Robbie Bednark: New Blog

November 10, 2005

New Blog

Robbie's Blog - The Life and Times of Robbie Bednark

Tue 08 Nov 2005 - "A Talk on the World"
I came across this brilliantly funny story called "A Talk on the World" from the album "Close to Home : Old Time Music from Mike Seeger's Collection (1952-1967)". I don't know if there's a name for this style of storytelling, but I like it. Here's the mp3 file if you want to listen to it.

Mon 07 Nov 2005 - Most Important Software Innovations
I just stumbled across this interesting page on software innovations.

Mon 24 Oct 2005 - Goals
"The only way you are ever going to get what you want in life is if you KNOW what you want. What do you want?" [Mike Brescia]

I want to be happy and content.

Mon 24 Oct 2005 - 1 in 7 people buys a book in U.S.
I came across this today:
"Jack Canfield (author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul") told me that only 1 out of 7 people in the U.S. ever goes into a book store and buys a book, in their entire lives!" [Mike Brescia]

Wow, that surprised me.

Thu 20 Oct 2005 - Experiments < (created 9/20/2005, updated 10/20/2005)
I like the idea of looking at my life as a simply a bunch of experiments. It takes the pressure off and makes it more fun. Here's some experiments to try:

16) For each person that you deal with or think about, think of what you can admire about them.
15) Buy a bunch of pillows and cushions. Have fun with them in the house, building houses, walls, etc.
14) Focus on what has surprised you lately. What has inspired you. What has stirred your emotions.
13) Talk to a stranger
12) For one day, become aware of your feet as often as possible throughout the day.
11) Practice feeling and relaxing every part of your body for 2 minutes. See how you feel afterwards.
10) Learn from others' mistakes. Find one mistake today that somebody else made that you can learn from.
9) Actively practice using your imagination. Imagine that it's a muscle that you need to exercise. Imagine being a cat, being M.K. Gandhi, visualizing the Grand Canyon, listening to a symphony, sucking on a lemon, sitting on a cloud looking down, being a storyteller and creating a story, flying, floating on water.
8) When faced with a problem or something that you want to change, think of who would do really well in this situation, and become that person. Think like they think, and act like they act. Be an actor. [Mike Brescia]
7) Practice laughing for 1 minute. Imagine you're an actor and be as real as possible.
6) Stare at yourself in the mirror for 5 minutes. Set a timer.
5) Find out about someone else. Be genuine.[Mike Brescia]
4) Talk to yourself like you are an advisor to yourself. [Mike Brescia]
3) Fast for one meal, and use the money that you saved on food for something you wouldn't otherwise do, like giving it to a homeless person, or surprising someone with a gift.
2) Work on making one person smile today.
1) Smile for 60 seconds straight. Just sit there and smile. Don't do anything else. See how you feel afterwards. (from Mike Brescia )

Wed 19 Oct 2005 - Affirmations
I am content at all times. (inspired by Gandhi and Bhagavad Gita)

Wed 19 Oct 2005 - Firefox Tabs
The latest version of Firefox (1.5 Beta 2 at this time) has tabbed-browsing. I find this very nice for easily opening at a group of websites that I look at every day. For example, open Google News in one tab, The Onion in another, and then click "Bookmarks : Bookmark All Tabs". You can then click on that bookmark and click on "Open in tabs" and they will all be opened at once. Very nice!

Wed 19 Oct 2005 - Questions Running Through your Thoughts (created 10/17/2005, updated 10/19/2005)
Mike Brescia had another intesting idea today. He talked about the importance of the questions that we ask ourself. It's important to become aware of the questions that we ask ourselves, and to actively take control of choosing which questions to ask. For example, some good questions are "What can I do right now to be happier?". A bad question is "I can't do anything right. Why am I so stupid?". Frame the questions in a positive way to empower you and steer you in the right direction. Ask questions that give options and alternatives. Recognize the value of the questions that you ask yourself. Ask "How" questions instead of "Why" questions. Ask questions that help to change your behavior for the better. Per Mike, "if you focus your thoughts on empowering outcomes and ask yourself questions that give you answers that inspire you, then you'll find that your anxiety and panic attacks will reduce."

