"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

Do you believe in signs?

I do. Sometimes. Within the past month all signs have pointed to me reading this book: My mother in law offered me a copy from her book collection, my Amazon wishlist recommends this to me a lot, AND in organizing my own book shelf I found TWO copies of this book. TWO!!! One literally dropped from the higher shelf and hit me on the head
What gives?

So I got the hint and started reading. One of the copies I found at home was old: yellow, fragile pages withering away.
The other copy is much newer and nicer.
I started reading only to find out that I must have attempted reading this book before as it was highlighted in my usual multi-color system.

I believe the mind is only able to accept profound information when it's ready. You can't force it.
I guess it must be the time for me to give this book a solid try.

Thus far I like it. It makes sense. It kind of articulates things I have found for a long time to be true but had not bee able to solidify into words.

In case you are wondering:

The first habit is To be Proactive. Don't let life "happen" to you, grab it by the horns and take reign.
Accept responsibility, take action.

It's so easy to blame circumstances beyond our control for the sad state of our lives.

Take responsibility and change whatever things you have control over. Don't worry about the rest.

"The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waster his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove" ~ Samuel Johnson.

The 48 Laws of Power

The "48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene was recommended to me recently.

This book is a 500 page anthology of all things power: history, politics, rhetoric, literary references, philosophy. You name it, it's there.

This book is a compilation of ruthless means to achieve the end of total domination. Means that have worked since virtually the beginning of times and that will, according to the author, continue to be effective ways to gain control.

Honestly, the books scares me a little in its amoral approach. HOWEVER, recently being faced with dirty little tricks from evil co-workers far more apt at manipulation that I; this book comes as quite an eye opener of what is being used against me.

This book quotes classic notables such as The Art of War, Machiavelli's The Prince, Nietzsche, Shoppenhauer, Cicero et all. Basically, it borrows from virtually all the usual suspects in a power game and draws out generalities (called "rules" in this book) and then backs them up with historical references.

Rule #1 is:

* Never Outshine the Master

Simple enough, huh?

Rule #7 is sleazy:

* Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.

OK. this one is dishonest and wrong. YET, it explains why I've been subjected to such unfair practices at work. At least this lets me know what to look out for.

I guess after a certain point you no longer work in an environment of idyllic collaboration. It's a cut throat work place and those who don't play the game (or at least know how to maneuver) end of a collateral.

Sad. Sad but true.

Had I only learned this crap earlier, I would have been less open to manipulation. But maybe I wasn't ready to absorb this "stuff" then. I probably wouldn't have believed such bull to exist in MY world.

Anyhow, another notable reference this book makes repeatedly is to a Spaniard called Baltazar Gracian.

Honestly, prior to this book I hadn't heard of him (pardon my ignorance) But I intend to read one or two of his pieces very soon.

His quotes intrigue me...

I also want to re-read The Prince. I read it in High School, but my mind was way to untarnished to grasp its validity.

Anyhow, the bottom line: Is this a good book? Kind of. It's a good compilation of ideas. It can expose the reader to a variety of famous pieces. But the author does not seem to come up with any original ideas of his own. He simply manipulated his way into publishing a "national bestseller"

Shocking!

Happy prances through a field of grass...

(That's what I would title the above picture)
Work by High Modernist architect Charles Gwathmey

Food for Thought

"Immerse people in universal and extreme situations which leave them only a couple of ways out, arrange things so that in choosing the way out they choose themselves, and you've won--the play is good." Jean Paul Sartre, Sartre on Theather

La Prensa Amarilla

yellow journalism (is defined) in terms of five characteristics:

* scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news

Image via CrunchBase

* lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
* use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
* emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips (which is now normal in the U.S.)
* dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.

(Wikipedia)

Yahoo News, anyone?!?

I hate myself everytime I click on the headlines of Yahoo "News" ~ So misleading, so cheap, like reading the gossip magazines while waiting at the check out line...

I'm tempted not to, but what if I miss something juicy.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It's like watching Court T.V or CNN Headline News.

McDonald's for the mind...

Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

I love the vision these words conjure.

I think I suffer from the Eternal Darkness of the Spotted Mind.
And wonder how it would be to experience The Incredible Lightness of Being. Just being...
Words are heavy, thoughts are heavy.

Living in the moment. Such a fleeting thing!

Enjoying each sentence as it unfolds. Without anticipating the end and enduring the inevitable disappointment when the paragraph closes without warning.

35 mm film photography

Remember when cameras used to look like this?
And film was the medium instead of memory sticks?

