It's Just a Matter of Time--and I don't mean the song

            Few of us enjoy waiting for things, but the real irony is that we spend our whole lives waiting even though it might not seem at times that we are waiting at all...

Toufoula Dream room , waiting room
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

   
             To be cynical one might say that we are born in order to spend a lifetime waiting to die.  But that is also a realistic point of view.   We all die eventually.   Most of us would likely prefer to stay in life's waiting room for as long as we can.

             A lot of kids might be asking their parents something like, "When is Halloween going to get here?"   When you're a kid a few days can seem like an interminably long time to wait.   A week might as well be an eternity.  A parent's vision of hell might be spending forever with kids wheedling to know when such and such is going to happen. Fortunately I don't recall having that experience with my kids nor in my own childhood.

            I've mostly been patient in my life.  At least on the outside.  There have certainly been those times when my insides were in turmoil from the waiting.  No one could ever tell unless I made a point of letting them know that I was experiencing a problem, but this has been rare in context of my sixty plus years of living. 

           There are times when anticipation for something to come is about the same as being on the edge of a cliff with someone bigger behind me waiting to push me off.  We wait.  I wait for a fall while that bigger entity waits to shove me off into the depths.  No thanks bud because in my life whenever I have been pushed something lifts me back up to start me off anew.  I just have to wait for it all to happen.  It will be okay.

         In my previous post I suggested that knowing where I am is often my most important question to have answered.  However knowing where I am in the span of time might be equally vital information to have and in some cases the main point of interest.

         Knowing when is crucial when making a date or an appointment otherwise people would have a tough time making connections and lord knows that making connections can be difficult as it is.  The "when" is what holidays and milestones are all about.  Without the when there is no history, there is no time. 

        When pigs fly, when all is said and done, or when we reach the end or our rope are all things that might pop up to surprise us or we might see them coming.  "Just you wait and see," comes the empty threat.  "See what?"  I ask.  "You'll know when it happens," from a voice filled with emotion and some tinge of helplessness.

         I wait...

         I wait for the Battle of the Bands which will be coming on Wednesday November 1st right here on Tossing It Out.  And on that same post I will neatly tie in my contribution to the November Insecure Writer's Support Group when the question posed is:  

Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

        Hope you'll be here for that as well as for my Monday special Halloween post--a true story that was part of my life.  It's something that gives me a chill each time I ponder it.  But you'll have to wait for that...

         Today's post and my previous post both hold clues as to my next BOTB song, an old classic from a Broadway show--any ideas?    How old were you when you began to grasp a workable knowledge of times and dates?   If you were a random time traveler which would be most important for you to know initially--the time or the place?

Which Is the Most Important Knowledge to Have?

Which is the most important knowledge to have:  Who you are?  Where you are?  or Why do you exist?

           This was a random question from my previous post and thank you to those of you who gave your answers.  I had mentioned in that post that I often tend to think in terms of geography--the "Where am I" kind of knowledge.  Ironically I just now watched a film that ponders these same sorts of questions with the overall conclusion that knowing where you are matters most.

           The 1962 Japanese film Woman in the Dunes is surrealistic existentialism quite similar to the films of Ingmar Bergman or Federico Fellini.  My guess is that David Lynch probably was influenced by this film.  The film is primarily a drama a la the works of Samuel Beckett.  Most of the film focuses on two characters in a confined bleak setting.  The run time is nearly 2 1/2 hours though the slow pacing makes it seem longer.  Before going into the film I decided to give it 30 minutes or so before giving it up.  The film was so riveting and thought-provoking that I stayed with it until the end and now here I am writing this review or whatever this is I'm writing.

          The story begins with a school teacher from Tokyo who goes to a seaside area of vast sand dunes in order to study insects.   After he overstays and misses his bus back to the city, the villagers from the strange little town nearby invite him to spend the night with one of them.  They take him to a vast sand pit where there is a house accessible by rope ladder.  Taking on the adventure, the teacher finds that the house where he will be staying is occupied by a homely widow who treats the man kindly and lavishes him with attention.  The following morning the teacher finds that the rope ladder is gone and he is now trapped with the widow.

         There is a strange eroticism to the story though it also presents a metaphor for the alienation of the human condition while clinging to an interdependence on others.  An eerie pall is cast over this story as we see these humans struggling against the eternally flowing sands that permeate everything in their lives.  The imagery of the drifting shifting sands depict emotion as well as the obvious comparison to the sands of an hourglass.  

          When the teacher falls into the pit he already knows who he is but this identity no longer seems to matter the longer he is in the pit.   The woman explains what their purpose is to be in this pit, but it makes no sense.  Ultimately, when he attempts an escape, he realizes that his failure to get away was because he did not know where he was.

