Fantasy is not Excluded from my World

I know it looks like my head is only on the money issues. But it isn't . I've just had a recent burst of super focused energy because my mind has been on things like the boyfriend, out TV dates and Killer Bunnies. Are you playing that yet? You need to get into a game before the starter decks blink out of existence forever. It's just plain old fun.
I've had a good Winter for just being able to clear the cobwebs out of my head. So while it looks a lot like slacking/doing nothing/time-wasting etc.. it has been necessary to the act of refocusing. You know.... forest for the trees kind of things. I am reading Martha Stewart's book The Martha Rules in tandem with an Evil Plans re-read and developing a short essay about contraction. Its is a physics and spiritual concept that lets shit happen in big ways. But that will come later. And just so no one thinks its all dry and dusty in my brain right now I shall extol the virtues of a new HBO show.

Anyone watching "Game of Thrones"? It is AWWWWWWWWESOME!!!!!!!!!! My absolute favorite part though is the title card. It is an animated D&D gaming map done to the nth degree. You know, the kind of thing that you would see in the basement of someone so obsessed and consumed by the act of creating worlds on paper that they had to make models until their fingers fell off and their eyes bled. It's kinda steampunky but really it looks like someone set the guts of a machine into one of those flat (not a globe) 3D contour maps that our teacher had on the wall in 8th grade. But WAY cooler. Yeah... the gaming jones is nibbling at my kidneys again.

Wonder if I could get the boyfriend into some old fashioned dice rolling role play...

Because it Dovetails so Well With Uncle Wil's Advice....

Hugh MacLeod isn't the fresh face at this year's rodeo. You've heard of him before even if you don't know the name. He previously published Ignor Evrybody, blogs @ gapingvoid.com and draws some of my favorite cartoons. But in that case I would call him the illustrator of snide remarks, witty quips and all the dark thoughts that pass thru our easily frustrated brains while toiling to make others rich as we pray for a TARDIS rescue. And, I suppose, being a fan of English lit, TV and humor, he's a bit of David Tennant's Doctor Who and Douglas Adams rolled into one neat bundle... and he's not even from across the pond. His ancestors are.

Not that it matters all that much where you come from. It just matters that you get to where you want to be. And no- there was no step by step assembly diagram for shutting out your fears and insecurities. There is no bulleted list to tell you how to jump your hurdles. This is an open ended book. Which is a nice change of pace from the normal self help dreck out there.

YOU have to write your owners manual. There's lots of great examples to be sure. But better than that ther is lots of encouragement. And he has a lot of insight as to how the job market has changed and is constantly in flux. So if you, like me, thought that you were seeing things (or actually not seeing things) like the dried up lake bed formerly known as the life time job with pension benefits he lets you know that you aren't crzy. Yea us!!! His experience has made him wise to the fact that rote formulas don't really work any more. Andwe've all known for a while you can't rest on the laurels of a family name to keep your business from needing some bail out money.

Remember I said that I would read it at Borders? I didn't. After I realized I'd seen the illustrations somewhere before, and was a little familiar with the author, I got excited by what he had to say. It isn't your average self help book. It's liek a letter from a friend or your Favorite Uncle Hugh. I already have a favorite Uncle Wil so why not. Nothing in the rulebook for favorite uncles says there can be only one.

(Puh-lease! With a last name like mine you think I would leave that alone? Not on your life. Besides Highlander props are way cooler than Betty Crocker props.... especially when you've heard them all your life.)

Now I tell you, whatever you do, whoever you are and whomever you are meant to be... this little inverstment can only help. So despite severe fiscal issues I bought the book. It's only fair. I've probably odne something ill-mannered by putting the book cover in the post without express written permission. But I only have you 18 readers and I doubt that is going to put a hole in Penguin's budget to have me do a little leg work for their PR department.

Naughty Naughty Naughty

This is the link to Hugh McLeod's website where you can see what he has been up to and enjoy the process of self discovery that will let you be the Emperor or Empress of your own Domain.

http://www.gapingvoid.com/

Now all 18 of you can go tell him how awesome he is and find out how much awesome there is for you in the world.

A Book Review and Geekwise Endorsement and nothing more........

I found this book in a USA Today article from April 25, 2011. Based on the article, I have to throw my endorsement behind it and promise it go read it at Borders as soon as the library computer kicks me off-line.

Hugh MacCleod goes in the Wheaton's category not because "losing a crappy job" forced him to redefine who he was and how he wanted to live. We all know that Wil is the master of Fiscal Reincarnation. But MacCleod goes into the same category for the following reasons which I am pinching from the article.

• We are here to find meaning. We are here to help other people do the same. Everythign else is secondary.
• Believe in something. Ite really works. Trust me.
• Make art every day. I didn't wait for the money, I didn't wait to be discovered, I didn't wait for approval from others. I just got on with it, everyday.

It is a Wheatonian philosphy to be sure. But he uses words like "futzing" and alludes to things geeky that we can relate to when saying we have to start acting like officers in command of our own lives. And by extrapolation I can infer that we aren't just a bunch of acting ensigns and if we are knock it off and get to work. Oh and the veiled hint to the Evil League of Evil. Or may be I just read geek references into everything... oh well. 

Keep in mind that I am only going by the article. I will write more later after actually reading the thing. If I find that he has the magic formula for not needing approval [my particular downfall] I will report with all due haste. That is the one thing that I don't know that Wil has been able to impart. The ability to let go of approval is a mutant superpower I can get behind. As humans we seem to need it so badly. Even the President is jerked around by the approval ratings leash.... and we see how well that always works. But still... we let it control what we do. And in many cases we let it hogtie us. That kind of impotence is what destroys individauls and eventually, I believe, the societies in which they live.

I know I am an alruist with fascile leanings. But seriously.... what is wrong with helping other people be the best they can be? Is it really gonna skin somone's nose to say "You can do eet!" I know it is easy to tear someone down and throw out road blocks. But isn't it just as easy to help someone in a real and meaningful way so that they can maintain their strength and care for themselves? Does it really take away from the quality of life to help a fellow human out? I would think that endless array of social programs would do that quicker. I know some people do not want to work. I know some people are always holding out an empty hand. But some of us genuinely do not know how to procede and only need encouragement and a place to regroup for a short time to avoid long term problems later.

It really all boils down to doing what you love to do and not letting the dreamkillers keep you up at night.