Mark A. Baker
Sponsor
Are you sure? Head & snout shape in the photo resemble one of the variety of spinner dolphins more than bottlenose. Could be a trick of perspective, but it doesn't look like a bn.
Mark A. Baker
The Little Thread Which Grew - the Apollo '73 to Everything But
- Thread starter lkwdblds
- Start date
- Status
Are you sure? Head & snout shape in the photo resemble one of the variety of spinner dolphins more than bottlenose. Could be a trick of perspective, but it doesn't look like a bn.
Mark A. Baker
Mark A. Baker
Sponsor
Very much so, likely more than you can imagine.
One item he raises at about 4 minutes into the 2nd recording that has some specific new application to the people involved with spiritual tech is that 'an idea is a network'. I consider that to be a very salient observation to keep in mind when considering the nature of spiritual epiphanies such as are common in auditing. Auditing spaces are information spaces. The ideas that can tumble out of them can be transformative across broad networks.
Mark A. Baker
freet43
Patron with Honors
Here are three inspirational messages someone shared with me today. The first two are health-related, and the last one reminds me to appreciate the blessings in life:
“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” ~Plato
“The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling.”
~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.” ~Jim Carrey
“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” ~Plato
“The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling.”
~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.” ~Jim Carrey
SweetnessandLight
Crusader
Aloha!
Thank you honey, that flow goes both ways!
Absolutely ADORE you, Sweetnessandlight! So happy to have met you through Gary after attending that amazing News/Press conference for the Exes at the Steve Allen Theater last year! We had fun too, when we ate at that French cafe in the Los Feliz area! You're so gorgeous and what beautiful energy!
Let's get together soon, now that I'm back for 3 weeks. It's all about bypass the entheta and handle with theta, nowadays, for me.
We enjoyed the Russian-American lifestyle and great positive attitude!
Gary, how do I go about getting the photos up here? Aloha, PurpleCandy
Thank you honey, that flow goes both ways!
Hatshepsut
Crusader
This next video, again by Steven Johnson, is a bit longer at 18:17, but I think it is time well spent.
Initially, my attention went to the English coffee house pictured at the start of the video. You see, I have this vision of sitting down with friends and associates, a regular meeting, at a Paris bistro circa 1900. I must have left a part of myself there waiting for answers to philosophical, scientific, political, and religious questions posed but left hanging. I can smell the coffee, taste the wine, feel the intellectual excitement, hear the sound of horse-drawn carriages going by, the occasional motor car/wagon making a stink, feel the chill in the air, or the warmth, see trees with leaves and trees without as seasons change...
I THINK I LEFT PART OF MYSELF IN THE BISTROS TOO. LOST IN THE ABSYNTHE. THE MUD ON THE SHOES, THE COLD OUTSIDE, THE TERRORS ABOUT SYPHILLIS AND TB. CAN RECALL THE NEWSPAPER AND THE SWEATING PIPES, THE CAUTION ABOUT THE WORMS IN THE MEAT PIE. THE WARM BELGIAN BEER ....AND THE WONDERFUL BUTTERED FINGER CROISSANTS. IT WASN'T THAT GREAT.BUT THEN NOBODY ASKED ME. This stimulating opportunity must be why I keep going back to Starbucks and Panera Bread for a cup of morning brew. But there is no stimulating conversation available there, just business as usual. I eavesdrop. I am amazed at how many authorities we have running around, people who know all about stocks, how to sell their products, how to close a deal, and so on. Stimulating? Not really. Been there; done that.
Anyway, it's not Paris circa 1900. What a disappointment.
Here are some pictures of Paris bistros around the turn of the century__some earlier
Communard poet Paul Verlaine getting drunk on Absynth 1883___ The Romantic poets of the 1870s met in this watering hole.
Someone hosting a salon in Paris ___ Rimbaud at 16, on the left with Verlaine
Photo taken just after arrival in Paris in 1871. Later touched with color
This is the legendary Hell Cafe'. It is different today..
The Paris Exposition of 1900 was spectacular. It was the Universe Expo_ kinda like Epcot Center. Many folks travelled all the way from where they were busy stealing the lands of Africa just to see the modern world and its new inventions. :confused2: In the link at the bottom you can see what was exhibited inside and outside of the buildings
because someone was
kind enough to upload a flicker slidewhow.
Just click on Actions, in the area above the first photo as you open the link and click slidewhow. It's framed in black and will take you for a ride into 1900 Paris. Gorgeous postcard presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ9M0kvsEQI
This is a moving sidewalk.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2486004541/in/photostream/
Last edited:
Hatshepsut
Crusader
lkwdblds
Crusader
Hats - you've got an incredible mind.......
Hats - I just have to acknowledge you. You have an incredible encyclopedic mind, just so much knowledge and fascination with so many time periods, epochs and places; so many insights and deep looks and all done with a lot of style, taste and savoir faire.
The game of participating in the Physical Universe, seems to be how the hell to get oneself out of here and out of this "trap". With you around on this thread and others, the question arises as to why anybody would want to leave this Universe.
The thought goes something like, dum de dum de dum, "Why leave, I want to wait for Hat's next post and see what she comes up with next?" The stuff she puts up accompanied by her keen incites is better than what I can do myself in my Home Universe so I guess I'll just stick around this Universe.
