Postcards from the Funny Farm

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Did you ever see a superhero movie where the hero finds the villain’s lair only to hear upon entry:

Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.

Then there is a ghoulish laugh like “bwah ha ha ha ha” or something like that? That scene is pretty common in superhero shows. It’s possible audiences relate with it so well because we all have metaphorical villains that we fear. When our fear materializes it seems composed and set on destroying us. In those scenarios, fear has control, we do not. Wouldn’t it be great if when our fear shows itself we could say to it:

And I have been expecting you!

Preparation to meet our “villain” is the key to good mental health. Sorry if the picture is too scary, but I thought it accentuated my point well. The villain is not for kids.

If you go back and read my post on the REBT psychology method you will see that our belief about adversity is what determines our action and consequence. Wrong beliefs about things defeat us. At the present time, these posts of inspiration and good mental health are my favorite to write.  If your greatest fear is to lose your job, which is probably mine in all honesty even though I have a pretty secure job, then ask yourself why does that scare you so much. Is your worth 100% in your job? I know mine isn’t. As you begin analyzing that fear and asking “Why?” you can become prepared for the fear when it comes up. Classic example of REBT: Your boss calls you into his office. Do you panic? This is your villain manifesting itself. There is no need to panic if you meet him prepared. Your greatest fear is probably not even going to happen and imagine how much trouble you’ll save yourself by not being so concerned. You can beat that villain and another and another until ideally fear no longer has a hold over you (I am not there quite yet). It’s a great thing when defeat a villain, despite his size.

REBT is my latest excitement to blog about, thought it is certainly nothing new. As I close, let me draw your attention to another psychological marvel that shows us really all our collective villains I guestblogged about in a simple list:

The 10 Cognitive Distortions. These are the biggies to watch out for.  Remember this ‘aint no movie, this is your one shot at a life.

Now, go get yourself prepared to meet the villain.

Dave Sharp has been my guitar hero since I was a kid. If you’ve read this blog for an extended period of time, you probably know that. One summer I got to actually meet and play guitar with the guy. It was such an amazing summer vacation for me. I traveled down to where he was and we would play coffee houses and bars in between recording my music. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top that summer vacation … but never say never right? This post is about a company called DialaFlight that can make these sorts of trips happen … for less! Check it out:

For years I have read on the Dave Sharp forums about music festivals and pow-wows with other fans in places from Salford, UK to Toronto and wanted forlornly to get myself over there. Usually it’s the money that holds me back, but unfortunately I come up with a motherlode of other excuses. Very soon I plan to finally go to an event like this. When I do I will use a company I found called Dialaflight that offers the cheapest flights to Toronto.

Their consultants take all your info over the phone and create an itenerary for you that is top notch and highly competitive price-wise. If you are looking for a great travel agency that does it all for you in the UK, Alaska, Toronto regions, check these guys out.

I’ve written about many of my heroes here at the Funny Farm but none of them are quite as special to me as Dr. Seuss. Maybe it’s because he is a proponent of reading or maybe it’s because he is wacked out of his mind (like he’s from the funny farm here with us). Whatever the reason, I get inspired by Dr. Seuss and inspiration is the most valuable thing when you’re setting a goal for greatness. You are doing that aren’t you? Check out his life:

When Theodor Geisel was a young child, long before he would become Dr. Seuss, he used to mark in books. He had a set of books he had made his own by putting drawings and writings in. This should have been a clear indicator to his parents that one day his books would change the world. I am sure in their wildest dreams they never would have imagined what this young boy would one day do. Letting his imagination run wild was the first thing he did to set his dream in motion. These pictures made him happy. Following what made him happy would eventually make millions happy.

When Theodore got older and graduated college, he decided he wanted to write children’s books. He spent a lot of time and energy making his first book, an ABC book. No one published it. He felt rejected. He did not write another book for four years. This is identical to the experience of another great artist I have writ.... Neither gave up altogether though. Both rose to great acceptance after a major rejection. I think this is very important for us to note. Have you been rejected at something? How many years will you let pass you by before trying again. While we’re at it, can you imagine how cool it would be to have a copy of that ABC book that got rejected? Something to remember when people reject your work.

