My RSS through Google Reader is jam-packed with items, always showing 1000+ to read.  Evelyn Wood, where are you now?

#blogpostfriday:  I didn’t put the reminder on my calendar yet–but I should not need to, this tradition should be instilled, automatic.  As Dave Winer mentioned, instead of following folks via #followfriday, follow your own thoughts and get them down.  That’s precisely what I’m trying to do here.  We call all of this interactive, these innumerable posts, pages, videos, slideshows, ads, you name it.  But maybe it’s not.  Maybe it’s really a one way situation, with a click or a chuckle here and there.  Are we responding or creating in any way really?  This is a good chance to put some thought into it and get the juices flowing.

I’m sitting back here right now perplexed.  Wondering what is real anymore.  In this world of cyberwhatever, we don’t even know who is behind what post.  Possibly we know who’s providing our own posts!  I have not a ghost blogger, yet.  No ghost blogger, twitterer, myspacer, anything.  When you have one, does that mean you’ve arrived, or that you’re too lazy?

I see the WordPress word count at the bottom left.  Curious when it actually increases.  Seems to do so as I type.  At 200 now, approximately.   But then again, I’m not so sure.  I’ll look at the code.  Be right back.  Looks like it happens during saves, auto or manual.  Thought it might have been some ajax deal.  It’s not quantity, it’s quality.  That’s all you’re going to get here.

As my trusty old Honda Civic was being repaired the other day (ouch, I didn’t have that kind of money), news of Senator Kennedy came on.  Excerpts of his speeches were reviewed.  The man was larger than life.  As part of this mythical clan, one that tragedy often visited, he survived, not letting himself be deterred.  The figure was huge–something like 6500 pieces of legislation had been put into place with his involvement.  The power of his words and commitment to everyday Americans will resonate for many years.  I saw just recently that an official twitter account for the Kennedy family was created–@kennedynews.  Yes, there is mention of the vigil, of an official site, tedkennedy.org.  What a loss, what a pivotal figure in our history.

Here was a figure who was involved in the moving forward of civil rights, a figure who was involved in the marches; he passed the torch to Barack Obama, offered his endorsement, his support.  Backing him in healthcare reform efforts.  How far the nation has come, how the world has come, since those times.  Who’d have thought our nation would have an African American leader.  It says so much for our country–and Senator Kennedy was there to see this, the movement, this success.

In the healthcare debate, and beyond, in politics, I’m clueless as to how to keep track of all of the rhetoric, clueless as to who to trust.  One of the most disturbing discoveries in most recent looks at C-SPAN was that legislators were voting on items they had not even had the chance to read.  There’s not much American about that, but it’s rampant.  Even if a representative is fully trusted, how the hell can we have any confidence in a system which requires votes under these circumstances?  Who the heck knows.

The world will keep doing its thing.  I guess.

Getting Started. – I’m always looking into improving my writing skills.  This page is on a site I bookmarked long ago, a very friendly way of looking into English composition.  It describes FreeWriting, Clustering, Outlining and more, with examples of each.  It is interesting how topics are discussed, how they become the starting point.

Often I’ll start freewriting without any particular topic.  I just get the pen moving, or the keyboard buzzing.  Letting go is the name of the game.  Judgment, criticism has no place in these efforts.  Even as the words come across, the presence of the critic can be felt, but I keep going.

The freewriting is enjoyable–it helps you get to know yourself pretty well, with journaling and so on.  However, ultimately real development has to take place, direction has to be clarified.  For me, anyway, that’s the biggest challenge.  This site is a great place to start.  I heartily recommend it. 

Real time web blowing my mind.  I wonder what the world will be like after this.  It’s already after this, and another million pages and entries and blog posts and tweets and retweets have been created.  I’m not offering hard numbers here, just a personal reaction as a tail end baby boomer who was born way before the information age barely kicked in (or at least the mainstreaming of it).

