This morning, as I coax my dulled brain to active duty after a unsatisfying night’s sleep, I’m wondering about drinking glasses.

I have a contradictory relationship to drinking glasses.  For one thing, I tend to use more than I should during the day.  There are times that I could easily get by with a single glass, but I often don’t.  I’m convinced that this behavior is informed by a combination of laziness and cognitive overload.  Dealing with the latter first, I say cognitive overload because, like many of us, I tend to be trying to think about too many things at once.

I don’t know exactly where I fall on the scale of being able to juggle between 5 – 9 thoughts simultaneously.  However, I have no trouble of finding at least nine things to ponder at any given time.  This facilitates the ability to forget what I’ve been doing and, more importantly, what I was doing and where I was doing it.  Thus, orphaned, partially empty glasses of water occasionally wind up in unexpected places like bathrooms, bookshelves and the occasional closet.  (Remind me to tell you about the time I found orange juice in the cupboard with the glasses – otherwise, I’ll forget.  I’m blaming this one on cognitive overload, where my brain decides, somewhat randomly, to drop thoughts much like Sawyer jumping out of the helicopter so his fellow LOST castaways could make it safely to the freighter.  Well, not actually because a) they saw him jump and b) the freighter blew up anyway.  Maybe it’s more like dropping books when you were carrying too many in the first place.  Yes, let’s go with that.)  At any rate, trying to remember too much at once leads us to forget things – fun paradox.  Which will be my defense in this case.

Laziness, meaning the lack of desire to reuse a glass when it’s so close to approaching empty status that one might as well consider it to be empty – another classic case of too small to measure being too small to matter.  And yet…  for some strange reason it seems like more work to refill an old glass than to reach up and get a new one.

Or does it?

The real reason that we (um, I) don’t want to reuse an old glass is that it somehow seems dirty and less pure that when we filled it in its clean state.  To say that this is ridiculous is… ridiculous.  I mean, it is ridiculous.  Dirty?  Pshaw, it’s only as dirty as you are.

Here’s the other ridiculous thing:  I don’t mind reusing a dirty glass if it’s had a different liquid, like the old milk-to-water switcheroo, which encourages frequent looks of disgust in my household.

Hey, don’t judge me, man – I do rinse it out.

Mostly.

Whatever it is, I blame the modern dishwashing machine, which gives the illusion of making it just as easy to clean multiple things at once instead of a mere few, just because you’re not the one doing the work.  Except for the loading of the dishwasher.  Which kind of negates the whole point.  But illusion rules.

N.B. Apologies to the late David Foster Wallace, whose writings I’m starting to work my way through.  But man, I can’t write sentences like he does, ones that take a complete cigarette to read (or so I guess).

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The odometer has advanced by one number today.  I’m reflecting on a few things.

Here are the birthday presents that I’d like to give myself:

• To spend more time in the “here and now” instead of focusing on future and past.
• To “let go” of some things (not to the extent that Lost’s Jack Shepard let go, but maybe, just maybe I can convince myself to get down from some of my hangups).
• To be more grateful for the good things in my life.
• To be more patient.
• To listen better.
• To continue with some of the good habits that are starting to take hold.
• To do more substantial creative work.
• To be more comfortable inside my own skin.

I think that I can make progress on all of these if I can establish the right behaviors and disciplines and, more importantly, set some achievable targets.

Hope you all have a good day!

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I’m working on regaining some self-discipline and willpower in my life.

I’ve always admired the concept of willpower.   Part of it comes from being a comic book fanboy.  I’ve always admired the Green Lanterns, these interstellar space cops with magic rings (well, not magic, but kind of like magic) that can do amazing things if they have the imagination and will to make it happen.  Like, say, preventing natural disasters or containing the fiery blast of a supernova.  Willpower is their bread and butter.

My willpower has been both strong and weak at different times in my life.  I feel that it’s on the weak side these days.  I’m trying to focus on something quite important:  diet.  I have bad eating habits, especially snacking between meals.  Twenty years ago I could eat more than three horses combined while barely gaining any weight.  Somewhere around the mid-90s that stopped working for me.  Pure and simple, I need to eat better.

So I’m trying.  It’s day one.  Day one has been OK.  I’m substituting other foods and trying to be reasonable about things.  I have a pedometer and I’m going to be walking virtually every day for the foreseeable future.  Hopefully that will be a decent start.

Hopefully the hardest part is just breaking through inertia.

With any luck, this will help give me more energy for other things.  Like, say, updating two blogs regularly.

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Special guest post today by the fabulous Athens, GA band R.E.M.!

Not really, of course, but I think these lyrics sum up some of my thoughts at the moment.

I Believe

(Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)

When I was young and full of grace
And spirited – a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor not to tell

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there’s the key,
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day?

