Obama Urges You to Jump off a Cliff

What Would Obama Do? (WWOD)

Obama wouldn't really urge me to jump off a cliff, would he?
Well, lately, I'm beginning to think maybe so.

I have recently begun to realize that I am highly irritated by the spammy ads on almost every web page exhorting people to do what Obama tells them to. Obama urges homeowners to refinance. Obama urges Moms to go back to school. (Note how there's no apstrophe in 'Moms'. It's called proper punctuation, folks!).

Tonight I got a bit peevish about all the things Obama is urging me to do, because it's coming across quite bossy. So I Googled 'Obama Urges'... and yes, typing that into the searchbox did give me the willies, but here's some of the results----

Obama urges renewed Mideast peace talks
Obama urges African democracy
Obama urges quick action on insurance
Obama urges patience on stimulus plan
Obama urges taxing wealthy
Obama urges 100mil for Mexican drug war
Obama urges religious leaders to speak truth

In fact, there were 4,570,000 matches for the term "Obama urges". 4,570,000 !!!!

Man, that guy has a lot of 'urges'! I guess that kind of supports what the ads say- that Obama really does want me to refinance my home, and that as a mom, he wants me to go back to school. The problem is, why should I care what kind of urges Obama has? Don't get me wrong- I'm ok with him being in the White House. It's doubtful he could do any better or worse than the buffoons that came before him or surely will come after him. But why should I care what he wants just because he's in the White House?

Maybe I'm just suspicious of his sudden interest in me, and my life, personally. Then I thought- that's silly. Of course he's not targeting just me.

So I searched the term "Obama urges banks to refinance homes at the price they'd sell them for at a bankruptcy auction", and I was shocked, I mean shocked, to find there were only 400 or so word hits, none of which were direct matches.
And then when I Googled "Obama urges Monsanto to be truthful about how dangerous their chemical and GM products really are" and "Obama urges Monsanto to stop trying to control the seed banks and ruin farmers" received only 250 and 750 word hits respectively, with no direct matches.

What can this mean? Surely Obama would never urge me to do things for the betterment of our society without asking large corporations to do the same, would he? I'm all confused.

I think I'm going to ignore him. When I was in the 7-8th grades, I used to regularly tell my mother about all the things Jamie Jones said I/we should do. Like wear high heels with shorts, or go unsupervised to older kids' house parties. Her answer was always the same-- "Would you jump off a cliff if Jamie Jones told you to?"

So I guess the question is, would you jump off a cliff if Obama (or anyone else) told you to?

Reminding Yourself of What You are Good at

Sometimes in the process of trying to make a living, you forget what it is that you are good at.

I'm a good example of that. I get so easily distracted reading up on the newest this or that that I forget what my real goal is.

Today I broke through that. I came across a recommended website that was very good. Problem was, it was written very poorly and unprofessionally. For a long time I've been ignoring things like that. For some reason today it occurred to me to write to them and offer to edit their website for them.

It seems kind of silly as a stand-alone.

But the truth is, that one of the first writing jobs I ever got was exactly that way. I'd been reading a small local mag for a while, always annoyed at how bad the writing was- errors, typos, syntax- when finally I took one of their issues, circled every error and sent it to them. They responded by offering me an interview. I'm not saying it paid a lot, but I ended up learning computer advertising graphics and writing columns, and it was a stepping stool to writing bigger things later.

So that is definitely one of the things I am going to start doing. Every time I see a poorly written website, I'm going to offer my services as an editor or writer.
Does that mean I'm going to stop doing my own writing, or stop with the goals I have in mind for myself longterm? No. But it would be stupid of me not to do what I am good at, have experience with, and that will no doubt be helpful to me in the long run- while I continue working on my current projects.

Now that I think of it, I hate this website template. It's possible I could find someone willing to customize it for me in exchange for editing their websites. Win/win, eh?

What is it that you are good at that you have forgotten about?

Stop Recycling

I'm all for the three Rs-

Reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic
and
Recycle, repurpose, reuse.

That said, I am very against recycling in regards to relationships.
While you may not be in control of how you feel about past relationships, you have the power to not recycle your past negative experiences. Own your hurts- don't pass them on.

That movie, "Pay it Forward" had a good idea, but it was positive. Most people "Pay it Forward" with negative shit. Stop doing that, especially if you have children.

Don't repackage your old hurts and regift them to other people. Be better than that.

Pretend like you are only going to get one life and you don't want to waste it by focusing on other peoples' actions or your reactions to their actions. Pretend like the only moment you have is NOW, because it's the truth.

Try repurposing instead.

Don't Underestimate Your Actions

Everyone seems to be so aware of how negativity affects our lives, but sometimes it seems the positive doesn't really get it's due.

Because of divorce, I have to share our children. I don't like it for a number of reasons, one of which is that I just miss my boys when they aren't around. And, they're kids- meaning they aren't always thoughtful and considerate and they often 'forget' to call when they aren't with me.

Today, the boys came back, and my eldest wanted me to listen to something he'd downloaded to his phone. He pretty much listens to music I don't listen to- kind of grungy skateboard music. Stuff like System of a Down. I appreciate his music choices even if they aren't my favourite.

Imagine my surprise when the song on his phone was Brandi Carlisle's 'The Story'? I asked him why he'd downloaded it, and he said he had just been missing me. I would have preferred that he'd just called, but it made an impact.

That might be a good thing to do- either do some little thing that will make someone feel good, or be aware when people do little things that show they were thinking of you, and appreciate them. You can hear the song on YouTube Live here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJa-KazVMYU.
Maybe it makes more sense to explain that I'm a musician who hasn't played since my kids were born, and that my style of music isn't theirs. It just was really nice, especially since VvonV is not here right now because he's recording the second half of his album right now.