Lakey
Hats - I just have to acknowledge you. You have an incredible encyclopedic mind, just so much knowledge and fascination with so many time periods, epochs and places; so many insights and deep looks and all done with a lot of style, taste and savoir faire.
The game of participating in the Physical Universe, seems to be how the hell to get oneself out of here and out of this "trap". With you around on this thread and others, the question arises as to why anybody would want to leave this Universe.
The thought goes something like, dum de dum de dum, "Why leave, I want to wait for Hat's next post and see what she comes up with next?" The stuff she puts up accompanied by her keen incites is better than what I can do myself in my Home Universe so I guess I'll just stick around this Universe.
Lakey
Hatshepsut
Crusader
Aw shucks
I'll bet you say that to all the girls
Thankyou Lakey! That is one hefty compliment. I do appreciate it.
I'll bet you say that to all the girls
Thankyou Lakey! That is one hefty compliment. I do appreciate it.
Last edited:
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Hats wrote: I THINK I LEFT PART OF MYSELF IN THE BISTROS TOO. LOST IN THE ABSYNTHE. THE MUD ON THE SHOES, THE COLD OUTSIDE, THE TERRORS ABOUT SYPHILLIS AND TB. CAN RECALL THE NEWSPAPER AND THE SWEATING PIPES, THE CAUTION ABOUT THE WORMS IN THE MEAT PIE. THE WARM BELGIAN BEER ....AND THE WONDERFUL BUTTERED FINGER CROISSANTS. IT WASN'T THAT GREAT. BUT THEN NOBODY ASKED ME.
Warm beer!
Bad drugs, STDs, mud,... Not unlike Woodstock. It wasn't that great.
Bad drugs, STDs, living on the street,... Not unlike Haight-Ashbury during the summer of love 1967. It wasn't that great.
I managed to be at the Fillmore, Winterland, the Carousel Ballroom, or the Avalon Ballroom just about every weekend for a year throughout 1968. Walked away with no bad drugs or STD but did walk away with some fantastic musical experiences.
Have you been down on Orange Avenue on a Friday or Saturday night? If you go to The Social you might catch a great show on stage, you might not. The patronage itself is a good show. The creatures that come out at night... Don't have the mixed drinks there. Stick with bottled beer.
The smell of wacky weed waifing through a concert air still sends me back to San Francisco. I wonder where a shot of absinthe would send me?
It's that thing about TB and syph that gets me to ridge. These things were as much a problem in the US of that period. And today. The incidence of TB is on the rise. STDs are rampant. HIV
Is there ever going to be a time when the physical universe will present only pleasurable opportunities, and no pain or other bad consequences? I think not.
Now, about that bistro, I am off to have the cup o' joe--but that's all.
Warm beer!
Bad drugs, STDs, mud,... Not unlike Woodstock. It wasn't that great.
Bad drugs, STDs, living on the street,... Not unlike Haight-Ashbury during the summer of love 1967. It wasn't that great.
I managed to be at the Fillmore, Winterland, the Carousel Ballroom, or the Avalon Ballroom just about every weekend for a year throughout 1968. Walked away with no bad drugs or STD but did walk away with some fantastic musical experiences.
Have you been down on Orange Avenue on a Friday or Saturday night? If you go to The Social you might catch a great show on stage, you might not. The patronage itself is a good show. The creatures that come out at night...
Don't have the mixed drinks there. Stick with bottled beer.The smell of wacky weed waifing through a concert air still sends me back to San Francisco. I wonder where a shot of absinthe would send me?
It's that thing about TB and syph that gets me to ridge. These things were as much a problem in the US of that period. And today. The incidence of TB is on the rise. STDs are rampant. HIV
Is there ever going to be a time when the physical universe will present only pleasurable opportunities, and no pain or other bad consequences? I think not.
Now, about that bistro, I am off to have the cup o' joe--but that's all.
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
The Edison video was the best of the bunch. That and the music kind of made me want to put down a bottle of red wine because my friends are no longer showing up at the bistro.
I have been to some pretty interesting places around the world. This is one thing I have discovered, just about anywhere can be interesting and enjoyable if you are with or meeting good people, and if you are traveling with enough money to be comfortable.
Take the money away, live under the strain of having to eek out a living, and just about anywhere can be a bummer. Seeing the pictures of street vendors and sideshows reminded me of that.
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
Hats wrote: I THINK I LEFT PART OF MYSELF IN THE BISTROS TOO. LOST IN THE ABSYNTHE. THE MUD ON THE SHOES, THE COLD OUTSIDE, THE TERRORS ABOUT SYPHILLIS AND TB. CAN RECALL THE NEWSPAPER AND THE SWEATING PIPES, THE CAUTION ABOUT THE WORMS IN THE MEAT PIE. THE WARM BELGIAN BEER ....AND THE WONDERFUL BUTTERED FINGER CROISSANTS. IT WASN'T THAT GREAT. BUT THEN NOBODY ASKED ME.
Warm beer!
Bad drugs, STDs, mud,... Not unlike Woodstock. It wasn't that great.
Bad drugs, STDs, living on the street,... Not unlike Haight-Ashbury during the summer of love 1967. It wasn't that great.
I managed to be at the Fillmore, Winterland, the Carousel Ballroom, or the Avalon Ballroom just about every weekend for a year throughout 1968. Walked away with no bad drugs or STD but did walk away with some fantastic musical experiences.
Have you been down on Orange Avenue on a Friday or Saturday night? If you go to The Social you might catch a great show on stage, you might not. The patronage itself is a good show. The creatures that come out at night...
The smell of wacky weed waifing through a concert air still sends me back to San Francisco. I wonder where a shot of absinthe would send me?
It's that thing about TB and syph that gets me to ridge. These things were as much a problem in the US of that period. And today. The incidence of TB is on the rise. STDs are rampant. HIV
Is there ever going to be a time when the physical universe will present only pleasurable opportunities, and no pain or other bad consequences? I think not.
Now, about that bistro, I am off to have the cup o' joe--but that's all.
There was a short period before AIDS and after the "pill" after Tim Leary's popularizing of "acid" and before I got involved with a pre cult, that shined. Living near the "City" it was easy as pie to drive up there and see the Dead, the Airplane, Janis, Moby Grape, BB, Cream, etc. As I recall, entrance to the Fillmore was $6. Gas was $00.26 a gallon. Grass was $10. a lid. Acid was $3. a hit.(auditing was only $25. an hour). I bought a great leather jacket at the Towne Squire for $60. I still have it. Skip Spence (of the Airplane and Moby Grape) had one just like it. I don't know who had it first. I had great bell bottoms and black turtle necks and Beatle Boots, and I always reeked of patchouli and some smoked weed.
http://www.forum.exscn.net/picture.php?albumid=14&pictureid=1361
From my memories of the pre through post Summer of Love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS8RZsOZ1Dw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqh54rSzheg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fk2prKnYnI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3LEhfbKCSc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xEaEALzyJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zf62SJGRCI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM87rI-sR7o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_gg6JNLtXI&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujd0_0K_djk&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqVVnExlX9c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNgjA4i6gM
Last edited:
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
A while back on this Thread, Carmelo put up an excellent post re: Healthcare Insurance.
Without quality Health Insurance, Ole Face here, woulda been SOL when my brain blew out. Wound up costing me out of pocket maybe 20Gs or so (including monthly premium) but the first rate, whatever was needed, when it was needed by whomever I chose Healthcare that saved my life cost—just in the first 6 months—over 300K.
Over the last 4 years the Meds that keep me alive, give me an acceptable quality of life, the therapy that has helped my “come back” to the degree that I have, and the “access” and checkups that provide the “fine tuning” and detected my most recent “event” in time to “nip it in the bud” cost me about 4Gs a year instead of around 40Gs.
Since walking away from the SO I have paid for and maintained quality Health Insurance and, more importantly, had that insurance for my family. I cannot begin to express just how important this proved to be, not so much for me, but especially for my children. One of my kids had a seizure disorder that, thankfully, is now gone and requires no further Meds but, damn, if I hadn’t had access to the best of care it most likely would have gone undetected and caused permanent brain damage for the rest of my child’s life...that Child now hold a MA, Special Education from a Major University and a "Master Teacher" Cerificate for Deaf and Blind Children and teaches "Helen Keller" kids. I have another kid that was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis of the hands when 18 years old. The Meds that keep it under control and allowed my child to achieve an MFA, Painting from a world renowned Art Institute, and to now teach Art to other folk’s children would cost 12K a year without insurance…let alone the access to specialists to have an early diagnosis and first rate treatment at the onset of early, telltale symptoms.
The “Healthcare Issue” is one of the great, true travesties of Institutionalized Scn, Org Staff and SO. Not only are these folks paid a pittance, live in squalor and fed slop, they are intentionally kept from Healthcare access. It’s not just a matter of the hard dollar costs…it’s also about what would be “found Out” about what’s actually going on and being done to others for the “Protection” of “The Bridge to Total Freedom”. Institutionalized Scn spends times multiple more for Lawyers to protect “It” from “SP’s” than it does to care for and provide sustenance and minimal Quality of Life for its’ own (it's a certain bet that all that property and buildings have "Cadillac" Insurance Policies, too).
This is El Ron’s, “Legacy”. What is so, so sad to me is that I know, at this very moment, there are folks that have bought into “It” so deeply that they are not only risking their future, they are leaving the futures of their Children up to the "Majik" of El Ron’s “It”.
Face
This morning my wife is in the hospital for the third time in three weeks. If we didn't have insurance, we'd be selling our house to pay the bills.
Insurance costs an arm and a leg. My insurance, alone, is $800 a month. It is worth every penny. (yes, I know, they are gouging, trying to get ahead of the government mandated acceptance of everybody).
In my life, I've broken a rib falling off a horse, and went to emergency. That's my one insurance claim. I'd prefer to never have to collect. Insurance isn't for what you know is going to happen. It is for the unseen and not financially projected.
I heard (but didn't verify) that in one's last year of life, you can spend a hundred thousand dollars or more on hospital and doctor fees. Those kind of fees, without insurance, can steal your house from you.
The Scientology culture is flawed. The idea that auditing can keep you from ills and accidents has some merit, but not enough to trust. Having health insurance is an extravagance that you and your children (and parents) should not be living without.
If you are older, and can't afford it, try getting a job at Peet's Coffee or other compassionate employers who maintain group plans for their employees. Even though you aren't getting paid a lot per hour, the health insurance is worth buckets.
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Connecting Ideas vs Protecting Ideas
Basic assumption: An idea is a single thing, something that happens often in an illuminating moment.
Arguably, an idea is a network. In the brain, a new idea comes about when neurons fire and connect in new ways. In life, multiple brains come together and fire in new ways. This post is about connecting ideas vs protecting ideas.
