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As a world famous tourist destination area with truly magnificent scenery, amid climate, friendly people along with a wide variety of recreational and cultural choices,Hawaii is a wonderful place to live.
Hawaii's communities range from rural farms to exclusive private estates and everything in between, including new homes and condominium housing developments both inland and along the ocean.
When considering Hawaii's clean environment,low crime rates,quality of education,low properties Taxes and longevity of life, the Hawaiian Islands are consistently rated as one of the best place in the world to live.
All real estate licensees are not the same. Only real estate licensees who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR "®" logo on the business card or other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties to a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.
Our clients best interest is our priority. We service our clients no matter first time buyers;current home owners; investors; relocationers or sellers selling their home; investment properties;properties management, we offer our best real estate knowledges,experience;
marketing skills to complete our clients best interests.
Yvonne Shen Rubes(BR) associated with Hawaii life Real estate Brokers,LLC.
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Looking For East Oahu Luxury Homes for sale
Please click on: http://www.hawaiilife.com/gallery/?gallery_id=15058&agent=yvonne-shen-rubes&auid=157654


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The BBAS producer tries his hand at Meth, Gibbs and Street's The Man With the Iron Fists single.
PREVIOUS: The Audible Doctor – Doctorin' (Instrumental Album)
Posted in Singles | Tags: audible doctor, bbas, freddie gibbs, method man, Streetlife
Dopest beat.
This is really good, it gives the track a completely different feel. I like this more than the original, the beat fits the lyrics better
I like both versions. But this is hard as fuck. Salute.
this is nice right here. plus it seems like that it's rare these days that you hear an actual remix with a different track.
WAY better than the originl
Sonically it's impressive, but is structurally off from 0:56 on. It's either an honest (and amateur mistake) or laziness. Either way, it's definitely not one that I would expect to hear from someone as accomplished as the Audible Doctor.
@Stro yOURE NUTS,,

subset: commoncrawl


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A well defined band of rain is moving in from the South this morning. Rain showers are likely across all locations today with snow levels staying between 4,500′ & 5,000.' Most of these showers are going to be light and won't drop much in the way of rain. More measurable rain will fall the further south you are — mostly Mt. Shasta and south.
Rain showers will be ongoing through the weekend. Saturday, most of the activity will be along and east of the Cascades but by Sunday, our next storm system moves in from the West. This is going to bring a better chance for showers to all locations once again.
This active weather pattern will be ongoing through all of next week as of right now. Several disturbances will move in from our south and west. This is going to keep temperatures mild and snow levels above the passes — between 4,500′ & 5,500.'
For more weather updates you can follow me on Facebook & Twitter.


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We are only a few weeks into 2015, but the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing and other actors within the international development community have been anticipating this landmark year for quite some time. Later this year, the Member States of the United Nations will agree upon a new set of global, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals.
World Toilet Day is a fitting moment for the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN-Water to release their biannual 2014 Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) Report.
This year's Global Handwashing Day in Afghanistan is dedicated to the eradication of polio and to raising awareness of the role and importance of handwashing and appropriate hygiene practices in the eradication of polio from Afghanistan and from the world.
Afghanistan is one of only three remaining countries where polio has never been eradicated. Handwashing with soap and appropriate hygiene practices are crucial to prevent the spread of the polio virus.
This document guides you in development your advocacy efforts for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in schools. The guide includes strategies and messages for advocating to governments and other stakeholders on WASH in Schools.


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BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has lost a key federal contract, the latest blow to hit the ailing mobile company.
According to Reuters the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), will end its eight-year association with RIM and make the switch to Apple's iPhone, the device that has caused so many problems for RIM.
It has put out a solicitation document for a contract worth $2.1m to supply iPhones to 17,600 of its workers. The document said the decision was made to go with the iPhone because of the tight control Apple has over the ecosystem and the benefits that brings over rivals such as Google's Android, which the department also looked at.
Damningly ICE said RIM "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency."
"ICE also has evolving mobile law enforcement business requirements that require the use of more capable and dynamic mobile technology," the document added. "Analysis conducted by ICE has concluded that for the near term, Apple iPhone services offer the agency the best solution for mobile technology."
"Apple's strict control of the hardware platform and the operating system ... provides ICE with the greatest degree of control and management to ensure the most reliable delivery of services," the analysis added.
The report also detailed what ICE considers to be the failings of RIM, along with Nokia, over the last few years. It said Apple and Android are far ahead of the competition, with RIM and Nokia lagging behind. This means that third-party vendors, such as app developers, are focusing on Apple and Android, giving those two a much better ecosystem.
"[RIM and Nokia] failed to innovate and consumers have rejected them," the report adds. "The net effect is that both firms have been relegated to laggards in the consumer market which has made them too risky for adoption as a "go-to" choice for enterprise use."
While consumers may have been turning away from BlackBerry devices it has long been thought that governments would continue to support the devices, particularly because of the security they can offer. However it seems that is no longer the case. The report also stated that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the US Coast Guard have recently switched to iOS.
RIM is now heavily reliant on its upcoming BlackBerry 10 rollout to reinvigorate the company. The new operating system has already suffered from delays and is now not expected to be released until early 2013. However by then it could be too late for RIM, whose market share, revenue and profit have all collapsed over the last few years.
Avocent is a leading global provider of IT operations management solutions for enterprise data centres, small/medium businesses and branch offices...
VMware (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualisation and cloud infrastructure, delivers customer-proven solutions that significantly reduce IT...
Procorre consultancy provides IT and technology strategy solutions to maximise performance of clients' IT assets and investments.
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South African Tourism is constantly seeking the very best talent to add to our team.
The positions available in South Africa, and in country (in our core markets around the world) are detailed and available for you to download and apply for below.
Thank you for your interest.
Should you not have been contacted within 2 weeks of closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Marketing Communications Manager - India
Are you passionate about South Africa, travel and tourism and possess the required qualifications and skills? Then we invite you to apply for this exciting position based in India, Mumbai.
Enquiries: Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, Email: email@example.com
Please send your detailed C.V. to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Closing date: 6 March 2015. No late applications will be considered.
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Airs Monday, March 3, 2014 at 9:00 PM on 90.3 WCPN
The revolutions that swept across the Middle East in 2011, known as "The Arab Spring," promised greater freedoms for many in the region, including women. While there have been some advances in women's rights, the promise in many cases has not been realized.
In this month's show, Women's Rights after the Arab Spring, we travel to Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and the Gulf States to assess how and where women's rights have progressed.
Courts/Crime - Fire/Law Enforcement, Terrorism, Government/Politics, Ethics/Religion, Immigration, Race


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Stay in touch
You are here:
There almost 300 events across the UK in 2015, making Race for Life cancer's worst enemy. Enter now and show cancer that hell hath no fury like a woman in pink.
There are almost 300 Race for Life events across the UK, so find your nearest event now.


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The war between Vihaan (Nikkhil Chaddha) and Gunjan (Roopal Tyagi) is far from over in, Zee TV's show, "Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke", with each of them trying to be one up. While Gunjan has gained an advantage by exposing Vihaan, he is now waiting for an appropriate opportunity to get even with the two sisters, Gunjan and Rachana.
In the upcoming episodes Vihaan will have a plan up his sleeve. He will invite the two sisters for a pool side party, arranged by him for the occasion of Valentine Day. He has some wicked thoughts running through his minds so as to hurt the girls. Cunningly he will make his move with the intentions of creating a rift between the sisters and widening the gap.
The above sequence featuring the pool side party is being shot and is scheduled to be aired on the Valentine's Day (14th February), for the viewers.


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For an older couple where oral sex is the usual method of intimacy, this is the best product we ever have used. The taste is neutral. It is not messy. My wife insists only on this brand. As a retired family and sex therapist, I highly recommend Vagisil intimate moisturizer for older and even young couples.
This stuff is pretty cool. My husband and I quite enjoy it.
I loved the product. My husband could not tell any difference in sensation. I had the sensation of a york pepermint patty. That was about it no fireworks. It seems it would be great for summer .....feels cooler down there.
Worked great. Sensations were gentle yet sensual
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The Art of Richard Tuttle is a museum survey of the artist's work that includes sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, installation work and artist's books comprised of many a sketch and painting, currently on at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. This presentation of Tuttle's work is such a comprehensive introduction to an important Postminimalist who first emerged in the mid-60s and has carried on through to today with a vast array of seemingly simple pieces that draw the viewer in towards the search for understanding or the quiet acceptance of the artist's poetry, so much of it so different, yet fluid in its connection to one another. Highlights include Tuttle's wire, pencil and shadow installations and canvas shapes. For those who do not know Tuttle's work, this exhibition is the perfect way to become completely captivated with not only this artist, but the nature of art itself. On through February 4, 2007.
