Editorial Note:

I am not a very intentional writer. No matter how much of a plan I may have before I sit down to write, I very rarely seem able to finish the planned piece. What I have when I hit the publish button is something that sometimes seems related to my original plan and other times seems like the flip side of the coin.

Then there are the ones that just go completely off the rails and write themselves. That also accounts for my randomness in how and when I publish. Something that I am trying to improve upon. I am not very good at writing for a deadline, even my own. I can not write on command, I have to feel it. I have to feel the need to write, which means that I also have to feel like the words need to be said. No only that, they need to be said in the way that I would say them.


Which, yes, I know, is at odds with the fact that I seem to almost never finish the original planned article. Thus, how can I have to feel the need to write and or the need to speak some thought or opinion or idea my way, if I know that the chances are very good that I will not wholly or entirely, if at all, speak them myself.


I guess that is where trust comes in.
Trust in my muse.
Trust in my emotions.
Trust in my feeling/instinct.
Trust in my process.

The challenge is in trusting all those things and still being able to actually be heard. Heard in a world that is altogether too noisy to begin with. Heard in a world that seems to be more interested in insignificant noise. Heard in a world that hears but doesn't listen. Heard at all.

As part of over-coming these challenges and more, I am trying to be more intentional in my writing while still listening to my feel the need voice and allowing the randomness the flow it needs. The hope is that by opening myself up more with my writing that it will increase the need and that the increased need will result in more content to provide less randomness in the when future articles publish.

Another step in over-coming challenges, was the seed of my own thought, in turn watered and nurtured into a seedling by my amazing, loving, supportive partner. I have written in some form for almost 15 years. I began my journey when a friend, K, tried to encourage me to write a book on current political and cultural issues of the time. I was in NO way ready to write a book. I did not believe in myself or my voice at the time. But, I believed in K, so I decided that I would try my hand at blogging.

Thus, politics and current news items of interest around the world were my first topics that I felt needed my voice. It was my belief that it was the duty and responsibility of each citizen to know and understand every thing that Our Country was engaging in around the world in Our Name. It was and is my opinion that as citizens that we have forgotten that governments should be limited in scope for the sake of freedom and that NO government should be so big as to not be answerable to their rightful bosses, the people served by said government. We also seem to have forgotten that we can not have freedom and a full-service government that tells us every little thing we can and cannot do.

However, what I learned over the years was that most people do not want real freedom, as that requires self-sufficiency, as well as, self-accountability. Freedom or free will comes with the price of living with the choices that you make. So I shifted my topics as I realized that I seemed to be the only one caring about all the wrongs in the world and all the erosion of our freedoms and rights happening daily in the name of safety. In addition, my personal life fell apart in a very damaging way.

I lost myself and all that I had built inside me from K's encouragement. When it was hard enough to hold things together every day, finding time to write was impossible. Add to that, it became self-torture for me to sit down to write pieces about the current state of the nation and the world, which seemed to be as broken and disheartened as I was.

But, I had discovered that writing did give me a certain sense of satisfaction and pride; in addition, I wasn't half bad at it, either. So, what do I do about it? For awhile, I did nothing. Life and time went on, then I was blessed to meet D. In him, I found someone that I could be comfortable around and that I could trust. Not only that, but D encouraged me to open up and share things that I had not before. See I am a nerd at heart, but I was raised and surrounded by more of the warrior, action-hero in the flesh types, not that I could not hang with them as it went. With D, he actually showed sincere interest in my random nerdiness.

So back to what to do about my desire to write again...with D's support, and having time I took a chance to share my random nerdiness passion with the world. What is my random nerdiness passion? In very general terms it is history. The older the better and all the topics that go with it! And of course I had been writing some personal pieces as well here. What that meant was that I was up to 3 blogs! Which has recently become 4! (Want to know #4 check out Linux For You And I.)

My varied and random interests and life caused me to have feast and famine cycles with my writing and splitting that 3 ways meant that each area was shamefully neglected. The neglect was such that I felt like the best thing would be to give up my writing lock stock and barrel. And I really did try, more than once, more than twice, more than that. But each time that I did, it eventually would feel wrong, or more I would feel that old have to need again.

That is where the seed to try to link all my writings together more germinated. Yet, it was D that took my little seed and gave me a seedling. And as with any beautiful, amazing grand oak, it will take time and sun and rain and love and patience to get there. Where is there? It is ONE place for all of my writing. ONE place to have all my topics for everyone's views. I hope that putting all my old blogs (and D's couple too) in one place that it will make things easier for you to find and enjoy as well as helping me be more intentional in my writing life.

