A Thought

It has occured to me giving something your time is not even close to giving something your attention.

Very different things, indeed.

That Could Leave a Mark

A thumb gets slammed in a locked car door leaving a purple thumbnail. Ouch! That’s going to leave a mark.

The wind catches that same car door and bashes it into a colleague’s mirror. Ding! That leaves a mark.

She bonks her head on a half open door in the dark. Ouch! That’s going to leave a mark.

A stain is left on the kitchen table from something that spilled. It is a permanent mark. What’s the saying? It’s not a party until …

The kids play basketball with white soled shoes, so they don’t leave marks from the action on the court.

Then there are tattoos.

What is the quote used in this blog before? From The Replacements and Shane Falco,

“Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory ... lasts forever.”

In the end, all one has is the glory; the memories, moments, expectations, and influences left with others. It is fairly easy to get crazed up about the daily social schedule, status, the perfect house decorations, and expensive gifts at Christmas.

Ultimately, that is all fuzzy stuff. In the end it is not real. The impact of a life and work is the mark one leaves with other people. It could be the art one makes or a simple, honest handshake. It might be a powerful seminar that gets one pumped to work even harder or a quiet road trip with a lover that can/will be talked about for years to come. It is a memory of yard work with dad and cooking with mom. It is keeping a promise and, hopefully, the strength in telling the kids ‘no’ sometimes. And, in return it’s Zuzu’s petals.

It might be simplistic, but the experiences one creates are definitive. To slip silently and unnoticed into the grave might be the worst scenario of all. So, make your good mark. Today! Everyday!

Bumps happen. Things get fixed and forgotten. But leaving a mark in this scrapbook called life gets talked about. Make it a good one.

Maybe This Year, Then

Maybe this year,

The economy completely recovers.
The $300 I loaned out is returned (after two years).
The go-ahead for that next big project is granted.
Family life stabilizes.
The kids turn into adventurous eaters.
Technology mastery is achieved.
The commute becomes milder.
Leisure time is prevalent.
Gas prices drop while the mpg triples.
The housing market normalizes.
Global warming reverses.

Then, I can,

Paint and draw.
Write and blog.
Discover new music, live music.
Read.
Garden and grow things.
Build and construct.
Travel and explore.
Cook new things.

The point is none of the Maybes are likely to happen. So, why wait on the stuff I really want make. Remember Rule number Six.

A Group of .... Is called a ....

I just read a piece from an email subscription of which I belong. It listed the following “groups”.
- A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
- Twelve or more cows are known as a flink.
- A group of frogs is called an army.
- A group of rhinos is called a crash.
- A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
- A group of whales is called a pod.
- A group of geese is called a gaggle.
- A group of ravens is called a murder.
- A group of officers is called a mess.
- A group of larks is called an exaltation.
- A group of owls is called a parliament.

That being said, we are missing a great opportunity here. Here are a few I’d like to start using on a daily basis.

- A group of 15 year old slacker boys should be called a loaf.
- A group of 12 year old girls at a birthday party sleepover should be called a shriek.
- The water-cooler crowd at the office should be a rumor.
- Two or more adults all posting their whereabouts by cell phones at the same time should be called a twitter. (Oh, wait)
- More than three winemakers together in a room should be called a spit. Or (this one is not mine), terroirists.
- If you are a Mac, your friends are all Macs, and you all talk Mac together you are a core.
- Smokers huddled together outside of bars should be a cloud.

Add yours in the comments.

If You Take Your Ball and Go Home, They Still Win

“Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.” - William E. Simon

The final numbers aren’t in yet for national voter turnout Tuesday as absentees are still being counted. The preliminary numbers vary depending on the area and the source. Some places were up to about 43% or more, which is pretty good for a mid-term election.

But understand one thing. You suck if you didn’t vote on Tuesday. You’re disastrously foolish if you believe your abstinence from the ballot box is teaching those darn politicians a lesson. Sending them a message by NOT voting is like taking your ball and going home. You do know we just continue to play without you, right?! And we talk about you when you leave saying things like, “What a spoil sport!” Or, “That guy is a total downer! Who invited her anyway?!” Better yet, “What a whiner!”