Artist: Richard Tuttle
+ mcachicago.org
+ speronewestwater.com
Title I
Ten Sided Pale Orange Canvas


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Kelly Watt, Raevyn Gopher and Marshall Peone of the Native American Student Association at Eastern Washington University discuss this weekend's 45th annual "Spirit of the Eagle" pow wow.
Sorry, there is no closed captioning for this video
It's been a long three months for Jessica Brito and her four year old daughter, but this week the small Spokane Valley family moved closer to getting justice. Allie Norton reports.
Idaho lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it legal to carry a concealed weapon without getting a permit. Alex LeFriec reports.
President Barack Obama says he and the first family are heading to Selma, Alabama, to pay tribute to the anniversary of the civil rights marches as Americans.
A dog is man's best friend, but Spokane resident Jamie McAtee might have you thinking she's a dog's best friend, since she's made it her mission to rescue unwanted and unadoptable dogs and give them…
Colonel Darel Maxfield is a former teacher, a father and a former Army officer who was sidelined by a stroke that left him partially disabled. Now the KXLY Extreme Team is working to get some much…
Derek Deis stops by the spring session of INWAC in this installment of Made in the Northwest.
Robyn Nance introduces us to Dante, this week's Wednesday's Child.
KXLY 4's latest Extreme Team project was all about helping the members of Spokane's chapter of the Wounded Warrior Project this week. These men have served our country so it was a…
The flu has taken the lives of three more people in Spokane County, raising the the death toll to 15 this season. KXLY4's Grace Ditzler reports.
Five months after the Carlton Complex Fire ripped through Okanogan County, man families remain homeless, but down in Pateros the community is rallying to make sure that everyone gets to celebrate…
At least two homes are still uninhabitable after the Spangle Creek flooded homes back in February, and the Department of Ecology is working to help prevent it from happening again next spring. KXLY4…
Local economists say the Inland Northwest came in to 2015 with a head of steam and we're on track for a good year economically. KXLY4's John Hendricks reports.
KXLY4's Mark Peterson has your morning weather forecast for Friday, March 6.
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(KMOV) – A St. Charles apartment complex is on edge after a strange man went door-to-door attempting to collect money for a scholarship.
"He was asking for like a thousand dollars and they couldn't agree to pay for all of it but he was just really insistent," said Katherine Strawhun.
Residents contacted News 4 about the man after some thought it was fishy especially when they rejected the man's pitch.
"One gentleman down the hall did answer but I don't think he wanted to buy and then the guy started getting really aggressive and saying profane things," said Strawhun.
St. Charles Police say they sent an officer to check it out but the man was already gone.


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Lanzarote Fishing |
Puerto del Carmen
Sport Fishing Lanzarote Sport Fishing Lanzarote are one of the pioneers in Lanzarote offering shark and big game fishing excursions. click here for more info.. |
Lanzarote and its surrounding islands offer fantastic game fishing for Marlin, Tuna, Dorado, Bonito, Sting Ray and Wahoo as well as Sharks such as Blue, Mako, Angel and Hammerhead. While Bottom-fishing is possible all year round for many Canarian species, the main trolling season for species such as Blue Marlin and Tuna is between April and November (September and October are the best months). There is also good shore fishing all around the island for a multitude of species such as Mediterranean Snapper, Yellowmouth Barracuda and Parrot fish. In order to go Shore Fishing, a permit must first be obtained from the Consejeria de Pesca in the Cabildo Building in Arrecife. |


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Just changed my nearside cv joint (it had actually cracked inside and was missing a piece of metal - explains the knocking!)
I found that one of the tripod bearings wasnt attached either! so I have reattached that and connected everything back up, took it for a test drive.
I reversed off the drive and turned the car (everything fine no knocks) then got to the bottom of the road and turned right. It is then that I lost drive so got my mrs to tow me back to the drive.
I haven't looked at the car yet as it was now night time (I had to wait for my wife to come in so I could get a jubilee clip for the driveshaft -both sides) which I couldnt get s it was too late so i patched up the existing ones (they are the type that you tension by pulling and then clip into place)
Anyway, what is likely to have happened? is it likely to be the outside cv joint (maybe I didnt get it in far enough althoughit was secure and I tightened the hub nut to the correct torque) or could it be the tripod side?
On the tripod side when I put it back in, I assume it doesnt have to engage in anything apart from the housing itself? Is the shaft physically held in place by the rubber boot and a jubilee?
Got the day off tomorrow so I can check it over, but would like an idea on what I am likely to find!!!


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Cheerio Road
unfolded, a gift
"There is something in me maybe someday ?to be written; now it is folded, and folded, ?and folded, like a note in school."?? Sharon Olds
by Jena Strong
Every line on my face is a place I unfolded,
no longer compressed, no longer needing
to contain mystery after mystery,
no longer a matryoshka doll holding itself
in and in and in, kaleidoscopically hidden.
No, life has unfolded my careful origami,
like a middle or third name
too beautiful for the world not to hear,
each deep crevice a hint of healing
and heartache and hero's journey.
It's old-school, to remain folded up
like that, or to collapse like a mountain
unto itself, or to get so lost
in the folds of what happened
that you can no longer make out
the writing on the wall of your life,
which is to say how blue the sky is
in September, how kindly she caresses
the deep grooves between your eyes,
folded notes to be passed to a friend
between classes, perhaps—or birds
or buildings or an architecture
defying smooth textures. Let me be
creased, then, unfolded as a piece
of paper you've tucked inside
the pages of a heavy hardcover for years,
stumbled upon, blank, and fluently speaking
in a language you didn't even know you knew.
A gift on the first day of my fifty-seventh year.
Art by Martin Creed, "Work No. 340: A sheet of paper folded up and unfolded," 2004.
that jerk saved my life
I am concerned that in the process of making a business out of all this your sense of compassion is going out the window. I do not see a person in tune with others' suffering. I see a lack of humility.
This is the kind of correction that can knock you back a bit when it appears in your inbox. I suppose I don't get much criticism, all things considered. I'm sure it can't compare to the uninvited trouble foisted onto the rich and famous—but even a near-miss can level you, make you stagger and tumble onto the rocks where you scuff your knees and pick the scabs for a good while after.
He thinks this is a business?
That's when you might see that the unwelcome blow was in fact an act of compassion. Why? Because it stops you. It interrupts your monologue. It commands your attention. And if you feel unjustly injured, you can take a good look at where that injury comes from, where it resides, and what sustains it.
Only the thoughts in my head.
Anything that interferes with the flow of thoughts in your head is compassionate. Why? Because what we think isn't real. It is delusion. More than delusion, it is death. And that's how we live most of the time—as if dead—arguing, defending, judging and debating with ourselves, by ourselves, and then projecting our upsets onto the real world. The internet seems to make this projection easier and even painless. It's so easy to sound smart and clever, raw and biting, in a comment box. It's so easy to argue, attack, and rebut. But it's hard to stop.
All this digital carrying-on while we might not even pause to say hello to a single real, live person we pass on the street today.
Real compassion requires that you go out the window.
There is a part of the message that would have been laughable if I'd been of a mind to laugh: the "business" part. This isn't a business. I don't ask you for money. There is no enterprise here. I've dressed up the joint, but behind the curtain I'm just an old, poor, woman. By old I mean I turn 57 on Thursday. By poor I mean I don't earn any money. The amount I'm paid to write a book every four years falls beneath the one-person poverty line. I write to myself and for myself, and if you encounter it, it is free or next-to-free for the taking. And by all means, be compassionate with yourself and discard whatever I say if it doesn't make sense to you. Suffering is voluntary. You can opt out at anytime.
Compassion is a stick.
In the Zen tradition, there is something called a "waking stick." It is a long, flat wooden stick used during meditation periods of long retreats. A monitor walks behind the backs of meditators, stick in hand, totally alert and watching for people who place their palms together and bow slightly, which is the gesture that means, "hit me." Ask to be hit? Would anyone ever ask to be hit? If the business at hand is waking up, and you are cramped, sleepy, bored, or in pain, yes, you might ask for the stick. The monitor wields it swiftly, delivering a jolt of energy to the soft pad of muscles between the shoulders. It hurts! But you wake up, the pain dissipates, and then you realize, "That jerk saved my life."
The stick is called the stick of compassion. It comes only when you ask for it.
