One of the goals for 2009 was to learn more about Neuro Linguistic Programing. Briefly, NLP is about taking charge of your brain, re-coding your experience (basically, it's what we think about what happens to us that makes us feel bad or good) . I've tried a couple of their techniques in the past, and they seemed to work, and much it makes sense, on a strictly rational level. Anyway, you do exercises with some of your own memories, and try some of the techniques.
One of the first exercises is something like, "Take a memory of the last time you felt really good about something..." and that was where I got stuck. I was having a hard time coming up with a sterling memory on which to work. There were things I was satisfied about, or felt a sense of accomplishment, but, strangely, no recent event where I "felt really good."
I'll have to ponder that.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The End
About two weeks ago, I went back to Arizona for my grandmother's funeral. Born in the deep south in the 1920s, she was married at 14 and gave birth to my father at 17. She had four more children, and died at 87. She was preceded in death by one son (a suicide) and her only daughter, my Aunt Susie. She still had three sons alive.
My Uncle Ron, who's nearing the end of the warranty period on his transplanted heart, drove down with his wife for the service and funeral.
Her other son, my Uncle Danny, was unable to attend. He was a guest of the Arizona Penal system. Sixty years old, and a jailbird.
Most funerals are weird, I suspect. There wasn't any crying and rending of garment, no shrieks of "Take me, Jesus!" or anything like that. We spent a lot of time together at my parents' house, Lady Jiggy, Uncle Ron and his wife, my brother and his ladyfriend.
What struck me as weird was what we talked about. We didn't spend a lot of time saying, "Grandma was a great old gal," even though she was okay. She didn't smoke or beat her kids or cuss those damned immigrants who were moving into her neighborhood. What we talked about was how much of a screw-up, pain-in-the-ass thief, drug addict, and drunk was my Uncle Danny.
Because Grandma"took care" of Uncle Danny. Which amounted to letting him stay at her house, not turning him into the cops when he stole her belongings, enabling him, over and over, to keep from facing the consequences of being a life-wasting sluggard.
I heard tales of his attacks on other members of the family, and the times he burgled from them in the past. Since I've been away for years, I avoided much of this. I heard how he was a force for eroding my grandmother's house (purchased by my parents) and destroying her belongings and property. I learned that when my brother and father finally moved her, more or less by force, into my parents house, that in less than 12 hours Danny and his fellow druggie buddies had descended on her home and stolen televisions and stereos and other personal belongings. These scumbags couldn't manage to hold a job, yet, when the opportunity to steal from a sick old woman presented itself, they had motivation and ambition. They had a plan! (personal opinion: may all of those thieves burn in hell)
What I took away from this...a gentle reminder that I may want to live my life with the end in mind. When I die, people may have the odd unkind thing to say (insert name of former wife here with a very different opinion of my actions), but overall, my goal is have people say, "Lord Jiggy was pretty decent guy. Hey, you remember the time he dressed up as the Zombie Stand up comic, Rotting Dangerfield, for the Halloween party?"
So, how are you living your life?
My Uncle Ron, who's nearing the end of the warranty period on his transplanted heart, drove down with his wife for the service and funeral.
Her other son, my Uncle Danny, was unable to attend. He was a guest of the Arizona Penal system. Sixty years old, and a jailbird.
Most funerals are weird, I suspect. There wasn't any crying and rending of garment, no shrieks of "Take me, Jesus!" or anything like that. We spent a lot of time together at my parents' house, Lady Jiggy, Uncle Ron and his wife, my brother and his ladyfriend.
What struck me as weird was what we talked about. We didn't spend a lot of time saying, "Grandma was a great old gal," even though she was okay. She didn't smoke or beat her kids or cuss those damned immigrants who were moving into her neighborhood. What we talked about was how much of a screw-up, pain-in-the-ass thief, drug addict, and drunk was my Uncle Danny.
Because Grandma"took care" of Uncle Danny. Which amounted to letting him stay at her house, not turning him into the cops when he stole her belongings, enabling him, over and over, to keep from facing the consequences of being a life-wasting sluggard.
I heard tales of his attacks on other members of the family, and the times he burgled from them in the past. Since I've been away for years, I avoided much of this. I heard how he was a force for eroding my grandmother's house (purchased by my parents) and destroying her belongings and property. I learned that when my brother and father finally moved her, more or less by force, into my parents house, that in less than 12 hours Danny and his fellow druggie buddies had descended on her home and stolen televisions and stereos and other personal belongings. These scumbags couldn't manage to hold a job, yet, when the opportunity to steal from a sick old woman presented itself, they had motivation and ambition. They had a plan! (personal opinion: may all of those thieves burn in hell)
What I took away from this...a gentle reminder that I may want to live my life with the end in mind. When I die, people may have the odd unkind thing to say (insert name of former wife here with a very different opinion of my actions), but overall, my goal is have people say, "Lord Jiggy was pretty decent guy. Hey, you remember the time he dressed up as the Zombie Stand up comic, Rotting Dangerfield, for the Halloween party?"
