Soakin' up the sun!Sunday, February 26, 2006
Muskingum College Feb. 22
Special thanks to Kerry Nelson and Danielle Davis for a great lunch and road trip to Muskingum!
Mecca
Just returned from a long, exhausting weekend in Nashville, TN, where I helped celebrate the end of bachelorhood for my bud, Ted. Congrats, Teddy, and thanks for a great time! Hope the R & R holds out until the reception weekend!
So, while a group of a dozen or so guys helped him celebrate, we ended up in the downtown clubs that, to me, are kinda like Mecca to a Muslim, specifically, a true blue honky tonk named Tootsie’s. If you can name a country singer, chances are, he or she has played there-and the joint is only the size of my living room. It was just an incredibly cool experience to be in a place that has been graced by some of my biggest musical influences; Hank Sr., Willie, Johnny Cash, and the list goes on.
At one point, I just stood there in awe of the incredible creative powers that have shared that room over the years. Quite exciting! If you get to Nashvegas and are over 21, stop on in…and wear boots. Not to fit in, but because the broken glass on the floor will slice your feet to shreds!
So, while a group of a dozen or so guys helped him celebrate, we ended up in the downtown clubs that, to me, are kinda like Mecca to a Muslim, specifically, a true blue honky tonk named Tootsie’s. If you can name a country singer, chances are, he or she has played there-and the joint is only the size of my living room. It was just an incredibly cool experience to be in a place that has been graced by some of my biggest musical influences; Hank Sr., Willie, Johnny Cash, and the list goes on.
At one point, I just stood there in awe of the incredible creative powers that have shared that room over the years. Quite exciting! If you get to Nashvegas and are over 21, stop on in…and wear boots. Not to fit in, but because the broken glass on the floor will slice your feet to shreds!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Alter Ego
Recently, I attended the annual conference of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (www.aath.org). Had a great time and thanks to all those who attended and gave me a great few days in Austin!
One of the main points I took away from the program this year came from a keynote by Christine Cashen (www.adynamicspeaker.com). Christine is a speaker from Texas who is just great on the platform, and really gave me something to think about - alter egos.
When someone acts in a way that is inconsistent with his/her usual demeanor, consider that a person’s alter ego. That the unexpected behavior is not really him / her, so don’t hold their “crime” against him / her.
Let’s face it; we all have different dimensions of our personalities. We all have things about our actions and behaviors we’d like to change. So, to name that undesirable faction of personality “alter ego” gives us a way to recognize and embrace that part of ourself that may sneak out every so often.
Thanks, Christine, for that little nugget of info!
One of the main points I took away from the program this year came from a keynote by Christine Cashen (www.adynamicspeaker.com). Christine is a speaker from Texas who is just great on the platform, and really gave me something to think about - alter egos.
When someone acts in a way that is inconsistent with his/her usual demeanor, consider that a person’s alter ego. That the unexpected behavior is not really him / her, so don’t hold their “crime” against him / her.
Let’s face it; we all have different dimensions of our personalities. We all have things about our actions and behaviors we’d like to change. So, to name that undesirable faction of personality “alter ego” gives us a way to recognize and embrace that part of ourself that may sneak out every so often.
Thanks, Christine, for that little nugget of info!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Happy Birthday Carson!!
Yep, today, Carson turns the big 5!
It’s hard to believe that when he and I were placed together,
he was just a pup of 19 months.
Time flies when you’re having fun!
Anyway, feel free to drop the old boy a “Happy Birthday!” E mail at:
carson@marcusengel.com
Anyway, feel free to drop the old boy a “Happy Birthday!” E mail at:
carson@marcusengel.com
I’m sure he’d love to hear from you!
And yes, I’ll give him some extra pats and scratches and play time from everyone!
Friday, February 10, 2006
Small Town Trust
This morning, I booked a room at a bed and breakfast in the small Ohio town where I’ll be speaking soon. My client had already told me that the owners of the B & B were really nice, but I didn’t know just how nice!
I told the owner that I’d arrive around 2 and would spend the afternoon at the college, but before heading to campus, I might want to drop off my luggage. He said, “No problem! My wife and I both work during the day, so we’ll just leave the key to the front door under the doormat. Just come on in and make yourself at home!”