My friend Wanda came to me a few years ago for some advice. I have been known to give good advice, but mostly I listen and question and listen some more until a person comes up with their own, acceptable, good advice. In this instance and as aside, Wanda said, "I've been thinking of writing a book." Ah, ha! Now my interest piqued!
A year later, we had a book. I passed it out and around for review. All but one person liked it. That person did not like it for reasons best known to his hypercritical self. Bottom line though, it just wasn't good enough of a representation of the Wanda he knew. Then there were a few people who gave over-the-top, glowing reviews. From them I got no constructive criticism, so in that regard, that feedback wasn't helpful either. Perhaps eighty percent felt the book was very good to excellent. We took all of their comments to heart, made some improvements, then self-published. We self-published because we are operating on a shoestring. Publishers want big money up front with absolutely no guarantee of sales. Realistically, people who get paid up front, some of them for just the statement, "I think I might write a book," are people who have already been in the public eye. You know their political names. You know their star status. We are none of that.
Wanda's single idea, "Write a book," became an actuality when I said, "Let's do it." We have a book, and a fairly good one it is. The book is Wanda's calling card. It is her introduction. Next step is to get Wanda out on the road talking to people. No, she is not and never will be a guru. She is a woman with experience. She is the best marketing and sales person I have ever seen. If we are talking with someone who has a problem in that area, she can roll some brilliant, workable ideas right off the top of her head. I do not have this kind of freedom with marketing and sales. I can sell, but not with this level of creativity.
Sales/marketing is but one area where Wanda can be of assistance to the right people. She was a single mom. She would like to speak to groups of single moms to help them make more money and live better. And the desire to get out and about takes other forms as well. This week she is on an ocean cruise where she will speak and promote her book with like-minded people. She had done a half dozen radio talk shows. Still we don't have the traction we need to get rolling.
We have come a long way from simply thinking about writing a book, yet we are spinning our wheels. Self-help seems, at times, to be way more difficult than helping someone else. We are not trying to protect any aspect of this project, but maybe we have been protective out of old habit. There's no big money to be made here--or maybe there is. Enough money to keep on keeping on is the primary target. I want to help an old lady close out her life doing exactly what she feels she needs to be doing. By her own admissions, she's a kook. She's a character. She has stories, some fascinating, some unbelievable, all true. It is my belief that the most important aspect of what Wanda might deliver is simply the perception of can-do spirit. It is a message of getting knocked down and getting back up. It is a message of standing on one's own two feet and being response-able.
This is where I seek your connectivity and assistance because we are somewhat stalled and in need of an accelerant: How do we take this project to the next level? What is the next level? That sort of thing lingers stagnant in the mind.
Here is the intro to the book and Wanda:
Introduction
Wanda Novak, who is she?
Ms. Novak hails from a small, High Plains farming community. She was raised on an Indian reservation in Nebraska. Her mother, a renaissance woman, was a recognized registered nurse and anesthetist. During her career, her mother cared for people on Indian reservations all over the Central Plains. She also practiced public health nursing at major hospitals in Houston and Chicago.
Though possessing only a fifth-grade education, Wanda’s father was a successful cow trader, rancher, and farmer. Her mother and father married late in life. From the age of three or four, her parents instilled a tough work ethic and they were never soft on their only child. Wanda was never allowed to say the word “can’t,” but was instilled with independence and self-reliance.
Wanda, then Miss French, earned her first significant income raising 4-H calves (age ten). She was a champion figure skater making her way to Nationals at age fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. Upon graduation from high school, at sixteen, her parents gave her $50 and told her to never come back for any more money. Wanda worked at the university while attending Kansas State. She has since continued her education in numerous fields including banking, advertising, broadcast, public relations, real estate, property appraisal, farming, ranching, veterinary work, business consulting, training and coaching; investments, commodities and stock brokering.
Wanda was the first woman livestock market-reporter on a major livestock terminal in Omaha. She also worked at Skelly Oil as an assistant to the vice president of advertising, working with network radio and TV shows that Skelly Oil sponsored. Later, Wanda was executive assistant to the richest man in Kansas. She worked with him in over twenty corporations that he owned throughout the United States.
Wanda worked in advertising, broadcast, and public relations in Austin, TX. She was helping with President Kennedy’s trip to Austin when he was killed in Dallas. She continued her work in advertising, broadcast, and public relations with projects for President Lyndon Johnson and Governor John Connally. During that time, Wanda originated the first written tour of the Texas Capitol in Austin; it is believed this text is being used to this day.
Wanda worked with several movie stars handling Public Relations for John Wayne’s Alamo, Who Shot Liberty Valance, the public appearances of TV stars from Bonanza and Gunsmoke, as well as many well-known night club entertainers.
Returning to the Omaha area, she worked in advertising and public relations. Wanda was the first woman vice president of a major ad agency in Omaha and, later, the first woman to sell television advertising time in the United States. At a time when the industry and the media were totally male-dominated, Ms. Novak, now widely known as “Wonderful Wanda,” was the Top Producer in her field.
For seven years Wanda worked in advertising by day then she tended a herd of four-hundred mother cows, a feedlot of one-hundred twenty head, and played the commodities market for another ten to twelve hours of the day, seven days a week. This is how she took her annual income from $4,200 to over $500,000 in just seven years.
