Audio Tidbits

(Note) Some wise author once pointed out that writing is a joint enterprise: the writer tries hard to be as clear as possible and the reader tries equally hard to understand. If that sounds like too much effort right now, you may want to just skip these five bloggers. They are a bit less than transparent.

Blogger One:

As an impressionable undergraduate at Ohio University, there were dozens if not hundreds of potential areas of study for me to sample. Here is where I add something like, “They ranged from architecture to zoology” or even better, “from A to Z.” Let me also add a little personal data by noting I dipped into all that intellectual plenty and pulled the philosopher card. Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief and with virtually no hesitation, I picked philosopher. A very natural and logical choice, don’t you think?

There I was, eighteen-years-old and speculating about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Ok, that’s much more not true than true. I was an eighteen-year-old college student. What do you think I was doing? Do you have a notion, a picture in your mind’s eye? I was mostly doing that but I did do philosophy some too.

I recall telling old people (everyone too old to be an eighteen-year-old college student) I was majoring in philosophy. I got reactions from “That’s nice,” to “Why?” The “Why?” reactions eventually got me to thinking but that is a story for another post. No, I was not thinking much one way or the other right then. I was practicing being a philosopher. Thinking could wait.

With my friends (mostly other eighteen-year-old college students) I tried not to mention anything about majors or philosophy. If I slipped, they usually didn’t say anything. They mostly snickered and nodded their heads. Eye rolling was not big at O.U. back then. They did tend to perk up some when I mentioned being into logic, e.g., All men are mortal; Plato was a man; therefore…. “Would you have time to help me with…?” It was like suddenly being labeled as a geek of sorts, all be it a potentially useful geek. It tended to interfere with my plans for the rest of the time when I was not practicing being a philosopher.

On those rare occasions when I did attempt conversation incorporating a few of the more esoteric philosophical concepts and notions, “bore” seemed to characterize how I and my contributions to the discussion were perceived. I think that precipitated a life-long fear of being boring and generally uninteresting. It’s like that one youthful experience eventuating in unacknowledged trauma and periodic immobility. Ok, it wasn’t actually that bad but it certainly was the pits. Being boring was to be avoided whenever possible.

Now fast forward. I recently came across this from John Updike, “One out of three hundred and twelve Americans is a bore... and a healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.” What do you think the chances are of an eighteen-year-old college student who is rarely but still occasionally boring progressing for a few decades without becoming one of Updike’s healthy male adult bores? Does slim to none ring any bells? It gets worse. Someone who was probably so boring no one remembers his name pointed out, “The worst thing about a bore is not that he won't stop talking, but that he won't let you stop listening.”

We have come full circle. An eighteen-year-old college student naively pulls the philosopher card and inadvertently sets himself on a path to becoming a healthy male adult bore people duck away from to escape the storm of esoteric gibberish. Fortunately, this post has been mostly speculative, at least I hope it has, especially the part about people ducking away. Even so, there may be a lesson in there about social reciprocity and the ever-present risk of exposing the bore in all of us. Let me leave the analysis of that possibility to those who also pulled the philosopher card in their youth. For now,

Let’s Do a Book+1

 

As I concluded +0, I shared the first directive for doing a book: “I’m hoping that you can see that writing a book is near the last step in the construction process. Before that, we need to figure out what we want constructing the book to do for us. Is that benefit worth the hours, weeks, months and possibly years that constructing the final book will take? If not, there is no point in starting. But if it is, there are few better ways to indulge ourselves over time.”

 

Since you are here, I’m assuming that doing your book is definitely worth the time and effort it will take. Our next step is to put that net around it that I also mentioned in +0. At this stage though, casting the net is necessary but not critical. We just need to be fairly sure we are casting it wide enough to capture everything we may want to incorporate into our book and narrowly enough to exclude most of what we don’t want. We can adjust the border as the process continues, but for now, let’s cast our nets.