Not only are these folks opening their home, but they’re trusting me with their business. And they do it so casually that it reminds me of growing up in my small, rural hometown. And sometimes I miss those simple gestures of trust.
I told the owner that I’d arrive around 2 and would spend the afternoon at the college, but before heading to campus, I might want to drop off my luggage. He said, “No problem! My wife and I both work during the day, so we’ll just leave the key to the front door under the doormat. Just come on in and make yourself at home!”
Not only are these folks opening their home, but they’re trusting me with their business. And they do it so casually that it reminds me of growing up in my small, rural hometown. And sometimes I miss those simple gestures of trust.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
It was 20 years ago today... or 42...
Forty-two years ago today, the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Who would have thought that something with that many decades behind them can still generate as much excitement in young people as they do? Almost inevitably, I meet a Beatlemaniac at almost every speech I give. All I can do is smile and thank the universe for the betterment of the world that the Beatles brought to all of us.
N C A A
For my friends and clients at colleges and universities:
I have just been put on the list of approved speakers for the NCAA’s Health and Safety Speaker’s Grant program. This means that any school in the NCAA can apply to the NCAA to help cover expenses for the programs I provide for college students. Please visit the following web site for more information:
I have just been put on the list of approved speakers for the NCAA’s Health and Safety Speaker’s Grant program. This means that any school in the NCAA can apply to the NCAA to help cover expenses for the programs I provide for college students. Please visit the following web site for more information:
http://www.ncaa.org/health-safety
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Rolling In Graves
The funeral of Coretta Scott King was a disgrace. It is a shame that those who took the mic are so strong in their political convictions that they completely forgot about honoring the life of the woman in the casket. A funeral is held to recognize the life of an individual and to give the family closure for the loss of their loved one. It is never, ever a time to grandstand about anything other than the life of the deceased. Those who spoke at Mrs. King’s funeral had an obligation to recognize her life and accomplishments - not bring up events to promote their political views. They should be ashamed.
On that same topic, there is a church in Kansas that feels it is their mission to hold anti-homosexual protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, even if the soldiers aren’t gay. Pardon? Hey waiter, can I get some logic over here?
The lowest points in a person’s life can often be noted by the loss of a loved one. The last thing I want done at my funeral is to have someone start talking about a political topic, even if it is one I completely agree with! People should have a little respect for the families of the deceased and let them have their peace. There is a time and place for everything, but a funeral only has a time and a place for gracious respect for the deceased.
On that same topic, there is a church in Kansas that feels it is their mission to hold anti-homosexual protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, even if the soldiers aren’t gay. Pardon? Hey waiter, can I get some logic over here?
The lowest points in a person’s life can often be noted by the loss of a loved one. The last thing I want done at my funeral is to have someone start talking about a political topic, even if it is one I completely agree with! People should have a little respect for the families of the deceased and let them have their peace. There is a time and place for everything, but a funeral only has a time and a place for gracious respect for the deceased.
Friday, February 03, 2006
First: IDIOT
The BBC has a section called “Ouch!” which is a segment concerning all aspects of disability. Maybe I’m a big ol’ Monty Python lovin’ nerd, but I totally dig this type of humor…and to think, it makes a great point. This is one of the “Ouch!” articles by a man in England who is blind. I, for one, feel his pain of being lumped into the “blind category” with people who are 1. idiots and 2. blind, not vice versa. Read on…and enjoy!
Other Disabled People Make Me Cringe
by Damon Rose
Do you sometimes think that other disabled people out there are letting you down? Specifically I'm talking about other people who have got the same impairment as you?
I'm still reeling from a story told to me last week. If you were here, you'd see me shaking while writing this - wincing with horror, distress and spackyness-by-proxy.
The other day, somebody very innocently told me about an incident that happened in a clothes shop. It featured a fellow blind person. It's the kind of story that makes you want to disassociate yourself from all other blind people. But you can't. No one will let you.
This other blind person did something so ridiculous, so utterly stupifyingly horrendous and shaming, something so completely alienly appallingly crassly idiotically pathetically ridiculously arseholeishly cackishly berkishly tosserishly gittishly ludicrously BLIND ... that I think I may want to kill him.
