Just an aside, one of my teachers (Eby Grove) at Northwest Classen High School (I was Class of 1977) in Oklahoma City always told me I had potential “If you would just come to class!” She was impressed with my always writing down ideas in a notebook/journal and she told me to, “keep it up.” Mrs. Grove, I have – for another 35 years(!) She was/is a caring teacher and I regret not spending more time in her class. While I’ll always keep my multiple paper notebooks and journals – here’s my 21st Century online version. Thanks, Mrs. Grove. mikesnotebook.com

The Sudden Walk
by Franz Kafka
Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir

When it looks as if you had made up your mind finally to stay at home for the evening, when you have put on your house jacket and sat down after supper with a light on the table to the piece of work or the game that usually precedes your going to bed, when the weather outside is unpleasant so that staying indoors seems natural, and when you have already been sitting quietly at the table for so long that your departure must occasion surprise to everyone, when, besides, the stairs are in darkness and the front door locked, and in spite of all that you have started up in a sudden fit of restlessness, changed your jacket, abruptly dressed yourself for the street, explained that you must go out and with a few curt words of leave-taking actually gone out, banging the flat door more or less hastily according to the degree of displeasure you think you have left behind you, and when you find yourself once more in the street with limbs swinging extra freely in answer to the unexpected liberty you have procured for them, when as a result of this decisive action you feel concentrated within yourself all the potentialities of decisive action, when you recognize with more than usual significance that your strength is greater than your need to accomplish effortlessly the swiftest of changes and to cope with it, when in this frame of mind you go striding down the long streets – then for that evening you have completely got away from your family, which fades into insubstantiality, while you yourself, a firm, boldly drawn black figure, slapping yourself on the thigh, grow to your true stature.

All this is still heightened if at such a late hour in the evening you look up a friend to see how he is getting on.

The internet is a noisy place.

The prevailing notion of ‘How to Use Social Media’ seems to be “the louder the better.”

For example: Position yourself as an expert! Advertise your Exclusive Private Coaching Program of Awesome! Learn these sneaky tricks to ensnare more subscribers! Write more how-to guides and top-10 lists! Find a Niche and a Message and promote, promote, promote! Louder, louder, LOUDER!

Oy. It’s like we’re becoming human infomercials.

Read his Entire Article, “Dear Fellow Bloggers” Here.

It’s well worth your time and one of my favorite articles of the year.

“From the mid-1840s until Henry W. Longfellow’s death in 1882, the room served as his study, a well-used place where he read, wrote poetry, correspondence, and journal entries, reviewed proofs, visited with family and friends, smoked cigars, played with his children, and took naps. During Fanny’s lifetime, although clearly Henry’s room, it was to a great degree her study and a family gathering room as well.”

The Longfellow Home Museum

 

 

The story of Shane Dronett is one of the most tragic.

Former NFL lineman Shane Dronett’s transformation from an affable prankster, quick to flash a wry smile, to a person who was often frightened — and frightening — was subtle at first.

It began in 2006, with a bad dream.

“He woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming and told everyone to run out of the house,” said Chris Dronett, Shane Dronett’s wife. “He thought that someone was blowing up our house. It was very frightening.”

Photo by Sandee O Photography

Chris tried to dismiss the incident as isolated, except that two weeks later, there was another outburst, then another, until they were an almost-nightly occurrence. And as Shane’s fear and paranoia began overwhelming him, so did episodes of confusion and rage that sometimes turned violent.

Only three years after retiring from the NFL in 2006, Shane was suffering. The tragic culmination of his pain came when he committed suicide in 2009 at 38.

Read the rest of the story here.

It’s a sad and tragic side of the cheering on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I love football – but all of this makes you stop and think. One of the big issues with the NFL lockout is the owners wanting to increase the regular season schedule from 16-18 games. The players representatives are saying “no” and citing – brain injuries. Science is telling us it is all about accumulation.

A few links:
Five Ways To End Football Head Injuries

Top Neurologist Says All Football Players Have Some Sort Of Brain Damage

The Problem With Football

The Sports Legacy Institute

TIME Magazine Video: This Is Your Head On Football: