Explore Chaos with Heather Walker

Hello again to you beautiful people!

My name is Heather Walker. I have been in the Keen professional network for over 7 years. I am an intuitive life coach and a mathematician. I specialize in chaos theory and personal achievement. My expertise is in finding patterns within chaos and in helping individuals and couples to find their way to a place of balance, inner-calm, and self-awareness.

I do not make claims to gifts of untold psychic abilities or God-given powers. I am human, I am real, and I am humble. I listen to the universe. There is nothing of me that is not of you. The keys that I provide are to listen to your heart, use your head, decide what you want, and make a plan to obtain your goals. Emotion + logic + will + motivation = success. Of course, this is never as easy as it seems.

I believe in the power of mankind, first and foremost. I do not subscribe to the notion of turning to God until we have exhausted our every self-resource. Power and strength are not given, they are earned and they are learned. There are no shortcuts to success; that which is worth desiring comes with a price.

I am attempting to make myself available on a more regular basis. Over the years my life path has led to Keen, and away. I am back at this point, not for personal need or gain, but rather...because I realized how good it made me feel to provide balanced, open, and honest insight to others. Well, ok....perhaps feeling good is a bit of a personal gain :)

At this time my schedule will be as follows:

M-Th 7:30 pm (eastern) to 11:00 pm
F 8 pm (eastern) to midnight
S 11 am (eastern) to 2 pm and then again.... 6 pm to midnight
Sn 10 am (eastern) to 3 pm and then again... 5 pm to 10 pm

I will also be taking appointments. Please note that if you require an appointment time outside of my above schedule, I will need 24 hours notice to arrange and confirm my schedule. Make appointments by sending a Keen appointment request.

As always, I continue to perform email readings. I very much encourage email readings for people whose time zone makes it difficult to catch me, for new clients who want to sample my readings without the financial burden associated with a phone call, or any client who wants a documented and detailed analysis of a specific situation.

I expect to continue my external blogs, but also to start blogging again here in Keendom. I will be relaunching my internet radio program, Explore Chaos....and also making appearances on other radio, television, and video programs. Look for me!

Best of love and light and laughter to you always,

Heather Walker

So I've noticed here in Keen blogdom that plagiarism has totally toned down, but it would seem reporting false information is on the rise.  I just read 3 different blog pieces each making statements against Sarah Palin.  Most of which is opinion in a "fact" wrapper (you know Views rather than News) or outright incorrect information gleaned from who-knows-what-source.  I understand a person having an opinion.  Opinions are like big toes, we all have two of them until a freak Cusinart accident! 

So first, before you make a decision about voting...please get the facts.  Don't trust an ad from any campaign!!!  They're both blind-siding people right now.  Try to go to reliable source WHO STATE THEIR SOURCE.  HuffingtonPost and DailyKoz ARE NOT RELIABLE GUYS.  LOL.  You may as well get Punditry from the Daily News or TMZ.  If your reasons for voting for a particular candidate are not based on facts, cool, you'll get a whole lot of info on the net!!

Second, know the source of your facts.  Especially if you're in the Blogosphere.  There are enough dead and false tweets out here already.  If you are blogging yourself, know etiquette and protocol, as well as the facts.  Go ask Jeeves if you need a source.  Download Chrome, I hear it writes the blogs for you, just by reading your mind!     

Finally.  Here is my stab at debunking some myths about Sarah Palin:

- MYTH - She left Wasilla in debt after a failed sports complex.

- FACT  - She built the stadium on time and UNDER budget.  http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/background/story/168047.html  It will be paid off TWO YEARS AHEAD of schedule.

- MYTH - She lied about selling the jet on Ebay.

- FACT - She said she "PUT it on Ebay" during her acceptance speech.  She did later sell it via a private broker when it did not sell on Ebay.  She did not say she sold it on Ebay. 

- MYTH - She cost the state money when she sold the jet.

- FACT - The jet was sold for less than $.2 million below its purchase price.  However, she was able to save the state fuel and maintenance costs.  It is standard in Alaska to travel via smaller, more manageable planes, such as Sarah's float plane. 

- MYTH - Palin Cut Special Needs Budget 62%. 

- FACT - The 2006 budget cited was created by her predecessor.  SARAH actually INCREASED the funding to special needs children by about 175%.  This was falsehood was initiated by CNN.  Many people who believe things without checking into them...believe this.  (of course) 

- MYTH - Palin fired her ex-brother-in-law, a police office.

- FACT - Check the 9/5/2008 CNN interview with the Officer who admits to taser Palin's nephew (10 years old.)  She never fired him.  He was put on probation.  And still works for the Alaska police.  Two years after the incident, she attempted to transfer the officer's supervisor, Walt Monegan, at the time.  The allegation of corruption came from the very man she unseated in the previous election.  Monegan said Palin never asked her to fire the officer.

- MYTH - Palin pushes creationism.

- FACT - Palin has never pushed for creationism to be taught in Alaskan school.  There is no indication that she would do so as VP.  However, she does PERSONALLY believe in Creationism.  She also believes in hunting and does not think hunting should be taught in schools.  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gV5jvU52RD3WBflzbmSu5l6zwOqAD92V3VQG0 

MYTH - Sarah Palin is afraid to speak to the press unscripted.

FACT - Sarah Palin went at the 2006 Gubernatorial election pretty hard.  There is no reason to think she will not do interviews and debates as VP candidate.

Link to her 2006 debate (so you can jusge for yourself if she has a "clue"):  http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/includes/templates/library/flash_popup.php?pID=195195-1&clipStart=&clipStop=

Her recent interview with ABC (gasp, she DOES do interviews...) http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5783816

OK.  I'm done.  There's so much more to refute, but I had to start somewhere.  If I have time I'll come back and add more as I go.

