Me Speaking

I once re-finished furniture for a living. A lady came into the shop one day with six chairs, wanting them colored white.  So I started bleaching them. I figured the “perfect way” to color them white was to get down to the bones of the wood. I spent days bleaching those chairs and although they lightened they didn't get white. The lady eventually stomped into my shop and took her chairs before they were done. All that work for nothing and all I had to do was spray a couple coats of white opaque lacquer over them. Dining room set finished by the writer. The job would have been done in two hours and the customer a happy camper. Why didn’t I do that!? I suppose I think in the back of my mind a job has to be hard. No matter how simple every job has to be hard. I’m learning. I don’t aim so much for perfection now. I aim to do the best I can. Perfectionism is motivated by errant thinking. Maybe it's motivated by a subconscious desire to get more kudos from a parent. Maybe...

Technology is like hammers and saws for building a house. It’s a parcel of tools. It doesn’t ruminate or go nebulous. It’s for getting a job done. And that's what I like about technology posts. Need to count the stars for a project in science class? Type into Google “I want to know how to count the stars?” Want to learn how to start a blog?  Type “How do I start a blog?” Google puts the most popular answers to the question at the top of the resultant page. You can go through more pages of lesser ranked results to find an answer perhaps better suited to your needs. Google is like a taxi.  You tell the driver where you want to go. I question Google a lot to find instructions on how to improve the internet visibility of Me Speaking. I want to know how to use hash tags or write HTML  and how to improve my blog writing. Blogging is at this point almost more about reading than writing. What motivates me to write? The core of it is writing itself. I write about...

I feel better when I rock. This subtle tension exists inside that I can’t abide. It's like I need to rock. Sit me down, except when driving, and I’m more than likely to start rocking where ever I am. I don't rock back and forth when I'm getting a haircut or when I'm typing.   Do people notice? I’ve had Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) at least four years, and once in a while I've caught a few. But most people don’t seem to notice. Only my best friend has ever said a thing about it or asked why I do it. It hasn’t made a difference in my social relations. It doesn’t change who I am. Only once did I observe that anybody looked askance at my rocking. I think a huge majority of people respect norms of civilized social behavior. It must be so. I don't know how else to account for the respect people show me by ignoring my rocking back and forth disorder. I don't give a hoot about my TD either. I'm relaxed about it and people can sense that I am. What causes...

Want help? Below are descriptions of five websites that offer help in different ways. Begslist is a cyber-panhandling site where people build their personal donation center. Begslist claims this is easy and shows you how. The site is free for donors and solicitors. Once you write and post a beg, people who read it may help and can donate. A list of categories on the left of the homepage organize the types of begs. Examples include “disaster help”, “help paying rent”, “money for travel”, and “family crisis.”   Lumosity is a website that is like a gym for the mind. It consists of more than forty exercises that improve, among other mental assets, memory, attention, flexibility, problem solving and speed. Lumosity recommends daily training and the sessions last about fifteen minutes. A month to month subscription costs $14.95. Lumosity tracks your scores for each exercise, and as you improve, gives more challenging exercises. It compares your scores to median scores for other...

It is central to the global transformation taking place bigger than ever. Like it or not, we are becoming more digitally connected. For some baby boomers, the loss of privacy has felt like a displacement. We prefer face to face contact. Others relish hours in chat rooms typing to “anonymous” people identified by “nicks.” I see people almost everywhere connected by devices. We’ve got a world of Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter accounts. We’ve got millions of bloggers. We pick and choose the news we prefer to read. We follow the buzz and what’s trending. A few times though, I’ve wondered if this new digital age in which we live is producing an unintended outcome---a collectivization of the mind. I mean a global mind that hampers individuality. I’m going out on a limb. We’re not The Borg of Star Trek fame. The e-mail and social networking capacities provide significant leverage for individuals to be themselves to a greater audience than ever. So what am I trying to say?  Part of...

Was the mission portrayed in the new movie Sole Survivor cursed from the beginning? It doesn’t appear so at first, but later, in the new Afghan war film starring Mark Wahlberg, it shows how an undercover Navy Seal mission code named Operation Red Wings encounters almost completely fatal opposition by the Taliban. The team is inserted by helicopter into the Afghan landscape and hikes deep into rocky and forested mountain terrain. Their objective is to maintain a look out on a village and then terminate resident Taliban leader Ahmad Shah . Excellent cinematography in the film shows panoramic mountain vistas, majestic sun rises and the rugged beauty of terrain in Afghanistan. Costumes, setting and varied characters add dynamic realism. Sole Survivor opens with scenes of Navy Seal training . Soaked by waves on a beach for hours. Crawls through mud. Jumps into a swimming pool with tied feet. Interspersed scenes depict the Taliban. In one an Afghan man is getting his head hacked of...