(I feel like a relic when I reminisce about stuff that is so obsolete now a days that it seems like an feigned memory rather than something real.)

Like when I get the urge to go on the hunt for a blue Smith-Corona typewriter.
Not the kind that plugs into an outlet. The kind with winding ribbon and keys that are hard to hit; but make that addicting tick-tick sound...


Nostalgia.

I've been wanting a "big girl's" camera for a while now.

I have a camera now.
It's quite adorable, portable and pink. It fits in most pockets and it's quite fashionable. I don't even have to compromise between it and my make up bag when I am choosing things to put in my purse!

It perfectly suits most "social snapping" situations.
But it sucks at landscapes. Night landscapes are an infinite mass of blackness, no matter how hard I try. Or how slow I set the shutter speed. *sigh*

As a child, my parents had a leather bag filled with all things photography. A good camera, a tripod and a bunch of filters.
We were lucky in that we got to visit to exotic locales. And they snapped the most breathtaking pictures I could imagine.

I attached so many memories of...life to those pictures. To capturing a moment so special and unique that it had to be immortalized in a photograph.

The digital craze was decades away.
There was no instant way of knowing the end result. So you'd strive to capture the best with every shot.
And if unsure, tried again, again and again.

Only much later did the printed images show. Sometimes a week or more after walking through clouds in the mountains or jumping waves at a virgin beach.
Then the memories unraveled again, with the taste of saltwater or the chill of a temperate climate.
Life is sweeter through the lens of a 35 mm camera.

I'm still unsure, however, if I am ready to commit to a new hobby. Or I am simply enamored by the idea of looking through life through rose colored glasses.

from The Little Prince

Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask what really matters. They never ask: "What does his voice sound like?" "What games does he like best?" "Does he collect butterflies?"

They ask: "How old is he?" "How many brothers does he have?""How much does he weigh?" "How much money does his father make?"

Only then do they think they know him.

Image via Wikipedia

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Trivial: Rock Band for Wii

My newest interest is a game for the Wii console called Rock Band 2. It's an interactive video game that allows multiple user set up a band and play guitar, base, drums and sing. It is set up in different levels of difficulty. The game comes with over 100 rock songs.

I'm totally shocked that I actually like this game because I am very much musically challenged: I am pretty much tone deaf, have no rhythm AND I don't really care for rock music (*collective gasp*, I know) EXCEPT for System of a Down (the greatest band ever!)

OK, so save for Serge and the gang and a handful of popular rock songs, I don't care for the genre.

BUT I love this game.

I turns out I'm no good at the guitar. The drums are an impossibility! The lack of rhythm and coordination have something to do with that, I'm sure.

But I love singing!!!

I never, ever sing ~ outside the comfort of my double glass paneled, ultra-noise cancelling car, that is.

Until now!!!

I still suck. Don't get me wrong.

But due to an unforeseen turn of event (it's like "a break in the Matrix" or something) I turn out to be quite the gifted singer of the Chili Peppers Song "Give it Away"

I am shocked. And delighted. Shocked because, well: I've never been able to sing along to songs on the radio.

I can't follow the lyrics. (I blame this on my "English as second language" handicap) and I never really cared for the Chili Peppers.

But suddenly I'm transformed into someone who is good at something musical and happens to be a video game.

I can't wait to go back to Massachusetts and show off my mad skillzzz to the ones that introduced me to this game!

Watch out, I'm quite a Rock Star! and modest, as well :P

The Experience Economy

Yesterday I finished the book The Experience Economy by Pine & Gilmore. This was more a "work read" than anything else.
Honestly, I could actually only get through the first few pages and then put it aside.
So I decided to download the audio version from I-Tunes instead and listen to it during my daily commute.
It was actually a nice change from my Argumentation audio tapes in that the subject seemed refreshing.

I must warn you though, the narrator is horrid.

I actually thought the voice was digitized. Like on those automated telephone systems that string various computer generated words together without change in tone or pitch and make recordings out of it.---Until I saw on the I-Tunes page that the narrator had a name. A HUMAN name.

Wow. This was a cross between the voice of my my high school Physics teacher, Ben Stein and my grandma's answering machine. Painful.
If you can get pass that for just short of four hours, you are OK.

This book basically describes from an economist's perspective, the advantages of providing a service experience that ultimately transforms the consumer/client/customer into a life long devotee.
It's not Customer Service for Dummies. This book is not even geared at the "front line" worker that is often associated with providing "customer service"

This book is geared at the executives, the financial analysts, the "suits" that need to be convinced, in their terms, why going above and beyond the call of duty is a sound financial decision. It goes a step further to suggest that staging the experience economy is actually the only way to obtain and retain a competitive advantage and sustainable financial edge on this market.

