Network to Success ( #AtoZ )

If you plan to build a skyscraper, don't count on doing it all yourself.  A big job calls for a lot of expertise, muscle, and, of course, money...

Starting the conversation.

   
        Throughout my A to Z series This Is Me, I've been at times alluding to something that has been occupying my time and thoughts of late.  Maybe this hasn't been clear, but that doesn't matter that much either. For the most part I've been thinking out loud on generalized topics.  However I'll simply state that right now I'm still in a dreaming stage at a point where the dreams are turning into plans.

         There's nothing I want to say specifically about what all of this means except that I'm going to need to reach out to connect with other people who might be thinking on a similar wavelength as I am currently on.  This is L.A.--I can probably find plenty of like-minded individuals here.

         What this means is that I'm going to have to do a lot of networking in order to make connections.  As usual I'm a big dreamer, but you can't fulfill a dream until you've dreamed it.  I know I can't achieve my biggest dreams on my own.  Now is the time to start building a network that will help me do what I need to get done.

          Maybe nothing will happen.  Or maybe it will.  I'm retired and I'm not doing anything else right now.  Why not dream?

           ******If you haven't voted on my recent Battle of the Bands I'd appreciate it if you'd click on the link and tell us your favorite performance ******


          Do you think when people retire that they should just essentially, uh, retire?    Have you ever come up with what seemed like a great idea but you were cautious about revealing it to others?   To any degree, have you accomplished fulfilling a dream despite pushback from many quarters?

Friend, Father, Family Man ( #AtoZ )

         We play many roles throughout our lives--sometimes significant and other times seemingly trivial.  But it's all important, everything we do, because it all means something even if we don't realize what that meaning is...

Arlee Bird center with the black cap with family in Gatlinburg TN

           When I was a child my father was like a hero to me.  I even made up a song about him when I was about 4 or so.  I'd sing, "I'm Bob Jackson the movie star..." (his name was Bob Jackson).  I don't recall if there were any other lyrics--I guess I just repeated that line.  

            In my teens and early adult years I disagreed with my father often, but his core values were deeply instilled within me.   After having my own children I began to more greatly appreciate the responsibilities of fatherhood.  In my later thirties--perhaps a year or so before my father died--I thanked him for being the father that he had been and the example he had set for my own time at being a father.  He didn't say much in response, but I'm sure he had some kind of appreciation for my having said that.

            After my father died at age 67, I often thought of him as I continued my own fatherhood journey.  Even now, nearly thirty years after his departure from this Earth, my father's presence surrounds me.  These days when I look in the mirror I see my father.  In many ways I have become him, but I have also become my own unique person.

            Now with four children of my own who are on their own raising the next generation, I see myself in that same place I was 30 years ago.  My kids have thanked me for being a good father and teaching them how to deal with life as best as they could.  At this stage of life I am not just a father to my children, but a friend to some fine adults with interesting lives.  They are bringing up a new generation and attempting to give their children a life akin to what they remember having as kids.  The kind that I remember my parents giving to me.

           Years have passed as have both my mother and father.  A few of my friends I still keep in contact with to some extent.  They live far from me as do my brothers and sisters.  Isolated in L.A. is how I sometimes feel.  But that might be okay because a lone castaway dreams bigger sometimes.  My rescue boat may be on its way.

            My father never stopped dreaming--he always  had some big idea that he was sure that would be his next big life thing.  Years after I moved away from home my mother told me how they started going to comedy clubs and my father began to develop his own comedy act that he could perform in those clubs.   And he actually did it on a small scale.  A stunning success was probably part of his comedy dream, but just doing it was a success to a degree though he never became quite the star he might have fancied becoming.  He was having fun and he was pursuing a dream.

          I have no aspirations for comedic stardom, but I have other dreams that keep burning within me.  My father's drive is now compelling me.  I feel him encouraging me onward.  Something needs to happen and it will.  The question is:  What will that something be?   In some sense I know what the something might be and I'm working on it now  I am my father and I am my children's father.  I am who I am and only hope that others will accept me for who I am.

