Category Archives: Random Musings

Ideas, comments, blurbings, etc that don’t go any where else.

Random Musings

The Most Terrible Of Days

I love animals, especially dogs. I grew up with dogs and we have a few. Not long after my wife and I got married we rescued a dog from the local shelter. We named her Woflie (eventually to morph into Woofie), made a donation for free obedience lessons and my wife and she went. She was a smart little dog and caught on very quickly.

Woofie is gone now. So is Adam. And Jake. And Maggie. Our current dog Snuggles, is 16 and getting quite old. Today though, isn’t about her. It is about Toby.

Last fall we had to put two dogs down. One was an old Shepherd/Collie mix that we had kept as a favor to a co-worker of my wife’s. A year later, he was getting bad quickly and it was his time. A month later and our old dog Maggie stopped eating. She was about 14 and everything was shutting down. I still cry when I think of that day in November when I said goodbye to her for the last time.

Back in February, there was a stray running around our neighborhood. Having one old dog, I was looking forward to being without one. The kids wanted to keep this dog and we did. My daughter named him Toby. We have no idea how old he is. Sometimes he is the sweetest dog around, the next moment he is snapping at you, biting.

We had him fixed. He still chews, pees in the house, snaps at people. We tried to train him. Some days were better than others. One day, he chewed some prized possessions of my daughter’s. She started to not like him.

The good got better and the bad got worse. He chewed more of her things. Now she really hated him. He chewed things from everyone. We got him toys. We played fetch with him. Some days good, others bad, very bad. He puked in the house. Peed. And pooped. We took him out more. Gave him less water. Nothing really changed.

Today we had to take him to the most depressing place on the planet, the local SPCA shelter. A place I once took a stray I kept for too long in 1992 and swore I would never take another dog. I was sick. I cried. I do miss him.

Toby, please be a good dog and get a home. You can be such a good boy when you try. Out there is a 9 year old boy who needs a dog to play fetch. Let him find you.

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Random Musings

Out, out, ideas!

There are few things more annoying than great blog posts that come through my head while driving and are gone long before I am near anything with a keyboard. Oh come on!

This month is off to a very good start. The video challenge is bringing new ideas and techniques to the forefront. Postings will soon be made tagged as part of the challenge. Come on and join the fun.

Blogging is a dance betwixt art and science. The latter being the subject, the former being how it gets presented. It is an exercise in delivering well read content, captivating the audience and pulling the reader along to the next point. It is a great way to express yourself and be heard.

Blog on.

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Random Musings

June 2012 video challenge…finally….

It is finally up. The video everyone has been waiting for. The video announcing the June 2010…I mean 2012 video challenge. So, it is time to embed it right here:

Yeah, that’s right. It is time to get out and make some videos. Time to expand your horizons and learn something new and do something exciting. Everyday, challenge yourself in new ways. Everyday, something different.

Go out. Have fun. Be creative. Forget subjects. Make videos. Too many people concentrate on their message too much to the point it is lost. Forget the message for a month and make videos. Any kind of video.

The rules, such as they are, have been previously posted. Read them. All four of them and get creative! The month of June awaits.

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Random Musings

Announcing a new video challenge

Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

It is time for something different. It is time to push the boundaries of our experiences. It is time to get out of our comfort zones. It is time for a video challenge. It is time for the June 2012, Video Challenge!

There have been other challenges on YouTube. Some were to make a video a day. Others to shoot twice a week. Some were on a give topic: photography, marketing, introductions, etc. Others had none. This challenge needs to be something different. Something not yet seen. Something real.

Today I did shoot the video announcing the challenge and it will get created and posted. Here is the announcing blog post. What better place than a blog about the future? What are the rules, you ask? They are quite simple.

