The Christmas Spirit

“I just don’t have the Christmas spirit,” she said and sighed.
“What does that mean?” I asked, trying to challenge her a little bit.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “But whatever it is, I don’t have it. And I should.”
“You should, huh?” I asked. “According to who?”
Just then a car came by, headed in the opposite direction. Multi-colored lights dangled inside from the car’s ceiling. We laughed.
“That guy has the Christmas spirit,” I said.
Minutes later we turned down a side street and saw a stop sign wrapped in a pine garland. Maybe not as cool as the guy with the dangling Christmas lights in his car, but I still managed a smile. About a block or so later we saw an almost palatial brick home, draped with Christmas lights. Curiously, the display also included a neon palm tree along with a couple pink flamingoes. We chuckled at this “Christmas in paradise” theme.

I drove home and uncharacteristically didn’t turn on the radio or my mp3 player. It was just me and my thoughts. So my friend didn’t have this mysterious “Christmas spirit”, whatever that was. Did I? I couldn’t honestly say, because I didn’t really have a handle on what that was. I thought about the events of the past year or so… good things, bad things and maybe even some wonderful things. It was very easy for me, at least at that point, to make a case that I had pretty much had my ass handed to me by the events of the past few months.
I was almost home when another friend called me, responding to a voice mail I had left the day before. We exchanged the usual pleasantries and then I proceeded to tell him that a former co-worker of ours had just spent a few months in prison for a felony charge of “obstructing justice”.
“You know,” he said, and I could picture him shaking his head ruefully,”that guy’s gonna spend the rest of his life in and out of prison.”
I had to agree.

It was about 1:30am and I was about halfway through a “Walker, Texas Ranger” rerun. Despite the fact that I was tired to the bone, I simply couldn’t get to sleep. I flashed back to a conversation I had earlier that evening with another friend.
“I’m just going to hold on to some hope for a little while,” I said. “Maybe I need that right now.”
Ah-ha. That was it.
That’s the Christmas spirit. Hope. Even the more secular, cynical and jaded among us can choose hope.
Hope for the future.
Hope for our children.
Hope for peace.
Hope for happiness.
Hope for those who need it.
Christmas is the season of hope. That’s a gift you can give both to others and yourself.

Responsibility

In my previous blog post, I made reference to taking responsibility versus taking blame. Yes, there is a difference. First of all responsibility is a positive thing. Taking responsibility is means you have some control over, at least, your reaction to the situation and hopefully the outcome. Blame has a much more negative connotation, plus (to me at least) there’s nothing there other than the blame itself… it gets placed on one party or another and that’s that. Blame has no power other than making you resentful at yourself or others. When you take responsibility you give yourself power and control.
It’s occurred to me that I’ve approached this whole responsibility/ blame dichotomy in exactly the opposite way I should have. I’ve become aware I’ve blamed myself for things that are not really my fault. I’ve blamed others for, among other things, how I feel about myself and my life. Basically, I’ve blamed myself for the very things I should take responsibility for as well as things that were simply not my fault.
Tsk, tsk.
When I take responsibility for my life, inside and out, that’s when I can start to effect change and make progress. All blame does, whether it’s directed at yourself or at others, is breed negative emotions (and usually a fair amount of whining). Taking responsibility gives you power. Placing blame takes it away.

There will be those days you might slip into a state of self-pity. What then?
Take action.
Take some kind of action. It almost doesn’t matter what. You’ll keep yourself from wallowing in the self-pity gutter plus you might even make something good happen.
When you take action, you take responsibility. Simple as that.

2009

“How was 2008 for you? Was it great? Was it less than great? I have good news for you too, this is your chance to punch the reset button and start anew.
I love this time of the year. January 1 is a chance to be reborn. No matter who you are or where you are now, everyone comes back to the starting line again. Once the clock strikes midnight on December 31, all the pains, joys, successes, or failures are wiped clean, and the door on the previous year shuts forever. All you bring forward are the wisdoms you have gained from the years thus traveled.”
Darren Hardy, Publisher, Success Magazine

Let’s start a movement, you and I. First, let me explain…
By most measures my life kind of, well… sucks right now. I simply did not have the best year. Much of what’s at issue with me right now is my fault.
I’ve been irresponsible at times.
I’ve let my emotions make decisions for me.
I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes.
All this accounts for the position I’m in right now. I take full responsibility for the mistakes I’ve made. What I won’t do, however, is take all the blame. I know this sounds like the merest semantic difference to many of you, but it makes perfect sense to me. Not all of my problems are completely my fault. I’ve been lied to and screwed over. I’ve been badly mistreated by people who I once thought cared about me and my future.
C’ vest la vie. So what now?
Now is a great opportunity to reassess where you’re at in your life and set some goals on how you’re going to make 2009 the best year of your life (or in my case, at least better than 2008… which shouldn’t be too hard).
You can set goals in just about any sphere of your life. It’s up to you.
· Relationships- Are there some relationships you need to shore up? Maybe there’s some you need to get out of. I know it sounds harsh to more or less kick people out of your life, but that is one area that I’ve had some success in throughout the past year. I’ve gotten some very negative people away from me and made room for those who have a much more positive influence on me and my life (if you think I’m referring to you, you’re probably right).
· Health- You might need to lose some weight. You might need to get more fit. It doesn’t matter which. Just freakin’ do it!
· Career- Maybe this is the year you get your career back on track, get promoted or finally get the schooling you need. Whatever the case may be, let’s make 2009 the year you finally get it done.