This book was co-authored by two individuals and sometimes the difference in their perspectives and seen even in the audio tape. Some parts of the book are dry, dry, dry. Then the following chapter chirps with an enthusiasm that is obviously not shared by both authors.

Overall, it was a good read--for work purposes.
I actually gained a lot of knowledge because finances and economics are not my strongest subjects.
Would I recommend this as a casual, friendly read? NO. But it the time spent absorbing this book was a sound business investment.

Iraqi teen girl gets 7 1/2 years for bombing attempt

This headline caught my eye this morning:

"BAGHDAD – A teenage Iraqi girl who claimed her husband's female relatives strapped explosives on her has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for attempting

Image via Wikipedia

to blow herself up at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq, a provincial judge said Thursday."

The article goes on to describe the increase of such attempts by women in a society where because of cultural taboos, the mostly male police force does not routinely check robed women explosives.

The closing paragraph of this article is even more disturbing:

"In January, police arrested a middle-aged woman, Samira Ahmed Jassim, for allegedly recruiting female suicide bombers. In a prison interview, Jassim told The Associated Press about a plot in which young women were raped and then persuaded to carry out suicide attacks to reclaim their honor."

Food for Thought

" You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late" ~ Emerson

l'Heure Bleue

Madrugada

This is the time when the sky fills with hope and

Image by _fLeMmA__ via Flickr

peace.

It's not quite day and not quite night.

The antithesis of "penumbra"

Not because of the precise differences of light vs. dark ratios, but because of the energy that surround these events.

L'Heure Blue evokes an unmistakable sense of calm.

No need to rush.

Look at the freedom and beauty captured here:

A boy jumps over a row of lavender in a field in Carshalton, south London, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

I wanna hop through a lavender field one day.

I love to do child-like things like that. To take in nature and its spirit. Not just visually but spatially as well.

To become part of the divine, even if just for a second.

"Who are you?"

This question was asked of me by a self realization book I was trying to grasp at too early an age. I don't even remember the name of the book. All I remember is that it stumped me, and that question has stuck with me for many years.

...you're not how much money you've got in the bank. You're not your job. You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself.... You're not your name.... You're not your problems.... You're not your age.... You are not your hopes. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 18

The point was not to answer the question based on the trivial and obvious, but to really look introspectively for a solid answer.

I still haven't been able to come up with a sound answer for myself.

(but I am working on it...)

Do you know who you are?

Great Courses

By now, it should come as no surprise to you that I am a geek. It's OK. I've come to terms with that. It's something that I have accepted and embraced.

Well, I'm just getting that out in the open because from time to time I would like to share with you certain things that I think are just AMAZING. But the truth is that they are pure Geekery.

Let me introduce you to Great Courses. Brought to you by The Teaching Company. From their site description: "The Teaching Company brings engaging professors into your home or car through courses on DVD, audio CD, and other formats. Since 1990, great teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities have crafted over 250 courses for lifelong learners like you."

Seriously, this totally makes me happier than you could ever imagine: Having the best professors in the world teaching enthralling subjects. All at my fingertips and available in the comfort of my car!
What else could one want?!?

They cover subjects such as business, philosophy, religion, science, social sciences, intellectual history and many more.

I have completed a course titled: Augustine: Philosopher and Saint (12 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture). At the end, I was in awe. I wanted more.

I am currently listening to Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning (24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture) ~ This one is a wee bit dryer and has taken me a bit longer to digest. I still love these lectures. LOVE, I tell you.

So much so that I had to tell you. In case I happen to be soooo smitten by a new concept I learned through Great Courses that I just have to blog about it...

(Told ya I was a geek!)

Riddle Me This...

I was scanning through an old issue of Real Simple magazine (a publication about all things organizing) and a snippet caught my eye: A book called "Throw Away Fifty Things" ($20). I immediately thought: "I should get this!" ~ I know, I know: the mindless herd follows blindingly to

Image via Wikipedia

its demise

Anyhow, shortly after contemplating my next Amazon purchase I thought. "Wait, Throw Away Fifty Things ...Is that pretty much the bones of this book?
Why can't I just "throw away fifty things" and see how it goes?
Why should I spend $20 on this? So the author can tell me why uncluttering my surroundings will liberate my mind?
So I can be given examples of crap that needs to be tossed? (I'm sure I can come with more than 50 things on my own)

If I buy this, Wouldn't this just be another unnecessary acquisition?
Will I then have to throw of fifty ONE things to make up for this purchase?