After a series of personal tragedies she began a study of life and the spirit. In this pursuit she traveled to various countries examining the subjects of life and death. She delved into several spiritual studies in the United States. Today, she continues her pursuits of knowledge and matters of the spirit as well as business.
Bringing her unique work ethic and perspectives into focus during the mid-1990s, Wanda Novak created a coaching and training company (before it became such a popular profession) where she met and worked with several well-know personalities and celebrities from the High Plains to the cities of Dallas-Fort Worth, and parts in between.
Wanda is presently in Florida designing her next book and planning a lecture tour around this one. Wanda’s activities are now about, as she says, “Giving back.” Among the things she would like to talk about are the “9 Incredible Tools Smart People Use to Get What They Want.” The nine “tools” are introduced herein.
I hope this introduction gives sufficient reason to read the book, and we hope the book gives compelling reason to lend an ear when Wonderful Wanda comes to your area.
Ted Crammer
Editor
Prologue
One day when I was still young, I realized that no female on either side of my family had lived past the age of fifty. I assumed that would be my fate as well. I decided to set my life goals star high. Then wasting no time, I passionately reached for them. However, in the back of my mind, I held fifty as my cutoff point.
Here I am today, fifty and then some. What a surprise! Either the gods are playing a huge joke on me, or there is another reason why I am still here. I choose to think there’s another reason, a good reason. Every morning as I awake and feel my feet hit the floor, I thank God for the gift of life. I finally realized that my mission here in this life won’t be complete until I have shared some of the things I have learned along my way. I hope to be around for quite a while because I have a great deal to share.
I should begin by defining success. If finding and marrying the love of your life is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If having your own flourishing business is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If flying your own airplane is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If driving an expensive car such as my Maserati is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If consistently leading all other salespeople on your company’s stat board is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If earning a million dollars is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If world travel… Well, you get the idea.
To me, success means reaching for and achieving my goals. Some people have attained status, wealth, or other things that many of us would label as success, yet some people find no joy in what they have attained. I have known a few people like that. They became a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or something else, primarily to please another, not to please themselves. Some people reach a goal, but it’s not their own goal. This, too, can lead to no joy. I would have to add that success means setting and reaching one’s own goals and, though the challenges may be difficult and many, one remains energized by his or her goals and expectations.
My life hasn’t been one, long successful rise to the stars. Like many other people I know, I’ve had my ups and downs. My highs have been very high by almost any standard, higher than many people will ever achieve. In contrast, my lows have been very low, lower than many people will ever have to experience. Between the extremes of high and low, life always handed me a lesson. It was my responsibility to figure out what that lesson was, then deal with it.
Dictionary Use
For clarity sake, I have taken to defining a few key words throughout the text. I used several different dictionaries, then I focused on exact definitions within those volumes that expressed what I wanted to say. Modern dictionaries aren’t always the best, in my estimation. Though it is nearly one-hundred years since its last printing, I enjoy The Century Dictionary. It’s big; it’s beautiful; it’s comprehensive. Also, it is available for free, on-line. Referring to it facilitates a wonderful, liberal education that won’t cost a person anything but time and attention.
A person could begin, as I have done, by looking up any word that grabs his or her curiosity. If there is a word in the definition that they don’t fully comprehend, they would look that up, too. Over the years, some of the words I chose to delve into were: power, will, individual, spirit, intention, purpose, prosperity, life, liberty, happiness, responsibility, and more.
Coaching
I refer to coaches and coaching throughout the book. Most of us know about coaches in sports activities; I had a skating coach when I was young. There are many styles of coaching, and any subject or activity can be coached. A good coach is able to impart experience, craft, guidance, inspiration, and so on. The best coaches, in my estimation, are also able to bring forth (educe) the best qualities and performance resident within the student.
My father coached me in the care and handling of calves as well as other farm animals. He coached me on buying and selling livestock—and other subjects. My mother coached me in public speaking, manners, self-defense, and more. This style of coaching is probably the most common type. It is often presented as a small bit of eduction occasioned by a great deal of indoctrination. For the most part, my early coaches told me about the subjects they wanted me to understand, enough to elicit my participation. They didn’t ask for my thoughts on the matter, just my performance.
Compare educe with indoctrinate.
There is another form of coaching that depends primarily on eduction with a minimal amount of indoctrination. This style allows an individual to examine his or her own thoughts and experience, draw their own conclusions, then set their own course for the future. This method is aimed at bringing out what is best in a person. Most often when I refer to “speaking with my coach,” this is the style of consultation I am referring to.
The earliest known form of fostering critical thinking is called the Socratic method. The focus is on giving students good, probing questions, not answers. With continued probing into a subject, an inquiring mind can come to evaluate, accepting or rejecting on one’s own determinism, what is important to the person, and what is not.
This style of coaching is direct and businesslike, yet warm and friendly. It is compassionate, but unforgiving in quest for truth. A good coach is skilled at holding one’s feet to the fire until a particular matter (difficulty, upset, goal, etc.) has been resolved. The following quote works very well in describing the coach and student relationship:
But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest as well as one’s most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort—the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person—having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. — Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, (1859)
Wanda's web site: http://www.neversaycant.net
Basic assumption: An idea is a single thing, something that happens often in an illuminating moment.
Arguably, an idea is a network. In the brain, a new idea comes about when neurons fire and connect in new ways. In life, multiple brains come together and fire in new ways. This post is about connecting ideas vs protecting ideas.