I encourage HIGHLY the Obama-Biden supporters to refute rumors against this team.  Please, not here, but if you blog it on Keen and e-mail me, I will LINK TO YOUR BLOG.

I have to say that all of the slinging of STUFF in the political arena is a little bit too much like wrestling in Jell-O for my tastes (not a fan of Jell-O.)  I saw the wrestling parody and loved it, but I really think they should have added Jell-O to the ring!!

Please, feel free to add any debunks as comments BUT SITE YOUR SOURCE.  I will approve debunks only upon validation.   

>>>THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE<<< 

A childhood friend of mine, Emily, is the director at a D.C non-partisan, non-profit feminist’s political organization.  They did much to support Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, and are stepping forward to support and promote Sarah Palin’s run for VP.  On both personal and professional levels, Emily does not look at politics along party line, just along gender lines.  When I randomly decided to get a degree in political science years ago – very much outside of my realm of expertise – Emily was so incredibly supportive.  “Yes!  Yes,” she yelled at the coffee house, and I swear it was a little too ‘When Harry Met Sally’, if you know what I mean.  But that’s Emily.  Anytime someone, especially a woman, especially ME, steps outside of their comfort zone, she gets exuberant.  She calls it a time of transcendence.  When a woman is in a time of transcendence, Emily says they glow. 

Right now, Emily thinks Sarah Palin glows.  Like me, she is an avid supporter of the genius and subtle power of Condaleeza Rice.  She thinks Nancy Pelosi is an angel and true juggernaut.  Hillary has been her American idol for years (“except the shoes.”).  Before that…we both said no to drugs and yes to Nancy Regan.  Does that mean Emily supports any woman in American politics, just because she’s a woman?  Yes, that’s exactly what it means.  Next year Emily is leaving her position as director to start a lobbying firm specifically targeting “Femmelitics” (a word I hope NEVER caches on, mind you.)  She’s crazy for women in politics…which may just sound crazy to many people.  WHAT?!  Support a woman just because she is a woman?  No way.  I’m too much of a feminist for that (Yes, I was the one who said that.)  Emily looks at politics as a man’s game and until WOMEN SUPPORT WOMEN we’re never going to control the game.  I see her point.  But from my own perspective. 

I should mention now that Emily thinks women are perfect.  And yes, you would think just being friends with someone like me PROVES we’re not all perfect.  When I ask her about women who smoke crack, Emily smiles and says, “It’s a down time.”  When I ask her about women in abusive relationships, Emily says, “They will eventually find their strength.”  When I ask her about high school drop-outs, prostitutes, mistresses, meat-eaters, SUV drivers, puppy mill owners, mail-order brides, Paris Hilton, whatever …Emily sees them as perfect women during imperfect times.  She’s quite the idealist.  And it may seem that Emily is just making excuses for others, enabling them – I’ve thought this of her in the past - but really Emily looks past someone’s flaws and bad decisions.  She looks simply at their potential, their will to do well in the world, and their lack of innate aggression.

I should also mention that Emily is happily married to a museum director, with two sons and a daughter.  Her daughter is double majoring in women’s studies and political science at Georgetown.  One son is in Iraq, the other a corporate attorney.  Not a one of them view politics along party lines, even the men.  When I used to visit the family for dinner, I was the “Republican vegetarian liberal.”  And yes, the entire family said it with just as much laughter as one might say such a thing.  I suppose I never minded the mockery since it sounded so damn sincere.  Plus they always call my ex “that pseudo-intellectual Democratic Ya-Ya,” which wins them points for knowing him so well. 

Emily is my hero.  I’m all for woman power and supporting the women I know.  I believe in giving a fellow woman a leg up…and asking for nothing in return but that she does the same for others when she can.  I’m all for stepping outside of my personal experience to see what others experience, good and bad, and let it affect me where it can.  I’m all for respecting someone’s view and perhaps trying to understand why they see things they way they do.  But Emily is this and so much more.  She believes – lives and breathes - that until we start respecting women as a society, We the People will get no where.  She believes personal values begin in the womb, and if women are dissected and desecrated society can never move ahead.  “I would allow another women to place her dirty, bare feet into my tiny cupped hands so that I could lift her higher than any other would.  I could only hope that as I do this for one, she does it for another.”  That’s Emily.  She is the Goddess.  The Earth Mother. The Ethereal Woman. 

So when I asked Emily, who is African-American and a then-Obama supporter, where her vote would go…I was not surprised that she was decidedly McCain-Palin now.  (Emily has flipped in this election more than Obama himself!)   I think she truly expected and…NEEDED Obama to select Hillary as his running mate.  A gesture she thought would have proved he wanted change…real change.  When Biden was selected, she decided that like many men, he fears a powerful woman too close to him.  She believed he feared the power of the women who was once his opponent.  He feared giving women a leg up.  Emily was crushed.  She was more disappointed by this than anything I’ve ever seen from her.  She called me immediately after she heard Obama use the lipstick-on-a-pig-reference.  “Did he just do what I think he did,” she asked, not even saying hello.  She was stunned.  I was entertained.  Hell, I knew even Palin would not care…pit bull, pig, whatever.  Doesn’t she bring down polar bears with her hands?  “Yes, I think he did.  I just don’t think he knows he did.”  I listened to a 20-minute rant from one of my favorite people about a man I truly respect, regarding a statement I think was probably not intended the way it was taken.  Emily, on the other hand, was angry and embarrassed to have ever supported him.  “Well, Em, maybe some of the chauvinistic Republicans will swing vote now.”  She was crying and did not like my humor in the least.  “Em, he did not call you a pig,” I tried to explain.  “Yes…,” she said dramatically.  “He did.” 