            I choose to be no one else but who I am.  This is me.

           Do you see something of your parents in who you've become?   Were your parents big dreamers or were they discontents?   Have you kept up with friends from younger days or have you mostly departed from them for some reason or another?

Driving a Dream ( #AtoZChallenge )

I've got my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel.
I'm encased in my solitude of plastic and steel...
                                                    --Arlee Bird

         
         Driving on the open highways has been something I've always liked to do from the time I first got my license.  Sometimes I dream about driving--in sleep dreams or otherwise.  In my office I keep a road atlas to which I frequently refer.  For me, a map can be as good as the Mona Lisa.  Maybe better.  I can look at a map much longer.

            Maps trigger dreams of adventures to places away from home.  My mind wanders along the colored lines as I visualize those places.  Driving on those roads brings it all to reality.  There are people in places most of us rarely dream about and those people have their own dreams.  I am one of many.

           What are my dreams?  Certainly not to fade away into a complacency of retirement as I wait to leave this Earth one day--hopefully one day many more years into the future.  I'm mostly dreaming and scheming.  Talking about dreams can bore others or have them roll up their eyes and scrunch their mouths in expressions of doubt. 

           As I write my blog posts for my "This Is Me" theme I am likely creating some sort of impressionistic view into my dream mind without actually coming to any specific point.  Perhaps I'm trying to avoid those chides that I'm too old to be planning for any future that includes dreaming about things I might yet achieve--or maybe won't.

           Too old?  Not me, not yet.  I plan to drive a dream to its destination.  And if I don't make it to that destination, hopefully I will have had a pleasant journey anyway.  For now I'm behind the wheel with a tank full of gas.

           Do you think you will ever stop dreaming?   When you get tired or discouraged what do you do to re-energize?   If you were going to take a long trip how would you prefer to travel?






           

I've Got the Music in Me (#BOTB Results)

      They say that practice makes perfect.  They also say that no one is perfect.  I'm not sure who "they" are, but the contradiction between these statements is perfectly absurd...  


Focusing on Music

Marley at a recent performance
(she's my granddaughter!)

         This year I've become more focused on creating music, this mostly due to being inspired by my oldest granddaughter Marley.  She won't be 10 until September so she's still mostly a kid, but she's become pretty serious about her music.  When I was visiting her this summer she proudly showed off her very neatly organized room and her collection of musical instruments.  She's been taking lessons in instruments and vocals.  There's definitely talent in that girl.

          My biggest inspiration came toward the end of April as the Blogging from A to Z Challenge was winding down.  A song came to me and I recognized it as my song for Marley.  Hopefully she'll be singing it soon as part of her repertoire.  During my summer visit I watched her do a five song set at an open mike night in a New Jersey coffee bar.  Though all the other performers were adults, Marley held her own and impressed the crowd.  The young lady has some guts that I never had even at twice her age.

          I've been rather preoccupied by my song (that is, Marley's song) of late so between that and the stuff of my life I've not been keeping up with blogging to the extent that I probably should.  Consequently I may have not been visiting blogs like I've done in the past.  Sorry, but for now my priority is working with my song--but more of that later in this post.   First though, let's get to the results of my previous Battle of the Bands...

Battle of the Bands Results

        My Battle between Jane Olivor and Alice Cooper was a somewhat odd pairing that I had no idea how it would turn out.  For my part, I went into this favoring Jane Olivor's version and that's where my vote ended up.  I've been a long time fan of Alice Cooper, but I was not overly thrilled with his rendition of "Always Chasing Rainbows." 

          Once again I was in a minority.  Alice pretty well ran away with this contest, but all things considered, Jane Olivor did not do terribly.

Final Vote Tally

Jane Olivor            6

Alice Cooper        11




Next Battle on Saturday September 1st!!!