The business of a buddha.
This is not a business, but there is a business here, and it is the only business worth pursuing. Compassion is the business of a buddha. A buddha's work is to wake up. I'm here because I have more work to do. I always have more work to do. I offer this commentary as proof of how much work I've yet to do.
Good advice from a good friend.
That's what I wrote back to the guy. And it's true. But the real correction is what comes after.
Don't make anything more out of it.
Photo: A. Jesse Jiryu Davis.
value of time
"I think I have the sixty cents."
This is what you're likely to hear if you're standing behind me at the post office. Or at Starbucks, tapping your feet, waiting to order and get back on the road.
Sure enough, I do have the sixty cents to go with the five dollars' postage for my priority mail envelope, and as I dig in my wallet to bring it forth and count it out, I realize how it looks. Two quarters and two nickels.
"Money is so old-fashioned, isn't it?" I say to the postal worker, who sees a veritable parade of the out-of-date at her counter every day. The post office today is like a mecca of yesterday.
Here's what I like about exact change. It takes time. Counting change slows me down.
I'm not in such a hurry anymore. I don't know why anyone would be. I can see what we lose by our rush, but I cannot see what we gain.
It was back-to-school night last Thursday. The school year is now one month gone. The 8th grade math teacher let us in on a plan they have to roll back the math curriculum to the way it used to be. Awhile ago when everyone decided we were falling too far behind in this country, losing the future and forfeiting our superpower, they commenced a reign of terror in our middle school math program. Good math students were funneled into accelerated classes, learning math two years ahead of schedule, crammed and tested until they crapped out of the cull. It was a mystery to me why they thought this was good for our kids, what they hoped to gain by the pressure to duke it out with each other, let alone compete with the kids in Bangalore or Chengdu.
Tell kids to hurry up and you'll stop their love of learning. Steal their confidence and pride. Dull their excitement and delight. Given time, they might yet recover. I hope somewhere along the line someone will give them back the time they've lost.
You can find time waiting in line behind me at the post office but those lazy days are numbered too.
This weekend I posted a prayer list and invited folks to add to it. The list grew and grew. Someone wondered how long it would take me to recite all those prayers. It takes several minutes a day. Maybe that's why I'm doing it. Doing things that take time is the way to find time. Find time, and you're not in such a hurry anymore.
Find time for yourself at the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
prayer list
Whenever I am feeling injured or ignored, which I'm sorry to say is quite a bit, all I have to do is open my eyes to someone who has real suffering, not just the imaginary kind like me.
That's what I'm feeling now as I consider the devastation and despair passing through every news stream in front of me. I feel a triple, quadruple whammy of sad helplessness, which is a powerful invitation to pray.
I'm saying a prayer service today, and tomorrow, and the day after, and after, and after. Let's assemble a prayer list, shall we? I'll start the list, and please leave a comment or two and add to it. Tell me who or what to pray for. You can give me actual names if you like. In the face of our suffering world, I can't imagine doing less, and I don't know how to do more.
I'm praying for:
All the people of Syria.
All victims of war.
All victims of the Jersey boardwalk fire.
All victims of the Colorado floods.
All victims of natural disasters.
Our mother the Earth.
All children who are troubled and want to die.
All children who are sick and want to live.
All parents who need strength and guidance.
All animals suffering from abuse and neglect.
All beings suffering the pain of parting.
So far it is a short list, but it is a neverending need. Please add your prayers to the list.
7 tips to de-stress your home
A tour bus stops in front of my house and two dozen visitors disembark. They've come to view the 100-year-old Japanese garden in my backyard. Without a word of instruction, they spontaneously merge into a single file and advance soundlessly along the suburban sidewalk like an order of monks, albeit monks in khaki shorts and ball caps carrying iPhones.
It happens by itself, an autonomic response to the pervasive calm of the environment. When these guests leave, they might attribute their sudden state of reverence to some unseen spiritual power. Maybe the place is sacred, they might think. Mystically endowed, holy.
I thought about this recently when I was asked to come up with some simple tips for de-stressing a home. If I live on hallowed ground, I might have an unfair advantage in handling stress. Except I don't. I stress out just as easily as anyone, but by managing my environment, I de-stress easily too.
What turns a home into a sanctuary? What transforms a familiar set of cramped rooms into a sense of spaciousness? What changes everyday chaos into an oasis of calm? You don't need to install a meditation garden or consult a geomancer. There are no ancient secrets. The same devotional practices that turn monasteries into bastions of serenity can relieve the mindless stress that infiltrates your home life. Even if you can't consistently observe all of these pointers, doing a few will change the way you feel when you come home, and that is nothing less than a modern miracle.
1. Observe light. The natural world wakes with the first light of the sun, why not you? If rising at daybreak is too late for your daily work and commuting schedule, wake before the sun and observe the sunrise. In the habit of hitting the snooze button? Don't. If your waking thought is resistance, you wake in stress. You start the day in a race against time, and you stay that way. The sun is not only a natural time management system, it delivers the neurotransmitter serotonin that enhances brain function and reduces stress.
2. Observe darkness. Turn the power off and see what happens when night falls. We've turned our homes into temples of electronic stimulation, and our default position is maximum overdrive. Gadgets are handy and appliances are useful, but everything from the microwave to the smoke alarm and the cell phone to the computer is discharging a constant pulsing stream of energy. We cannot afford to be careless about our electronic addictions because we are going out of our minds. Evening brings a natural end to the 24-hour workday, restores mind-body balance, and invites quiet.
3. Observe quiet. I'll be loud and clear. The quiet that needs observing is not an external silence like the kind imposed at a library or hospital. Our homes are not ivory towers or infirmaries. The quiet that needs stilled is our internal commentary – the nonstop thoughts that stir anger, resentment, anxiety and fear. You may never get around to practicing meditation, but try this technique in the meantime. Designate a comfortable seat in your bedroom as your "quiet chair." Clear it of clutter; keep it empty and available. When domestic chaos and turmoil overtake you, retreat to your bedroom and take sanctuary in your quiet chair. Conflicts will decelerate by themselves when you take a step back. When the decibels in your head come down, come out.
4. Observe bells. A mountain of laundry, a forest of weeds, and an avalanche in the hall closet: the sheer size of untended tasks at home can topple us into paralyzing despair. When chores get out of hand, pick up some extra time. Set a timer for 20 or 30 minutes and focus on doing one thing during that period. It doesn't matter if you finish; what matters is that you start. Once you start, the finish comes into view.
5. Observe nature. Open a window. The view doesn't matter. Open a door. You don't have to be in a national park. Air and light are curative. If you doubt it, just take a walk around the block and watch your mood lift with the breeze and change with the scenery.
6. Observe order. Washing dishes, sweeping floors, folding clothes, clearing the table, and sorting mail: these are not just simple means of practicing mindfulness, they are your mind. As Buddha described our true relationship to our environment, "There is no inside, there is no outside, and there is no in-between." When we resist order, we are messing with our minds.
7. Observe ritual. Light a candle, and elevate your mealtime. Burn incense, and alleviate anxiety. Sages have always known that rituals are not just symbolic. Your rituals don't have to reek of religious significance. Give yourself a set of completion rituals to signify the end of the day. Empty the kitchen sink; put your shoes in the closet; brush and floss your teeth. When repeated, rituals prepare you to enter a state of repose.
It's another Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I'm reprising some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
nine eleven thirteen
Is this the year that memory fades? The date unremembered until looking over, turning back, taking stock,
you see what you have missed until now?
In this hush
between the rising and dusk
of one minute and month
a season arriving
a circle recycling
we see sharp and know cold
that not one thing stands
or stands still
Not one thing untouched
but all carried intact
by love
deep, far and beyond.
10 tips for mindful work
It has been 15 years since I've spent 60 or more hours each week in an office, and at no time during the long stretch of my professional career was I anything but profoundly inattentive. Still, those days brought the dawn of a penetrating realization that my work was not the problem. Work is never the problem.
In that spirit, I offer these 10 Tips for Mindful Work, or What I Would Do Differently if I Had It All to Do Over Again:
Be on time
Self-discipline is the foundation of all success and the essence of self-respect.
Work is not a distraction from your life; it is not a detour, hindrance or necessary evil. If you think this way it is the wrong view. When you are working, work is your life. Care for it as you care for yourself. As Dogen Zenji says, "If you find one thing wearisome, you will find everything wearisome."
Make a list
Start each day with a list of things to do. Control is an illusion, so wise up and keep the list short.
Forget the list
Do not mistake a list for the thing. Adapt to the flow of real events as they occur. Adaptation is innovation and innovation is genius.