Suddenly, the seemingly brilliant buy had turned into Theater of the Absurd.

For the time being, I think I'll start out by throwing away fifty things on my own. If I encounter difficulties I might check out this book (from the Public Library)

This is how I feel most days...

An unidentified schoolchild wrestles with former sumo wrestler Taiichiro Tashima during a beach sumo promotional event in Tokyo, Japan (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Of course I am the girl. And the sumo? Well, that's just my day...
hmmmm..... I think I need to change sports, or at least strategies. Something tell me I have no chance if I continue with my current approach.

"The things you own end up owning you" ~ Fight Club

On my way back from a weekend trip, I saw a storage facility and thought :"oh, maybe it would be a good idea to get a small storage unit to clean up the house a bit"
Then I saw the name of the place: 1-800-PACK-RAT
Wow, what a rude awakening.
I live in a comfortable home that should more than fit my needs, yet I am contemplating shelling out big bucks monthly in order to "clean up"
Who am I kidding, I need to downsize.
So I've decided to drastically reduce my belongings. By the end of August, I hope that have "relocated" a great portion of my possessions. I'm talking gifting, donating or trashing a lot of the clutter than consumes me.
Also, I have committed myself to making smarter purchasing choices in the future.
I mean all the de-cluttering in the world will do no good if I continue to accumulate junk, right?
I vow to not buy "stuff". I am only going to buy things I need or love.
If it's iffy. If it doesn't floor me. If I am not replacing something I already own and have ran out of: It's going back on the shelf!
Hopefully, in the process my mind will unclutter as well... I'll keep you posted.

The Trivial: Ultra Distance Athletes and other Lunacies...

Earlier today I read an article in Men's Fitness Magazine highlighting the craziness that is called Ultra Distance Athletes. These nuts take part in insane races like 100 miles in rough, inaccessible terrain. Voluntarily.
WTF? Don't these people know that a simple race from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, just 26 miles, KILLED Pheidippides?
Yep. He dropped dead at the end. Yet modern men try to emulate the feat by enrolling in marathons everyday. Fine. Crazy, but I'll leave it alone.
But when people boast about taking part in SUPER- DUPER Marathons, I just think it's odd.
Listen to the article's author account of these super endurance feats:

"I have friends you have pushed themselves hard enough to vomit out the lining of their stomach or been dehydrated severely enough to lose consciousness and wake up in a hospital bed. They've broken bones, bled heavily, soiled their pants-some have had pieces of their innards removed, blacked out, been bitten by poisonous snakes, spat up and peed blood, had parasites crawl in and out every orifice and been delirious, overheated and frozen"

Graphic, I know.

But I wasn't describing some barbaric form of war fueled torture. I am talking about a "sport". People do this willingly. They willingly to take part in 100 mile, hard terrain races.

People pay for this.

Then again masochist often pay big bucks to be whipped around in a dungeon. This, to me, is no different.

The article touches on the endorphin high to which many of these "endurance junkies" are addicted. It also briefly discusses the psychological risks involved in these activities.

I am tempted to draw a parallelism between these people and others that partake in self-injuring behavior like "cutting" or anorexia and other eating disorders.

I don't understand why someone would be willing to take part in this "sport" if the end result for someone to succeed and actually finish is inevitably tied to some sort of physical punishment or demise.

Advocates claim: "Oh, it feels so good when you are finished" Well, yeah, but it would also feel good if you are torching your own skin with a creme brulee torch and decided to stop.

The author of this particular article states that the ultimate pay off for this "Odyssey of the flesh"? "the thrill of the race: that intense feeling of being alive"

Maybe it's just me, but I really don't have the need t put myself through arduous torture in order to feel alive.

I'll take a sunrise at the beach over a 100 mile marathon anytime.

Book Review: The No Asshole Rule

Image by happyeclair via Flickr

Today I read the book "The No Asshole Rule" (building a civilized workplace and surviving one that isn't) by Robert J. Sutton, PhD.
This was interesting book. And long overdue, at least for me. In all my hot headedness I fail to be able to constructively deal with assholes in the workplace.

I don't do well when confronted by jerks. I don't retract into a corner, yet I fail to deal with assholes in a way that is productive for me.
Lately I seem to be in need of "honing" my skills with this particular group.
You see, I get too emotionally involved in the situation. Exactly what a manipulator wants, I suppose.

I take my job seriously. And I take pride on doing it well.