 

This may be the first big red flag for you. It’s where we turn down our egos and enthusiasm. Whether your book will be fiction or non-fiction, closely following reality or totally made up, for other scholars or for two-year-olds, it will include details and assertions that must stand up to criticism by experts. It’s not good enough to be nearly correct or to not reference well known alternative perspectives or opinions. Just as good teachers should know as much or more than their students, good authors should usually know as much or more than their readers. For example, if you are going to mention a particular place, event, theory or set of facts or characteristics, you need to get it right. Fall short here and you start losing readers who will certainly pass it along to potential readers.

 

Do you have to be expert on every detail? Of course not. But you do have to get everything you mention or discuss correct. No factual mistakes, please.

 

Do you have to know everything about anything that comes up in your book? Of course not. But you do have to get the details about anything you write about correct. No contextual errors, please.

 

“Are you saying that I have to carefully research everything I’m going to include in my book?”

 

I am indeed saying just that. Do your research. And do it before you start constructing your book, definitely do your research before you think about how your book will be organized. The structure and content of your book comes from your research. It is not something you impose on your research. You may have a story or theme in mind, but its structure and content should emerge from your research.

Let’s Get Our Research Underway

 

Here there is good news and bad news. Just to be up-front with you, I don’t know much of anything about the elite authors who write a book or two or three every year and who seem to have endless knowledge about most anything and everything. It is indeed impressive.

 

Although I don’t know this for sure, I’m pretty sure that they have people. Their people do their research, fill-in the facts and details, or at least fact check everything for the author.

 

If you have people, sit down with them for an hour or so, giving them a general idea about your book, and then set them to work. They can produce a reference database for you; and if something is missing while you do your book, they can pop out and fill in the missing detail or information – easy-peasy.

 

No people? Me neither. We will just have to do our research ourselves.

 

There are many approaches to researching for a book. Even so, the core idea is always the same. We want to learn as much as possible about what goes into our book and, just as important, as much as we can about those who will consume what we produce. Having said that, we really do need to put a net around it. We can never know everything about anything.

Let’s Do a Book+0

 

In the title, we see the first error many people make when they set out to have a book with their name on the cover. They say they are going to write a book. I suppose there are those creative folks who actually can open their computers and just start typing. The first thing you know, they have written a book. The finished book seems to have simply flowed out of them.

 

I admit it. I’m pretty jealous. It would definitely be cool to just open the creative hose and out comes a book. But here’s the truth of it. I don’t think there are any people who can do that. Here’s why.

 

A book is not a spontaneous creation. Having produced a dozen or so fairly successful books, I have come to understand that a book is not a creation, it’s a construction. I doubt that it matters what kind of book it is or for whom the book is intended. Books are much more constructed than written.

 

Sure, the words, sentences and paragraphs need to be written. There is no good alternative unless you can get a really smart computer to do the tedious job of writing for you. Some folks hire a ghost writer to produce the words, sentences and paragraphs for them, but that does seem a bit like cheating. For us, outsourcing writing to a computer or ghost will not do. We will make those words, sentences and paragraphs appear on our computer screens all by ourselves. – OK, if you really need to do this with a pencil on paper, go for it. Just know that, at some point, it will all have to be neatly typed and double spaced.

 

But I am getting way ahead of myself. Not only have I skipped over the construction part, I haven’t even mentioned the hardest part of doing a book. Before I can do a book, I have to figure out what I want the book to do. And it gets more specific. I need to figure out what I want the book to do for me. Naturally it will be good if thousands of people want to read the book and all feel better off in some way for having spent the time and energy it takes to consume a book. That’s all well and good, but if doing the book is not doing something of value for me, I’m not likely to sustain the construction process through to the finished book. Even if I do, the finished book is not very likely to do much for anyone else.

 

Let’s draw an analogy. You are an artist painting a picture or a musician creating a country song. If you don’t find satisfaction in the process, how likely are you to stick with it? If you don’t feel good about your final product, how likely is that others will engage with it? If you don’t think it’s awesome, I probably won’t either. Yes, you may think it’s awesome and I think it’s trash, but the first opinion is yours and always counts the most.