Attend to what appears
What appears in front of you is the only thing there is. Respond appropriately as things arise, and crises will not overtake you.
Avoid gossip
Viruses spread. Keep your hands clean and cover your mouth.
The workplace is a theater, and the drama is make-believe. Everyone appreciates a good laugh. When you can do anything as though you work at nothing, you have the best days of your life.
Give credit
No amount of money is enough. Be generous with your kindness, courtesy and thanks. They will always be repaid.
Take the rest of the day off
Do your work, then set it down. Let others praise or blame.
Do it all over again
Rise and shine. An ancient teacher said, "A day without work is a day without eating." Take every chance to do it differently, and your life will transform.
It's another Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I'm reprising some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
4 rules for a mindful garden
This is a simple set of instructions that I always give children when they visit my backyard garden. Beginning when she was three years old, we invited Georgia's class to our garden for a field trip each year. She is now 14, and I am far older, and yet the instructions still apply. Children find them easier to do than adults.
Life is a garden and we are the gardeners. Here are the rules for a mindful garden:
1. Be kind. Every time we are kind to another, we are kind to ourselves, because we have left our stingy self-centeredness behind. It's important: kindness is the supreme religion. It's not hard: pure silence is the ultimate kindness. We already know how to do it.
2. Don't throw rocks. The garden path is paved with stones. For children, it's tempting to pick one up and loft it into the ponds. For adults, it's tempting to pick one up and loft it at each other. Consider how very often we blame others, and the circumstances around us, for whatever displeases us. It's not my fault, we say, it's you, it's my job, it's my parents, it's my kids, it's my neighbor that's causing all the trouble, tossing rocks with wild abandon. To maintain peace in your garden, don't pick up a rock if you can't set it down.
3. No running. There's no hurry and no one chasing you. Running in my backyard is a sure way to fall headfirst into the murky mud beneath you. How much of life do we miss because we are racing headfirst toward some place else? A place we never reach? You have all the time in the world to savor the life you have.
4. Pay attention. Bring all your attention to what is at hand. You'll wake up to the glorious view before you and realize you're right at home where you are.
It's Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I've reprised some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
7 ways to be mindful with a teen
I am no parenting expert, but what I keep in mind these days with my teenager is this one thing, the sum total of my old teacher's advice on raising kids.
Become one with your child.
That may not mean what you think it means. It does not mean to fabricate phony friendship or rah-rah enthusiasm. Nor does it mean to harbor ambition, fear, hope, or dread. It means to become as your child is right now, meet them where and as they are, dissolving the distance from which you judge them. When judgmental distance disappears, you may see that the teenage years are very reminiscent of a far, far, earlier stage in parenting, when you tiptoed about, wanting nothing more from your child than that they sleep and eat, whereby they mysteriously and marvelously continue to grow.
Here is how I try to become one with my daughter as she is, the seven ways I practice mindfulness as the parent of a teenager:
1. Be quiet! — Teenagers become as quiet as the quiet you once wished for. They seem to disappear inside themselves, but they are not lost. Accept their silence within your own nonjudgmental quiet. The silence you keep between you is undefiled love. Trust, faith and respect grow in the silence. That way, when your teen speaks, it will be something they really want to share.
2. Do not disturb — You're worried about whether your teen has enough good sense. But what do you give them 24 hours a day? Doubt and distrust? A nag, prod, poke, or push? An ominous warning? Anxious oversight? All of the above? Imagine that your teen is now wearing the sign you once hung from the doorknob to the nursery. Baby sleeping. Don't let your neurotic fears continually rattle the calm between you.
3. Feed yourself —Children learn to feed themselves. Now it's your turn. As teenagers wrest themselves from their emotional dependence, parents can feel starved for love. Nourish your own neglected passions, purpose and interests. Fulfill yourself by yourself, and you'll free your children from your emotional appetites. Now all your relationships can mature.
4. Draw no conclusions. — We are deeply attached to the illusory signs of "successful" parenting. As in all of life, the next setback inevitably interrupts our self-congratulation. The only conclusion is that there is no conclusion. Stay on the ride. See where it goes. It keeps going forever.
5. Grow up. This is what I remember from being a teenager. As I reached the age where I could see my parents' foibles and follies, I wished for one thing only: that they grow up. Like my daughter, I am trying my best to grow up.
6. Knock softly. For a few more years at least, your children are still guests in your home. As with any guest, be a good host. Give privacy; respect boundaries; ask permission.
7. Wait for the door to open. It will. Because there was never a door to begin with. You are not strangers. You are not enemies. Two blooms on a single branch: you and your teenager are one.
This may be a good time to read:
8 Reminders for Mindful Parents
8 Ways to Raise a Mindful Child
10 Tips for a Mindful Home
15 Ways to Practice Compassion on the Way Home for Dinner
7 Tips to De-Stress Your Home
Rules for a Mindful Garden
10 Tips for Mindful Writing
5 Tips for Meaning in Cleaning
10 Tips for Mindful Work
It's Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I've reprised some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
10 tips for a mindful home
If you can do the first one, the next nine take care of themselves.
1.Wake with the sun
There is no purer light than what we see when we open our eyes first thing in the morning.
Mindfulness without meditation is just a word.
3. Make your bed
The state of your bed is the state of your head. Enfold your day in dignity.
4.Empty the hampers
Do the laundry without resentment or commentary and have an intimate encounter with the very fabric of life.
5. Wash your bowl
Rinse away self-importance and clean up your own mess. If you leave it undone, it will get sticky.
6. Set a timer
If you're distracted by the weight of what's undone, set a kitchen timer and, like a monk in a monastery, devote yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand before the bell rings.
7. Rake the leaves
Rake, weed, or sweep. You'll never finish for good, but you'll learn the point of pointlessness.
8. Eat when hungry
Align your inexhaustible desires with the one true appetite.
9. Let the darkness come
Set a curfew on the internet and TV and discover the natural balance between daylight and darkness, work and rest.
10. Sleep when tired
Nothing more to it.
It's Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I'll be reprising some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
8 ways to raise a mindful child
Parents are rightfully concerned about the capacity their children have to pay attention, express empathy, and cope with the stresses that infiltrate their lives. Should we then coerce our children onto meditation cushions? Impose artificial silence, stillness or philosophical indoctrination? Before you do that, take a closer look.
Children are exemplars of the art of being. Wherever they are, they are completely immersed: in mud, in make believe, in laughter, in tears or in spaghetti sauce up to their eyeballs. Without a bit of self-consciousness, they lose themselves in what they are; they literally throw themselves away. This is the kind of losing in which mindfulness is found.
Without making a big deal about it, parents can gently encourage everyday actions that nourish and grow attention, empathy and self-care.
1. Read picture books – Illustrated children's books have fallen out of favor as parents push children into early reading as a competitive outcome. Mindfulness is perception, and the rich visual content of picture books nourish the capacity to see, explore and relate to what appears in front of us.
2. Listen – When your children speak to you, turn your face toward them, meet their gaze, and listen. Your own non-distracted attention is a wellspring for theirs. We cannot extract from our children what we fail to give.
3. Sing – Encourage singing: at home, at play, in the bath, anywhere. Singing is breathing and breathing is the body's natural calming mechanism. Hearing your children sing to themselves will release your own deep sense of well-being, and you will smile.
4. Smile – Smiling is a silent song. For heaven's sake, greet your children with enough presence of mind to smile at them.
5. Brush teeth – The ritual of brushing teeth imparts subtle disciplines. It is rhythmic and therefore soothing; attentive and self-managing; and it stretches our capacity to tend to what we'd rather put off. Then add flossing. You're developing concentration and fighting cavities in a single stroke.
6. Walk to school – If that's not feasible, walk the dog. Walk to the store. Walk to the post office. Or just walk around the block. Walking is meditative and mood-altering. Moreover, walking in your neighborhood overcomes the isolation and alienation we can unwittingly breed in our lives. You might meet or make a friend.
7. Handwrite – The mysterious art and skill of writing by hand is being shunted aside by the keyboard. Writing with paper and pencil takes time, practice and mind-body focus. Researchers say it enhances learning, memory and ideation. Our children will all learn how to type, but will they learn how to write? Take time now.
8. Start now – The list of things we want for our children – and expect from them – seems endless. Where will we ever find the time? Until you know what it is to live in the present moment, you will never be able to relax. So relax! It doesn't take long to be mindful. Devote one hour a day to giving undistracted attention to your small children. Not in activities driven by your agenda, but in free play and casual company according to their terms. Undivided attention is the most concrete expression of love you can give. Amply supplied, your children will return their love to the world through mindfulness.
