02/08/16 – Love

February 8, 2016 Wm. Allen8 Comments

CURRENT EVENTS

Valentine Day

This Coming Sunday, Feb. 14

SELF-HELP BOOKS

Don Juan DeMarco

by Jean Blake White

This week I am recommending a book that is based upon a movie. How superficial am I? Usually, movies are based on books. Still, it is a fantastic and entertaining love story fitting for Valentine Day. Plus, as usual, it is an easy read. The hardest part about reading this book will be finding it, but I believe it will be well worth the hunt. Or you can go the even easier route and simply watch the movie.

PHYSICAL TRAITS – YOUR HEALTH

Your thinking can have an impact on your health.

SOCIAL TRAITS

LEARNING TRAITS

In chapter 40 I talk about seeing and hearing what is there, rather than what we want to be there.

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Love Actually

Although technically, a Christmas romance film, I believe it is still a good film to watch for Valentine Day.

Love Actually is a 2003 British Christmas-themed romantic comedy film. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress. Set primarily in London, the story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place one month later. (Source: Wikipedia)

LAST WEEK’S POLL – Groundhog Day

Last week’s poll asked if you were doing anything special for Groundhog Day.

It turns out that 59% of us are not going to do anything special for Groundhog Day; however, 27% of us have done something special in the past. Regarding the film Groundhog Day, 9% of us watched it, and 5% of us closely follow the weather predictions of a large rodent. None of us plan to do anything special for Groundhog Day this year.

The weather was so nice here in the Detroit area that I could help thinking if the weather would have been a bit more cooperative in the past I would have continued holding my Groundhog Day Happy Hour parties, but the weather was always so iffy and I recall once I even had to cancel the party.

THIS WEEK POLL – Valentine Day

This week’s poll is about your plans for Valentine Day.

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Some my disagree, but I think this is the best love song of all time. But perhaps I should sleep on it 🙂

Paradise By The Dashboard Light

by Meat Loaf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw

ART OF THE WEEK

The Lovers

by Rene Magritte

This is a painting that I actually saw at the MOMA in NYC.

The Lovers is a painting by [ ] surrealist Rene Magritte, created in 1928.

The painting depicts a veiled couple embracing and kissing. Obviously symbolic, many have speculated about why the couple is veiled. Many have also interpreted the painting in different ways – the common interpretation being “Love is blind”.

The Lovers can be viewed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. (Source: http://www.Artpromtivate.com).

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Lord Byron

Portrait of Lord Byron by Richard Westall

George Gordon Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron’s best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, and the short lyric “She Walks in Beauty”.

Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets, and remains widely read and influential. He travelled widely across Europe, especially in Italy where he lived for seven years. Later in life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which many Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died one year later at age 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi.

Often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics, Byron was both celebrated and castigated in life for his aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs with men as well as women, rumours of a scandalous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. (Source: Wikipedia)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

A woman was walking along the beach when she stumbled upon a Genie’s lamp. She picked it up and rubbed it and lo-and-behold, a Genie appeared. The amazed woman asked if she got three wishes.

The Genie said, “Nope, due to inflation, constant downsizing, low wages in third world countries, and fierce global competition, I can only grant you one
wish. So what’ll it be?”

The woman didn’t hesitate. She said, “I want peace in the Middle East. See this map. I want these countries to stop fighting with each other.”

The Genie looked at the map and exclaimed, “Gadzooks lady! These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I’m good, but not
that good! Please make another wish”.

The woman thought for a minute and said “Well, I’ve never been able to find the right man; one that’s considerate and fun, likes to cook and helps with the housecleaning, is good in bed and gets along
with my family, doesn’t watch sports all the time, and is faithful.”

The Genie let out a long sigh and said, “Let me see that map again.”

BLOG

I always appreciate those that leave comments on my weekly posts, since it encourages me to continue these posts. Thank you Carolyn.

Leaving a comment is easy, just click on “Leave A Comment”, which is immediately below the title of this week’s post. And if instead of seeing “Leave A Comment”, you see “# Comments”, just click on that and scroll down to leave your comment.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends, as well as liking my Facebook page. Thank you M.J. Shepard for liking my Facebook page.

