Hi Tumblr friends!

I have officially moved CoffeeBooksAndBeer over to WordPress! <Happy Dance>

Which means I won’t be posting content here anymore <Sad Dance>

Please hop on over and follow me there (RSS or email)

And I have a new post up kinda announcing it to the world.

Thanks for following my journey thus far, I’d love to have your feedback on the new site!

Keep reading. Keep Drinking. Keep Enjoying!

Jo

Instead of a super fab relaunch I have crashed/lost/FAILed at converting over to my WordPress site I’ve been working on for the last weeks. I have even managed to lose the sandbox site where I had been working. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to restore or it would be better at this point to start from scratch.

So incredibly frustrating.

Alas, the only way out is through.

Since I’d like to stamp my name on the new site when it is recovered from the depths of my webby failure, I’m putting this up instead of my intended “Hi My Name Is Post.” When the new site is launched in the coming days I’ll have some stellar new things to say I’m sure.

For now: Save Early, Save Often.

And: Double-check (or know what you are doing) before you delete.

That is what is going on in my world… How are you doing?

Image via Flickr under CC License: “danger_2” by openDemocracy

Greetings and Salutations! I’m a little off my mark again this week - I’ve just spend 15hours on the road to get back my trusty steed: Stan “Studly Tan” Sedan. Long story but I’ll keep it short and offer up this list of fantastic links for the week:

In the world of shameless self promotion, here is my first post to HackLibSchool re:SOPA on Black Wednesday.

Inspiration 

If you only click on one link here is the one. “Stunning” doesn’t even begin to describe these photos by Tim Allen (via @legalnomads)

10 Images/Photographers who were instrumental in the Civil Rights movement (slideshow but worth it)

Occupy isn’t the first or only movement popping up everywhere: Flicker Stream of Pop-up Libraries (via @brainpicker)

Will be using this again on my ride tomorrow: An NPR Running mix.

Information

100 Tips about Life by Julien Smith (I was reluctant to click the link too… they are good. trust.)

Some useful and fantabulous resources for Vegetarians (both old and new) by the No Meat Athlete. 

Makes my digital archivist’s heart go pitter-patter with joy: The MLK Archive (via @brainpicker)

The future of publishing (a la Kodak)

Intentional Enjoyment

Best ever letter written to a lawyer (via @elisaducette) and it is by a beer dude of course. 

I’m going to put this up as my scheduled “Wednesday Post” at 11:59pm on Tuesday night, the 17th of January. As of 12:01am I am going into hibernation for SOPA/PIPA Black Wednesday.

I have a number of other things in the works — tomorrow was supposed to be my big unveiling of new site etc. — but instead I’m going silent in protest of this horrible legislation.

You can read some of my thoughts and get a future-librarian-recommended list of reading resources, in this article I wrote for Hack Lib School, where I am now a contributor (or at least you will be able to as of 8am). This is my first post for them and I am honored and proud to be a part of this group. My information-profession-to-be peers and I decided to leave that site up as an outlet for debate and discussion of these issues near and dear to our livelihoods.

Discourse, input, better suggestions are what is needed. It should be an interesting, thought provoking, soul searching and activist kind of day… or at least I hope so. I am reminded by a quotation I heard yesterday by MLK:

“In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

I am a friend of intellectual freedom.

I am a friend of an open Internet.

I am going silent in protest of SOPA.

After including in my Wednesday Post on Horizons some of the links that I enjoyed or learned from that week, it occurred to me that I might like to make that a regular feature of this space. So, if for no other reason that it helps me remember and keep them set somewhere, I’m going to post the best of my online readings weekly.

Typically I expect to do this Saturdays. Monday brings an onslaught of new writings and links and Saturday seems more space and gives time to peruse. Since the list will be entirely too long by next week, however, here is the premiere edition a day late. Enjoy!

“…to the bold, the creative and the slightly crazy” an excellent post on confidence and hustle by a young 20something with a most excellent attitude about making your way in the world on Forbes.

