And Then Some News

Thursday's Essay Preview

The first paragraph of the essay, "The 'great' opening paragraph" reads as follows: 
It was a delightful, cold, calm, Monday morning, and I had just finished showering after my 3-mile jog.  Relaxing music played in the background, and I was sitting at the dining-room table reading the Monday edition of The (Toledo) Blade.  Thomas Walton’s op-ed column, “In search of the Great Opening Paragraph,” caught my attention.  That’s not surprising since reading the editorial pages and op-ed columns is my favorite part of the newspaper.  I spend more time on that section than on any other.


Thursday's Essay Excerpt - from the last paragraph of the essay

In addition to all of this, when I Googled myself (See my essay on “Egosurfing.”) for the purposes of writing an essay about it, I discovered a Chinese website where Walton’s column of January 3, 2011, appeared with a date just one day in advance of when it appeared in The (Toledo) Blade, and I now realize that the whole world is waiting (breathlessly, I’m sure!) for my “great” follow-up novel to my “great opening paragraph”!  I’m so excited I’m out of breath!                                    



And Then Some News

How music works: The science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyonce

By John Powell



Book review by Richard L. Weaver II



The idea that someone would have a background (Ph.D. no less!) in physics and, in addition, a master’s degree in music composition sounds like an educational oxymoron.  Then to bring these two areas of expertise together in a book that explains “how music works” is both unique and incredibly interesting.  (And I thought my upbringing in science (an undergraduate minor) combined with a B.A. in speech communication was unusual!)  Not only that, but Powell has taught both physics and musical acoustics.  I mention this simply because these three areas (physics, music, and teaching) are beautifully juxtaposed in this excellent book.


Powell packs so much into this well-written, well-illustrated, well-explained, informative, and entertaining book that it is hard to know where to begin in reviewing it.  Actually, if you have ever dabbled in music, if you play or have played an instrument, if you are a professional disc-jockey (as my older son is), or if you are simply a leisurely, laid-back listener of music, buy this book.  I guarantee: 1) you will enjoy it, and 2) you will learn a great deal from it.  You can then just skip my review of it because all I do is support these two justifications for purchasing it.


There is a question I have often answered for students at the university that becomes relevant once again with this book: “Doesn’t having an education make you more critical of things?”  Actually, the answer is, “No.”  Having an education increases your appreciation of things.  It brings a deeper understanding, more background knowledge, a greater history, and, thus, a better grasp of everything in the world.  It offers a context and frame of reference so that not only can you ask intelligent questions but you can give more informed, thorough, and substantiated answers as well.  I have learned that the more education you have, the more you want to learn: It instills the teacher in you!


Powell was concerned about this as well when he says, “Some people worry that understanding more about music will reduce the pleasure they get from it, but the reverse is true.  Learning how a complicated dish is prepared makes you appreciate it even more, and doesn’t change how good it tastes” (p. 4).


This response provides insight into one of Powell’s teaching abilities: throughout the book, he creates realistic, practical, hands-on analogies with which readers can closely relate, to make his points.


How pedestrian do his analogies get?  After quoting Professor Frederick Corder, who wrote the book The Orchestra, and How to Write for It (1894), and Corder’s disdain for the trumpet, the guitar, viola, and oboe, Powell writes, “ . . . I dread to think what he would have said about the drinking straw oboe.  All you need in order to own one of these magnificent instruments is a drinking straw and a pair of scissors.  The illustration below shows you what to do” (p. 73).   Powell adds to his delightful explanation of how to use it, “You can even cut little finger holes and play dreadful out-of-tune melodies.  The long winter evenings will just fly by” (p. 73).  (I love Powell’s sarcasm.)


Among many other things, Powell explains what perfect pitch is, the difference between notes and noise, how loud is loud, the difference between harmony and cacophony, as well as how long it takes to become an expert, how musicians learn long and complicated pieces, how to select an instrument if you want to learn to play one, and the various elements involved in listening to music.  There is just so much in this 265-page book.  No, you don’t have to read all the detailed sections; choose just those that have interest (knowing, however, that when you do, you will be missing out on some of the author’s humorous asides, comments, and commentary).


This book is priceless — a treasure.  Thank you John Powell for this wonderful experience.  As just a casual, laid back, appreciater of all kinds of music — I do not play an instrument nor do I write music (although I have offspring who do) — I have learned so much, and this book has contributed greatly to the musical portion of my education.


