Saturday Night Classic Music Video

Crank it up...

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

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The Big Picture

Easter.

Christmas.

The two most attended church weekends.

There are plenty of scholars who dispute many of the "items" of the Christian faith and I saw a lawyer on Morning Joe this morning talking smack about Jesus.

Let them talk.

I don't care if Jesus was born in August or December.

I don't give up anything for Lent.

But I do have a faith in Jesus as my savior, and I live my life accordingly as a sinner, constantly forgiven, repentant, and amazed.

When I was 22, the woman who became my first wife challenged my thinking and I surrendered my life to Christ.

Three children and 13 years later, we divorced.

11 years ago I met my wife Kathy and now we have been married 121 months. (10 years plus a month if you're not good with math.)

All along, from the age of 22 I never lost my faith. But in my growing up years I attended Lutheran Churches in Fort Wayne, Indiana and never took hold of the faith and made it mine, personally.

What Kathy did, was reintroduce me to the Lutheran Church which took some dealing with due to my own past as a youth in that particular church environment.

But we found a local church that has a good school and a contemporary Saturday night service most weeks and is filled with people and pastors who are sincere about their faith and we have been there ever since.

This Easter weekend, no matter what you believe, be respectful of all, and if you want to know more about my beliefs, just ask. I promise not to clobber you with a Bible.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

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TMI about TP

I'm really turned off by the Charmin Bears talking about toilet paper stuck on their furry butts.

Quilted Northern ads now have women talking about how they want their toilet paper to leave them feeling "clean".

Look, I work in the advertising world and this is just Too Much Information about Toilet Paper.

Bring back the old days:

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Season wraps in 2 days. Click on Pic

Smooth Sailing on Rough Waters

Look around you at the people.

Not just friends and family, but the strangers too.

You have more in common with them than you realize.

Every human being on this planet has had troubles in the past 12 months.

Some as recent as 12 minutes ago.

Many are still in the midst of it.

That's why I like to sometimes post stories about others that may help the rest of us to keep moving and realize that there is hope, if you keep sailing no matter how rough the waters get.

This is from the DLM Blog:

How to Tackle Adversity Like an Oyster

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 08:53 AM PDT

A few days back while I was walking to school, I felt a piece of gravel or pebble that found its way into my shoe and prodded against my sole whenever I made a step forward.

As I walked on, I thought about how oysters produce pearls to alleviate the “discomfort” that trespassing particles assert on their soft tissues. According to HowStuffWorks.com, whenever a foreign substance finds its way between the oyster’s mantle and shell, the mantle will secrete layers of nacre to cover the irritant particle. As the layers of nacre consequently cover each other, a pearl is eventually formed.

It's funny. The world is full of little lessons and solutions. Most of us, however, are too busy or too lazy to notice. Take this as an example. From the story of the oyster and the pearl, we can draw 3 life lessons from them.

• Even with a “shell”, no one is invulnerable
  Your “shell” can be defined as anything that offers you protection and a sense of security. For some, it could be their jobs and their paychecks, for others it could be their influence among their peers and the people around them, or even their dreams and ambitions.
  
  While oysters do possess shells which shield them from the threats in the external environment, foreign objects and particles can still seep through the gaps between the shells. Likewise, even though we may have a security blanket and even plans that take contingencies into consideration, these “shells” are still not bulletproof. Even with the best of plans, one will still experience adversity in life.


• When adversity hits, it’s your response that matters
  When a foreign particle intrudes into the internal regions of the oyster, the oyster responds by secreting nacre onto it to prevent its sharp edges from abrading its soft tissue.
  
  In the same way, when adversity hits you, you have a choice. You can be ignorant and let it damage and bother you continuously, or you can embrace it and deal with it in a positive and constructive way. Learn from adversity, don't bottle it up.


• Generate value out of adversity
  After the accumulation of consecutive layers of nacre, what was once a piece of intruding particle is now a valuable and sought-after pearl.
  
  It is one thing to face adversity and try to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. But it’s another to recognize and to seize the treasure within the adversity.
  
  Each hardship, failure, setback or resistance has the capacity to toughen and sharpen our character each time we encounter and embrace them. Furthermore, the valuable lessons we learn from these experiences not only help us in our future endeavors, but they can also serve to instruct and inspire others who are going through a similar journey.

All in all, the reality of adversities is that they can induce stress, trauma, discomfort or disappointment in all of us. But we do have a choice. We can allow adversity to pass us by without learning much from it, or we can deliberately choose to make the best use of adverse situations – embracing them, learning from them, and sharing those lessons with others. What’s your choice? What is your pearl?

That's it, and thanks a lot for taking the time!

