Postcards from the Funny Farm

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If there is one post worthy of you slowing down to read today, it is this one. The writing contest results are in and posted here. It was a truly enjoyable time gathering the posts for this writing contest. Congratulations to the winners. To all who participated I say thank you for sharing your amazing visions with me, my readers, and the interweb.

I chose this topic for my contest because I have always been fascinated by Amazing Visionaries. They range from Walt Disney (photo: wikipedia) to Pat Rodgers (my grandfather). By watching their moves, I have been able to recreate some of that success in my own life. And I have written about it.

I heard a story many years ago about how the new tellers at banks get to spend a week handling money … nothing more. The reasoning behind this was so that the tellers could detect a fact having been made so familiar with the real. When we study the look of a successful person’s moves, we too can avoid being duped by false success stories. Just like the well known authorize.net spots fraudulent consumers, so these posts will help you spot the bad examples as well as the ones to follow.

The stories mentioned here are the “real deal.” By collecting them and putting them in one place, hopefully it will rub off on us. If you enjoyed the links, please bookmark this page, as well as the permalinks individually, and share them with others. In my opinion, now more than ever, the world needs more amazing visions! I think you will be inspired by what you read here.

Below are the 6 winning urls for “Amazing Visions: Blog Carnival Edition 2.” After that are links to all the entries. Why hold them back when inspiration is so lacking in our times! I hope you enjoy reading all of them as much as I did. Stay tuned to Postcards for Edition 3 in the near future.

TOP 3

1. How I got Started with Blogging and Freelance Writ... by Michael Kwan
2. Mother Teresa on Love by Chelle
3. How to become what you want to become, in about tw... posted at I Will Not Die.

Honorable Mentions

1. An Entry from Torri’s Travels by Torri
2. Nick’s Entry on Randy Pausch posted at Romandock
3. Amazing Vision - Mahatma Gandhi posted at Growing Happiness.

Though they didn’t get in the top three, these highly well written posts are the rest of these amazing visions . . . Please read them, you will find strength and inspiration. (Thank you again to these bloggers!) -in no particular order …

Josh Waitzkin an Inspiring Performer by Isabella Mori

A One Man Peacekeeping Force by Alexander

She’s Inspiration by Katelynjane

How Hokusai can Inspire Designers and Bloggers posted at Designer Daily

The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone - How In The World D... posted at Shattered Paradigm.

Privilege to Be with a Loved One at the Time of De... posted at Andy, saying, “My dad was one of my greatest heroes. This is my tribute to his legacy.”

(and one of my own I just threw in at the end!)

Amazing People and Things by Damien Riley

Hi :) You may have noticed the new theme. I thought a magazine layout was the way to go. It leaves more space for networking and ads while accentuating the feature article on the front page. Let me know if you find any bugs and/or stuff I missed updating. The contest ends Tuesday so be sure and get your entry written. Get info here.

I was out by the pool this weekend and spent some time in between swims with my best friend Eric Stefani and my son “flying” on the trampoline.

This was an excellent “exercise in play” and as a result my mind is filled with creative possibilities. Anyway, I picked 8 to post. Just click on the photo to see the album.

If you have a trampoline, you should do a little flying whenever you can. If you’re like me, it will do wonders.

A realistic note on play: We obviously can’t play every day of our lives. For many people, their home office is where they spend the most time. If that’s the case for you, I have an excellent resource to recommend. You can shop on line for the best “most playful” if you like office furniture. In any case, get your environment the way you want it: then play!

Since blogs are read daily and posts from yesterday are rarely read, I thought I’d post all the entries to my contest, even though it’s before the 1st (2 days away to be exact).

Anyway, I’m researching an idea for a series and don’t have anything better to post today (Sunday) so here’s a recap of the contest guidelines and prizes and links to all the entries so far. I hope you all enjoy reading them! There are technically two days left to enter. I will announce the winners on the 1st and link them all again. So far the hippie in me has been inspired! I’m about ready to find a bus for sale and head out on the road. See what they do for you!

THE CONTEST:

There will be 2 big winners and 3 honorable mentions. The 2 will get box ads to their blogs for a month free of charge along with optional custom-made 125×125 glass buttons courtesy of our design company, Create and Innovate Designs. Each will also receive a thoughtful writeup about their blog linked back from here in a post.

The 3 honorable mentions will also get a customized glass button to use as they wish along with a free review here and Google-juice linkback of their blog.