We are getting it all as it happens–but what are we getting?  Once again, and most importantly, we have to look at a trust issue.  In what comes across our radar, our content, interest, what do we act upon?  Do we consider our sources?  How and where do we filter the data?  Can we really call it information yet?  Assertions are made, but for the most part, they’re fields in RSS streams.  The have not been assessed, we don’t know their true value yet.  Caveat emptor and good luck sorting through it.

Faith

Oh hoping to write a few words.  Hoping to say something useful and meaningful for somebody.  Negativity blossoming for some, for those other than me.  Can I believe these words?  Can I take them to the faith bank?

Who has fallen on hard times? Have hard times fallen on you?  What could these hard times lead to?  Tougher people.  Survivors.  People getting back to what is more meaningful.  Technological dependence and focus and obsession?  Alcohol?  Food?  Tobacco?  Porn?  Is there creativity?  Who feels lost in this world, lost in their own?

Emotional combinations, collisions.  Clicking like cue and eight balls on green felt, cigarrette burns scarring the pastoral billiard table.  Concentration on the game.  Surrendering not.  Letting patience reside with you.  Focusing.  Generating the motion.  Living accuracy.

I don’t even know what color ink this is. Starting to see what is the real thing. Starting to believe something about someone somewhere. Starting to say something intelligent at some point. I’m not sure I know what that point is.

To not read the news.  What a blessing sometimes, to get away from the constant noise, from the battle for your mind.  To stop and think for a change.  Wouldn’t that be a grand idea?  Slow awakening to a better world, slow rising, springing into joy.  Glory happens to each of us, letting the rainbow in, that’s what is going on here.

Who does it by hand anymore?  It seems that so much of what I do is computer bound, whther it’s the PPC or the laptop, or the web, or something else.  As I’m writing this I am in the auditory shadow of my Mac Book Pro.  I don’t have to do this–well there is some way I do as it is difficult to get the machine out of the way–tethered still to usb external drives.

Happy Hand

It is addicting, this world of the web.  Every day, it’s different.  Different links to go to, different voices, different articles and topics.  What are topics?  What are trends?  Oh I think about Google trends, finding the hottest thing people are speaking about –and then navigating to the pages with those subjects, with that content.  So the hum of the MBP is there, it is such a nuisance of a sound.  It’s a growl, it’s a tiger, maybe it’ s the Leopard OS doing its thing.

So much of what I think about is web related technology.  Will I ever break free?  Step away from the CPU….

One of my reasons to hang with iGoogle — the Motivational Quotes gadget.  And this just popped in from Jim Henson:

“When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a little bit better for my having been here. It’s a wonderful life and I love it.”

The gadget stays at the top left, and this is one of the great reasons why.  I’d love to share the gadget more easily.  Hopefully that will improve.  And with words like Henson’s, we need more of this sharing, big time.

Have you ever talked to your own brain?  “Good morning, brain.  How are you today?  Are your synapses firing off well?  Have you lost many cells today?”  My brain and I had a decent conversation this morning.  Of course our own self-talk is endless.  Some are better at ignoring it than others, and some are better at leveraging it than others.  In that big bell curve of brain utilization, I’m not sure where I’d be–average I guess.  Smack down the middle.

Not long after waking, I put pen to paper.  My goal is to do this daily, out of principle, out of desire to maintain sanity of some sort.  Years ago my friend Ron told me about The Artist’s Way, a Julia Cameron book which has guided many to more fruitful creative lives.  Cameron wrote about Morning Pages–it’s non-negotiable.  Get up and write three pages of long hand.  Not computer.  Your hand to the paper.  It’s a different kind of connection.  Back in ‘97 or so, I did this every day for a year.  I now do them sporadically–but when I do get in the groove, things become clearer.  I feel calmer, more creative, more accomplished.

Brainstorming is a factor in The Artist’s Way and so many other endeavors and disciplines, it’s a factor in all areas of our lives.  As I do with many things, I subconsciously grab onto the idea of brainstorming and how to improve it–it’s part of my fabric.  So how, where and why? 