How music works: The science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyonce can be found at Amazon.com

LAUGH . . . And Then Some!

Life on the Etch-A-Sketch help desk:

Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all these funny little lines all over the screen.
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I create a New Document window?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch document?

A: Don't shake it.  

Laugh Like There's No Tomorrow: Over 2,000 jokes from the Internet

From Day #310 in a complete manuscript compiled by Richard L. Weaver II

Egosurfing (I Googled Myself!)

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
 
I Googled myself recently out of curiosity, but I’m not alone according to Rachael Rettner of LiveScience.com, who wrote an essay, “Most people Google themselves now,” which begins with this paragraph: “If you've Googled yourself recently, you're not alone. The majority of American adults, 57 percent, now keep tabs on their reputations online, using search engines to track information about their Internet identities, according to a report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project [based on results from telephone interviews of 2,253 individuals in 2009], released today [May 26, 2010]. That's up from 47 percent in 2006" (Rettner, “Most people . . . ,” May 26, 2020).  So, I’m not alone; this is what I discovered.

I used quotation marks around my name, and there were 117,000 results (January 14, 2011), but in 26 pages, only 260 web sites were displayed.  That doesn’t mean I was disappointed, because Google told me that the remaining sites duplicated what was contained in those displayed, and I had already seen a great deal of duplication.  It took me several hours to wade through some of the sites, and in this essay I want to report my findings.

Perhaps the largest number of sites displayed were those that sold copies of my books.  Having written somewhere between 15 and 20, that isn’t surprising.  Many offered used copies of the various editions of my current college textbook, Communicating Effectively.  Once again, that isn’t surprising given the fact that it is in its tenth edition (March 18, 2011) and has been used extensively around the world.  (Communicating Effectively was written with Saundra Hybels who died in 1999.)
   
Speaking of “around the world,” I found it interesting that there were sites that had to be translated from Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Polish, and Spanish.  Some were quoting from my textbooks, using my textbooks in their footnotes and references, or citing me as a communication expert.  Some years ago my Communicating Effectively textbook was translated into Chinese, but that doesn’t necessarily explain all the foreign web sites mentioning my name or my books.  My textbook, Research in Speech Communication with Raymond Tucker and Cynthia Berryman-Fiink (Prentice-Hall, 1981) was mentioned frequently.
   
There were several web sites that occurred simply because of the use of my quotation, “One of the best things people can have up their sleeve is a funny bone.”  I found it in a number of places, but one of the most interesting was John Mark Ministries where they listed the quotation under the heading, “Quotes to Help With Sickness and Illness.”
   
Quite a few of the web sites displayed had copies of previous academic articles published during my professional career as a teacher.  For example, “Ten Specific Techniques for Developing Humor in the Classroom,” (Winter, 1987, Education, 108, No. 2, pp. 167-179) was mentioned several times.  “Faculty Dynamation: Guided Empowerment” (Spring/Summer, 1990, Innovative Higher Education 14, No. 2 with co-authors Darrell G. Mullins, Howard W. Cottrell, and Thomas A. Michel) was mentioned several times as well
   
My YouTube videos appear on a wide variety of web sites.  At the ChaCha web site, the “Stand Up, Speak Well” video appears, and at the “Types of Research Evidence,” my video titled “The Curse of Knowledge” is front and center.
   
When you write as much and as widely as I have, the chances for misquotations and distortions becomes greater than those who do not.  At Puritan Daily Life, those who write for the site went almost as far as they could go (in distorting the information) when they stated: “The aboriginal branch of the essay, ‘Self-discipline can change your life in any way you appetite [sic] it to,’ reads as follows: During my aboriginal years, I heard from my parents bout [sic] the Puritan assignment [sic] ethic, but every time I heard the byword [sic] it was affiliated with alive [sic] heard.  Never did I apperceive [sic] that it was Biblically based . . . .” And, my name was assigned to the quotation.  Can you figure it out?  I could not.  I hope it’s never cited as an example of my best work!
   
