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And Another Thing…..

Two more cents….

I don’t like Magicians. I don’t like Politicians. (For all that, I don’t like Morticians either….perhaps it’s the ‘cians’ ending to their titles that rubs me the wrong way.)

Magicians – I just don’t like them. They are a weird social bunch. They have this little secret code that they keep amongst themselves – to never divulge a trick – never give the inside scoop. Oh please….get over yourselves. Most of you are former nerdy children that got some pathetic magic kit as a kid and thought it could win you popularity through trickery. Well – it doesn’t. We are frustrated with you. Sleight of hand…give me a break. Card tricks – so passe. Making people disappear in thin air, so last century. Take your magic hat and capes and rabbits and get a new hobby. (I hear Morticians make a good living….and if you can make a dead body levitate out of the casket, you might have one hell of a business.)

Politicans – I know hate is a strong word, but when it comes to Politicians, hate isn’t strong enough. Why you ask? Because they are Magicians without the tricks. Politcians are liars. For personal gain. Oh, ok….maybe there is one or two of them out there that really want to do good for their community on the local level, blah, blah, blah….but for the higher up’s – they’ve got nothing but power on their minds. I mean think about it – they make promises they can NEVER keep, they say what they think the voters want to hear, they tout their abilities to get things done (but we all know it takes a governing “body” of folks to get things done and that no Lone Ranger can create true change.) They are well-dressed, well-rehearsed charlatans. Talking heads. Thieves. And the worst thing is – is that it’s so obvious! Do they really think we are that dumb that we can’t see through their charade? Sure, we all want to believe that the next guy (or gal) in office will do better – will finally have the will of the people at the top of their agenda….but more often than not, we are let down…through their actions, through the web of bureaucracy that ties our political system into knots. So I propose you don’t tell me anything – you shrug your shoulders as you run for office and you say, I’ll give it a shot. And if you don’t make good on what we expected of you, you give the taxpayers a refund – of your salary the entire time you were in office. Now, that’s a policy I can back.

OH – and lobbyists! Don’t get me started. There’s a special place down below for that lot.

Magicians and Politicians. I wish they would disappear.

My Two Cents

We all have something to say.

Our two cents.

I think it is the fundamental need of people – to be HEARD. Listened to, yes, but moreso heard. How else can you explain the explosion of blogging and reality television and YouTube?

So today I have some “cents” to spend…

I saw a Charlie Brown Halloween Special commercial where they had the voice of Charlie Brown rapping a song – finishing with Chaz saying “Word.” I thought – what? Is this a new version of the ever popular “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?” I read that it was just a “promotion” angle and that they hadn’t changed the classic show…thank God. In my world, Charlie Brown don’t rap yo…

First impressions are everything. Nothing else needs to be said here. Make a good one.

I crashed the other night at my friend Sheila’s apt in NJ after a night out with some girlfriends. I slept on an air mattress which we attempted to blow up late at night – with a battery operated “blower” that lacked juice. The result was I basically slept on the floor with the air mattress surrounding me, like a hotdog in a bun. I had a blanket but no mustard. I thought how funny to be 47-years-old and sleeping like a college student. Many a high-maintenance woman would’ve cringed. I smiled.

You either exude a positive or a negative energy about you…make that choice. How do you want to be known?

I read this quote today – “Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever.” Most of us have heard the first part – to live each day to it’s fullest, as if it’s your last….BUT, learn as if you were to live forever? How cool is that? That message – to keep learning….and my belief, is that as long as you live, if you are open to it, you WILL keep on learning…evolving. Life is a learning experience. We don’t reach some invisible finish line where we should stop absorbing, questioning, wondering. Being curious is being alive. Learn everything – learn as if you were to live forever. I love it.

That’s five cents today actually. Inflation. And I have alot to say.

Edit, Man, Edit

Editing has gotten a bad rap.

As a writer, and someone interested in the written word as a fulfilling means of communication, one would think it strange I believe in the power of editing. The ability to be precise and concise in ones writing is the number one rule in many a wordsmiths handbook….even the prolific Stephen King touts the unspoken golden rule – brevity.

Our society is a full pendulum swing away from editing itself…between Facebook and Twitter, cell phones and iPads, we let it all ‘hang out’. We say anything we please – without fear, without care. And yes, there is something bold in that…powerful….but also very short sighted, and for lack of a better word, stupid.