I believe in the value of individuals. I value the belief so much that abortion goes against my grain. What about the homeless mother with two young daughters collecting cans and bottles out of garbage cans and sleeping in parks? She's pregnant. Looking at her situation, I’d view abortion in a more acceptable light and probably alter my perspective. The ability to switch perspective is important. Most of us have emotional buttons and strong feelings. We're convinced our point of view is the only possible one correct. We're immune to perspective change because when our buttons are pushed by someone who espouses a differing opinion, we automatically don’t listen. We almost can’t listen because our takes are welded tight into our identities. Our defenses are automatic.They shield us. They protect our perspectives so we can’t look at matters in a different light. My argument is that's part and parcel of the human condition . I’m naturally a Democrat. My instincts e...

The Bad Boys? What provoked the enmity between the brood of my siblings and The Bad Boys? It just had always existed. The conflict was about who would dominate the acre of weedy field separating our houses. A staked wood fence divided our grass back yard from the field. The fence guarded our house and served as a last line of defense. Kids against the Bad Boys We won and lost in this kid conflict of the middle 1950s.  We built a fort in No Man’s Land. We set fire to the field. They shot BB guns at us. Rocks and dirt clods flew at moving targets. Both sides had metal and wood sling shots. I preferred wood sling shots because they were hefty and solid. In the heart of a fight a Bad Boy twirls as the rock I throw hits his chest. They press against us. We’re forced behind the fence and when they start to clamber over,  my older brother asks to let him use my slingshot. I refuse but soon consent. Into the back yard out strides our eldest sibling demanding an end to th...

I’m getting used to being a “senior.” I’m getting accustomed to people calling me “sir.”  When people first started calling me "sir," I felt it a mistake. “I’m no sir!” I protested to myself, “Why am I being called sir?" I said to myself  “This is happening way too fast!!” My maternal grandfather and sister circa 1947. I’m 64 years old. When I was 55 or so years old, I glimpsed the top of my head and saw a bald spot. “Holy Moses I've got a bald spot?!" I inwardly exclaimed. I felt taken aback. Then once a jive kid calls me “grandpa!" With this feedback I have begun to accept that I am a senior citizen. I look at pictures in Facebook of friends who were grammar school classmates or pals from the late 60s, and they're seniors. I deduct I've got to be a senior as much as they are. I walk on the treadmill at the gym.  I ran on the treadmill 20 years ago. I’m enjoying aspects of being a senior. I feel more “entitled” to speak my mind. I en...

If I see a book by John Grisham I’ve never read, I’ll enjoy reading it. I like how most of Grisham’s books deal with legal and moral issues in small towns of the South. The pithy dialogue he writes for his individualistic, flamboyant characters entertain. I’m reading his latest novel now, “Sycamore Row.” It’s about what happens when a wealthy white man, close to death from cancer, hand-writes  a new will the day before he hangs himself from a tree.  He bequeaths 90% of his $20,000,000 fortune to his black housekeeper.  With that Grisham creates high impact word pictures of racism in the South, greed among the deceased man’s children, and conflict as attorneys contest the handwritten will. Most of Grisham’s books teach lessons on how the legal system works. He incorporates the drama of stories into structures of the law. John Grisham Grisham’s “The Painted House” was a memorable book to read. Unlike the legal drama, the book tells a story amid cotton farm...

When Facebook friends comment on my news feed, I like that. I enjoy reading about what they have done or seen or feel. I prefer these rather than canned, eye-catching messages. These put distance between people. It’s like marching in a protest and carrying a sign. People see and respond to the sign. The person with the sign gets hidden. I've enjoyed reading articles FB friends have posted. I would still prefer to see more posts from individuals simply sharing about their daily lives. When someone “likes” a comment or photo I put on FB, the positive reinforcement feels good. I like to read threads of conversation on my news feed. If a friend posts a comment and I respond, and her friend posts a comment, dialogue between strangers can ensue. I like discussions on FB. I suspect many feel an unwritten rule that stipulates no talking to people you don't know. FB has great potential as a forum for entertainment. People could discuss a book or movie. A thread of conversation co...