viking fridays – turn the spell.

I know a sixth
It will save me if a man
Cut runes on a sapling’ s Roots
With intent to harm
It turns the spell
The hater is harmed, not me.
- The sixth charm, from The Hávamál

I am not sure why, but today I feel invincible.  I don’t know, it isn’t like this week was any more special than any other week (in many ways, news at work was less than positive, to be honest), but for one thing.

I seem to have great clarity of thought, and my focus is very sharp indeed.

I know what I have to do – some things will be put by the wayside, to leave more time for what is truly important.  It is in my hands.

Perhaps that is it then – I feel as though no one can harm me.

No one can break my conviction.

So my message today is not profound or deep – I merely want to pass this vibe on to you, so that you, too, will not be harmed.

If any try to harm you, the spell shall be turned back upon them.

There is nothing you can’t do.

I wear a charm much like this one, and when I do, I feel unstoppable.  I pass that on to you.

With this hammer – Mjollnir – you can level mountains.

You are unstoppable, and no one can harm you.

gone pillaging.

Alas, no tales of cyberzombie horror this week, but there will be a triumphant return from our heroes next weekend.  We are going to unplug from the Matrix this weekend and raid some neighbouring villages (actually, we’re going for Thanksgiving at a local cottage).

In the mean time, may I wish all of you a wonderful weekend, and if you’re looking for something great to read, why not check out some of the amazing folks to your right in the sidebar!

PS – on Monday (sometime, depending on when I can upload it), a Fight Club themed post with great relevance to the current events of our world as they are unfolding.

things i learned from sharkboy and lavagirl.

Today, I’m taking a page from Writer Dad – why not, he’s a cool guy – and I figure, I have four kids, and I’m a writer, so I’m sort of a writer dad in my own way!

My kids’ current favourite movie is “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” – it seems to play non-stop at our house.  It has a happy story and appeals to our 7-year old as well as our 4-year old triplets.

On the surface, a kids movie – but having watched it a few times, there is more to it.

Amazing what you can learn from a children’s story.

“Everything that is or was, began with a dream…”

-Lavagirl

This, within the first 30 seconds or so of the movie.  It made me think, the first time I really paid attention to it.

We all have dreams.

My dreams are to become a writer, and to live in New Zealand.  Well, I am currently writing this blog, and I’m working on my book about my wife, my hero.  So I guess that dream has already become a reality.

I am a writer.

Eventually, I will be a published writer, like many others.  I believe it.  My draft manuscript will be finished within a few months.

And we’ve been to New Zealand, for a visit – we continue to work towards this dream.  Every week, we progress.

We will get there.

That leads right into the next line that struck me -

“You must keep moving to survive.  Always go forward, never back.”

-anonymous shark

True, isn’t it.  Always go forward, never back.  Don’t live in the past.  Live in the present, look to the future.  Keep alive the memories of the good, of what you’ve learned, but don’t dwell on the unpleasant things that may have happened in your past – you survived them, and you can’t change them anyway, so let go of them.  Learn from them, by all means, but always go forward.

All this, within the first five minutes of the movie.

My kids watch this movie over and over again, and you know what?

With messages like that, I don’t mind.

So there you have it.  You don’t need to go out and buy the latest personal improvement book – just watch a children’s movie, or read a children’s story.

Tomorrow: more hard-hitting Viking words of wisdom!

Saturday: The zombification of the Factory continues – will the man and his lovely wife escape with their brains intact?

(Photograph – The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Dimension Films, 2005.)

eight random facts about me. no kleenex required.

Ack!  I was tagged by Rudy Amid, and well, seeing the gauntlet laying on the ground in front of me, I just had to pick it up… perhaps it was time to write something that didn’t require a Kleenex alert…(Well, that and my latest post wasn’t ready to go yet.  I took some time to thing things over, important things.)So, eight random facts about me.  I’m sure I could give eight random facts just by linking back to my older posts, but that wouldn’t be any fun, would it… although, some of these will give a little insight into where those crazy thoughts originated!Without further ado, we’ll start with…Number One:Vikings – so what the heck is up with that, anyway? For some reason, I like Vikings.  I must have been one in a former life.  Like this little guy here.