Thomas Walton’s The (Toledo) Blade’s January 3, 2011, p. A-7, op-ed column titled, “‘It was a dark and stormy night’ . . . or not,” which printed readers responses to a request Walton made on December 6, 2010, in a column titled, “In search of the Great Opening Paragraph.”  Walton wrote readers: “Send me your best opening paragraph for the novel that’s been kicking around in your head.”  I wrote, “Her scent lingered momentarily, then dispersed as if a light breeze had massaged the fibers of my soul.  When fully recovered I became alive and aware, then conscious of my past.  With that mindful insight I realized I was not to have her, and I was surprisingly at peace.”  What surprised me was that on January 14, 2011, just 11 days later, the quotation (and Walton’s op-ed column) appeared on a Chinese web site. 
   
On the web site “Frankly Speaking," for Thursday, August 23, 2007, Frank Bellizzi, a college teacher and campus minister, used six paragraphs of my speech, “Sticky Ideas,” that highlighted and discussed “The Curse of Knowledge” (August, 2007, “Sticky Ideas,” Vital Speeches of the Day, p. 354), to stimulate a discussion on his web site.  I never received a request to use the material nor gave permission.  He thoroughly credited the source (me! —as well as the authors I cited), but normal ethical behavior would have suggested a request was in order.
   
One of the surprises (although it shouldn’t have been a surprise had I simply thought more about it!), was the large number of publishers and authors who used my reviews of their books to advertise and sell their books on the Internet.  Many of the web sites displayed offered my reviews.  Once again, having posted well over a hundred reviews on Amazon.com, this would be an expected outcome, and I am delighted that so many have found my reviews well-written, concise, and flattering enough to reprint them in other contexts.  Thank you.

Source/footnote: Rettner, Rachael. (May 26, 2010). “Most people Google themselves now.”  LiveScience. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- - - - - - - - -
At Wikipedia.com, their brief explanation of “Egosurfing” and the various other terms for it is delightful: “Egosurfing (usually referred to as Googling yourself and sometimes called vanity searching, egosearching, egogoogling, autogoogling, self-googling, master-googling) is the practice of searching for one's own given name, surname, full name, pseudonym, or screen name on a popular search engine, to see what results appear.”

At the BrownNoser web site, Eric Johnson writes the following two paragraphs to open his article, “Catholic Church Condems Googling Yourself As a Sin”: “Some people do it every now and then. Some do it multiple times a day. Some are simply addicted. But regardless of how often you do it, the Catholic church wants you to stop it.
   
“Googling yourself, a longstanding pastime since Google's launch in 1998, is just as wrong in the Catholics' eyes as murder, adultery and wearing non-silly hats, according to Pope Benedict XVI. Speaking from his balcony in Vatican City, the Pope said Googling is a strong contributor to society's moral decay.”
- - - - - - - - -
Copyright January, 2012, by And Then Some Publishing, L.L.C.

Make friends with yourself

SMOERs: Words of Wisdom

When you have yourself as a friend, you have someone who will listen and respond to your self-talk --- those little motivational messages you give yourself to pep you up or calm you down.  ---Richard L. Weaver II


Day #291 - Make friends with yourself.

SMOERs: Self-Motivation, Optimism, Encouragement Rules! - Daily Reminders for Outstanding Living
An everyday guide full of quotations to uplift your spirits.  This is one of four motivational quotations for Day #291.

Free 30-Day sample: smoers.com

And Then Some News

Thursday's Essay Preview

The first paragraph of the essay, "Egosurfing (I Googled myself)" reads as follows: 
I Googled myself recently out of curiosity, but I’m not alone according to Rachael Rettner of LiveScience.com, who wrote an essay, “Most people Google themselves now,” which begins with this paragraph: “If you've Googled yourself recently, you're not alone. The majority of American adults, 57 percent, now keep tabs on their reputations online, using search engines to track information about their Internet identities, according to a report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project [based on results from telephone interviews of 2,253 individuals in 2009], released today [May 26, 2010]. That's up from 47 percent in 2006" (Rettner, “Most people . . . ,” May 26, 2020).  So, I’m not alone; this is what I discovered.


Thursday's Essay Excerpt - from the last paragraph of the essay

One of the surprises (although it shouldn’t have been a surprise had I simply thought more about it!), was the large number of publishers and authors who used my reviews of their books to advertise and sell their books on the Internet.  Many of the web sites displayed offered my reviews.  Once again, having posted well over a hundred reviews on Amazon.com, this would be an expected outcome, and I am delighted that so many have found my reviews well-written, concise, and flattering enough to reprint them in other contexts.  Thank you.
                                    



And Then Some News

Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life and The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference

Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
by David Allen

Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.