Mindful children grow up in mindful homes.
It's Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I'll be reprising some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
8 reminders for mindful parents
A cozy set of practical guidelines for parents who practice mindfulness:
1. Practice in plain sight. Place your zafu, or meditation cushion, in a conspicuous place in your home, such as on your bedroom floor. As you pass by, let it invite you to practice meditation daily. Even five minutes morning or night can turn your life around.
2. Live by routine. Take the needless guesswork out of meals and bedtimes. Let everyone relax into the predictable flow of a healthy and secure life.
3. Elevate the small. And overlook the large. Want to change the world? Forget the philosophical lessons. Instruct your child in how to brush his teeth, and then do it, together, twice a day.
4. Turn off the engines. Discipline TV and computer usage and reduce artificial distraction, escapism, and stimulation. This begins with you.
5. Give more attention. And less of everything else. Devote one hour a day to giving undistracted attention to your children. Not in activities driven by your agenda, but according to their terms. Use a timer to keep yourself honest. Undivided attention is the most concrete expression of love you can give.
6. Take a break. Before you break in two. Designate a chair in your home as a "quiet chair," where you can retreat to decelerate conflicts. Or walk around the block and see how quickly your own two feet can stamp out the fire on your head.
7. Be the first to apologize. Practice the miracle of atonement and instantly restore household harmony. By your doing, your children will learn how.
8. Be the last to know. Refrain from making judgments and foregone conclusions about your children. Watch their lives unfold, and be surprised. The show is splendid, and yours is the best seat in the house.
It's Mindfulness Reminder Week on the blog. I'll be reprising some of my most popular posts on mindfulness at home and work. To learn how to put the preaching into practice, come to the Plunge Retreat in Boise on Saturday, Oct. 5.
anthem of the empty room
I'm cleaning off the desk today. Then I'll tackle the drawers. By process of elimination, I'm headed for the floor.
I finished the manuscript for Paradise in Plain Sight, the book that New World Library will publish next spring. By finished, I mean I had the thought that I was finished. Every day I'm more finished than before. Soon I will gather the files and shoot them into a life of their own. I want my hands free to do simple things.
These hands. What will I do with them? That is the question that keeps coming around. Now what? Now where? What's next?
My sister told me she has decided to retire next spring. She is younger than I am, and she has worked longer and harder than I ever did doing complicated things. She is at ease with her decision, the only ruffle coming when people kindly say, "I can't wait to see what you will do next." It is just small talk, but right there is the expectation that there's got to be something great and interesting to show for ourselves.
All around, the year reaches crescendo: kids starting kindergarten, fourth grade, high school, and college. Everywhere, the firsts, which carry in them the lasts, and leave the emptiness of closets and chairs. It seems impossible to be finished. No less impossible to begin. But impossible things happen every day. Today.
My friend and dharma sister Jody Kujaku Glienke came to me after sitting zazen on Saturday. She handed me a pair of headphones and asked me to listen to a new song she'd written and sung about her daughter now grown and living in New York. She stood behind me like a good mother, so she wouldn't intrude on my hearing and force a response. She was surprised when I turned around, sobbing at the end of her sweet song. She held me in her arms. Because I have a daughter still in her room, but halfway to New York, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Don't we all? Let this console you, let this hold your song: the empty room where we find ourselves alone and together again.
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come to California
"In the sun and in the weather, no one else has loved me better."
Come to California
Beginner's Mind One-Day Retreat
Sunday, Nov. 10
9 am-3 pm
Hazy Moon Zen Center
Los Angeles
Because we need to save ourselves and start again.
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so far so good
Giving away the moments of your life, and four free passes to the Boise Plunge retreat on Sat., Oct. 5. Send me send me a private message to claim your prize.
Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.
please come
After the kids return to school,
before the year is over and time disappears,
when patience is thin, and peace seems all but lost,
it's safe to go back in the water:
Announcing the return of The Plunge workshop
healing weary hearts and minds
with the calming cleanse of deep compassion
a one-day mindfulness retreat
with the good people of Boise
and anyone else along for the swim
Saturday, Oct. 5
Register here.
If you can offer scholarship funds to waiting participants, please contact me.
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rite of passage
Georgia turned 14 today. When she woke up and got dressed, I called her over to my desk.
Do you want to see the photos of you right after you were born? You mean when I was all wrinkled and red? No.
Do you know the time you were born? 10:04 a.m.
Do you know who was the first one to see you besides Dad?
She knew; she knows it all. Then she sat up excitedly in the scanty new Brandy Melville shorts and crop top, a gift from a girlfriend. "My favorite outfit of all time." She was up late last night fielding happy birthday texts. "Really long ones." She was going to walk into our little downtown and spend the day with pals.
"I'll be in touch," she said, on top of the world.
Then it was clear: she's reached the point where parents don't give you a birthday. Your friends do. I have a familiar sense of where I am in this go-round. Precisely where I was 14 years ago. After her birth I was too sick to see her for several days. I was no more useful for the next, oh, seven years. Through feeding and teething, coughs and fevers, tears and terrors, night after night, I felt just as clueless then as now. But something spoke to me, coaxed me out of my fright and confusion, brought me solace, and one day the crib was emptied.
"Today is a day to celebrate," a knowing friend said to me. What shall I celebrate? Coming this far, I suppose. Having far to go. Being upright, in comfortable shoes, with a good dog at my side, friends near and far, an empty road ahead, and absolutely no idea.
Absolutely no idea.
I'll be in touch.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Momma Zen, a rite of passage, published the year Georgia turned seven. Winner selected this Sunday, Aug. 18.
a daughter is turning fourteen
She wants balloons at the pool party, and I think a cloud of purple balloons would be just right. There is no such thing as too young or fun in these last days before turning fourteen.
I have thought lonely and long about how far beyond my reach you are now, how gone beyond my knowing. There is so much of me you do not need or want or like. That you cannot like just now, on the brink of turning fourteen.
We bought school supplies today. How few days like this remain—new ruler, pens, and notebooks, graph paper, pocket folders, pencil cases—a hundred dollars worth. I resented the trouble and money. But when you came home and loaded your backpack for next Wednesday's bell, I cried over these lines.
Am I more frightened than at the start? I thought I'd break you then but it's me torn in two.
I said yes, invite everyone to the party, twice as ever before, let everyone come for this last splash and splurge—greasy pizza and pixie sticks—all our beautiful daughters, our hearts, our dreams, let them laugh and scream, be silly, be lovely, take the cake, claim the prize, the women we've never seen and might yet meet, our daughters are turning fourteen.
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your bed is your head
Before your feet hit the floor you've already run through the reasons. First, there's not enough time. It's pointless. You'll just have to do it all over again. You have more important things on your mind. It doesn't matter. No one will see it. You don't care. You're not uptight about it. It's a waste of energy. You hate it. After all, you're not Martha Stewart.
The bed is a nest of egocentric attachments: our cravings and aversions. In the one minute it takes to avoid making your bed in the morning, you can observe the ways you battle the reality of your life all day, everyday. You might think it's unfair to deduce all that from a tangle of sheets and pillows, but it's not an exaggeration.
The state of your bed is the state of your head. To be sure, the bed and its adornments are a mirror of your psyche, a reflection of your thoughts and feelings, the locus of your dreams and nightmares. But more than that, your bed actually is your mind. Like all phenomena that arise within your field of perception, your bed appears within your own consciousness. How do you respond to what appears?
By habit, we respond with dualistic judgment, dividing the whole of our experience into the few precious things we like and the greater load of what we dislike, accepting the former and rejecting the latter. We thus move through our lives as if maneuvering through enemy territory, attacked on all sides by the overwhelming forces of displeasure. It's no wonder that we have the urge to crawl back under the covers as if defeated before the day even begins.
Luckily, this one piece of furniture not only serves to diagnose our ills, but to treat them as well. Transform your reality. Transcend dualistic thinking. Face what appears in front of you. Do what needs to be done. Make peace with the world you inhabit. Take one minute—this minute right now—to enfold your day in dignity. Tuck in the sheets, straighten the covers and fluff the pillows. See for yourself if making the bed makes a difference in your head.
This article appears in the September 2013 issue of Shambhala Sun magazine.
These are the last three days for Early Bird Registration for the Boise Plunge, one-day retreat on Oct. 5.
beyond gone
This is the scene at Maezumi Roshi's memorial site in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles after recent wildfires and mudslides.