 

So what do you want your book to do for you? You want it to make you rich and famous? You can probably only get away with that if you are already rich and famous. And if you are, you have a far higher standard for releasing your next book to the public. Alternatively, if you only want to have your name on the cover so you can tell your friends that you are an author, don’t bother constructing a book. Just write down everything you do or think about for the next few months and then get your local print shop to bind it with a nice cover featuring your name. There you go. You are an author.

What Will Doing a Book Do for Me?

 

I’m assuming that you are not an employee or contractor. I’m also assuming that you are not doing a book for hire. In either of those situations, most of the parameters change. You may or may not enjoy the work, but what constructing the book does or does not do for you is secondary. What it does for the person or organization paying the bill is primary. Unless you have carte blanch to do as pleases you, you are constructing someone else’s book. I know little to nothing about that kind of work. My focus is only on you constructing your book, on your terms with no external constraints.

Blogger One:

An old Chinese proverb says, “Talk doesn't cook rice.” I suspect it is equally true quoting old Chinese proverbs doesn’t cook much rice either. As I consider strategies for initiating my blog, along with noting activities that do not cook rice, I’m thinking also noting those that do not lead to a successful blog would be helpful. Once I know all of the don’ts, what’s left are on the to do list. Here we go with the don’t list for blogging.

1. Don’t sit and stare. Doing most anything else is an improvement over just gazing into empty space. Of course, I claim to be intensely thinking and it may be true, at least a little. Even so, writing is key and although I can think without seriously thinking, think without writing and write without thinking, to write without writing is pretty much impossible or at least beyond my scope for sure.

2. I don’t need another cup of coffee. I know it would feel good to stretch and stroll out to the coffee pot and back. A nice cup of hot coffee might even perk me up. I could use the time to consider more fully what I want to say and the jolt of caffeine might stimulate a new insight or something. No, no coffee, no stroll into the other room, no more avoiding getting down to the business at hand.

3. I don’t have any more excuses. I’m far enough into it to get down to it if I am up to it. Ok, I’m getting around to it and know it’s time to either do it or screw it. The deal goes like this.

I’ll never make a post if all I do is boast about the blog I’m planning to write.

It’s indeed a little crazy but either I’m lazy or afraid of being absolutely trite.

That’s a pretty pathetic verse and sure it can get worse but I don’t feel even a little contrite.

My blog is underway and I have a post for today so I can get that coffee and stare with no further fear of being impolite.

Blogger Two:

Starting a post with a quotation or some other wise saying seems to help break the ice or since I am into clichés, it more likely is merely priming the creativity pump. Either way, a quote from Sylvia Plath struck me as useful for my present purpose, “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

Before using the quote, I thought a refresher on Sylvia Plath might add to the pump priming so in came Wikipedia to fill the need. Just search for Ms. Plath to find her life story or at least the Wikipedia version of her life story. The story is too intense and far too sad to tell here but think Fulbright scholarship, Pulitzer Prize for poetry, novelist, poet, controversial writer, and getting her own stamp from the Post Office. If she said it (and she did) it’s true enough for me, “…everything in life is writable about….”

This certainly opens a world of possibilities and opportunities. Now all that is needed are, “…the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.” There you go, guts and imagination. That does reduce the challenge to rather simple terms. It surely helps to be brilliant and gifted as a serendipitous bonus but guts and imagination may be doable for most of us even if Pulitzer Prizes and our own stamp are not in the cards. We need only keep self-doubt arrested and far off our creative path.

Writing for the ages like Shakespeare or being as clever as Ogden Nash,

Would pretty well guarantee the conversion of your writing to cash.

But if guts and imagination are mostly what you’re about,

Remember the words of Sylvia Plath as you keep all self-doubt out.

Blogger Three:

Don’t you get a little suspicious when a reporter attributes a fact or other information to a “reliable source” or to “an official” who didn’t want his or her name used? It’s kind of the same thing when an author uses some insight or clever saying and then attributes it to “author unknown” or perhaps “anonymous.” I suppose giving credit to B.

It was quiet over the city earlier today but then she magically re-appeared. For many years, the uncertain threat from the great mouse and creatures like her has hung in the air as an ever-present disaster in waiting. Although the nagging fear is always just under the surface, there continues an underlying sense of awe and wonder. The great mouse is both villain and hero in this persisting drama.

The risk to the city and its citizens has progressed to where there is a standing team of elite hunters equipped with state-of-the-art tracking systems and combat capacity dedicated to the pursuit and capture of the great mouse, with termination authority if necessary. These elite hunters have tracked and engaged the creature over the globe and in places as disparate as jungles and subways, county fairs and stark deserts. despite their expertise and tenacity, the great mouse always avoids capture or injury, leaving the elite hunters frustrated and confused.

Her villain status is easy to understand but the concurrent hero status of the great mouse is less obvious. As powerful and terrifying as she is and as violent as the encounters are, there has never been an injury to a citizen or elite hunter, and once the smoke clears, there is never any detectable damage to property or to the environment. An encounter with the great mouse is like a horror movie where once the movie is over, everyone just goes home. It's as if nothing important ever happened - scary but without consequences.

Despite the relentless pursuit, the great mouse has become somewhat of a legend in the city. People quietly talk about her adventures and the elite team's failed attempts to capture her. She is like a ghost, always disappearing just as the trap closes. And the heigh-stakes cat and mouse game continues with no end in sight.

It has been less than an hour ago that the great mouse appeared again, standing triumphantly on a wire high above the city. She looked down at the citizens with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and then vanished into thin air, with the echo of her roar the only evidence of her ever having been here.

The elite hunters have spent years trying to capture the elusive great mouse, but all of their efforts so far have been in vain. The hunters have become more and more frustrated as time passes. They are starting to believe that the great mouse is unbeatable. They have tried every weapon, trick and strategy in their arsenal but nothing seemed to work.

As if to rub their noses in their ineffectiveness, some time back, the great mouse appeared out of nowhere, standing right in front of the team. She looked at them with that amused grin, and then just disappeared into the distance, leaving them shocked and baffled.

Since that humiliating day, The elite hunters have been more determined than ever to stop the great mouse. They have spent many sleepless nights discussing and strategizing, trying to come up with new ways to thwart her.

Now and then, the elite hunters are dispatched to capture her. But no matter what they try, the great mouse eludes them, always staying one step ahead. She seems to possess some kind of otherworldly intelligence, capable of sensing danger from miles away. And yet, she never causes any harm to the citizens, choosing instead to play cat and mouse with the hunters.

One day, while the team was out scouting a new area for potential traps, they stumbled upon a forest. It was a dark, foreboding place, with trees so tall they seemed to touch the sky. As they pushed their way through the undergrowth, they noticed something moving in the distance. And to their surprise, it was the great mouse. She was crouched at the base of a tree, watching them.

But this time, the amused grin was missing.

They immediately sprang into action, surrounding the great mouse. But the great mouse seemed unfazed. She snarled and growled, baring her teeth and showing off her incredible strength.

As they watched,

Should or May

 

As a blind person, I am told that I should be an advocate for other blind people and for accessible services and technology. What are the pros and cons of this position?

As an advocate for other blind people and for accessible services and technology, there are both pros and cons to consider.

 

Pros:

- You can be a voice for the blind community and raise awareness about their needs, rights and issues they face

- You can work towards creating a more inclusive and accessible environment for blind people

- You can help shape policies and regulations by advocating to lawmakers and government officials

- You can build a sense of community and support among blind individuals and their families

 

Cons:

- Advocacy work can be time-consuming and emotionally draining, and may require significant effort to see visible results

- You may face opposition or criticism from people who don't understand or value the importance of accessible services and technology for blind people

- Depending on the scale of your advocacy work, there may be legal and financial implications that you need to consider

- Being a public advocate can also bring unwanted attention and scrutiny to your personal life.