I see my job as an organism that should strive toward a common goal: productivity. I know how to do my job, and in my world you are either an asset or a liability. If you are an asshole and dealing with your shit takes time away from what I should be doing either because you are making noise my way or because I have been called to mediate your asshole-ness; then you are a liability.

More than an annoyance, you need to "be reapproached" so I can continue on my way.

But often my anger and reactions leave me drained. Assholes hinder my productivity and it pisses me off.
This book is not a meek self help book for the chronically bullied. It is packed with statistical references and studies from a management science perspective on the reason why this type of behavior is detrimental to organizational and personal success. It also gives "coping" skills for those unfortunate enough to be trapped in an asshole dominated workplace. But this part is confined to one chapter of the book.
The rest of the book uses social psychology and a sound business approach to dissect what usually is an emotionally laden subject.
Out of all of the "Forbes" lists and PhDs and fancy experts this book cites, the most sound piece of advice this book gives the corporate victim of assholes is : "You are allowed to walk out."
It seems trivial and even condescending to mention something like that. But keep in mind that from childhood we have been conditioned to obey the parent, obey the teacher, obey those whose "authority" has been forced upon us -- so much so that, as adults, we tend to overlook the fact that we can always walk away.
This book also gives some sound advice to those enslaved by assholes:

• Do everything you can to limit your contact with the worst people.
• Go to as few meeting with the known asshole as possible.
• Answer inquires from them as slowly and rarely as you can and
• When you can't avoid them, keep the meetings short.

Further it even gives the reader tips from POWs on how to endure the most traumatic of situations.

Overall, this was a very good read. However, if you are looking for a "Dr. Phil" approach to dealing with work bullies, if you want a warm and fuzzy read that will lull you into complacency: this ain't it. As a matter of fact this book with leave you cold and dry begging for a warm fire and Kumbaya.

But if you prefer a more clinical approach to dissecting the motivations of assholes in the workplace, you will enjoy this easy read.

(yeah, I still need yoga and men pen lai- I haven't forgotten)

Finished: The Geography of Bliss

I have finished this book. It was such an easy read. Perfect for vacation. Not quite chick lit, but not quite "Thus Spoke Zarathusa" either.

Image via Wikipedia

One of the rare times when I finish a book and wish it would have been a little longer.

I am impatient. Very much so. And competitive as well. I approach everything as a challenge to be conquered; if not won, at least confronted and attempted tenaciously.
Even activities I enjoy, I look forward to reign victory over.
I know, I know: I need to chill.

Maybe finishing this book and feeling like I need to linger is a sign that I am mellowing.

This book is interesting in that it's like a self-help book in disguise. With all the stigma associated with the self-help genre, particularly outside the U.S, it's no wonder an author would chose to camouflage his work with sociological experiments and applied philosophy.
But the truth is that if you are truly happy, you would find no use for this book. You are already there.
The intended audience for this book is the chronically blue. Maybe not the depressed, per say. Just the "light" blue. Those for which there's still hope.
So, if you buy a book hoping that reading it would improve your state of mind, somehow; Are you not searching for a self-help book?
Granted this is not exactly a "Step by Step Guide to Bliss". But by reading this you hope to learn by observation. Hoping that the quiet contemplation of the happy (and the unhappy) would enrich your life somehow.

So what did I get out of this book?
1. I need to get back to doing yoga
2. mai pen lai: Thai for "never mind, just let it go"

OK. so I got a lot more than that out the book. Lots of food for thought. But like all major shifts, I can only digest them in small morsels.

1. Yoga brings me joy. Maybe not joy but a sense of balance that is inexplicable and essential.
I stopped doing yoga because working a 70 hour work week left me unable to think, to move. Doing a Sun Salutation no longer seemed like a welcomed challenged but a threat to sanity.
I'm working less now. Not that much less, but enough where I can squeeze yoga comfortably at least once or twice a week.

2. mai pen lai: Never mind. No, really. Never mind. Just let things go.
I think a lot of my internal turmoil is due to emotional constipation. The inability to process or discard that which is no longer needed or helpful.
I hold on to things like grudges or unpleasant memories as if, at the end, the one with the longest running score of negativity will win.
I lose my temper and throw tantrums all day long.
Will any of these matter 5 years from now? no.
five months? nope?
what about 5 days from now? probably not.
Then why have I spent so much energy, releasing all this cortisol into my body for something fleeting? yeah, I have no idea.

Now, while stupid cyclists will probably continue to annoy me, at least now I have come to the realization that they don't have to ruin my day. I can just mai pen lai.

