Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 118
June 7, 2015
Why a Number 2 Pencil?
I wondered about this.
June 4, 2015
Do or Do Not
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." Henry FordThis quote from Henry Ford has been making the rounds on the internet for a while, but I like it and I think it's true. I can already hear arguments: "But just because I think I can do something, it doesn't give me the skill to do it."
That's true, but I think attitude does make a huge difference. Let's take running a marathon as an example. If a man has been sitting on the couch for ten years and one day decides he wants to run a marathon. The man who thinks he can't do it will either give up right away and continue sitting on the couch or he'll go run the marathon the next day and fail.
On the other hand, the man who thinks he can run a marathon will start training. Even if only jogs around the block the first week, he believes he can be in shape to run in the race six months from now. Because of his attitude, he goes out every day to get ready, and when marathon day does come, he finishes the race.
Attitude.
I think we all know at least one drama queen who takes the smallest molehill and creates the biggest mountain out of it. I always wonder if they care how unnecessarily difficult they make their lives by big dealing everything. IMO, life goes much more smoothly when I step over the molehill instead of trying to scale a mountain.
I do understand there are limitations. The sixty-year-old man dreaming of being a major league baseball player is out of luck no matter how much time he puts into it or what kind of attitude he has. The only way he plays for the Nationals is if he makes a deal with the devil as the lead in Damn Yankees did. Some things in life just are unreachable and that's okay.
I highly recommend a lecture done at Carnegie Mellon a few years ago called Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. I've watched it more than once and it's truly inspirational and worth taking the time for. One of the dreams was to be Captain Kirk and Dr. Pausch mentions how he realized that dream wasn't achievable, but he went with standing next to Captain Kirk and he showed a picture of himself with William Shatner. Dr. Pausch had an incredibly good attitude and was upbeat in the face of some pretty dire circumstances. Please take the time to watch and see for yourself.
Attitude doesn't fix everything. It can't. But it does impact how we deal with the hard, ugly things life throws at us. It also plays a role in how we effect the people around us when life is hard.
June 2, 2015
Making Time
Last week I blogged about the piano my parents are donating to charity. One of the things that came up as we discussed it was the fact that no one has played it in a very long time. That immediately (unfortunately) made my mom feel defensive. She would have played it if not for _____. Fill in the blank. She listed a few reasons.
I didn't say anything because there was no point in it, but the truth is that no one ever finds time for anything. Since I sold my first book in 2002, I can't count the number of times someone has said to me that they're going to write a book, too, as soon as they find some time.
At first, I tried to explain to them that they had to take the time, but no one wanted to hear that. All that generated was more excuses. I learned to just nod and say something encouraging.
Let me use myself as an example. I'd love to be able to pick up a sketchpad and a pencil and make beautiful drawings. I'd love to do that, but I don't. Why not? Number one, I'm not willing to block out the hours of time I would need to practice and improve. I want to be as good as an artist who did put in that effort without actually doing that myself. When I do try to draw and end up with a bad to mediocre sketch, I give up and put everything away for months or years.
On the other hand, I did put in my hours and hours of time honing my writing. No matter how bad my early writing was or how discouraged I became, I continued to write. I made the effort, and once I truly committed myself to writing, I didn't just make the time to write, I took the time to write.
I turned down invitations to do things during my writing time. Not only did I make that time sacrosanct, but I looked for ways to add more writing time, like taking a computer to work and writing on my lunch hour.
You make times for the things that are important to you. Writing was (and is) important to me. Drawing obviously isn't. Or the piano. :-)
ETA: My mom surprised me and donated her organ along with the piano to the same charity. I thought for sure that organ was coming to Atlanta. Yea, Mom!
I didn't say anything because there was no point in it, but the truth is that no one ever finds time for anything. Since I sold my first book in 2002, I can't count the number of times someone has said to me that they're going to write a book, too, as soon as they find some time.