Rules for the challenge

  1. Have fun – above anything, before everything, have fun making your videos.
  2. Do anything – make a video about cheese, make one showing the wind, it doesn’t matter. Make what ever you want. Capture motion, computer generated, PowerPoint screen capture, it doesn’t matter.
  3. Get out of your box – do something you’ve never done before, go somewhere you’ve never been. Usually make videos inside? Go out? Like the outdoors, do one in the city. Use new techniques and ideas. Explore. Expand.
  4. Runs to the end of June, 2012

That’s it, other than the YouTube guidelines, of course. Post one a day or six. Post as much and as little as you like. It doesn’t matter. The whole point of the challenge is to get out there and go stuff.

Ready. Set. Go!

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Business, Random Musings

Do You Trust Me?

Trust. It is such a simple word. It is one that puts you in the middle. It is a feeling. It is emotional. It is hard to gain and easy to lose. It is a part of being human.

What is trust? Why do we trust some people and not others? What are the qualities that allow us to trust?

The ability to trust lies in the inner portion of the brain. It is emotionally based and has no capacity for language. It leads us to trust people based on a common ground. It is communities that build trust. Neighbors open to one another, leading to help. This human interaction is the seed that grows to trust.

Do you trust me?

We humans long for interaction with others. Video conferences do not fully replace this interaction. The eye-to-eye and hand-to-hand contact is a part of who we are. It is how we build trust.

Trust is integral to human beings. They have to exist or we get more disconnected and more self-centered. Trust is about interactions. It is interactions. No matter the level of experience another may have in what we seek, if there is no trust, there is no relationship.

Trust allows us to take bold steps. It allows us to build great things. Great works. Great wonders. Trust is forged in the heat of battle and the most tender of moments. It breaths and moves. It endures.

Do you trust me?

The start toward trust harbors in the Why of others. When you know why someone does what they do; what drives them to continue; how deep their level of commitment, it is far easier to trust them. You have their motivation. You know there is nothing hidden.

Secrets breed mistrust. Lies add fuel. Openness brings light. Trust only grows in the light. Darkness will surely kill trust. Once dead, it can be nearly impossible to revive.

Do you trust me?

I do what I do because of my Why. I long to empower people. I find joy in watching others discover their dreams, realize their goals, max their potential. Without trust, no one will allow me to know them well enough to help them.

I can help people change their lives. I cannot change it for them. They must walk the path, but knowing someone they trust is behind them will help.

Think back to that first bicycle ride without the training wheels. Was someone holding the seat? Did they run along until you had enough speed to stay steady? How did it feel when you looked back and they were no longer holding the seat? How did it feel when you saw the smile on their face as you achieved? What was it like when it was your turn to hold the seat? That feeling is trust?

Without trust, there is no community. Without community, there is no society. Trust is the very thread that holds us all together. In its absence, insanity rules. Arbitrary laws get passed when people no longer trust one another to do the right thing. Regulations run amuck and the largest gun wins.

Without trust, people are suspicious of others. Without trust, travel becomes more burdensome. People watch one another and quickly turn to authoritarian leaders for protection. No one is safe. All feel uneasy.

It is time to rebuild trust. Time to reconnect with one another. Time to reach out your hand and say hello. It is time to be known by your neighbors and understand each other. It is time for openness and warmth. Let the light in. Build trust.

Do you trust me?

Random Musings

Change is in the Air

Gone too long from posting and inventing videos for changing people’s lives, the time has come to return to the text. So much to cover and the time will come one day at a time.

As I’ve made these videos, I’ve been using my name as the default domain. At the moment, this is pushing to my main business website. While this is good for advertising, it is not good in developing a dialog with viewers. It has become obvious that refocusing is required, but on what?

The videos are outreach, this blog should be the main focus. Ergo, change is in the air.

Oh no!!! Change!?!!?!????? Isn’t that an empty political promise from candidates? Yeah, from the Democrats yes, but not here.

What kind of change is in the air??

The change is quite simple, my name domain is moving here. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Once the business sites have been redone, my named domain will forward to the road to the future. Yeah, this is the place!!!

More advice. More talk. More helpful information. It will be great!