               It's not too often that a movie grabs me to the extent that I'll write about it.  Maybe I should do it more often.   But then I'm not totally sure anymore why I am here.  On this blog I mean.  I didn't intend to write this post because I had another in mind.  But that's okay.   Sometimes I feel like I've fallen into a sandpit where no matter how much I try to claw my way out, more sand keeps on pouring down and I can never quite get a handhold that will give me a grip to pull myself upward just a bit more.  The sand keeps coming and there's not much we can do about it.

              Do you tend to just accept things without complaint?   Are you good at making a bad situation into something better?   Have you seen Woman in the Dunes?

My Brain Is a Blog

      This post contains several clues.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, read through the post keeping in mind that there are clues and I will explain more near the end of this post.

Think (Photo credits: www.mysafetysign.com)

My Brain is a Blog

        Maybe I should be afraid.  Things have changed for me over the past four years in the way my mind works.  It might not be a totally bad thing.  You might call it a form of mental organization.  Or perhaps I merely have a different sort of perception than I used to have.  Then again it might be a cause of concern.  But I will explain and you can give me your opinions.

       I think in terms of blogs.   Everywhere I look, everything I read, hear, or see becomes a blog post in my head.   My mental life is a series of blog posts.   Ideas for new blog posts assault me from all sides.  Not only on my desk, but in other places throughout my house I have newspaper clippings, magazine issues, scribbled notes, and books that contain ideas for things I want to blog about.

        At times when I'm at my computer and think up a new idea for a post, I'll go to one of my blogs and add another outline for a future blog post to the line-up of  other blog posts waiting to be written or others waiting to be posted.  Yes, I said one of my blogs.  I have more than one in case you haven't noticed.

         You see, a couple years back I decided to scale back from seven days to only three days.  That's right--when I started blogging I was posting daily.  I even had blog posts going up on the Sabbath.  I decided I was blogging too much.

         Yet the ideas kept flooding my head so I came to the conclusion that six days on four blogs might make things better.  In a way my blogging life became less hectic--or so it seemed.  I suppose it was an illusion.  I wasn't necessarily blogging less, but I was dividing my blogs into separate compartments of my brain.  More ideas flooding my head.  More new blog posts to come up with.

        Have I lost my mind?

         Or am I stretching my blog brain capacity to accommodate more thinking?   If you are talking to me I am wondering how I can turn our conversation into a blog post.  I derive blog posts from the comments you leave on my site and the comments I might leave on some of your sites.  I'm building brain power, that's what I'm doing.

        In some ways I'm like a superhero with two identities. There is the blogging me and there's the guy you might meet and never suspect that I am blogging you up and down.   I don't hide these identities for the most part, but I'm incognito if I'm not on my blog or not talking about my blogging.  I've been doing my best to avoid talking about my blogs, but I can't help it.  Blogging has become of passion of mine.  Some people might tolerate my blog talk while others adeptly maneuver our encounters away from the subject of blogging.

       I do believe there is something darker here.  There is a prevailing atmosphere of computer takeover of the world.  The future of a machine ruled world as predicted in the Terminator film series is coming.  The stark reality is that computers are already taking over.  One day we'll have computers implanted into us.  This may be the fate for the future of mankind.

        Before that happens, I want to become the ultimate blog superhero--BlogMan.   I will be able to suck thoughts out of your head in order to turn them into blog posts to transport psychopathically onto my blog.  My bloggy power will compose posts on your blog site without your knowing it.   As BlogMan I will rule the world of blogging and whip out viral blog posts whenever I want.  The President of the United States and all the leaders of the world will turn to me for my great blog knowledge.

         My brain is a blog.  I am BlogMan!

And Now for Something Somewhat Different

         Sorry for the silly rant but I couldn't help myself.  It somewhat annoys me whenever I read a post about writer's block or someone saying they don't know what to write about on their blogs.  Ideas are everywhere.  How can anyone say they don't know what to write about?   I've got an idea--not original by any means--but next time you think you have writer's block why not just admit you don't feel like writing.  You can always take a break to do something else until you get your writing energy back.

         Stuck for some blog ideas?  You can always join in for the Battle of the Bands which happens on the 1st and 15th of each month.    This is the blog event where each of the participants pits two versions of one song against each other and readers vote on their favorite version.  And even if you don't post your own battle I hope you will join me for mine this coming Friday.  If you do plan on participating then let me know in the comments and I'll add your name to the list that I put on my site on Friday.

          This is not a Blogfest and there's no Linky list.  Battle of the Bands is an event that was started by the bloggers at Far Away Series and Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends.  A few others have been joining in as well. And so can you!