I guess part of me is like Emily.  I mean, I’m writing this because inside, I’m a little offended.  Emily pointed out that if Sarah Palin had made any sort of remark in the least about race, everyone would have jumped on her.  Probably true.  I look at Sarah Palin and I see people – women and men a like – trying to make her look bad.  To smear her left and right.  In this very blogdom, I see people preaching about respect and understanding and spirituality, then turning around and seething and belittling someone, just because their political views differ.  I was raised in a realm of political civility.  Where you don’t tell someone they are wretched because they do not support your view…but you listen to them and think, “Could I be wrong?”  A realm where you DO get worked up, not because things won’t go your way, but because YOU have the power to change it. 

We all have our opinions.  We all have our reason for wanting what we want.  If you think the mechanism is broken, change it.  Change you.  Change them.  Look at it from a different perspective.  THINK.  THINK AGAIN.  STOP THINKING because you think too much.  But stop yelling at one another, please.  You’re making my head hurt.  Democrats, do you really hate Republicans?  I guess you do.  Republicans, do you seriously think Dems are feeble minded?  I guess you do.  In honor of my friend Emily who is the best WOMAN on this planet…Start paying attention to what other people are saying AND WHY.  I promise you we can not all be right, and none of us is all wrong.  I’m not suggesting any one of us try to be like my friend Emily.  You couldn’t if you tried, and I suspect you’d be exhausted trying.  Just be kind to each other.  Ask why the other side wants what they want.

Then just shut up and vote.     

For anyone who has not read my stuff, I absoluely adore Sarah Palin. And since this is my blog, I'm not permitting anyone to say anything but good things about her.  That is not to say one is obligate TO say nice things about her, but nasty BS will be deleted.  Censorship?  Nah, its more like the equivilent to me standing here with my hands over my ears saying, "I can't hear you."  Over and over. 

However, enomored with Palin or not, I still have some serious questions about electing a woman into Execuive Office.  So here are my top 20 Questions to ask before voting for the Palin-McCain ticket this November...

1) What happens if she experiences really bad PMS?  Nuke Iraq?  Perhaps we should amend the Constitution and only allow post-menopausal women to run for Executive office?

2) Will ALL the Secret Service get mani/pedis when Sarah does?  Or will they just guard the salon (there goes "Only my colorist knows for sure...")  How does this affect the National Debt?

3) Will she wear a veil while in Muslim countries?  Does a WEDDING VEIL (and tiara) count?

4) Are there now talent and bathing suit portions of the competition, I mean, election?

5) Is plastic surgery covered by Government Health Insurance?  Viagra is....

6) If she does accept Pork, must she also fry it up in a pan?

7) When the war is over will she have to relinquish her job to soldiers returning home?

8) If she failed to become Ms. Alaska, is she REALLY a quality VP?  Wouldn't it be much better to have the woman who WON the pageant in office?  Duh, can we say runner-up?

9) With a woman in the Executive office, doesn't it make it look like the U.S. is "trying real hard" to be like the nations of the EU?  Shouldn't we show our muscle and ELECT muscle?  Too bad Arnold can't run.  Maybe we should amend the U.S. Constitution so that non-U.S. born citizens CAN run.  Talk about muscle!

10) What happens if she gets fat?

11) Will she require a Coming-Out Ball rather than an Inaugural Ball?

12) What if she gets pregnant again?  What if that is her ultimate goal?!  No only First Woman, but the First Woman to give birth (beat that, Condi!)

13) Is the Oval Office destined to be donned with Moose heads, bear skin rugs, stuffed polar bears, and Martha Stewart for Macy's window treatments?

14) Are Condi and Palin going to end up bitch-slapping Pelosi (because you KNOW someone should!)

15) Will Hugh Hefner make Palin an offer for the July Cover?  Hey hey, maybe Playmate of the month?

16) How long must one wait after being sworn in before launching a line of skin care, china miniatures, and bobble heads on QVC?

17) How does the nation react when it is announced that Mr.Palin was surfing for porn on the White House computers?  (Monica's site, interestingly, was already bookmarked....)

18) Doesn't colonial marble deteriorate with excessive levels of Estrogen present? 

19) Will her slogan be "Ladies with an attitude...Don't just stand there, let's get to it…

....Strike a pose there's nothing to it...Vogue, Vogue"  (Forcing MTV to re-title their campaign "Rock the Vogue")

and the Number Twenty question I ask about Electing a Woman into Executive office....

20) When Sarah encounters corruption in Washington, What does America do without Congress and the CIA?!!

The topic of plagiarism has ping-ponged across this blog community for quite a number of weeks.  I personally felt as though the advisors writing the blogs on this topic were doing a service to those who were actively plagiarizing the works of other people...by warning them of the ills of their actions.  I know some people got hot under the collar and felt like "some advisors were policing" other advisors.  If I get one more email with the words "blog police"... I don't know, I'll buy a billboard in Times Square telling that person off! ;-) 

I wanted to explain something.  In a community of interest (COI) such as the Keen blogs, members are just as responsible for ensuring the integrity of the entire community as they are responsible for ensuring their own.  i.e "If you don't look good, we don't look good."  In cases (such as Keen) where a higher authority exists, it means alerting the higher-ups.  Too often in on-line communities the higher-ups do absolutely nothing.  Which can be incredibly bad for a place like Keen blogs, which ties to a commercial enterprise.  Fortunately, Keen's team WAS paying attention and recently took action.  I just read the Sept 2 Keen Speaker News and quite literally applauded the recent update.  I admit, about two weeks ago I was seriously questioning whether Keen cared about their own blog terms of service.  I was also considering posting my original blog called "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" about a girl who falls through a rabbit hole and gets high (and low and very, ver confused...)  But now I have seen the error of my way and corrected myself.

