: working hard ... or ... hardly working :

... I am not exactly sure what the dynamic is these days, but when I need to be productive, I ain't, but yet I am being productive, just on a totally different scale ( as in ... creativity ).

... so what's with that? maybe my creative juices are starting to flow again? maybe I am in that 50% category, with those who are in the bottom half of the world population when it come to discipline and productivity and all those good things? maybe I'm lazy ... or need structure ( as in office hours, peer pressure, guilt motivation ) to move?

... at any rate, I have been very productive the last few days on all the 'wrong' things some would say. Time will tell.

... maybe this burst of creativity was just what the doctor ordered?

hope so.

dlc

: and another thing ... finally :

subtitle : tim the bailey is back with v.2.0

... by my math-challenged calculations today is the first day of the second half of my transition sabbatical, which technically runs from Feb 1 - June 30 ( 'tho Karen might like it to be sometime in May :)

A long story short, I am helping someone through a pretty significant life shift, and no, it is not me! I have spent ALL of today, literally, on the phone, writing e-mails, putting out fires, generally walking &/or counseling them through the morass ( read: hell ) of a mess. I was having one of those days like Judith Viorst's delightful kid's book ...
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

... then up on FaceBook pops a message titled ... "OK, fine!" ... the content stating "so I'll start it up again, but you're to blame ... T " which kind of made my day. I've been in withdrawal for months now, ever since Tim hit 'blogger's block eons ago with version 1.0 of 'And Another Thing'... which, if you missed totally, you can purchase in book form. I have one, signed by the blogger/author/photographer hisself. He says the things I wish I thought of and had the guts to say.

I will update my 'blogroll to your right, seeing as Tim is no longer MIA, and really encourage you to drop in occasionally to read v.2.0's 'rants, confessions and self-deprecations of a recovering hypocrite' ... although? I do wish T wasn't quite so hard on himself. I really do.

Welcome home, Tim ... we've missed you,

dlc

: logic + emotion = __________ :

... I've mentioned ( and used ) David Armano's Logic+Emotion 'blog graphics before, and I've put another one here, but take a look at his full post here ... the Top 10 Made Up Words of Web 3.0 ... he says "you won't find these in Wikipedia. But someone had to write them down. Inspired by Web jargon and making their first appearence on Twitter, I give you the Top 10 made up words of Web 3.0"

1. Socialstainable

2. Viruseful

3. Scrollax

4. Emotrics

5. Blickroll

6. Intercommunes

7. S'more Locater

8. Twiggles

9. Grokment

10. Facehook


So? this is from a guy who seems to me to be merging, in a good way, two streams of thinking and creativity. Business and Arts/Design. What say you?

dlc

: ever wonder where aol went :

... once upon a time I had more AOL e-mail addresses in my address book than anything else. I've wondered a number of times whatever happened to AOL, besides going AWOL?

In the '90's and early '00's AOL literally carpet-bombed North American cities with free installation disks in the mail. Now I can't find a single myaddressis@aol.com in recent years in my in-box, not even my mother-in-law.

Well, the answer may be here, in a FastCompany article. As Jim Collins would say ... "maybe they forgot to confront the brutal facts?"

dlc

ps. www.jordoncooper.com beat me to posting this, so thought I'd better catch up. Sorry for the long, pasted in link below ... every time I want to do this I remember that I haven't mastered how! I 'think' the link aboveis working ... if not ... here it is :

www.fastcompany.com/magazine/124/dead-man-walking.html

: i are a weakly, oops, weekly 'blogger :

... not quite sure exactly how I hit this stride of about 1.15 posts per week, but I have. I wonder how all those uber-creative 'bloggers do it? and to think, I was pressuring TBailey back into the 'sphere. Sorry, Tim. I think I understand your reticence to re-commit.

dlc

ps. I've really been enjoying a 'blog by David Armano @ Critical Mass in Chicago ( but HQ is in Calgary ). If you have a minute ( or 60 ) sometime, take a look around his 'blog. His graphic renditions of his ideas are worth their weight in gold, if you ask me, a visual learner. This recent post ties into the above discussion. Also, here is an example of his graphic work ...

