Books for Success in the New Year - 2009

My wife and I recently decided to read three of the same books during the new year and base some of our resolutions around them.

Generally, I will read 50-75 books throughout the year and browse many others. I have begun to think that reading is a sort of addiction for me and that has not been as enriching and fulfilling as it should be. Yet I find reading to be one of the best ways to enter into the "now".

This The Power of Now is one of the books we will be reading over the year. Actually, we will be reading Practicing the Power of Now. Eckhart Tolle writes about what we are usually missing in life because of our mind's incessant thinking. Instead of living in the now, we worry about the past or future.

If find this to be incredibly true. Our mind spends much of the day worrying about what we should be doing instead of enjoying what we are doing. I suspect there are many reasons for this habit of our mind, and I will explore these issues throughout the year.

On the subject of habits, we will be reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I actually read this book a few years ago and found it very powerful. I even incorporated some of the ideas into my life, but want to do so in a much fuller way. I've read enough other books in the same vein to know that this really is one of the best.

One indicator of the work this book demands came to me at the end of the chapter about the first habit: practice this habit for 30 days. And that is what I will be doing until January 31st.

The last book my wife and I will be focusing on is Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids by Bonnie Harris. We have found this book to be incredibly insightful, though we are only a few chapters in. Bonnie Harris sets out 8 principles by which to parent. The first one is quite enlightening and powerful: Your child wants to be successful.

This simple principle has already changed my tone of parenting. Though I lose my patience often, I do have hope to greatly decrease these instances by gaining a consistent mindset about what my children need, and being constantly aware that they want to be successful. Don't people of any age just want to be successful?

I hope you new year is great and that you find your own books to explore to their fullest potential this year. Maybe one of the above will provide some inspiration!

Hack a Nerf Dart Gun- Shoot Faster and Longer Distances

I inadvertently learned how to hack my kids' NERF N-Strike Nite Finder Dart Guns this morning.

Of course, they had already broken most of their darts the first day they received the guns. My wife had tried to help them out by gluing back together the rubber suction cup part to the Nerf shaft part. But the glue ended up clogging the inside of the gun shaft where the air is forced out to shoot the dart.

After I put my younger son's gun back together, it suddenly shot darts out much faster and for a longer distance. I exclaimed to them, "I must have taken the safety out!" Of course, my older son said he wanted his safety taken out also.

I took his gun apart and figured out what had made the difference: one spring. This spring allowed a little forked piece to recoil back and create an airtight chamber after shooting, causing the gun's spring loaded shaft to slow down. Removing this spring allowed for a much faster and longer shot.
Here's what you do:

1. Take all the screws out of the gun. There are 14 on the side and one on the bottom where you can insert batteries. Note: A little piece at the top of the gun will probably pop out. You can insert it when you put the gun back together.
2. Remove one inside screw in the middle of the gun holding the orange shaft in place.
3. Pop the the right-hand side part of the orange shaft out part way.
4. Remove the right-hand part of the shaft, as shown in the picture on the right.
5. Open the shaft and remove "the spring", as pictured above.
6. Piece gun back together. Remember to replace the screw inside the gun that holds the orange shaft.
7. Be sure to insert the two yellow dart holders and the orange beveled gun tip before you screw the gun halves together. You may also have to hold the orange spring puller on the back of the gun in place. I found that the spring holding it in place wanted to pop out.
8. Please email me with any questions or make a comment.
9. Enjoy!

Get a nerf gun just like this:
--> NERF N-Strike Nite Finder Dart Guns

Keep the Cincinnati Neighborhood Gardens Program Funded in 2009 & 2010

Sign the Petition
Please Keep the Cincinnati Neighborhood Gardens Program Funded in 2009 & 2010

To:
Mayor Mark Mallory, Vice Mayor David Crowley, and the Cincinnati City Council:

We, concerned residents of Cincinnati and Hamilton County respectfully request that you fully fund the Cincinnati Neighborhood Gardens Program for $40,000 in 2009 and for $40,000 in 2010. Cutting this program to $0 does not seem an acceptable solution to budget constrictions.

The Neighborhood Gardens Program has 4 currently stated goals:

* Assist low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in developing vacant lots into gardens

* Supplement these residents' food budgets with fresh produce
* Clean up and maintain Cincinnati neighborhoods
* Provide access to educational recreational opportunities


Listed are examples of the current Neighborhood Gardens Program benefits:

* 42 Community Gardens
* Over 600 Gardeners
* Provides outreach to over 2000 community residents
* Donated 1524 Pounds of Food in 2007
* Recorded 7,384 Volunteers Hours in 2007


We believe these goals and achievements are an excellent argument for the programs continued funding.

Additionally, the City of Cincinnati's own "Climate Protection Action Plan" calls for the expansion of the current community garden program on pg. 180 under Recommendation #3. This underlies the importance of Vice Mayor Crowley's recent proposal (Item: 200801277 ) that city controlled vacant lots be offered at nominal costs to residents who will agree to farm or garden the land and maintain it free of blight or nuisance conditions.

Cincinnati's "Climate Protection Action Plan" also sites the American Community Gardening Association, saying," community gardening improves peoples' quality of life by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education."

The budget states that part of the reason for the programs financial cuts are the City's desire to fund the Cincycare Pilot Program, which will serve 2,000 residents of Cincinnati. While we recognize the importance of health care for all and believe this a great goal for the City, we also believe that this goal can be met without cutting the Neighborhood Garden program.

Solutions to consider:

* Most simply, the budget of the Cincycare pilot program could be cut to $460,000 per year in 2009 and 2010. This represents only 8% of the total budget of this pilot program, while the cut to the Neighborhood Gardens program is 100%.
* Currently, the City Manager's Budget Message of 2009/2010 states on pg. 39 that TOTAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT is $4,898,000 in 2009". Page pg. 14 states that the Economic Development budget will show increased revenue from $0 in 2008 to $46,510 in 2009. This money could make up the difference in funding the Neighborhood Gardens program, considering the loss to the Economic Development budget would only be 0.9% of the Economic Development budget.
* The Strategic Program for Urban Redevelopment (SPUR) budget went from $0 to $500,000 in 2009 and $500,000 in 2010. Some of this money could be utilized to fund community gardens?


The benefits of community gardens programs are many and they are finding support more and more within communities around the country. Directly and indirectly, local and nutritious food helps contribute to solving many problems our city, county, state, and nation faces, including: the health care crisis, energy independence, climate change, food security, and economic stability.

We encourage you to fully fund Cincinnati's Neighborhood Gardens Program in 2009 and 2010.

Thank you,

Concerned Citizens of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Sign the Petition

Waking Up

The vein that pulses silently feeds the world an addictive electric charge; a lesson in desensitization by shock treatment. We hardly notice its effect until one moment, it's gone...

Wind is often the reason we must wake up to electricity's addictive qualities. The world even seems to slow down, as if our frantic pace really does stem from and addiction to electricity. And though we often talk of breaking our addiction to oil, we neglect our addiction to electricity at our own peril. I don't think we would care where our electricity came from, as long as it ran steadily and uninterrupted, as a good buzz must.

Though transportation, usually by gas guzzling car, is simply a kind of oil-burned-to-create-motion equation, it too relies on electricity to make its insane pace work. Without our electric lights, traffic lights, and lighted destinations the appeal of the car and its offerings loses its shine.

Instead, we walk around to talk to our neighbors. We sit out side of our house and bask in natural light. We feel relief that our pace slows down. Slows...down. We realize the lovely power of conversation.

Converse... converse with yourself, your spouse. Make an attempt to feel what it's like to live in control... control of your time, your movement, your thoughts. Get over the feeling of discomfort an electric free world brings and imagine a different world where you can tune into your life. You can sleep when it is dark, eat when you are hungry, talk when you feel like, work when it is necessary. You are not bound to the insanity of electricity.

You are free.

Hegemony is Easier with Homogeneity- The Power of Slight Differences

The power of slight differences came to my mind yesterday. I was pondering the insanity of farmers losing the power to save seeds. This power is lost because the nature of any corporation, including Monsanto-the owner of destructive technologies like Round-Up and "terminator genes", is simply to make money. And money is often easier to make with hegemony. And hegemony is often easier with homogeneity.

Imagine for a second a dill seed. Tiny, seemingly innocuous, and incredibly powerful, as is the parent plant.

If I buy seeds from the store, they are mass produced for the entire country. There is a need for this seed to grow relatively well everywhere. Obviously, the power of slight differences is lost in this effort. I cannot buy a "Best grown in Cincinnati, OH" seed, let alone a "Best grown in Westwood" seed. But if I take that seed and plant it, and let it reseed it self year after year, that seed will adjust to the soil it is in. It will adjust to the microclimate it grows in. And I need not by dill seed anymore. In fact, bought seed would simply be an inferior product at this point.

Now imagine that that scenario of me letting my seed go to seed as illegal. Imagine that there was a corporation with a team of lawyers and millions of dollars to back them up hot on the trail of anyone trying to save seed. Imagine that charges were being brought against these people who were saving seed. Imagine that the power you have to make slight differences in seeds for the betterment of all was now wrong, illegal, and dangerous. You will have imagined just what Monsanto is doing. You will have imagined the distortion of reality that we are allowing corporations to wrought on the world. You will be seeing hegemony pursuing homogeneity to the extreme. Profit is rubbing out our world.

In fact, it is not much better in consumer electronics. We can relate a product like the iPod to the act of saving seeds. The only difference is that we probably should not have bought that consumer gadget in the first place. A new generation of iThis or iThat is put out just in time for any occasion of buying, which can simply be a new day. The power of technology should be to make our life better. I am positive that the iPod I own has not made my life better. It has taken something away from my life.
And it does not have the power to recreate itself in a new and improved version. The consumer must rely on a completely outside source, a corporation, to bring a new gadget gift to the masses every 6 months or so. And of course this gift costs just as much as the first iteration. Why do we allow this insanity?!?!