Reading: The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

Yesterday I started reading the book "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner.
The book wasn't due to arrive until today. But I got it Thursday afternoon. Just in time for

Cover via Amazon

my long weekend getaway beach side.
The Geography of Bliss studies happiness across the globe. It relies on sociology, psychology, study of religion and spiritualism to examine happiness across diverse cultures.

I started this book yesterday, shortly after arriving at one of my favorite places on earth: a beach side retreat.
I can imagine fewer places where I feel more at peace and in synchronicity with the universe than near the ocean. Everything just feels right.
It is quite a perfect setting to study the subject of happiness. (after all, I can't imagine reading about happiness and being surrounded by misery- It's be to angry to open myself up to the experience)
I like this book, it's quirky and well rounded. It's not perfect. But neither am I.
As I read it, I feel like Anthony Bourdain is narrating its pages in my head with the unequivocal dose of cynism that onlhy he can infuse to life.
This book has a myriad of interesting observations about humanity, our differences and how our perception of reality and acceptance of same has everything to do with ...happiness.
I plan to examine a few quotes/points from the book here in my blog. Because I find happiness in itself to be both Trivial AND Divine.
I think happiness IS the meaning of life. (but then again, what do I know?)
Am I happy?
Sometimes. Not always.
So, if I think happiness is the meaning of life, or at least the meaning of my life, Why am I not always happy?
Isn't my duty as a human being to fulfill my existence through happiness?

I am sure trying: I sit here on the balcony of a seaside retreat somewhere in Paradise, with a book in hand, a cold beer at arm's reach and a beautiful Yellow Tail Snapper in the oven....

Saudade

I have "found" a Portuguese word that seems to encompass a feeling I've felt but haven't been able to put into words.
To oversimplify it:

Image via Wikipedia

Saudade: feeling caused by missing someone or something.

Kind of like "añoro", "hechar de menos" or even "morriña" (although the latter word most often applies to saudade when associated with a longing for the motherland, and its an even more obscure word than Saudade)

Maybe like "Nostalgia" but it differs in that Saudade does not always carry negative connotations. It rather applies to the unnatural state of being separated from that which shares our same essence.

"Saudade is, therefore, one of the deepest human feelings, and the greatness of its power is exactly that it transcends itself, creating other feelings, which, by their turn, stimulate men. And that’s certainly one of the difficulties of translating or even grasping the philosophical significance of saudade: saudade becomes greater and deeper while illuminating other feelings, but it also becomes more difficult to understand it. If this is not enough, we can quote Marânus for a last time:


Eu não sou a alegria, mas apenas
A trágica matéria que a produz.
Na grande escuridão, sou facho a arder
E não avisto minha própria luz!

I am not happiness, but only
The tragic substance that produces it.
In the great darkness, I am a burning flambeau
And I don’t see my own light.
(Pascoaes, 1920, p.216)"

http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/1399/1/Aesthetics-of-Saudade


Saudade.

I feel it daily. It has become part of my composition. Without melancholy or over sentimentalism.
It just is. And I just feel it.
For my brothers, my father, The Christmas winds and a time of innocence.

I can't define it, but I know it. Just as I know, but cannot describe, the intensity of the color red.

Saudade.

Rule #1

Image via Wikipedia

"Only create a blog if you really need one."

I was doing some research on internet etiquette and came upon a site listing the rules on everything internet related and came upon this absurd rule.
First of all, who the hell actually needs a blog.
No one.
No one in the world needs to keep an online log about anything.
Unless you are the Dalai Lama, your daily contemplations are not a need that humanity needs filled.
No one needs a blog. Ever.

Yet millions will continue to write their thoughts on the web. Some actually have an audience in mind. Some will keep their web log as a virtual stream of consciousness published for everyone to see.
Some have purpose. And some are merely written as a public scream of frustrations.
~ Does that in itself make blogs needed?

I think so. Type away.

Food for Thought:

"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Everyday sends their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort" ~ Sydney Smith

What's your talent?
Don't tell me you don't have one, because very few people in this world are totally talentless (yet they still manage to make it big in Hollywood. Imagine that!)
So now think about the thing that drives you, the thing that makes you feel as if you are floating above all matters and engaging in what you were meant to do.
I'm not talking Green Peace or Doctor's Without Borders (but hey, if that's " your thing", more power to ya)
I'm talking about much simpler things that you do, which bring you joy and a sense of purpose.
It can be sports, or writing, painting, photography, reading and analysing the classics. Do you have enough courage to give it your finest attempt?
Or do you sulk in your room at night wondering what could have been?
Do you give your attempts every ounce of strength and every breath inside? Or do you attempt things half-heartedly because deep inside you think that if you "fail" at this, the failure wasn't because of YOU, but rather because "you weren't really trying"?
Do you really think all the greats that are KNOWN, are really the best at what they do out of the whole world population?
Maybe they are the chosen few, blessed with the special alignment of circumstances that allows them to be exposed to the world as such.
If you are one of the most talented painters in the world, and you attempt your craft in obscurity. You are afraid for others to see your work. You hide your masterpieces in the attic. Or paint over the same canvas over again because the thought of other criticizing your work with their undeserving gaze paralyzes you with anger.
Maybe the progress of humanity has been stagnated because millions of geniuses haven't had the courage to share with the world their gifts.
So many people are afraid of failing that they would rather succumb into mediocrity.

