I have made a few changes on the blog layout and now have a New Blog Style with Commenting. This will get rid of the eternally long blog posting that I had before and will add the option for you to be able to make a comment if you become a registered user. (Sorry, I hate SPAM as much as you do so must make people at least register to leave a comment.) The old posts are still available by clicking the Read More...  Also to read the blog, just click in the first menu entitled Don-Alan's Blog.  Thanks and I hope it is easier for you!!

$2 Million Giveaway

12 July 2009

In the movie Brewster's Millions (1985), Monty Brewster (Richard Pryor) has the task of giving away $30 Million within 30 days leaving nothing to show for it in order to receive a considerable larger sum of money. He finds that it is not as an easy job as he thought it would be. He had certain stipulations put on him that made it a bit more difficult to do as well.  Some of those conditions made it impossible for him to discuss the details of what he was doing with other people.  I find that my goal (see previous post) of giving away money with certain stipulations put on the giveaway presents quite a challenge also.  Giving away $2 million dollars is not as easy as it seems. Sure, if I was giving away just cash there would be ample people to take it off my hands immediately! In fact, if I left it up to the receiver to decide, most people would greedily take as much as possible as quick as possible, however, when I say that I am going to give it away in values in products and services, people quickly turn away and feel that it is not as good as the cash. And simply by saying that, hordes of people turn their backs and don't want to know any more about what is being given away.

I am sure you have heard the Chinese Proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." With the economic condition that it is these days and more and more governments trying only to give fish away, part of my purpose is to give away $2 Million worth of 'teaching people how to fish'. Of course it is not as exciting as to have people scrambling and fighting for 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollar bills falling on the ground, but when the event is over and the money spent, the people are right back to the same condition and that is looking for another easy buck.

Giving $2,000,000 out to various people requires a variety of giveaways, each with a determined purpose.  One of the first giveaways is a book that teaches the skills to become a fisherman.  The book is NOT filled with ideas that have to be redefined when they fail to work for the people that apply the principles like The Secret was. The ebook version of There Is No Power In Chaos is valued at $19.95 and if I giveaway 50,000 free copies that will get me half way there, but that can be extremely slow.  Taking 200 people through a course that help them understand how to build their own business and giving them up to $3000 of that value in training and software brings another $600,000 of value to the $2,000,000 give away. Watch for the remaining giveaway details and results.

In every aspect of business there are many ways to advertise and market products. Both of the examples that I gave are ways of spending money to accomplish an objective. The second is far easier than the first. So a couple of promotions like the second one and the objective is achieved. Besides that, it is far more likely that the 200 will be better off than the 50,000. Enough value and enough help would be dedicated to the 200 to make a difference in their economic situation.  The second promotion has the more likely possibility that the student learns and develops something that helps them become a fisherman in life. So if you ever decide to give away a lot of money, think about how you will do it, which way would be the most beneficial to the receiver, and which ways is the easiest for you. Stay tuned for the giveaway for 200 people, or go register at www.familywebsitesonline.com to get in line NOW!

Going Crazy?

18 June 2009

THE GUY HAS GONE MAD!! ABSOLUTELY MAD!! It is totally unbelievable but true. And it is NOT just $1 Million Dollars but $2 MILLION dollars!!! I know, I have been told I am crazy and people cannot figure out how it is at all possible but I have decided to GIVE AWAY two million dollars!

Okay, okay you say "what is the catch? You can't be serious about giving this much money away!" And you are right! I am NOT "just giving it away" there IS a catch, a condition. The 2 Million dollars that I am giving away is part of an "advertising budget."  It is part of the sample product that we are giving away to gain a better understanding of what it is, and then as part of the condition, the person who tries the product becomes part of the "test group" to turn that $2 MILLION into $1 BILLION DOLLARS!!!!  OKAY RIGHT THIS GUY HAS FLIPPED HIS LID!!!

Well...yes and no. Yea, it may sound crazy, but as you look at it...it will start to make sense.  Over the next few weeks the plan will be unveiled... and for those who are a part of it, well...yeah... they will not only be able to receive part of the $2 MILLION, but also be a part of the $1 BILLION!!!

So is this CRAZY or NOT? You decide. But you know what? You are right!!!! No matter which response you choose...you are absolutely right! What I can't guarantee is if you will be regrettably right or not.  Some people will choose to move on and pass over this as a marketing gimmick and some time in the future will say "Dang...I could have..." and others will be glad they did! They did what? you ask. Well that you must find out as the whole project is laid out. In other words...stay tuned.

Wisdom for Times Yet to Come

6 June 2009

In life, for the most part, I have sought to take the road less traveled to gain experience that others generally are not willing to gain and it has given me wisdom. That is not to say that I believe myself a wise person, I too have had my follies. And yet even because of my foolishness I have continued to garner bits of wisdom.