We can change ourselves by changing our environment and/or changing our thoughts. Our thoughts include affirmations and questions. It takes discipline. Discipline is simply taking active and conscious control.

Mon 10 Oct 2005 - Empowering Questions (created 10/3/2005, updated 10/4/2005)
What can I do today to help somebody else instead of thinking of myself?
What can I do right this second that will change who and what I am a year from now; 4 years from now? -Mike Brescia
What am I willing to give up in order to reach my objective? -Mike Brescia
What beauty can I notice today, something I never noticed before? -Mike Brescia

Tue 27 Sep 2005 - Create Your Victory Log
A victory log is merely a sheet of paper that you have nearby any time you need to be reminded of past successes of any kind. By reminding yourself about your successes, by pulling out that little sheet, you'll often be able to go on and reach down and grab your greatest performance ever even from the depths of despair. Often times, you just need to be able to remember that you can do it, when your thinking is really cloudy. If you get depressed, pull out your Victory Log and you'll feel a whole lot better. (from Mike Brescia )

Tue 27 Sep 2005 - Helping People Improves Mental Health
A study reported in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine found that improved mental health is more closely linked to giving help than to receiving it. Quoting the publication, "What happens, it seems, is when you open your heart to other people to listen and care about them, it changes the way you look at the world and you're happier."

While the biological link between good deeds and improved mental health has not been determined, researchers postulate two theories:

1. stress reduction improves the immune system and therefore creates feelings of well-being, and
2. the same feel-good endorphins that stimulate "runners' high" also create "helper's high".

-David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy [thehappyguy.com], from David DeFord's upcoming book "I Wish to Be Useful: A Guide to Living with Greater Significance"

Tue 27 Sep 2005 - Greatness is in the Details
We often think that we must accomplish some huge, highly publicized feat to achieve greatness -- climb Everest without bottled oxygen, invent some wonderful product that everyone in the world needs: make the Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest, save a child from a burning building, or win a TV reality show contest.

Actually, greatness comes from consistently making wise smaller choices. The accumulation of many good small choices has the same impact as a few small drops of Tabasco sauce -- intense power!

Greatness comes from consistently keeping our commitments and promises. Keeping our word builds trust from others and trust in ourselves.

When we seek after and respect goodness, we develop greatness in ourselves. We attract greatness by appreciating the outdoors, reading good books, developing our talents, and carefully selecting television programs and movies that inspire integrity.

-David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy [thehappyguy.com], from David DeFord's upcoming book "I Wish to Be Useful: A Guide to Living with Greater Significance"

Tue 27 Sep 2005 - Eulogy Test
To take the eulogy test, you need only some time for contemplation. This important test has only one question: How would you like your life to be described at your funeral?

Would your eulogizer say, "He really knew how to make a buck. We all admired his impressive earning ability."

Or would they say, "Here lies a man who devoted all his free time to reality shows. He built his life's schedule around them. "

I doubt if either of these dreams sound like what you really want. True greatness does not come from our earnings or from some of the other pursuits that we give priority. The topics of discussion by the dying rarely include these meaningless subjects.

-David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy [thehappyguy.com], from David DeFord's upcoming book "I Wish to Be Useful: A Guide to Living with Greater Significance"

Fri 23 Sep 2005 - Huston Smith on why Christianity spread so quickly
Christianity swept the Roman Empire, he believes, because it "suddenly and dramatically" lifted "three intolerable burdens" from humanity: guilt, fear ---- including the fear of death ---- and narrow concentration on one's own ego.
[nctimes.com article about Huston Smith's new book "The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition"]

Thu 15 Sep 2005 - Inspired by Gandhi
Several months ago I started reading "Mohandas Gandhi : Essential Writings", edited by John Dear, 2002. These writings of Gandhi have enlivened my heart and soul. I've never read anything like it. I'm reading it again, and it is just as fresh the second time as the first. Gandhi's beliefs are beliefs that I want to follow. They strike a chord in my soul and melt my heart.