"Fear has it uses, but cowardice has none"

"Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear" ~ Albert Camus

I'm not sure how I feel about this quote. On first glance it makes sense: fear based respect IS despicable. It's cowardly. Both for the bully that imposes himself onto the masses and for the mindless heard that are subdued by lack of courage.

On second thought: Can you really have RESPECT based on fear? I think not. I think you have the illusion of respect. But true respect is something more noble, something sublime th

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at cannot be bribed by oppressive means.

There are two types of leaders: those that lead from fear and those who lead by respect. The first have breakdown the morale of their subjects, and like slaves, hostages or abuse spouses they will submit to orders without questioning.
The second lead by example, by holding a higher standard, by offering protection, security, wisdom and comfort to their subjects.

Going back to the original quote: "Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear"
Is it despicable for the tyrant that intimidates his subjects into complacency? or despicable for the subjects to accept, yield and oblige to this treatment all in the name of "respect?

Food for Thought

"The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them" ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I read a study a long time ago which measured levels of happiness in very different socio-cultural settings: The survey interviewed the top earnest in Forbes' lists and also some of the poorest people in the slums of India. Surprisingly enough, the slum dwellers had a higher level of happiness than the richest, most successful people in the world.

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At the time this was completely shocking to me. How could the richest people in the world not be the happiest? How could be ridden by difficulties and disease find any level of happiness?
I've thought about this for a long time and the only thing that I could think of were the variables:

• What did the richest figures have to give up in order to achieve their level of success?
• What kind of voids can "purchasable" items fill? and for how long?
• What kind of bonds do adversity forge that could overcome physical and emotional distress?
• If happiness is so independent of financial and recognized success, Why does our society put so much effort, so many tears, sacrificed so many missed moments in order to reach a certain point of success?
• Even if you reach a higher level of achievement and personal wealth, Is it ever enough?
• Do people ,then, stop trying with so much effort and determination to posses material things or peer recognition and focus their energy into nobler causes?
• Is this "quasi-socialist" approach really the answer?
• Is being a non-comformist the fuel that drives progress, or the flame that ignites unhapiness and despair?

Safe Air Travel

I recently took a three hour plane trip across the East coast with South West Airlines and question the safety of the trip. Nope, not what you are thinking.

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I'm talking health and safety precautions in midst of the Swine Flu Pandemic.

I was both shocked and delighted that the incoming flight was quickly cleared at the terminal and not even 5 minutes later a departing flight was boarding.

Fantastic from a timing perspective. But a little scary when you think that virtually no time at all was spent cleaning hard surfaces of trash, debris and bodily fluids that could potentially spread the disease.

When you think about a two hundred people in cramped quarters, breathing the same recycled, stuffy air, snotty children wiping their noses on the chairs hoping to lull themselves out of the misery of air travel.

ahhh, let's not forget the teeny stainless steel lavatory with ten other passengers awaiting. Are they practicing proper hand washing prior to exiting? Or spreading germs for others to catch?

Yes. I am a bit of hypochondriac. I tend to obsess about germs and things like that. I visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website periodically "just to stay afloat"
I know it's not "normal"
Prior to my flight, I briefly considered wearing a mask to protect myself. But I know I can't let my irrational fears get the best of me. Or else my quality of life would be limited.
Besides, what are the chances I would get sick, anyway?
But as I lay here basking in the misery of the second day of a Flu I caught on vacation, I can't help but wonder if airlines are taking sufficient measures to ensure that passenger safety.
I'm not talking "extreme disinfection measures" I don't want everything radiated with UV light, Lysol or alcohol (although one can dream)
Nor am I suggesting we take measures such as the Japanese (A friend of mine who recently traveled there told me that prior to exiting the plane, every passenger was scanned with a thermal device and those that registered higher than normal temperatures were quickly quarantined)
What I am suggesting is that air support staff at least makes an effort to lightly clean the plane before boarding a new heard.
It seems like we have become complacent and desensitized of the H1N1 matter; if not physically, at least mentally. It seems like the pandemic has becomes one of those things that "only other people" have to worry about...