You may ask just what the iPod took from my life. Luckily, what it took, I can gain back by simply leaving my iPod on the shelf.

I have done the dished for many, many year now, in part because we do not own a dishwasher. One day, I was rather sick and doing the dishes, and gained a moment of enlightenment. I was enlightened to the fact that I was happy to simply be doing the dishes, and happy to know I would be back to good health soon. Simple, profound, without cost, and priceless.

Yet I had taken to the habit of wearing and iPod while doing the dishes. Instead of finding happiness in myself, I was losing myself to an artificial music experience. I have set my iPod aside for the time and may pick it up when it spontaneously evolves to the next generation.

So I say, leave us alone corporations! We can do well enough with our own seed, our own simple technologies, and our own time to let things be. This act of controlling our own seeds and technologies is enough to enlighten us all. Let things be and be happy in whatever you are doing. Find happiness especially in making slight differences for the betterment of the world.

A Short Guide to Memorizing Music

1. Read the Music

• Look at the key signature and time signature
• Look for sections that repeat

2. Find patterns

• Many phrases are often 4 bars
• Can you find phrases that repeat?

3. Listen to the song, if possible

• Read the music while you listen

4. Break the song into smaller parts(phrases)

• Notice, you have not even played your instrument yet

5. Practice each phrase slowly and carefully

• Striving towards perfect practice is good
• Any mistakes made in the beginning will only have to be corrected later

6. Memorize each phrase

• Use thoughtful, disciplined practice
• Ask your self, "Where is this phrase going?"

7. Put the phrases all together

• Do this one piece at a time
• Sometimes it is helpful to move from the end back toward the beginning

8. Practice the song all together

• Gradually increase the tempo

9. Pretend you are on stage and play your song

• Where did you make mistakes?
• Go back and work on these areas first

10. Perfect and play a real concert!

Beginning a Land-Based Non-Profit

Any group of people attempting to build support around a piece of land
has a distinct advantage because our land-base is what allows us to
live. People are excited about local community, local food, local
growers, local involvement in food production, good nutrition,
connecting with nature, etc.. All of these interests are connecting to
create stronger and healthier local communities.



If you are someone who is trying to convert or maintain some of your
community's land-base into a non-profit organization for means of
preservation, community-involvement, education, green space, etc., this
article is meant to give you suggestions along the way.

1. Define your mission clearly, with involvement from all necessary parties, but with no more than is necessary.
• No more than necessary hints to the fact that agreeing
  on a mission can be exciting, but also taxing if too many people are
  deciding. A better method is to create 2 or 3 different versions and
  bring those to a larger group for discussion and decision-making.
• Make sure you mission statement resonates with a
  disinterested 3rd party. Can they clearly state back to you your
  mission without explanation from you?
• Take
  time and look at the mission statement again in a few weeks? Can you
  live with it the next 10 years... 20 years... 50 years?
• Will the mission statement being able to grow in meaning with the organization?
  
2. Build support among the community.
   
• This
  is obvious, but sometimes
  groups are missed because not all interested parties are identified.
  Think of every group that may be interested in what you are doing:
• Local
  growers, local garden groups, local churches, local governments, local
  schools, national organizations, hospitals, retirement homes, parenting
  groups, politicians, historians, scout groups, neighbors, park
  districts, counties, state departments, business neighbors, UAW halls,
  etc.
• Building support most often means listening.
  Set forums for interested parties to simply share their thoughts. Make
  sure they know their input is valued and recognized in some way.
• After listening, communicate as often as you must to continue to build support.
  
3. Build a strong board.
• Experience,
  diversity, and desire will all determine how successful and helpful
  your board is. Think carefully about including the likes of: members
  with board experience, a teacher, an historian, an accountant, a
  marketing person, a visionary, a naturalist, someone in agricultural,
  business leaders, etc.
• You may not find all of these, but strive for a good mix of experience, diversity, and desire.
• A
  strong board understands their role. Take time to define the board's
  role in the beginning so there is no confusion later. This helps not
  only the board, but also staff members.
  
4. Take your time.
• I have seen first hand that rushing in the beginning will adversely affects what comes 4-5 years down the road.
• Take your time! The completion of initial planning may take 4 or 5 years.
  
5. Set a time line of events that is realistic, yet provides for surprises.
• Be proactive in determining what you want and when.
• Actively
  seek the input of others who have walked a similar path. This will
  increase your chances of time estimates being accurate.
6. Hire the best staff.
• The best means, the best. If you need to wait for those people, then do so.
• Do not hire the wrong people. Wait if you need to!
7. Passion.
• Passion is necessary at all steps along the way, as is practicality and
  perseverance.
  
• Though you may be mindful of everything, mistakes will
  still be made and can be exciting if you learn from them. Passion is accepting and growing with mistakes.
  
8. Remember your goals.
• What are you working for? Crystallizing your goals at all steps will help keep you focused and energized.
  
9. Stay connected to the land you are working with.
• Stop and breath; if you are not getting out and connecting, you will miss some of the most important information.
  
10. Succeed!
• Succeed because you must.