So, from someone who truly appreciates and values innovation and originality...Thank You Keen Team!  I'm sure the advisors who stopped posting here because of fear of plagiarism will be looking forward to blogging here once again!!  You guys rock.   

My policy when it comes to sending free minute is YES, YES, YES!!   

I know this is not the policy of many advisors, but I see it as an opportunity to give a gift.  Yet it seems the idea of asking for free minutes actually OFFENDS some people.  But no worries guys, I looked in the book of ettiquette and you're all SAFE...asking for free minutes is neither a social Faux Pas nor a Cardinal Sin!  Hurrah!  But even if it were, I'd still embrace it!

But whatever.  I still wanted to take a moment here to explain why I do it. 

So here are the Top 10 Reasons Why I Send Free Minutes When Asked

(and sometimes even when NOT asked!!)... 

10) It costs me nothing.  I have to laugh...about a Yahoo forum where another advisor said she deducts the "cost" of free minutes from her taxes.  WTF?!  Now that's between her and Uncie Sam, but for most of us advisors, there is no inherent cost to a caller using free minutes.  If the advisor is billed by the phone company per talk minute...get a better plan!  Don't take it out on the caller.

9) It takes less time to send Free Minutes than SPAM MAIL!!!   ;-)   Not that *I* would ever ever send Spam that did not serve to benefit the planet and the less fortunate.  Afterall, I get annoyed by the mass amount of spam that I get daily.  Huh, I guess that's why well call it mass mail.  Duoh.  Some of us take a while to catch on, sorry.  Anyway, if you EVER get an email from me it is most likely a personal message to YOU.  And hey, feel free to respond asking for free minutes ;-)      

8) Calling an intuitive advisor should never be analogous to a vacation in Vegas.  If you want to gamble, go play roulette!  Using free minutes allows you to determine if an advisor is right for you without “letting it ride”!  I shiver to think of someone spending $9.99/minute…only to discover their advisor is as psychic as their Zappatos! 

7) I do not concern myself with the idea of the “free-call, bad-feedback” zingers.  Has it happened, someone using free minutes to purposely leave me bad feedback?  Who cares, I’m stronger than to let bad feedback and negative energy stymie me.  People who do such things have bigger problems than I can help them with!  I know there is competition amongst advisors and some feel the need to go after others by leaving back feedback, but this is a tactic used by people who have no grasp of marketing, not an intuitive essence within them, and have as much heart as a stone.  In my book, they're big ol'dummies.  Is that mean?  Well, mean would be leaving on their listing page!  ;-)

6) Not all people have access to unlimited funds.  I truly understand that Keen is a business.  I'm one of the first here to say it and treat it as such.  What amazes me is that so many advisors claim to be here to selflessly help others through life obstacles …yeah, for the price of HUNDREDS of dollars an hour (and refuse to give free minutes!)  So why NOT help someone find answers without the big overhead?  Free minutes is an incentive.  Do I get mad if someone does nto add to the free minutes?  Of course not, or I would not be giving them out to begin with.  It's a gift.   

5) It facilitates an open channel.  I feel both caller and advisor are less stressed and feel less pressed to “race through” a call when the first several minutes are free.  It gives us a chance to relax and determine the best reading options.  It gives me a moment to explain how I work, who I am, what I'm wearing (kidding!!!), or just extends the reading a few minutes longer.  Often when I am in front of the compuetr I will send free minutes to a caller who is not currently using them during the call.  I will take a moment to say, "I just sent you free minutes and they will kick in during this call."  That's usually my way of saying, slow down there, Mustang Sally...we do have SOME time here.  Let's be focused.  

4) Free minutes allows me to stay in touch.   You know, for those “how ya doing” moments.  Not every moment is a matter of life and death, so I send free minutes to stay in touch.  Sometimes regular clients will call me to share a joke or anecdote, to thank me for being there during a hard time, or to invite me to the wedding.  YES, that does happen.  I like someone to have the ability to follow-up with me, maybe tell me I was off base or hit the nail on the head…without having to pay for MY ego boost! 

3) Free minutes makes people happy.  And I'm ALL ABOUT being happy!  Isn't that part of why I'm getting the call to begin with?  Everyday can be a holiday with The Mathematician ;-)

2) I’m a sucker and have a hard time saying “No” to people.  Especially to something that can really help someone change their life for the best.  I do no believe in giving anyone a canned reading, but rather, I believe in showing others how to really bring about the change they desire and deserve.  How on earth do I say no to THAT?!! 

...and the number One Reason Why I Send Free Minutes When Asked...

1) I believe in what I do and who I am.  I truly believe that what I can offer in Five Free Minutes is enough to make people see the value of having an educated, caring, balanced, successful, healthy, and happy person give input into their own life.  Who you select as an advisor says a lot about who you are, who you wish to be, and how much you value truth.  Talented advisors can get inside of your head.  Is that REALLY where you want to let someone with no morals to go?  I may deliver bad news with a positive view, but I will not lie to you.  I give life advice, and I can say to you that I do not give advice that I would not be willing to follow myself!  I can admit when I am wrong, that my timeframes are not perfect, and that sometimes I mistranslate what I see and feel. 

Ultimately I use free minutes as a tool.  I might send them as a thank you after a call.  I may send them because a call was somehow mysteriously disconnected.  I may ask you to hang up and call back if we have a bad connection...and I will send you free minutes to make up for it.  I might miss a call and follow-up with free minutes.  I might think your membername is "neato" and send you free minutes every third Monday.  I might think you misunderstood something I said and send you free minutes so that it can be explained.  You may have talked to me for a long time, and to say thank you and absorb the cost of future calls, send you sets of free minutes.  You may be flat broke and in a panic, and I'll send you free minutes.  My dogs might bark in the background and I'll send free minutes as an apology.  You might get me on a bad day and I can get nothing about you, so I'll say this and offer free minutes for a different day. 