Written on 4/16/2011 by Dominic Soh. Dominic writes about passion and finding your dreams at Your Nuclear Dreams.

Photo Credit: amboo who?

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Tech Tip Tuesday

Backing up your computer "in the cloud" was last weeks topic.

Today, I have a simple concept that can help save you a lot of frustration that I've been doing for years.

Create a back up profile on your computer.

Actually, it's not a true back up of files, but it is a secondary profile that I can use to log in to my computer if something becomes corrupt on my profile.

At least once on every computer I've owned, I have had to use the secondary profile to fix something on my computer.

Set up this extra profile with a password and administrator privileges.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

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Do you Really want to Do More?

from the DLM Blog:

5 Simple Ways to Double Your Productivity

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 07:34 AM PDT

Doubling your productivity is simple, but not easy. Changing your habits requires a bit of self-discipline, but it can be done. You can double your productivity by incorporating any of the five simple steps below into your life.

For the longest time, I refused to try any of the techniques that are associated with productivity. I believed they were nothing more than gimmicks.

Weird, I know.

But I was wrong. You can systematically double, triple, and even quadruple your productivity by incorporating the habits of highly productive people.

1. Plan
   Before you go to bed today, write down exactly what you are going to work on tomorrow. This can be as simple as writing down the three most important tasks that you have to accomplish the next day.
   
   I also recommend that you order them after priority. If you could only get one task done tomorrow, what would it be?
   
   When I started doing this, my productivity went up several hundred percent. And I was already a pretty productive person.


2. Visualize
   I have found positive visualization to be extremely efficient in motivating, inspiring, and encouraging me to take action.
   
   Not only will it make you feel good, it will all so help you stay focused on the tasks that matter.
   
   If you ever realize that you don't know why you're doing a task, you need to step back and re-examine what you're trying to accomplish.


3. Single-Task
   In order to really be able to focus, you need to single task. That means eliminating any distractions that you might have.
   
   When I'm writing, I shut down my e-mail, my browser, and everything else that might pop up and distract me.
   
   Now, I still have the urge to check my mail and chat with my friends, but I refuse to do so until I have finished all my most important tasks for the day.
   
   If you want to produce exceptional results, you have to focus on the tasks that are hard but that ultimately satisfy.


4. Work Offline
   One of the best ways to become highly productive is to work off-line. Now, sometimes this isn't possible, but when it is, it will dramatically boost the amount of work you can get done.
   
   The Internet is a huge pile of distractions. It will keep you from achieving your goals if you let it. Most people spend their days on Facebook and twitter, and then they wonder why others are more successful than they are.
   
   Don't let this happen to you. Take control of your destiny and start focusing on work that truly matters.
   
   You alone are responsible for your results, and no one else.


5. Get Rid of Your Inner Critic
   Last, but definitely not least is the ability to temporarily suspend your inner critic and eliminate perfectionism.
   
   This is extremely valuable for me as a writer, because trying to produce creative work while trying to edit it at the same time leaves me with a blank mind.
   
   This applies to every field, and you have to find out how you can suspend your inner critic so you can get more creative work done.

This is Nothing New
You’ve probably heard many of the above tips before but never applied them. Why haven’t you? The simplest tips are the most powerful. You can dramatically increase your productivity if you take the time to make the above tips a habit.

If you make it your mission to become more productive by incorporating new habits each week, you will be amazed at how much you can increase your productivity in just a few months.

There are no limits, except the ones that you impose on yourself.

Written on 4/15/2011 by Henri Junttila. Henri writes at Wake Up Cloud, where he shares his personal tips on how you can live the life you know you deserve. When you feel ready to take action, get his free course: Find Your Passion in 5 Days or Less. And if you liked this article, you will enjoy one of his top articles: 77 Great Quotes That Will Change Your Life.

Photo Credit: Steven Blom

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Media Monday continues with yet another station I worked at on the air. 1999 was the year. Click on Pic.

Pins, Balls, Gutters & Beer

Last time I went bowling, I had all of the above except the beer. Mt. Dew was my drink.

The next time I go, I'll be better prepared thanks to this piece from the AOM blog:

How to Bowl a Strike

Bowling has a long and thoroughly manly history.

But if you’re like me, then your contribution to this legacy of manliness hasn’t been anything to write home about. Which is to say, for much of my life I was a pretty sorry bowler. I liked going bowling with my friends and reveling in some manly camaraderie, but being a competitive guy, it was hard to enjoy a game while getting trounced by everyone else.