 

Ultimately, being an advocate for other blind people and for accessible services and technology can be a rewarding and impactful way to make a difference in the world. However, it's important to carefully consider both the benefits and challenges before taking on the role.

Should I advocate for blindness issues just because I am a blind person. Is it a responsibility or a choice?

Advocating for blindness issues as a blind person is a personal choice rather than a responsibility. While it's true that blind individuals face unique challenges and often have valuable insights and perspectives to share, not all blind people may feel inclined or equipped to engage in advocacy work.

 

That being said, being an advocate for blindness issues can be a way to advance the cause of accessibility and inclusion for yourself and other blind people. It can also be a way to build a sense of community and support among blind individuals and their families.

 

Ultimately, whether or not you choose to advocate for blindness issues is up to you. If you do decide to engage in advocacy work, it's important to approach it in a way that feels meaningful and sustainable for you, whether that's through direct action, community building, policy work, or other means.

If I choose to advocate, what are the 10 most important points I should be making.

As an advocate for blindness issues, here are ten important points to consider making:

 

Accessible education: Blind individuals should have equal access to education and be provided with the necessary accommodations to succeed academically.

 

Employment: Blind individuals should have equal opportunities to work, and workplaces should be made accessible to people of all abilities.

 

Accessibility: Blind individuals should be able to access essential services and technologies, such as transportation, communication, and information, in an accessible and equitable way.

 

Inclusion: Blind individuals should be included in all aspects of society and should not face discrimination or exclusion based on their disability.

 

Training and skills development: Blind individuals should have opportunities to gain skills and training to overcome barriers they face in the workplace, in education, and in their personal lives.

 

Research and innovation: There should be ongoing research and innovation to improve the quality of life for blind individuals, including advancements in technology and accessibility.

 

Advocacy and representation: Blind individuals and their families should have access to advocacy and representation to ensure that their rights and needs are addressed at all levels of society.

Hey folks, I'm Harlin and am going to tell you a story. Some say that I made it all up but I'm telling you that it's all true. You can believe it or not, but I'm sticking with it.

I'm just a country boy who happened into a situation. I don't doubt it a bit that you would have handled things as well or probably better than I did, but there I was and someone had to do something. It's just like my grandpa told me every chance I got, "When the going gets rough, you have do do what you have to do." So I did.

Let me tell you what happened and then you can decide for yourself. Did it really happen or am I just full of it?

I have lived down a one lane road off the highway all my life. It's pretty much what you might expect. An old farm house where my grandpa was a boy and my folks and four brothers called home. I won't go on about that since that's not the story I am telling you. Even so, home is a place where you can get some good air and raise some hell now and then. If you know, you know and if not, I sure don't have time to educate you about being a country boy. I'll just leave it at that.

I still don't know what got into me but one Tuesday morning I got it in my head that I needed to pack up and take the train to the big city to find out what that was all about. So That's what I did and there's where this story starts.

As I stepped off the train, I found the surrounded by towering skyscrapers and honking cars. The noise and frenetic pace of the city were overwhelming at first, but eventually, I grew accustomed to it. The city was alive, filled with a cacophony of sounds: cars, buses, and taxis honking their horns, people chattering away in different languages, construction sites, and street performances. The sights were equally intoxicating: towering buildings with neon lights, busy markets full of people pushing their way through the crowds, and street food stands with their vibrant colors and irresistible smells.

I started my day by wandering through the busy streets, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. I marveled at the department stores with their gleaming windows and the street performers who captivated crowds with their performances. I saw huge billboards advertising everything from cars to clothes to the latest gadgets.

As I continued my exploration, I passed through different neighborhoods, each with its unique vibe and personality. I saw people from all walks of life, each with their own story to tell. I heard different languages being spoken and ate food from different cultures.

As the sun started to set, I realized that I had never felt so alive. The city had awakened something inside me, and I knew I wasn't ready to leave just yet. So instead, I found a small apartment to rent for a few weeks and continued my exploration of the city.