I did not read David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done (2001), and there are some people (who reviewed the book) who said it was the better book and even to save your time by not reading this one and reading his former one. I cannot personally support or deny this observation (or judgment). The Sacramento Book Review said this: “This book is actually harder to read, and is less clear than /Getting Things Done/. Promoted as a expansion that will help you focus on the higher level of organizing your life and goals, it really just serves as a rehashing. For those needing encouragement to continue using GTD techniques, maybe it'll work for them. But, for those looking for more, it fails, and those looking at trying the GTD techniques for the first time would be better served using the original book.” Victoria Bean included information in her review that compares the two books: “The book [Making It All Work] illuminates what Allen calls the basics of self-management: namely how to get and how to develop both control and perspective on your daily commitments in order to master them.


While much of the content is included in his previous book [Getting Things Done], there are some new tools that show you how to achieve alignment and balance by changing your perspective on your own commitments and mastering the art of motivating yourself. These tools include:


* How to get immediate control of "current reality"
* How to keep track of the total inventory of your commitments
* What decisions are critical to make, about what, and when
* Why most "personal management systems" don't work
* Why organizational issues are often personal process issues
* How to use procrastination to your advantage
* How to continually self-consult to get back "on your game"
* How to install simple tricks that create profound results ”


This is a well-written, even inspiring book that will help (offers specific suggestions) for maintaining control and perspective. In this book, Allen suggests flexibility and custom-tailoring to make his GTD system operative. I didn’t read his former book, but I found this book extremely interesting and educational. Perhaps it would be a better read if you read his earlier book first; however, this one is well done, to say the least, and because he (obviously) repeats information from the earlier book, it is not a prerequisite that one be read before the other.




The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference
by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.


Whether you have many examples from your own life of this title being true, whether you have read it in other books, or whether you think it is a small, commonsensical point that needs no further elucidation, this is a delightful book. The authors write in an engaging style; there are so many wonderful examples used to support their points; and I firmly believe, too, that their point needs to be reinforced and encouraged. I wrote one positive letter about a bank employee, and she was one of ten commended across the nation, won the competition, and will receive a plaque on her office wall marking her success. One letter! I wrote a letter to the Red Cross that changed their procedures to include hand sanitizer at the table where refreshments are served after donations. One letter! That is precisely what this book is all about.


Because of my personal interest in speech communication, I especially liked their discussion in Chapter 3, “Make Small Talk,” which begins with the wonderful quotation from Mark Twain, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” The authors make the point that, “We are losing the human texture in even our simplest conversations. We are becoming more and more cut off from human interaction, from the chance encounters and casual acquaintances that have, until recently, made up a part of our lives and at times changed their course” (p. 27j). Their suggestions for increasing the importance and impact of small talk are excellent and should be adopted by everyone (pp. 34-30).


The book is not only full of examples, but the authors offer regular and consistent encouragement to readers to make small changes like saying “please” and “thank you,” to take advantage of the smallest opportunities (to take advantage of “and then some” situations!), and to become more alert to other people and to their surroundings as well.


Sure, you can write this book off as just a piece of fluff, but do you know what? If everyone in our society made the small changes these authors recommend and practiced them everyday, there would be so much less conflict, irritation, and anger— so much less displeasure, annoyance, and ill-temper. As small a point(s) as the authors make, this book makes a valuable and useful addition to our lives.


These books are available at Amazon.com: (Click the link below)
Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference 

LAUGH . . . And Then Some

A woman calls her boss one morning and tells him that she is staying home because she is not feeling well.

"What's the matter?" he asks.

"I have a case of anal glaucoma," she says in a weak voice.

"What the hell is anal glaucoma?"

"I can't see my ass coming into work today."

Laugh Like There's No Tomorrow: Over 2,000 jokes from the Internet

From Day #307 in a complete manuscript compiled by Richard L. Weaver II

New Year’s Jokes

By Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.

What greater way to prepare for the New Year than by sharing with my readers, my favorite New Year’s jokes?  There is no order here.  Some are clearly better than others, but I thought all of them had merit—or they wouldn’t be included.  Most give quick and sufficient testimony to what happened to me: When I thought about the evils of drinking in the New Year. I gave up thinking.  Let’s begin with a letter to the lord dated January 1st:   
    Dear Lord
    So far this year I've done well.
    I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that.  But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on I'm probably going to need a lot more help.
    Amen
    
You’ve heard of the serenity prayer?  This is the senility prayer:
        God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
        The good fortune to run into the ones that I do,
        And the eyesight to tell the difference.
    
