Opinions, Musings, and Meanderings from A Rich Idea...

Looking Up

I walked through the city the other day on streets I have walked thousands of times. I have never stepped in a pothole or unintentionally bumped into anybody. But, I realized, I had seen so little because I had failed to look up.

Look up.

It’s something that you infrequently do; nobody does.

We all have to look straight ahead. This is a given. Imagine if you did not look straight ahead when you were performing life’s most basic tasks…like driving. TV, something all of us do all the time, would certainly be less enjoyable if we did not look straight ahead-it would be like radio!

Remember the days when radio ruled? You probably do not because you were not alive. Those people who would remember the radio days are not reading this because they are not currently on the Internet…they are listening to the radio.

Top Ten Fraudulent Self-Help Gurus: #1, M. Scott Peck

M. Scott Peck leads my list of the top fraudulet self-help gurus. This may come as a surprise to many of his devotees but let’s at least discuss the possibility.

I never liked him because the first line of his famous book, The Road Less Traveled, says Life is Difficult.

My mom and her friends all read this book. My mom used to constantly remind me that yes, Richard, Life Is Difficult. This got me depressed. And my mom’s friends too. Hence, the future success of Prozac Nation.

What To Do When You’re Procrastinating?

If you’re wondering what you should do when you’re procrastinating, I might just have a quick answer for you.

You see, as I write this, it is the day after St. Patrick’s day. Being part Irish, you might be able to guess why I would like to procrastinate right now after last nights’ activities.

How about you? What’s your reason for procrastinating?

I have many more things that I should be doing…marketing my SEO software, writing an article on one of many topics that I’ve jotted down, or preparing for the impending visit from a “friend” who is upset with me because she says that I was “flirty” last night.

Hillary’s Hypocrisy

Did Hillary Clinton fail in her Presidential bids because people found her hypocritical? I wrote this piece back in 2008 when she was running against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

We all know what happened in 2008 … and then again in 2016, when we witnessed the instructive election of Donald Trump.

Some people find Hillary dislikable, others disingenuous, and still others hypocritical.

These were my thoughts back in 2008. Let me know what you think.

My Condition

The word for it currently escapes me. (I think that it will come to me within two paragraphs). But I am semi-it.

I haven’t even had two sips of coffee yet and I don’t know that the brain is turned on. Although, when I was in bed, debating whether to arise, thoughts were rapid-fire but in a mellow feel good fashion, not frenetic. That may be the perfect state. In bed, all comfy, enjoying ideas a-flowing. Perhaps I should go back.

Contacting Paulo Coelho, Part III, The Email

(Read Contacting Paulo Coelho… to learn the background of this email)

Dear Paulo Coelho,

In The Alchemist, you mention that “…when someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”Read More

Contacting Paulo Coelho, Part II

(click here to read part I of the story)

David knew what that normal life entailed. He had lived it the past 5 years. At 28, he thought, if I go back now, that will be it. I will probably never return. And he was probably right.

A traveler who returns home from his journeys always wants to travel again. Perhaps he need not travel to the same physical place, but he will want to travel to recapture the feeling, the spirit, the adventure of meeting new people and having new experiences each day. He wants to, but he probably won’t.Read More

Contacting Paulo Coelho…

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I am seated in South America writing. Would I be seated here writing Contacting Paulo Coelho were it not for The Alchemist? Probably, but not certainly.

Redneck Hats You Need

As I have been Crackle Barrel Travelin’ through the Southern States, I came across someone my many years in California nearly made me forget: The Southern Redneck.

We often have a bit of fun with the notion of The Redneck, but they possess highly prized ideas which can be valuable to remember. Things like: Beer is good, even when it’s not imported. Go for it-she’s a second cousin. And, of course, you don’t need to finish high school when you can get your GED.

Beyond the iPad: The True Legacy of Steve Jobs

For many, the legacy of Steve Jobs may be the device you hold in your hand or the computer on which you are reading this right now. But the true legacy of Steve Jobs is not one of technology, but of life.

In the many accounts of the life of Steve Jobs recently written, we read articles such as how Steve Jobs changed the way we interact with music and how Steve Jobs Told Us What We Needed Before We Knew. Certainly, Steve Jobs will be remembered 100 years from now for the way he created the perfect marriage between art and technology.