Here are my goals…
· Be the best dad I can. This is, without question, my most important goal.
· Get a new job. A good one, with a great company.
· Get published. I’m full of big talk about being a writer. Let’s see if I can make a go of it.

Just so you don’t think I’m all doom and gloom, I have to say that despite the rather considerable rough spots I’ve experienced in 2008, I’ve managed to experience some wonderful things…
· I have the most amazing children you can imagine. The three of them never cease to amaze me and never cease to make me want to be a better person and a better dad.
· I’ve had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of one of the finest people I have ever known, someone who believes in me and cares for me no matter what. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me.

So here’s what I propose we all do…
Push your limits…
Be fearless…
Kick some ass…
Etc…
I hope you want to join me on this quest- if you do, leave a comment on this blog entry. I once inspired someone with something I wrote. I hope I've done that for you today. So let's start a movement, you and I. Let's make 2009 the best year we possibly can.

Good guys and bad guys

A few days ago I was having one of my whinier moments. I called someone who I knew would set me straight. Among other things I was bemoaning the fact that, at least relative to me, the bad guys were winning. I pointed three specific instances that I thought proved my point.
“Maybe so,” my friend said. “But they don’t win in the long-term.”
I had to concede at that point because, well… she’s always right. This time, though, the universe conspired with her and proved her point.
Witness the recent sentencing of O.J. Simpson. Whether or not he actually committed those murders he was accused of years ago, he’s pretty much acted like a complete asshat since he was acquitted. Just one example… that book he wrote called, “If I Did It”. I mean seriously…
This morning we woke up to the news that the Governor of our fair state of Iliinois is now in federal custody for what has been called a “political corruption crime spree”. Here’s the complete criminal complaint in the event you’re in the mood for a little light reading…
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/081209_FINAL_complaint_cover_and_aff.pdf
As for me and my “bad guys”? They’ll get theirs.

I guarantee it.

VOTE

This is probably the one and only time I'll address politics on my blog.
VOTE!!!!!
My philosophy is if you don't vote, then you don't get to bitch.


At least not to me.

Best. Spam. Ever.

I've been getting MSNBC "Breaking News" emails for years. It's actually the primary way I keep up with world and national news. Recently I have been getting a great deal of spam...fake versions of the aforementioned emails. I'm sure it's a new wrinkle in how spammers phish or give us malware or whatever the hell it is they do, but damn, these headlines are funny. Here's a look a some of them...

Bush 'Troubled' by Gay Marriages. Declares San Francisco Part of 'Axis of Evil'
Michael Jackson is hermaphrodite. Watch the video.
[video] Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency
[audio] Church Group Offers Homosexual New Life In Closet
Obama Captures Osama
Hillary Clinton Gets Night Job
Jesus Christ To Star In Next Series Of Batman
Cindy Mccain Talks About Her Boobs
Paris Hilton Lectures On Dickens And Dostoevsky
Donald Trump missing, feared kidnapped
Man wakes up from 40 year coma
The World is on Pace to Run out of Internet by 2010
Jason Kidd Feels Guilty After Stealing Ball from Chinese Point Guard
Favre gets unconditional reverse deactivation restriction preclusion
Polar Bears must be taught to Swim
Barbra Streisand: "I Don't Want to Talk to the Maid"
Extreme Home Makeover: Host Ty Pennington's House inadvertently bulldozed
Americans loves to sue people
Ican To Shut Down Email Services World Wide
Poll: Is That Really Britney In The Sex Video
Bush Down to 8 Friends on Myspace
Bush Says He Still Believes Iraq War Was The Fun Thing To Do

More Random Quotes!

No context or attribution (except for the last one). Just good, clean, quotey fun.

"We're like bi-polar opposites"

"You don't wanna be a wannabe"

"I'm getting kind of new-agey in my old age"

"I'm not an alpha male...I'm in beta."

"All cats smell like freakin' broccoli!"

Heard while kids played video games...
"David, get that guy that's on my tail."
"You have a tail?"