Many New Year’s resolutions are about dieting:  It's not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it's the seconds.  The biggest drawback to fasting for seven days is that it makes one weak.  The toughest part of a diet isn't watching what you eat.  It's watching what other people eat.  An excellent way to lose weight is by skipping ... snacks and dessert.  

About dieting, Jackie Gleason said, “A funny thing with a diet, the second day of a diet is always easier than the first.  By the second day you're off it.”
    
A great way to lose weight is to eat while you are naked and standing in front of a mirror.  Restaurants will always throw you out before you can eat too much.
    
On New Year's Eve, Marilyn stood up in the local pub and said that it was time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.
    
Well, it was kind of embarrassing.  As the clock struck, the bartender was almost crushed to death.
    
On New Year's Eve, Daniel was in no shape to drive, so he sensibly left his van in the car park and walked home.  As he was wobbling along, he was stopped by a policeman.  “What are you doing out here at four o'clock in the morning?” asked the police officer.
    “I'm on my way to a lecture,” answered Roger.
    “And who on earth, in their right mind, is going to give a lecture at this time on New Year's Eve?” enquired the constable sarcastically.
    “My wife,” slurred Daniel grimly.
    
A Senator in the USA was once asked about his attitude toward whisky.
    “If you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I'm against it.  But if you mean the elixir of a New Year toast, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I'm for it.  This is my position, and I will not compromise.”
    
Now for a joke that is very sad. There's a man sitting at a bar just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half an hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down.

The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand seeing a man crying."
    
"No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and I'm late to my office. My boss, in an outrage, fires me. When I leave the building to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police say they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away. I go home and when I get there, I find my wife sleeping with the gardener. I leave home and come to this bar. And when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison."
    
 After listening to some bedtime stories, Alex, a little boy, said to his father, “Snow White was poisoned by an apple, Jack found a giant on a beanstalk, and just look what happened to Alice when she ate the mushroom. And you wonder why I won't eat fruit and vegetables?”
    
And a final joke (another one) that has nothing to do with New Years, but offers us all something to think about.  A woman awakes during the night, and her husband isn't in bed with her. She goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him.
    
He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.
    
"What's the matter, dear?" she asks. "Why are you down here at this time of night?" The husband looks up from his coffee, "Do you remember 20 years ago when we were dating, and you were only 16?" he asks solemnly.
    
"Yes, I do," she replies.
    
"Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car making love?"
    
"Yes, I remember," says the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
    
        The husband continues..."Do you remember when he shoved a shotgun in my face and said,

"Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years."
    
"I remember that too", she replies softly.
    
He wipes another tear from his cheek and says... "I would have gotten out today!"
    
It was Oscar Wilde who said, “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”  May the new year bring you health, wealth, and prosperity.  Of course, that’s the same toast someone made at your wedding, and where did that get you?
-----
At About.com , the essay there, by Amber J. Tresca,  “10 Tips for Keeping New Year's Resolutions: The best way to stick with your resolution is to plan ahead.,” offers realistic tips and great advice.

Sue Shallenbarger, at the web site , offers the essay, “A Cheat Sheet for Keeping Resolutions .”  Like the essay above, there are realistic tips and great advice here as well.
-----
Copyright December, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.

Day #290 - Pursue a hobby.

SMOERs: Words of Wisdom

"It almost seems unfair when you make your profession a hobby as well.  Then it's hard to tell whether you are doing it to make money or doing it for fun.  The joy comes from knowing it is both." --Richard L. Weaver II

Day #290 - Pursue a hobby.

SMOERs: Self-Motivation, Optimism, Encouragement Rules! - Daily Reminders for Outstanding Living
An everyday guide full of quotations to uplift your spirits.  This is one of four motivational quotations for Day #290.

Free 30-Day sample: smoers.com

And Then Some News

Thursday's And Then Some Essay preview:

Thursday’s essay is called, "New Year's Jokes." What greater way to prepare for the New Year than by sharing with my readers, my favorite New Year’s jokes?  There is no order here.  Some are clearly better than others, but I thought all of them had merit—or they wouldn’t be included.  Most give quick and sufficient testimony to what happened to me: When I thought about the evils of drinking in the New Year. I gave up thinking.



