Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

 

Give Thanks:

Do not always ask when you pray, but instead affirm that God’s blessings are being given, and spend most of your prayers giving thanks.

No. 12 in a series of 100 Power Thoughts from The Power of Positive Thinking , the All-Time inspirational Best-Selling Book by Norman Vincent Peale.

Courtesy of PealeCenterforPositiveThinking.com

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This is from newshound Dave Barry’s colonoscopy journal:

…….I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenteritis, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis .

Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn’t really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, ‘HE’S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!’

I left Andy’s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called ‘MoviPrep,’ which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America ’s enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn’t eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor. Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, ‘a loose watery bowel movement may result.’ This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don’t want to be too graphic, here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and star t eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

After an action -packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, ‘What if I spurt on Andy?’ How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn’t thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

W hen everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand. There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA I remarked to Andy that, of a ll the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, ‘Dancing Queen’ has to be the least appropriate.

‘You want me to turn it up?’ said Andy, from somewhere behind me. ‘Ha ha, ‘ I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling ‘Dancing Queen, Feel the beat of the tambourine,’ and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

ABOUT THE WRITER
Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

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If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever.”

Eric Fromm

The Hill’s Market history as I remember hearing it was that Lee was originally from Paris – Paris, Tennessee that is.  Times were hard everywhere during the Great Depression, but especially so in small towns like Paris.  As I remember it, for a period of time Lee worked as a truck driver and I suppose his travels brought him as far north as Fort Wayne…this was probably thought of as a considerable distance in that day and age.  I don’t know all of the details or reasons behind it, but at some point Lee settled in Fort Wayne and opened his own grocery store, “Hill’s Market”, on Lower Huntington Road in Waynedale and even lived in the back room for a while.  Perhaps this was simply to try to establish a better life and earn a better living than he could in Tennessee.  All I know is that Waynedale gained a bit of southern hospitality thanks to the Hills.  I also have to confess that I fudged on Lee’s age…in the song I said he was 95, but you will notice his obituary says “91″….95 fit my rhyme scheme!

In my family’s world, some things happened, or actually didn’t happen in my parents reproductive years, such that the time span separating me from my brothers was so great that either one of them was old enough to be my father.  Needless to say, I first saw the light of day rather late in my parents’ lives and

both my maternal and paternal grandfathers had died young…5 or 6 years before my birth.  So, I never had a grandpa that I got to know and learn from as a kid.  That’s okay…it’s just the way it was.  But this is where granddaddy Hill came into the picture, and he probably didn’t even know it at the time. (but, maybe he did)

So, Lee was the closest thing I had to a grandfather and in fact, he never hesitated to offer advice either, even when I wasn’t asking.  I first got to know Lee when I was around 9 or 10.  I was best friends with Lee’s grandson, Rick Hill, who lived across the street from me in the “Indian Village” subdivision.  Before I ever even met Lee, he was already a folk legend in my mind as Rick talked about the exploits of “granddaddy” constantly and I knew Lee must have been a big influence on Rick too.  I would eventually get a job at Hill’s Market, but before I did, I was already coming under the influence of granddaddy.

Lee would come by Rick’s house from time to time usually in the course of working…either going to the store, coming back or driving off somewhere in quest of some great deal on a load of produce.  On one trip, at a tender 12 years old, I got to tag along on a trip through Parrot’s meat packing/slaughter house and boy, did I get an eyeful.  I still can remember seeing the entire slaughter and butchering process for the cattle and hogs going through.  It was one bloody place let me tell you.  On another memorable excursion, granddaddy again stopped by Rick’s house to see if he wanted to go on a drive in the truck to pick up a load of lettuce, and Rick wanted me to come along.  So, my mom gladly gave her permission.  What none of us, except Lee, knew was that we were actually going on a trip to the other end of the state!  By the time we got back home 6 hours later, my mom was a bit beside her self, but very relieved to see that we were okay.  Can you believe there were no cell phones back then?!

