Answers from A-Z to Mr. Azzzz

Comments to the Home Game:

"Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, anger, jealousy, and fear; instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we are holding back…"

So there's my invitation. But since I usually don't feel like commenting on his blogs filled with not-thought-through wisdoms, I'm going to post somewhere for everyone to read, but you probably won't.

"How would you feel if I waltzed into TGIFriday's where you worked and suggested you not wear all that flair and promotion? I wish you would just serve the shitty franchised food and not have an opinion. Save the political commentary for Ruby Tuesdays. In here it's Friday.

Fuck you. I'm voting. It's my right."

How I would feel? Frankly, I wouldn't give a damn, because you're one of the many idiot customers I have to deal with. I've seen worse and I would only wonder what crawled up your butt. Oh, guess what! I did work in a supermarket wearing all that flair and promotion. I did it for the money and if I could choose, I would take the uniform off.

As for the opinion: Behind the counter, I really didn't have an opinion, because that was not my job. I was there to serve people and I tried to do that as best I could. I have sent many people off with their grocery shoppings and without them knowing any of my opinions. If someone would ask, I would tell them. If someone would yell at me because they suspect I have an opinion, I would just shrug.

And finally, I would like to end with saying you were immature in replying the way you did; you could have handled that way better.

Comments to the People Have Spoken:

"To me, it should make no difference whether or not I use my celebrity to promote voting or to shout from the rooftops how I (and you) should contribute to Barack Obama's unique online campaign. I'm just an eager citizen and I trust you are too in some fashion."

That's where you go wrong. You make it sound like we have to vote Obama, because you said so. Don't I have the right to have a sincere and true hearted opinion?

"The stolen user quote wasn't affiliated with any party, but was a good idea to post to create this dialog among us, which is exactly what we're supposed to be doing prior to an election. It was not my intention to bring shame to that person, their family, or their co-workers at Friday's."

See, you didn't start a dialog, you started a contest of name calling without any thoughtful structure. And even if a dialog was started, it was not about Obama's campaign nor was it politically involved, but it was about if she or you were out of line. So for as far as I have seen, no political discussion was made based on your Home Game blog.

"Everyone on these social networking sites has access to the world and can say just the same as I and have as heavy or heavier an impact. I hope rather than use the Internet as a tool to condemn each other from the privacy of our soiled underwear, that we all understand how we're free to use this medium for the better, for change, or for triumphant evolution. The way R. Kelly does."

Yes, but that doesn't mean you can be mean to someone because that someone said something you didn't like. She never said you didn't have the right to vote. She only posted her opinion. Maybe not very subtle and maybe she should not have done that, but it never gave you the right to quote her comment so anyone could trace, spam and make her life miserable. It was just not worth it and you sure as hell didn't show any class.

"And for those of you who identify too strongly with words, it's time to turn off the computer and go outside and lick the first living thing you see. (Tree frogs are recommended.)"

Hun, you were the one who started with identifying too strongly with words.

So tell me, how do you justify your outburst while you like to be known as someone who preaches Positivity and Gratitude?

So here's for you:

"Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, anger, jealousy, and fear; instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we are holding back…"

These two blogs have been removed shortly after they were posted and discussed.

13 Minutes Rant - Office Life

Office life is a lifestyle. It's usually us typing away on sticky, questionably clean keyboards and with coffee stains on the desk and papers shattered all over it. It's us bending down over papers with eyes nearly popping out trying to make sense of formal sentences too long to comprehend. It's wise cracks on the lowest level and laughing like your life depends on it. Any time, anyone could become your saviour, so laugh, even when it's really not that funny.

Don't you think it's strange you seem to spend almost equally as much time with your co-workers as you do with your life partner? You know them almost just as well; you know how to push their buttons and they know how to push yours. They interrupt when you're writing your 13 minutes rant, or when you're doing some actual working. They whine and complain just as much as your boy/girlfriend does.

People make livings, but they also make lives. They can make a person, but they can also break a person. And since it's your job, that's a sensitive little game we're playing. I love how we realize it and keep it in the back of our minds. I, for example, signed up for a communication course, so I learn how to play the game even better. It's all about acting; the way we appear to each other and the things we do to each other. It's all about how we appear and do it, even more than what. It's incredible what a difference it can make. It can help you finish your project with success, but it can also make your project fail. It's most always us and sometimes external situations.

We can make positive energy and we can practise it. We can make luck work for us, and affect others, our co-workers with it. And so we are back at t he subject of positivity. I just happened to have discussed this with a co-worker and we had to acknowledge, it works in most situations, even in the office. No, especially in the office. We concluded by saying; a good leader manages to motivate his employees with a bit of criticism and a whole lot of positivity.

Question of the Day

Question of the Day

Do all Asian people chew their puddings, yohgurts and ice creams?