The stones still stand, but much work remains to restore and protect this hillside, which is in the canyon home of the the Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center. Volunteer crews defended the property from destruction by fire, but soon after, rains triggered floods that engulfed much of the property and destroyed its sustainable systems for water and power. It will be rebuilt.
This land is where Maezumi Roshi planted his greatest faith. He aspired to create a major training center—an incubator—for the seeds of Dharma in the west. But it was untamed acreage, and the conversion of rocky timberland into a peaceful dwelling took more time, work, and money than one lifetime could muster.
"Little by little," he would say.
He brought in a geomancer to choose the most favorable locations for the Buddha hall and the zendo, and then he began to dig. The scale of labor taxed blood and tears out of his students at the time. They told stories of the endless excavations, the patience spent as Maezumi hauled and hoisted rocks into arrangements that were inexplicable to their tired eyes. Now, the work goes on.
Each rock had a face, Maezumi said. He lifted and turned each rock until it faced forward. Until you could see it straight on.
You can still see the rocks straight on. Although I no longer call this mountain my home, my practice still resides here with Maezumi. If you'd like to help out even a little with repairing the damage, please consider a gift to the Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center. It will go to immediate use, and we will all benefit from your selflessness.


text:
I spoke at Media140 Sydney – I want to highlight some of the "arguments" used against social media by the panels, also focus on Everybody co-creating The Human Narrative and the diminishing role of journalists who take news from one part of the community and deliver it to another part: It's not YOUR content. It's our content. Our stories. We didn't give you the Human Story, we loaned it to you, and now we're taking it back.
Such an odd day – I couldn't seem to get my feet under me at Media140 Sydney. Journalists kept coming up with the same old chestnuts and really no idea how to listen. It was weird. Note: my view was as a blogger first and only. I'm not a journalist who blogs, nor a blogger who has ever been paid for writing by a media organisation, nor journalist who is also an academic. So it's a bit of a surprise that few people addressed the popular questions of "how will Freelancers survive", "how will social media make money"? I have a clear understanding of those things, perhaps because I'm NOT in the media echo chamber but in online communities where everyday ProAms are figuring out how to monetize their user generated content. In fact I podcast about social media revenue every week…
Anyway, here is my 5 minute presentation also available as an episode on my Social Media Business podcast on iTunes or video or audio.
Now we're taking it back – Laurel Papworth Media140 from Laurel Papworth on Vimeo.
Do Journos do it better?
I only have five minutes so I'm using this as a timer. Top left hand corner – yell out when it gets to 300 seconds, my time will be up. Just ignore all the people joining Facebook, uploading YouTube videos and writing blog posts while we chatter here about whether journalists do it better.Gary Hayes Social Media Count (you can download it or embed it on his site) @garyphayes
Do what better than whom?
Is it more interesting to read an article of a journalist interviewing a survivor of the Mumbai bombings – or to watch that survivor's photos on Flickr? Do you feel you are better informed when a journalist reports the date of the State Election in South Australia or when Premier Mike Wran tweets it? In fact as more world leaders move onto Twitter, the horses mouth has never been so evident.
Which brings us to the second part of the question: journalists blog better than ….? Better The President of Iran who blogs in both Arabic and English? The Nobel prize winner in Economics who blogs? or the President of the European Union? Mayhill Fowler has not once but twice scooped the press – on stories about both Bill Clinton and Barak Obama. She calls herself a citizen journalist and contributes unpaid articles to the Huffington Post.
Is it only journalists that can provide an independent viewpoint? Now this is where arguments fall down. Either the blogosphere is one big echo chamber, repeating each others articles – or worse, pinching them from the Press – with bloggers agreeing with each other and readers can never get a different viewpoint OR no one agrees with anyone online and it's just a big chatfest of negativity, anonymous comments and flame wars. Media has yet to make up their mind.
My view? journalists are cossetted, under the tender loving hand of their editor should probably try to understand that bloggers who get a story wrong are greeted with a howling barrage of criticism, with repeat offenders receiving the worst punishment of all, a deafening silence? No blogger that I know of has a horoscope, crossword and sports section to make up for lack of attention on the part of the reader. Journalists can't possible survive in the attention economy unless they know the impact of their articles.
So Do Journos Do It Better? …but it's a bit of a silly question. No blogger would craft a blog title like that – it smacks of linkbaiting and typical of traditional media. To paraphrase Lord David Putnam, journalists craft an article like a grenade, lob it over the wall into the school yard and walk away without staying to see the consequences.
And anyway, what is a blogger? Or a Facebooker? Or a Twitterer? Perhaps we'd be better naming them Readers, or Viewers or Listeners? Or simply the Public. Because social media doesn't belong to a new regime coming up to displace the old media regime. It's Everyone. It's everyone creating content. Good content, bad content and everything in between. It's Everyone distributing content, linking out, retweeting. It's Everyone discussing, dissecting, critiquing and correcting.
Which brings us to the Human Narrative. Stop for a moment and think about your great great great great grandmother. Who was she? Do you have videos or even photos of her? Do you know what she did when she was 17 and half? Where she went on holiday at 33 years of age? What she wrote about at 64?
Now move forward in time and consider what the next generation and the next generation and the one after will know about their great great great grandparents. For the first time in human evolution we are co-creating the Human Narrative, never again will our histories be held hostage to the victors, our stories forgotten, unwritten, unscribed.
It's not YOUR content. It's our content. Our stories. We didn't give you the Human Story we loaned it to you, and now we're taking it back. Feel free to retire your press card and pick up a keyboard – the sooner you become part of the Community and not outside of it, the more likely you will be to survive. Indeed, thrive.
I might grab the video from ABC soon – after all it's my content, my story. heh.
Media140: generalizations abound, or else very personal stories on "How I got started on Twitter". The Ethics panel didn't go to any actual examples or get down and dirty: I suspect even the academics are not used to releasing "work in progress" to an audience. Incidentally, we got the usual bashing Bloggers/Facebookers/Twitterers are guilty of all the below:
Echo Chamber:
An echo chamber is a social network – if we share a Purpose (gardening, law, crochet) then we discuss the same or similar topics ad nauseum. That's why we come to gether. If we share a value system, then we tend not to argue too much. It's a no brainer. The reality is, we read other blogs and look for opposing viewpoints to argue our case – anyone who had done essays at school knows that trick yet journalists see themselves as truly independent and therefore above a social network. Which doesn't really explain the same News on all the stations on TV in the evening.
Negative Anonymous comments:
Social networks are full of negative comments. This of course contravenes the point above -that the Echo Chamber doesn't allow for diversity of discussion. but anyway, it hasn't it been my experience. I think Newspapers run negative communities, because they get SO much wrong on Purpose, Values, Identities, Trust, Reputation, Leaders, Roles, Etiquette, Events, Rituals but the communities I am involved in rarely have more than a few snippy exchanges. BazaarVoice found overwhelmingly that reviews online are positive. Journalists however often look through the lense of their own experience and claim it impartial. Clean up your own newspapers articles, adjust the tone and stop linkbaiting and you'll start to have a more respectful community.
Only Journalists can do real News.
Caroline Overington was adamant – well actually she was channelling James Murdoch's rant over the BBC. Without fully understanding it I think. Her take? Pretty well that when Fairfax defaults on it's loans and folds, the only media organisation doing News will be the ABC and what a sad day that is. Somehow she never got around to addressing what the event was actually about SOCIAL MEDIA and traditional journalism. That we can do News ourselves very well thank you very much.
The Whole Thing Is a Bit of a Joke
Chris Uhlman had the least considered, least informed rant of the day. Let me give you some insight. He took the quote ""News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising" and noted that it had been attributed to a number of well known journalists and media barons, that nobody can tell now who actually made the quote… and get this: the fact that we don't know who is plagiarising whom is the internet's fault. Riiiiight. Untrustworthy hacks all claiming a quote for themselves and somehow its social media's fault. By the way when I checked, it's Lord Northcliffe – media baron. And if that's wrong it's because a journalist somehow somewhere decided to attribute it to his boss. Not a blogger. See? Sleight of Hand. MisDirect.
Social Media is all very well and good but it can't change the world.
His so called insightful studies into "only 8 people are behind the Citizen News in hot spots like Tehran situation" were ill informed and – again- misdirects. Yes people in Iran may be poor and not have computers but they DO have mobile phones and use them. And while "satire didn't stop Hitler" (why did the audience laugh?) nor did newspapers. No mention of the President of the Philippines tweeting during floods or of the Mumbai bombings wiki to help find missing people. But at the end of the day, this wasn't about people reporting their own stories better than journalists reporting stories, it was about people around the world feeling connected, involved. That was flatly looked down upon as trivial and not Pure News.