New Year's Jokes
by Richard L. Weaver II

Excerpt:
On New Year's Eve, Marilyn stood up in the local pub and said that it was time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.
   
Well, it was kind of embarrassing.  As the clock struck, the bartender was almost crushed to death.

---

And Then Some News

Thursday's Essay Preview

The first paragraph of the essay, "New Year's Jokes," reads as follows: "What greater way to prepare for the New Year than by sharing with my readers, my favorite New Year’s jokes.  There is no order here.  Some are clearly better than others, but I thought all of them had merit—or they wouldn’t be included.  Most give quick and sufficient testimony to what happened to me: When I thought about the evils of drinking in the New Year. I gave up thinking.  Let’s begin with a letter to the lord.   
    Dear Lord
    So far this year I've done well.
    I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that.  But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on I'm probably going to need a lot more help.
    Amen"
                                                                                                                                             

Thursday's Essay Excerpt - from the last paragraph of the essay

"It was Oscar Wilde who said, “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”  May the new year bring you health, wealth, and prosperity.  Of course, that’s the same toast someone made at your wedding, and where did that get you?"                                       



And Then Some News

Chicken soup for the soul: Think positive — 101 inspirational stories about counting your blessings and having a positive attitude

By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Amy Newmark



Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.


Before you read this review you must understand several things.  First, I am not a strong advocate for any of the books in the Chicken Soup series.  Second, I am a believer in a positive life, and thinking positive about anything should a natural and automatic part of living, not something saved for a particular illness, problem, or situation.  Third, I find that prayer serves no purpose whatever.  It may be useful to buoy your spirit or give you hope, but chances for a positive outcome because of prayer are 50-50, just as they are in life without prayer.  And there are no such things as miracles.  Fourth, all thoughts and feelings occur in the brain — not in the heart.  You cannot be guided by your heart, have a nagging in your heart, or have a broken heart.  Sorry.  The heart is merely a muscle that pumps blood.


Also, and this is just an aside.  Anecdotal evidence (stories, examples, personal experiences, and illustrations) count for little in the course of life.  There is no doubt that they have persuasive power because of the way they stir the emotions and can rally people to act.  But with respect to proving something (there is no doubt that God exists), or serving as a basis for argument, they have no — zero — evidential power.  The experiences detailed in this book are personal, highly subjective, and told with a bias (slant or angle) that can easily cause readers to question their true veracity.


Then why did I pick up this book?  Curiosity could explain it.  I write positive essays, and even my publishing company, And Then Some Publishing, is based on a philosophy (carefully explained at the website) that is founded on the idea that you must do everything that is required of you in life — and then some.  It is the “and then some” that is most likely to bring you recognition, rewards, riches, and success.


One more answer as to why I picked up this book is simple: I am always in search of additional ideas to write about.  At my blog, I write a 1,000-word essay every week, and this is my fourth year (over 200 essays!) of writing them.  I thought that with 101 inspirational stories in this single volume, surely I would find one or two that would stimulate a unique thought, a useful memory, or a new essay.  I was wrong.


Now, you might think — from this introduction to this review — that I found the essays boring, unnecessary, inappropriate, irrelevant, or worthless.  No such thing.  Most are very well written.  Their writers tell a compelling story in great detail and always with a positive outcome.  Just as in all the Chicken Soup books, if you want short inspirational essays, there is no doubt about it, this is a good choice.  They will cause you to closely identify with the writers and, in many cases, appreciate human determination and perseverance.  (I always think to myself, “Damn! what some people have to endure!”)


On the other hand, I found the essays rather repetitive, so I do not recommend readers read the book from beginning to end without stop.  (It can be read quickly.)  Put it somewhere where you can read it in short segments, just as I think it is intended.


I want you to know that I admire any book that causes readers to feel better about themselves or better about the human race in general.  If a book such as this gives people hope, then it has served a useful purpose.  If it helps people put their own life in perspective (by comparing theirs with others in worse situations than their own), then I think it is valuable.  And, if it makes readers “rage, rage against the dying of the light,” as Dylan Thomas expressed it in his famous poem, “Do not go gentle into this good night,” then, perhaps, it should be read by everyone.