In the Heat of the Dark Knight

Okay, I admit it…I love Batman. No, not in a, “I’m going to send him a dozen roses and slow dance with him under a silvery moon” kind of a way. Batman is simply my favorite superhero, in that he’s more or less a regular person...he’s not an alien, he doesn’t have any gamma ray induced powers…he’s a hero because he’s used personal tragedy as well as his vast reservoirs of courage and discipline to transform himself into the self-styled savior of Gotham City.
I would rank “Batman Begins” as one of my very favorite movies. It’s one of those rare films that works on every level…as an action-packed, visceral entertainment, as an epic human drama, as a tale of one man’s redemption and transformation. Consequently, I have been anticipating the sequel since the original came out in 2005.
I’ve done some reading on the internet about “The Dark Knight” the past few weeks. Much has been made about the blistering, hysterical, full-on performance of the late, lamented Heath Ledger as the Joker. There has been, in fact, a great deal of posthumous Oscar talk for him…I would daresay deservedly so. What’s interested me the most about all of the pre-release buzz are some of the early reviews that have trickled in. They are uniformly raves, of course, but a surprisingly high percentage of them reference Michael Mann’s 1995 crime thriller, “Heat”. Many reviewers are seeing “The Dark Knight” as less a superhero movie than an epic crime drama. Interesting.
I happen to have a copy of “Heat” on DVD so I pulled it out and watched it last night. For the uninitiated, “Heat” is the story of a professional thief, played by Robert DeNiro, at odds with a win-at-all-costs police detective, played by Al Pacino. There are surface similarities between the two films. DeNiro and Pacino’s characters are very much two sides of the same coin. Both are intelligent, driven, professional and passionate about what they do…so much so that each has sacrificed their personal life in order to be at the top of their respective games. For both men, their identities are wrapped up in their professions…sound like a billionaire playboy anyone knows? Also, both films are epic in scope and length (both clock in at well over two and a half hours).
Everything about “Heat” is first-rate, and I mean everything. The acting, the script and even the cinematography and music score are likely about as good as they could possibly be. “Heat” also has one of the best action scenes in recent cinema, a mid-day shootout in downtown Los Angeles that will (pun intended) blow you away.

Now, as for “The Dark Knight” itself…
I thought it was good. In fact, very good. I didn’t however, think it was a masterpiece, and I still favor “Batman Begins”. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was head and shoulders over most movies I’ve seen of late. There’s much to recommend it…
Yes, Heath Ledger is amazing as the Joker. He somehow manages to be both frightening and hilarious, sometimes all at once. He truly disappears into the role. When you watch “The Dark Knight”, there is no Heath Ledger. There is simply the Joker.
Christian Bale is still the best incarnation of Batman. He has the acting ability to deal with some of the weighty themes the movie deals with, plus he absolutely nails the whole Bruce Wayne/ Batman duality.
The cast as a whole was excellent…Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are some of the better actors out there, and they proved it once again.
There were some amazing action sequences (which I won’t detail, as I’m trying to keep this review spoiler-free) and even a few moments that had the audience clapping and cheering.

Now for the not-so-good…
I felt the movie as a whole was a bit overblown and loses its momentum not long after the two-hour mark. As much as the audience I saw it with enjoyed the film as a whole, I could detect some restlessness near the end. There was one sequence (the one in the harbor, for those that have seen it) that I thought was extraneous and brought the movie to screeching halt for awhile.
So all in all, I felt “The Dark Knight” was an excellent film…just not a great one.

A CAUTIONARY NOTE
Think long and hard about taking kids to see this film. It’s not unlikely “The Dark Knight”’s length and breadth would tax the attention spans of many youngsters. More to the point, some of the content might be kind of rough for kids. The appearance of the Two-Face character is pretty disturbing and really pushes the upper limits of the PG-13 rating.

A Good Recruiter

Just so you people don’t think I’m some kind of curmudgeon, allow me to tell you about my encounter with a true, professional recruiter.
I wrote recently about an interview I had wherein I was treated in an unprofessional, discourteous fashion by both a company’s in-house recruiter and a manager. The two of them were rather rude, unpleasant and left me wondering exactly why they wasted my time (as well as theirs) in bringing me in for an interview.
Not long after I interviewed for a recruiter position at a healthcare company. I was greeted warmly and the woman who interviewed me was upbeat, fully engaged in our conversation and interested in what I had to say. I left the interview feeling like the organization in question was a good one and that I had been treated with respect.
My philosophy as a recruiter is that even if the person being interviewed is not right for the opening at hand, they may be perfect for something down the line, so make the experience as positive as you can.
That, my friends, is what we call professional recruiting!

Something I wrote

What follows is something I wrote a few months ago. I never put the full text of it on this blog because it was very much about the candidates at the staffing firm I was working at and I didn't want to cause any problems. I no longer work there, so here it is...

Everyday I see the drawn, distraught faces of those who have given up...the furrowed brows, the sad eyes, the slump in the chair as they sit across from me. Once in awhile I see a glimmer of hope or determination or maybe even a little ambition.
But just once in awhile. Just every so often.
That alone weighs heavily on me. But then I sometimes have the burden of laying these people off, taking away what little $9.00 an hour hope I have managed to give them. I see the regrets etched on worn faces. Time lost to jail, lives drowned in alcohol, families broken by a needle or a pipe or a violent act. We all have regrets to be sure, but these are people who have let themselves and the course of their lives be dictated by the indiscretions of the past. Some are people who have no dreams beyond a paycheck for the next week or an evening at the tavern down the street.
Please don't make the mistake that I look down on any of them. Sometimes I see something almost heroic in their collective struggle to scrape by. I also think that this myopia as far as a vision of the future is very much a function of their origins. Simply, how can you have a bright outlook when you've never been taught to see one? How can you believe in yourself when you've never seen anyone who does? I think everyone has a rich vein of hope they can tap, but for so many it's buried under thick layers of despair and regret and fear and ignorance.
So what's the point of this depressive little dirge I've written? Lessons. I'm so full of life lessons right now, I think I'm going to burst. Here they are...