At first, I tried to explain to them that they had to take the time, but no one wanted to hear that. All that generated was more excuses. I learned to just nod and say something encouraging.
Let me use myself as an example. I'd love to be able to pick up a sketchpad and a pencil and make beautiful drawings. I'd love to do that, but I don't. Why not? Number one, I'm not willing to block out the hours of time I would need to practice and improve. I want to be as good as an artist who did put in that effort without actually doing that myself. When I do try to draw and end up with a bad to mediocre sketch, I give up and put everything away for months or years.
On the other hand, I did put in my hours and hours of time honing my writing. No matter how bad my early writing was or how discouraged I became, I continued to write. I made the effort, and once I truly committed myself to writing, I didn't just make the time to write, I took the time to write.
I turned down invitations to do things during my writing time. Not only did I make that time sacrosanct, but I looked for ways to add more writing time, like taking a computer to work and writing on my lunch hour.
You make times for the things that are important to you. Writing was (and is) important to me. Drawing obviously isn't. Or the piano. :-)
ETA: My mom surprised me and donated her organ along with the piano to the same charity. I thought for sure that organ was coming to Atlanta. Yea, Mom!
May 31, 2015
Las Vegas Isn't Las Vegas
I didn't know this.
May 28, 2015
The Piano
As long as I can remember, my parents have had this enormous player piano in their basement. When I took piano lessons as a little girl, I practiced on this piano. Kind of practiced. I wasn't really dedicated the way I should have been.
I also have a vague recollection of a party where the music was supplied by the player part of the piano. It was exciting to choose which roll went in next.
Fast forward to now. My parents are trying to clean out their house so they can downsize into a condo near me in Georgia. I've blogged about this ordeal more than once because it's been ongoing for more than three years and they're still nowhere close to done. For the past year or so, my mom has been telling my dad that they have to get rid of the piano. This month, my dad finally did some calling around.
Although the piano is cool and my mom said nearly 100 years old, it isn't worth that much money. I did some searching online and most people who buy them from their owners agree to take them for the price it would cost to move them. Yes, that's right, the moving company gets $3000 and the owners get nothing. That's because these pianos are only worth about $3000.
My parents didn't even come out that well on the deal. They found a charity that will take the piano. It's some kind of deal that gives pianos to childrens' homes or disadvantaged children, something like that. So my parents will be paying to move the piano and giving it away for free. At least it's tax deductible and they don't have to mess around with having people come in and out of their house to look at it.
When I talked to them on the phone and the departure of the piano was imminent, we were all surprisingly sad. My mom because the piano had been a gift from her parents and me because I can remember the times my cousins would visit and we'd be in the basement listening to the piano rolls.
Although it kind of feels as if I'm losing a friend, the truth is that no one has touched the piano in a super long time. It's out of tune, keys are missing the ivory, and we don't even know if the player part works any longer. When the cost of moving it to Georgia is factored in (even if we could find somewhere to put that huge thing!), there isn't another choice except get rid of it. My dad is taking pictures, though, and that will have to be enough.
I also have a vague recollection of a party where the music was supplied by the player part of the piano. It was exciting to choose which roll went in next.
Fast forward to now. My parents are trying to clean out their house so they can downsize into a condo near me in Georgia. I've blogged about this ordeal more than once because it's been ongoing for more than three years and they're still nowhere close to done. For the past year or so, my mom has been telling my dad that they have to get rid of the piano. This month, my dad finally did some calling around.
Although the piano is cool and my mom said nearly 100 years old, it isn't worth that much money. I did some searching online and most people who buy them from their owners agree to take them for the price it would cost to move them. Yes, that's right, the moving company gets $3000 and the owners get nothing. That's because these pianos are only worth about $3000.
My parents didn't even come out that well on the deal. They found a charity that will take the piano. It's some kind of deal that gives pianos to childrens' homes or disadvantaged children, something like that. So my parents will be paying to move the piano and giving it away for free. At least it's tax deductible and they don't have to mess around with having people come in and out of their house to look at it.