13 Minutes Rant: How Practising Gratitude leads to Green Handling

With Mr.AZ and the rest of the world being all consumed in the green gratitude thoughts, I suppose I can’t really ignore what keeps our minds busy these days.

Being grateful sounds like a simple thing. Of course I started to wonder about if we really should be grateful for certain things, like being alive. Are we really supposed to be grateful to be alive? The way I look at it, I can’t find a good reason to be grateful to be alive. Since I don’t remember anything about me being not alive, and since I don’t remember it hurting or uncomfortable to be not alive. I wonder if that really is what I should be grateful for.

See, I’m sure of two things: 1) I got born once, apparently a painful and traumatizing experience and 2) I will die one day, apparently that could be another painful and traumatizing experience. Before 1 and after 2 I’m not existing, and therefore there is no me who is in pain or being uncomfortable. Therefore, I am not as much grateful for being alive, but rather for the painless, interesting and helpful way my life is being experienced. I am only one cog in the wheel of life of Mother Nature. Quite a responsibility.

I am grateful for my upbringing; My parents teaching me how I can be a positive addition to life on planet earth and how to make the best of it for me and all other living things around me. It is my responsibility to respect life and treat all I’m given by earth, which is pretty much everything, with the same respect. And I am grateful for everything I get as an extra from earth in return for my respectful handling. (I’m not saying I’m a saint, cause I’m obviously not.)

This is what ‘Practising Gratitude’ is all about to me. If I do it right, I am grateful and green in one go. If I do it right, I lived my life the way all life was supposed to be. And now I am worried about the last judgement before I go out.

Sites:
http://www.freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/
http://www.cafegratitude.com/

13 minutes rant blog

Lately, I've been suffering from sleepless nights. It's so warm everywhere, it's so damp everywhere, no matter what you do, you end up feeling sticky and gross. It keeps me from sleeping. For some reason it makes me want to roll around in my bed and stretch and flex my muscles all the time, which results in more friction and heat. Yuck! And when I do fall asleep, I tend to wake up to musquito stings around 4 am, slapping and scratching away. I'm not sleepy enough to fall asleep right away after the slapping, scratching and hiding, but I'm not awake and fresh enough to get up and start the day early. Result is me waking up late and arriving at work late. Yuck!

As of now, I'm still sweating a swimmingpool. I'm wishing to be home on my couch, out of the sun, not moving too much. Just leave me alone. You don't want to be too near to me anyway, cause I smell like stickyness and too much sun. When I get home this evening, I'll have diner and then die in front of the tv or on my bed with the music on. Hopefully, in the meantime the skies will clear and/or drop some rain to cool things down. That would be cool.

This is my 13 minutes rant. I have 4 minutes left before having to get back to working and join in a meeting. It's a good thing I signed up for it, but the though of the dampness inside the square makes me gasp for air already.
Three minutes left. I've got a printed version before me, though it's the old version. That's okay, I'm just not willing to sacrifice another tree or man to the sun. That's not my style.
1 minute and time to post.

Filosofatie over 'Persoonlijkheid'

Definitie van Dale:
Per.soon.lijk.heid de; -heden 1 v datgene wat een persoon karakteriseert: weinig ~ hebben een weinig uitgesproken karakter 2 m,v iem met veel persoonlijkheid


Is het hebben van een persoonlijkheid een mythe?

Als we de bovenstaande definitie bekijken bestaat een persoonlijkheid uit een set van karakteristieken van een bepaalde persoon. Als we ervan uitgaan dat deze karakteristieken tijdens het leven aan ontwikkeling doen, dan zou je kunnen zeggen dat een persoonlijkheid een mythe is. Maar dan nog, bestaan er geen karakteristieken die niet doorontwikkelen maar zijn en blijven zoals ze waren toen het persoon geboren werd? Dat is wat ik wel geloof.

Ik wil graag mezelf als voorbeeld nemen. Ik ben van herkomst Indonesisch; ik ben geboren in Indonesië, maar opgegroeid in Nederland bij een Nederlands gezin. Tijdens mijn jeugd heb ik typische Nederlandse trekjes opgepikt wat maakt dat mijn gedrag voornamelijk als Westers betiteld kan worden. Toch bezit ik nog steeds typische Indonesische/Aziatische trekjes. Dit werd mij onlangs duidelijk toen ik opeens Aziatische vrienden kreeg.

Ik ben opgegroeid in een klein dorpje in Midden-Limburg. In het dorp was ik destijds het enige geadopteerde Indonesische kind. Ik groeide op te midden van allemaal Nederlandse kinderen. Aziatische vrienden had ik niet.