I appreciate Joanne, who shared my post last week on Facebook.

MY BOOK

If you have any interest in changing your life for helping someone else change their life, please consider my book.

Again, for those of you into reading books on a Kindle, I reduced the price of the Kindle version of my book down to $4.95.

My book can be purchased on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. It is also available in a ebook format. And if you have read my book, please leave an evaluation of it on Amazon. Thank you.

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885

02/01/16 – Mary Ellen Stanley

February 1, 2016 Wm. Allen2 Comments

MARY ELLEN STANLEY

Recently, there has been a number of deaths of famous people in the music industry and of course those deaths touch us. However, when a friend dies, it not only touches you, it leaves a big hole in your life. It is with great sadness that I am reporting that Mary Ellen Stanley died last week. She was a wonderful person with so many friends. Some of you who attended my happy hour parties will no doubt remember her and the clever costumes that Mary Ellen and her husband Dean came up with each year.

Below is Mary Ellen’s mother, Mary Ellen and Mary Ellen’s daughter

(Three generations)

CURRENT EVENTS

Flint, MI Water

In 2014, the city of Flint, MI left the Detroit water system to save cash money during tight times. Instead, it started taking water from a local river. This was all well and good until people noticed that their water looked and smelled bad. And children’s blood tests started showing higher levels of lead, which can cause serious health and developmental issues for children. Not good. (Source: http://www.theSkimm.com)

This week I was in South Beach, Florida. Florida is a state that attracts flocks of Michigan snowbirds. I found the restaurants in South Beach go out of their way to cater to people from Michigan. When I asked for some water, the waiter was thoughtful enough to bring me some bottled Flint, Michigan water that they kept on hand for Michigan residents.

SELF-HELP BOOKS

Philosophy for Everyday Life

by Trevor Curnow

This is as easy to read as a philosophy book can be and I believe it lives up to the description below that this book can improve your thinking about everyday life. If you want to be extraordinary, you need to think clearly.

This book will show how philosophy can help to improve your thinking about everyday life. And by improving the quality of your thinking, you can improve the quality of your life. It will make you more aware of what you think and why—and how you can change what you think. (Source: Amazon)

PHYSICAL TRAITS – YOUR HEALTH

If you care at all about your health, you must start reading the labels on the food that you purchase. If some of those ingredients sounds like poison, well maybe you better do some more research before you eat something containing strange sounding ingredients.

Perhaps, you may even want to so so far as to send some of what you are considering eating to a lab.

SOCIAL TRAITS

In my book under Social Traits, in Chapter 28, I stress the importance of surrounding yourself with people different from you. Doing so not only makes your life more interesting, but also exposes you to ideas and experiences that will benefit you. Most of all, doing so will make the world a better place for you and for everyone.

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

I believe truth trumps any prior statements that a person may have made and if new evidence or new understanding comes to our attention, we should not be locked into past statements. It seems someone else agrees with me.

My aim is not to be consistent with my previous statements on a given question, but to be consistent with the truth as it may present itself to me at a given moment.

Source: Mahatma Gandhi

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Groundhog Day

Sure, I selected this film in part, because tomorrow (February 2) is Groundhog Day. But I think the movie is also consistent with the purpose of this blog, which is to make your life something other than just ordinary.

This movie is about a guy who lives the same day over and over until he gets it right.

LAST WEEK’S POLL – Spanish or Español

Regarding the first poll last week, 40% believe the USA is already started to unofficially adopt the Spanish language. Another 20% of you believe Spanish will one day in the distant future become one of the two official languages of the USA and 20% believe adopting Spanish will tie us closer together with Central and South America. Whereas, only 20% thought that adopting Spanish as an official language of the USA was a bad idea.

In the second poll, 35% of us have taken a Spanish class and 31% of us have a little familiarity with the Spanish language. Another 15% of us can get by with our Spanish in a Spanish speaking country and 7% are fluent in Spanish. Whereas, only 12% of us have no understanding of Spanish.