So, how are you living your life?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Hollywood's Born-Again Americans
A bunch of celebrities got together to reaffirm their belief in America, and they made a video called "I Pledge." It’s pretty hard to watch without wanting to reach through the screen and slap them for the hollowness of their new-found faith.
The promises they’re making are pretty good. Recycle. Plant trees. Be decent to their neighbors. Walk the walk. Proudly support our country.
The question is: what stopped them from making these promises and taking action before? The evil BushCheney storm troopers? You know, the ones who blacklisted them for having the wrong political beliefs? The ones who called into radio shows to prevent them from having their say?
What brought these well meaning if fatuous fools back to the true faith, to Born-Again Americanism?
None other than the election of Barack Obama.
My disgust with this video robs me of rational thought. During the horrible 8 years of Bush (the concentration camps for the opposition, the mass beatings, the disappearances, the constant drumbeat of pro-President propaganda from the State Media --- oh, wait, none of that happened), people all across America quietly, even reverently went about their lives, fulfilling these kinds of pledges without the need to advertise it on You Tube. Some people even proudly supported our country and didn’t stand on a video soapbox to proclaim their virtuous intent.
It reminds me all too clearly of that line in the New Testament (yes, that oppressive ancient text which strangely does not call for the death of unbelievers, but merely points out a reward for them in the afterlife), when Jesus talks about praying (Matthew, Chapter 6):
The Hollywood hypocrites were standing on the street corner, making their Pledge.
The promises they’re making are pretty good. Recycle. Plant trees. Be decent to their neighbors. Walk the walk. Proudly support our country.
The question is: what stopped them from making these promises and taking action before? The evil BushCheney storm troopers? You know, the ones who blacklisted them for having the wrong political beliefs? The ones who called into radio shows to prevent them from having their say?
What brought these well meaning if fatuous fools back to the true faith, to Born-Again Americanism?
None other than the election of Barack Obama.
My disgust with this video robs me of rational thought. During the horrible 8 years of Bush (the concentration camps for the opposition, the mass beatings, the disappearances, the constant drumbeat of pro-President propaganda from the State Media --- oh, wait, none of that happened), people all across America quietly, even reverently went about their lives, fulfilling these kinds of pledges without the need to advertise it on You Tube. Some people even proudly supported our country and didn’t stand on a video soapbox to proclaim their virtuous intent.
It reminds me all too clearly of that line in the New Testament (yes, that oppressive ancient text which strangely does not call for the death of unbelievers, but merely points out a reward for them in the afterlife), when Jesus talks about praying (Matthew, Chapter 6):
"(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; ...When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others...When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.”
The Hollywood hypocrites were standing on the street corner, making their Pledge.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Doubly Standard Procedure Watch: Obama
You have to love the Democrats. The economy is President Bush and the Republicans’ fault. Yet, the coronation/beatification of Barack Obama is going to cost upwards of $150 million.
Yet, when it was President Bush’s inauguration in 2005, people with a D after their name were worried about how it would look:
In 2005, Reps. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and Jim McDermott, D-Wash., asked Bush to show a little less pomp and be a little more circumspect at his party.
"President Roosevelt held his 1945 inaugural at the White House, making a short speech and serving guests cold chicken salad and plain pound cake," the two lawmakers wrote in a letter. "During World War I, President Wilson did not have any parties at his 1917 inaugural, saying that such festivities would be undignified."
The thinking was that, with the nation at war, excessive celebration was inappropriate. Four years later, the nation is still at war. Unemployment has risen sharply. And Obama pressed Congress to release the second half of a $700 billion bailout package in hopes of rescuing a faltering banking industry.
Meanwhile, in
"Inappropriate comments that may make other students, staff or families feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in school or on the bus will not be tolerated," Superintendent Kevin Bright said in an e-mail sent to parents Monday, Jan. 12.
The district, he said, expects students and staff to show respect for President-elect Obama and the incoming administration, as well as President Bush and the outgoing administration, and recognize that "while the election is a competitive process, our nation's greatness is displayed when all sides come together for a united country."
I’m pulling out my pointed hat with the stars on it, and I’m going to make a prediction. I predict that Superintendent Kevin Bright never issued an email telling staff and students he expected them to show respect to for President Bush and his administration at any time during the last 8 years.
I’m also going to bet that Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid can’t be bothered to scream about censorship or the crushing of dissent, since, you know, we’re talking about Their President.
Doubly Standard Procedure. It's the New True!
Friday, January 16, 2009
It's Official
I'm a right wing crank.
Why? Because I want the U.S. out of the UN.
Good intentions don't justify enabling terrible behavior.
What good has the UN done, lately?
Darfur? Nope, hands off.
Rwanda?