It will happen in steps. Steps that I will take in full view. We will become Random Thought and we will have a new home for everything. We will have a more professional look and higher quality content.

Birthday Bogus

So last week was B's birthday. I have to admit that I am not big on birthdays; I do try to do my best to do something special for those I love on their special day, but, I also try to make sure that I respect the fact that it is their special day and so if they would prefer to spend it with others or alone or doing something else with someone else, then I step back.
 I also tend to be the one that no one knows for sure, if at all, when my birthday is. It is not information that I tend to share with others. Personally, I do not see the need. I have no desire to obligate others to behave in some socially dictated way on a specific day towards me that they would have no desire to do on any ordinary day.

Thus, those that know me, know that "no one knows my birthday", not even most family, the plus side is that no one tends to know my age either, not for sure anyway. The plus there is more of a double edged sword, people treat you either by the age they think you are based on their view of you or they treat you the age they assume people must be to have reached or accomplished certain milestones in life. Thus, there are some that would probably be very surprised to know my age is so "high" or "low" depending on their point of view.

Here's my issue with society being so focused on birthdays and ages. Birthdays are used to market more consumerism to people. Society implies that we are supposed to party it up on our birthday. Society also stresses the importance of buying and giving gifts on birthdays. In addition, as the numbers increase with each of these celebrations, we are judged by societal milestone beliefs.

You are expected to get your driver's license on your 16th celebration and there will be questions if you do not.
A lot is made of one's 18th celebration as well....on that one you are supposed to have the rest of your life planned out.
For your 21st, it is all about being able to legally drink!
Wait a minute, this is your 30th and you are single with no kids?!?!
What is wrong with you??? What are you waiting for??? You do know that your life is over with, right?
Just wait, now it's your 40th and you are either still single or you a got married to get everyone off your back, so they would think that you really are successful or a normal adult! And that worked so well, that you are now one of the "normal" divorced "middle-agers"!

Usually between that dreaded 40th and or 50th, most people have been judged so much that they question everything about themselves and enter that proverbial "mid-life crisis"! Everyone and their mother has been telling "you" how to live your life and what you should do and what makes you happy so much so, that usually depending on the "you" that you are,
you lose it!

You snap! 

You rebel!

And you start looking for things that actually make you happy or truly excite you and these things make others mad or crazy or upset, but you don't care, cause you have spent the last "lifetime" caring too much about what others think and even actually believing them that they know best or better or even that they know you, for that matter!
But No More!

What's the point?
You spent so much energy trying to be part of the rat race.
Worse you have made yourself unhealthy by trying to win a race that is designed to keep you always in the back of the pack.
And now at that time in your life when you should be able to reflect on your accomplishments and take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, you are stressing about how you will cover the costs of your retirement, at this point you are well aware of the fact that none of the things that you gave the best of your life to are giving any of it back to you.

Your parents and grandparents worked the same job for their whole 'careers' and for their loyalty they got a decent retirement and were able to enjoy their golden years. Then those companies that were built on that loyalty, decided that it was the 'share-holders' and not the workers that made the company. The truth was lost to the profit margin! Dividends became the focus instead of the product or service that the company supposedly provided. So much so that we have companies today that make billions and they produce nothing, they sell nothing, they provide no service, yet they make billions. And the workers, they cannot even count on being able to retire, while trust-fund brats from share-holder robbery have never known a day of labor their whole lives.

And there's your life!
There is where all those "birthdays" got you!
"Another day older and deeper in debt."



Photo Credit: animatedimages.org

Today Wasn't It

So what do you do when your head hurts too much for you to focus on writing?!?!
If you are me, today.....you Bake!!!

Like a lot of people I suffer from a couple different types of headaches. During season changes I can get sinus headaches from my allergies and I also suffer from migraines.
If you are a fellow migraine suffer then you know that you can actually have what I refer to as levels of migraines....usually, two of them...the ones that you can try to ignore and work through, but you really aren't...and the full-blown ones, that put you in the quietest, darkest place you can find curled up in a ball, hoping for sleep to cover up the pain and outlast the attack so that you can wake-up and pretend it didn't happen and hopefully not miss too much in the day or two that you were hiding!

