Bad Break: A Cold War Poem

Bad Break

agitation

face white

deep breath

hold tight

run down

look round

hope hard

underground

ten seconds

ten years

dull moans

shrieked fears

wild thoughts

no tears

eyes wide

all ears

push shove
hide fast

screen view

whole past

breathe deep
make haste

taste death

bad taste

sky tear

bright light

no air

stomach tight

flame flash
all ash

ed newman ~ 1982
Published in Zenith City Arts, 1986

Total Recall

The movie's premise is preposterous and must be accepted for what it is: entertainment. Yet the story itself is filled with plot twists, significant moments where the hero must make choices, with consequences. Throughout we are treated to the basic struggle: what is real and what is not. And we root for the hero throughout.
Key quote of the film: "You are what you do. A man is defined by his action, not his memory."
Journal note, March 20, 1994

At the time I watched this film I did enjoy it. I think it interesting that one of the ever repeating themes in Hollywood is saving the world. Everybody wants to save to world. Arnold Schwartzenegger himself has been in several such films, including this one and most famously the Terminator series. Now, he is governor of California, exercising power and influence. Is it yet another example of life imitating art?

As for you, what are you doing to change your world? As Quatto said in Total Recall, "You are what you do." Be bold, and make a difference.

Quick note to my blog readers: if you click on the images, they will emerge in a pop up screen so you can view them in a larger format.

It's a Small, Small World

In 1889, Thomas Curtis Clarke opened his essay on "The Building of a Railway" with these words: "The world of today differs from that of Napolean more than his world differed from that of Julius Caesar; and this change has chiefly been made by railways." Little did he know how transfigured our world would become by the twenty-first century, first by the multiplying transportation routes, and later by communications.

Not too long ago I read a book by Stephen Ambrose about the building of the transcontinental railroad, the most ambitious engineering feat of the 19th century. Before the railroad there were three routes to California: overland, across the Panama Isthmus, and around South America's Cape Horn. The overland route was tedious, time consuming and dangerous. But travelling by sea proved no better. New York to California by boat, via Cape Horn, was a 196 day trip that included storms, seasickness, bad food and occasional shortages of water. The young, fit and ambitious who attempted to take the Panama shortcut had to risk life threatening fevers, and hope that a boat was waiting on the other side when they sloshed on through.

Financiers, engineers and an army of workers built the railroads. The nation reaped its benefits. The United States and her territories finally became acquainted. The size of our country began to shrink and become manageable. Relatives who went west no longer disappeared forever. They were eventually only days away.

In the last half of our century we've seen a further shrinking of our nation and the world. Airplane travel has become commonplace. California, once half a year's journey, was now less than half a day, once you include layovers. Indeed, the world keeps shrinking.

And frankly, I'm glad of it. Because last year my son got married and took his sweetheart to San Francisco. Thank goodness for email, cell phones and airplanes.

Lessons from the Virgin Billionaire

By studying the lives of exceptional people, we gain insights that may in turn help us to become exceptional. Here are some of the highlights from my recent readings on Richard Branson.

Founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Music, and more than 170 other companies Richard Branson epitomizes innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. The following excerpts from his autobiography Losing My Virginity illustrate several of the qualities which have helped formulate his success.

1. Motivated by something beyond money.
"Above all, you want to create something you are proud of.... That has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing."

2. The importance of a good name.
"All you have in life is your reputation: you may be very rich, but if you lose your good name, then you'll never be happy. The thought will always lurk at the back of your mind that people don't trust you. I had never really focused on what a good name meant before, but that night in prison made me understand."

3. Big picture thinking & creative problem solving
In his book, Branson tells the story of a Mike Oldfield concert that was to take place at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Oldfield, the featured artist, had decided he did not want to do it. This was a major promotional event, designed to bring visibility to Virgin Records' inaugural shining star.

Tickets had been sold, the concert all set to go and Oldfield, that morning, had determined not to perform. Branson's creative problem solving saved the day. The two went for a drive together in Branson's Bentley. After the drive, Branson asked if Mike would like the car, as a present. Mike said sure.

Branson said, "I'll get out here and walk home. You just keep on driving and the car is yours."

"Come off it! It was your wedding present."

"No, all you have to do is drive it around to Queen Elizabeth Hall and go up onstage tonight. It's yours."

Mike agreed. Tubular Bells eventually sold over thirteen million copies and became one of the best selling albums ever released in Britain.

4. Dreaming impossible dreams.
Writes Branson, "My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them." Hence, in addition to successes in business, Branson became first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon, the first across the Pacific, and the fastest to cross the Atlantic by boat. His life exhibits a "no limits" attitude that ever seeks to stretch the boundaries of what is achievable.