I've compiled a list of principles that Gandhi talks about that speak to me. Principles that I aspire to follow.

nonviolence
renunciation, voluntary suffering
prayer
truth
noncooperation with evil
service to others
fearlessness
focus on means, forget about the ends

I was surprised by Gandhi's nonviolence ideal. I knew that he advocated nonviolence, but I didn't realize it was to the extent of all areas and situations. This was like a light going off in my being. No longer do I need to make educated judgements about when violence is appropriate. It is never appropriate. Violence breeds violence. Only voluntary suffering and love for all people can melt the hearts of those who do evil deeds.

Renunciation is difficult for me to accept in a society where materialism encourages me to want more and more, and to find my solace in money and things that money can buy. But it feels right. The empty feelings that eventually come after trying to find happiness in things are slowly teaching me that the real happiness lies in my heart and in my exchanges with other people.

Thu 15 Sep 2005 - We're in the Oregonian newspaper!
There's an article about Sara and I in today's Oregonian newspaper. If you came to our web sites because of the article, send us an email, we'd like to hear from you! Robbie:

Sara:

How did this article come about? Well, one day back in August I got an email out of the blue from Melissa L. Jones, a writer for the Oregonian, wondering if she could write an article about Sara and me. She writes an article each week about somebody in the Gresham area for the Thursday paper. She was looking for someone to write about, so she searched on Google for "interesting people in Gresham", and my web site was one of the web sites that came up! Of course, the fact that my web site came up in the search has nothing to do with whether or not anyone really thinks I'm interesting, but simply because one of my web pages has the words "interesting", "people", and "Gresham" in it. So that's how we got our 15 minutes of fame. :-)

Thu 15 Sep 2005 - "When God Made Me" by Neil Young
Saw some of the "Shelter from the Storm" TV show last Friday that was raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims. I was moved by this Neil Young song that he sung:

WHEN GOD MADE ME

Was He thinking about my country, or the colour of my skin?
Was He thinking about my religion, and the way I worshipped Him?
Did He create just me in his image, or every living thing?

When God made me.
When God made me.

Was He planning only for believers, or for those who just had faith?
Did He envision all wars that were fought in his name?
Did He say there was only one way to be close to Him?

When God made me.
When God made me.

Did He give me the gift of love to say who I could choose?

When God made me.
When God made me.
When God made me.

Did He give me the gift of voice so some could silence me?
Did He give me the gift of vision not knowing what I might see?
Did He give me the gift of compassion to help my fellow man?

When God made me.
When God made me.
When God made me.

Thu 15 Sep 2005 - Michael Moore's aid for Hurricane Katrina victims
I found this grass roots effort by Michael Moore to help Hurricane Katrina victims inspirational.

Tue 13 Sep 2005 - Google search tips
Wildcard * search operator:
Try [vitamin * is good for *] or [the parachute was invented by *]
[Reference]

Tue 20 Sep 2005, Mon 12 Sep 2005 - Charities
With Hurricane Katrina and organizations asking for donations, I wonder which charities are good charities to donate to and which are not. I recall having heard that Heifer International is a very good charity, And Project Censored has a story of how the American Cancer Society is a relatively bad charity (only a small percentage of the money goes to cancer victims, they don't do much cancer prevention awareness, and the board members are tied to companies that make money from treating cancer).

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (give.org) is a web site that evaluates charities.

Forbes list of best charities evaluates 200 large charities based on three criteria:
1) Charitable commitment indicates how much of total expenses went for the stated charitable purpose, excluding management, overhead and fundraising. The average is 85%.
2) Fundraising efficiency measures the share of gifts after subtracting fundraising expenses. The average is 89%.
3) Donor dependency is the operating shortfall (outlays minus non-gift income) as a percentage of gifts. A number over 100% means that the charity more than consumed all your donations keeping itself going; a negative number means that it would have run a surplus even without a dime of donations.