So, today, for me, is one of those days where the pain isn't enough to make me hide away, but, it is the constant pain that is enough to keep me from being able to focus on anything truly mental. Partly, cause while light and sound is not unbearable it is unpleasant to say the least; thus, staring at a computer screen to write is more than I truly want to endure.  For example this article has taken me several starts and stops, as well as, straight-up breaks and we are only 3 paragraphs in. But, it isn't only the light of the screen that is an issue, it is that the pain in my brain causes it to just stop thinking. I can be in the middle of writing and it just stops, the thought(s) is gone and nothing replaces it. Neither is good for writing or meeting a deadline!

At least we have Triple Chocolate Muffins to console us! Or so I am claiming. I mean we do have them and I am using it to console myself for not starting on the next article for Random Thought, but, I will still need to catch-up in the next 36 hours. Such is the life of migraine sufferers.

And we all find ways to deal with our own issues and quirks and that is a good thing. Sometimes, it can be hard to remember that we all have our own quirks from dealing with our own issues and thus we are not always so ready to make allowances for others, mostly cause we do not stop to think that maybe this is their quirk, we just assume that others are "normal", whatever that is and have no quirks cause they have no issues. But, we all have own issues!


Photo Credit: Cassi Merten

New Things For A New Year-You-Life

With the New Year, there are lots of opportunities to start new things and or to restart old things and or to change old things into something new. Currently, I am in the process of doing all three.

First, as you know, I am changing this old blog into something different if not new. I am going to be more open about posts and in doing so maybe provide insight and company where it night not have existed before and enrich it where it was a faint glimmer already.

Secondly, I am rebranding, in a manner of speaking my blog and podcast that focuses on ancient history and other topics that I feel are closely related to my interests in ancient history. That is a slower work in progress. I am still sorting out the hows and whats and whens and wheres. Taking it slow is okay, as the saying goes any step forward is still forward movement.

Lastly, kinda, sort-of, maybe......is the starting of a new blog in the tech area, but for ordinary people and the studying of or improvement of a natural skill set to possibly lead to a new professional adventure. As well as a couple more personal 'new' adventures, which I will share at a later date.

Each of us can take each new beginning, whether it be a New Year or new circumstances in life or just a new week or day and make it our new thing, whatever we want that to be. No matter our age or experience or circumstance, we all have the power to make changes, however small they might be at first, that will lead to new things and give us the ability to make more changes leading to more new things.

There are lots of little things that can lead to big changes in our lives that we do have power over. We may not be able to buy the house we want to day, but, we can make a change in the house we have to make it feel new or different. Something that we can all do in that regard is to donate or throw away or sell the things that no longer benefit us. Another easy way to feel like our space is new, is to simply rearrange the things that we have to create a different point of view or flow of energy.

You might be thinking how can that benefit me on a larger scale. Well, having fewer things and letting go of the things that no longer benefit us actually lighten our mental and emotional loads and thus can greatly improve our physical loads, both figuratively and literally. In addition, giving ourselves a new perspective or flow can continue the impact beyond our room or home out into the real world or at least into our outside worlds.

Make very small changes in how you engage the world around you. Take one whole second when you step outside to just stop and breathe in deeply. And then continue one your day. Or take a few extra seconds to just look at the world around you and really see it. This simple gesture will make you more aware of your surroundings and more present in each moment.

Park an extra row out or get off the bus or sub one stop early or ditch the cab one block away and walk those extra steps. Walking provides many benefits to all parts of our self. And will expand our world and provide us with more opportunities and experiences. We might meet new people, find new shops or cafes, see new environments. We will learn something more about places we frequent or work or live by seeing past just their part in our lives and seeing them in their place in their world.

Put your phone on silent or do not disturb for a half an hour or even a whole hour and do something or nothing that does not require that addiction to your phone. Just sit on a park bench or take a nap or go for a walk or read a real book or doodle on real paper with a real pen or pen a real letter. All these things require us to engage different parts of our brain and our bodies and require different muscles and coordination be used to accomplish.

If you pick even just one of these things to accomplish, you will see a much larger difference in your life and world that you can imagine and that will lead to other changes and improvements.

Yes, it can be hard to make even the smallest change, but remember, nothing great comes without some risk and courage. Be we all have that courage to take the risk in us, we just have to dig down into the core of our soul and find it. And take each step, one step at a time. And be proud of each step that you take.

