theNogblog.com

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.

If you know me you know that I religiously follow Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress from Productivity. Next to the Bible, GTD has been one of the most life-changing books I’ve sought to live out. When I received the sequel to GTD, Making It All Work, I was thrilled. The book begins with some basic GTD principles, then it supposedly moves on to more advanced stuff. I know a bunch of people like Making It All Work, but the book didn’t do much for me. It was similar to sitting through a bad movie because you paid for it. After several chapters I felt that David Allen was simply drawing from the monstrous selection of GTD blogs and repackaging it for his book. My advice—read the original GTD book and do everything it says. Get involved in the online GTD community and get tips from other GTD members. That is what will make your all productivity work.

Susan Boyle from Chris Yehuda Zimmerman on Vimeo.
I’ve jumped on the Susan Boyle bandwagon. It was a pain trying to find an HQ embeddable video though. I can’t wait until she shows up on iTunes. Enjoy Stunning Susan!

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Apple jacked up the price in the iTunes Store. Songs now cost $1.29. Give them feedback about this price increase. Here is what I told them:

“There seems to be a bug in the iTunes Store. The songs are no longer 99 cents each. I purchase ALL my music through iTunes and I’ve purchased a ton over the years. I will not be purchasing any more music until this bug is fixed. See ya.”

I struggle. One of the things I struggle with most is listening to negativity and offering negativity about other people. Most negative statements are not designed to tear down a person in one shot. Negative statements are frequently designed to put question marks in the head of those who are listening. If enough question marks are communicated then the character of the person being talked about is damaged. This happens all the time. Just think of a person you have “questions” about and try to spend time with them face to face. It is difficult to completely trust that person. It is difficult to truly help that person. I’m sad to say that I have participated in this form of negative questioning.

I have justified communicating negativity about others by acting like I have their best interests in mind. I say to myself, “I will listen actively and provide a solution to the problem.” Something that I’ve been reminded of recently is that the solution has already been provided. That solution is grace.

I do not need to listen or provide negativity. Instead I can politely choose not to listen and I can show grace by keeping my mouth shut. I am well aware that people talk about my failures, blind spots, and quirks. I would appreciate it if they told me first before sharing it with the rest of the world. I’m sure most people would appreciate that courtesy. It hit me this week that I don’t want to get halfway through my life, look back, and see all the people that I have trash-faced (behind their backs). Here is my game plan for victory:

• Acknowledge my faults and ruthlessly seek out my blind spots.
• Laugh about my quirks and suppress them around those who are annoyed by them.
• Find the source of my negative feelings and stop making excuses for my lack of grace.
• Kindly let people know how their attitudes and actions effect my relationship with God and others.
• Recognize that I will sometimes fail in my goal of grace and keep trying in spite of my failures.
• Refuse to listen to negativity about others if that person is not present.
• Pray
• Take a chill pill. Life is too short for me to fix perceived problems in others. I have enough problems of my own.

All this stuff I have known how to do for quite awhile. I’ve often faulted people for showing a lack of grace to others. Yet the thing I despise most in them has trapped me as well. From now on I will look in the mirror when I find something in others that I dislike. Sometimes that stray nose hair or zit is on my face too.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” ~Ephesians 4:32

Huckabee provides a name for the Stimulus Bill.