Generally speaking, I do not like idle entertainment, I would rather listen to an instructional CD over popular music. Recently I heard a story told that I do not even remember where I heard it and even at that I believe I heard it in Spanish. (That means the words put to the parable below I have arranged them to my own liking, not something I have copied.)  With the main idea impressed upon my mind, as I sat waiting for a business partner to finish a few errands he had to do, I put words and a story to the vague idea that bounced around in my head. So if you heard something similar to it before, you will understand the variation. I don't claim one hundred percent originality, but I do truly believe in the message it carries. This story, at least for me, has MUCH significance for the times we live in today.

Many, many years ago a king sought to have a simple inscription engraved on the inner portion of a ring so that he could always have some GRAND wisdom with him. The only problem was that he did not know what the inscription should say. He began searching and questioning all of the wise men and counselors that he had at his disposition. It seemed though that there was nothing that could convince him of any of the suggestions he had received.  Time wore on and he began to think that there was nothing that could be written that would really matter.

Then one day without expecting it he came across an elderly man in a far corner of his kingdom that impressed him just by his demeanor.  He explained to the sage what it was that he had searched for so long.  The elderly gentleman took a small piece of paper and penned a few words on the paper, folded it and extended the note toward the king. As the king anxiously stretched forth his hand to receive the prize he had so diligently sought, the older man gently but firmly pressed the paper into the king’s hand while laying his other hand on top of the clasped hands of the king’s and his own. His eyes raised to meet the king’s puzzled look as he explained that the king should only take the paper and have the inscription engraved on the inner portion of the ring WITHOUT reading what it said.  He then explained that the king should ONLY read the inscription when he found himself in GREAT need of advice.  Before he released the king’s hand he made him promise NOT to look at it, to which the king did, however, reluctantly because of his desire to know.

Several years later the king found himself in a great battle fighting for the liberty of his kingdom and things did not look as if he was going to win the battle. He remembered that he had the inscription on the inner side of the ring that he now wore. As he lie there contemplating his fate he removed the ring to read the words that he had so long sought for.  As he read them his heart took courage and he mustered the strength to rise and go on to win the battle and regain his kingdom he thought was lost.

Once again several years had passed and the peace had been restored to his kingdom and he threw a great banquet to celebrate all of his victories with his friends. Among those people he had invited was the elderly man who had the wisdom to foresee what life could bring him.  As the king approached the man to thank him for the wise words of inspiration, he found himself in an awkward situation when he was told to remove the ring and again ponder the inscription.  The king said, “oh no, you don’t understand, those words have served me well and have brought me to the point I am now.”

“And for that reason you must understand them once again,” was the solemn reply.

Perplexed, the king withdrew from the celebration and reflected on the four inscribed words of the ring that he had worn with great pride. And as he pondered it gave him a greater understanding of what to do to be prepared for the future.

Do you want to know what those 4 words are? THIS TOO WILL PASS

We now find ourselves in an extreme situation of a world economic and financial crisis, and it too will pass. Some people will be better off because of it, others will...well lets just say...will have made it through.  Peaceful and prosperous times may smile on a few people and the pains of the battle will be forgotten and foolishness once again will prevail.  As the elderly man told the king in two different scenarios, understand those words, NOW, and once this crisis has seemed to pass, understand them once again.    (Then act accordingly.)

THIS TOO SHALL PASS  PART 2

The foregoing story I told you is true. I had never heard the following information until I became curious just to see if there was anything on the Internet about those four words. I posted PART 2 AFTER I found this. (In part so that I don't look like the dummy.) It really wasn't a surprise though, that something should already exist. The following I found on Wikipedia. The important part is the message that is carried in the words.  Being wise is NOT in the ability to tell a story or recite the wisdom, it is in the ability to apply it.

"This too shall pass" (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎, gam zeh yaavor) is a phrase occurring in a Jewish wisdom folktale involving King Solomon. The phrase is commonly engraved on silver rings. -

Many versions of the folktale have been recorded by the Israel Folklore Archive at the University of Haifa. Heda Jason recorded this version told by David Franko from Turkey:

The phrase "This too shall pass" and the associated ring story were made popular by Abraham Lincoln in his 'Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin' on September 30, 1859:

The UC Berkeley folklorist Archer Taylor made a critical study of the sources and influence of the "This too shall pass" phrase

STAND BY ME

19 May 2009

I have written about several aspects of success of which many are personal. However, I think there is one that many people NEVER really understand, both on a personal basis and in a business aspect.  This video made me think about this.  Too many times we try to go life alone. Do it by ourselves, we try to make all our decisions and get all our results by "little ol' me." This video I came across, by accident, or by destiny, made me think about what too many people do that causes their own failure...and that is doing life as a solo. I have tried it. I can tell you it doesn't work, at least not very good. Building a team around you works far better than going everything alone! Take my word on that one...please. It will save you much time, frustration and many mistakes.

This song, Stand By Me gives a very good message. The more people that we have that will stand by us the better off we will be. These musicians, as you can see are doing each of their performances...SOLO. Playing For Change brought them together in video. How beautiful is the result. People can be brought together throughout the world by the miracles of modern communication. This is cool.

In life, my life, there is one person that has done this for me. She has stood by me through thick and thin...my wife Rosa, she is the ever-blooming rose in my life and put simply has stood by me. I appreciate her for that and love her for what she has done even though she may not think it was important. I dedicate this episode of my blog to her.