HERE’S THE AMAZING VISIONS SO FAR:

The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone - How In The World D... posted at Shattered Paradigm.

Privilege to Be with a Loved One at the Time of De... posted at Andy, saying, “My dad was one of my greatest heroes. This is my tribute to his legacy.”

The Silva Mind Control Method posted at Effortless Wealth and Abundance.

How to become what you want to become, in about tw... posted at I Will Not Die.

What is there to Know About Diet Pills?? posted at HealthyBitz.

Amazing Vision - Mahatma Gandhi posted at Growing Happiness.

Amazing Things - Inspiration in life, blogging, writing, work, love, living posted at Postcards from the Funny Farm.

How I Got Started with Blogging and Freelance Writ... posted at Beyond the Rhetoric.

It Might Be Love » Blog Archive » Mother Teresa ... posted at It Might Be Love.

Amazing Vision Writing Contest posted at Barbara`s Travels…at home in the world!!!!!.

One-Man Peacekeeping Force posted at Our Evolution.

She?s Inspiration - Amazing Visions Contest posted at Katelynjane’s Notebook.

Nick’s Entry on Randy Pausch posted at Romandock

I have a job where I am constantly second guessing things I can say and examples I can give as to their apporpriateness.  I teach 9 year olds.  Through the years I have learned that humor can open up closed minds to learning so I have many “rated G” stories I apply to lessons when appropriate.  Sometimes, however, I find out things I thought were appropriate were not taken as such by parents.  When you start your year as a teacher and with a new class, you are not just speaking to 30 kids you are speaking to their parents and anyone else you can imagine in their world as well.  Some parents might have quite lower moral compasses than you and others much higher.  Hence the healthy fear thing :)

A classic example is when 2 years ago I showed a scene from “Nacho Libre” as part of a science lesson on muscles.  In my house, we all love Nacho Libre.  Jack Black is one of my favorite actors since he did “High Fidelity” with John Cusack and his recent more kid-friendly movies are all on our shelf.  Nonetheless, when the 24 year old mother met me at my classroom door and ordered me very vehemently to not show that anymore in class, I was taken aback.  It’s amazing how we have the actors and musicians of the world pulling in millions per video and/or CD telling our culture what’s funny and then we have teachers barely making it on 30-80K a year and we have to sort through it all to determine what’s appropriate for class.  Balanced?

A footnote to that story is that the child came up to me a year later and shared with me that her parents finally rented the DVD and now the family loves it.

As a teacher you have to be constantly aware of what “might” offend.  That might be a good trait for my writing/blogging job as well.  But then again, they say controversy sells print.

When I first started teaching in Santa Ana, California at a little inner city school called Diamond Elementary, I first got a sting on this issue.  As some of you know, my best friend Eric Stefani, not only started a famous band called “No Doubt” in the late 80’s, but also spent many years on the payroll as an animator for the Simpsons, Ren and Stimpy, and other excellent animated series through the 90’s and 2000’s.  I wanted my kids to see the enthusiasm in his career, since they had little in their lives.  I asked him to come in and speak to them about being an animator.  He came in and did a great job for someone not accustomed to speaking to kids.  It was all good until the end when he showed an uncensored video of a Simpsons episode.  He was explaining how not everything makes it to TV.  It wasn’t much, just a guy getting his cartoon head lopped off with an axe.  The Principal was concerned and let me know.

Since I shared that with my friend he’s been much more reticent to speak to my kids.  For example, my summer school kids want him to speak to them and he might be hesitant if I asked him.  In fact, I probably won’t out of respect for him.

I can’t complain about the fear of offending since I chose my profession as a grownup (27 in 1997 now 39 in 2008).  But I do wish sometimes people didn’t worry so much about shielding kids from the world they are only a few years from.  As a teacher, my goal is to not just impart knowledge but ignite in them a zest for the world they live in. 

When people judge teachers for what they present, they should take intent strongly into consideraton.  Have you ever offended someone without realizing it?

My humorously titled post got picked up by a Wordpress Blog Carnival. It’s their 1st edition, may it live long and prosper, along with Wordpress.

I talked with my mom today on the phone and she had an amazing quote for me. Without sounding like a typical son, I have to tell you that I have one of the smartest moms on Earth.  She taught preschool for 20 years and holds a degree in history from Cal State Fullerton. There are other accolades, one of which includes raising a son who writes a blog from the funny farm (borderline accolade LOL) … anyway, read what I have to say about her quote won’t you?