So there are lots of reasons why I send free minutes.  Just ask!      

So July 16th is my birthday and I've made some pretty darned rigid plans for the year ahead.  Go me!!!  Granted, if I fail to achieve them I just shrug and hug (myself)....afterall, I don't need no friggin' plans ;-)

However, I do need YOU.  SOOOOO....I wanted to give out 5 free minutes to anyone who askes for them.  Here are the conditions for which you may ask for them...

1) you must email me only via Keen to request free minutes...requests made on my private site will NOT be honored

2) you must talk about YOUR hopes and dreams and life and goals and love to honor MY bday bash (i.e. do NOT waste time talking about ME!!!)

3) you must promise to love yourself regularly during the day (HEY, get your mind out of the gutter!!!  We're talking peace, love, and honor here!!!)

and 

4) You must believe that you deserve the absolute best in the world but admit that you do not always know what that is...

To Anyone, Click here to request free minutes to honor my birthday bash!!!

I haven't much time this week to blog.  Life stuff.  Work stuff.  Same old BS.   But I've been able to read here and there, and occasionally able to comment.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who put yourself out there 100%.  You know who you are.  You are the ones who don't worry what other people think.  Who know that a lesson learned is just part of life.  You don't crawl inside of your head when times get difficult, because you've DONE that before and you know now that you are not a turtle.  You are the ones who say it like it is, unafraid of the consequence.  You are the real ones.  The ones who embrace truth.  The ones who are not afraid of the shadows or the whispers or the past.  You know who you are and do not hide it.

This is only directed at those who know who they are, and know I speak directly to them.  I rarely do broadcast blogs, but I do it now because I just wanted to say Thank You.  Hey...Real YOU.  You ROCK!

You are the reason I stay here!

I have to say that at the moment that I'm beginning this blog I absolutely intend for it to not be some huge-arse monologue, but given my chattiness factor, my skillz at the keyboard, and, well, basic history,  it’s only fair to say that we're all in for a bit of a ride here. 

My topic this fine Sunday evening is my favorite documentarian and lifestyle intellectual, Morgan Spurlock.  I’m just one of the many people (not fans, no no…appreciators) who waited patiently for the third season of his TV show 30 Days.  30 Days is what I consider the Ultimate in reality TV, for the simple fact that it is ACTUALLY reality.  Well, let me rephrase that, it is One Person’s Reality meets Another Person’s Reality.  Gosh, that even SOUNDS awesome to me.  The premise of this show is to take one person with a very, uhm, specific perspective…and plop them right in the middle of a whole other perspective.  It’s a little like Wife Swap with a heart.  And a brain.  Spurlock purposely takes people outside of their comfort zone to experience the heart and soul of another person’s life.  My favorite episodes focused on outsourcing (2006) and  living off the grid (2005.)  I will not ruin a single moment by giving away an entire show.  If you like to think, even on a rare and random occasion…then go rent his DVDs or check them out at the library. 

You may remember Morgan Spurlock as the guy who created Super-Size Me.  Where he spent…go figure…30 days consuming nothing but food on the McDonald’s menu.  Three meals a day, trying everything on the menu at least once.  His caloric intake was twice the RDA.  The kicker of the experiement being that anytime a food service representative (McRep) asked him, “Would you like to supersize that?”…he would accommodate willingly.  Somehow this awesome director and mad lifestyle scientist made what *could* potentially have been analogous to the longest drive-thru experience into a poignant and relevant film.  The point was to demonstrate what eating a bunch of crap REALLY does to your body.  Spurlocks’s wife, Alexandra Jamieson, is a vegan chef, so clearly she was not thrilled with his meat-focused cinematic antics from the start.  The film gives an in-depth view of what corporate brain-washing techniques does to both society AND the liver.  Not to mention the size of one’s arse.  If you’ve not seen it, go rent it.  If you’ve seen it and still go through the McDrive…go rent it again.  No, wait, those people need to go buy it.

As I was saying before I interrupted myself, the third season of 30 Days started earlier this month.  The first episode was about working in a coal-mine (think of all of the mining incidents over the last year) and the second about being wheelchair bound.  The episode I just Tivo’d was on animal rights.  Can anyone wonder why I am in awe of this guy?  He really does take one person’s perspective and makes the viewer experience that life through the eyes of the most unlikely participant.  And he does not mince words or sugarcoat an issue.  He presents what he sees and experiences.  What I truly, truly appreciate about Mr.Spurlock is that it is not about HIS opinion.  And it is not about manipulating facts to make for high volume ticket sales…like that crackpot Michael Moore (who would not recognize truth even if it financed his next film....no worries, it won't.) 

Morgan Spurlock is from West Virginia, raised just outside of Beckley.  His first episode this season – working in the coalmine - was filmed very close to his hometown.  He is definitely a guy who does not let go of his roots.  One of the things that drove me mad about living in Los Angeles is that so many people who flock to the city to pursue some type of film career quickly forget where they came from.  Not this guy, but then of course, he went to film school at NYU and still lives in New York.  He clearly "gets it."

There are about a gazillion things that I want to say, but I guess I need to move this blog along.  Rent 30 Days. Rent Supersize Me.  And make sure you try to see his latest film Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden.  If you like my blogs even the slightest, you’ll like this film.  It is funny and revealing and intelligent.  Yes, the tomatometer (toe-ma-tom-eater) on Rotten Tomatoes give Spurlock’s flick a 37%, but then again, Cloverfield was wretched and got a 78%.  I think it has a lot to do with intellectual relevance…uhm, the VIEWER’s, not the film’s.  But on the other hand, Taxi to the Dark Side got a 100%, and I agree whole-heartedly with the positive rating.  I can only assume Taxi attracted a certain type of viewer, as in one who appreciates political documentaries (real political documentaries, not canned Moore-esque hyped BS.)  Spurlock gained a bit of fame with his (pun intended) easy to digest Supersize Me, and I think some of those expecting a McFilm will be disappointed…both his TV series and his latest film will very likely make you T-H-I-N-K.  And I know how much that offends some individuals.