If you have to lighten you load by only letting go of one thing at a time, that is fine, you are still letting go. If you can only walk one extra parking spot, instead of a whole row, fine that is still 10 extra feet. And you can get to a whole row, one spot at a time. And ask for a partner in this. Ask a living companion to also let go and or help you let go. Ask a co worker to walk that extra stop or block with you. Ask friend or family member to be the "no phone" time with you.

Don't worry about doing it The Right Way, however, you accomplish it is YOUR Right Way!


Photo Credit:    Chicago Agent Magazine
                        Olivia and Poppy Wallpaper

It's Okay To Be Okay With Saying No

So I have this, usually not very good for me, habit that I am trying to work on reining in some. And today, I did manage, with the help of my totally amazing and completely supportive partner, to make the choice to not save the world by killing myself and more importantly, being okay with the choice.

See, I think sometimes when we are trying to change or balance some aspect of ourselves, what makes the changes so hard is not the logic or reason behind needing to change, nor is it always about making and following through with the choice. Most of the times what sabotages us is the emotional weight after making and or following through with the better choice.

It is that emotional weight that prevents us from staying the course of making the change that will eventually make us happier and healthier. And while it is not really ourselves not wanting what is best for us, it is about the habit or normalness of what we have been doing for so long to not risk being unhappy because others are unhappy with us.

From birth we have all the outsiders that tell us what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, and even what is best for us. In addition some of these people constantly convince us to change our minds by manipulating us into believing that they know more or better what will make us happier and better people.  Most of the time they are not right, at least not completely and sometimes they are flat out wrong. Now, I am not blaming our loved ones for being bad or mean or anything negative. In most cases, they are merely following the example that they grew up with. Their thought process is that it is the adults' job to tell the child what to do and how to do and even why to do' in addition, a lot of times they are also telling the child how to feel about things. And that is the grossest error!

The result is that we grow up and some of us still allow everyone else to tell us how we feel and what we should do to make others happy and how that will supposedly make us happy. The reality is that most of the time it doesn't make us happy at all, it usually makes us very unhappy.

In general, I think that we are all generous souls. We are after all a very social pack animal. It is one of the reasons that dog is man's best friend, we are both pack animals and we, at our core, rely on that packness for everything. Thus, I do not think that we need to tell each other how much to give in order to be happy and instead we need to accept what others are willing and able to give and be grateful. And we need to be able to do and give what we are able to in the way that is best for us and others accept that from us.

We need to allow ourselves and others to say No! and we need to be okay and even happy with ourselves and each other when we say No. We need to, also, understand and accept that a single No or even a dozen Noes is not the end of the world. Nor does saying No once or twice or a dozen times make us a bad person.

It really is okay to be okay with saying No.




Photo Credit: tinybuddha.com

Ooo, Let's Try Something New!

I know that I have not posted much over the last who knows how long, but maybe that should change! I think that it is time to get back in the swing of things and even to try some new things! Those of you that do know me, know that I do have other blogs of different topics and no, I have not been active on them either; again, let's see about changing things!

So what do I mean, change things, I mean to do different things and see where they lead us. I have tried to keep this area personal, however due to me being a private person, I have been very specific about what I have shared here. Maybe, it is time for something of a change. No, I will not suddenly start reveling ALL, just being more balanced in sharing different parts of my world, so that there is a more complete image.

What that means is that some days might be cooking and others are you serious that's a thing rants and others will be sharing my subjection of the latest occupation of time that my baby has discovered and insists on sharing with me; misery, loveth camaraderie! And lots of things in between.

I hope that you are interested in the new tales that will be spun here and the adventures or misventures as the cases may be! And I hope to be more active on some of my other venues as well and I am even really considering giving you guys something differently new as well. We will see how much time and energy I can manage, in addition to 4 courses, right now that is, and starting a new biz or two, too! Whew! What am I thinking!?!?!?

Iskrena Istina

I am one of those people that believes in the good in others and the world. That doing good brings good.

However, I would never tell someone that something bad has happened to that it happened because they are a bad person, then I would tell them, that bad things do happen to good people.

But, then there is the saying when something bad happens to someone 'bad', we say they got what they deserved.

And I know that we can all relate to the person that seems to always get it all, even though they are the worst person, especially to others.

So, what's the real truth?
If we do our best to be good people doing good as much as possible, do good things happen to us?

And if bad things happen to us, is it just bad luck or did we somehow deserve it?