Joel is riled up and gives ya a good kick in the pants with his post on Bullshit Qualifications.

This is a similar idea, little less intense, with some very practical advice on making your own way in a new field without a formal education. Michael Ellsberg is a new name to me but I subscribed after reading this and linking through to a few other posts.

This was part of last weeks but it deserved another watch and mention:

Profile of Steven Colbert, Steven Colbert and the new Steven Colbert.

Some good news on SOPA (via news.me and @legalnomads). But don’t declare victory and keep fighting the good fight.

The future belongs to the curious, a video manifesto and ode to lifelong learning (via @brainpicker)

Smart people are never bored. Wonderful mind fodder beautifully written. (via @joel_runyon)

35 Cubicle Renegades to watch in 2012. It was interesting to me that a number of people on this list I already follow but there are some new faces and names to indeed be watched.

And finally, on the lighter side but still with a little edge, a list of “don’ts” for women on bikes circa 1895

If you have any must-reads please share!

Whilst playing To Do List whack-a-mole over the last two weeks I’ve had rumblings and churnings of posts but nothing that I feel like is complete. This is a common problem I know, as is last minute writing before deadline to get it done.

My issue is neither starting nor finishing right now. My problem is creating the head space to concentrate on anything longer than the next three minutes or think about that which is past today.

I’m onsite in Orlando and part of the squeeze is the work I’m being paid to do is supposed to take priority. I’ve also been distracted by friends, start of the semester concerns and projects with their own imminent or past deadlines… and of course the always shiny internets.

I’ve felt anxious and scattered in waves while trying to concentrate on my project and deal with whatever is most screaming for attention. Not ideal productivity conditions.

This morning, after about 4 hours of sleep, bleary eyed and slightly congested I awoke in time for a beautiful sunrise. (my picture doesn’t do it justice)

That image combined with watching some corporate speak powerpoints in 80foot wide aspect, sprinkled with planning and goal posts I’ve been reading during renders (some of which are below) and a caffeine kick, coalesced an idea in my monkey brain. Fair waring: because of the ingredients at play, it might not make a lick of sense.

With the economy and election, protests and priorities for the new year, the idea of a fresh horizon appears to be permeating culture right now.

I’m not a design expert but from the small lines of serif fonts, to election logos, to striking whitespace between blocks, horizontal is making a comeback. It seems we are drawn by the implied space between disparate objects and the promise of something cleaner.

Or maybe that is where I am. Caught in the frenetic of my day-to-day I keep thinking that my pace will be more calm in a few hours/days/weeks and then I can plan/write/meditate/work on that one thing. Then reality strikes again and methinks mahaps the beautiful distant future will always be just that.

Yet the horizon can always be an idea or ideal to be working towards.

Jeff Goins has some interesting thoughts about not making plans though still starting step by step to accomplish towards your goals. Certainly the blunt “I have no idea what I’m doing” finds resonance here as does his advice on plans (which echoes in other verbiage my musings on schedule). Mostly, I like the idea of doing to become habit to become process to become achievement.

I have yet to define my plans for this year. I have some goals and objectives but a defined work-set is one of many items hanging on my honey-do list. I know when I get back to Athens things will naturally take more shape and, with intention, I’ll find a positive routine. That, however, is all tomorrow-thinking and really I just have the attention and mental capacity right now for today.

My positive-step habit for this morning was: stop and appreciate the sunrise.

I tried to quiet all of the other soundlings of my mind and Be IN. Mischief managed.

Yes, the calm lasted all of 30 seconds before my alarm reminded me I was needed in the shower but it was a good reprieve while it lasted. It allowed me the space to ramp back up with a little more spring.

Like looking into the distance when feeling seasick, a few moments contemplating the horizon can ease a little of the tension and pressure of immediate and focus on the positive and possible.

A calming and helpful thought as I settle in to bop more off my list.



