Photosophical: Artist Reed Seifer spells out the terms for your optimism

Roll on with a smile today!

I'm putting up my favorite Steve Jobs interview and you love it

This one's about 95 minutes.


Roll on!

I'll be rolling this week's blog posts back a day or two

I'm a nerd—I'm aware of this.

Ladies and gents, I apologize for my slight hiatus as of late. I started a new blog job and I've had to give that top priority over the bloggity goodness that is this blog.

So, in the interest of fairness, I shall temporarily move my blog schedule up a few days to Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Stay tuned and of course, roll on!

In the meantime, you can read my other at stuff at my new tech blog at digibred.com/mikeywriteswell.

Wheelchair user John Hockenberry explains why we are all designers

Check out my latest post at DigiBred.com: http://www.digibred.com/design/journalist-john-hockenberry-why-we-are-all-designers

Roll on!

Reversal of desire will take you higher

Facing fear is  how it will go away. How often do we worry about something only to realize that it was never that bad in the first place?


Reversal of Desire of one of a handful of basic techniques found in the new book The Tools: Transform Your Problems Into Courage, Confidence and Creativity  by therapists Barry Michels and Phil Stutz




Roll on!

Roll on with these inspirational quotations to keep you pushing forward

Recommendation: Read the following quotations as a single paragraph.

Roll on!

Do as Henry Rollins says: travel

"SHARE this among young people, encourage them to travel... there ARE many ways to travel on shoestring budget... Travel is NOT a pre-booked cruise to the Caribbean" from facebook.com/beingliberal.org

The above quotation speaks to something that I've thought about quite a lot in the past years. I'm 31 years old and I have been quite a few places. But in past years, while the trips were relaxing, I've had particular experiences where I would be on vacation at a resort and nothing about the atmosphere would feel in any way different or alternative to my normal day-to-day knowledge of what it's like to live in America.

This brings to mind one vacation in particular in Mexico which I enjoyed very much. However, most of it was spent sitting by the pool with English speakers and club hopping with the very same gringos like me. It was incredibly fun, but looking back I had no sense of being in another country save for the brief interactions with the cleaning crew in our hotel who didn't speak English too well and, in so not doing, forced me to coax out Spanish words that hadn't passed my lips in almost a decade previous to a random case of a clogged toilet in Cancun. Ay Dios Mio!

Conversely, there have been times ing my trekking where detours into the territory of the indigenous folk of the place have been completely accidental. My trip to London comes to mind. In 1999, I traveled to London with a group of high school juniors and seniors as part of EF Educational Tours' large group package. I was thrilled to get to the sites: the Globe Theater, Buckingham Palace, and Roman baths in Bath, England of course-all of it being good. But it really wasn't until the tour when accidentally off course  with non-wheelchair accessible shenanigans that we are able to see some cultural-milieu-related goodies.

Because of our troubles, our tour guide David took us into town in his personal car to local pub for fish and chips and burgerish, spiced and fried matchup that no hotel could ever offer it seemed, on even the most exotic or neurotic of stays with My dad, (someone who I brought along somewhat begrudgingly, but who may have saved the trip for me in a sort of serendipity meets Clark Griswold, "Let's do the vacation together" manner.) But the pub came only after just a few days earlier with he and I having to climb several dozen stairs to the top of the one of the government buildings while I rode piggyback on his back with people following our lead from likely about 15 states in the Union and quite a few European countries. 

Flash forward to one of our final nights when we were surprisingly shut out of one of the theaters showing what I recall was something called The Black Widow. This, with no shortage of irony, would be the kiss of death for our theatergoing experience. Instead we would opt to have dinner at a local Italian restaurant with seemingly Tex-Mex inspired murals on its walls as if we walked (and rolled) into the catering venue for a Cirque du Soleil show that just so happened to be in The Twilight Zone.

There have been countless other trips of which to speak in which the smallest details of culture rather than grandiose gestures of hotel room and board hospitality have entertained me like a baby handed a cardboard box. The Mexican restaurant in Vermont with all white people both serving and eating comes to mind. The Purple Cow restaurant in Virginia where dessert is served first also pops in there.