5. Success is not a formula, but it doesn't 'just happen.'
"To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can't guarantee it just by following someone else's formula." A swashbuckling entrepeneur who lives life to the full, Branson has seized life by the throat and given it all he's got. And from here? To think he's only half begun!

A World Turned On Its Head

Sometimes it just seems like life isn't fair. "Crime Pays." So it said on the front page of our local newspaper a number of years ago. The story: A woman embezzles $37,000. The judge sentences her to repay $3,000 and to remain grounded in her home for two months.

 

Wherever one turns one hears similar stories. Crime victims who have no rights. Criminals who seem to suffer no consequences for their crimes. Where is the justice in all this? 

But then, this is nothing new. 3,000 years ago the writer of Psalm 73 had been struck by a similar observation. As he looked on the prosperity of the wicked, their apparent success, their disregard for God or truth, and their mockery of heavenly things, he felt the same grief and dismay that we feel today. 

However, he did something unique. Rather than become embittered as he was tempted to be, he laid his complaint on God's doorstep and waited for an explanation. Had he been foolish to try to live a good life? No. There are rewards for those who seek to do what is right. And things aren't what they appear to be for those who choose to hurt others, to cheat, lie or steal. Their choices will have consequences, too, both in this life and in the world to come. 

 

Tonight I went to see American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Powerful movie, and if your vantage point in time is within the story, during the high times when all is going swell, you get a perspective that is not comprehensive. It is incomplete. Was Russell Crowe a fool to do what was right? The guys doing wrong sure seemed like they were the ones living the good life, both the cops on the take and the hoods on the street. But then again, in the end it always catches up with you. 

I was once involved in prison ministry. From behind bars many of these men saw quite clearly the illusory nature of the "high life" they had purchased with phony credit cards or other kinds of vice and crime. The worst of it, one man told me, is that the longer you are in it, the more difficult it becomes to get out. Often, the lifestyles we are attracted to have been bought with a price. We would do well to note the rest of the story. Things are not always what they first appear to be.

Thought for the Day

“Twain said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” ~ Lewis Lapham

We Only LIve Once

"As always, it is with regret that I realize that we only live one life when there is still so much to do. For this reason, our choices are supremely significant. We do only live once." ~ Dec. 26, 1993

Increasing the Odds of Success Through SEO

Peter Bernstein, in his bestseller Against the Gods, the Remarkable Story of Risk, stated that no matter what the venture, whether managing a family or managing nations, risk is a factor that must be taken into consideration. No one can infallibly predict success, because there are always variables beyond our control. “Even with thousands of facts, the track record of experts,” wrote Bernstein, “proves that their estimates of the probabilities of final outcomes are open to doubt and uncertainty.”

In short, risk is part of business; there are no sure things. Wall Street does not always lead to Easy Street. Nor does an internet retail strategy always lead to internet riches. As Robert Burns noted in his ode to a mouse, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

Nevertheless, we also know from experience that the very opposite is also true. Attempt nothing, and nothing you will achieve. In light of this latter equation, efforts at Search Engine Optimization are not optional but necessary.

This past month a friend of mine who runs a specialized online retail music business lamented that despite efforts at click-through links and banner ads, he had not found himself making any money despite the traffic brought in.

I observed, “Your lack of success might well have been your website's inability to easily and quickly lead to a purchase decision. Another failing may be that the traffic generated was too general and not specific enough.” In other words, SEO and other mechanisms for bringing in web traffic are only one piece of a larger strategic marketing plan.

He replied that he’d not thought of that.

The wonderful thing about the net is that we can measure everything. The hard data we gather helps us fine tune our efforts. By continually improving our systems, we generate more revenue with the same amount of effort (greater efficiency). Banner ads, pay per click ads on search engines, Google Adwords are all tactics, though none guarantee sales.

All that said, one sure way to be unsuccessful is to have no traffic at all because no one can find you. SEO is one tool among many that we use to minimize risk and increase odds of success.

en ~1996

For additional articles I have written pertaining to achieving success in business, visit: http://www.enewman.biz/MARKTNG.html

Matilda Who Told Lies and Was Burned

Matilda told such dreadful lies, It made one gasp and Stretch one's eyes;

Her Aunt, who, from her earliest youth,

Had kept a strict regard for truth,
Attempted to believe Matilda:

The effort very nearly killed her,

And would have done so, had not she

Discovered this infirmity.

For once, towards the close of day,

Matilda, growing tired of play,

And finding she was left alone,

Went tiptoe to the telephone

And summoned the immediate aid
Of London's noble fire-brigade.