If you’d like some interesting reading that has found purchase in my brain this week here is some linkage:

•  This lovely piece on yelling and lovingly whispering by Paulo Coelho
•  “I wish I would have worked more” by tropical MBA Dan
•  Love Love Love this stop-animaton ode to books and I admire and envy the dedication required to create it (originally found through my friend @justindlc via @npr_books)
• If you’re looking for some INspiration here are 50 Impossible Pages of Quotes created by Joel Runyon
• Linked through the other Goins post is his guest post on Zen Habits also about plans.

PS: Software salespeople seem happier than accountants. Make of that what you will.

Anyone else giving up on plans and instead focusing on the horizon?

I re-encountered my jotted list of these overheard gems the other day and thought I would share:

Yelled: “Loose Goat! There is a loose goat!”

“Camels spit. So fair warning on that.”

“Racing pigs are always fun.”

Said with intensity: “I love chickens.”

Response asked with equal measure incredulous surprise and avid interest: “Why?”

“I think I had substandard fried butter.”

- Unidentified attendants at the Tallahassee Florida Fair 2011

It was a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle all around. Most of these, as you might have guessed, came from the petting zoo and animal competitive displays— in that part of the country actually quite serious business. Not really a bar but lots of beer aflowing which contributed I’m sure to these and many more unintentionally hilarious statements.

I love that each quotation is a vignette snapshot encapsulating an entire scene.

Herein is the the thematic underscore to this site. The mission. The objective. The ideal.

Ready?



That is it. 4 Letters. Believe me if I could have made it 3 I would have.
Ready for the longer version?

BE IN YOUR LIFE.

That is my message.

Go all IN.
Be IN it to win it.
Be happy/content/blissful/thankful/joyous IN the moment.
Be INto you.
Be the central hero or heroine IN your story.
Be IN.

For far to long I wasn’t IN my own life. It took one resounding wake up call where I literally turned around to see who had made the statement in my own head to start me on the path towards change and a better life for me. I was living a life — a fairly good life — but it wasn’t mine.

It took years to make adjustments and shifts to create a better reality for myself — and that process is ongoing — but I first needed the reminder that I am in control here. I belong IN the driver’s seat IN my own life.

It’s not too late. You can make the choice to do the same.

BE IN

Under that theme there are the routes: INspiration (coffee), INnformation (books) and INntentional enjoyment (beer).

There is great crossover but generally here is how I break it down:

Moments of INspiration. Like the coffee that starts your day, these are the fuels that light your fire. They come in the form of life experiences, lovely images, passionate posts of fellow bloggers, great conversations, great cups of literal coffee, interesting people or the latest workout-high creative inception.

What ignites your hearts’ desires and motivate you to be IN and contributing to the world? Treasure them and use them to push forward.

INformation about varied and various paths. This starts with my own steps forward and steps back. I also love meeting and telling of the INdividuals I meet who are living the Be IN mantra.  If I can pinpoint or posit on them, I’ll share the keys to their engagement with their life.

My lit lover self also enjoys escaping into a novel, reading about a different life, and discovering different people, places and events through a good tale. It is this process that further INforms us as individuals and, by looking at others and having an emotional reaction to a story, INforms you about you.

INtentional enjoyment rounds out the triad. Ah yes, the beer. Drinking fully of life (and beer) but not to excess or to escape reality. The ideal is to be fully engaged IN where you are. To be able to laugh and be merry IN the moment.

I think that you can find experiences, observations, elements, opportunities and simple pleasures whenever that is what you want. I strive for the positive spin and search for joy unbounded. And I like beer.

These three things contribute to a life of being IN.

The objective isn’t to “be different,” the objective is to find your own engaged and happiest normalcy by appreciating and surrounding yourself with the ideas and physical things that you are INto and provide you with happy purpose. You are writing your own story every day and have the choice to make and mold it to be what you want.

Whatever you are INto, you should be INto you.

I’m Joanna and CBB is let beginning of my process to share my story and be further IN mine. I hope you are able to find inspiration, information and enjoyment here as well.

Now go BE IN YOUR LIFE.