• Hope. Hope is paramount. Even when you can't see it, it's alwaysthere. Just because you can't see or feel the sun behind those gray clouds, it doesn't mean it's extinguished. It's always there.
• The future. The future is yours to conquer and you are not your past.
• Your life. It's your life to control and make the best of. Your life does not belong to your parents or your ex-husband or your mindless friends. It's yours. Take responsibility for it. Run with it until you're out of breath and can't run anymore.

A Bad Recruiter

Last week I had a job interview. It was a complete and utter waste of time.
I first met with the company’s in-house recruiter. I can’t say I was overly impressed with her…she struck me as being of the very anal-retentive, process-oriented branch of the staffing tree. She brought in the manager that I would be working under were I to get the position.
The two of them proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes more-or-less telling me why I wasn’t qualified for the position.
Hmmm…that’s fine. I left their offices with a very sour taste in my mouth, so I certainly wasn’t upset I wasn’t going to be working there. But neither should that recruiter.
I was certainly qualified for the position based on the standards set forth in their job posting. So if I truly wasn’t qualified, someone surely didn’t write a very good ad. Also, if I truly wasn’t qualified, why did they interview me in the first place? This was a waste of my time, her time and that manager’s time.
One of the fundamental things a recruiter does is separate the wheat from the chaff…sort the qualified candidates from the unqualified. This should be done at every opportunity. Write an effective job post or ad, so prospective candidates know whether they're qualified or not. When resumes come in, only shepherd the strongest prospects through the process.
Etc.
The other side of that coin is this…if they did have some interest in bringing me onboard, the recruiter and the manager both did a world-class bad job of selling me on their company as a good place to work. Both came off in an unpleasant, unprofessional fashion. Having left one, shall we say, less-than-positive work environment I certainly don’t want to get into another.

Whatever the case may be, that recruiter did a lousy job.

Random Quotes 2

Just a few random quotes for your reading pleasure...

"Thanks for raining on my snarky little parade."

"I don't like the purple five."

"This whole office smells like ONIONS, and not in a good way."

"Spork me to death!"

"Your picture should be in the dictionary next to the definition of 'sardonic smile'"

"If I want to know about machine parts, bondage or banjo music..."

"That's another nail in the karma coffin"

Don't Waste Your Time Waiting

"Talk about a dream
Try to make it real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
Spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well, don't waste your time waiting"
Thunder Road- Bruce Springsteen

I have spent most of my adulthood living a life I was not meant to. I am fortunate now in that I have come to realize just what it is I am supposed to be doing. Anyone who knows me well understands what I am talking about. I am meant to be a writer. That's what I'm good at. That's what I love to do. That's what I have passion for. That's how I'm going to have the broadest possible impact on the world.
I have recently started a very ambitious project, a novel and an accompanying non-fiction book. Recent events have conspired to make this not only something I want to do, but something I have to do. I'm doing it...in fact, I've already started.
So I'm not going to waste my time waiting anymore.

How to REALLY Screw Up Your Life

I'm just a regular guy.
I have three kids, a college degree and I wear a tie to work everyday. Somehow, though, I see how the drug use so rampant in American culture comes very close to impacting my life. Two people near and dear to me have family members that have drug problems. I have another freind that I have lost to the prison system for the same reason.
Guess what?
Whenever you smoke, shoot up or otherwise ingest some illegal substance, those you love might as well be by your side taking it too. Drug use is not just an individual's problem, it's a family problem, it's your freinds' problem and ultimately it's society's problem. Families are broken and freindships are destroyed because of drugs. Jobs are lost, children lose parents and addicts lose enormous chunks of their lives to the penal system or even death.
Yes, I'm bitter. Yes, I'm sad. And yes, I'm angry.
I don't know what the solution is...maybe there really isn't one. What I do know is that drugs fill up a person's life and cover up that hole in the heart or that lack of fulfillment. Fill your life with something else, something positive.
Love your kids.
Be creative.
Change your life.
Improve your realtionships.
I don't care. Just please, for the sake of your future and those that love you, stay away from drugs.
Please.

Random Quotes

The following quotes are things that I either overheard or I said in the past few days. Doesn't really matter which.

"That guy's hair is FANTASTIC!"

"I threw the timecard at him because I was mad at myself."

"Yes Rosie the inflatable party doll II will be in attendance this year!"

"That bunny girl is here now."

"And that's why I keep Lysol and hand sanitizer in my office AT ALL TIMES."

"New Year's Eve is on the 31st."

"Jesus is on the phone for you."

"Maintain personal space at all times from the roller derby girls."

Life Is Good

It seems that the universe is starting to right itself somewhat. Myself and those around me have had our share of challenges lately, but things are turning around. You want proof? Here you go...

• I had a really bad day a couple of weeks ago. I was very down on myself and the direction of my life. I called a close freind who set me straight (thank you, by the way...you are awesome), then I used that negative energy in a positive fashion. Among other things, I wrote an article about the experience, which, after a little more spit and polish I will be submitting to a few magazines. Keep your fingers crossed, okay gang?
• I have a new car, which I love.
• Two of my favorite people have acquired new jobs.
• My little sister and her fiancee are just doing great. Really proud of you two.
• I have made the acquaintance of a very cool, very funny lady. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life.
• I had lunch with my brother yesterday. I really don't mind that he's so much more successful than me when he's also just a nice guy (though he'd never admit it!).
• My kids continue to be amazing. David, one of my six year-olds, is in a shirt and tie pretty much any time I see him. He also has a little sportcoat he wears. Very cool.