Eventually, I got a regular job at Hill’s market and ended up working with Lee quite a bit.  Whether he knew it or not, I was learning a lot from him, besides being able to say “yonder” and “hnnnuh, boy”.  Lee always encouraged me to work smart, to work hard, to “use both hands”, and it impressed me a lot when I saw him put extra free groceries in a struggling customer’s bag after they had paid.  Lee was known by a variety of affectionate names:  Granddaddy, Dad, “wild man”, the Duke….but I just called him Lee.  So, here’s to you Lee, The Wild Man From Tennessee.  Thanks for the memories.

Here’s the song:  Wild Man From Tennessee

As was mentioned in the introduction, Lance does not get bogged down in psychoanalyzing his past.  (BTW, I love the Eagles “Get Over It” from their Hell Freezes Over CD.)

None of us go through life without any struggles, with a perfect childhood, and Lance certainly didn’t either.  He had his own share of difficulties as a kid:  A broken home, disappointing father figures, no money, a snobby school, etc.  But one of the key differences for Lance is that he simply chooses to not waste time dwelling on the negative.  Process it and don’t carry it around for 6 months.  The bible has a quote that deals with this kind of thing: “…do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Ephesians 4:26)

Lance praises his mom, Linda Armstrong Kelly, for her influence on him.  Linda, pregnant at 16 years old, was kicked out of the house.  But she too chose (note the active, act of the will again) to survive and succeed.  Linda’s answer to every setback was to push back, to try harder, to try a different way, to try smarter.  Her attitude was, “It’s okay to lose, but never quit!”

Lance would get the opportunity to put these lessons to the test many times, but perhaps the biggest test would be enduring and overcoming cancer and this was before he ever won a Tour de France.  Per Wikipedia,  “Prior to this, he also survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was not originally considered to be great.”

What did Lance have to say about his cancer?  “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”  (pg. 6) I see Linda reflected in Lance’s reaction to his cancer.  He made a conscious choice to make the best of it and process the event in a positive way instead of wallowing in self-pity.  He never dwells on defeats - always thinks of the next race and how training needs to change to improve.

The last thing that stood out to me in this chapter, that can definitely apply to us as songwriter and musicians. That was the idea that you should not spend your time and energy either trying to emulate some celebrity who is your hero, or spend your time trying and hoping that you will get to meet them in the hope that this experience will somehow change or transform you.  1)  You will probably never get the opportunity to meet this person, and 2) Even if you did, it might not make that much difference anyway.

The last page of chapter 1 has a great some great advice:

If a book is as close as you will ever get to Lance, maybe that should suffice.  Take inspiration from Lance’s words and example of how to live life to the fullest.  Then go out and make a difference in the world and inspire others to do the same.  In doing so, you will honor yourself and also Lance as an inspirational component to your success.  With this arrangement, you are connected in a far more meaningful way than having an autographed photo hanging on your wall.” (pg. 21)

• Have you ever failed as a musician?
• How did you deal with it?
• Did you run and hide and pout and refuse to sing or play in public again?  Or refuse to ever show anyone one of your songs again?
• Or did you get back up, dust yourself off and ask yourself what you need to change to do better next time?

So, there you go.  Be yourself.  Don’t pout.  Get over it.  Get going and get working.

See you next time.

Part of this is because of what I have come to realize is my larger purpose and mission, especially in regard to this site, my songs, my nursing home ministry, my life with a child living with autism, having endured many years of infertility and failed attempts at achieving pregnancy and as an adoptive parent:

I must heed Christ’s call as so eloquently echoed by the late, Great Pope John Paul II to proclaim the Gospel of Life.

This linking continues outward beyond strictly autism, but to anyone struggling with a developmental, medical or aging condition such as Down’s syndrome, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, dementia, alzheimers or whatever affliction aging might throw at someone.