A note from the (future) archivist: After working over this idea in my head for the last few months I finally googled “Be In.” Apparently Be-IN was a cultural phenomena of the 60s (what wasn’t?) that has seen some recent resurgence in the digital sphere. As I don’t disagree with their calls I’m sticking with mine.

Class dismissed.

Images via Flickr under CC license by yours truly and Magic Madzik (342/365)

My 2012 is not off to the greatest of starts. There is some reason I was sitting outside my apartment last night watching a man grind into my lock instead of eating ramen with my friend in Brooklyn. I just have yet to discover what that golden slice of redemption is.

Here is a little piece of what I scribbled sitting on cold terrazzo, my back against a door that refused to magically open despite all of my will behind it.

There is nothing else I can do. I called the locksmith. I can’t erase the past.
Done. Done. Done.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
The flood of anger at myself washes over in waves of heat rising from my breastplate and burning up to the tops of my ears. If I had a cane I would beat myself with it. Pain, physical pain, is preferable to the ceaseless screaming of “stupid!” in my head.
All the “should have known better”s aren’t going to help now though are they?
Hello, I am fallible.
I err therefore I am.

Even now thinking about it I shake my head and grunt at myself. My arms get all hot and prickly and I taste a little drop of adrenaline on the sides of my tongue. I’m so very angry with myself.

I continue to castigate, chastise and curse my complete stupidity. Knowing that it was an avoidable situation, I replay those costly 5 seconds over and over and over in my head.

Why didn’t I triple check my keys? I was crazy about it on my run in the morning, why didn’t I confirm that I had the whole set before walking out the door? I should have picked up the spares and dropped them in my purse as I thought about days ago.

Because yes, the real kicker is that I made the exact same mistake 5 days ago. Same feelings of complete frustration and helplessness. Same string of curses. The same self-berating.

Then, I was luckily was able to fetch the spares. Last night, the spares were sitting inside the locked apartment — my friend’s apartment no less — along with mine. Despite my best intentions at my first failing, all of those reminders and running internal dialog to check and recheck, I effed up again.

One 5 second failing. One little shiny object. One whopper of a bill.

“No one died,” she says and snickers at herself.

True. It cost time, embarrassment and, most of all, money. There are a great number of ways I would have preferred to spend that $400 but I didn’t have a choice. Yet it was fixable and I fixed it.

Drawn by the noise a number of neighbors came to check on me, bring with them kind smiles and assurances that “we have all done it once.” Cold comfort but a sweet gesture. The guy next door even offered a glass of wine which I thought was especially sweet and something to remember when someone mentions “mean, uncaring new yorkers” or says how the city is so unfeeling.

My drill wielding hero (mercenary?) even commented on the shows of camaraderie and offered that he does about 5 of the jobs a night.

Ok. “It happens to everyone.” Indeed.

Last night, however, it happened to me and, despite sitting comfortably back in said apartment with new keys on rings and cup of coffee in my hands, I’m relieving it and letting it be a block.

It was the excuse to still trudge off for ramen alone and sulk before returning home (click click voila) to pout on the couch and read with the latter half of a black-and-white cookie instead of accomplishing the writing and web stuff I wanted to.

This morning, metal shavings still in the doorframe like the confetti of a fabulous fete, the blah-feeling of disappointment in myself and hangover of an extended pity party lurks around like an unwanted guest.

I need to figure out how to forgive myself my mistake and move the hell on.

I’m starting with deep breaths, a cup of coffee, and writing this. Then I’ll write another “I’m a complete moron” email to my friend overseas. After that I’ll clean up the shavings and maybe try some meditation and a trip to MoMA. I should not let this one event taint my last days in my city.

I will let the past inform (check check check, ok I have keys) but keep moving forward.

The challenge I take up today is to not allow the moments of lapse and the blocks of self-criticism to weigh me down and hold me back.

I forgot my book when I left the house this morning so started “The Flinch” on the train into work. I arrived home this evening and I got into a very cold shower. No, not like that — read the book.

I don’t know how long exactly I was in there but it was at least the requisite 5 minutes.