I’m a bit at odds here.  I want to rave about Spurlock and his veggie-chef wife, but I really want to give away nothing of the content of his shows/films.  So instead I will open up the commentary to anyone who wishes to give input.  Seen an episode (every episode?)…did it change your own views?  Seen his films?  What did you think…or rather…DID you think?!  Spurlock is not like this guy big on surprise endings…it’s about the process.  Oh, yes, I highly encourage Michael Moore bashing (I must edit my blog rules) but I 100% guarantee that I will *not* put through any comments singing Moore’s praises.  EVER!!!  I am truly one of those who believe that Moore is less.

Have at it, folks.  What do you think?

Due to pressure from my last Blog, I have decided to share with each of you my true identity.

Last week I was logged in to Second Life attending a birthday party for a friend when I had a bit of a realization.  Now for those of you unfamiliar with Second Life, it is an on-line virtual world and social network where you can create a character and, quite literally, live as any alter ego you desire.  You can earn money, buy things, donate to charities, meet people, build a house or business.  You name it.  For privacy reasons, I will not disclose my name on Second Life, but the character I walk around as is very similiar to Lovey Howell from Gilligan's Island.  I generally do not log in often, but when I do I happen think it's funny to be a stuffy, blue-blooded older woman in Kay Unger dresses from Second Life Neiman's.  Her pearls, however, are orange and she wears platform shoes.  Otherwise, I try to remain true the Millionaire's Wife.  So anyway, I was invited to a virtual birthday party for a virtual character who I met earlier in the year.  When I opened the Evite, I was surprised to see it was for my Second Life character, not for the real me.  When did Lovey's social life get better than mine?  Moreso, I was surprised to see a link to a Crate and Barrel gift registry containing REAL martika candlesticks and wicker recliners.  I was a bit taken aback to find that I was expected to buy patio furniture for I guy I karaoked with on a remote virtual island.

So, anyway, yes I did go to the party but no, I did not purchase a gift.  I found an abandoned wheel barrel in a rather empty shopping mall and brought it instead.  So Markiss could carry his Second Life Loot home ;-)  You know, there were quite a lot of people at this party.  I was rather surprised, I mean, does Markiss sing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" with everyone?  And of course the answer is "yep, pretty much."  I was GLAD I did not get him the gingham apron and matching potholders!  Oh, let me tell you, the orange-pearled, white-headed lovey was a hit at that party.  The cat people loved her and the gargoyles from Shanghai never stopped laughing at her jokes (her jokes are MY jokes, by the way!)  Oh, and FYI, she met a movie star AND a professor at the party and is scheduling a virtual boat tour with them next month.

So, in the middle of this virtual party (which was for the character Markiss, NOT the person he/she is in real life) I had a thought.  Is Keen REAL life...or is it more like...Second Life?  I tucked the idea away because I was not blogging at the time and it was a little to big for me to explore in platform heels.  But I wanted to bring it up again, and what a better place than my blog.  Ta-dah!  So earlier today I had some free time and I started looking at the photos and profiles of advisors on Keen.  We have some good looking people here!!  It's almost an episode of Keen's Next Top Model!  And there are some amazing icon-people, too, it could be like Keen's Top Icon Model.  OK.  I'm being a bit sarcastic, but it's all in good spirits.  I see plenty of people who use, what I would assume, is their own picture.  I mean, I use my own picture.  Many of the people that I think rock use their own picture.  Now in all fairness, in some cases I assume it is a real picture.  Many people here I have not met face to face, so please know that.  I'm not putting a personal guarantee on the reality of anyone's photo.   But regardless of real picture, fake picture, I have to ask...How many advisors here are real?  I mean, we're not cyborgs.  Dr.Who is not going to pop in and charm any of us with a dashing Brit smile.  But that's not what I mean by real.  I know in the past there was a credential verification service that advisors could use to verify things like degrees and certifications.  Now all one needs to do is to put up a virtual sign and call it a business.

Lets look at me.  In my listing I say that I have a background in mathematics and phsyics and engineering.  Yet if you read my blogs, not a bit of that education seems to come through.  So I could pretty much be full of crap.  I mean, I might ACTUALLY be a white haired lady in orange pearls and platform shoes talking into a headset as I browse through a Crate and Barrel catalog.  On what level is a person to trust that I am who I say I am?  Now on one hand, I think this is why blogs can be useful.  You may not ever hear about research that I've published, but you may get a glimpse of a light-hearted person who winds texts like she is knitting bobby socks.  (Another older person reference, you may want to pay attention to the undertones!)  One could trust that the photo is me and that what I say in my listing is real and that what I write in my blog is not copied from some random website or purchased from a professional writer.  (Shut up, TC....my writing totally COULD be mistaken for that of a professional writer!)  How are we to know, really know what is behing the Magic Screen?

One way of dealing with it is to pretend like it does not matter.  If the predictions are good and the connection seem solid, does it really matter who I am calling?  Honestly, I am not trying to answer that.  I don't know if it matters.  I don't know if everyone on Keen is real or fake or something in between.  I'm just putting a thought out there for consideration.  I mean really what I want to know is if I want to make a witty retort, should I be saying "Get a real life" or "Get a Second life!" 