Trust and Reputation of the writer
I learnt that the next time a journalists says "i've done some research and this is what I found" to do the same thing I do with bloggers: question. Can I trust them? have they shown an ability to present a subject passionately but with some sense of honesty and transparency and real grasp for the situation? What is their backstory, who are they connected to… you know the drill. Nothing exists in isolation.
Of course what we heard was that you can only trust people face to face and never online. Well guess what? I trust people more online, than I do face to face. Online is a record. Face to face might never have happened if they deny it. I don't have to ask to see someones driver's licence online, I can see their profile and verify with their connected network. It's really hard to fake being ME online – I only have to deny it on one of my channels and story over. Easier to fake being me in real life
Bloggers don't have editors.
No, we have an army of them… nitpicking, pedantic readers who won't just read but insist on correcting. And I wouldn't have it any other way. FFS the long tail of content means that over time we gain respect. Social media is not a democracry but a meritocracy. Screw up too often and the readers stop correcting – they go elsewhere to a more switched on, valued source.
I really see the "studio system" of newspapers folding. I see a sponsored model of news arising – similar to independent film makers. And I see a lot more journalists turning to blogging as a revenue stream. The sooner the better because for me these "journalists vs social media" fests, give diminishing returns. Cos at the end of the day even if I agreed that all blogs are rubbish and only Traditional News works, it doesn't matter. The Viewers and Readers are too busy creating content to notice the demise, and it's already Game Over. Change, adapt, move on.
There's work to be done.
N.B. Margaret Simons has published her views on our presentations on The Content Makers at Crikey. As Fran Molloy tweeted to me: Journos all differ! (As do bloggers, Fran, as do bloggers…)
33 Responses to "Media140 Sydney: Social Media Twitter & Journalism"
have been listening in from Hobart – it strikes me that a lot of journos are faced with moving from the known to the unknown.
There was a nature doco from about a dozen years ago that showed how these exquisitely beautiful young birds on long legs had to leave a particular area before the mud solidified and trapped them. It was really sad as you saw the ones that left it too long and were trapped watching their more adventurous siblings flying off into the blue… -
[…] Read the whole speech here. UPDATE: Watch it (and read more of Papworth) here. […]
[…] cards -"it was always our content and we're taking it back". It's about the human narrative. […]
[…] Laurel Papworth says journalists need to tear up their press cards -"it was always our content and we're taking it back". It's about the human narrative… […]
Interesting talk. Unfortunately I was too busy working in the news factory upstairs to be able to attend the conference but I've been following it online.
It seems you're worried about the way (some) journos pigeonhole bloggers. I'm worried you're guilty of the reverse crime. It's tiring to tune in to a discussion between the social media and traditional media tribes, only to see it beset by namecalling and misunderstandings about each other's roles.
I suspect the adversarial format of these conferences has something to do with it, but I appeal to you to take the higher ground. Please don't make assumptions about what we do (your comment about benevolent editors being more forgiving of errors than fellow bloggers made me choke on my biscuit). Lets have a discussion.
… I have discussions with people who have a sense of humour, so this one will make you choke on your crumpet
http://laurelpapworth.com/blog-journalism-the-world-as-editor/As the only person to deliberately misunderstand my joke was Mumbrella, I suggest you go back there.
Interesting thread developing on my facebook account re: this. Heres the start of that..
Helen Ramoutsaki
Really like idea of contributing to the Human Narrative, but social media contributions are ephemeral unless archived … (interestingly the modern Greek word for newspaper 'εφιμεριδα' comes from the same root as 'emphemeral': lasting only one day). Libraries, and I assume, publishers archive newspaper content. I know some websites are archived by … Read More
Yesterday at 1:52pm · DeleteGary Hayes
Great comment Helen – you should drop this onto Laurel's original post too Absolutely agree that capturing this increasing mass of content for posterity will be a key issue moving forward and I suspect libraries will become more and more like traditional editors, deciding on what will be kept on large arrays of optical storage in open viewing … Read More
Yesterday at 2:11pm · DeleteHelen Ramoutsaki
Ahhh … If only (s)he'd had the chance to sit on a veranda rocking his/her micro-chip-off-the-old-block on his/her lap and telling these tales, mingling them with the backups of the ancestors. But that has always been the issue with the inheritance of knowledge/information, from the oral to the digital … do you have a succession plan in place?Your vision for libraries is already happening (even to some extent in the remote far north) but a big issue is the time taken for archival material to be transferred/converted to the latest media because obviously you need the appropriate hardware to access the data. I've got a couple of 5 1/4 inch floppies but no chance at all of finding out what gems are hidden in the dark caverns of their caches.
B.t.w: the Celts and the Saxons had a damn fine idea for "embedded battle reporting". The poet/bard would fight along with everyone else, so they knew what happened in the battle. But no-one was allowed to kill them because they had to go home and compose the epic to commemorate it all. So I'm having a bullet-proof vest printed with "POET" on it …
p.s: I tried to get a log in to Crickey to pass on comments to Laurel but they haven't confirmed my membership yet … maybe I haven't clicked the right spot … sometimes it shows that I'm a digital immigrant! -
Laurel, I'm a traditional media content maker (!) and I loved what you said at Media140. What's to fear? It made me wonder at my own hesitation to tweet and blog – it feels a lot more exposed than broadcasting with the imprimatur of a big media organisation. So bring on the everchanging human narrative and let's all stop being scared. I for one got into this game because I wanted to hear people's stories, not because I wanted to control them, even though that's what inevitably happens when you're in charge of the process.
@silkcharm this is brilliant! http://bit.ly/2AaEGh @huxley
Hey since u hv a blog. Hehe. U might wanna check http://www.ozbloggers.com. It's new & expanding connects via Twitter
It's ridiculous how evangelical you are in your hatred of traditional media.
This quote just says it all:
"It's not YOUR content. It's our content. Our stories. We didn't give you the Human Story, we loaned it to you, and now we're taking it back."
Isn't the main role of journalists to tell other people's stories and to bring various views together in a digestible way?
Social media is an awesome, complementary tool and great for first-hand accounts. We all know that. But we also know that without the mainstream media pulling all those disparate stories, photos, etc together, their audience would be inconsequential.
Asher, unexpected points from a traditional journo but ones that are fundamentally flawed. This is expected from those inside traditional 'story factories' and who are indoctrinated by inherited media practise (I know I have been inside and out at regular intervals – often for my own sanity).
Firstly traditional (closed, mass produced, one way) commercial media requires one thing to happen – a stable or growing readership to maintain larger numbers of eyeballs to deliver to advertisers, who pay the 'editorial' teams and keep 'real' journalists in a job. Simple and we all know this.
What does a 'real' journalist need to do therefore to bring in those eyeballs? Tell a broad and balanced filtered cross section of 'the human story'? Or- try to draw readers in with sensationalised, politically motivated (aka dysfunctional), negative bias, out there on-the-edge weirdness or just plain sad (family murders, mass death, corruption). We just need to look at the evening TV news or tabloids and see 9 of the 10 stories about murder, rape, political back stabbing and so on. Is THAT the human story? Is that all humanity has come to represent. That was Laurel's point re: traditional media are now no longer faithfully recording and distributing our lives in a meaningful and relevant way (and have they ever?) Most editorial we see today is frankly no different from the endless cop shows or death/corruption/intrigue paraded across commercial FTA TV in Australia. Of course we need to know that a father killed his wife and kid and dumped their bodies in graphic detail or a corrupt banker ripped off a pension fund and ran away with a model BUT what about the million acts of kindness or positive messages? I know feelgood is for the outré, they don't peak our fascination with what is wrong with the world. But part of humanity evolving is to reduce our reliance on 'fear' based editorial – there are more 'positive' messages seeping across social media now, OK there is still the crap & negativity, but shining out finally is meaningful humanity which in democratised and disintermediated distribution CAN now be represented.
To finish perhaps you should look at your own 'representation' of what the human 'tech' story is? A small selection from the past weeks below – is that a balanced reflection of what is happening or should I seek out for me relevance across a hundred RSS feeds I am subscribed to from those actually 'doing it? Big changes happening Asher, an upheaval of the way 'news / human story' is propagated and the ones most resistant and unlikely to 'recognise' or talk about those changes? Traditional journalists, with mortgages, kids to feed, salaries to keep.