          As for my song "Let's Run"--a song I've been mentioning since May--I now have two versions ready for Battle in my next round.   This Battle will be a sort of West Coast versus East Coast--or more precisely East Tennessee Coast.  I'll likely have another version by the end of the week which could give me a three-way.   Better yet, I'd still like to get some more covers for future Battles.

            I'm thinking big as usual--and chasing rainbows. 

            If I didn't dream big then I'd likely forget those dreams and try to just get through each day without accomplishing much.   With that, I'm outta here.

            How often have your dreams been accomplished as big as you first dreamed them?    Have you ever been taken by surprise at the outcome of a dream?   Does perfectionism sometimes hinder your progress?







       

Altercation--the New Release from Tamara Hart Heiner: A Blog Tour Hijack Stop

The Author Tour:
       Tamara Hart Heiner

      Tamara Hart Heiner was last featured here on 

Tossing It Out about a year and a half ago while on her blog 

tour for her novel Perilous.  The 

success of that book has led to 

the recently released sequel 

called Altercation. 

         Once again Tamara is making the blog tour

rounds to promote Altercation.   And she's got a contest to go celebrate her tour.  Tamara offers more information below.   Visit Tamara's blog Chasing Dreams for more book, tour, and contest information.

 The Book:

 Altercation  : The FBI promises Jacinta Rivera and her friends that they are safe. Jaci wants desperately to believe them but weeks of hiding from their kidnapper, alias "The Hand", have left her wary. Hidden from the public eye in an FBI safe house, Jaci must reconcile both the mysterious disappearance of her father and the murder of her best friend.

 A betrayal lands Jaci back in the grasp of The Hand, shattering her ability to trust and leaving her to wonder if she will ever piece together her broken life.

Buy it now: 

Altercation  paperback $15.95  on Amazon: 

or ebook at $4.99

  The Contest:

More Information:   http://tamarahartheiner.blogspot.com/2012/05/all-around-world.html

Prizes: EVERY DAY I will randomly select one person who made a comment on

that day's blog. The winner will then get to decide if they would like an

ebook copy of PERILOUS or ALTERCATION.  There's just one catch: there must

be AT LEAST ten comments on that day for me to do the giveaway.

But if that's not enough, leaving a comment also gets you entered into the

PRIZE DRAWINGS. This won't be random; it's cumulative. Every comment you

leave counts as 1 point. If you are a follower on my blog, you get 1

point. Every time you tweet or share on Facebook about the tour, it's one

point. I'll even add it up for you; just include me in on the tweet

@tamaraheiner or on Facebook @tamarahartheiner (unless you don't trust my math,

 and then feel free to tally it up and send it to me).

THIRD PRIZE: 50-page critique of something of your choice (if you're not a writer, a $5 amazon.com gift card)

SECOND PRIZE: lot of five YA books

FIRST PRIZE: $20 gift card to Amazon.com

 Here's the blog tour for Altercation in case you'd like to go back to visit any of the previous stops or catch the ones coming up:

June 1 - Lydia Kang
June 4 - Rashelle Workman
June 5 - David West
June 6 - Tristi Pinkston
June 7 - Shannon O'Donnell
June 8 - Kate Hart
June 11 - Jennifer Shirk
June 12 - Saumya
June 13 - Justine Dell
June 14 - Laurel Garver
June 18 - Elizabeth Mueller
June 19 - Bonnie Harris

June 20 - Nichole Giles

June 21 - Marsha Ward
June 22 - Jo Ramsey
June 25 - Arlee Bird
June 26 - Laura Bingham
June 27 - Carrie Harris
June 28 - Jenni James
June 29 - Deborah Davis

Altercation $15.95 link on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Altercation-Tamara-Hart-Heiner/dp/1937178218

ebook for $4.99:

http://www.amazon.com/Altercation-YA-Suspense-ebook/dp/B0085AJQEI

Tamara Hart Heiner

YA author

tamarahartheiner.com 

         My review of Altercation is on Amazon.  Be sure to be 

here on Wednesday for something very different.

.