My point, though roundabout and brief, is clear to any person who enjoys randomness: it is more enjoyable in many instances when we go off the grid so to speak and escape from a comfort zone, our itineraries, our beach resorts, or sometimes even our handicap access. (Though I must say that last one is a bit more crucial to wheelchair users seeking eventful, rich or unique experiences in any kind of travel.) And so, I invite you to explore your life and all its idiosyncratic glory that you may become better learned and better traveled in the most precise sense of the word "better." The next time you travel, try staying with somebody  who lives there. You might want to opt out of the hotel for a friend's spare bedroom. You might skip the trendy nightspot, for the back door, hole in the wall with the best DJ in town and a signature drink that rocks your fancy pants socks off your very well-walked feet and thus, boldly go where no beach bum or Bahama mama has gone before.

Roll on!

A Quick Word on Happiness: Take advantage of what you do have

A handicapped and happy me hangin' with friends

Exploit the resources you DO have access to.

The average person is usually astonished when they see a physically handicapped person show intense signs of emotional happiness. How could someone in such a restricted physical state be so happy? The answer rests in how they use the resources they do have. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has twenty-five Grammy Awards to show for it.

When I saw the above yesterday at care2.com, I paused a bit and thought, "Yeah, I guess that is what some people see." I have CP, I'm not medically cleared to drive a car, I spend a lot of time indoors and I'm not a rich guy. But those people, those naysayers, they don't see what they don't see: that my time indoors is used wisely for business, for watching movies, for Skype social events and for networking with friends. They don't see me working toward making money. They don't see that I get to spend all day freelancing in my pajamas if I want. They don't see that I met the love of my life and that I'm engaged to be married and currently planning the wedding.

You see, most things in your life, if you look at them detached from your worries, you may find that you have more blessings that you realize. The problem is likely that you are focusing on what you don't want, what mistakes you have made, obstacles not yet overcome. Instead you could be finding solutions, being thankful for what you do have and working hard toward what you want in a constructive and productive manner that allows you to be happier, healthier and smiling all the more. This seems easy, right? Doing these things may not make you $1 million or get you to the Tour de France, or then again it might. But you won't know unless you confront your worries and problems with actions that help you achieve more of what you want out of life. As Yoda of Star Wars fame once said, there is no try. Do or do not. In reality, trying is doing something. We don't try in our heads, in thoughts or prayers. Those are each intentions that must be met with actions. So act now in any way, no matter how small or large. Intend success and more success will likely come with intended action and living every day on purpose.

Roll on!

Read the source article: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-7-habits-of-highly-happy-people.html#ixzz1xbpj2s4n

Click here to sponsor charities for free with a click of your mouse: http://www.care2.com/click-to-donate/

'A-holes don't go out with the disabled': Curb Your Enthusiasm's Season 7 episode 'Denise Handicapped' shows us why they don't

Larry puts "the moves" on Denise... or something.
Photo credit: HBO

If you've ever seen HBO's hit series Curb Your Enthusiasm, you are very aware that the show's writer Larry David (famous for co-writing Seinfeld in the '90s) has  a certain proclivety toward the absurd, the obsessive and a much more straight-forward approach to life's daily happenings then our "PC polite" world would like to have us all behaving. As I had planned to feature this episode in an earlier post, I decided that I would resurrect a post on my rolling reaction to watching an episode of Season 7 entitled "Denise Handicapped."


 Summary:


Larry, who is fairly recently divorced, decides to flirt with and ask out an attractive blonde he meets at a restaurant only have her roll out from her table in her wheelchair.  Not wanting to be a prick, he tells his friend that he cannot possibly "cancel on the handicapped" and a series of seemly well-meaning, yet still very jerky and outright mean "incorrections" commence. (Side note: In the second restaurant scene, Denise receives greatly preferential treatment by the wait staff as well as by actor Ted Danson. This has never happened to me in all my near 30 years as a wheelchair user. Can you say stereotype, boys and girls? Hmmmm.)


Watch the "Denise Handicapped"episode here. (When you get to the page, wait a few seconds and then press the CONTINUE button.) Rated TV-MA/R for ages 17+

Roll on and laugh!

