A note to cell phone users wishing to subscribe to this blog

This is a business post. Down to business. No nonsense. Business time.

If you want to subscribe to this, so you get new posts sent to your email as they're posted, there is an email widget to the right of the main text-y section. This you already know, if you've been following along.

However, if you have a cellphone, this rightward section is missing, the subscribe widget along with it. To fix this, either visit via your computer and subscribe, or scroll to the bottom of the page, hit the "view web version" link, and it should all be there in tiny form. Then you'll have to squint really hard or touch the phone in specific ways to make it get bigger.

-end transmission-

Projectile Vomiting while Driving Cross Country: A Study in Gratitude. Part 1

So, this last week:

Drove from Connecticut to Maryland, to my sister's house for Christmas. Spent time with the sis, and played with her kids (five and two) while she, and my parents, took care of things for the coming third baby (due right around the new year.) The two year old spent much of the first day running around naked, scratching her butt and putting her butt-smell hands all over everything while I cringed inwardly.

I'm waaaaaaaay more comfortable with little children now, after a teacher training and several of the SSE children's classes I've sat in on and helped teach as an assistant. There's certainly further to go though in the confidence department, especially with toddlers. The whole waste management aspect of childcare still gives me deer in headlights syndrome, but I at least now have confidence that, faced with the necessity and responsibility, I will overcome that discomfort as well and learn how to handle poop like a champ.

I later found out that the two year old might have had a stomach thing that was passing through the household and had already landed on my dad. I seemed to have dodged the bullet, and left the third day, starting the drive to Iowa. I stopped near dinner time and got some cheddar filled pretzel bites at Auntie Annie's at a service plaza along the way, and then pulled into an Econo Lodge for the night.

Let me interject some sage wisdom at this point: NEVER EAT AUNTIE ANNIE'S CHEDDAR FILLED PRETZEL BITES OH GOD PLEASE NO WHY!? THE PAIN WHY!!!?

Perhaps it was because I was currently successfully fighting off a stomach bug. Perhaps it was food poisoning. For certain, I was curled up in the bed, cursing the breach in my no fast food policy, feeling all sorts of interesting things happening in and around my stomach. I tossed and turned all night, sweating (because I cranked the heat up all the way and put a neck warmer on my head) and contemplating the pros and cons of vomiting. Not much sleep, but what I did get gave me some very interesting and vivid dreams.

I got up well before the sun rose, since I wasn't getting much sleep anyways, bought some Tums or something, orange juice, smart water, and curled up into a ball in the driver's seat with the cruise control on so I didn't have to keep my foot on the gas peddle. The tums made it worse. The smart water made it worse, the orange juice, in small quantities, did not make it worse, so I stuck with that, because I was getting a throbbing rhythm going in my head from dehydration.

Then, with a few stops to pass out for some sick-cat naps, I drove ten hours cross country, got to my aunt's house, and immediately passed out in bed.

So, I'm in Fairfield now! Only till January fifth (or thereabouts)! Act fast while supplies last!

There's a bit more to this story but it gets philosophical so I'll end it here for those who just want the basic news. I'll have a link at the bottom of this to my more think-y blog where I'll post the whole story (In two parts so you don't have to re-read the first bit.)

So, if you want to find out why it's called "A Study in Gratitude" click here for Part 2

(Funny post note: as I was posting part two, I realized that, though I've written seven or so posts for this 'thinky' blog, they are all in draft form. So I actually have zero. except for the one I just posted.

By the way, Part 2 ended up being a bit long. Ironic, likely the amount of people who will actually view what I write will go down inversely to the amount of time I put into writing something, because who has the time, really? No matter. It wanted to be written.

Consider it an apology for those who forlornly missed having something to read this weekend. Now you have all the things to read, forever!

And for those who impatiently cursed my tardiness, consider it punishment. Mwahahahaha! You want words? I'll give you words. Dump truck of words to the face! HAAAAAAAAAA!

I suppose I'll have to finish editing and post all those other drafts now too, since people actually know about it finally. At some point it will have a cool picture as the header for the blog. Already designed in my head, just needs to get out of there onto paper. (and now I have something else to write. I appear to have popped the word/idea tank in my psychic storehouse and now they are gushing out non-stop.)

OK. The end. Of part one. I don't ever recall seeing a five paragraph parenthetical before now. But I just did that. hum.

proactive probiotics

Friday night. It's not late. Yet. But I really need to go to sleep now. I was getting sick and by just going to bed early and sleeping a bunch I'm almost better in only two days. Woo! It can be done!

But I'm really hungry! And if I eat, it almost always takes me a couple hours after that to actually fall asleep. Unless it's something really light, like a glass of milk. I do not have milk.

Time for an Experiment! I have organic peach flavored kefir. It's basically like yogurt but more towards a liquid. Let's see if that works. I'll finish this post tomorrow morning with the results. For science!

I suppose this is a good indication of the rest of what's going on in my life, namely, not enough. This is the main challenge of working for myself, in a vacuum: the potential to float, without dynamism and focus to my actions. I'm back on track now, it seems, but I need to use this period of clarity to help me create more structure that will continue to reduce my downtime.


New technique I invented: proactive laziness: you procrastinate doing things that you shouldn't be doing anyways. Like, it got too late, writing, so now I'm more tired than hungry so I just had a glass of water and now I'm going to bed.

Second new technique I just invented: lazy inventive theft: inventing things by noticing what is already happening and then claiming it as your own creation.

Third new technique: success via redefinition/lazyness: redefining your goal so that your present state qualifies as having achieved your goal. Particularly effective for things like enlightenment or having invented something.

I'm here all night folks. Though I'll be asleep for most of it. But rest assured, my dreams are very entertaining and often hilarious.

Oh, that reminds me. Here's a daily dose of laughter: http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/

words, Words, WOOOOORRDDDSS

Another short and early one because this weekend is very full. Starting in... Well, starting now, really, Friday morning, I'm traveling to and then doing a Seminar on "Matrix Energetics." Another tool to add to my tool belt. Another approach to the miraculous, and to transformation. I'll give another update about it when I get back, Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how much catch up I have to do when I get back.


In the meantime, here are some delicious words:


Kerning: The process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result:

Gurning: Making a distorted facial expression:

Peripatetic: 
1) Traveling from place to place
2) Aristotelian

Have a nice week :)

Habits and Eye Contact

As I said at the beginning, I reserve the right to do short posts sometimes. It's more important, in my mind, to keep in the habit of doing it once a week on weekends, than to delay it by expecting an opus each time.

That's a little habit building trick I picked up: if you want to create good habits, start with something small and manageable enough that you can definitely be regular with it. Regularity is most important. Even if, at first, the amount of time you spend on it ends up being almost pointless (and usually it's not, it's very helpful, even short amounts of time being much better than no time.) It will eventually become a habit, and the time spent can lengthen, after it has become a habit, and is no longer difficult to remember to do, or motivate yourself to start doing.

That's the real benefit of habits: doing things non-habitually costs concentration and often willpower. Turning it into a habit makes it effectively free, or close to free. There's the issue of it also making you tune out and become unconscious in general, and the solution to that, I think, is turning habit into ritual, but that's a subtle point for another day, and perhaps for a different blog, one more focused on my Life Coach-y musings.

Anyways, to conclude, here is something I stumbled across. Good evening friends :O)

Added "Follow by email" Widget

By popular request I've now got a widget in the sidebar that lets you sign up to be notified by email when I post something new. Also some pictures of friends having tea and snacks to get you in the mood ;-)

have fun,

talk to you again soon,

-I