In 1936, Dr. Seuss was on a boat to Tudor. He heard the engines “talking to him” in the sounds they made. Standing there at the engine he “heard” the idea for another book attempt. This is probably one of the most quirky stories I have ever heard. That’s why I love it so much. I am like that. I hear my car creak and talk to me, I hear lots of strange sources of inspiration every day. I am also quirky. Are you? Don’t look at it as a bad thing. Being from the “funny farm” so-to-speak is a good thing. Just ask Dr. Seuss.

The quirky book that was borne out of the engine sounds was And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. Now 50 years later it is one of Dr. Seuss’ most favorited book by children all over the world. After that is time in a blender history. Dr. Seuss has published hundreds of books since then, as you likely already know.

Theodor Geisel had a goal: he wanted to write books that were easy to read. As he worked for that goal he brought millions of people happiness and taught millions to read: including me as a young child!

Currently set for release is Horton Hears a Who. A major motion picture created from another Dr. Seuss masterpiece. When millions watch it they will be seeing a product of a quirky writer who had a vision and kept at it. The message of this book is that even the smallest person can make a difference. What a message!!! We all wish he could have given us more. He is a lesson to me to never stop giving. No matter who tells you you aren’t good enough or smart enough or _____ enough, just remember Dr, Seuss and how the Funny Farm, or our quirky thoughts, can become the bank and do a lot of good on earth as well. March 6th is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Read one of his books and start making your crazy dream happen!

Has the life of Dr. Seuss affected you?

Playing small bars and coffee houses has been a hobby of mine with my guitar since I was a teenager. I love it and even though it can be a lot of torturous work getting up there (mostly the process before the show) it is worth it every time.

Last night I played Angels Roadhouse in Apple Valley. My time was for 9:30p so my wife and I went out and got Italian at Mama Carpinos. We actually met up with her parents to eat which was cool because with them talking and stuff I forget about any nerves that might try to creep in. Anyway, we ate and I was feeling that “after Italian” buzz you get when you eat raviolis from a great restaurant. We got our hands stamped at the door and walked in to get a table.

The first band were under 21. We knew this because of the large magic marker “X” on all their hands. If you haven’t been to a club before, it means they can’t buy drinks. They all had Pink Floyd shirts on which was cool. I thought they might sound like Pink Floyd but I was wrong. They were kind of a hybrid of Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails. Another thing I noticed were their MOPS of hair. I’ve gone bald and what I have left I shave every month. But when I was that age, I had the same mop thiing happening. They had a lot of passion. Unfortunately the lead singer’s guitar was way out of tune. I kept fighting the urge to hop onstage and tune it for him. I could even tell what strings were out. If you know these sorts of things and are watching, it is just awful to go through. Eventually, they did finish and I was asked to take the stage.

It was a great set. I felt good singing. I played a few REM songs which I haven’t done for a while. When I said they were my favorite band, a few people gave out a rave. What shocked me was when I successively announced band names that no one had heard of:

• The Goo Goo Dolls
• The JayHawks
• Toad the Wet Sprocket

I thought these were common bands/household names. Guess I am a bit obtuse there.  If it had been a band name game show, I’d have taken the grand prize.

Songs by all those bands brought huge applause. In a way then I suppose I had some influence. Keeping the good stuff alive is part of what I see myself as doing out there.

I like paying out because it gives me a chance to share the goodness i have found in music and spread it around the desert … and beyond.

Have you heard my music on MySpace?

This blogger is very excited about his RealRank badge (see right sidebar top). As I have written in the past, RealRank is based on concrete data that makes it easier to make an improvement plan and to know truly how you rank as a blogger. You will not hear about PageRank here much anymore, even if Google decides to generously “bestow” it upon me again. You can get your RealRank badge by clicking on mine. Remember that in some ways Google rules the world but in many other ways, life goes on outside its motherly skirt. RealRank and Izea is one of those places. I also have an animated Mickey Mouse link to Disney.com on my site. You’ll have to wait until a future post to find out what that’s about ;) Most my die-hard readers know that Walt Disney is one of my heroes, so it really isn’t too hard to figure out. Don’t think about it too much now, you’ll get a headache.

