Wednesday, February 27, 2008

iPhone!

I've fallen in love with the iPhone. Two people at work have them and my latent gadget-lust has kicked into high gear.

Right now, I have a cheapo GoPhone phone and calling plan from ATT. The GoPhone is sort of a pay as you go plan. I like that I don't have a contract. Until recently, everything I read indicated that if I wanted an iPhone, I'd have to get a new phone number. But, I just found a post on Phonenews.com that seems to indicate that I can get the iPhone and keep my own number (http://www.phonenews.com/existing-gophone-accounts-get-iphone-support-2767/).

Yay! I just might try to get the phone this weekend.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Posture

Why is it so hard to maintain good posture? I've noticed lately that I'm slumping a lot. My office space isn't exactly ergonomic so I end up hunched over the keyboard. And I seem to stay that way even when I'm not sitting at the keyboard. It's not like I'm especially tall, so as far as I'm concerned, the more height I can achieve, the better.

Today, I'm focusing on trying to maintain good posture at all times. I'm going to try to adjust my chair so that I'd don't have to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame while typing away.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The FourAgreements - Favorite Quotes

There are lots of statements in my Four Agreements book that caught my attention. I'm posting some of them:

"Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others." (First Agreement - Be Impeccable with your word)

"If I love myself I will express that love in my interactions with you, and then I am being impeccable with the word, because that action will produce a like reaction." (First Agreement)

"If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you." (Second Agreement - Don't Take Anything Personally)

"Your point of view is something personal to you. It is no one's truth but yours. Then, if you get mad at me, I know you are dealing with yourself." (Second Agreement)

"If others say one thing, but do another, you are lying to yourself if you don't listen to their actions. But if you are truthful with yourself, you will save yourself a lot of emotional pain."(Second Agreement)

"All the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally." (Third Agreement - Don't Make Assumptions)

"We make all sorts of assumptions because we don't have the courage to ask questions." (Third Agreement)

"The way to keep yourself from making assumptions is to ask questions. Make sure the communication is clear. If you don't understand, ask." (Third Agreement)

"When you do your best you learn to accept yourself." (Fourth Agreement - Always Do Your Best)

"If you have done your best and the Judge tries to judge you according to your Book of Laws, you've got the answer:"I did my best." There are no regrets." (Fourth Agreement)

The Four Agreements - Parts 3 and 4

This book is starting to have a profound influence on me. I continue to be surprised at how the statements of this small book are so often on my mind. It's a little creepy, but I think I'm OK with it.

The 3rd Agreement: Don't Make Assumptions, and the 4th Agreement: Always Do Your Best seem to be obvious and simple. And yet, I realize that I need to really apply myself in these areas. The 3rd Agreement states: "Find the courage to ask questions and express what you really want". The 4th Agreement states: "Under any circumstance, simply do your best , and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret".

I was recently thinking about a failed friendship; trying to understand what went wrong. By applying the concepts from the Four Agreements, I can now see that I made assumptions about the other person that led to me taking events and actions personally, which affected my interactions with the other person in a very negative way. And, I think that the other person was not honest with me in words or actions (First Agreement: Be impeccable with your word). So between the two of us, we didn't have much of a chance. sigh. I'm working on trying to not be overly self-judgemental about this.

On the positive side, having made some steps towards understanding my own actions and thought patterns, I am very hopeful that I have actually learned some valuable lessons and will be able to avoid repeating this behavior in the future.

(hmmm. I'm starting to sound like I've joined a cult...no Kool-Aid is involved though, so I think it's safe).

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

New switchplate!

Hooray! I have a new switchplate to add to my collection. My friend "A" found this wonderful Dragon switchplate from an artist in Vermont (now...what did I do with the artist's name...damn!).

Anyway, here's my new beauty:

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Four Agreements - Part 2

It's eerie how this one little book has had such a large impact on me. I'm not saying I've been able to hold to all 4 agreements yet, but I find myself thinking about them a lot and trying to apply them to my own actions.

The second Agreement from Don Miguel Ruiz is one of the more difficult ones for me: Don't Take Anything Personally. Here's a summary of this agreement:

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of
their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and
actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Alas, I have not yet learned to be "immune to the opinions and actions of others." When someone pays me a compliment or gives me a hug, I do feel it at a personal level. Yet, the book says that I shouldn't require this type of validation to feel good about myself. But I still do and I sort of wonder, what's wrong with that?

On the other hand, I think I'm starting to make some small progress in not taking negative things personally. I've been the organizer for a weekly game which has been lots of fun. Recently, the usual players have not been able to attend the game and for awhile I felt this was a rejection of me in some way. But, lately, I don't feel that the current game hiatus is a statement about me or people not wanting to be with me. Well, mostly I feel that...see, I still have a lot of work to do regarding not taking anything personally.

Personal growth is hard!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Keep the women of Iraq in your hearts and minds

As you go about your daily routine, please pause and give a thought or a prayer to the women in Iraq.

I just read a horrifying article on CNN.com (Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women) that describes the terrible retribution that Iraqi women are suffering because they are not following the Islamic dress code.

What is it that drives people to exert their desire for control over others in such an inhuman manner?

This is the first sentence of the article from CNN:
"The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture. "

And another execerpt from this article:
"Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."

I, living in America, which provides the utmost in freedom for women, cannot even imagine the fear and terror these women must face all day, every day. My heart goes out to all of them.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

SciTech Blog

CNN now has a blog for science and technology issues. Right now, Miles O'Brien and the CNN Sci-Tech team are covering the NASA Shuttle Launch.


CNN SciTech Blog