Twee jaar geleden ben ik verhuisd naar de ‘grote’ stad, Amsterdam. Ik werd opeens geconfronteerd met een stuk kleurrijkere cultuur, of liever gezegd verschillende culturen naast de Nederlandse cultuur. Amsterdam is een smeltkroes van culturen en dit dringt vanzelf door in het leven en het werk van de mensen uit deze streek. Zo kwam ik ook in contact met twee (half-)Aziatische mensen. Het contact ging al snel over in vriendschap en ik merkte op dat het me een stuk minder energie koste om met hen te communiceren; op een bepaald niveau denken en leven we hetzelfde wat resulteert in dezelfde smaken, ideeën en daaruit vloeiende standpunten en keuzes. Niks aangeleerd, niks invloed van de maatschappij waarin wij leven. Maar karaktertrekken die aangeboren zijn.

Hieruit concludeer ik dat je persoonlijkheid niet alleen een stuk maatschappijgebonden is en dus ook in ontwikkeling, maar ook een stuk biologisch en maar moeilijk ombuigbaar.

Facts: Lost in transcription

• The passed two years haven't helped me to readers who leave me comments telling me they at least read my blog. That's okay, tho it hurts... editions in red...I had three, but I think I lost one. I also forgot how to color text.
• My computer is not ready to log on to the rkop-chatbox...still not after two years, but who cares..I don't at least...I left RKOP
• My computer is finally accompanied by a new screen....still...still...still
• The new sound boxes I bought...SUCK! With a Capital SUCK and an exclamation mark...still do...still do, but I bought new ones which make me happy...:D
• I don't know yet how to handle my new DVD-player, but it was nice to see all that old Mraz stuff again...still not...bought new one and first couldn't figure out how it worked, but got it working now...We are close now
• Now I remember Dennis Morris' name again. It's Dennis Morris....it's nice to have a notepad...and to remind myself again...I won't ever forget ever again
• I forgot about my new blogspot all together....Yup, again! And again...Not really, was just lazy
• We finally attached the towel hangers to the wall; one and a half in the kitchen and four in the bathroom...and two already came off...and the two in the kitchen have been taken off to make our new cooking thing installed...one in the bathroom keeps falling off; it's annoying
• I was up at 7.00 am this morning....I could have been....Not so much
• It took me almost 1 hour to get to work....true story, life doesn't improve there...no change there
• I reviewed my passed two years using my review from a couple of years ago which I recycled as well...still the same list
• I'm too lazy to write a completely new review...I thought it would be funny to use this list again...I thought I should keep this tradition

And that's how you create a second post in one day. True story.

References:
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Generation >140c

Just like most of my colleague late twentiers, I am aware of the speed of time. Where the electronic development ran late with our needs a decade ago, it's now us having trouble to catch up. The latest electronic hype is Twitter. I am completely in the dark about how to use Twitter to its full advantage. Apparently, Twitter has umpteenth handy functionalities of which I found one, which is the most important one; sending messages into the world. I don't find it handy though, cause usually whatever I have to say runs on for more than 140 characters. This very blog is a good example; the intro alone has more than 140 characters, and I'm not even close to the end of my rant.

Another thing I miss is the functionality to order and archive messages send to me. On Twitter you follow and get followed (could there be a more stalkerish concept?). You see messages of all people you signed up to follow. All messages collect in one long string on your screen. There's no order to it, there is no saving to it and most messages are so incredible random and pointless, it could easily be left unsaid (untyped) in the first place. Also, the limitation of 140 characters often results in unreadable (to me) messages, because your victim is trying to cramp to many words into a too small window. And replies to messages make no sense to me, because I forgot the initial message, because I had to read through 20 other useless messages before I got to the reply.

And why exactly would you set up a tool just to primarly update people what you're doing? You could also do that on msn, or other regular chat tools and there the conversation flows, which it doesn't on Twitter. Or you can do it on a forum, and you can actually search back easy what the hell you have said. Just even if you really do use it the way it was primarly intended, you would need the whole day only to Twitter, because people are known to do several things in one day. First of, I don't think my friends are interested in when I'm traveling to work or taking a pee break. And second, a lot of my activities most of my followers don't need to know about.

You can connect other devices like mobile phones to Twitter so you can tweet from your phone. Hello phone bill! Hello people who really don't need to know my phone number and use it for advertisements I didn't ask for. Like I said before, you don't need to know what I'm doing any minute of the day. You can also hook Twitter up to facebook and other networking sites. This way even more people can stalk you.

Just a question back: Since when is it a good idea to vent your whole life to the public; the ones you know and the ones you don't know and never even met. I like to keep certain things a secret and other things private. If I need you to know something, I'll phone you or I'll e-mail you. And for those who are interested in more; Welcome to my blog. If phone and internet are out of service, I'll write you a letter. If you hear nothing from me for months, I'm probably just doing fine minding my own business.

This is a short blog, but try twittering it.