: courage and calling :

... I am realizing that I am going to have to categorize or classify my favourite &/or most influential books somehow. I've found myself in the last few weeks referring to at least 4 or 5 different books as my 'favourite' ... which can't really be, can it?

Anyhow, one of my favourites the last several years has been Gordon Smith's 'Courage & Calling' ... I came across it when Smith was teaching and dean of students at Regent College.

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with 2 staff leaders at 2 different homeless shelters on the mainland. One was the director at Lookout Homeless Society's Yukon & 5th Street facility, about 6-8 blocks south of Vancouver's infamous DTES ( Down Town East Side ). The other was a shift leader at Hyland House in Surrey, the residential arm of OPTIONS Community Services.

At some point in each conversation both communicated to us that they loved their jobs. I am thinking ... "wow, that's no small feat". So I got to thinking about it, and Dr. Smith's book came to mind ... and I realized again ... when that combination of calling, partnered with courage, actually intersect? Some profound things can happen. Here's a blip off the book jacket ...

"God has called you -- first to himself, to know and follow him but also to a specific life purpose, a particular reason for being.

This second call, to a defining purpose or mission in life, is often termed a vocation, from the Latin root meaning "calling." And while it has implications for your work or occupation, it also reaches wider. It includes your giftedness, your weakness, your life in community, what you do day to day. In this book, you are invited to discover your vocation by listening to God and becoming a coworker with him."

Hmmm,

dlc

: every little thing you do is tragic :

... wow, another week blew by. I find myself making those novice or rookie 'blogger excuses ... I was busy. I was sick. I was at a 3 day intensive course. Bottomline? I wasn't inspired yet. Anyhow, as I said in a recent post, inspiration comes to me in various, weird forms. So bear with me on this one. It is in the sad, reflective camp, not dry, funny or remotely uplifting.

I was driving down Cook Street yesterday on my way to a funeral for a guy I had met maybe 4-5 years ago. His dad is a friend of mine, in a 70-something to 40-something kind of way. When I met him he was maybe late 30's, and had a life of drugs, jail, and heartbreak, but he was trying. Trying to dig out, climb up, climb out, whatever. I remember him telling me he was on methadone ( check wikipedia ), up to 3x a day, to combat &/or counteract his addictive dependencies. Finally, it all caught up with him and last week he overdosed, accidentally.

But back to Cook Street. On the radio, which is almost always just background noise when I am driving, was Matchbox Twenty's song Disease. What do I know? I thought they sounded like Carlos Santana. One line jumped out at me ... seemed like a take off on Sting's line in the Police's 1981 song "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic".

In MB20's Disease it is ... "every little thing you do is tragic". What a line to hear headed to the funeral of a 42 year old addict. When I got home I checked the lyrics, and they look to be written about a girl, although somewhere in the 'blogosphere someone said it was about kicking cigarettes? I'll include the lyrics and a link to the video below ... pretty sad.

In this case the application to a mistress, heroin, is real. Truly, every little thing addictions do is tragic.

I imagine if you haven't been there, you cannot understand? I can't.

dlc

ps. you can listen/watch the 'Disease' YouTube video here.

Not sure if it make sense, lyrics + video = ??? but hey ...

*******************************

Matchbox Twenty - Disease

Feels like you made a mistake
You made somebody's heart break
But now I have to let you go
I have to let you go

You left a stain
On every one of my good days
But I am stronger than you know
I have to let you go

No one's ever turned you over
No one's tried
To ever let you down,
Beautiful girl
Bless your heart

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease

Feels like you're making a mess
You're hell on wheels in a black dress
You drove me to the fire
And left me there to burn

Every little thing you do is tragic
All my life, oh was magic
Beautiful girl
I can't breathe

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease
I think that I'm sick
But leave me be while my world is coming down on me
You taste like honey, honey
Tell me can I be your honey
Be, be strong
Keep telling myself it that won't take long till
I'm free of my disease

Yeah well free of my disease
Free of my disease

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease

I think that I'm sick
But leave me be while my world is coming down on me
You taste like honey, honey
Tell me can I be your honey
Be, be strong
Keep telling myself it that won't take long till
I'm free of my disease
Yeah well free of my disease
Free of my disease

****************************