What is good? What is bad?

Now to throw another variable into the mix, I totally believe in free will, that we make our own choices. We, alone decide how we behave and how we treat others and what decisions we make. Even when we follow someone else's advise or direction, it is our own choice to do so. And I also believe that all actions have consequences whether good or bad, seen or unseen.

I believe in some combination of destiny and making our own way. That while the universe or karma or gods or God might have some higher purpose or plan for us, we decide whether or not to follow it or to fulfill it or to live up to our potential.

But, do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, you just don't get a break? That for every step forward that you think you are taking, someone or something comes along and pushes you 2 steps back. Or that you spend more time side-stepping road blocks or naysayers and thus you theoretically stay in the same place instead of getting closer to your dreams.

Are you ever confused about what your dreams really are? Do you doubt why you are doing what you are doing? Are the dreams you are chasing yours or the ones you have been told by others to follow? What if you have been following the dreams others told you were yours for so long that you have no dreams of your own? How do you create or discover your own dreams?

Then what? What if by luck you think that you figure out what your dream is, what do you do with it? How do you realize it? How do you make your dream the focus of your life? How do you have a good life reaching your dream in a world whose only focus seems to be money? Unless the dream is only to be rich; but, then again, how?

If you have read this far, then you may be asking yourself, so what is the honest truth that she is talking about?

The truth is, that if any of what I have said resonates with you, you are not alone! And if you do not have answers to any of the above dilemmas, again, you are not alone!

I have been trying to figure out a lot of the above questions and find the right answers to them and so far I do not feel like I have any of them. And while, I tend to be a very private person about my own struggles, and prefer to do what I can to help others, maybe I can try to share some of my struggles in hopes of helping out someone else with their own. If providing nothing more than a feeling of not being alone in this!

One, Two, Three

First there was One,

It was

Amazing,

New,

Magical.

Next came Two,

It was

Growing,

Doing,

Challenging.

That led to Three,

It was

Different,

Wow,

New Again.

Followed by Four,

It was

Bending,

Giving,

Stretching.

We stayed for Five,

It was

Listening,

Solid,

Strengthening.

Sailed with Six,

It was

Distance,

Life,

Familiarity.

Going for Seven,

I want

Growing,

You,

Adventuring.

You'll Never Know

You'll never know just what you mean to me,

I cannot put into words the way you make me feel,
Not even Shakespeare could!

I cannot paint on canvas the emotions you create,
Not even Van Gogh could!

I cannot write a formula to explain my reaction to your touch,
Not even Archimedes could!

I cannot compose a symphony to extol  being loved by you,
Not even Chopin could!

You'll never know just how you have changed my world,

I cannot put into words the difference you have made,
Not even Byron could!

I cannot paint on canvas the dream that is reality with you,
Not even Monet could!

I cannot invent a theorem to prove your magical impact,
Not even Riemann could!

I cannot compose a symphony with more emotion than your presence,
Not even Tchaikovsky could!

No, you'll never know!
But, know that you do.
You mean everything to me!

Book Review - Thinking Like a Geographer By Rebecca M. Burley

Well, this work was not at all what I was expecting or hoping for. What was I expecting/hoping for? More of a conceptual methodology of the thinking skills that are needed or are useful in the study of Geography that can be applied not just within lessons focused on geography, but also other areas to increase the students analysis skills and critical thinking. 

What this book is ... basically it is a complete package lesson plan for geography/social studies for the elementary level. While the book states Grade 2, I would say that it could be applied up to Grade 5 depending on the social and academic level of the students. I also feel that some of the exercises would not be emotionally and thus in turn not intellectually relevant to 7/8YOs and might be better suited for older students. 

As a complete lesson plan package, the book is sufficient to provide basically a whole geography component of the class curriculum for the year. The teacher is provided with the worksheets, project assignments and lecture content. Included are even examples of appropriate 'right answers' from the students to questions presented within the lectures.

Facebook Drama ... Censoring Who Not What ...

I went to check my profile before calling it a night....to find out that I had a post that had been removed for Nudity or Sexual content......What?!?! WTF?!?!?! I have not posted anything nude or sexual.....has FB done lost their mind completely..... So when I finally get to where I can see what post they are whining about...... Thank you National Geographic for getting me in the time out chair ...... LOL

And the screenshot below..... you can clearly see that National Geographic did not get the same treatment......