Be You

Being you is effortless – be you. No one can tap into your unique gifts because no one is like you – be you. No one can compete with you because you are the only one on the entire planet who is you – be you. Others cannot be you and you cannot be anyone else; and neither do you need to – just be you! The easiest thing to do – be you.

by Paul Foreman on July 5, 2010, via Be You | Mind Map Inspiration

The power of the gift of music.

CBS News Online – The Harmonica Man.

Courtesy of: CBS News Online

Granted, the apology is probably bullshit.

This is something that’s been bouncing around inside my head lately:

Know the standards.
Know when to follow the rules.
Know when to think outside of the box.
Know when to break the rules.

Sometimes it’s tough to know when. Sometimes you just need to go for it.

Image courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g_originals/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Picturing the Past 10 Years

In this Op-Chart for The New York Times created by Phillip Niemeyer called “Picturing the Past 10 Years”, each row is a theme, and each column represents a year.  Shown in each cell are the trends and events that dominated the past decade in icons and buzzwords.

via Picturing the Past 10 Years, December 27, 2009.

What’s Changed This Decade (1999-2009)

In “What’s Changed This Decade (1999-2009)” another perspective is given on how far we’ve come and gone, both good and bad…

Are stone cold numbers your thing?

If so, check out “A plethora of numbers traces a decade of change” – From McClatchy Newspapers and Yahoo! News. This article lists other statistics that trace the changes that took place in the last 10 years. Here’s a sample taken from that article:

Unemployment rate: 4.2 percent (1999); 10 percent ( November 2009 )

Jobless workers: 5.7 million (1999); 15.4 million ( November 2009 )

Unemployed workers not included in jobless number because they haven’t looked for work in the past month: 1.1 million (1999); 2.3 million ( November 2009 )

Median household income: $44,900 (1999); $50,303 (2008)

In 1999 constant dollars: $44,900 (1999); $38,924 (2008)

Median sales price for existing homes: $138,000 (1999); $172,700 (2009)

In constant 1999 dollars:$138,000 (1999); $133,000 (2009)

Median sales price for new homes: $161,000 (1999); $212,000 (2009)

In constant 1999 dollars: $161,000 (1999); $163,265 (2009)

Number of foreclosure proceedings: 450,000 (1999); 2 million (2009, estimate)

Banks seized by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.: 8 (1999); 133 (through Dec. 11, 2009 )

People living below the poverty line: 32.8 million in 1999; 39.8 million in 2008

Poverty line for a family of four: $17,029 (1999); $22,025 (2008)

In constant 1999 dollars: $17,029 (1999); $17,043 (2008)

via A plethora of numbers traces a decade of change – Yahoo! News.

Food for thought.

Pancake frustrations.

Two weekends ago, I was up early on a Saturday morning, getting started with my regular weekend routine. After having some coffee and messing around for an hour or two, I decided it was time for breakfast. Pancakes sounded like a good option. With a box of Bisquick from the pantry at hand, I threw together the standard pancakes recipe from Betty Crocker (found on the side of the Bisquick box).

While I was cooking the pancakes, I found I was having a tough time getting them to flip without the batter getting all smeared on the cooked side. I was getting frustrated with myself and wondering what I was doing wrong. I thought I was following the recipe on the box. It calls for three things: Bisquick, water and eggs. Turns out I forgot to add one of the ingredients. What’s funny is, I didn’t realize this until today, two weeks later, after glancing at the recipe on the box again.

Looking at my pictures that documented the final steps of cooking the batch of pancakes in question, can you guess which ingredient I forget?

Eggs. I forgot the eggs. I guess getting two out of three ingredients isn’t bad, right? And guess what? Although the pancakes were dense and not as airy as I’m used to, they still tasted surprisingly good.

It’s just pancakes.

The moral of this story is there is no using getting all worked up over the little mistakes and mess ups in life. An easy thing to say, I know. For me, it’s really hard to live up to this. I always seem to be my worst critic and I can get pretty grumpy when a recipe, project or plan doesn’t come together like I expect.

Since this pancake cooking experience, if I need to remind myself of this lesson and get some perspective when things don’t go according to plan, I’ve begun using my new mantra:

It’s just pancakes.