I listened to all of the screaming voices in my head saying that it was stupid and dangerous and pointless… and I did it anyway. Stepping into the spray. Shivering. Feeling the needle pricks on my legs over and over and over. Counting my breaths.

Even now as I am typing it sounds so foolish because it was so little.

Yes, the inevitable comparison to how others live: As I switched over to hot water I thought about all those that don’t have that option.

I also thought about how I wished I had just talked to the person on the subway platform instead (read the book). I thought about talking to my boys at the bar. It doesn’t really scare me to go into an unfamiliar place alone and sit and either be by myself or talk to someone.

I smiled at some folks on the tubes. Made space for someone who needed a seat. But “no problem” was the only conversation I made. While I know I could have done more, I flinched and talked myself out of it.

Lesson learned. I also did do was more difficult for me: I came home and got in the cold shower. I’m glad I did.

Right now I am energized. The wheels are greased and I am going and going and passionate and thinking about all that I will do for the next week and next month and next year. It feels great.

I think where the book leaves you off is at the point of being more cognizant of when you are flinching back. What are your thoughts that are stopping you from doing something? What are you really reacting to when you jump? Either into or out of something.

Coincidentally, on the same day I was faced with a choice. I had the— I have the opportunity to make an easy jump: to pack it all up in Georgia and come back to NYC to work on a friend’s show. It would be a blast and I would be back in this place that I know and love.

Hard work? Yes. But also the much more familiar and simple path. I was really contemplating it. I was to the point of even starting to think about how to tell my sister and logistics… when I got into that cold shower.

Hair still damp, I’m realizing that the harder thing will be to leave my city and go become a vegan yogi-in-training while nannying and seeing at least 2 and possibly 3 other ventures off the ground. That is before I get on a plane and go to Italy for a year.

How do I want to spend the next 9 months? What will be more fulfilling at the end of it? What do I want to go to Italy/WDS/Thailand saying I did? Even if none of my other projects really pan out— what am I excited about?

Do I progress forward or do I flinch back?

Here is the truth: As fun as the crew sounds and how happy I know I would be being back in NYC, I’m not jazzed at the idea of working for another cable tv show. I know it would consume all my time and my other projects would be distant memories.

I am extremely happy for my friend’s success and I would love to support it and him… but that is his dream. His hustle made it a reality and his drive is going to bring him other successes.

I didn’t have that drive in tv. I don’t have the drive in tv. I don’t effing watch tv!

Do what is hard Joanna.

Work without a net. Go to Italy broke if that is what it takes. I will at least be well storied and soul fulfilled. I will leave this place and come back when I have earned it.

Most importantly: I will be moving forward towards potential instead of flinching back into routine.

Update: I wrote the original draft of this last week when I really was fresh from the shower. I’m going to assume that my massive head cold did not kick in — complete with 3am fever breaking and glands the size of golfballs — because of my test-of-will. (Regardless, I didn’t repeat the experiment the next day.)

I will do it again, however (most probably), when I am back to being healthy because I had trouble going to sleep with a mind whirling with plans and goals. I used the 3:30-6:30am awake with chills and sweats window to write and think. Planning the work and working the plan and more conscious then ever of my flinches. Thanks Julien. Seriously, “The Flinch” is free and you should get you some.

Now I’m tearing up NYC with a friend from college this week but staying up late to work and get things moving. I’m as resolute as ever to do great things in 2012 instead of going back to tv. I know I will have to recommit to this choice often especially over the next 2 weeks of peer pressure to stay. I’ll be publishing my list of intentions by next Monday to try and firm up my resolve.

However friendly intended and flattering, I see the encouragement to stay for what it is: the flinch trying to seduce into the familiar. That will lead to a failure to live up to the ideals I want for myself.

No, thank you, not my choice this time. I choose the vibrant cold.

Images via flickr under CC by: bru76 (Universal Flinch), rwkvisual (Cold), zdenadel (Safe to Cross), Larry Johnson (A kid in summer) and Derek Purdy (Sherman Flalls). Thank you.