the images induce but its up to you.

Do this every day for 60 days. Within a couple of days you will begin to feel the urge to do the thing you imagined. Then every day it will come easier to you. Long before the 60 days are up, the new way of being will seem like it has always been a part of you.

Because you changed yourself internally you get the new behavior for free, without forcing. You cannot impose on yourself a behavior you don't believe in. Daily visualization can change what you believe about yourself.

Decide to be happy

It is, after all, up to you.

Posted by director at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: General

Quite by chance Netflix delivered both a Danish and a Swedish film this week. The Danish one is a certified Dogme95 production, the first I've actually seen, called Italian For Beginners.

From Sweden, it was A Song for Martin. Both films turned out to be love stories but that's where the similarities end.

Dogme95 supposes to be a radical filmmaking approach to get back to the essense of storytelling. However, the manifesto reads to me like something those kids in junior high write -- you know the ones who didn't have any talent? -- to justify their poor performance. The film doesn't look radical it looks amaturish and after seeing the Swedish entry in this ad hoc competition I have to wonder if the Danes didn't cook up their rationalization not to counter Hollywood but their cousins in Sweden.

"Italian for Beginners" is not as interesting a story as "A Song for Martin" and the performances are far inferior. It's like putting up a professional singer against an American Idol reject. The Swedes put out a professional, elegant, polished product while the Danes show why they have lagged behind for centuries.

"A Song for Martin" has two terrific lead actors who turn in great performances, Sven Wolter as Martin and Viveka Seldahl as Barbara. This one had me wondering why I put it in my queue (for the Swedish, it turns out) as the plot sounds like a TV Disease of the Month movie but it is far more endearing than I expected.

Posted by director at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: Film

Ever had a day like this? I know I have.

"I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this. It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long bloody moment, going up the long slope to the stony top, as if it were already done and already a memory. An odd, set, stony quality to it, as if tomorrow has already happened and there's nothing you can do about it. The way you feel sometimes before an ill-considered attack, knowing it will fail but you cannot stop it. You must even take part and help it fail."

The always impressive Sam Elliot as Brig. General John Buford in Gettysburg.

Posted by director at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: General

"The Race"
by D.H. Groberg

"Quit, Give up, You're beaten." They shout at me and plead.
"There's just too much against you now. This time you can't succeed."
And as I start to hang my head in front of failure's face,
My downward fall is broken by the memory of the race.

And hope refills my weakened will as I recall that scene,
For just the thought of that short race rejuvinates my being.
A children's race, young boys, young men, how I remember well
Excitement, sure, but also fear, it wasn't hard to tell.

They all lined up, so full of hope, each thought to win that race;
Or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
And fathers watched from off the side each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they went, young hearts and hopes afire,
To win and be the hero there was each young boy's desire.
And one boy in particular whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the lead and thought, "My dad will be so proud!"

But as they speeded down the field across a shallow dip,
The little boy who thought to win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself his hands flew out to brace
And 'mid the laughter of the crowd, he fell flat on his face.

So down he fell and with him hope, he couldn't win it now.
Embarrassed, sad, he only wished to disappear somehow.
But as he fell, his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said, "Get up and win the race!"

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit, that's all.
And ran with all his might and mind to make up for the fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
His mind went faster than his legs, he slipped and fell again.

He wished then he had quit before with only one disgrace.
"I'm hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn't try to race!"
But in the laughing crowd he searched and found his father's face:
That steady look which said again, "Get up and win the race!"

So up he jumped to try again, ten yards behind the last.
"If I'm to gain those yards," he thought, "I've got to move real fast!"
Exerting everything he had, he regained eight or ten.
But trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently, a tear dropped from his eye.
"There's no sense running anymore. Three strikes, I'm out. Why try?"
The will to rise had disappeared, all hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error prone. A loser all the way.

"I've lost, so what's the use?" he thought. "I'll live with my disgrace."
But then he thought about his dad, whom soon he'd have to face.
"Get up," an echo sounded low, "Get up and take your place.
"You were not meant for failure here. Get up and win the race!"

With borrowed will, "Get up," it said, "You haven't lost at all.
For winning is no more than this: to rise each time you fall."
So up he rose to run once more and with a new commit,
He resolved that win or lose at least he wouldn't quit.

So far behind the others now, the most he'd ever been,
Still he gave it all he had and ran as though to win.
Three times he'd fallen, stumbling. Three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner as he crossed the line first place,
Head high and proud and happy, no falling, no disgrace.
But when the fallen youngster crossed the line last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
You would have thought he'd won the race to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, "I didn't do so well."
"To me you won," his father said, "You rose each time you fell."

And now when things seem dark and hard and difficult to face,
The memory of that little boy helps me in my race.
For all of life is like that race with ups and downs and all.
And all we have to do to win is rise each time we fall.
"Quit, give up, you're beaten," they still shout in my face.
But another voice within me says, "GET UP AND WIN THE RACE."

Posted by director at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: General

Dino Rossi will not appeal the court decision upholding the Washington Gubernatorial election of 2004. This is a good move on the part of Rossi in spite of the fighting spirit of many people in the state.

First of all, the court challenge was unwinable with the current state laws. The Republicans did manage to showcase the at-best incompetence in King County and the terrible way the election was handled. There was almost no chance of the election being set aside but the citizens of the state saw Rossi make a good fight and bow out gracefully.

Second, it will leave some fire in the bellies of many people throughout the state which can be turned towards election reform initiatives, county realignment, and ousting the King County political machine.

When the next election roles around King County residents will remember who lied, who covered up, and who was responsible for this fiasco. The Democrats won't be able to survive this win.

Via SoundPolitics

Posted by director at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: Politics

I'm listening to the Rossi trial decision. This judge needs to learn some basic logic before he renders his decisions. Here is an example of his fallacious logic (not a direct quote): "The only evidence we have of the real intent of the illegal voters were those who voted for Rossi or Bennet. Yet the petitioner's proportional deduction standard would have attributed their votes in part to Gregoire." Umm, yeah. It also partially attributed their votes to Bennett and Rossi. By this judge's logic, if I can find *any* single ballot that goes against the majority, it proves you can't trust the statistics. A single data point can disprove the overall data. Dumbass.

Update: The judge also made the brilliant decision to remove the illegal votes from the total count. However, he didn't change the votes for Rossi, Gregoire, or Bennet. So now we have an election where Total Votes < Rossi + Gregoire + Bennett. What a fitting ending.

Posted by Godshatter at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: Politics

The Seattle PI report that troubled wide receiver Koren Robinson has reached the end of the road in Seattle. Robinson is likely to garner little sympathy around town and his dismissal may serve as further motivation to not-quite-as-troubled tight end Jeramy Stevens.

I expect he will find another team to take on his talent/burdens (where's Whitsitt working these days?) but unless he turns things around beyond lip-service he will be out of the league in short order.

Robinson doesn't accept blame for his problems which means when he has exhausted his last option for pro football he will blow through the money and end up sitting in a slum wondering what happened. At least, when lucid enough to wonder.

This isn't the first talented Seattle player to drink/snort his way out of the leage. Anybody remember Darrell "Pancake" Turner? No? He managed to destroy his career in a even less time than Robinson but the effect is the same.

Posted by director at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Categories: Sports