From the above Forbes article, here's a list of 10 charities that they think are good (in alphabetical order):

American Kidney Fund -- This charity defrays the unreimbursed portions of kidney dialysis treatment, such as medicine and transportation. Last year 42,000 low-income patients received an average $1,000 in grants, for a total of $41 million.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America -- This century-old agency, with 471 chapters nationwide, has found its niche: mentoring troubled children of single parents. With donations running strong, it has set an ambitious goal of serving 1 million kids in 2010--four times its present load.

Brother's Brother Foundation -- Anesthesiologist Robert Hingson founded this nonprofit to run Third World immunization and health programs. Now headed by son Luke Hingson, BBF operates largely with donated material.

First Book -- The simple goal: Give poor children their own first new book. This nonprofit gets volumes from publishers, then enlists local volunteers to hand them out. In two years it has distributed nearly 15 million books.

Heifer International -- This hunger-fighting nonprofit arranges to give needy folk in 47 countries breeding animals--cows, chickens, water buffalo, even bees--plus training. The recipients agree to donate the first-born female to others.

International Rescue Committee -- Started in 1933 to help those fleeing Hitler, the IRC is the grande dame of organizations assisting refugees and displaced persons. Recently, it has played a significant role in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International -- This charity states flatly that its goal is a cure for diabetes and its complications. Extremely efficient financially, this national single-illness research nonprofit pumps more than $100 million to scientists.

Marine Toys for Tots -- Started by a Marine Corps reservist in 1947 to funnel toys to needy kids, this charity still operates with official Marine Corps support.

Northwest Medical Teams International -- This medical relief group doesn't rely on clinics. It also makes house calls in disaster areas using mobile medical teams.

Salvation Army -- Essentially its own religious movement, this helper of the down-and-out is the second-biggest gift recipient ($999 million) on our list. Meager salaries for officers and large numbers of volunteers help keep efficiencies very high and overhead low.

Mon 12 Sep 2005 - Rewards
"Reward yourself right now for something you did good today, something you want to do more of. Rewards are the oldest form of motivation, and they still work and they will work on you. Who better to motivate you than yourself, so start doing more of what you want to do more of and start rewarding that behavior right now."
-David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy [thehappyguy.com]

Fri 9 Sep 2005 - What have I been putting off?
I like this question:
"What's the one thing I've been putting off that, if I did it, I would feel the weight of the world lifted from me?"
[Mike Brescia ]

It helps me focus on what is important, and helps to get past the fear.

Wed 31 Aug 2005 - People I Know
One of the joys of having my web site has been getting emails from relatives who came across my site while searching for somebody's name (I have a list of names of my relatives from doing genealogy). I have long wanted to put a list of people that I know on my web site, to help solicit more email from friends, classmates, and co-workers that I haven't heard from in a long time. So here it is, people I know, a work in progress.

Tue 30 Aug 2005 - Positive thinking and letting go
Somehow I came across todayisyourdaytowin.com and signed up for the free email course. I'm surprised to say that it is inspiring me. I'm surprised because when I was in high school, I read a lot of self-help books and kind of overdosed on them and came to see them as lacking something. I read books on neuro-linguistic programming (e.g., Anthony Robbins), motivation (e.g., Og Mandino), "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, positive thinking books by Norman Vincent Peale and others, and books on affirmations. Since then, I've realized that while positive thinking has benefits, it is not beneficial to cover up negative emotions and thoughts and think that they will just go away. Acceptance is very important. It's important to accept what you have, to accept the past and the present. But now I'm seeing some value of using positive thinking for dealing with the present and planning for the future.

Each day, the course has an "empowering question". One that I like is this one:

"What am I willing to give up in order to reach my objective?"

I like this, because I think too often I work on acquiring, and forget about the importance of getting rid of and letting go.

Wed 17 Aug 2005 - My new blog
Rather than dealing with a "formal" blog engine, like my old blog that my friend Howard created for me, or with a free one, like rbednark.blogspot.com I decided to do one as simple as possible. A single-pager that I can edit with my favorite editor, vim. Vive la simplicite! :-) Here it is. No links to follow, no navigation to other pages needed!

Created: 17 Aug 2005 Last updated: 17 Oct 2005 [Source: http://bednark.com/blog.html ] Posted by robbie at November 10, 2005 03:10 PM | TrackBack

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