When I talked to them on the phone and the departure of the piano was imminent, we were all surprisingly sad. My mom because the piano had been a gift from her parents and me because I can remember the times my cousins would visit and we'd be in the basement listening to the piano rolls.
Although it kind of feels as if I'm losing a friend, the truth is that no one has touched the piano in a super long time. It's out of tune, keys are missing the ivory, and we don't even know if the player part works any longer. When the cost of moving it to Georgia is factored in (even if we could find somewhere to put that huge thing!), there isn't another choice except get rid of it. My dad is taking pictures, though, and that will have to be enough.
May 26, 2015
Morning Phishing
One morning last week, I got up for work, poured my coffee and sat down to read email while I drank it. There was an email in spam that appeared to be from my website host. Gmail is usually really good about categorizing email, but they're not perfect.
I studied what I could see of the preview and it looked legit. I opened it. There was my full name and it was actually sent to the account I used to signup with my host. Most of the spammy stuff goes to my author account which I don't use on websites to avoid phishing attempts. I read through the email--the spelling and grammar was correct. The phone numbers and logo were correct. The from email address had my host's name.com.
The message concerned me. I'd added far too many directories, and if I didn't go to my account and combine them, I would be shut down. They suggested I go to my control panel or click on a handily included link. One reason I was so concerned? My former blog was hacked multiple times and I was concerned that someone had actually hacked into my website itself. That's the only way all those directories could be there because I hadn't added anything.
I paged through my files, but it didn't look as if anything had been added and I didn't see hundreds of directories. Puzzled, I was trying to figure out how to contact my web host and ask for help when I said, let me check out that email again. This time I clicked the link as a test. The page looked like my web host, but the address in the bar above was some site in Russia. It had a .ru extension.
Phished!
Normally I don't fall for this and I was lucky that my innate caution and natural suspicion had me paying attention. At that time of the morning, without coffee and short on sleep, it would have been too easy to just click through without thinking about it.
I forwarded the email to the abuse department of my web host. The lesson, though, is to be careful out there. The phishers are getting better.
I studied what I could see of the preview and it looked legit. I opened it. There was my full name and it was actually sent to the account I used to signup with my host. Most of the spammy stuff goes to my author account which I don't use on websites to avoid phishing attempts. I read through the email--the spelling and grammar was correct. The phone numbers and logo were correct. The from email address had my host's name.com.
The message concerned me. I'd added far too many directories, and if I didn't go to my account and combine them, I would be shut down. They suggested I go to my control panel or click on a handily included link. One reason I was so concerned? My former blog was hacked multiple times and I was concerned that someone had actually hacked into my website itself. That's the only way all those directories could be there because I hadn't added anything.
I paged through my files, but it didn't look as if anything had been added and I didn't see hundreds of directories. Puzzled, I was trying to figure out how to contact my web host and ask for help when I said, let me check out that email again. This time I clicked the link as a test. The page looked like my web host, but the address in the bar above was some site in Russia. It had a .ru extension.
Phished!
Normally I don't fall for this and I was lucky that my innate caution and natural suspicion had me paying attention. At that time of the morning, without coffee and short on sleep, it would have been too easy to just click through without thinking about it.
I forwarded the email to the abuse department of my web host. The lesson, though, is to be careful out there. The phishers are getting better.
May 24, 2015
Misconceptions About English
I had someone tell me the decimate thing. My response? Bah, almost no one uses it that way or understands it that way when someone else uses it.
May 21, 2015
My Planner Problem
For nearly a year now, I've been trying out a planner that I thought looked really cool. It probably is really cool, but I never quite got around to using the features that set it apart. In fact, I've hardly used the planner at all.