And I rarely got to experience the sheer joy and ecstasy of bowling a strike. There’s nothing like seeing all ten of those pins disappear from the lane. So lately I’ve been trying to up my game. With some practice, reading, and advice from guys who bowl strikes on a regular basis, I’ve been able to improve my strike ball. I’m not bowling perfect games by any means, but I’ll get three or four strikes in a game now.

And so to help my fellow floundering bowlers, I offer a few tips on how to bowl a strike.

Be flexible. Flexibility and the ability to adapt are essential to consistently bowling strikes because every lane you bowl on is different. Why? Well, have you ever crossed the foul line and found yourself on your butt? That’s because bowling lanes are oiled and the amount of oil and the way it’s spread on the lane can differ from lane to lane. Heck, the oil pattern on a single lane can change throughout the game. Changes in oil amount and pattern can cause your ball to break differently. So be prepared to adjust your approach.

If you're right-handed, aim for the ball to hit the pocket in-between the 1 and 3 pins.

The key is in the pocket. The key to consistent strikes is to angle the ball into the “pocket.” For a right-handed bowler, the pocket is between the one-pin and three-pin. For a lefty, it’s between the one-pin and two-pin.

Choose a lighter ball. Yeah, I know. You want to show off your manly strength by hurling an 18 pound ball down the lane like the thunder god Tor. And yeah, it’s fun to see the pins fly in the air when a heavy ball hits them, but if you want to bowl strikes, consider lightening up a bit. To bowl strikes, you want the pins to hit each other, and not just fly up in the air. Heavy balls make pins fly in the air; lighter balls make the pins hit each other. Many pros these days have started using the 14 1/2 or 15 pound balls because of the advantage lighter balls provide. So go ahead. Use that girl ball without shame.

Focus, but not on the pins. The pins are your target, but you don’t want to focus or aim for them. Instead, pick one of the arrows in the middle of the lane and aim to have your ball roll right over it. If you’re a right-handed bowler, aim for the second arrow from the right. Lefties, aim for the second arrow from the left. Because most lane oil is in the middle of the lane, throwing your ball on the outside will give it more traction down the entire lane.

Line up your approach. Before the foul line, you’ll see three rows of dots that parallel the lane–one row right before the foul line and two rows a bit back from it. Use one of these latter rows to line up your approach to the foul line (which one you choose is determined by how many steps you take before releasing the ball). If you’re right-handed with a slight hook, place your left foot just to the right of the middle dot. If you’re left-handed, your right foot should be placed just to the left of the center dot.

If you consistently hit the pocket from that approach, you’ve found your strike ball. Keep approaching from that spot. If you’re missing left, move a bit to your left on the approach. If you’re missing right, move right. Yeah, that seems sort of counter-intuitive, but a righty bowler misses left because his ball hooked too early. Sames goes for a lefty. Moving towards the direction you’re missing and aiming for the same arrow will force the ball farther down the lane before hooking into the pins. Try it. It works.

It's all in the toes.

Make your approach. Start your approach towards the line. The four step approach is the most commonly used approach by the pros, but if the Fred Flintstone twinkle-toes thing works for you, then do it. Keep your eye on your target arrow the entire time and make sure you’re walking in a straight line.

Keep your arm straight. On the backswing, keep your arm straight and close to the body. Your hand should come up to shoulder level.

Step of power! The power step is the second-to-last step in your approach and it gives your body a bit more momentum which adds to the leverage of your armswing, giving you a stronger release of the ball. If you’re right handed, your power step will be with your right foot. Lefties, with the left. Your power step leg should have a nice bend to it which will help you slide on your left foot. Watch that you don’t cross the foul line!

Release the ball at the bottom of your downward swing. You want to time the release just right. Too early and you can lose velocity, too late and you’ll cause the ball to bounce.

Curve it. Remember, to bowl strikes we want the ball to hit the pocket, and to do that effectively, we need some curve to our throw. This takes some practice to perfect, but here’s some general advice to get started. If you’re right-handed, rotate your thumb to a 10 o’clock position as you release the ball. If you’re left-handed, rotate your thumb to a 2 o’clock position. This will give your ball a bit of spin as it hurtles towards the pins.

You want the ball to curve into the pocket.

Follow through. A mistake that many novices make in bowling is not following through after releasing the ball. Failing to follow through reduces rotation on the ball and consequently decreases accuracy. Once you release the ball, keep your arm going in the pendulum motion until your hand is above your head.

Be like Frank. Take it nice and easy. Don’t rush. It’s easy to get in a hurry especially when you get flustered. Maintain a slow and smooth approach and release.

Fist pump/air pistols/Jesus Quintana Dance. Revel in the sweet sound of a strike with a celebratory fist pump. Or you could go with the classic Pistol Pete air pistols and pretend that you’re shooting all the pins down with your fingers.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

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