And in the third poll, when it comes to visiting Spanish speaking countries:

Mexico – 27%

Spain – 24%

Miami – 19%

South America – 11%

Central America – 5%

Never been to a Spanish speaking country – 14%

THIS WEEK POLL – Groundhog Day

This week’s poll is on Groundhog Day, which is tomorrow (February 2).

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Since I just returned from Miami, who else but Pitbull

Back in Time by Pitbull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaSZE194D4I

ART OF THE WEEK

Art on the Road: Miami

by Ken Kaminsky

This is a painting of the Beacon Hotel in the Art Deco Hotel district that we stayed at while in South Beach. If you would like to see more of Ken’s work about Miami, just click on the link below.

http://blog.kenkaminesky.com/2013/02/18/art-on-the-road-miami/

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León (1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named, and is associated with the legend of the Fountain of Youth, supposed to be in Florida. [Source: Wikipedia]

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

An old guy was working out at the gym when he spotted a young hot girl walking in.

He asked the trainer standing next to him, “What machine should I use to impress that girl over there?”

The trainer looked him up and down and said; “I would recommend the ATM in the lobby.”

BLOG

I always appreciate those that leave comments on my weekly posts, since it encourages me to continue these posts. Thank you Carolyn.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends, as well as liking my Facebook page.

I appreciate the following people who shared my post on Facebook: Theresa, Joanne, Carol y Andre

MY BOOK

If you have any interest in changing your life for helping someone else change their life, please consider my book.

Again, for those of you into reading books on a Kindle, I reduced the price of the Kindle version of my book down to $4.95.

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885

04/13/15 CHANGE

April 13, 2015 Wm. Allen4 Comments

RESULTS OF LAST WEEK’S POLL ON FRIENDS

Congratulations to the more than 60% of you who believe you will be more extraordinary by the end of this year. However, that also means that almost 40% of you believe you will be about like you are now, or just an average person or even less extraordinary.

After looking at the poll’s results, the first thing that came to my mind was a saying by Henry Ford, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

THIS WEEK’S THEME: CHANGE

Since I am concerned about the almost 40% of you that may not be optimistic about what this year holds for you, this week’s theme will be change.

I realize, that despite your best efforts; sometimes fate can be insensitive. But for most of us, we are masters of our own destiny.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?

One, but the light bulb really has to want to change.

BRIEF COMMENTS RELATED TO THE WEEKLY CHAPTERS IN:

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

WEEK 19: CHANGE – EMBRACE ALL CHANGES FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES THEY CAN PROVIDE

Change is inevitable and if you are trying to cling to the past, you are fighting a losing battle. Being inflexible is a sign of aging and demise. I’m not saying you should like change, but I am saying that you need to adapt to change.

I was at a seminar Saturday and the speaker told us that 85% of all diseases are caused by lifestyle choices. Except for some rare exceptions, everything (not just your health) in your life, good or bad, is a reflection of choices you have made. If you want something in your life to be different, you have to change and do something different.

SELF-HELP BOOKS IN ADDITION TO MY OWN

Today, I am suggesting a book written by someone I believe is truly extraordinary, George Foreman. When it comes to change, this gentleman has shown us all the way. His book is my kind of book, very easy to read.

Unfortunately, I cannot say I ever had the opportunity to actually meet George Foreman, but I was second row ringside for one of his fights during his return to the ring in pursuit of a second heavy weight championship. However, he is so much more than a boxer. Below is a brief description of George that I copied from Wikipedia.

“Although he did not formally retire from boxing, Foreman stopped fighting and became an ordained minister, initially preaching on street corners before becoming the reverend at the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston and devoting himself to his family and his congregation. He also opened a youth center that bears his name.” [Source: Wikipedia]

And who hasn’t heard of the George Foreman Grill.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I think my favorite movie of all time is Groundhog Day, which is a movie about a guy who lives the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. It is a great movie and if you haven’t seen it, you really should.

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

If you do not change direction,

you may end up where you are heading.