Ashers representation of the human 'tech' story:
1 Outrage, Leaked footage of Call of Duty game
2 Hacking hotmail really easy
3 Telstra damaged by Conroy blunder
4 Don't Twitter, studio tells stars
5 MySpace tanks
6 Spiritual retreat accident, deleting incriminating tweets
7 Hacker cracks iTunes DRM
8 ABC Gender bias Good Game presenter
9 Mummy bloggers scorn Nestle
10 Aussie inventor losses his patent
11 Geeks make $4k a day selling penis pills
12 Google maps plastered with ads
and so on – of course 'death of second life' and so on a regular…and how did I find these Asher stories in 2 minutes? Blanket coverage on your twitter feed, nearly every tweet links back to SMH article (nice to see comments, but couldn't find any from you responding ?) I need to look harder. You obviously have a deep understanding of what social media is all about.
Gary, that's precisely the kind of overly-defensive and overly-emotional personal attack that makes this whole discussion so confrontational and, quite frankly, tedious. All heat and no light.
Asher's made a fair point and asked a fair question about the role of journalism. How is that changing?
After all, Laurel's mainfesto is fightin' words. It says, in essence, bugger off we don't need you journalists any more. It's a shame her speech was scheduled at the end of the day when there was no time for the discussion it was obviously intended to trigger.
Sure, some journalists have a sense of entitlement that needs to be challenged. But some folks in the social media field also, sometimes, say things that reek of assumed superiority, "We know better than you" — guaranteed to get people offside! — and that somehow all our informational needs will now be solved by a sprinkling of magick social media fairy dust. Bollocks.
There's no doubt that the world is changing and that the nature of journalism, of journalists' jobs and the media factories will change forever. Dramatically. Perhaps in uncomfortable and chaotic ways. It's likely that many existing jobs will go, to be replaced by new and perhaps very different jobs. Perhaps those jobs won't be caled "journalist" — though I suspect they will.
I reckon it'd be great if the people with media skills and insight — no matter where gained — worked towards an understanding of this future and built new stuff. Just slagging each other off, especially with sarcastic rants starting "Perhaps you should…", is ugly and unhelpful.
I don't know that you have to blip up and post a response every time someone challenges what Laurel says. Her arguments will live (or die) on their merits, and Laurel's more than capable of debating them herself. You may not realise, but some folks are starting to chuckle at how predictable these blip-ups have become. I'm all for people supporting their partner, but… professional distance n'all.
And, Gary, you're criticising Asher because he used Twitter to make it easy to find his news stories? Huh? Or is this just another "I know better than you how Twitter should be used?"
Thanks Stil for the comment. Mis-quoting and mis-interpretation aside. Last thing first. My point about Asher using Twitter was that 99% of his tweets are him linking to his 'own' stories – broadcast mode, vs conversation. You misunderstood.
"Asher's made a fair point and asked a fair question about the role of journalism." really, fair, unemotional? – he started his comment with "It's ridiculous how evangelical you are in your hatred of traditional media." – umm, fair and balanced journalism at work?
Its a shame you saw my response as a rant and missed the key point – namely commercially driven news is distorted news – often with a sensationalist negative bias to attract viewership. My own background working inside the BBC leading major projects many with News and World Service for 8 years and later with commercial radio & TV news in the states have given me a certain perspective – and I have a right to comment not only in Laurel's defence but as qualified as any one else in the debate – but, I think a discussion that is more about my delivery than the content is the wrong place to take the 'actual' debate further.
But just to qualify further one of the project teams I was on with BBC News was the editorial workflow and smart production – integrating digital text, online, print and TV news into one cohesive story machine. I was hoping for discussions around that at media140, the future of journalism, but it turned into a 'the first time I tried Twitter' chat? And Stil don't tell me you found the conference forward looking? Sure it brought people together, but there needs to be a much less polarised atmosphere if the industry is going to be prepared.
Glad I can bring a chuckle to some people in the various Sydney echo chambers who find my contributions predictable. I often chuckle at much of the 'small pond', 'small fish' behaviour that exists in certain factions of Sydney media (social & traditional) too, but mostly it's a sadness at how great it could be vs how insular, protective and inward looking it is. [Qualify: generally, yes there are great people and not so great people – obviously, der – lets hedge our bets heh? ]
Finally, yes we all know big changes are happening I have been presenting, writing and lecturing about them for 20 years. Using a simple analogy. The media of any region has a personality, like any individual, driven by its 'neural' networks. For an individual to truly change and rewire their brain they have to go into a kind of nervous breakdown, permanently rewiring those connections – I don't see that greater change happening here, or even a desire for it to, as I see it in the US and parts of Europe. Australian media could lead the way, it is fleet of foot with very small numbers in the industry who could positively get together to create globally respected initiatives, truly integrating traditional high quality production values with the passion and connectedness of social media. Those who perpetuate the divide are delaying the beauty in this breakdown which precedes any positive change.
Actually, Gary, "discussion that is more about [your] delivery than the content" is precisely why I posted my comment to begin with. Maybe I need to get straight to the point. The aggression is off-putting. It distracts me from your "content". It makes the conversation unpleasant. It detracts from my opinion of you.
Your most recent comment baffles me — not because I don't understand the words or the concepts, but because I'm having trouble finding the focus. We seem to have gone way beyond Laurel's presentation or Asher's points about evangelism and the role of journalists — even beyond slagging him off for how he chooses to use Twitter.
For what it's worth, I reckon Asher can use Twitter any way he likes. It's not up to you or me to tell him how it "should" be used, and especially not in such a sarcastically patronising way.
Now we're into a spray about "factions" and how behind and insular Australia is and some generalised point about Media140 not being "forward looking" and only the gods know what else.
It certainly doesn't encourage me to take part in the dialog. Or is that the aim? To make it so unpleasant for anyone who's critical that they just don't bother any more?
Personally, I think that jumping to Laurel's defence every time someone says something critical — especially with such a disjointed scatter of ideas — actually detracts from her credibility. And yours.
Sorry Stil – end of discussion. You are now being very insulting and attention is needed on something much more constructive. Good luck and Good Bye.
Reading @garyphayes' attack on @ashermoses on @SilkCharm's #media140 post http://bit.ly/11Oqis Note to self: don't anger Gary and/or Laurel.
@silkcharm's pnt re Human Narrative was best thing to come out of #media140 IMHO http://bit.ly/2vPfIu @julie_posetti @warlach @dailytwitter
@renailemay See yr agreeing with @silkcharm already. Yes Laurel's provocative presentation was insightful & challenging http://bit.ly/2vPfIu
Maybe bloggers need sub editors. Premier Rann of HicksAdelaidia South Australia, not Wran.
Other than that, very interesting discussion. My thoughts are that it is all the different voices complement each other. We can chose to tune in to whoever we like. There is way too much stuff for us to digest it all.
Premier Rann
Interesting discussion. I think we all have our role to play. People have so many choices and can effectively filter out what they want to read, listen to from different "trusted" sources.
[…] Media140 Sydney: Social Media Twitter & Journalism | Laurel Papworth: Laurel Papworth's presentation to Media140 Sydney, in which she positions social media as the people taking back control and ownership of their stories. Word and video available. […]
[…] Media140 Sydney: Social Media Twitter & Journalism | Laurel Papworth: Laurel Papworth's presentation to Media140 Sydney, in which she positions social media as the people taking back control and ownership of their stories. Word and video available. […]
[…] oversharers, I feel like I did – also looked at what we share and how and where we share it. Laurel Papworth's discussion on the Human Narrative grabbed my attention While Papworth's speech concentrated on old versus […]
Fantastic news for Australia – No current Labor Party ETS, and Tony Abbott leading the opposition. Great that Tony Abbott is new Liberal Leader – he will certainly take it up to Mr Dudd.
[…] Laurel Papworth on December 10, 2009 At Media140 I said mentioned that journalists (well some, anyway) weren't really members of the social […]
Hoping #media140 in #perth will be as provocative insightful & challenging as @silkcharm http://tinyurl.com/ycgj29p
have added live social media stats to blog again because it's fun http://bit.ly/bDKlmT now improved -reminded of it via http://bit.ly/2vPfIu
Is the journalism dying because of the social media?RT @SilkCharm Media140 Sydney:Social Media Twitter & Journalism http://bit.ly/3nestY
RT @luciesydney: Is journalism dying because of social media? RT @SilkCharm Media140 Social Media Twitter & Journalism http://bit.ly/3nestY
Media140 Sydney: Social Media Twitter & Journalism | Laurel Papworth | @SilkCharm: http://bit.ly/1o3Vwo
Twitter: Media140 Sydney: Social Media Twitter & Journalism | Laurel Papworth | @SilkCharm: http://bit.ly/2nAoXH
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