I do look up to people who speak their mind – who are honest and forthright – who say what they think and feel. It is very brave. When spoken eloquently, the truth or opinion of truth, can change people…much as a Martin Luther King Jr. did when he spoke his ‘dream’ to the world.

And then there is someone like Mark Twain, who I just recently heard, is having his autobiography published (in volumes, no less) 100 years after his death. One of the most famous authors of our time, he had an ability to be both biting and sentimental when he spoke his beliefs. Apparently he left tons of material behind, in a diary type fashion, that was to be compiled and published a century after his death….some say to protect those he wrote of (as he obviously didn’t want to edit his material) and others say it was a grand PR move. But whatever the reason, Mr. Twain did not mince nor edit his meaty words.

So why do I believe in editing so strongly? Because it is often in our best interests. We all do it on a daily basis whether we realize it or not. We edit what we say to our boss (how many times have we’ve bitten our tongue), what we say to our loved ones, or even strangers. We all know saying what you really feel is not always best at the moment you’re feeling it – although the reverse argument has its validity. It’s more of a “think” before you speak, before you post, before you tweet, philosophy I believe in. And what could it hurt? Does a re-read of an email or report or letter ever cause any harm? No…but the public publishing can. As the expression goes, sometimes things are better left unsaid.

Our forefathers edited the Declaration of Independence before they signed it, didn’t they? The laws of our society are such that although we’ve penned our right to free speech, we should also understand that with that freedom comes responsibility…to each other. Speaking out, demonstrating, blogging are great venues of expression and sharing – but they should be tempered with humility and compassion…for others viewpoints and belief systems. So many people abuse the right of free speech as a means to promote their own personal agendas which creates an unhealthy society, mired in the mentality of “me”.

Our modern social media environment has allowed us to become more global than we ever imagined – and as technology continues to expand and advance, so too will each of our reaches. What you put out in the world – in print or video – will become part of your history, your story to tell. Say what you feel, what you think, what you believe…but always keep one thing in mind…learn to edit.

Edit. It begins with E…and I love E.

Time

“Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

That was the open to the soap opera Days of our Lives. The image of the hourglass, as the sand slips through the narrow tube, is impactful. It is the constant reminder that time is elusive…always moving, impossible to hold, slipping through our fingers.

God, that sounds depressing lol. I don’t mean it to be. I think time – and its concept – is actually very fascinating.

As a hungover Seamus recently said to me, my sister and Rich at the diner one Saturday morning in Connecticut, “you can always make more money, but you can’t make more time” (can’t remember exactly what he was referencing but it struck me nonetheless.)

You can’t make more time. True. We can not manufacture more time – we can’t go into the lab and put some chemicals together and produce time (some would argue time travel possibilities here, but they’re nerds and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.) We can prolong time – as the medical field often does in the case of the very sick – in prolonging someone’s life, thereby creating more time than what was expected in one souls life span.

But time at its very core – is always present and never here. It passes without thought or work. Much as our breath goes in and out of our lungs…on automatic pilot. We don’t “think” time into existence….it just is. We can’t hold it, smell it or taste it. We can only see it through the invention of clocks, calendars and various measuring devices. Much like the ancients had the sundial to view the passing of time, we have our digital armband displays or our towering Big Ben monoliths.

Sometimes, we want time to pass quickly, and other times we want to freeze it – holding a precious moment tightly so it doesn’t escape us. But time is ultimately a measure of the past and future. The present comes and goes in a blink of an eye – and then we are left with the memory of what is gone and the thought of what is yet to be.

I recently heard a man on the bus say something like you don’t want to do something because otherwise you were going to “spend your whole life…..” doing this or that (I was obviously half asleep on the way to work.) But my point is this – time is a commodity. That bus-man said it – we can “spend our lives” doing something…hopefully putting it to good use, but that we can spend away our time, our one and only truly important resource. “Time well spent” as the expression goes is what I think Seamus was refering to….wanting to keep it, use it, enjoy it – because we can’t get more at Home Depot. There is no aisle for Time.

It’s four simple letters…time…but it’s huge in how we measure our history, our lives and ultimately, ourselves.