The Brady Principle

The Brady Principle

I have a friend who appears comfortable in basically every situation known to man. I imagine him to be as comfortable in a conversation with a with a homeless man as he would be with the Queen of Scotland or perhaps with the most notorious criminal in North America. You basically can't rattle him. If that's not impressive enough..the Bradoman can wrangle his way into any venue without paying and get backstage without authorization at virtually any show. How does he do it? It's simple. He has an uncanny way of acting like he belongs and therefore.....he belongs.
Why am I telling you about Brado? I'm telling you because the Brady principle works. If you should find yourself in an uncomfortable or challenging situation, simply act like you are not uncomfortable. Act like it's natural and imagine that you belong... and you will.

Horrifying and lasting impressions..

From watching commercials (think freecreditreport.com) you might be led to believe that the dangers of bad credit are directly related with donning some sort of humiliating costume.

Think about it, because of delinquent credit, the poor schmoes are either pirates serving fast food fish, or minstrels languishing at some Renaissance fair. The association is so strong for me that I now connect bad credit with humiliating dress up. (I suppose if you happen to be a huge fan of Halloween masquerades or civil war reenactment, you may not need to concern yourself about credit in the least.)

It's interesting how a commercial can so easily cause me to relate two very unrelated things. People are that way to me too. I may may see someone and suddenly think of peanut butter, or spring, or toilet paper, depending on my strongest memories with them..

I wonder what people think of when they see me.....or when they see you.. I hope to live my life in a way that causes people to associate me with something real and something meaningful....

I think for that to happen I'm going to need to tone down the sarcasm a bit.

1 question, 3 answers.

Perspective:
All of the answers can be considered "true" but the perspective is very, very different..

Here's the question....
How did the two of you meet?

Three possible "true" answers...

A. I was sitting around in my underwear on a Friday night and I right clicked on her head.

B. We met through the miracle of modern technology!

C. E-harmony.com

hmmm. perspective......

Five Reasons

Top five reasons to talk to your daughter more than twice a year and for more than twelve minutes.


1. She will be less shocked to find out you are getting married in Italy in a few months.

2. She can keep up with the millionaire/bankrupt/millionaire/bankrupt swings.

3. She could stop worrying about your health and emotional well-being.

4. She might stop wondering, "Why does my own father not even want to speak to me?"

5. It just makes sense to pick up the phone when your daughter calls.

The Floor

Last night, I was in so much intestinal distress that I spent the night curled up on the bathroom floor. The bedroom, literally less than 15 feet away, still seemed way too far to travel. It's funny what is important to you when you are lying in a chilled sweat on the bath mat curled up next to the toilet.
I don't know about you, but when I'm in pain, I sometimes play the "if only" game. If only my head would stop spinning, if only I could make it back to bed, etc.. If only ___I'd be completely and utterly happy! I seriously believe that if I could have that one thing, I would want for nothing else.
OK, let's fast forward, I am feeling better, and now I am 100% content with everything in life. End of story.
Right, obviously this is not the end of the story, not true. I am not content. I want more. Is that selfish? sinful? Or is it good to want more, to make more of a difference in the world, to be better at being me? How about this: is it possible to be content and not content at the same time?

My "Laundry List" on laundry.

1. There's a lot of lint that gets collected in the little trap. Really, a lot, lot, lot. I'm considering making a pillow out of all of it. Otherwise, what a waste.
2. I seriously don't get the two socks in, one sock out principle.
3. Laundry involves way too many decisions; water level, one rinse or two, gentle or perma-press, temperature choices, which detergent, liquid or powder, etc...
4. In my laundry "cove" it constantly drips water on my head. Infuriating!
5. Laundry rooms are creepy. Think about it, a whole little room dedicated to your soiled garments. Yuck.

Puff

Puff is the name of my fabulous, fluffy, stained, light blue, tattered and torn American Eagle coat. Yes, you read correctly, I have a name for my coat. It almost has a personality of its own. If I can't easily locate the ratty garment you may hear me yell, "Wait, where's Puff?" or "Babe, have you seen Puff around anywhere?" If the temperature dips below 50, and in Northwestern PA it usually does, you can almost guarantee that you will not see me without my trusted companion, Puff.
I purchased Puff over 6 years ago, and she is surely showing her age. Sections of stitching are unraveling, the dingy fabric is faded and stained, and multiple holes sport flying down feathers, wrangling their way to the outside world.
Because Puff has a difficult fabric for patching and sewing, I chose to repair one of the larger holes with tape. Since then, countless well-wishers have approached me and removed the tape as a "favor." And if I had a nickle for each person who said, "Do you know you have tape on your coat?" I would easily be able to purchase three more Puffs.
What can we learn from Puff? One lesson is that things and people have value far beyond how they look or how much they would sell for on E-bay. This beloved coat is far too ratty to be sold and would even be pitched out by goodwill stores. Another lesson... people don't always want your help. Each time the tape is ripped off the wound of my precious Puff, the cut becomes larger and larger. Sometimes in life what we think is "helping" is actually quite hurtful.
Because of what Puff has taught me, I am going to try to look less at appearances, and I'm going to attempt to think a little more before I speak up too quickly and try to "fix " something.
One more thing, if you see me with Puff, please don't open the wound, just walk away from the tape....