For the next few weeks, I continued discovering new things, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures. I ate at Michelin-starred restaurants and tiny street food stalls. I visited museums, galleries, and music festivals. I even tried my hand at salsa dancing, something I had never done before.

Eventually, my time in the city came to an end, But just as I was preparing to go home, I noticed some odd happenings in the last neighborhood I visited. I did not understand their significance but knew I should stick around to better understand this unusual activity.

I had noticed something strange happening in the last neighborhood I visited. People were whispering in hushed tones, and the normally bustling streets were eerily quiet. I tried to ask around to understand what was happening, but no one seemed willing to talk. Curiosity gnawed at me, and I knew I couldn't leave until I figured out what was going on.

After asking around, I stumbled upon a small store with a handwritten sign that read "Open for business." Curiosity piqued, I entered the store and was surprised to see people huddled in corners or gathered around a small radi...

Thanks for joining me.

 

When was the last time you had to make an important decision? For most of us, it doesn’t come up very often. We make a lot of decisions and choices; but for the most part, they are not special or overly consequential for us personally. We have the knowledge, experience, expertise and tested judgment to make the decision or choice. They are well within our wheelhouse.

 

At times though, we have to just take a deep breath and decide, make the hard choice. Those are the choices and decisions I want to focus on. Those are the times when failure is most consequential and success is most important. I’m talking about change, but this time we are the agent behind the change.

 

I think we all know that things are constantly changing, whether or not we are paying attention to the changes. It may seem that everything is the same today as they were yesterday, but they aren’t. Even if we don’t notice, nothing is quite the same today as it was yesterday. Things change, people change, circumstances change, and we change too.

 

What this fact of life and living demonstrates is that change is a process and not an event. The outcome may appear to be spontaneous but never is. Fortunately, we can usually understand what happened if we stop to consider it carefully. Even if we don’t understand, we know that the change was a result of a process that is just not clear to us.

 

At times, we decide that we are not satisfied with the status quo and want things or circumstances to change. The change we want may be for us, our family, a specific relationship, our work team, our company or other organization, our community, or within any context where we think change is desirable or necessary. That is when we consider initiating the change process.

 

We know we don’t like how things currently are, and we have a notion about how we would like them to be. Getting from where things are now to how we want them to be is an example of the change process that is always chugging away. For this change though, we intend to be the change agent.

 

Whenever you intend to be the change agent, there are twelve questions you should ask and answer before initiating the change process that leads to the change you want; and the bigger or more important the change is for you and for others, the more critical it is for you to ask and answer the twelve questions.

Here are the twelve questions. Answer each “Yes,” or “No,” in relation to the change process you intend to initiate. For these questions, “yes” is only “Yes” if you are quite sure. If not, the answer is “NO,” until you are sure.

 

Do you expect the change process to succeed, to make a positive difference?

 

Do you have a realistic vision of or perception of success – how things will be when the change succeeds?

 

Are you personally motivated by the likely payoff or outcome of the change?

 

Do you understand that – in the long run – it would take as much time and energy to maintain the status quo or current situation as it will to get the payoff from the change?

 

Are you prepared to take full responsibility for your participation and interaction throughout the change process?

 

Do you understand your active role and influence in the change process?

 

Do you understand and are you committed to what will be required for the process to succeed?

 

Are you confident in your ability to do what is necessary to realize the expected change?

 

Are you comfortable working with the others involved in the change process?

 

Are you looking beyond simple self-interest in the change succeeding?

 

Do you see each participant benefiting from his or her participation in the change process?

 

Are you being realistic about your ability, skill, and capacity to function effectively within the change process?

 

Did you answer “Yes” to each of the twelve questions?

There are many ways to think about change: good news/bad news and such. Take your pick. It really doesn't matter since your only actual choice is to deal with it or just let it deal with you. Sure, I included a cool ear worm to distract you from what is, in the end, an easy choice.

Can you follow as easily as you lead? Do you switch depending on the situation or just be your best you? Do you always know what and why or is it sometimes a mystery even to you? This set of tips may be just what you need to answer the questions. If not, the ear worms will make up for your disappointment.