So all in all, life is good!

Funny Stuff!!

I guess I've been neglecting my blog for awhile.
Sorry blog. And sorry loyal blog following.

Anyway, here some amusing links for y'all to peruse. The first couple are from a website called "twitter", which is a new web genre that could be called "microblogging". The stated purpose of the site is to answer the question, "what are you doing?". As in, "what are you doing RIGHT NOW?"
Fireland comes to us courtesy of Josh Allen, a guy from Denver, Colorado who may need to be medicated...
http://twitter.com/fireland

"Dooce" is a famed blogger from Salt Lake City named Heather Armstrong. Her twitter space and her blog are very much about her home life, her daughter, her husband and her dogs. But good gravy she is hilarious...
http://twitter.com/dooce

And speaking of Dooce, here is her blog. Always a hoot...
http://dooce.com/

A freind and fellow blogger alerted me to this site...
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/
I won't attempt to explain it. Just check it out.

Movie Reviews- Old School Edition

No, not the Vince Vaughn/ Will Ferrell movie of a few years ago.
I recently had a fit of nostalgia and added a bunch of 80's movies to my Netflix Queue. Some were as good as I remembered, some were not.
Murder By Decree- Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper. 1880's London. Foggy streets. Very atmospheric. Christopher Plummer was an excellent Sherlock Holmes, and James Mason was well-cast as Watson. Unfortunately, I felt the movie as a whole was somewhat overlong and I found the plot to be just a bit more confusing and convoluted than it needed to be.
Scanners- Yes, this is that movie with the "exploding head". The premise is simple...there are people in the world with strong telepathic powers (the titular "Scanners"). Some are good. Some are bad. Stephen Lack, who played the "good guy" scanner turns in a fairly wooden performance. Michael Ironside, as the bad scanner, was excellent (this is the role that really established his career). The film does drag a bit in the middle. The scanner versus scanner telepathic battle at the end is still cool, though.
Time After Time- Another Jack the Ripper movie. This time he goes up against the legendary writer H.G. Wells. it seems that "Jack" steals the time machine that Wells had actually built and flees from 1880's London to present-day San Francisco. Wells follows him, and then the fun begins. The acting is excellent and the movie itself is very entertaining...funny, suspenseful and romantic. Watch this if you get a chance.
Rumble Fish- Very stylish, very arty. In black and white except for the "rumble fish" of the title. Sometimes a bit too stylish and too arty, but damn if it doesn't still work. Matt Dillon and Diane Lane are very young in this. You can also see Mickey Rourke before the onset of bloated self-parody, as well as pre-stardom Nicholas Cage and Laurence Fishburne. The score, by Stewart Copeland of The Police, is still edgy and cool.

Bad Advice

I was just talking to a candidate for a position I'm trying to fill. In the course of asking her questions about her experience, several things came to light that weren't on her resume. Several things that made her a vastly better fit for the job than I had first thought.
I asked her why she didn't have these things on her resume. She told me that someone had advised her to cut her resume down to one page. Wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The one-page rule is fine when you're an inexperienced or entry-level person who doesn't have alot to brag about. When you get to the point when you've had more than a job or two, when you've had a series of accomplishments and experiences....guess what? You can go over a page. When you have something to brag about, brag about it. The aforementioned candidate might not have had a shot at a pretty good job, all because of some very bad advice.
The fundamental thing to remember (and what I always preach) is when you're job-hunting, you're marketing yourself. Your resume is an advertisement for you. When you don't list all of your accomplishments just for the sake of keeping your resume to one page, you're selling yourself short.

Everyday Heroes

Being essentially a geek at heart, I love watching superhero movies and TV shows with my kids. It's not just the superpowers, great battles or morphing Power Rangers that I like, though. There's something about seeing heroes in action that stirs my spirit.
What is a hero, really?
It's not the ability to fly, turn invisible or pilot a giant robot that makes one heroic. I actually see heroes around me everyday. To me, the essence of heroism is being stronger than your circumstances, sometimes maybe bending but never breaking and at least trying to beat the odds.
Here are some of my heroes...
-A gentleman of my acquaintance who has faced the gravest sort of professional and personal disappointment, yet he and his wife continue to be the very models of strength and faith.
-I have one freind who is in the midst of changing her entire life from top to bottom, yet still has the time and energy to be a great mom to her son and a good freind to me.
-Another freind who is a single mom who more or less is either working or with her kids twenty-four hours a day. Somehow she maintains a positive attitude, is successfully raising two great kids and manages to keep her life running smoothly.

There are many more examples out there...sorry if I left you out.

Okay, SERIOUSLY...

This is the first of what I hope will be a series. I'm always on the lookout for things that make you say, "Okay, SERIOUSLY..."
Examples follow.

Spotted at Barnes & Noble...
"Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul"

Spotted in Alabama...
A sign that says, "Road Wet When Rains"
(thank you, Carrie)

Heard during a weight loss cure commercial...
"If it wasn't true, we couldn't say it on TV!"

Don't hesitate to contact me should you have any contributions. You will get credit if I use your idea.

