Go Underground With Shakerleg

Thanks to Liz Strauss at Successful Blogger and Director Thomas R. Clifford for this video of Shakerleg, the Underground Street Performer. This guy loves what he does. I sense a natural performer who shares his love of his craft. This is exactly what writers do as well. We share our thoughts and a part of our soul.

I am loving this blogging community I have fallen into.

What is it about the rhythmic sound of a drum that begins way down deep in your belly and transforms your entire soul as your body sways and gyrates in motion? Is it our primeval heritage? Listen to the drums. They tell the story.

The first time I witnessed a Cherokee Indian Rain Dance, I almost went into a trance. Not to mention I am proudly one-eighth Cherokee.

Anyway, enjoy the video. Personally, I want more of it. Thank you again Thomas R. Clifford and Liz Strauss.

Write it down,
Karma

Four Legs And An Interview

I have learned that it is always wise to interview a potential client before you hire them. Anne Wayman over at The Golden Pencil commented on how to handle interviews with clients on March 19. I used Rocky's experience to demonstrate that this theory is good in all areas of our lives.

This is my dog Rocky. Legally his name is Rocky II and he is two years old. My husband and I adopted him from a rescue shelter when he was about four months old.

The shelter told us he was a cross between a Labrador Retriever and an Akita. I love the looks of an Akita and almost looked for one, but I settled for half of an Akita.

If you can see half of an Akita in that face then your eyes are better than mine. I must admit I have never had a Labrador Retriever either. Well, I have discovered that Rocky is neither one. There must have been a third party around when he was conceived.

As expected, Rocky immediately bonded with my husband and I and my toddler grandchildren. However, Rocky decided that his bonding duties ended with us. Rocky is afraid of people. It was evident that Rocky was in sore need of some type of training.

I interviewed a trainer from Bark Busters, a dog training franchise. The local franchise in our area advertised they employed an advanced training method which guaranteed the successful training of any breed of dog or they would give you a free session.

When the trainer arrived to demonstrate his advanced dog training method, I thought it was unusal that the trainer began to growl (explaining to me he was speaking Rocky's language). He threw a short piece of link chain on the floor near Rocky with a loud hacking, ack, ack, gutteral sound, akin to clearing your throat before you spit. I began to have second thoughts.

This interview wasn't going too well since Rocky had by that time retreated to his crate. After 30 minutes of coaxing and pleading, the trainer conceded that he and Rocky had obvioulsy got off on the wrong foot. Rocky had a definite advantage with four feet. The idea was for the trainer to leave the house and come back in to start all over.

The minute the trainer went out the door, I noticed his briefcase still sitting next to the chair directly in front of Rocky's crate. I was not the only one in the room who noticed this.

In comes the trainer. Rocky feels secure in his crate and the trainer feels secure in peering into the crate until the growl (Rocky's, not the trainer's). The trainer never did offer me a free training session. I guess he was too much in a hurry to leave.

I love Rocky and his four legs help keep me in shape when we walk to the park and I can feel confident that he will not try to attack anyone.

Is it your practice to interview potential clients? Or do you think they should interview you? I guess it works both ways.

(Disclaimer. I am sure Bark Busters is a fine business. It just was not a fit for me and Rocky)

Write it down,

Karma

What's Your Motivation?

Today I was surfing blogs and I got sort of lost in the blogosphere where so much rich content is available to us. It is impossible, for me anyway, not to click on relevant links in a blog post. If there is any negativity associated with blogging this would be it, but there is nothing negative in helping other people as these links do.

For example Roger at Creative Think, made me think. (That’s a no brainer), but it is not that I thought-- it is that Roger accomplished his purpose which is to engage in a conversation with his readers. Roger invites us to read Tom Haskins post about Different Motivations for blogging. Tom sums up our motives in his concluding paragraph.

Different motives for blogging yield different impacts on the rest of us. Some blogs reflect a consistent motive while others change character often. There are some indications of bloggers evolving from base motivations to higher motives. These possible progressions lend to blogs making bigger and better differences in the world.

Next I go over to visit Suzanne Lieurance at The Lieurance Group where she reminds us of the wonderful world of information at our fingertips every day. For example if you are tired of using the old cliché and they are making your writing boring check out Cliché Finder or if you need a jump start when you are drawing a blank, go to 11 Rules of writing.

My next stop is at Design Your Writing Life, where Lisa Gates is inviting us to pass the SOAP and scratch each others back. Now, I thought blogging was a family affair. Well, we are a family filled with caring and helpful people and this is what I am finding on each and every blog I go to.

My perspective of blogging has undergone quite a change since I became a blogger, but I will reserve that observation for another day.

If you have watched enough Law and Order as I have, you would know that motive is usually considered a negative word. So let's use motive in a positive way this week. What is your motive for writing?

My motive is to express myself intelligently. Also, writing will give me the opportunity to think before I speak. Have you ever written in anger or even excitement and after the words simmer down a little you go back to read them but they don't have the same tone?