My friend Wanda came to me a few years ago for some advice. I have been known to give good advice, but mostly I listen and question and listen some more until a person comes up with their own, acceptable, good advice. In this instance and as aside, Wanda said, "I've been thinking of writing a book." Ah, ha! Now my interest piqued!
A year later, we had a book. I passed it out and around for review. All but one person liked it. That person did not like it for reasons best known to his hypercritical self. Bottom line though, it just wasn't good enough of a representation of the Wanda he knew. Then there were a few people who gave over-the-top, glowing reviews. From them I got no constructive criticism, so in that regard, that feedback wasn't helpful either. Perhaps eighty percent felt the book was very good to excellent. We took all of their comments to heart, made some improvements, then self-published. We self-published because we are operating on a shoestring. Publishers want big money up front with absolutely no guarantee of sales. Realistically, people who get paid up front, some of them for just the statement, "I think I might write a book," are people who have already been in the public eye. You know their political names. You know their star status. We are none of that.
Wanda's single idea, "Write a book," became an actuality when I said, "Let's do it." We have a book, and a fairly good one it is. The book is Wanda's calling card. It is her introduction. Next step is to get Wanda out on the road talking to people. No, she is not and never will be a guru. She is a woman with experience. She is the best marketing and sales person I have ever seen. If we are talking with someone who has a problem in that area, she can roll some brilliant, workable ideas right off the top of her head. I do not have this kind of freedom with marketing and sales. I can sell, but not with this level of creativity.
Sales/marketing is but one area where Wanda can be of assistance to the right people. She was a single mom. She would like to speak to groups of single moms to help them make more money and live better. And the desire to get out and about takes other forms as well. This week she is on an ocean cruise where she will speak and promote her book with like-minded people. She had done a half dozen radio talk shows. Still we don't have the traction we need to get rolling.
We have come a long way from simply thinking about writing a book, yet we are spinning our wheels. Self-help seems, at times, to be way more difficult than helping someone else. We are not trying to protect any aspect of this project, but maybe we have been protective out of old habit. There's no big money to be made here--or maybe there is. Enough money to keep on keeping on is the primary target. I want to help an old lady close out her life doing exactly what she feels she needs to be doing. By her own admissions, she's a kook. She's a character. She has stories, some fascinating, some unbelievable, all true. It is my belief that the most important aspect of what Wanda might deliver is simply the perception of can-do spirit. It is a message of getting knocked down and getting back up. It is a message of standing on one's own two feet and being response-able.
This is where I seek your connectivity and assistance because we are somewhat stalled and in need of an accelerant: How do we take this project to the next level? What is the next level? That sort of thing lingers stagnant in the mind.
Here is the intro to the book and Wanda:
Introduction
Wanda Novak, who is she?
Ms. Novak hails from a small, High Plains farming community. She was raised on an Indian reservation in Nebraska. Her mother, a renaissance woman, was a recognized registered nurse and anesthetist. During her career, her mother cared for people on Indian reservations all over the Central Plains. She also practiced public health nursing at major hospitals in Houston and Chicago.
Though possessing only a fifth-grade education, Wanda’s father was a successful cow trader, rancher, and farmer. Her mother and father married late in life. From the age of three or four, her parents instilled a tough work ethic and they were never soft on their only child. Wanda was never allowed to say the word “can’t,” but was instilled with independence and self-reliance.
Wanda, then Miss French, earned her first significant income raising 4-H calves (age ten). She was a champion figure skater making her way to Nationals at age fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. Upon graduation from high school, at sixteen, her parents gave her $50 and told her to never come back for any more money. Wanda worked at the university while attending Kansas State. She has since continued her education in numerous fields including banking, advertising, broadcast, public relations, real estate, property appraisal, farming, ranching, veterinary work, business consulting, training and coaching; investments, commodities and stock brokering.
Wanda was the first woman livestock market-reporter on a major livestock terminal in Omaha. She also worked at Skelly Oil as an assistant to the vice president of advertising, working with network radio and TV shows that Skelly Oil sponsored. Later, Wanda was executive assistant to the richest man in Kansas. She worked with him in over twenty corporations that he owned throughout the United States.
Wanda worked in advertising, broadcast, and public relations in Austin, TX. She was helping with President Kennedy’s trip to Austin when he was killed in Dallas. She continued her work in advertising, broadcast, and public relations with projects for President Lyndon Johnson and Governor John Connally. During that time, Wanda originated the first written tour of the Texas Capitol in Austin; it is believed this text is being used to this day.
Wanda worked with several movie stars handling Public Relations for John Wayne’s Alamo, Who Shot Liberty Valance, the public appearances of TV stars from Bonanza and Gunsmoke, as well as many well-known night club entertainers.
Returning to the Omaha area, she worked in advertising and public relations. Wanda was the first woman vice president of a major ad agency in Omaha and, later, the first woman to sell television advertising time in the United States. At a time when the industry and the media were totally male-dominated, Ms. Novak, now widely known as “Wonderful Wanda,” was the Top Producer in her field.
For seven years Wanda worked in advertising by day then she tended a herd of four-hundred mother cows, a feedlot of one-hundred twenty head, and played the commodities market for another ten to twelve hours of the day, seven days a week. This is how she took her annual income from $4,200 to over $500,000 in just seven years.
After a series of personal tragedies she began a study of life and the spirit. In this pursuit she traveled to various countries examining the subjects of life and death. She delved into several spiritual studies in the United States. Today, she continues her pursuits of knowledge and matters of the spirit as well as business.