As we chatted about certain woes people in our extended family like job lay-offs and divorces, (Thankfully not me! Our advice was for people not in the conversation, ever have that kind of phone convo?) Anyway, she offerred me some simple advice as I was trying to give some to her. We were talking about how important it is to be conscious only in the “now.” As Eckhart Tolle says: “The past is just a dream, the future never comes. All we have is now.”  She said this quote that I absolutely love:

Learn how to find peace between the things that happen.

Now, I don’t normally write about the phone conversations I have with mom. She’s a great lady and like I have said, she raised me! BUT this one was so great and helped me so much this morning (even when I didn’t even think I needed help!) I had to share it with my readers before I started teaching today. Remember it … we all ought to. To read more about Eckhart Tolle, read my latest article published at BlogCritics where I discuss Consciousness and the Current Recession in America. Have the best day of your life! (another lifelong quote of my Mom’s)

In this post, I want to promote CRISS ANGEL Believe at Luxor Las Vegas. Furthermore, I want to let you know about the current Text Message contest where you could win 2 tickets to ‘CRISS ANGEL Believe’. (awesome opportunity!)

Most people have prior knowledge of Houdini. he was arguably the greatest illusionist of all time. His tricks consisted of chaining himself in odd places and then escaping them in front of large audience the world over. In many ways, Harry Houdini and Criss Angel do the same thing. If you have seen Criss Angel on TV however, you know his act is upgraded with effects and of course: television. This doesn’t mean Criss Angel doesn’t take great risks as Harry Houdini did. In fact, the stuff he does is pretty scary. It keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I’ve seen his show “Mindfreak” on tv and I can tell you he doesn’t hold back. I recall seeing one where he put hooks into his back and was lifted by a helicopter. YIKES. I’ve heard his live shows are stellar and you walk away staggering once you’ve seen his illusions. He is playing next at the Luxor in Las Vegas and as you know Vegas is so close to us, we can almost hear them setting up from my backyard. Okay I’m exaggerating. But it’s only 3 hours away from me.

The Cirque de Soleil performance called “Believe” is quite exciting. The concept of belief is all but disappeared from our society today so I find the concept and title alone to be exciting and worth going to see. To go into the amazing acrobatics of a Cirque de Soleil show and be touched with Criss Angel’s magic to boot will be a treat indeed and one everyone in the area (or who can get to the area) should try and experience. What a combo!

Finally, I want to touch on the current Text Message contest and the information and give you the text codes for the contest (Text ‘Believe’ to 22122 to win 2 tickets to ‘CRISS ANGEL Believe‘). If this sounds cool to you, wouldn’t free tickets rock? I just texted mine in with fingers crossed!

Some people may know and some people may not know that a lot of products associated with marijuana, sometimes referred to as bud, are 100% legal. Furthermore, I understand there are even some forms of the bud itself that are legal! For that reason there are many dedicated stores, record stores and even websites these days that sell the stuff. Whether you partake of the herb or not, these stores may have some value to you for gifts, humor, or even just collectible reasons. I ran across a site recently that has better prices than anyone in the market so if you are interested in these products, I want to recommend it to you. It’s called, International Oddities, and they carry more stuff than you can shake a bong at!

Not only to they sell tons of products that you might see in a Cheech n Chong movie, but they also offer these combos that are really a bargain. This is my favorite thing they offer it is a combo of these valuable products:

Blueberry Bud Tube, Meltdown, Jel Pills, Bahli Bubble Bud Box

Price: $79.95 - a $100 value
* Free rolling machine, papers, samples + more

Like I said before, this site isn’t for everyone, but if it interests you you you should be buying these items from this site. In my research for this post, I checked out a few and all were much higher and less easy to access through the website.

Just 5 days left ’til the deadline for the “Amazing Visions,” Blog Carnival.  Congratulations to the folks who have submitted their posts already.  If you want in this edition, just write a post about someone who has shown vision and inspiration through their life.  They deserve your recognition, and we would love to be inspired by their story.

Use the handy widget below to submit your post.  (Thanks to the blogcarnival folks for making such an awesome automated widget!) Questions?  Drop me a line.

*Note: If you submitted your post to me manually or in a pingback you may not see it on the instacarnival until the deadline. The carnival is a new undertaking for me so I appreciate your patience as I learn by DOing to be a better host.