Gaza...have they managed to get Hamas to stop sending rockets at civilian targets in Israel? Hell, no. (Here's a sobering lesson: try to find out how much International aid has been sent to the Palestians...and then take a look at infrastructure of Gaza. For the many billions that have been sent, the place should be a paradise, yet, strangely, it's a festering slum. You may want to blame that on Israel...but who has been governing the area for years?)
There's so much the UN hasn't done...but, by golly, they can denounce Israel for pounding the snot out of Hamas.
US out of the UN. Kick them the hell out of our country. Let them be a dictator's boy's club on someone else's dime.
Why? Because I want the U.S. out of the UN.
Good intentions don't justify enabling terrible behavior.
What good has the UN done, lately?
Darfur? Nope, hands off.
Rwanda?
Gaza...have they managed to get Hamas to stop sending rockets at civilian targets in Israel? Hell, no. (Here's a sobering lesson: try to find out how much International aid has been sent to the Palestians...and then take a look at infrastructure of Gaza. For the many billions that have been sent, the place should be a paradise, yet, strangely, it's a festering slum. You may want to blame that on Israel...but who has been governing the area for years?)
There's so much the UN hasn't done...but, by golly, they can denounce Israel for pounding the snot out of Hamas.
US out of the UN. Kick them the hell out of our country. Let them be a dictator's boy's club on someone else's dime.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
2009
Will, for me, be a year of doing.
In recovery circles, they stress we are human "beings," not human "doings." What they want to convey is that we are more than our accomplishments. I am not my car/clothes/fashion accessories, for example, but we have a worth separate from the externals we use to busy up our lives.
While there is value in remembering that, it seems to me that too much of my life, and modern life, is about observing/reading/commenting on other people's lives, failings, and foul ups, and far too little about the ways I move in the world. If I'm commenting on the Emperor's new clothes, that takes time away from my opportunity to be God's hands and feet in the world.
Looking out there keeps me from being right here.
Anyway, my goals for 2009:
More goals will be added, I'm sure, as they occur to me.
More Doing, Less Watching
In recovery circles, they stress we are human "beings," not human "doings." What they want to convey is that we are more than our accomplishments. I am not my car/clothes/fashion accessories, for example, but we have a worth separate from the externals we use to busy up our lives.
While there is value in remembering that, it seems to me that too much of my life, and modern life, is about observing/reading/commenting on other people's lives, failings, and foul ups, and far too little about the ways I move in the world. If I'm commenting on the Emperor's new clothes, that takes time away from my opportunity to be God's hands and feet in the world.
Looking out there keeps me from being right here.
Anyway, my goals for 2009:
- Finish the Ironman (cramped up badly on last part of the bike ride, and only got out 8 miles of the run)
- Start a Podcast of my novel, The Big Bang
- Get a script to Hugh Jackman's company
- Finish another script
- Learn and use Neuro-Linguistic programming (yeah, it's kind of wacky, but parts of it seem to make sense...
More goals will be added, I'm sure, as they occur to me.
More Doing, Less Watching
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Doubly Standard Procedure Watch: Israel
Here's a prime example of Doubly Standard Procedure in action.
Israel has been subjected to a multitude of rocket attacks from Hamas, an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The armed element, called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, conducts anti-Israeli attacks, including suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. The rocket attacks come from Gaza, just across the border from Israel.
Think for a moment. Recall any protests about rocket attacks on Israel? Rocket attacks that kill women and children...civilians. To say nothing of protests against the suicide bombing.
I can wait while you rack your brain. I'll go rebuild the engine on my car...
...That took longer than I thought. Oh, right, protests over the attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens. Yeah, outside of strong protests (including sanctions) by some Western leaders, it's pretty quiet.
Now, I'm going out on a limb here, but do you think there are any protests about Israel going into Gaza and targeting Hamas?
Just a few, headed by the usual suspects.
Wow. Hamas bombs Israel, and nobody but the West says anything. When Israel has had enough and defends itself, they are suddenly the bad guys, and people are out in the streets.
Doubly Standard Procedure, at its best.
Israel has been subjected to a multitude of rocket attacks from Hamas, an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The armed element, called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, conducts anti-Israeli attacks, including suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. The rocket attacks come from Gaza, just across the border from Israel.
Think for a moment. Recall any protests about rocket attacks on Israel? Rocket attacks that kill women and children...civilians. To say nothing of protests against the suicide bombing.
I can wait while you rack your brain. I'll go rebuild the engine on my car...
...That took longer than I thought. Oh, right, protests over the attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens. Yeah, outside of strong protests (including sanctions) by some Western leaders, it's pretty quiet.
Now, I'm going out on a limb here, but do you think there are any protests about Israel going into Gaza and targeting Hamas?
Just a few, headed by the usual suspects.
Wow. Hamas bombs Israel, and nobody but the West says anything. When Israel has had enough and defends itself, they are suddenly the bad guys, and people are out in the streets.
Doubly Standard Procedure, at its best.
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