silly practices that don't smile are taking over the universe

1. I read an article in June2006 New England Sports about why NOT to smile (pg.6)...negative forces unite!...I just pledged to smile to people I see on the street...positive forces unite!http://www.newenglandsportsmag.com/
www.pledgebank.com/HelloBoston

2. I called MBNA to transfer a balance to my Bank America card. I was informed that Bank AMerica now owns MBNA, and I couldn't do the transfer.I just laughed into the phone...super corporate powers get bigger! It doesn't surprise me...How long will it be before BofA owns Discover and American Express?

3. So I watched Amélie with one of my housemates. It's one of my favorite movies...I think Amelie and I think alike...well..I have silly thoughts and actions too: putting fruit stickers in secret places where no one will find them, stompping in puddles and seeing how high water can fly, watching as someone rocks out while listening to music--how do you say joy?

4. Medical science now prescibes beer for the sick...what else will "they" think of?..well...how about recommending your child get more dirt in their system?..I saw that on TV recently.

Hidden fruit's gmat ear tesT

1. I was at the doctor’s office today, having my ears irrigated…I haven’t been able to hear out of my right ear for a few days…since I put the evil ear wax removal drops in. I found a National Geographic—from 1964!—and started looking through the ads. That’s before I was born! Here’s one example: “today’s man of action is impatient with yesterday’s standard of quality or last year’s record of performance. He wants tomorrow’s best. Buick electra 225 is designed for him…” wow…I want to be a man of action too..should I buy an electra 225?..for only $7500, or $22000…

2. I took a practice GMAT test Sunday…and got a 510…this really sucks…it really kills my motivation to study..where is the progress…am I really fighting this that much? Three more weeks to go until the real test…

3. The hidden fruit sticker colony...discovered in Somerville, could spread worldwide tomorrow..beware!

the Sun's write inspiration to MMe

…so I’m sitting in the mugginess, zooming sideways through the subway tunnel, and reading an article from the June06 Sun Magazine that I find inspiring. It’s an interview with Barry Lopez about his writing, politics, living in nature, life. Here are some quotes that made me think of you (the people I know who do some writing): “Try to open doors for writers who are devoted to story and language, and who have serious questions about the fate of humanity…Being businesspeople, however, such men and women have very few outlets for frankly expressing their concerns…I want to get these savvy, ethical, powerful businesspeople together to talk. Often they don’t even know one another…The only thing I know as a writer is how to tell a story...I think my compulsion to leave town is based on a belief that it is only by leaving the security of the familiar that I can learn whether my particular metaphors can continue to ground the reader in something trustworthy…my writerly responsibility is to try to be discerning—even when camped in the Transantarctic Mountains—about how these circumstances I’ve put myself in relate to readers who are just trying to hold a family together, stay employed, deal with dying parents, and change the baby’s diapers when they haven’t slept in twenty-four hours…Before that, when I wrote Arctic Dreams, the image I had of the reader was always of somebody standing right next to me…another New York friend said to me a few years ago. ‘It’s so clear you’re not from the city. You’re always looking up.’ He said people in New York don’t look up. I look up at the buildings. I look up at the sky. I’m curious about all of this. It’s a hunger. I have to feed it…These are all cues to pay attention, to stay awake. I sometimes say the first rule of everything—including writing—is to pay attention…No one can tell the whole truth…I want to confront my own ignorance every day…So when I say a ‘literature of hope,’ I mean a literature that gives readers the opportunity to be hopeful about their own circumstances and the circumstances of their communities…I have to believe that my imagining a story will somehow help people to imagine a way around difficulty.”

http://www.thesunmagazine.org/
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/366_Lopez.pdf

This was a sweet article, and fires my motivation to set the next Sun Discussion group, which meets in boston every now and then. I hope you too are inspired:)

the Diamond's education

I read an article in the Boston Globe (Living arts section, June13, 2006, page9) about an organization called diamond educators—who mentor young African American boys. This was a powerful story! I think I connected with it because I haven’t had a father since I was 8 years old…and because I believe this is the powerful work that needs to be done to change the future of boston..and I recently started writing about the work I do (and want to do), and wrote “if I don’t do this, who will?” On another level, I have no idea what these kids are going through—the “distractions”..but I have had other distractions to overcome. The mentor can be a powerful positive force in someone’s life. The power to change destinies…which to me is very important. “I rap. I feel comfortable doing that” so you rap, and you give back—be a mentor—because it’s ALL connected and the positive ripples you help create with get back to you. So how can a white boy help diamond educators be more powerful in its work?
http://www.diamondeducators.org
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/06/13/boys_to_mentors/

happy Phoenix has brain...will travel

1. News from the happiness front…
My tv says: “find ‘it’ on E-Bay.” Can I find happiness on ebay? What would it look like? How much would it cost? Probably a lot!…or maybe a little.
Men’s health article: “the new science of happiness”…hmmmm..how do I measure my happiness?

2. “The Cracked Phoenix Flies” ..writing inspiration from cracked glass and a small bird that zoomed over my head as I walked to work today. [[One day, a small bird happened upon a broken phoenix. “what are you doing?” asked the little bird. “I’m feeling a little beaten up.” Said the phoenix. “why do you have cracks?” asked the little bird. “Well,” said the phoenix, “In my world, cracks help to reflect the light that shines on me and allows me to shine back more brightly.” “how exciting!” said the little bird. “Do you have cracks?” asked the phoenix?…]]
more to come later…

3. Hopefully we all have our brain about us somewhere...especially if we ever have to use a machine like this one...

potatoes cause global warming?

1. A guy in a blue shirt (masspirg) tried to get me to give $15/month to support them in their fight against global warming. Well, I told him that I can’t afford that right now. I asked if he had any info I could take with me. He said “no” he didn’t. that’s too bad…that’s how I process information. I think they should have some info people can take with them. And I said this at a moveon gathering, “how does all this abstract stuff about the environment affect me on a daily, concrete level?”..hmmm.. he said that he's expecting government to ration gas this summer..

2. Potatoes in a tub…what will they think of next. How far from nature is this?….VERY far. I read an article in Orion Magazine recently that talks about how humans are becoming more removed from nature by all the processing and packaging of our foods…well potatoes in a tub is about as far removed as I can think of. I didn’t read the ingredients label…and that was probably a good thing.
((well, no picture today...bloggers image tool isn't working:(_))


http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-5om/Berry.html

1. A little writing inspiration…well..it inspires me anyway…
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/364_Sy.pdf
ANNIE DILLARD: “WRITE AS IF YOU WERE DYING.
At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting
solely of terminal patients. That is, after all, the case. What
would you begin writing if you knew you would die soon?
What could you say to a dying person that would not enrageby its triviality?”

2. Leopard says "NO WHINING." the button is from a training I went to...I was impressed..now, to implement the good ideas...training from TRP..."totally responsible person."
www.trpnet.com

Negotiation's whistle is hot with A1

1. Today is a day where I walk outside and sweat...a hot, muggy, dusty day. It must be much cooler on those tree lined streets I rode my bike on over memorial day weekend, than in this concrete jungle of tall buildings called downtown. I dream of trees and water...

2. Someone told me recently, "everything is a negotiation"...well, I can't really agree with that. Mindset like that puts everyone on edge when they are around you...that's how I feel anyway.

3. Whistle while you A1....well, that's what I found in my desk drawers while I was spring cleaning.