Now go out and get your RealRank!

What do you think of a ranking system to rival PageRank?

I’ve officially become a “regular” contributor over at Edublogs magazine which is edited by Lorelle VanFossen. This is an enormous sense of arrival for me in my writing career since education is my life and coming up fast behind is blogging.

Lorelle has been a hero of mine in blogging for quite a while now. She has designed some amazing themes that I have copied and learned form. She has offerred challenges to the blogging community to certain topics. These have helped me create some of my best posts at Postcards. Now, I have fallen into working with her at edublogs magazine: dedicated to furthering the cause of blogs in the classrooms. It is one of those senses of arrivals that one never forgets.

I have started a series today there on technology in the classroom. My second post is now up:

Powerpoint as Teaching Tool
I encourage you to read it and leave your comments over there. We’re trying to create buzz for this new magazine. even if you aren’t in education as a profession, your comments and opinions are valuable there and very welcomed to building a community! If you do comment there, I will stumble-review a post on your blog by way of thanks. This will bring you some nice traffic stats.

Respectfully requested by,

Your Damien Riley (the guy from the funny farm sending you postcards each day)

Lorelle has a blog challenge this week to blog about a time when you felt “big.” I thought it was a perfect opportunity to write a memoir here on when I met two of my all-time life heroes.

The first one was Dave Sharp, ex-guitarist of the eighties neo-punk arena band: “The Alarm.” If you’re age 30 and above, you might recall some of their radio hits: “Sold Me Down the River,” “Rain in the Summertime,” “68 Guns,” “The Stand,” and a few others.

Here is one of their amazing videos from 1984, it still blows me away (check out the hosts’ mullets!)

I had every album memorized. I started listening to his music when I was 13 or 14 and learned all his guitar work by ear. When I joined my own band at age 16, I was throwing out chords and riffs I’d either stolen from him or adapted to my own style. But he was more than a guitar model to me, I identified with what he said in interviews and I tried to model much of my life after things he said either in the media or live in concert (I saw them live about 10-15 times).At age 23, I saw in the paper Dave was coming to town to do an acoustic show. I wanted to meet him personally. Not only because he was so cool, but because I wanted to hire him to play guitar on a single we were recording.

After the show I waited outside a while and soon, Dave emerged with a security guy. He had come out to talk to a few fans and sign some autographs. I met him then, gave him a tape of my music with the proposal inside and within a few weeks, his agent called me accepting my offer.Well, you can imagine the blissful events that followed. I worked with him several days in the studio that year and a couple years later we did another song together. Nothing much became of my music in the mainstream, but the experiences forever changed me. Rock n Roll means more to me than it ever did before. You can hear Dave on guitar on these two songs I wrote and recorded him below:

Talk to Me
People

The second connection I had with a hero was just a few months ago. I am a public elementary school teacher and as a result, I work to increase my students’ scores on the California Standards Test every year. Countless times since I started teaching I have gone to the CDE.ca.gov website and seen the Superintendent of Instruction, Jack OConnell, on the front page. Here’s picture of Jack in my classroom. To the right is Herb Fischer, Superintendent of San Bernardino County.

Jack is the top. Not too long ago, my Principal told me he was coming to visit due to our school’s incredible growth in scores. She told me he wanted to see “EDI” which is a style of teaching we have started doing and that I am a certified coach for. He came in and watched a lesson along with the local paper and all the Principals in the district. I got to meet him and we discovered we both went to the same college, California State University, Fullerton. Wow. It was truly a “big” moment for me and I will never forget the power of working hard for something and then getting recognized in that way.

Apart from the births of my children, those are 2 of my most biggest moments: “XXL.”

Could you blog about a time when you felt “big?”