Movie Reviews 2/20/08

Gone, Baby, Gone- Dark, gritty, compelling and rough. Well-acted, written, directed and shot. By no means is this the happiest, most life-affirming movie out there (in fact, far from it), but worth every second I spent watching it. Curse you Ben Affleck, with your chiseled good looks and prodigious talent. This movie was his directorial debut, and I would guess he has quite a future ahead of him as a filmmaker.

Martian Child- A widowed science-fiction writer adopts a really weird kid who thinks he's from Mars. This sounds like it has all the makings of a quirky comedy, but I found it had much to say about the importance of having a loving parent in a child's life. John Cusack was excellent as always.

Waitress- I found that this was a bit too "southern-fried" at times for my tastes, but overall very enjoyable. Adrienne Shelly, who wrote, directed and acted in this, died before the film's release...very sad. Kerri Russell is adorable as always.

The Jane Austen Book Club- Surprisingly entertaining, especially considering how I don't believe I've ever read one word Jane Austen has written. A group of women (and one man) get together once a month to discuss Austen's novels and their romantic lives play out in a fashion similar to her books (I guess). Also, I may just fall in love with Emily Blount.

Ira and Abby- A couple of New Yorkers with emotional problems decide to get married after having known each other for only a few hours. I know it sounds like sort of a "Woody Allen Lite" type scenario, but it wasn't too bad. The leads, Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt (who also wrote the screenplay) have great chemistry.

Job Board Follies

A few months ago, before I got my current job, I was registered with three of the big job boards...Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs. I still get emails from them, usually solicitations to apply for various positions. I have to say that I'm more than a little disturbed that at least one of those sites allows emails for obvious scams, such as the old, "we are a foreign company and wish you to be our financial intermediary".
Recently I have been invited to apply for a few accounting positions. The emails state that I'm very qualified for such positions and would be a great candidate. Best of all, I was asked to apply for an accounting position at a famous talent agency in Hollywood.
Um...no.
I have absolutely no experience in accounting. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. I have also made it abundantly clear that I will, under no circumstances relocate.
That begs the question as to why anyone thinks I'm qualified for such a position and why the "Senior Recruiter" at the aforementioned Hollywood talent agency thinks I should apply. Did he not look at my resume? Is he just sending out the same email to everyone registered with the job board? In any case, he's simply not doing a very good job of being a "senior recruiter".

Quick update: Just hours after posting this I got yet another email asking me to apply for yet another accounting gig. Wow.

How To Annoy a Recruiter

I've been working in the recruiting/ staffing field for a good long time...over twelve years now, actually. I've met some great people and some not-so-great people. I've learned alot. What follows are a few things that people do to really screw up in their job hunt, especially when working with a recruiter or staffing professional.
-Not Show Up. This past week I was working to fill an industrial assembler job. I had four people scheduled to come in to interview with me. Only one of the four bothered to show up. The rest didn't even bother to call. What sort of reception do you think those three will get next time they call looking for work (as they inevitably will)? I think you know the answer to that.
-Act like a jerk. That same day interviewed a recent college grad for a customer service position. He was snide, condescending and rather obnoxious. Simply put, he was acting like a jerk. He said to me at one point, "Is there something wrong with my tie?" I said there wasn't. "Oh, well you've been staring at it this whole time." No I wasn't actually. And no, I won't be referring him to any clients. I would have to wonder whether he'd act in a similar fashion on an interview with said clients. All this kid accomplished by acting like he did was look like fool and ensure that no one from my firm would ever consider him as a viable candidate for anything. Ever.
-Whine about paperwork. Why do employers and staffing firms make you fill out applications and tax forms and I9 forms? There's a reason for it. So don't whine about it.
-Interrupt me. This is my pet peeve of the week. This morning I called two people on that. One of them took exception to my protest. Too bad. I hadn't interrupted him, so why is it okay to do it to me?
-Treat me like I'm stupid. I've been successful as a recruiter for a reason...I know what I'm doing. Just because I don't understand everything you do about Material Requirements Planning doesn't mean I'm not qualified to talk to you. When you condescend to me, I have to assume you'll treat my client in the same fashion.
In the end, it's important to remember that you should work in a respectful manner with your freindly neighborhood staffing professional. When you don't keep an appointment or act like a condescending jerk, we have to assume you'll act the same way when we put you in front of a client.

I am a rockstar

Today I taught my first Junior Achievement classes of the semester. I am actually teaching two classes this year, kindergarten (my twins) and third grade (Peter, my oldest). This is something I've done every year since Peter was in kindergarten.
I do believe in what Junior Achievement does. I think it's important for kids to learn about the economy and the world of work. I remember when I was in college helping a freshman write a check. Her parents had opened a checking account for her, but she hadn't the slightest idea what to do with it. That's actually not uncommon. Many otherwise intelligent adults are utterly clueless when it comes to personal finance and investing. I'm no Warren Buffett, but I constantly find that my financial acumen is leagues ahead of other adults. Granted, I won't be teaching kindergarteners and third graders about managing credit card debt or rolling over their IRA, but I figure they'll get something of a jump start in that regard.
What's even cooler is that these kids really seem to enjoy having me there. I remember more than once I'd see one of my students while shopping or something. They'd almost invariably tug at their parent's sleeve and say, "that's Peter's dad!"
That would never fail to make me feel like a rockstar.