Due to my progression through this thought process, you will notice that as of today, I have modified the  tag line on my web site to now read, “Chris Hartzog dot Com - Music From and For Autism, Dementia and Alzheimer’s”

One area of big concern for guitar players is the shoulders.  Whether you’re playing a Stratocaster, a Les Paul or I think even more so with an acoustic guitar, such as my Martin, it is a problem.  This is equally true to computer users who spend hours hunched over a keyboard like my Dell laptop, or maybe your MacBook Pro.  To counteract hunched, pulled forward shoulders, you need to stretch your pectoralis (chest) muscles.  This is an exercise recommended by my physical therapist:

Go to a corner, put your hands out on each corner about eye level and lean in.  Hold this stretch for 4-5 seconds and relax.  Repeat this several times, stretching those muscles in the chest.  This will help lengthen and relax the pec muscles so they don’t pull your shoulders forward as much.

Be sure to do this any time you have been playing your guitar for awhile…or if you have been working on the computer.

My current reading list includes “How Lance Does It” by Brad Kearns

I love reading stories about successful people and who is a better example of a success story than Lance Armstrong?

I think for my own edification and yours, if you are reading this, I will begin a series of posts on my progress through the book and give my thoughts on how the “Lance method” might apply to us as songwriters, guitar players, or whatever kind of instrument you play.

So, there’s no better way to begin than by simply beginning. So, today,I will begin with the beginning! Here are some highlights and my thoughts on what I have read so far:

Introduction

• The basis of Lance’s secret is his pure joy of living life and riding his bicycle.

• Lance’s approach to his sport and life is simple and clean.

Lance tends to live in the moment and does not get bogged down in complex psychological “issues”. Rather, his attitude is best summed up by his statement, “When it’s raining, I just put on my rain jacket and go.” How can we apply this to our own “bad weather” of our own lives? We might not be training for the Tour de France, but we all have stress that comes into our lives, unexpected crises, etc. Do you discipline yourself to write that next verse and just pick up your pencil and go, or do you get sidetracked and distracted with other issues and make excuses to waste time thinking about or worrying about things?

The Lance Success Factors

1. A Positive Attitude: He chooses to interpret past and present experiences in a positive manner. Note the emphasis on choice and free will. This resonates with the “psychology of mind” school of thought (also known as “health realization”) that says that the thoughts we think dictate the feelings we will experience and the best part is that we have the power to choose our thoughts. You don’t like how you are feeling? Think about something different!

2. Clarity of Purpose: Lance Armstrong knows what he wants and he makes the sacrifices needed to reach his goals.

3. Specialized Intelligence: You don’t need to know everything in the world, but you should hone your skills and deepen your knowledge about your chosen area.

4. Pure Confidence: There is an old fashioned way of achieving confidence and building a positive self image: Doing it! Work hard and achieve your goals and you will feel good about yourself and you won’t need others to tell you.

Well, that’s my all for this installment. You might want to get your own copy of the book and read along.

Aloha.

…ran this story earlier this year and I was horrified. I talked it up with some of my family and friends at the time, but now I realize that I need to get the word out to a larger audience. Part of this is because of what I have come to realize is my larger purpose and mission, especially in regard to this site, my songs, my nursing home ministry, my life with a child living with autism, having endured many years of infertility and failed attempts at achieving pregnancy and as an adoptive parent:

I must heed Christ’s call as so eloquently echoed by the late, Great Pope John Paul II to proclaim the Gospel of Life.

We must all respect life.

This is the most fundamental of rights and it cuts across all religions, races, and regions. It cannot be a political issue. It is basic. Everyone has an inalienable right to life from the moment of conception until natural death. There are no qualifiers. This right applies to everyone regardless of age, young or old, intelligence, sex, or physical or mental health.

In the case of Bill Trask, what happened? How could so many people watch him suffer and not intervene? What can we do to change the system? What can we do to change ourselves - our own attitudes towards people who appear “different”?

The Developmentally Disabled Behind Bars

Bill Trask walked into that jail healthy and left so damaged he can’t even feed himself. His story opens a window into the treatment of the developmentally disabled behind bars in Washington State.

The KING5 story was focused on Washington state, but this issue applies everywhere.

You can see the entire investigation story here, on KING 5.