Sunday Question – What’s Your Most Audacious Wish?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 23, 2011
You know, most of the time when a question like this is asked of someone, they give one of those politically correct answers that we all know is a lie. Come on now; I mean, you’re going to tell me that if you had the opportunity for anything you ever wanted the one thing you’d wish for is world peace?
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Nope, not buying it. Few people are that magnanimous in life. And truthfully, it’s not even number one at the top of many lists for people who want to help others. For instance, world peace doesn’t cure hunger. It doesn’t kill pollution, nor clean waters. It can’t stop disease. These are great goals, and there are some folks who might wish for these things. Yet I’d be hard pressed, if I were honest, if I had one audacious dream, something I really wanted, and I gave it away like that. It’s not a tangible wish; how would any genie or whomever even be able to determine what that was?
Instead, I ask this question because I want you to be selfish. Not necessarily because I want it to totally be about you, but because reality states that when you have what you need to reach your ultimate dream, you actually have enough to help take care of some of those other things that might be on your mind. If you’re wealthy, you can have anything you want, and also give whatever you want to others to help them without hurting yourself. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Back to the question. This one wasn’t really easy for me way back when. I couldn’t really think of anything I wanted other than money; isn’t that a shame? It actually took me about a month to come up with something that, at the moment, is kind of unreachable. I mean, I started out by wanting a soda fountain machine, but those don’t cost much. Then I said I wanted an Aeron chair, and it turns out that in the scope of things that wasn’t all that expensive either (though I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $1,300 on one).
Then it hit me; I want a big, expensive home that I get to help design and that I get to pay off immediately and just have my peace of mind. Oh yeah! Then I ran into a snag that I still have, that being I have no real vision of what I want it to look like on the outside. The best I have is that I want it to be a one-story home; no steps for this guy. I don’t have any steps for my house now except 4 little steps from my deck in the back. I’d eliminate even that in my dream house.
Ah, but what do I want in my dream house? I want space! I want an extra large bedroom. I want an extra large master bathroom, with a separate urinal; come on guys, who wouldn’t want a urinal if you had the space? I want a hot tub or Jacuzzi room with an extra large TV in it so I could possibly see it without my glasses.
I want an extra large kitchen with an island that has the sink in it instead of on the counter, although since I tend to splash a lot I’d probably have to have a panel I could pull up so I’m not always getting water on the floor. I want sound wired through the entire house.
I want solar panels to help conserve my utilities. I want heated coils under the driveway to melt all that snow so that I never have to shovel again, nor pay anyone to clear it, and I want it to look like a brick driveway; heck, it might be a brick driveway. I want the ability to open up my roof and let sunlight in whenever I’m in the mood, although I’d live with skylights.
I want an exercise room and a sewing room for my wife; I know she’d also like a greenhouse. I want a playroom or entertainment room with a large pool table, and I want that room to be able to convert to a media room where, if I’m inclined, I could invite people over to watch special events. I want special lighting where everything can be bright but there are no bulbs shining in anyone’s eyes.
And I want a closed in area that’s actually still outside with comfortable lounge chairs and a fountain where I can go to relax and still enjoy nature in my own way, peacefully and by myself, since I really don’t like being in the backyard.
That’s all I have; I’m sure I could come up with more things later, but truthfully, I’d be happy with just that stuff. So, what are your audacious dreams? Go ahead, share!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
Sunday Question – Do You Believe Words Can Hurt?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 16, 2011
Last weekend there was a terrible tragedy that occurred in Tucson, Arizona. What we’re all calling a “mad man” went on kind of a rampage. He walked up to a U.S. congressional representative, shot her in the head, then proceeded to shoot 18 people in all, one of those people being a devoutly religious federal judge, another a 9-year old girl who was born on 9/11/01 and seen as a sign of hope for this country in the long run.
 by Steve Webster |
Pretty much hours after this event, after the initial shock, the battle of words began. Many people were blaming one particular side of the political landscape for the type of rhetoric they were putting out, some of which made it sound like people who didn’t agree with them should be killed. The other side came back saying they weren’t to blame for the acts of a mad man and that saying it was their fault was using a tragedy for political purposes.
I have to admit that my mind went to that place after I was notified of what was going on. The last couple of years has had some of the nastiest rhetoric I can ever remember in American politics, and it went beyond that into communities across the United States this summer. Representatives and senators were dealing with something they’ve never had to worry about before, that being their safety from an angry populace that had been stoked by people like… nah, I’m not naming names.
Something else that was new were people showing up with guns and making sure you knew they had them. I mean, there had always been cranks, but never had anyone so openly decided to let someone know that their life was potentially in danger, especially at a presidential event, even though it was all legal. So much for the right to bear arms and being responsible.