Another way one could approach this is to pay attention to what is being sold.  Is someone offering 99.9% accurate predictions?  If so, is their feedback perfect?  Are they someone claiming to be an empath, yet came off icy and rude?  Are they a clairvoyant, but always tell you what they "feel"?  Do these things matter?  Do they offer financial advice, but have loads of debt and no assets?  Does their feedback sound staged....either like its too good to be real...or so bad that perhaps they are being sabotaged?  I don't know...I don't call Keen advisors for readings much, so I cannot tell a person how to determine what is real.  I suppose with this approach it is important to know what you are looking to gain from a reading.  If you just want the anxiety to pass so you can feel better for a day, don't call someone who says "I give it to you straight." 

So, anyway, the only question I am really putting out there is to what level of truth do we advisors operate here on Keen.  I speak with sincerity when I say that I know there are at least some real, balanced, sane, healthy, happy, honest, and gifted people on this service.  I am not subtly trying to slight anyone, because most here I don't know in real life and just have to leave it at that.  I like to be an optimist when it comes to the people around me.  However, when it comes to spending a buck...I tend to be pragmatic and a bit conservative. 

I'm opening comments on the idea of Keen Community: Life....or Second Life?  Keep it polite.  Keep it as real and as stable as you can, guys.  Humor is highly appreciated.  If you are a caller with a bad experience and I can verify that you are a REAL caller who is not also an advisor, I will allow bad experiences to be shared so long as no member names are mentioned.  I require respect in my realm, and I don't care if you think I'm a hypocrital, judgmental fraud...just don't post it here.  Isn't there a list going around for that? 

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I'm telling you, my blog does RULE.  It just rocks.  People who read it...rock.

But for those of you thinking I was putting in a list of things to do and not do, this is for you:

1) Have Fun

2) Think

That is all.

In the last few months I’ve had several old boyfriends and “long lost” friends get in touch with me.  It’s been an odd couple of months, to be sure.  The first “Blast from the past” to contact me was an ex-boyfriend from about eight years ago.  We were both in our twenties and we talked about marriage (he wanted to get married, while just the thought of it scared the piss out of me.)  It is a lot easier to examine a situation in retrospect, but I think sometimes the passing of time clouds our memories.  In his fifth or sixth email to me he made reference to “having made a mistake” when he ended the relationship.  I remember reading this and thinking, “Mistake?  Hey Chief, I ended it with you.”  I even sat down for a good half-an-hour and tried to figure out if somehow *I* was the one rearranging history.  And then, of course, I realized the point of it all was not WHO made a mistake.  I emailed him back and simply said, “Well, yes…you did.”

Another ex had contacted me just about two weeks before that.  I know, right?  How creepy is this?  I had not spoken with this particular ex for…about thirteen years.  We were best of friends for a few years, a situation disturbing to our respective significant others.  We each also ended those relationships on the same exact day, independent and unaware of the other’s situation.  We started dating but I remember when he introduced me to his male friends, he always said, “this is the coolest chick in the world.”  One day, randomly, he invited me to move New York with him; I could tell just from his face that he had already decided to go.  Asking me to go was a bold move for him and I suspect very spontaneous.  I just quietly held up the plane ticket I had just purchased to go to California.  We were both so very much alike, but we had just started dating and wanted different things from life.  Ultimately we went in different directions, but we stayed connected through letters.  I told him I was going to save his letters to sell when he became a big star.  He said the same about me.  Such statements always made me laugh because fame has never been a goal.  In truth, I could never sell his letters.  I still have them, though I don’t read them and don’t really remember what we said back then.  It was always from the heart.  He was an urban poet who seemed to speak in concrete and glass and spray paint graffiti. His view of me was so incredible.  He always said I was the smartest person he had ever met.  I used the envelopes from his letters as bookmarks in my textbooks as some odd inspiration.  I never felt like we would be together again, but it was comforting to have a piece of him close.  I remember the day a different letter arrived.  I had aced an exam and was for the first time considering med school.  The letter felt different, not like the type you get after acing an exam.  The postmark was Manhattan, but the handwriting was not his and it smelled like jasmine.  It was from his new girl friend who asked that I stop interfering with their relationship.  I decided to never even respond; I just stopped writing.  Honestly, I don’t know if he even knew what happened because he kept writing for a while.  He never told me he was seeing someone.  Not once.  I never told him I was, either.  So anyway, when I received an email that said, “I think I know you”…I simply responded, “You used to.”

I have never considered myself the girl that people look up years later.  I was always super cool and totally bookish and pretty wild at times, but I was the girl guys got over.  Fair enough, I got over them, too.  I’m not the type to hold on to things that I know must change.  I’m sentimental, but I openly accept change.  Oh, there was another boyfriend, too.  This one was right after Valentine’s Day.  He was one of those good-looking struggling actor types when we dated.  I can barely consider him an ex-boyfriend, because he only once called me his girlfriend.  I was so surprised I almost choked on an oyster.  I later realized that the only reason he did it was that his friend was going to ask me out.  Such a guy thing, huh?  He found me by Googling me and emailed a former professor who happened to be current reference for me.   I cannot tell you how very bizarre it is to be at an alumni event and have an old bearded man say, “Your ex asked me to drop you a line.”  The ex and I are still in contact, but when I got in touch with him his response was very unlike how I knew him to be.  I thought maybe I was being punked!  Ultimately he just grew up and one day thought about the women who had passed through his life and realized what he let pass through his hands.  It’s strange to me because this is not the sort of guy you bring home to mom and dad.  He was the sort of guy they warn you about, actually, older, selfish, handsome, but he had a good heart.  He just had a lot to do before settling down.  I never resented it; I certainly was not ready to settle down.  I just was a bit surprised to find I was the “lost love” of his life.  I still honestly don’t get it.  Maybe I’m “safe” now that I’m married?  Who knows? 