Is your life in balance?

Is your life in balance? Are you happy with the direction your life is taking? If you say no, Dr. Wayne Dyer will give you  some small, yet profound steps to tipping the scales in your favor with this  five-minute excerpt from his book Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires.

Feedback is welcome as always.

Roll on!

From Amazon.com:

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Wayne W. Dyer Page

Biography

Wayne W. Dyer, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. He's the author of 30 books, has created many audio programs and videos, and has appeared on thousands of television and radio shows.

His books Manifest Your Destiny, Wisdom of the Ages, There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, and the New York Times bestsellers 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, The Power of Intention, and Inspiration and now Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life have all been featured as National Public Television specials.

Dyer holds a doctorate in educational counseling from Wayne State University and was an associate professor at St. John's University in New York.

Dr. Wayne Dyer is affectionately called the "father of motivation" by his fans. Despite his childhood spent in orphanages and foster homes, Dr. Dyer has overcome many obstacles to make his dreams come true. Today he spends much of his time showing others how to do the same.

When he's not traveling the globe delivering his uplifting message, Wayne is writing from his home in Maui.

Sundance Channel's 'Push Girls' push reality TV to new frontiers

 From left: Mia, Auti, Angela and Tiphany roll on! Credit: sundancechannel.com

Sundance Channel's latest reality series is the progressively titled feminine treatise on life Push Girls. Push Girls  follows four women living their lives in wheelchairs after various fates have made it so. I only heard about this show during my random perusal of my Facebook feed, but as the saying goes, we gravitate to the familiar, and obviously being a wheelchair philosopher amplifies any notice of a new trend with regard to disability in society.

The show itself is like most shows: a documentary style  interspersed with some "off-script" commentary/confessionals and such. But why I like Push Girls personally is the sheer unmitigated and almost casual tenacity of showing people with disabilities as they are, without the need for pandering, proselytizing for sympathy, excessive empathy, political bullhorning or Rev. Al Sharpton-like social justice activism. Push Girls is the story of four women between their mid-30s and early 40s attempting to redefine themselves after life has given them a detour into a journey on wheels as the show's intro bold proclaims, "When you can't stand up -- stand out!"

Each woman in the series has her expression of herself carried out in interesting, yet  very much unforced ways. Auti is a former traditional Hip Hop dancer who has spent the better part of a decade redefining the "dancer" as she continues to do shows and reinvent the wheel (pun intended) through a slinky style of dance that somehow allows for her wheelchair to seem like a prop in a kind of avant-garde, living hybrid car kind of way. Tiphany is a workout fanatic and perpetual flirt as she would tell you in different words. The pilot episode follows her relationship woes with her ex boyfriend and dives seamlessly into her current romance with a woman as Tiphany makes clear to the interviewer that she does not want to define her sexuality anymore than she wants to define herself as "the wheelchair girl" while her roommate Mia struggles to dive back into both her relationship with her boyfriend and, quite literally, into her former life as a competitive swimmer prior to a spinal infection at age 15. And finally there is Angela, a former model whose career took off to near supermodel stardom  at the leafy green age of 18. She is attempting to return, at least somewhat, to her former glory as she looks to get work as a now quadriplegic stunner.

For all the attempts that may be made to sentimentalize the aim of Push Girls, there is a bold simplicity to the show's premise. Simply put, it seems to convey unapologetically that life goes on for these four women not because they were forced into the "strong role" by their loved ones, or that they wanted to go on to inspire successive generations of little girls to redefine themselves, (though inspiration may play a part). More essentially, Push Girls shows life as it is for four women who simply do not know any other way to be. Like many with disabilities, for these women the goal is never really about being an inspiration to anyone, but as it seems, the real goal is for these women is to inspire themselves to be themselves no matter what obstacles, limitations or risk factors may be placed in their paths to a fulfilling life that we all might strive for, disability or no, for the greater good of ourselves and the  simple joy of living in itself.

Push Girls airs Monday nights at 10 pm Eastern on Sundance Channel. (Click here for more).  

Here is the pilot episode via Hulu:

Roll on!