How To Brainstorm — simple, isn’t it?  I believe it is.  The hardest part about is simply doing it.  We do brainstorm all the time, we just don’t stop and realize it.  It’s what your brain does.  OK, you can just let your brain wander all day and let its work entirely pass you by.  Or you can capture it.  Capturing it and using it can make all the difference.  It can be your starting a poem, a love letter, a song, a web site, an invention, or a business.

Start with a letter, a word, a number, and emotion, anything.  Start with or without a goal.  Nothing is wrong.  No judgment, no critic.  You are free, let your mind wander freely.  Circle a thought or concept, then branch out from it, move as quickly as you can.  Let the thoughts spread out, blossom, grow.  It is easy.  Create now, and quickly.  Review later.

Here are some quick & nasty ideas on where to brainstorm:

• Got a napkin?  Start drawing, writing, and so on.  Hopefully you’ve got a pen with you.  If you don’t, borrow one, steal one, beg for one.  If you don’t, well, you can prick your finger and write it in red…
• Notebooks, loose paper, calendars,
• WALLS.  My friend Lisa wrote song ideas on walls.  Shoot, I wrote on the wall when I was a kid.  Big trouble there. 
• Your Fridge.  Use Magnetic Poetry.  You can get some killer word collisions here.  It’s fun too.
• Mind Mapping software.  Freemind is a great one.  More on that later.
•  In the car – ok, be safe with this one.  There are laws against texting
• In any room, chatroom, anyplace–in a collaborative manner
• Your PDA, digital recorder – go ahead, shout it out, or use the notes feature or better yet, even FreeMind has some pda apps.  And who knows what the iPhone’s got.

So why brainstorm?  Because you can!  It can be the launching point toward somewhere marvelous.  It can take you from where you are.  Stagnant?  Brainstorm on how the hell to get moving.  Get down your dreams, wishes, shopping lists, gripes, anything.  Use it to ultimately get better orgainzed–you generate ideas, then later you order them.  Use it to better connect with yourself and others.  It’s a guaranteed move forward. 

We are so much in receive mode, or in such an automatic response mode.  How great it is to capture what our mind creates , shake things up and interact with it differently, and have a way to look at what you create through different eyes.  This is priceless.  It’s entertaining as well.

So let it bloom!

As part of my journey into the day, and after I wrote some longhand in a very handsome journal my wife bought me, I went to review one of my FreeMind maps.  It’s on songwriting.  The map is growing rapidly.  Within that map, you can move around ideas, up or down in the structure.  I moved something around having to do with audience, and soon enough, the map got so large it was next to impossible to navigate. 

Frustration.  Ever get that?  FreeMind Freaking, in abundance, in my face.  I hit help, I tried moving round, reviewing documentation, going online, calling a medium, anything and everything–even looking at exporting and reimporting.  I didn’t see the famous “repair” button or menu item anyplace.  But no luck.  Pulled some hair out because I couldn’t find the trick.  Some of the documentation is in a MindMap itself!

But then, it appeared before my eyes in problem resolution glory: Format / Reset Position.  I didn’t know quite how to phrase it–I was looking for auto arrange or the sort.  But once I hit that menu item, poof.  Back in business.

My FreeMind song map is one that I’m using to further my understanding of songwriting–by analyzing structure, charts, techniques.  I visit it as often as I can.  Links are embedded–both to web and local directories.  Within this map I can brainstorm as well as organize and adjust later.  A perfect way to get into whole brain thinking.

It’s all part of a desire to stay active, to have a better life, to look back on more accomplishments, dreams built.  And I will say maybe a bit of it came from brainstorming and branching from there–with plans, follow up, execution, persistence.

It is and will be joyful.

A hearty thank you to the inventive, brilliant Dave Winer. His suggestion to do a #blogpostfriday versus a #followfriday is most welcome, and I’m going to follow this new tradition. We have become so used to the short form. 140 characters can convey a good deal, no doubt–especially with hyperlinks. But there must be a place for more thorough thought than this.

It seems that in this day and age we are conditioned to follow.  It’s a snap to follow by clicking and supplying a few grunts and mindless reactions of acceptance, conformity, and compliance.  Will we go beyond that?  We certainly have.  I have been a writer for many years and for many reasons I see it is imperative to continue to put words down at length.  Paper, screen, anyplace–keeping the hands moving, keeping the connection with what goes through my mind, hopefully keeping this brain healthy.