Bringing her unique work ethic and perspectives into focus during the mid-1990s, Wanda Novak created a coaching and training company (before it became such a popular profession) where she met and worked with several well-know personalities and celebrities from the High Plains to the cities of Dallas-Fort Worth, and parts in between.
Wanda is presently in Florida designing her next book and planning a lecture tour around this one. Wanda’s activities are now about, as she says, “Giving back.” Among the things she would like to talk about are the “9 Incredible Tools Smart People Use to Get What They Want.” The nine “tools” are introduced herein.
I hope this introduction gives sufficient reason to read the book, and we hope the book gives compelling reason to lend an ear when Wonderful Wanda comes to your area.
Ted Crammer
Editor
Prologue
One day when I was still young, I realized that no female on either side of my family had lived past the age of fifty. I assumed that would be my fate as well. I decided to set my life goals star high. Then wasting no time, I passionately reached for them. However, in the back of my mind, I held fifty as my cutoff point.
Here I am today, fifty and then some. What a surprise! Either the gods are playing a huge joke on me, or there is another reason why I am still here. I choose to think there’s another reason, a good reason. Every morning as I awake and feel my feet hit the floor, I thank God for the gift of life. I finally realized that my mission here in this life won’t be complete until I have shared some of the things I have learned along my way. I hope to be around for quite a while because I have a great deal to share.
I should begin by defining success. If finding and marrying the love of your life is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If having your own flourishing business is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If flying your own airplane is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If driving an expensive car such as my Maserati is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If consistently leading all other salespeople on your company’s stat board is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If earning a million dollars is your idea of success, then I have been successful. If world travel… Well, you get the idea.
To me, success means reaching for and achieving my goals. Some people have attained status, wealth, or other things that many of us would label as success, yet some people find no joy in what they have attained. I have known a few people like that. They became a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or something else, primarily to please another, not to please themselves. Some people reach a goal, but it’s not their own goal. This, too, can lead to no joy. I would have to add that success means setting and reaching one’s own goals and, though the challenges may be difficult and many, one remains energized by his or her goals and expectations.
My life hasn’t been one, long successful rise to the stars. Like many other people I know, I’ve had my ups and downs. My highs have been very high by almost any standard, higher than many people will ever achieve. In contrast, my lows have been very low, lower than many people will ever have to experience. Between the extremes of high and low, life always handed me a lesson. It was my responsibility to figure out what that lesson was, then deal with it.
Dictionary Use
For clarity sake, I have taken to defining a few key words throughout the text. I used several different dictionaries, then I focused on exact definitions within those volumes that expressed what I wanted to say. Modern dictionaries aren’t always the best, in my estimation. Though it is nearly one-hundred years since its last printing, I enjoy The Century Dictionary. It’s big; it’s beautiful; it’s comprehensive. Also, it is available for free, on-line. Referring to it facilitates a wonderful, liberal education that won’t cost a person anything but time and attention.
A person could begin, as I have done, by looking up any word that grabs his or her curiosity. If there is a word in the definition that they don’t fully comprehend, they would look that up, too. Over the years, some of the words I chose to delve into were: power, will, individual, spirit, intention, purpose, prosperity, life, liberty, happiness, responsibility, and more.
Coaching
I refer to coaches and coaching throughout the book. Most of us know about coaches in sports activities; I had a skating coach when I was young. There are many styles of coaching, and any subject or activity can be coached. A good coach is able to impart experience, craft, guidance, inspiration, and so on. The best coaches, in my estimation, are also able to bring forth (educe) the best qualities and performance resident within the student.
My father coached me in the care and handling of calves as well as other farm animals. He coached me on buying and selling livestock—and other subjects. My mother coached me in public speaking, manners, self-defense, and more. This style of coaching is probably the most common type. It is often presented as a small bit of eduction occasioned by a great deal of indoctrination. For the most part, my early coaches told me about the subjects they wanted me to understand, enough to elicit my participation. They didn’t ask for my thoughts on the matter, just my performance.
Compare educe with indoctrinate.
There is another form of coaching that depends primarily on eduction with a minimal amount of indoctrination. This style allows an individual to examine his or her own thoughts and experience, draw their own conclusions, then set their own course for the future. This method is aimed at bringing out what is best in a person. Most often when I refer to “speaking with my coach,” this is the style of consultation I am referring to.
The earliest known form of fostering critical thinking is called the Socratic method. The focus is on giving students good, probing questions, not answers. With continued probing into a subject, an inquiring mind can come to evaluate, accepting or rejecting on one’s own determinism, what is important to the person, and what is not.
This style of coaching is direct and businesslike, yet warm and friendly. It is compassionate, but unforgiving in quest for truth. A good coach is skilled at holding one’s feet to the fire until a particular matter (difficulty, upset, goal, etc.) has been resolved. The following quote works very well in describing the coach and student relationship:
But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest as well as one’s most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort—the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person—having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. — Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, (1859)
Wanda's web site: http://www.neversaycant.net
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
Below is a picture of me taking at a Tommy Burger place in Northern California, about 100 miles before we got to Cupertino. This is a great picture of me.
Lakey
Where is there a Tommy's north of Santa Clarita?
Enquiring minds want to know?