Let me breathe a second. I'm editing it right down to the salient facts to spare you, but this is the gist:
There's this blind man. He goes into a shop with his wife. The two of them are looking around for clothes. They find a pair of trousers that might suit him. They agree it would be a good idea for him to try the trousers on.
What happens next is the shameful bit.
Our blind man ... in the view of the whole shop ... drops his trousers to try them on. Yes. Idiot. He takes his trousers down thus showing his underpants and skinny legs to everyone.
For some reason, he thinks he's in the changing room (shudder).
To add to this trauma, it dawned on me that the person telling me the story seemed to be relating it in a way that says: "so, you see, I understand blind issues and therefore understand what it must be like to be you."
Newsflash: I would never, not in a million billion years, pull my trousers down in the middle of a shop believing myself to be in a changing room. Oh no. No way Jose. Who do you think I am? What do you think I am? This was not a blindness incident, this was a total stupid idiot incident. I disassociate myself. I deny thee. The fact he is blind probably has nothing to do with it. I am not like him. He is not like me.
Just as an exercise to prove what a prat he was, here are two easy foolproof questions he could have asked himself before undoing his buttons:
1: Am I in a big wide open space or behind curtains in a very small cupboard type thing?
2: When I chose the trousers off the peg on the shop floor, did I then go and find a changing room ... or did I just stand still?
Of course, it's always possible that this didn't happen at all. It could be just one of those stories. But it doesn't matter because this story will do the rounds and do its damage as it goes. Damage to me!
Is this paranoia too far? I don't think so.
I remember going on a first aid course while at university. The tutor stood in front of the group and told us about lots of accidents he'd witnessed or heard about. Later in the day, the blind thing came up.
"Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this in view of the fact that one is in the room today. But, there was an incident I heard of when a blind man unfortunately drank from a bottle of bleach believing it to be lemonade. He burnt his larynx very badly."
It's the old bleach for lemonade story. It's such an old chestnut that people really believe it might be possible to pick up one of those huge, chunky, non-inviting plastic bottles with the angled child proof tops and think: "oh, I didn't know I had a bottle of Sprite left under the sink in this cupboard where I wouldn't normally keep soft drinks. My my, what luck. Oh and it doesn't smell of lemon, it smells much stronger, they must have enhanced the flavour."
Did that bleach drinking blind person ever exist? I'm sure you've heard of him. If he did, he has helped to drag me down like the blind clothes store flasher. And hey, maybe you've heard of him too?
I can't believe this is just a blind thing. Do you hear stories, or urban myths, about people with your impairment that you just cringe at? Someone who screws up all the positive liaising that you do? People who destroy your entire lifelong marketing work?
This is not politically incorrect. This is real life and today it's open house. If you've got a cringe worthy story about someone with your impairment who is letting the side down, or who is perhaps a walking talking cliché? I want to hear about it and experience your pain. Use the form below to tell me about it. Don't pull your punches.
Other Disabled People Make Me Cringe
by Damon Rose
Do you sometimes think that other disabled people out there are letting you down? Specifically I'm talking about other people who have got the same impairment as you?
I'm still reeling from a story told to me last week. If you were here, you'd see me shaking while writing this - wincing with horror, distress and spackyness-by-proxy.
The other day, somebody very innocently told me about an incident that happened in a clothes shop. It featured a fellow blind person. It's the kind of story that makes you want to disassociate yourself from all other blind people. But you can't. No one will let you.
This other blind person did something so ridiculous, so utterly stupifyingly horrendous and shaming, something so completely alienly appallingly crassly idiotically pathetically ridiculously arseholeishly cackishly berkishly tosserishly gittishly ludicrously BLIND ... that I think I may want to kill him.
Let me breathe a second. I'm editing it right down to the salient facts to spare you, but this is the gist:
There's this blind man. He goes into a shop with his wife. The two of them are looking around for clothes. They find a pair of trousers that might suit him. They agree it would be a good idea for him to try the trousers on.
What happens next is the shameful bit.
Our blind man ... in the view of the whole shop ... drops his trousers to try them on. Yes. Idiot. He takes his trousers down thus showing his underpants and skinny legs to everyone.
For some reason, he thinks he's in the changing room (shudder).
To add to this trauma, it dawned on me that the person telling me the story seemed to be relating it in a way that says: "so, you see, I understand blind issues and therefore understand what it must be like to be you."