There is not too much of a lesson to share with anyone, and giving a lesson was not really the point.  It was just a brief bit about how sometimes, years later, they DO get their heads out of their arse.  But for whatever it is worth, there is a guy out there that *I* looked up and emailed out of the blue.  I was young and foolish at the time, completely unaware of how my bad choices impacted him.  He was almost 10 years older and I’m sure it was not easy to have feelings for someone who is not even 25.  Watching them party with their friends, living life, and waiting for them to grow up.  He’s still single.  I have (finally) grown up.  I would have told him this, but he stopped responding after I mentioned that I was married.  I guess some people still hurt, and some people still keeping hurting them. 

I tend to try to not leave a relationship in a bad state, though it does happen.  Many of my childhood friends are still in my life, so I suppose it makes sense that I’m in contact with my ex-boyfriends, too.  I guess it’s weird that so many people seemed to come out of nowhere, all at once.  I don’t remember asking for it, and I don’t think I really NEEDED it.  My husband does not seem to mind.  After all, I’m great friends with most of HIS ex’s, too.  Thinking about it, well, perhaps there has been some subtle change in me that served as a catalyst.  When asked, the guys were each pretty much like “I don’t know…I guess I never really forgot about you.”  I guess I just have to wait because sometimes it just makes sense in retrospect.        

I wrote a blog several weeks ago about how much I love the people here.  I was going to boot that blog up in relevance, then I decided to go a different route.  It's been a rough few days in blog land.  Words are slinging, left and right.  Misunderstandings occur, nastiness ensues.  I think we might be experiencing communal PMS!!! 

I still love the people here.  I refuse to be cautious about who I interact with.  I refuse to take side or join alliances or not reach out to someone after a misunderstanding.  I've met very few people on Keen that are rotten, and none that are evil.  We are all pretty much decent people trying to do decent work.  We don't always see eye to eye, and that creates problems.  But I've also encountered some of the most wonderful people and the most unexpected of circumstances. 

Just today I received an email from an insightful advisor who was concerned that a past exchange resulted in a misunderstanding between us.  I was surprised and touched because I had not felt an personal issue between us.  Just the concern that the air may be unsettled was enough for that individual to reach out.

Last year there was a lot going on around my birthday and my family forgot my birthday.  It had a very "Molly Ringwald"-esque feel to it.  There was no sister's wedding and there was no geek in a convertible...oh wait, *I* was the geek in the convertible!!!  But anyway, in the evening I noticed a package had arrived for me.  I opened it to discover two Keen friends had gotten together to send me a Pair Crazy 8 Balls.  Each had a different theme.  When I shook one and asked if my family would forget my birthday ever again, one ball said, "You ain't whistlin' dixie, kid" and the other said, "Do bears piss in the woods?"  That's MY kind of balls!!

So.  Keendom.  Regardless of all of the drama and nastiness and pettiness going on around us, I ask you one simple question...without naming or alluding to a single name or member name...what is some act of kindness that an advisor has done for you?  Might I suggest that you by-pass those that you know well and focus on someone who is not so obvious?  Maybe someone sent you an ecard when they heard through the grapevine that you lost a pet?  Maybe someoen you barely knew sent you a referral, knowing you just got slammed in feedback?

Go ahead Keendom, I dare us all to BLOG THIS

PS.  I am no constraining comments so please use your powers for good!

I wanted to take a moment to write a brief blog about something important to me.  I know I have a tendency to be rather chatty and lengthy in both my blogs and my comments, but this is me.  And I recognize the great saying, “Brevity is the Soul of Wit”…. 

HOLD UP!!!  Stop the presses!!!!  Eureka!!!  I’ve got it!!! Ah-ha!!! 

THIS must be why I’m getting comments and email indicating that I have no soul. 

So basically to sum it all up:  Think what you wish about me.  Those who know me know what I’m about.  If you think my openness to all beliefs is offensive because I do not match your dogma, I encourage you to please not call me.  Look for one who does map to what you need to believe to understand it all.  That’s totally cool and I encourage you to find guidance that suits you.  Trust your heart, I say.  May the force be with you.

Now, if you think – and for some reason feel the need to tell me -that I am going to burn in hell because I think differently than you (i.e. *I* think), then I can only suggest that you seriously check yourself.  And I don’t mean “Check it at the door”…I mean, check IN to some therapy.

There is a variety of people in this world and if advisors cannot handle the difference of people in a small little community like Keen, how on earth are you to deal with that Big World out there?  Or do you even try?   Callers, use your best judgment (yes, JUDGMENT) to determine who you will call.  There is no fool-proof way of knowing who will work for you.  Use your instinct and intuition.  Heck, we ALL have it.  

I love people.  Not just en masse, but also one-on-one.  I encourage friendships where I can, with everyone that I can.  Most of these friends have different skin color, hair color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, culture, and experiences than I do.  I refuse, absolutely REFUSE, to say that any one person that I love is inherently wrong in their beliefs.  And since to many of them do differ, I just look at it and say, “They are all right.”

Life is not a contest of “My God is better than Your God” or “Die Atheist, scum.”  Well, not unless you choose it to be.  And I can only say that while the ones playing THAT game are busy defining the rules…most of us are out there just having a good old time.

I believe in healing.  I believe in health.  I believe in the human spirit.  I believe that each of us holds the key to their personal success and happiness.  I believe that love is the icing on the cake.  I believe that my friends ROCK and that I do not limit who is my friend.  I believe that the mind is a terrible thing to waste, but time…even more so!  I believe nice people glow.  I believe potential is minimal relative to motivation.  I believe that one bad moment, statement, thought, or act should never define us.  I believe in human rights, equally.  I believe that Soul Train never went out of style!  Everything else, well I am just learning it as I go.  Sorry if that bothers those who know it all now.