Number Two:More Vikings.  You knew there had to be more Vikings, right?  I may look like a respectable nuclear engineer, but I’m a serious metal head.  I do listen to other music too, from classical to electronic to progressive rock – you name it.  Yeah, and Viking metal.  It must be something in the water here, or exposure to radiation.*WARNING* hairy metal dudes ahead… and yes, someone threw a horned Viking helmet at the vocalist about 50 seconds in – and he smiled…

Hey, sometimes you need Pink Floyd, and sometimes you need this.  Especially when you have four kids, and they are not listening… put this on, and go for a drive.  Alone.Number Three:I love the smell of books, old and new.  Something about it takes me back to my teenage years, playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends.  Amazing how the sense of smell can do that.Number Four:As you can see, once I learn how to do something, I flog it to death (see inserted videos in Number One and Number Two above…)Many thanks to Dave “kickin’ your a$$ since 2006″ Navarro for his help on this.Number Five:I secretly want to be Tyler Durden.  And no, I will not talk about Fight Club.  Except here.(What?  It’s not a secret?  Damn!)Number Six:I often talk about working in the cube, but I have had interesting projects.  Last summer, we changed the window on the world’s most radioactive hot cell.  This window is not an ordinary window, it weighs 6 tons.  And when I say the world’s most radioactive hot cell – I mean it.  Direct exposure to the beams without the window would be fatal in 5 minutes or less… that was pretty exciting!  I can say I’m one of only a handful of people on the planet to do this.Number Seven:I want to run a cafe.  A barefoot cafe.  Yes, I was born in the 60’s.  Just.  I don’t own any tie-dyed shirts, anymore.Number Eight:I love Volkswagens, and secretly I want a Magic Bus.  Yes, I know that ties in to Number Seven above.  Perhaps I was born in the wrong decade or something.  The “atmosphere” was better back then So there you have it.Now, according to the rules of this game, I have to tag eight people to do the same thing.  Eeenie, meanie, miney, moe… in no particular order, we have:

• Tei
• Sandie
• Ellen
• Karen
• Wendi
• Kelly
• Melissa
• Monika

And, the rules (shamelessly stolen from Rudy’s blog!):

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.

Just remember, have fun – and don’t be shy!

hypertracking?

What does it mean?Hypertracking is that which is faster than fast-tracking. From the old mantra “work smarter, not harder”, I believe in general that fast-trackers are just working harder. They do not work smarter.

I have to work smarter, for many reasons, personal and professional.

In the traditional sense, those who work harder tend to only work longer, using normal methods – inefficiencies and all.

For me to succeed, I have to work smarter than those who work harder.

I do not believe that this is difficult. In all of my years of experience in the “normal” work world, I have been successful – more so, sometimes – than people who work twice as many hours.

I see emails and documents written at 3 am by the “fast-trackers” – emails and documents full of rather obvious errors. These people pound away endlessly, and do not ever rest.

They do not seem capable of identifying that which is important, and they lack focus.

This is what I will teach you, in the weeks to come.

failure number two? not even close

Time is something we all have in equal proportions. It is what we do with that time, which makes us different. It is what we do with that time, which allows us to succeed. Sometimes, we want something so badly, we forget to take the time to reflect, to unwind, to spend time with loved ones, to recharge.I did that last night. I had a very nice dinner with my family, drank a big cup of coffee, and then went to bed. Today, I slept in (yeah, yeah, I know, I normally get up at 4:00 am and I will do so again tomorrow, to write some more).

But if you want to cut wood, sometimes you have to sharpen the saw.

I have a lot of wood to cut. And now I am ready.

failure number one

I had intended to write a piece about who I am, why I’m here, what I plan to do with this space – where I want to be, when I get to the end point.

No matter. I still have the words and ideas in my head, and partly written down, and I will expand on it tomorrow.

What is important, is that I am writing now. I did not follow through with my plan today, because I once again I spent too much time consuming, rather than creating.

No matter. No sense crying over it. Because, in a sense, I did follow through with my plan – I wrote *something* – and I learned something.

Fail early, fail often. I know how to make this work. I have already laid out a daily schedule for myself, to make this work, and I have consistently failed to follow it for a month. Rather, I have taken the easy route, spent evenings reading the work of others, rather than creating my own.

I don’t know how to do trackbacks yet, or a lot of other stuff. I have not made an “About” page or anything like that. But I will flesh this out as I go. This is a learning experience for me, and I will learn quickly.

No matter. I will get better at this. I will fail, again and again, but I will improve.

Now where’s that dishcloth?

It’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!

Henry Frankenstein: Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!

I thought that this was more appropriate than a simple “Hello world”. I am here because of the encouragement of many – family, friends near and far, co-workers good and bad. I am here because I am changing my life.And I am here because I have decided to “do it now”. I have spent far too much time in a perpetual planning phase. Nothing will ever be perfect. The time is now.

So here it is, nuts and bolts and all.

It might not be pretty, but it is here – it is out there, finally.

And now it can’t be stopped…

(PS – I do *NOT* look like this before my morning coffee. Honest.)