Newsflash: I would never, not in a million billion years, pull my trousers down in the middle of a shop believing myself to be in a changing room. Oh no. No way Jose. Who do you think I am? What do you think I am? This was not a blindness incident, this was a total stupid idiot incident. I disassociate myself. I deny thee. The fact he is blind probably has nothing to do with it. I am not like him. He is not like me.
Just as an exercise to prove what a prat he was, here are two easy foolproof questions he could have asked himself before undoing his buttons:
1: Am I in a big wide open space or behind curtains in a very small cupboard type thing?
2: When I chose the trousers off the peg on the shop floor, did I then go and find a changing room ... or did I just stand still?
Of course, it's always possible that this didn't happen at all. It could be just one of those stories. But it doesn't matter because this story will do the rounds and do its damage as it goes. Damage to me!
Is this paranoia too far? I don't think so.
I remember going on a first aid course while at university. The tutor stood in front of the group and told us about lots of accidents he'd witnessed or heard about. Later in the day, the blind thing came up.
"Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this in view of the fact that one is in the room today. But, there was an incident I heard of when a blind man unfortunately drank from a bottle of bleach believing it to be lemonade. He burnt his larynx very badly."
It's the old bleach for lemonade story. It's such an old chestnut that people really believe it might be possible to pick up one of those huge, chunky, non-inviting plastic bottles with the angled child proof tops and think: "oh, I didn't know I had a bottle of Sprite left under the sink in this cupboard where I wouldn't normally keep soft drinks. My my, what luck. Oh and it doesn't smell of lemon, it smells much stronger, they must have enhanced the flavour."
Did that bleach drinking blind person ever exist? I'm sure you've heard of him. If he did, he has helped to drag me down like the blind clothes store flasher. And hey, maybe you've heard of him too?
I can't believe this is just a blind thing. Do you hear stories, or urban myths, about people with your impairment that you just cringe at? Someone who screws up all the positive liaising that you do? People who destroy your entire lifelong marketing work?
This is not politically incorrect. This is real life and today it's open house. If you've got a cringe worthy story about someone with your impairment who is letting the side down, or who is perhaps a walking talking cliché? I want to hear about it and experience your pain. Use the form below to tell me about it. Don't pull your punches.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
State of the Ignorant
Last night was the President’s annual state of the union address. Did you watch it? I didn’t! I happened to be out at our favorite hangout fulfilling a two-year tradition of getting together every Tuesday night. Thus, I missed all the hoopla surrounding the speech.
Apparently I wasn’t the only person who missed it. Today, I was running some errands with my uncle who is a HUGE fan of talk radio. Every caller seemed to have an opinion on the President’s message last night. Now, I pretty much despise the radio host we were listening to, one reason being is that the host categorizes those who call in. “Who’d you vote for?” the host asked repeatedly, never giving the caller’s point any validity. Finally, after being asked, “Who’d you vote for?” about half a dozen times, the caller admitted that he did not, in fact, vote in the last Presidential election. What the???
It amazes me how someone would be so apathetic to NOT stop by his/her polling place to participate in the Democratic process, but would wait on hold to express his/her views on a nationally syndicated radio show! Can you say “misguided”?
As a kid, my great uncle had a bumper sticker on his pickup truck;
Apparently I wasn’t the only person who missed it. Today, I was running some errands with my uncle who is a HUGE fan of talk radio. Every caller seemed to have an opinion on the President’s message last night. Now, I pretty much despise the radio host we were listening to, one reason being is that the host categorizes those who call in. “Who’d you vote for?” the host asked repeatedly, never giving the caller’s point any validity. Finally, after being asked, “Who’d you vote for?” about half a dozen times, the caller admitted that he did not, in fact, vote in the last Presidential election. What the???
It amazes me how someone would be so apathetic to NOT stop by his/her polling place to participate in the Democratic process, but would wait on hold to express his/her views on a nationally syndicated radio show! Can you say “misguided”?
As a kid, my great uncle had a bumper sticker on his pickup truck;
If you don’t vote, don’t b/?*3
Six words sum up the “rules” for engaging in political discussions today.
Thanks, Uncle Les, for teaching me that lesson… with your bumper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)