See, that is the point. The politicians really don’t want you to cast a vote. They don’t want to hear you whine. They hold more power when they don’t have to answer to your complaints, criticisms, opinions, or your vote. So quite honestly, the best way for them to avoid you is get you to go home or walk away.

Getting you to stay home is pure marketing genius. It is negative marketing at its core, but genius none-the-less. It is the foundation of the attack ads where the goal between both candidates is to generate so much bad will in the public that you give up altogether. You walk away from it all in order to avoid the whole uncomfortable mess.

What I don’t understand is why you haven’t figured this out yet. You are being manipulated. You are being purposefully pushed out of the system. Hell, they are giving you their own ball so that you will go home and not play. Then they can do whatever the hell they want or can habitually get away with.

So, to put a better marketing spin on this whole voting responsibility thing, let’s start with this one. Voting is completely free and there are parts of the world where a citizen has no say. So this is highly valuable, this free voting thing. Where else can you say Free = Valuable !?

Even better, given the absentee ballot you can vote at home. You can talk about the candidates and issues with a significant other or a phone call with a friend.

Voting doesn’t take a ton of time. In fact, it is approximately the length of time it takes to sit on the couch and enjoy a beer. Snacks are optional.

Voting is easy. Remember the ScanTron test. You can fill in a bubble with No. 2 pencil, yes?

The hardest part is having an opinion. And in most cases, having an opinion means you need to know the reasons and justifications to back it up. However, here is a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” for that one. Voting can be as private as you want it to be. Let your vote do the talking for you. Nobody else has a right to know how you voted. It is just between you and your ScanTron.

Ultimately, even if you are fairly disgusted about the options today, vote. Find a differentiator between the options and vote, if nothing but for the least offensive choice. But, vote. Stay in the game.

Although, when the follow-up pollsters call your house to ask how and why you voted, tell them you voted for the candidate/issue with the most positive message. If nothing else, that alone might make significant changes for the better.

Cleanup the Morning After

The Trees Have Spoken

"Mister!", he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs" --
He was very upset as he shouted and puffed --
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"
– The Lorax, Dr. Seuss (1971)

Long gone are the days where the newspaper was picked up from the bottom of the driveway, de-dripped from the sprinkler overflow, and tucked under an arm to be dried out and leisurely perused during the hour-long work break for lunch. The romance of the paper is virtually gone. It now arrives on demand with a smart phone and free wi-fi.

Newspaper racks slowly disappear much like the demise of the payphone booth. And the newspaper industry is rather worried, according to a friend in the industry. It is assumed the same goes for the book publishers and the countless magazines strewn in racks in the grocery store. Rumor has it they might seek an Obama bailout.

And yet, the old Once-ler knows ...

The news hasn’t gone away. Authors still write. Fashion, cooking, cars, and gossip thrive as always. The old Once-ler knows the ideas and images and writing still prevail. They may, in fact, routinely crank ‘em out today at record levels. The Lorax would be the first one to exclaim, “And, it is about time!”, as it is the cost of paper and their delivery that makes the economics of the newspaper/book/magazine difficult.

It is the trees that handcuff the publishing industries to the past. It is the paper that keeps them old world. Take away the paper from the mix and one is left with a less expensive way to deliver the same content. It is quicker and more accessible, and requires the producers to work with more urgency. That isn’t a bad thing.

There is more to worry about than the life expectancy of a paper product. The old guard resists change. That is obvious. The new world embraces it. That is less obvious.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
– The Lorax, Dr. Seuss (1971)

The good Dr. was wrong to certain degree. The majority does indeed care. A lot. Though they may not really know it. Most endorse change. They do care. A tree told me.

Now, where is that Barbaloot suit? There exists an urgency to find a creative Halloween costume.