Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Free Advice Day

Mel suggested that the best way to protest the SOPA/PIPA bills would be to show Congress what they might be missing if they passed those bills.

Here's my free advice, worth more than you're paying for it:

Bad things happen frequently on Thursdays. Prepare yourself.

When you say what you mean, in a clear and direct manner, you are less likely to make people angry.

When you agree to something to avoid confrontation, and then get other people to protest what you agreed to, you're going to get confrontation anyway. (Related: Don't promise something if you're not already planning it out in your head. Disappointment and unrealized expectations are the quickest route to anger.)

General contractors are generally untrustworthy.

Censorship is a bad idea. There are better ways to protect your original content.

But really...is there anything original anymore? Do you have the right to an idea that you essentially ripped right out of Shakespeare? Sorry, not advice...just a question.

Since all of that is more of an indication of my frame of mind, rather than advice, I will share the following. It's fantastic, and actual good, beneficial, useful information.



And finally, for your entertainment, some of the web's best protest content can be found here (Oops - just noticed there's a pregnancy reference in there. Fair warning.)

Oh, one more thing. If you're having trouble accessing Blogger blogs...try a different browser. Several sites won't respond in Internet Explorer - but they're fine in Google Chrome. Coincidence? I think not.

17 comments:

  1. Crap. We need to get a general contractor.

    This is a fantastic piece of advice: "When you say what you mean, in a clear and direct manner, you are less likely to make people angry." Wish more people followed it.

    And now I'm nervous about tomorrow...

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  2. I love the same piece of advice Mel did. If only more people actually communicated, instead of beating around the bush ... then we might have hope for rational discussion, instead of anger.

    Thanks for coming by!

    (And sorry that January has been such a suckfest for you.)

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  3. General Contractors...yeah.

    Good point about Shakespeare, and the Blogger access.

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  4. huh. I recently swapped out of safari to google chrome and haven't had any more trouble accessing blogger sites. Hmmm.

    And Thursday has almost passed without event here. Phew.

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  5. We joke that Tuesdays are generally our bad days. Lately it has been every day :-/ Love the advice about saying what you mean. I wish more would do that.

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  6. I try to be as clear as possible when needed. It does help and sometimes people are taken aback by that, like they don't expect it or think I'm too honest or something.

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  7. I like Thursdays. Tuesdays are definitely the worst day of the week, as far as I'm concerned.

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  8. I really liked that Zander piece. By coincidence I caught it recently after Mike saw it on a plane (?) on a work trip and kicked it my way. I really loved the idea that the conductor makes music without making a sound ... by empowering others to be their utter best. A thought that could sustain me for days (and has). :) Interesting to think ... about how we 'conduct' the people around us.

    I thought that the trouble I was having with websites was due to the crappy condition of my laptop ... until Mike pointed me to Google Chrome. AHA! I figured I must have been the last to know, right? Now I am straddling the two browsers because I don't want to lose my 'favorites' in IE ... bleh.

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  9. That speaker is very good. But I am still not convinced I'm not tone deaf. I couldn't tell the difference between the 8, 9 and 10 year old playing!

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  10. I am beginning to realise that you are ENTIRELY right about Thursdays.

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  11. The price of petrol inexplicably goes up here on thursdays. You may be onto something.

    g

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  12. Amen, sista, amen.

    I love that *you* always say what you feel in such a honest and straightforward way. I hate all that dilly dallying that people do.

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  13. I don't have the answer either, but censorship SURE isn't it! I am new to your blog and found it through Stephanie's.
    Cheers!
    Meri
    http://merigoesround.com

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  14. I came over via your comment on Lori's Time Warp post this week and I do "recognize" you and think I have been here before. Anyway, I really enjoyed your advice here and appreciate your writing style.

    That's funny about Thursdays. At times I have noticed the significance of things happening on certain dates/days of the week, but not thought too much about it.

    I also like what you said about: "When you say what you mean, in a clear and direct manner, you are less likely to make people angry." I agree w/ Mel that it is great advice and also wish more people did this.

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  15. I wonder why that is about Thursdays. Whew! In any case we're clear for another week.

    Saving that video to watch tomorrow. Looks like a good one.

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  16. Hey, where is my comment?! Darn blogger and its stupid glitches!!!

    Aaaanyway, just so that you know, even though it is almost a month later, I did comment or at least tried to, but blogger disagreed and ate my comment.

    Stating my meaning as simple, clear and directly as possible often makes me sound very much like a heartless bitch, which I don't mind anymore, as long as I am not a misunderstood one. I used to get upset because everyone at work thought I was stand-off-ish and cold, since I talked only when I had something to say and even then not too much. But I got over that soon, I was there to work, not socialize. They were happy to see me go initially, but then, when they finally saw how efficient I was and how things went so wrong without me, almost everyone wrote me to tell me how much they missed me. It was such a sweet moment... :-)

    Thanks for the video.

    And don't feel pressured or anything, but it IS February, you know? You write the best comments ever, but this does not exempt you from writing posts as well. :-D

    Blogger, shut up and upload this one, please.

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  17. Even Shakespeare's pretty repetitious: Mistaken identity, Star-crossed lovers, leaders being betrayed, or histories. What's the point.

    I realized that making an excuse not to do something only made the person asking come up with a way out of my excuse. Now I'm always totally honest about why I can't participate in their crazy scheme!

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