Source: Lao Tzu

THIS WEEK’S POLL

CONCLUSION

If you like what I am doing, I need you to show your support by passing this blog on your friends, and liking my Facebook page Harmony Books & Films, LLC. Currently, 36 of you have been kind enough to like my Facebook page. Also, a number of you have “liked” my posts and I appreciate that very much. Perhaps, you may also consider liking my Facebook page.

You can help me make this blog more valuable to others by posting your perspectives via Leave a comment. All you have to do to leave a reply is to click on the last line of the weekly post, where it says, “Leave a comment”. If you check last week’s post, you see where Mary Ellen left a comment and I replied with a photo of two very large bunnies I found in my yard.

And for those of you who have read my book, and I do believe there are a couple of you who have read it, please let others know what you thought of it on Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

My friends, Judith and Betty, have been kind enough to post reviews on Amazon and I appreciate that very much.

DONATIONS

I continue being willing to donate to anyone putting on a charitable fundraiser two copies of my book to auction off or raffle as a door prize. This past week, I offered three organizations copies of my book and I am waiting to hear back from them. If you know anyone that is holding a charitable fundraiser and could use a couple copies of my book, please tell them about me. I can be reached at:

harmonybooksfilmsllc@comcast.net

Week 20: Celebrate

February 2, 2015 Wm. AllenLeave a comment

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you will note that I jumped from Week 9: Visualization to Week 20: Celebrate. Hey, what is more ordinary than going in strict order?

In addition to all of yesterday’s SuperBowl parties, for years on and off, I have tried to celebrate Groundhog Day, which falls on February 2 or this year today.

I was fascinated with Groundhog Day because of the movie, which I will discuss in the film section of this blog.

RESULTS OF LAST WEEK’S POLL

I am surprised to learn that 45% of you use Visualization frequently. The results of the last several polls lead me to believe those most interested in becoming extraordinary are people who already are extraordinary or well on their way to becoming extraordinary.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE (I try not to use jokes that I used in my book, but since many of you have not read my book and I thought this joke was just so appropriate for the Celebrate trait, I just had to share with everyone who reads this blog.)

Upon dying, the pope goes to heaven where he meets a reception committee. They tell the pope that he can enjoy any of the many recreations available.

He decides that he wants to read all of the ancient original texts of the holy Scriptures and spends the next eon learning the languages. After becoming a linguistic master, he sits down in the library and begins to read every version of the Bible, working back from the most recent, “Easy Reading,” to the original.

All of a sudden, there is a scream in the library. The angels come running to him, only to find the pope huddled in a chair, crying to himself, and muttering, “An R! They left out the R.”

God takes him aside, offering comfort, and asks him what the problem is. After collecting his wits, the pope sobs again, “It’s the letter R…the word was supposed to be celebrate.”

WEEK 20: CELEBRATE–YOUR OWN SUCCESSES, AND ESPECIALLY THE SUCCESSES OF YOUR FRIENDS

Extraordinary people celebrate a lot and it is easy for the ordinary person to say sure, “That is because they have so much to celebrate.” I ask, is it possible that they have so much to celebrate about because they do celebrate, rather than let even small successes go by unnoticed.

But I believe what makes the extraordinary person truly extraordinary is that they are just as quick to celebrate the large and even small successes of their friends.

Be extraordinary and look for opportunities to celebrate yours and your friends successes, both big and small.

THIS WEEK’S POLL

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

“there is nothing more beautiful in life
than celebrating the talents, dreams,
joys, and accomplishments of another being
to see – and call attention to – the best in someone else…”

Source: Kate Mullane Robertson

SELF-HELP BOOKS IN ADDITION TO MY OWN

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

I wish I could write a self-help book as good as the one David Brown wrote, The Rest of Your Life is The Best of Your Life. He was a gentleman who truly celebrated life and he was also the husband of Helen Gurley Brown.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I think this is my favorite movie because it is about a person who lives the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. Isn’t that what we are all trying to do!

CONCLUSION

If you like this blog, please pass it on to your friends. Also, I would appreciate your support by liking my Facebook page Harmony Books & Films, LLC.