Write it down,
Karma

Hooray! So You Got Yourself a Harley

This is what I said to my husband when he came home on a brand new Harley Davidson Soft Tail. Up to this point in my life, my relationship with motorcycles was one of afar. I was not looking forward to climbing on the back of this 600 pound over exaggerated, motorized two-wheel scooter, which is capable of traveling at the rate of 100 mph or more. But safety precautions have been established and presumably it is safer to ride motorcycles than before.

Under the direction of our esteemed California law makers, it is mandated that all motorcycle riders and passengers wear a helmet in order to be protected from head injuries. The helmet law surpasses the absence of a seat belt law for motorcycle riders. This thought occurred to me one day, as the bike hit a pot hole and I rose 6 inches in the air while shrieking, I could fall off of this thing! My life span shortened dramatically.

The handle bars on a motorcycle serve a three-fold function, 1) the driver can guide the bike and 2) the driver can balance and hold on to the bike, 3) the driver can apply the brakes. While there are no such accessories for the passenger, (except to hold on to the driver, who at any given moment could be thrown over the handle bars) there is an optional add-on called the sissy bar. This piece of equipment is attached on the top of the back seat and is about 8 inches wide and 10 inches tall with a padded pouch that will fit just in the small of the passenger’s back, when leaned upon to give support to the passenger. Instead of flipping backwards into oncoming traffic, I guess it is better to flip sideways onto the side of the road.

This strengthens my case for seat belts on motorcycles. They strap down their packages and bed rolls, don't they?

It is not my purpose to take the fun out of riding motorcycles. Riding motorcycles can induce a sense of liberation, with the wind in your face and being outdoors in tune with nature, not to mention the camaraderie between bikers. When you ride a bike you are no longer a stranger. In a sense, riding a Harley is like writing on a blog. There are no strangers.

This action falls in line with risk taking. What kinds of risks are you willing to take for fun? As you get older do your risk taking days decline? Come on, live a little. But that’s the crux isn’t it?

Write it down,
Karma

Is Your Mortality Speaking?

Inspiration comes when you least expect it. It pops in on me like a surprise and a welcome guest. C. Hope Clark (Funds For Writers) posted on March 11 poignantly stating:

“For years we think we have forever. And we waste it. I don’t think I wasted too terribly much, but that doesn’t mean I need to start now or even slow down. I’m a writer…and no one can write the same words in the same way I can. If I take that with me undone, what have I accomplished?”

Recently I received a letter from my local gym. Congratulations! Your birthday qualifies you for our low senior citizen rates……...I don’t feel any different, then again, my wrinkles are doing more than just smiling back at me lately.

Once you reach the age of eligibility for the senior discount at the local Smorgasbord; as I have, these thoughts begin to plague you. I say it’s time to get busy. It’s crunch time. Don’t wait until you are handed the 10% discount card.

All of this means I need to write…I need to get busy. What about you? I know you are busy, but what kind of busy? We are all unique. Our writing is like a fingerprint. Grab your star while you have the ability.

Write it down,

Karma

Spring Forward but Don't Step in the Pot Hole

A pot hole could be figuratively or literally. What are your pot holes? Have you joined a gym lately or have you begun an exercise routine? Why not? Maybe the following scenario will shed some light on that question.

You know you have seen her. Over there in the corner. The thin, trim, svelte gym-jogger with the sweat stained bathroom hand towel covering the entire treadmill monitor as she treks on with nary a bead of sweat on her botoxed brow.

Not to be intimidated you quickly find an empty treadmill far away from the corner. Eyes focused straight ahead, (you almost wish you had blinders on, the kind they put on horses who pull the carriages around the park) You begin to tread away next to someone who seems to be treading a zillion miles an hour faster than you. Slyly, (lifting up one corner of your blinders) you glance from the corner of your eye (You know what I am talking about ) hoping you are not caught looking. Aha! Just as you expected. The monitor shouts 4.0! The 15 minute mile. Yikes!

In a split second you check to see if anyone is glancing at your measly 3.0. In other words the 20 min mile. Suddenly you feel like a fraud, or worse, like a horse. I mean, who does a 20 min mile on the treadmill at a gym? Certainly not the buffed 30 something who is pounding the treadmill pavement to your left and certainly not the super fit senior citizen to your right who is hanging on for dear life with both hands on the railing. Did I see a 4.0? But there is good news. No one cares!

Can you surpass all this self-induced humiliation and do your exercise outdoors? Perhaps. The main point here is to do cardiovascular exercise. At least for the required 12 minutes to actually work up to your required heart rate; hold it for the requisite 12 minutes, then cool down for 12 minutes. Can you give yourself 36 minutes a day?

What does this have to do with writing? Everything. Exercise stimulates the brain and it is better than standing on your head to grab for those ideas.

Write it down, (or should I say upside down)

Karma

Group Think

I think group think is dangerous. It takes all the fun out of being creative.

From the time a child is 5 years old until they turn, let's say, 11, their mind is like an explosive confetti factory. Ideas and thoughts are everywhere and non stop with all colors. Woe be unto the human who will try to squash this energy.

If you want to be fresh again, spend some time with a 5 or 6 year old and see the world through their eyes. Before it is too late for you or them.

Write it down,
Karma