AND NOW FOR A COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTION...

I wanted to alert my vast blog following to a very nice website run by a very nice person. My freind Shalom sells her art through her website, www.shalomscottagehome.com. She markets a wide assortment of goodies...jewelry, blank journals, framed art, etc., etc. I'm usually not a big fan of this sort of thing, but Shalom actually has talent and produces some quality work. Any of her items would make excellent gifts.

I have another artist freind who sells his wares through the web. His name is Bill Douglas. He can turn any picture into a comic-book style portrait or caricature. I have known him since junior high school, and it's been my great pleasure to see how he's developed artistically.
You can find him here... www.drawmebill.com

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

My Little Sister

I should start out by clarifying that she is not technically my little sister. We are not related by blood or marriage, but we are family nevertheless. Though I call her my little sister, I am old enough to be her father (actually, I am about six months older than her father).
She has taught me the true meaning of freindship. She takes care of me when I'm wounded and makes me laugh when I need it. She believes in me unconditionally, even in those times when I don't believe in myself. She's honest with me, but not brutally so. She doesn't tell me what I want to hear but she usually manages to tell me what I need to hear.
She loves my kids almost as if they're her own, and they adore her right back. She loves her fiancee with all her heart and he loves her right back at least as much. Someday I hope to experience even the smallest percent of the love those two have...if I do, I will consider myself a very lucky man indeed.
She is wise beyond her years and strong beyond measure.
I wish everyone could have a pretend little sister like mine.

More Serious Matters

My blog posts thus far have had a pretty light tone. This one will not.
What follows is an email I sent out a couple weeks ago...

Hello freinds,
I originally wrote this for one person (you know who you are). In the course of typing this up I thought maybe others could benefit from some of these ideas. These are things I've learned mostly the hard way over the course of the past year or so. I hope I don't come across as pompus or anything in sending this out. Just trying to help.

-Don't be afraid of your emotions. Our feelings are what make us human and fully alive, even if they hurt (in fact, some would say especially if they hurt).

-Believe in something, especially yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, there's almost always someone who does, and sometimes that's all you need. It's the people who don't believe in anything, who don't have faith, who require empirical evidence for everything that can be the most dangerous.

-Change can be scary, but more often than not it's for the best.

-Being nervous or scared is okay...it means you have some "skin in the game". It means that you care.

-The saying "that which does not kill me makes stronger" is only true if you actually choose to become stronger in the face of adversity. Some don't (actually, most don't).

-Try to laugh your ass off at least once a day. Cultivate relationships with amusing people, read funny blogs (http://www.dooce.com/2008/01/17/no-matter-how-they-toss-dice-it-had-be), watch comedy movies, whatever.

-It's not fair to say that "people suck". People are sometimes good and sometimes bad, just not always in equal measure. I suppose much of the same thing could be said about life in general.

-Take any opportunity you can find to do something good for someone. It really doesn't matter what. There's probably nothing better you can do for your world and for your own self-esteem.
Thanks for reading,
Jim

The following points are from a subsequent email that I sent out to just a few people...
-Hope. Hope is paramount. Even when you can't see it, it's always there. Just because you can't see or feel the sun behind those gray clouds, that doesn't mean it's extinguished. It's always there.
-The future. The future is yours to conquer and you are not your past.
-Your life. It's your life to control and make the best of. Your life does not belong to your parents or your ex-husband or your mindless friends. It's yours. Take responsibility for it. Run with it until you're out of breath and can't run anymore.

Netflix=Awesome!

I just opened up a Netflix account. What fun I'm having.

I just got the following in the mail...
"Superbad"- Pretty funny comedy. Quite a number of laugh out loud moments as well as a few sentimental moments.
"Ira and Abby"- Quirky indie romance. I haven't watched this yet, but it should work well for me, since I'm quirky. And romantic.
"Best of Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers"- For me and my boys to watch when they come over. It's actually pretty cool when all 10 red rangers morph.

Also, I'm accumulating an impressive "queue". Here are some selections...
"The Alarm: The Greatest Hits Live"- My favorite band of all time. 'Nuff said.
"Waitress"- I've only heard great things about this movie. Keri Russell is in this also. I have to confess I have a wee bit of a crush on her.
"Equilibrium"- It's like "The Matrix" but starring Christian Bale instead of Keanu Reeves. And Christian Bale is waaaay cooler than Keanu Reeves.
"Rescue Dawn"- Christian Bale is just my hero.
"Time After Time"- I haven't seen this movie in YEARS. H.G. Wells time travels to the future (our present day) to stop Jack the Ripper.
"Magnolia"- I've always wanted to see this and never quite got around to it.

I'm sure I'll be adding much more to my queue in short order.

Dating sites

I've spent my share of time on the now ubiquitous dating sites...cupid.com, chemistry.com, Yahoo! Personals, etc. I even wrote an article about my online dating adventures. I've been more or less off those sites for a little while now. I do still get emails from them, however. Here are my observations...

• I probably first looked at a dating site in May or June of last year. I'm amazed that I still see the same people from back then featured in these emails.