Just down the street (Rampart Blvd.) from the original ASHO, and a couple of miles up Alvarado from AOLA, CC
, and the LA Org was (and still is) the Original Tommy's on Beverly and Rampart. As I recall, it was (probably still is), open all night, or close to it. I can recall being there at 2 AM, having just left the briefing course on Wed night, finishing a section, so that I could take Thursday off. I timed finishing sections of the briefing course off in the middle of Wednesday nights (before Thursday at 2) because the course supes then let me take Thursday off. I'd go to the LA County Museum of Art or rock climbing in Simi Valley, or Venice Beach or Santa Monica. So many places to play in SoCal.
But Tommy's was the place to go at any time for a heart killing burger. Just the name brings back great memories.
The ORIGINAL Tommy's is such a landmark, such a cultural icon (like the old Brown Derby, like the Capitol Records building).
from somebody's blog:
Tommy's: Triple Chili Cheese Burger and Chili Cheese Fries ($9) Rating: 9
Mark Lim - It's a scientific fact that when you eat a World Famous Original Tommy's Mega Combo Meal your life span is reduced by 2 years. I think they make you sign a waiver when you order one but it's totally worth it.
As soon as you unwrap the Triple Cheese Burger from it's greasy translucent paper your entire body will be covered in their world famous Chili. It kind of just explodes on you like your heart does after you eat it. Mmm...
If I were on death row and they asked me what I wanted for my last meal it would definitely involve Tommy's. I'd probably eat two and say, "Woo hoo! Strap me up to the chair, I'm done!"
Once you pick up the burger it's hard to put down. You have to eat as fast as you can or it will just melt all over your clothes.
I think they crumble little Prozac pills into the cheese because I always feel happy after eating one.
Isn't it awesomely disgusting?
If you're on the fence about becoming a vegetarian you have to eat one. It'll convince you to join the dark side.
Tommy's - Triple Chili Cheese Burger & Chili Fries
Taste ------------ (9) So greasy and delicious
Presentation ---(8) It's got that old timey burger stand feel
Price ------------- (8) $9 = Burger, Fries, Drink
Availability ----- (7) Based in California, expanding to Nevada
Quantity --------- (8) Oh so good Oh so fat
Satisfaction ----- (9) You won't want to eat for the rest of the day
Rating: 9 out of 10
When I think of Tommy's I think of everything that's wrong with America. We are all so gluttonous, fat, and greedy. We have no boundaries, etiquette, or self control. We want everything and anything in sight and I dig it.
Ted
Gold Meritorious Patron
Where is there a Tommy's north of Santa Clarita?
Enquiring minds want to know?
Just down the street (Rampart Blvd.) from the original ASHO, and a couple of miles up Alvarado from AOLA, CC
, and the LA Org was (and still is) the Original Tommy's on Beverly and Rampart. As I recall, it was (probably still is), open all night, or close to it. I can recall being there at 2 AM, having just left the briefing course on Wed night, finishing a section, so that I could take Thursday off. I timed finishing sections of the briefing course off in the middle of Wednesday nights (before Thursday at 2) because the course supes then let me take Thursday off. I'd go to the LA County Museum of Art or rock climbing in Simi Valley, or Venice Beach or Santa Monica. So many places to play in SoCal.
But Tommy's was the place to go at any time for a heart killing burger. Just the name brings back great memories.
How does a Briefing Course student of old know when he's hungry?
The indigestion from his last Tommy Burger has subsided.
SweetnessandLight
Crusader
I'm ready!!!
You know, when Ted first started this, I thought, we have a sort of a virtual salon right here on this thread!
Thanks for those great Paris pics, Hatty! I can smell the absinthe by just looking at that Hell Cafe! 
O.K. Ted, I watched the vids and I'm primed and ready for our assignment!
I am going to up the ante by adding this vid, a TED talk featuring Tony Robbins, who people like to joke about and make fun of, but who is a GREAT public speaker, and knows his stuff about what makes people tick. Much of what he says in this vid has relevance for us here on this thread
No psychiatry is involved, so I double-dog dare everybody to watch it!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I&feature=related
You know, when Ted first started this, I thought, we have a sort of a virtual salon right here on this thread!
Thanks for those great Paris pics, Hatty! I can smell the absinthe by just looking at that Hell Cafe! O.K. Ted, I watched the vids and I'm primed and ready for our assignment!
I am going to up the ante by adding this vid, a TED talk featuring Tony Robbins, who people like to joke about and make fun of, but who is a GREAT public speaker, and knows his stuff about what makes people tick. Much of what he says in this vid has relevance for us here on this thread
No psychiatry is involved
, so I double-dog dare everybody to watch it!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I&feature=related
CarmeloOrchards
Crusader
start with an e book format and sales on ebay, i tunes and Amazon.
redo the first words that a reader sees. Do a book jacket if necessary.
It is the front and back cover that sells a book that isn't by Tom Clancy or J. K. Rowling or hyped by Oprah.
Give it a PUNCH!
Have a quote about her kid dying, and the gut punch that was. Have ACW's stinging words about her right there. Show some of the adversity. Don't pussy foot around. Hit the reader in the solar plexus. Like Cassius Clay, show what she can take and give in the first glance.
Don't call her an old lady. Grandma Moses was no old lady. Colonel Sanders was no old man. (both didn't hit until late in life) Age has nothing to do with the topic. You are selling a story that should be inspiring and educational.
make the introduction more of a "Give'm Hell, Harry!" and less a reasoned treatise.
- Status