Every Friday,
rain or shine!.

We are focused on those clicks, on catching the latest fad, the latest gadget, the snappiest way to snap our fingers on our MacBooks, Toshibas, iPhones, G1’s, Wings, and other “miracle machines”. We forget about taking the time to think things through, to savor ideas, maybe outline and plan a little bit. We need vehicles to carry our thoughts–so we can save them for ourselves or convey them clearly to others. To have a meaningful exchange.

Dave’s name has appeared quite a bit in my FriendFeed, through his direct posts or through the admiring words of others.  To find out that he was a pioneer of the RSS protocol and more, and he is still continuing to work on ways to enhance these open technologies–these are  noteworthy accomplishments indeed.  How small do you feel when you stand beside the ocean?  How small do you feel when you stand beside one of the inventors of it?!  This is the man PC World calls “The father of modern-day content distribution.”. So when he speaks about blogging, I would be inclined to listen.

This whole world seems ADD’d out to the max.  Focus seems next to impossible in this uber-rapid information age.  I fight for it every moment, for my clients, for my friends, for my wife, for myself.  Let’s say there’s room for improvement.  How about for you?  Are you ready to cast that first stone?

What are we sculpting?  What are we planning?  Is there structure to it, or is it a formless ramble?  I for one see value in randomness, in quick shots, thoughts in spurts–but settling back and really saying something.  That’s what I want to be about.  I want to think.  Complexities abound; shouting as well.  Extended words, built sensibly, with balance, solid construction, direction and detail.  That’s my goal.  At least now and then.

Imagine folks taking time to assemble their thoughts, their responses to events, to stimuli–careful, considered responses.  How much would be different!  The moments to be still and get to know a subject a little bit, to live with the words, chew on them–there’s a novel way to approach the day.  A novel way to approach a Friday–a #blogpostfriday!

Write on.

FriendFeed - Top 10 Reasons to Stick With FriendFeed

Mommy, I Don’t Wanna Go Anywhere Else! See before and after shots of TOS The reward, the reward It’s the tightest community I’ve seen, just about It simply can never be unstuck.  Too sticky! I needed that blank space where my embed was. Random Facebook content in my FriendFeed embeds could be so entertaining, so serendipitous The R&D could still show up here, before it does anywhere FriendFeed is a friend indeed.  I have the need. Do I really need a reason?

The nicefishfilms interview with Scoble et al provided good insight into the scenario, the enthusiasm, the reasons why FF made such an impact. FaceBook’s app universe is so robust and deep and open to coders it’s going to be a very difficult one to match by anyone. FriendFeed wasn’t necessarily about that out of the gate–it apparently was moving in that direction, but there are only so many resources to make that happen alongside its brilliant piece of web poetry. And the upside with this acquisition is infinite. FriendFeed gets to contribute to that, bring blindingly fast innovation to that community. I’m faithful that we’ll see the benefits within the FriendFeed interface and embed system, that it won’t go away.

I mentioned to my wife–who’s on her way to DevLink– this morning how amazed I was that Mr. Buchheit was present (not to mention the other stellar folks), that I could get a glimpse into his thinking, what he sees as something that matters; that he was at least virtually there, this master, this key creative force in the maturing of this living, breathing internet.  It’s a privilege.  It’s going to keep going.  I know it.

In thinking about what’s incredible in this online paradigm, we are sharing our knowledge, and hopefully our friendship, and hopefully there’s good karma with it.  We syndicate ourselves, our thoughts.  We have control over where to share, how much to share–and it will continue to be refined.  I was more than stoked at how FriendFeed took this syndication to the next levels, beyond what any of us thought was possible.  These are tools to help us spread, it is hoped, good words, and exchange anywhere we wish to in this vast, amazing virtual world in which we work and play.  The great minds and creative forces that made FriendFeed such a fantastic tool will be present and continuing to create.  I’m staying tuned, that is for sure.