Just Thinking: 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Friday, September 11, 2009

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Random pictures, road trips and home

Some remnants of the 2008 Tea Fire (Santa Barbara)

Traveling in OC, by car or airplane

Washington Park, Denver

Stormy sky, California high desert

What is said .. and . . . . what is meant-- maybe

Banilla .................Vanilla
Chester drawers ............ Chest of drawers
Pledge OF allegiance .......... Pledge allegiance
Just assume ........... Just as soon
Ophthalmologist ................ / off the mologist /
Every since ........... Ever since
Nucular ................ Nuclear
Monies .................... Lots of money, or money
Irregardless ................. Regardless
Asteriks ............... Asterisk
Acrost ..................... Across
John Hopkins ............... Johns Hopkins

wheel barrel..............wheelbarrow (barrow means "to carry")

Inspiring Stories and People

The Great Escape

Seen on PBS NOVA – kpbs.org

A story of great inspiration (but with a tragic ending, too—only 3 of 76 made it to freedom) of the power and will of the human spirit to overcome incredible circumstances.

True story of POW camp of WWII in Germany (Stalaglaftz, Sagan, Hirschberg?) 1943-1944

Johnny Bull, Davy Jones, others

The POW’s were able to burrow a 2 ½ ft. diameter tunnel down 30 feet and >100’ long
to create 3 tunnels with the code-names “Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

This is one of the most incredible stories of fortitude and determination, creativity, survival, and teamwork (people cooperating together toward a common goal without the need to talk incessantly about a plan—they put their ideas to action; they “just did it”).

Aaron Ralston

Story can be viewed from NBC. Story produced by Tom Brokaw.

True Story: Aaron Ralston, a 20-something young man, went hiking by himself in Utah (Cold Canyon?) without telling anyone where he was headed. While trekking through a cave, a huge boulder fell and wedged itself in the narrowing crevice of the cave. In the process of pinning itself, it managed also to pin Aaron’s right hand against the wall. He could not move it or wiggle out of it. He waited 3 days in the deserted location hoping somebody would come along and save him. There was nobody. In desperation, in the only possible way out, he broke his arms (radius and ulna) and proceeded to “saw” his lower forearm off with a pocketknife. Ouch!! It was the only thing that he could do to live. He made it out, ran into some other hikers, and got lifted out to a hospital by a helicopter. A pretty amazing story.

The kid with cerebral palsy who joined his high school cross-country team.

While other teammates finish the race in less than 20 minutes, he trudges on, despite falling because of muscular and balance difficulties, and finishes in about 40 minutes. He is quite an inspiration to his fellow runners, as well as to those who hear his story.

Wrestler without arms and legs

Huh? How can you do that? He doesn’t have forearms or lower legs, yet he wrestles. In fact, he was ranked 5th in his state in high school. He plans to be a motivational speaker. He also types… with his stubs…faster than the average person. Nobody should complain about his or her own circumstance when this guy is compared to whatever hurdle in life that a person may have. He is truly inspirational with his “can do” attitude and lifestyle. You just can’t have any tolerance for anybody’s whining after you see this guy’s obstacles and his incredible, positive attitude despite his circumstances.

After seeing and hearing these incredible stories of other people’s struggles, it makes it impossible for anyone, with whatever struggles they may have, to think to themselves, “Woe is me…ho-hum… the situation appears hopeless … I guess I’ll just quit here… I’ll never…”
The stories of the accomplishments of these folks is motivation for anyone to grasp hope; this proves that the human being can be put under tons of stress, yet can adapt to the most troubling circumstances.

Attitude and outlook play a pivotal role.

“KEEP HOPE ALIVE!”

John Foppe (JohnFoppe.com) – no arms…yet he has a terrific attitude. His parents made it a point not to cater to him; they ceased aiding him and babying him to force him to figure out how to accomplish things alone—to live independently.
From website: Born without arms, John Foppe, MSW has faced unique obstacles to living a normal life. But what he’s always had is an indomitable perspective on life-a perspective that empowers him to be a creative problem-solver.
By applying his own experiences as well as the unique insights he’s developed as a trained counselor and motivational speaker, John advises us how to confidently confront adversity and discover our own dynamic potential for productivity and fulfillment.
John’s public speaking mission started after he experienced a life-changing event during a missionary trip to Haiti. Since, he has traveled throughout the North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe for more than 15 years delivering high-impact presentations on attitude change, problem-solving, and performance improvement to corporations and organizations.

Like, Know What I'm Sayin' (in English)

LIKE, LIKE, LIKE

SHUTUP!

“ Um, I was like, you know…totally, like… Whatever

SAY IT!!!
/lik/ = n. a simile
v. to treasure something

Tell me what really happened, not what similarly occurred.

Be more creative in your expressions if you want me to listen, hear, and understand.

Know what you’re saying. Understand the language that you use.

Cherish it. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t misuse it.

Language is a gift to communicate.

I’m careful with my speech, how I communicate. I believe that words have meaning, and if I want you to listen , then I should and will carefully choose words to construct a meaningful sentence that enables fluid communication.

Get rid of meaningless blabber filler words that cultivate confusion!
Be comfortable to pause.

Be quick in generating ideas and putting them to words that are heard.

I hate it when someone comes up to me and rambles on…

saying, “LIKE…Like, I was sayin’, 'you know,' I was all like this, know what I’m sayin’? Like, she was like, whatever. It was sooooo surreal."

LIKE…

Totally for sure, dude
I was all, you know, like
And she was all, like, duh…
Oh bro, ‘sup?
Um, y’know wha’ I’m sayin’?
Yo, dude, it was sooooo like, surreal
It’s all good, man
Kh…
It was like, sooooo awesome

People “talk” like this all the time! It totally bugs me.

“Know wha’ I’m sayin’?”

MY RESPONSE: “Actually, NO, I HAVE NO CLUE! Please try again.”

check out this GREAT WEBSITE:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-do-you-pronounce-2010.aspx

and check out this article and comments in Vanity Fair:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/01/hitchens-like-201001?currentPage=2