Former Vice President "in trouble" for keeping CIA secret

It sounds absolutely absurd that headlines are ladden with the latest news of former vice president Dick Cheney being investigating for not informing congress about a top secret CIA operation.

• Isn't the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) supposed to have secrets?
• Isn't that the agency that's supposed to actually have American spies working to protect our interests?
• Isn't the whole point of a spy to work undercover and not divulge details of their operations?

People are just too high on their sense of entitlement: "But I have the right to know what the CIA is up to", "Freedom of... (whatever)", "Everyone should vote on every move the CIA makes"
Can't take the whiners anymore.
I don't want to hear it.
You are one of the protected, and don't you forget it.
Treasure the oblivion in which you live.
Praise the Lord for even being able to to voice your "discontent" with the system without retaliation; and give thanks every breathing hour that you are lucky enough to live in such an amazing country.
As far as I am concerned, if you are going to just sit there, in the comfort of your suburban spread and bitch and moan about your "right to know" IF YOUR DISCOMFORT with the system is too great, just move.
Move to another country. The grass is always greener, they say.
Take your clan and make up your own tribe, somewhere where you can make your own rules and people will cooperate and follow you as their loving leader.
Move! ~ and come back a few month later. When the shiny newness of ex-pat life has worn and your melancholy consumes you...because your never knew how good you had it here.

Bike Laws

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This county is very loving and giving when it comes to bicyclist's rights. There's a new law that is supposed to protect bicyclist by requiring that cars stay 4 feet away from all bicyclist.
All the roads have bike paths on the side to accommodate the affluent bicyclists in their quest to conquer their hobbies safely.
It has even been encouraged in some boards, for cyclists to ride CLOSER to the car lanes and away from the curb in order to "force cars into the next lane" I kid you not!
The self indulgent, worthless pricks are not happy enough to have their own lane, they need to force vehicles onto oncoming traffic.
And, no. If you are one to take a leisurely stroll by the beach or use your bike for your daily commute, I am not speaking to you.
All my disparaging comments and hatred are geared toward the "Lance Armstrong" wannabes that bike in herds of 20, choosing to neither obey the law and bike in their lane or

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govern themselves by traffic laws and behave accordingly.
You know who you are: you spent $1,750 on your decked out bike, your clothes make you look like a schizophrenic Cirque du Soleil cast member, not because your Tour Sponsors have offered you money to show their logos, but because you and your Starbucks crew think it makes you look pro.
You don't ride in an obnoxiously large group because there's safety in numbers, but because the "riders club" bonds you to like minded schmucks. You take all over the roads, cut people off, chose to disobey all traffic laws and continue to put yourself and the rest of the world at risk. But it's OK because you have a trendy aerodynamic helmet that costs more than a member of the working class makes in a month so...carry on.
So you are probably thinking: Cry me a river! You complain about the width of th

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e bike lane while most people in other countries complain about unpaved roads or basic needs.
Yes, I am aware that my complaint is.....TRIVIAL. But I chose to voice my opinion because I am tired of laws that protect those that feel entitled, those that have no respect for others and pride themselves in showing no courtesy or common sense.
I complain because your yuppie hobby infringes on my rights. I complain because I can.

Talk Less, Say More

Talk less, Say more. Seems like sensible advice. But in this era of Facebook, blogger and

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Tweeter, does this really happen?

If you've done any research at all on blogging, you know the golden rules to starting a successful blog:

1. Pick a topic
2. Know your target audience

I have chosen on this particular endeavor to break both rules repeatedly.
I am certainly not social enough to bother with the nuances of Faceboook, nor do I consider myself important enough to Tweet.

So this soliloquy is my most gregarious atempt at "social networking"
I speak here, not with an audience in mind, nor with a topic in mind. I pour random thoughts here as if this was my Diary. Not the kind with the cute lock and adorable key that my brothers were always trying to pry open, but with an open book that I publish to the world.
Not with the hopes to read and recognized but this catharsis is cheaper than therapy.
With web logs readily available, the condition of anonymity so treasured in personal journals has been traded in for the comfort of knowing that words posted will be forever immortal in the world wide web.

The topic will be whatever crosses my mind at the time ~ Inquietudes, if you will.

And the audience may not exist other than people attempting to kill the boredom that devours them.

But I am fine with that as well, because when boredom comes my way, I will read their Blogger posts as well.