(chorus)
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honor
Trust in your calling, make sure your calling’s true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect,
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines change

I believe my humor’s wearing thin
And change is what I believe in
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

(repeat chorus)

When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honor
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key

I believe my humor’s wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting

(repeat chorus)

[lyrics reprinted without permission, just like 100,000 websites do every single day]

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Image by Kristie’s NaturesPortraits

I’m in an airport as I write this post, heading to the Netherlands for a business trip.  It’s my first flight to Europe in about 10 years and my first trip (period) in almost two years. Here’s some random (but hopefully useful) thoughts as I wait for my first flight:

• I hope there’s free WiFi in all of the airports.  Probability = slim.  However, there is free WiFi where I am at the moment.
• It would be nice to have an iPod Touch or a smart phone for this trip – it would save me having to drag out the laptop at each step and potentially drain its battery if I can’t find a plugin.
• It looks like I can carry on all of my luggage, which is awesome.  I’ve gotten better at packing light(er) over the years.
• I have an iPod full of podcasts and music, which I think will make the 0verseas flight tolerable – I haven’t had one on a trip like this before.  iPod is one of the best investments that I’ve ever made.
• I have a soft phone (I think this is the correct term) on this computer, so I think it will let me call home without incurring long distance charges.
• At a guess, I’d say about 40% of the people in this airport (a small one:  only three gates) are using laptops, portable or wireless devices.  I see a lot of newspapers and a few books.  There are about 30 people in viewing distance.  At most, I think there will be sixty passengers here.  Again, it’s a small airport.
• I’m doing much of my normal social media routine here in the airport, which is a first for me.  When I used to travel more often I always had a laptop with me but more often than not there was rarely any wireless available for me to hook into.  I never had a smart phone and rarely had a regular cell phone.
• In short, this is the first “wired” trip that I’m taking, or that I feel like I’m taking.  Maybe you’re used to that.  I’m not, so it’s quite interesting to me.  I feel like a Chris Brogan or a Louis Gray for about 15 seconds in terms of what seems continual Web access.  Not quite Scoble class connectivity (but then who is?)
• I expect to use a GPS for the first time with the rental car that I’m picking up tomorrow.
• Gee, I’m really blowing my somewhat illusory cred as a tech or social media savvy blogger, aren’t I?  (never really considered myself tech savvy or an early adopter; I just happened to join Twitter about a year before it really started to get mainstream attention).
• I wish I could Web browse on the international flight, but somehow I don’t think I’ll be able to.
• Usually I buy a ton of magazines, etc. for my flight, but I’m going to try to travel light.  Oh, OK, I’ll probably buy some.  It just seems like a waste when I would only need them for the flight.

And that’s that.  Posting will probably be light this week, but I’ll try to publish  at least one post from the Netherlands.

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Before you pull the pin, before you damn the torpedoes, before you leap off the cliff, before you charge into battle, before you commit…

Think again.

1. Do you understand the situation well enough to do what you are about to do?
2. Are you reacting in anger, fear, or hurt?
3. Do you really understand the consequences?
4. Have you told the people who need to know what’s about to happen?
5. Do you know what the costs will be?
6. Has anyone else tried something like this before and been successful?
7. Is this really going to get you want you need (as opposed to what you want?)
8. Do you really know what you need at this moment (as opposed to what you want?)
9. Is there a better way?

If you answer “no” to any of questions 1 – 8 and “yes” to question 9, maybe you’d better stop and think again.

It’s up to you, but if it were me, I’d feel better knowing that I’d thought these questions through.

Just a suggestion.

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It’s a fairly simple checklist, really.

1.  Did the sun go nova overnight? If you’re reading the checklist, the answer is obviously no (you’d be free floating molecules, or carbon residue, otherwise), so continue to 2.

2.  Did Earth’s surface get buried under massive sheets of ice, indicating the onset of an ice age? If you’re reading the checklist, the answer is obviously no (frozen people can’t move, eliminating your ability to get out of bed and do anything), so continue to 3. [alternate version of this question:  is sea level rising more rapidly than a snail crossing the Mohave Desert?]

3.  Is there still enough oxygen in the atmosphere to breathe (or at least roughly the same amount as yesterday)? If you’re reading the checklist, the answer is obviously no (asphyxiated people can’t read), so continue to 4.

4.  Are the nukes flying? If you’re reading the checklist, the answer is most likely no, although timing is always of utmost importance (radiation and reading don’t usually go together; neither do vaporization and reading), so continue to 5.

5.  You’re not out of the woods yet, but your day is certainly off to a decent start.  If you’re still panicking, remove yourself from the presence of media for the rest of the day and go do something real and tangible.  Think about it first, though, and make sure it’s something worth doing.

6.  Before you go to bed, get this list ready to read tomorrow AM and start with item 1.

Look, there’s no doubt that there are bad things happening across the world and that more could happen and I may be seen as trivializing many problems.  Panicking isn’t the answer, however.  Neither is echoing the message of doom and gloom which, quite frankly, smarter people than you are using to get ahead in life.

If the essentials and basics of life (e.g. having one) are in place, you’ve got as good of a starting point as anyone else.

Think about it.

Other posts that you might enjoy reading:

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Steve Spalding provides a very important life lesson for everyone, especially those of us in social media, blogging, creative work, etc.

From the post:

Learn to be patient.

Learn to be patient in everything that you do. Learn to be patient when life is looking up, and learn to be patient when everything is going south. Learn to be patient because nothing you do will ever be easy and patience is the only skill that is guaranteed to pull you out of the muck.

Well said, Steve.

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Jeff Pulver wrote a post earlier this week called So Who Are YOU that has kind of been sticking in my Broadcasting Brain this week. Here’s an excerpt for your consideration:

There are times when you may look at yourself in the mirror and you may not recognize the stranger you have become.

This is a sign to sit down, take a deep breath and ask yourself “How did I get here?”

What scares me is that I’m not sure if the Jeff of 2008 would even be friends with the Jeff of 1995. But I hope we could find enough things in common to connect and maintain an active friendship.

This is a good mental exercise to go through. Throw aside the social media apps, blogging, technology, and other trappings and compare yourself now to then. Or should you discount it? Has today’s technology helped to change the kind of person that you are? Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe it has amplified certain skills and personality traits. Maybe it has dampened others.

What do you think?

Other posts that you might enjoy reading:

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• When a river stops running
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