(I have reviewed over 250 books, and I did not realize that I had reviewed this book previously.  On July 23, 2011, (about 8 months after my first review) I reviewed it a second time.  Although there is some of the same information in my second review as there is in the first, there is a lot of additional information.  Without any tailoring or deletions, the following is my second review of this book.)


I have been delighted with many of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, but not in the way many of those reading this review would suppose or imagine.  My first goal in selecting this book was to find potential topics, themes, or ideas to write about on my own positive-oriented blog at http://essaysandthensome.blogspot.com/


For the short, inspirational stories, of course, this is not unlike most of the previous books of this genre (although a number of reviewers at Amazon.com suggest this selection is not as strong as others).  


There was an unexpected byproduct here, however, similar to the one I experienced in reading my father-in-law’s (Edgar E. Willis) book, How to be Funny on Purpose: Creating and Consuming Humor.  What I discovered from reading the Willis book, because of its clear, accurate, and detailed explanation of how to create humor, I found myself engaged actively in the process of writing jokes.  I had never written jokes previously nor did I think myself capable.  What fun I had constructing them!


Well, in reading about “thinking positive,” I went through a number of epiphanies.  I couldn’t help myself.  I thought, for example, about what a positive and pleasant life I have led, and why it has happened.


The life I have led, both by design and positive thinking, fortunate (and lucky) decisions I made along the way, and certainly circumstances that have provided opportunities I never dreamed could happen, has been challenging, exciting, rewarding, and incredibly satisfying.  Many of the results of positive thinking occur because of good choices along the way!


Here is my conclusion regarding positive thinking.  All of life depends on making good choices.  So, if I were to give advice to anyone (as I have done to over 80,000 students during my teaching career), it would be this: Prepare yourself in such a way that you (not someone else) is in control over the decisions of your life.


Now, I fully realize this is easier said than done and, too, that no matter how much we prepare, we cannot be in total control over all the decisions of our lives.  That is true, however, that should not be discouraging.  The point is to prepare as widely, broadly, and thoroughly as possible—stretch ourselves in all possible directions—in order to give ourselves the edge, the opportunity, or the advantage in any decisions that affect (or impinge on) our lives.  We do not (cannot) know what curve balls life will throw at us, but that does not mean we cannot prepare ourselves to meet them.


When you apply this philosophy to your life, you are always looking for ways to improve, expand, or extend.  You never stop learning or, even more important, looking for ways to increase your knowledge and potential.


This is the philosophy, I believe, that best undergirds, reinforces, buttresses, supports, and strengthens positive thinking, or it is the most likely philosophy to bring positive results from positive thinking.  Positive thinking alone is valuable, but it takes more than just positive thinking to bring concrete results.


I found this Chicken Soup for the Soul book useful and valuable in this regard.  I realize that teachers seldom know the impact—long-range results—of their instruction, but if I instilled this single idea in any of my 80,000 students I taught over more than 30 years in the classroom and lecture hall, I would consider my work successful.  It is more than just a positive message, it is a charge, command, or instruction that, when internalized and practiced, will send you on a mission to take responsibility for your life.


This book is available at Amazon.com: Chicken soup for the soul: Think positive — 101 inspirational stories about counting your blessings and having a positive attitude

LAUGH . . . And Then Some!

Some guy bought a new fridge for his house.  To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: "Free to good home.  You want it, you take it."

For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it.

He eventually decided that people were too un-trusting of this deal.  It looked too good to be true.

So, he changed the sign to read: "Fridge for sale $50.00."

The next day someone stole it.

Laugh Like There's No Tomorrow: Over 2,000 jokes from the Internet

From Day #306 in a complete manuscript compiled by Richard L. Weaver II

Christmas ambiance

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
    
It’s true, we work at creating a Christmas ambiance.  It is a warm, delightful, memorable environment that is created not just by one or two special features but with at least five elements that, together, make a difference.  

The lighting is diffused, but it comes from candles in the window and unblinking white Christmas tree lights that are coordinated with evergreens across the mantle that have similar lighting. They produce a calming effect.  There is a ceramic Christmas tree in the dining room with multi-colored lights, a white-lighted Christmas tree on our porch, and the sway hung from the arch between the living and dining rooms has multi-colored lights.
    