Within an hour the gallant band

Were pouring in on every hand,

From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow

With courage high and hearts aglow

They galloped, roaring through the town,

"Matilda's house is burning down!"

Inspired by British cheers and loud

Proceeding from the frenzied crowd,

They ran their ladders through a score

Of windows on the ball room floor;

And took peculiar pains to souse

The pictures up and down the house,

Until Matilda's Aunt succeeded

In showing them they were not needed;

And even then she had to pay

To get the men to go away! . . . .

It happened that a few Weeks later

Her Aunt was off to the theatre

To see that interesting play

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.

She had refused to take her niece

To hear this entertaining piece:

A deprivation just and wise

To punish her for telling lies.

That night a fire did break out -

You should have heard Matilda shout!

You should have heard her scream and bawl,

And throw the window up and call

To People passing in the street -

(The rapidly increasing heat

Encouraging her to obtain

Their confidence) - but all in vain!

For every time she shouted 'Fire!'

They only answered 'Little Liar'!

And therefore when her Aunt returned,

Matilda, and the house, were burned.

Hillaire Belloc

The Measure of a Man

"The measure of a man cannot be extracted from one isolated incident, but must be based on the tenor of his whole life."

Nov. 22, 1993

The Burden

The old masters knew the truth of how it is, while we moderns so easily forget -- or evade -- the wisdom of the ages which so plainly stands forth.
Sept. 12, 1993

"Life is a tragedy." ~ Sir Walter Raleigh

"O life! Thou art a galling load
along a rough, a weary road." ~ Robert Burns

"Our aim should not be so much to live long as to live well." ~ Seneca

"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the great truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. One we truly know that life is difficult -- once we truly understand and accept it -- then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters." ~ M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled

"Life is suffering." ~ the first of the Four Noble Truths of Budhha

And yet... and yet...
"O Lord Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you." ~ Psalm 84:11

No Guarantees

Quitters never win, and winners never quit.

That's the way it is. Without persistence, we are guaranteed to fail. The reverse, however, isn't necessarily true. Sometimes we persist, we finish the race, and yet we don't get the prize. This can be a hard nut to swallow.

A verse in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiates states, "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong... but time and chance happen to them all." (Eccles. 9:11) The verse gives us a much needed reminder that things don't always work out. That's reality.

For example, there are no guarantees that if I say all the right things I will "close the deal" in business. Or get the job. Nor am I guaranteed to win the big race at the track meet if I prepare better this year than last. Nor am I guaranteed to become a famous novelist by writing lots of books. In all of these examples there are many factors outside of our control. Illness, strong competition, a death in the family, a car accident, even death - the list of things outside our control is limitless. As we all know, none of us is God. We are finite creatures with limited capabilities.

Nevertheless, there is one thing that is within our control. We can choose to give up, to quit, or we can choose to keep going. The one who quits pursuing his dream is certain never to reach it. The one who keeps going, who persists, will find that his dream inspires and strengthens him. And whether he reaches his dreams or whether he doesn't, he will be an inspiration to others to go after their own dreams.

Words

A while back I read a book on advertising in which the author noted that words do not have meaning until we invest them with meaning. That is, words do not have meaning in themselves, but are just a shell that the hearer fills with meaning.

This idea immediately intrigued me for a couple reasons. First, because it explains why sometimes we say things and other people don’t know where we are coming from. Try describing New York City skyscrapers to people in East Africa who have never seen a two story hut. And what does "love" look like to people who today for whom the word love is only a sex act?

We say a word, and people hear something different than what we mean. The word Conservative is highly loaded these days. For some it means “family values” whereas for others it means narrow-minded bigots who (if they had their way) would become jack-booted, freedom-stealing fascists. To some the word Liberal means compassionate people who care for the less fortunate, and to others the word means anti-American, anti-business, tree-hugging communist or idealistic airhead.

The point is, we say a word, and it can be invested with a range of different meanings by the hearer. Words are like triggers that awaken meanings in the mind, often with a lot of emotional baggage attached.

Take the word God, for example. For many Christians this is far more than a word. It is the Almighty Creator, Yahweh, the high and holy one, awesome in power, who humbled Himself to die in shame to conquer death and make a way for us to be part of His great family. But if you say “God” in some circles, it means “a concept by which weak people comfort themselves.” Or perhaps a concept by which certain cynical people manipulate manipulate the masses and oppress others.

How are we to communicate in this world where words have become so divested of meaning? Think about it. What do you do when words no longer have any meaning? How do we reach people? How do we help meet needs or make a difference if we can’t use words?

The answer is ever the same: our lives are a book read by all. Our deeds communicate, even when words fail.

Let's not give up on words, but let's also remember that nothing speaks louder than our actions. When our words and deeds correspond, only then will we make a difference in this world.