I’m someone who actually believes that there’s a great power in words. Remember the old saw “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”? Well, not only is that not true, but calling someone names can get you killed in today’s world. Back in my day it could get you into a fight. I’ve been asked often why I didn’t go into politics. It’s because my skin isn’t thick enough to endure someone lying to me in public; I’d be at their house later that evening demanding a retraction or someone would be getting their behind kicked. Not quite what people want to see in a politician. lol
I answer my own question with “yes”. Although I think everyone is ultimately responsible for their own actions, I do believe that there are people whose minds can be swayed and encouraged to do things they normally wouldn’t have done. Do the names Hitler and Manson mean anything to you? It’s one reason why I, for the most part, temper my words. With an open forum comes responsibility, and though I doubt I’d say anything that would get anyone to take an immediate action, I figure you just never know what you’ll say that might make someone do something stupid.
Those are my thoughts; what are your thoughts on this one?
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
Sunday Question – What Makes You Laugh?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 9, 2011
Last weekend I spent my time doing two things. The first was decluttering the space around me; man, was I starting to feel closed in almost everywhere I went in this house. The second was popping in one of my new DVDs and just laughing my fool head off.
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I bought the DVD set of the Phil Silvers Show, aka Sgt. Bilko. It’s the show that the cartoon Top Cat was based off many years later. Phil Silvers was definitely a character; rapid fire delivery, changing vocal inflections, and, well, just a funny guy all around.
As I was watching it, I was listening to how I was laughing. I don’t laugh like this all that often, but it’s enjoyable when I can get to this point. It’s that point where the laughing becomes a long and hard giggle, one that you just can’t stop and starts to constrict your throat and chest, to the point where you actually have to pause everything and let your giggle die down some before you can watch some more.
There aren’t a lot of things that can do that to me now. And when it does happen, I’m really surprised by it most of the time. I sometimes think we start getting a little bit jaded as we get older. And the internet has actually taken a lot of that away because I’m all over the place and I see so many things that it’s hard to catch me off guard with truly funny.
I don’t like stupid humor all that often; I like creative humor. And yet I like the Three Stooges as well, but I think I came onto that because I was a kid when I started watching it, and it’s just stuck with me. There’s nothing Jim Carrey can do that makes me laugh as much as the Three Stooges, and he’s basically just channeling things they did.
What makes you laugh so hard that you think you’re going to push milk through your nose (I don’t drink milk, luckily enough)? Who makes you lose control? By the way, here’s a little bit of Sgt. Bilko for you.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
Sunday Question – Do You Believe In Work/Life Balance?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 2, 2011
First, I hope everyone survived the New Years celebrations. I assume we’re all ready to push forward and do great things in 2011. I know I’m ready for it, and thus we get to today’s question.
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One of the things I’m not really good at is relaxing. As you know, I work for myself, and that’s both fun and mentally draining at the same time. I haven’t taken a vacation since 2001, the last time I was employed. I sometimes am at this computer upwards of 18 hours a day or more. I don’t think I produce enough based on that kind of time, but I get stuff done here and there.
The thing is, I don’t have a true sense of my own work/life balance. I tend to believe it’s a real thing, and it’s something I have to get a better handle on because I think if I can ever get there, I’ll probably have a much better output and be way more successful in time.
Yet, this past week I read two posts that offered contradictory statements on work/life balance. The first came from Mitch Joel, who wrote a post titled The Myth of Work Life Balance. The second was a post by Jimi Jones titled Achieving Work Life Balance.
What the hey? I mean it was literally minutes between reading each post, and that wasn’t planned either. Now I had a conundrum; who do I believe, and why?
I went with both, which might seem a little strange, but here’s my thoughts on the matter. Jimi totally got it right; Mitch got it almost perfectly right either. His main statement is that he feels the term implies that work isn’t part of a healthy lifestyle. Yet, everything else he writes fits right in with what I consider as the tenets of trying to achieve what’s known as this work/life balance that most of us strive to achieve. In my mind, we all believe in the same thing, just maybe not the terms as much.
But I’ve seen other posts or articles over the years that lament this phrase as well. So I thought I’d put it out to the masses to see where you stand on this concept. I hope you check out both posts as well, but I believe it’s a good topic to explore in some fashion, especially since we’re all being pushed and pulled beyond belief these days.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Mitch Mitchell
Sunday Question – How Was Your Christmas?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Dec 26, 2010
It’s the day after Christmas, and since Monday is a work day, today is probably going to be a travel day for a lot of people. I’m actually going to be on the road myself, although my trip is relatively short, so when this posts I’ll either be on the road or getting ready to leave my mother’s house.
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So, I’m keeping this one simple. How was your Christmas? Did you get something nice? Did you enjoy your family? Did you take part in a religious ceremony that touched you in some fashion? Was it a nice holiday for you?
Yes, a very short post, but I hope it’s a post that people will participate with in some way. And when I get home, I’ll have to tell you how my Christmas was, although I think it’s going to be nice. There’s only 4 of us, and other than giving our few gifts it’ll be quick, we’ll eat, maybe watch a DVD of some sort, and move on from there.
In any case I hope everyone had a great holiday; back to “real” posts tomorrow. 
African Prase Jasper Earrings
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Mitch Mitchell
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