Our Christmas tree — what I call our “Memory Tree” — is hung with the trinkets and small souvenirs we collect on our many road and cruise trips.  In addition, it is strung with artificial cranberries and artificial popcorn, but what gives it a true Early-American flavor is the baby’s breath that fills all the nooks and crannies when the tree is finally, fully decorated.
    
Music contributes to the ambiance as well.  As I have collected the close to 100 Christmas CDs over the years, I have concentrated mostly on CDs that have music without singers or singing.  It is soothing, restful, peaceful, and creates a light mood that fills the senses.  I have CDs that feature the piano by itself as well as others that include solo performances using the flute, harp, saxophone, hammered dulcimer, pan flute, and other such instruments.   I enjoy light classics as well as traditional carols, but it is the effect of the pleasant background that creates the true ambiance.
    
We have a fireplace in our living room, and at Christmas we light the ceramic-wood-looking logs.  The fire along with all the other Christmas lights provide enough light for family members to converse, drink their hot tea, eggnog, or hot spiced cider and nibble on crackers topped with smoked oysters, cream cheese and black or red caviar, as well as other Christmas hors d’oeuvers.
    
Our final contribution to the Christmas ambiance is developing a pleasant scent.  We have found that vanilla home fresheners serve this purpose.  Other methods include burning scented candles or simmering a holiday potpourri on the stove.
    
When I come to the dining-room table in the morning for breakfast by myself, it is before the sun comes up.  While everything is dark, I turn on the Christmas lights of three trees as well as the archway greenery between the living and dining rooms, put on a Christmas CD that has no words, and simply bask in the wonderful Christmas ambince.
    
It is, indeed, Christmas ambiance, and it doesn’t exist just in our home.  No matter what your religion or what you believe, there is no escaping holiday programs, decorations, and special Christmas events.  Maybe I’m a softie (I know I am!), but I am deeply affected by the holiday spirit.
    
When I see the houses in my neighborhood all lit up, when I see stores heavily decorated, and even the stores with aisles and aisles of Christmas merchandise, and then when it snows and everything is white, it just reinforces all the joy I feel sitting in my house.  For me, all of this has to do with joyfulness, celebration, and a true sense of belonging — not just to a wonderful, supportive, and delightful family, but to a neighborhood and a community.  
    
When everyone is enjoying the holidays, there is an invisible bonding that occurs that keeps the human connections vibrant, alive, and important.
    
I am fully cognizant of those people who object to having manger scenes on public grounds — and I completely agree with their purpose in maintaining the separation of church and state — but I have always felt that this isn’t the proper season for protest, objection, or demonstration.  These points can just as easily be made, discussed, and decisions made at other times.  Not at Christmas.  Christmas is the season for joy, happiness, and celebration.
    
Think about it, there aren’t enough times during the year (or even in our lives) when everyone comes together with all of their lights, decorations, Christmas programs, and special seasonal events to proclaim and reflect the holiday spirit.
    
You can claim that all of this —everything designed to celebrate Christmas — is designed with the express purpose of proclaiming the birth of Jesus, but I would contend otherwise.  That may explain some of the etymology of Christmas, but in no way does that need to explain how it has evolved.  I believe that everything that is Christmas — all of the ambiance and spirit — can be clearly seen and enjoyed without the haze of religion clouding the topic.  That is, indeed, the point of this essay: how easy it is to enjoy everything that is Christmas for the sheer joy of the lights, appreciation of the decorations, delight in the music, acknowledgment of the scents, and ability to take in the special events that mark the annual event.
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The Purpose of Christmas website, offers wonderful information as well as a terrific, informative, and interesting article by Tom Flynn, “What Today’s Americans Need to Know about Xmas.”

Alyice Edrich’s essay, “Get Into the Christmas Spirit,” at the Ezine@rticles website, offers twelve specific ways to get into the Christmas Spirit.  She ends her essay saying, “Whatever you decide to do, make sure it's something that will make you feel good about yourself and the season.”

Kat Apf’s essay, “Simple ways to get into the Christmas spirit for the holidays,” at the Hellium website offers eight different ways.  Kat discusses the topics, music, food, volunteer, small people, religion, friends, Christmas cards, and decorate.  “In the end,” Kat finishes the essay saying, “Just relax and do the things you enjoy and the Christmas spirit will most likely follow.”
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Copyright December, 2011, by And Then Some Publishing, L.L.C.