           My last Battle of the Bands song was "Respect" and that post yielded two weeks worth of posts on my blog based on that song post.   I don't know if I can manage that for the next battle's song, but today's post contains several clues to what song I'll be using.   Can you guess the song?

           Do you find yourself thinking in blog format?   Are you starting to use "Blogspeak" when you communicate?   Are the machines taking over?

Related articles

• 4 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Blog Posts
• The Advantages of a blog?
• How to Fight Writer's Block on Your Blog
• How to Post to Your Blog Every Day

How Do You Perceive Value?

Image by digitalmoneyworld via Flickr

          A recent article by Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times Business section was telling about the struggles of the greeting card industry to maintain relevancy when facing the competition of the internet age.  In the article, Susan January, president of the Greeting Card Association is quoted as saying, "As better products have become available people are more aware how certain embellishments, like gold foil and embroidery, increase the perceived value of the card and the perceived value of their relationship."


           Now, I've heard the term "perceived value" before but never gave it much thought until reading it within the context of this article.  Perceived value is the subjective worth that we place on something according to our own needs or wants.  The perceived value of an item might be artificially created by the marketing agent as in the case of luxury items or new products. Perception of value may also be influenced by availability and is the motivating way the law of supply and demand can increase or decrease prices.


           Perceived value can be dictated by the influences of the marketplace or it can be all in our minds.  When much revered technological innovation comes on the market, some people may wait in line to pay premium prices to be the first to have it in hand even though they know it will most likely be available at reduced prices later down the road.  Part of their perception of value includes the prestige of being the first to own a product and their strong desire to have it in their hands now rather than later.


         If gold were no longer perceived as valuable as backing for monetary systems or for jewelry and valued only in the context of its practical use in industry, the price of gold would undoubtedly plummet since it would no longer be coveted as something of extreme worth and prestige in ownership.


         The collectible market works in much the same way.  Certain things will gain a reputation of having a high potential of future worth and collectors will jump on board to pay premium prices.  We see past fads such as beanie babies or Hummel figurines where prices soared for a while and then dropped to ridiculously low prices leaving the investors unable to get any return on the money they put into their collections.  The marketplace will be influenced by economy and changing interests among other things.


         Artificial market manipulation is the mainstay of companies like the Franklin Mint.  Such purveyors of collectible merchandise entice speculative customers with advertising that suggests that whatever it is they are offering may increase in value eventually.  They don't make promises (read the small print), but in the minds of certain ones of us who are lured by the advertising, we want to believe that we are investing in an attractive item that might one day hold great value.  And I won't knock anyone for that--I've bought some of those things myself because I liked them and I wanted to believe I was making an investment in something of collectible value.


         However, I am straying from the real point that I want to make here--the thoughts that came to my mind as I began to contemplate the concept of perceived value.  As I pondered this concept, I began to think of perceived value as it applies to that which is not an item of merchandise or a service. What about the perceived value of friendships and interpersonal relationships, personal tastes and artistic evaluations, or accolades and kind words?


         It's a certainty that the topic I'm touching upon here could become quite lengthy if it were to be examined in its totality, so I'll focus on one aspect and then allow you to take it in your own direction.  


          For my part, I'll consider blog posts and blog comments (and I hope this is not becoming a redundant topic).  I make an attempt to produce some degree of quality in my posts and in my comments.  Even when I think I am going to quickly hash out something short, I will often get carried away and will write more than I had set out to do (this post for example).  When I comment, I try to leave something of substance.  I want my words to have more value than something I just slapped down to be saying something. I value my words.


         And now I'll toss the topic to you:  What do you attach value to and how do you perceive value?   What makes certain people valuable to you?   Why do you have certain passions or interests?    Excluding some of the obvious answers like those related to God, family, country,  or pets and the like; what are some tangible things that are valuable to you?

          Please visit my memoir blog Wrote By Rote.  Teresa from Journaling Woman is my guest and she has a special giveaway offer.  

Related articles

• Influence of Buyer Perceived Value (BPV) on Buyer Behavior and Decisions (customerthink.com)
• Our Greatest Need (spurgeon.wordpress.com)
• In-store displays: How do consumers perceive pricing? (sciencedaily.com)
• In-store displays: How do consumers perceive pricing? (eurekalert.org)
• Perceived value (outonimportantbusiness.wordpress.com)
• High prices, nervous times start modern-day gold rush (heraldnet.com)
• Why is gold still such an important influence on world finances (wiki.answers.com)
• How The Uncertain Economy Is Changing The Definition Of Luxury (forbes.com)
• The Franklin Mint Launches a New Website (prweb.com)