When I do use it, it's been helpful. I'm horrible about remembering what I need to do without a list and this gave me a place to make them. I even bought colored erasable pens and erasable highlighters to color code things. I never quite actually did this. I started out putting my writing list in one color and my chores list in another color, but this lasted about two weeks and then I just made lists in one color.
As my planner runs out, I'm debating whether or not to buy another. Like I said, it has some cool features, but I didn't use them. Will I use them if I buy a new one? Honestly forces me to admit that I probably wouldn't. If that's the case and if I just want lists, I could just use a pad of paper. It's cheaper and I already own a billion of them. (Only a small exaggeration.)
But the planner just seems so much more organized. "Let me check my planner." Yeah, much better than "Where's that pad of paper with my list?"
To make my decision even harder, the planner now comes with artistic covers rather than the plain one it was made with last year. I have another month to decide, I think. I'm pretty sure my planner runs from July through June. I'm just not 100% sure and that will tell you how little I've looked at the planner. Sigh.
When I do use it, it's been helpful. I'm horrible about remembering what I need to do without a list and this gave me a place to make them. I even bought colored erasable pens and erasable highlighters to color code things. I never quite actually did this. I started out putting my writing list in one color and my chores list in another color, but this lasted about two weeks and then I just made lists in one color.
As my planner runs out, I'm debating whether or not to buy another. Like I said, it has some cool features, but I didn't use them. Will I use them if I buy a new one? Honestly forces me to admit that I probably wouldn't. If that's the case and if I just want lists, I could just use a pad of paper. It's cheaper and I already own a billion of them. (Only a small exaggeration.)
But the planner just seems so much more organized. "Let me check my planner." Yeah, much better than "Where's that pad of paper with my list?"
To make my decision even harder, the planner now comes with artistic covers rather than the plain one it was made with last year. I have another month to decide, I think. I'm pretty sure my planner runs from July through June. I'm just not 100% sure and that will tell you how little I've looked at the planner. Sigh.
May 19, 2015
Catalog Inundation
What is it with all the catalogs I get in the mail? I've tried my best to get off these lists. I registered with the Direct Marketing Association (or something like that) to get my name off the junk mail lists and the catalog list. It helped. A lot. I don't get random catalogs very often now. The problem is the companies I shop with online.
I hate shopping with a passion. It's a hassle and I don't have the patience for it, so I order everything online that I can. Heck, if they offered online grocery shopping where I live, I'd be all over that, too, but--alas--they don't.
So I buy online and apparently that's inspired some of these companies to send me their catalogs. I never look at the things. I tear my name off and dump them in recycling. Basically, all these companies are doing is killing trees, wasting money, and annoying me. I've tried to get off the lists. A few of them offer the opportunity to unsubscribe from mailings under the My Account feature. Too bad it doesn't work. I still get their catalogs and I think I've tried unsubscribing about six times now.
How hard is it to have the default be no catalog? Seriously, if I some day want to look at your products on paper (I won't), I'll let you know. Until then, stop mailing them to me.
I hate shopping with a passion. It's a hassle and I don't have the patience for it, so I order everything online that I can. Heck, if they offered online grocery shopping where I live, I'd be all over that, too, but--alas--they don't.
So I buy online and apparently that's inspired some of these companies to send me their catalogs. I never look at the things. I tear my name off and dump them in recycling. Basically, all these companies are doing is killing trees, wasting money, and annoying me. I've tried to get off the lists. A few of them offer the opportunity to unsubscribe from mailings under the My Account feature. Too bad it doesn't work. I still get their catalogs and I think I've tried unsubscribing about six times now.
How hard is it to have the default be no catalog? Seriously, if I some day want to look at your products on paper (I won't), I'll let you know. Until then, stop mailing them to me.
May 17, 2015
Modern Trailer for Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I'm a huge Monty Python film, and of everything they've done, I think Monty Python and the Holy Grail might be the best. At least it's my favorite. But what if Holy Grail were being released now? What might the trailer for the film look like?