• Don't use so many exclamation points! At least not at the end of every sentence! They're supposed to be for emphasis! Or in my case sarcastic effect!


• I mentioned this in my article, but it bears repeating: USE SPELL CHECK! That's what it's there for. I would also suggest giving your profile at least a cursory review before you post it. This way you can avoid giving a grevious misimpression, like saying your son is 111 years old. While I did figure out that this person meant to state that her son was 11, it was still pretty funny.


• While I'm at it, do try to keep your sentence length at well under the 122 word level. Commas are a pretty good idea too.

Having said all that, the dating sites do work. I have had the privilege of spending time with two gorgeous, intelligent women as a result of my online dating tenure. It can work, if you work it right.

Troy the SuperCat!

My kids are quite imaginative. They are forever making up new superheroes, video games, etc. In fact, they will often make up a superhero and subsequently imagine the games, DVDs and toys that would go along with it. This is good, because it proves they also have a pretty firm grasp of licensing and ancillary marketing.

Jonathan, one of my six year-olds, recently came up with Troy the SuperCat. He's a cat and he's also a superhero. Makes sense to me. Anyway, he'll go into great detail about Troy's adventures, who his arch-enemy is and who his allies are.
One night my kids and I were having a grand old time discussing Troy the SuperCat's latest triumph. Peter, who is my eight year-old, decided to add this bit of commentary...
"You know dad, even though Troy the SuperCat is only nine years old, he's still a formidable crimefighter."
Formidable? Most adults I know don't use that word. Peter even pronounced it correctly.

I'm so glad I finally found this public forum to brag about my kids.

Jared's first sales call

I was in my office today going through some emails. The phone rang, and since the receptionist was out for lunch and I'm such a team player, I answered.
"(Staffing company I work for), this is Jim, can I help you?"
"Yeah, hey, this is Jared from (some health insurance company)."
After a pause...
"Um...hi Jared, what can I do for you today?"
"(something unintelligible)"
"I'm sorry, what's that again?"
"Oh, just how you doin' today?"
"I'm fine, thanks. What's up?"
"Well, we're gonna be down your way next week and wanted to make sure you were covered."
And I'm thinking, covered? With what? A sweet, sugary glaze?
"You mean health insurance?"
"Yeah, health insurance. Are you covered?"
"Yeah, we actually have a pretty good plan here. We're good."
"Okay...okay, well we just wanted to make sure everyone was covered."
"Thanks for your concern, Jared."
"Hey, no problem, man."

Even though speaking with this young gentleman gave me a sudden urge to down a vodka tonic or two, I should be proud that I was involved in what I presume was his first sales call ever.
Kudos to you, young Jared.

Chopsticks

Yesterday, in an effort to expand my kid's culinary horizons, we went to the new Noodles & Company restaurant in Davenport (also, I wanted to go there). It was quite good...all were happy with their meals. This being a place that serves a number of asian-inspired dishes, chopsticks were made available. My kids gamely tried to eat with their chopsticks, but without much success. That's okay. I myself used a fork.
The kids did keep their chopsticks, though. I think they wanted to practice later.

Right after our lunch we went to Borders. As we pulled into the parking lot, David, one of my two six year-olds engaged me in an interesting little conversation:
"Dad?"
"Yeah, David?"
"I have a lot of chopsticks."
"You do."
"I should save them."
"You should."
"There's a lot of poor kids that don't have chopsticks."
"True."
"Maybe I could give my chopsticks to the poor kids that don't have any chopsticks."

Awesome. I wasn't sure whether to laugh out loud or jump for joy. I think either reaction would have been appropriate.

Also...
http://www.noodles.com/

10,000 days

Last night my kids were over for what is one of our now regular Friday night sleepovers.
David, one of my six year-olds, turned to me and said, "I wish I could stay here for 10,000 days!"
That statement, of course, warmed my little heart. Thank you, David.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Because of you," he replied.
Thank you again, David.
"And all the toys!"
Well, there's that, I guess.

This morning I was up a bit before seven a.m. I went outside to get something I had left in my car. I looked up as I heard a noise in the tree above me. It was a bald eagle, spreading its wings and getting ready for flight. It pushed off and its flight path circled around in front of the tree then it flew off into the early morning twilight.
I wish I had a camera to capture the image of the eagle's silhouette flying by the moon that was still in the sky. It was like something out of a movie. I realized though, camera or not, that this was one of those indelible images that would remain stamped on my brain for some time.

All about me, me, me!

Welcome, one and all, to my brand-spanking-new blog. My goal is to entertain, inform and inspire (sometimes maybe all at once, should the blog gods smile upon me).

As for me? I'm just a regular guy.
I'm 42. I have three awesome kids (more on them later). I work in the recruiting and staffing industry while trying to start a career as a freelance writer. I have some amazing freinds (more on them later).

You're probably wondering about the title of my blog. I'm picturing you at your PC, scratching your head and thinking, "yes Jim, I'm already feeling somewhat entertained, informed and inspired by your brand-spanking-new blog, but just what in the hell does '18 Kajillion' mean?"
My answer...18 Kajillion was actually a joking suggestion of a very good freind of mine. It's a reference to something I had said in an email earlier this week. In starting this blog, I tried out a good number of titles, but everything was taken.
So 18 Kajillion it is.