Two Questions

1. If you could re-live one experience over and over again any time you wanted, what would that experience be?

2. If you could re-live one day of your life and do it differently, what day would it be and what would you do different?

One old man's replies:

To question #1: The experience of capturing, in a half dozen lines of poetic verse, the essence of my life.

To question #2: There is nothing I would change, for I am not certain whether it was the joys or the sorrows, the successes or the failures, that enabled me to assemble the words and phrases of which this poem was composed.

July 18, 1993

The first question in this journal entry led directly to my concept for The M Zone, a short story which I shared on my website and which later became a screen play for a short film.

To read The M Zone, visit: http://www.enewman.biz/mzone.html

Recommended Readings

The two greatest influences on our lives are the people we meet and the books we read. Here is a short list of thought provoking or entertaining recent readings.

(1) Relativism ~ by Francis Beckwith & Gregory Koukl
(2) The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America ~ by Philip Howard
(3) The Long Tail ~ by Chris Anderson
(4) False Presence of the Kingdom ~ by Jacques Ellul
(5) Bias ~ by Bernard Goldberg
(6) Blinded by the Right ~ David Brock
(7) Closing of the American Mind ~ by Allan Bloom
(8) The World Is Flat ~ by Thomas Friedman
(9) A Bend in the River ~ V.S. Naipaul
(10) Mere Christianity ~ C.S. Lewis

(Bonus Recommendation) Boogers Are My Beat ~ by Dave Barry

The One True Measure

WE MEASURE OUR LIVES BY ONE TRUE MEASURE: OUR PROXIMITY -- FAR OR NEAR, DAY BY DAY, YEAR BY YEAR -- TO OUR HEART'S TREASURE.

True Origin of the Blues

Blue began when the world was new, but not so new as the very beginning. The original world was black and white. Eventually, God decided that color should be added to His wonderful creation.

In an effort to protect His integrity (He had already declared all things good) He broke white light up into sections and called it color. This was how the color blue came into being.

At first, Adam and Eve were so enamored by their new experiences with color that they never even thought about why the world was originally created in black and white. But after a while, when they had settled into their new techni-colored paradise, they began to wonder. "Why did God originally create the world in black and white? Was He trying to withhold something from us?"

It was at this point that they doubted God’s goodness. Was He really concerned for their best interest? What was the point in making a black and white world if He had been capable of making color right from the start? Had the black and white version of the world been a mistake? Does God really know what He's doing?

Such questionings, it would appear, led directly to Eve's being seduced by the serpent. (Though it may have been that forbidden Red apples are more enticing than forbidden black and white ones.)

After the Fall, Adam and Eve became acutely aware of why God had been so reluctant to give them a full-spectrum techni-colored world. As a result of the apple incident, Adam and Eve were banished from Paradise forever, which put them both in quite a bad mood. Adam sank into a depression. The following evening, (a time of day which he also blamed on his significant other) he lay on his back feeling particularly mournful and low. As he lay staring at the deepening twilight sky it entered his mind to compose a poem, soon to be published in an early anthology called Man's First Poems, Volume One. The poem was rather inferior in quality, but still maintains its historical significance. Whether it was the color of the sky he was trying to name, or the feeling he was analyzing at that moment in time, the word has forever become associated with grief and sadness.

This is the true origin of the blues.

Don't Try This At Home

"Just ask me to show you the scars." ~ Bob Dylan

You are undoubtedly familiar with those questionnaires designed to make us reveal all kinds of personal things about ourselves... favorite color, favorite food, etc. I don't really care for these chain letters, but I did find a question on one of these quite interesting. How many scars do you have?

The first scars that came to mind were the most visible, followed by a few private scars. It took a little work to remember the one I am going to tell you about here. It has to do with this picture of a tricycle.

Seems like my brother and I spent hours riding around on our tricycles on our little driveway back home in Maple Heights, Ohio. One day when I was three, maybe four, years old I was riding with a dowel in my mouth. This is the tip of the day: Do not let your kids ride around on a trike with a dowel in their mouths. They probably should not run with a stick in their mouths either.

You can already guess where this is going. We're talkin' scars, baby. I have a scar on the roof of my mouth, penetrated by a wooden dowel the size of a thin pencil. My memory of the incident is forgotten, but the following six months or more will never be forgotten as the tip of my tongue continually returned to feel the crater, fascinated by the feel and strangeness of it.

Alas, live and learn, as they say. No permanent damage. Just a little adventure along life's way. As mom ever used to say: "Boys will be boys."

Ask Yourself

"Time wasted on others is not time wasted."
June 15, 2000


How many people have you helped today?