There is another person that I also want to thank for the work she does for me.  Recently I have been doing a radio show...iWNWlive.  I do one episode in English and the other in Spanish. I speak better English than I do Spanish, but the version in Spanish is far better than the one in English.  Why? It is because I do the Spanish show with Carol Salazar, my co-host for that show. She keeps me on track. That is just a little example of what a team can do versus being a go-aloner.  My advise on this subject? Find some one to stand by you...in all you do!!

Complaining Feet

6 May 2009

Hey! This is NOT good! You forgot something! Whoa! Don't you dare go out that door barefooted!

My feet were screaming! They DID NOT like what was happening. Then as I stepped ever so lightly on the cold sidewalk that was not the ONLY thing that could draw attention to such an unusual sight.  Imagine: a man walking down the street in a suit and tie, with his pants rolled up and BAREFOOTED!  No shoes in sight, no, not in hand either. In the first place, the passers-by aren't sure whether to laugh or simply think that this person is CRAZY!  As every morning, I am picked up by my associate and we go to the office until 2 pm. Usually our first stop of the day is to get a little breakfast at the cafe.  My associate has already said that I have lost my common sense.  And wouldn't you know it...today we have NO TIME for breakfast. Humm, I wonder why?  Later in the morning we have to make a visit to some clients and my associate tells me, YOU STAY IN THE CAR!  I wonder why?

Some people see me as very brave to do as I have done but more times than not through out the day, I am rejected and it causes more bias toward me than acceptance of the cause for which I am doing it.  Is going barefoot only acceptable for children, some teens and poor Africans? Why must society obligate us to wear shoes if we decide not to? What if I wear sneakers with a suit instead of dress shoes? And do you know what? For this experiment I DID NOT TAKE MY SHOES ALONG WITH ME IN A BACKPACK!!  Because if I had, shortly after I left the house they would have been on my feet!

Nobody asks why you are barefoot. They have judged you as CRAZY before you can explain.  Oh yeah...and the glass and little rocks that you never noticed before? They are there...I guarantee you that!  My conclusion...life is hard enough without having to go barefoot, I am glad I have that choice...I am sure that those who have no shoes wish they had the choice too!

Barefoot Challenge

16 April 2009

I do not like going barefoot. I detest it! I use slippers around the house! I don't even like flip flops! But I AM GOING BAREFOOT...for a whole day...even if it kills me!  I am even going to video it! In my book, this is by far the craziest thing I have ever done, and perhaps because I have NEVER considered going barefoot.

So why am I doing it?  Please watch this video and you'll soon understand.

If you listened closely, Bilaal mentioned Operation Teen Author as a sponsor. And so what is a Sponsor who won't do as asked? That's what I thought* too! (*Not a very good sponsor was what I was thinking ) So here is my challenge to you my reader: GO BAREFOOT TOO!  For at least an hour! And by the way we already have some of the OTA participants going barefoot:

But not just that, the girls got the whole family to join in the Challenge:

So if I can do it.....Can you?

The Price of Success - Failure?

2 April 2009

Far better it is to dare mighty things, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those who neither enjoy much or suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

– Theodore Roosevelt

In the article below this one I wrote about three characteristics that are extremely important for success. Read it if you haven't already. Now I want you to understand that there is another very critical element to success:  Failure is really, really critical for success. (I am not the one who said that.)  In fact, before you go any further go here - http://www.glennbeck.com/content/program/beck-talks NO! NOT FOR THE SARAH PALIN BIKINI VIDEO!!! Don't watch that!! Look at the video below it called Let Them Fail. Then when you are done come back here!

Ok, now just to let you know I am NOT afraid of failure. In fact, I have had some doozies. But I will tell you that because of those failures I CAN tell you what not to do!  Not only that, I can tell you when you are making mistakes, (simply because I have made them.)  Edison did not look at his many attempts to invent the light bulb as failures but rather as ways to make a light bulb that would not work! In the section About Us on the Operation Teen Author web site I unashamedly tell you of some of my failures. I don't dwell on it, but I do it for a reason, I did not "accidentally" become successful by some stroke of luck or bit of good fortune. I fought my way through it and did not give up at any time.

It is sad that we live in a world today that we WANT to be lied to, we want to believe things that are not true. We want to ONLY see the pretty things in life and if necessary lie about those things that are not true to the point that they at least look good. I recently came across a blog entry that trashes me even without knowing anything about me. It is written by Victoria Strauss here. It says:

Renkow is also the founder of SabER Mountain Publishers, which according to the About Us page of the OTA website "was created to publish and promote the literary works of Don-Alan Rekow after having been turned down by various publishers." Mr. Renkow also reveals that the publisher went bust in 2005 due to "under-funding, nervous investors, uncooperative and deceptive banks, poor equipment purchased from shady salesmen, an inexperienced team and finally the unexpected death of a key person," causing one of the investors and a couple of court-appointed officials to show up with a moving team and repossess all the equipment."

Are these the qualifications and business background you want to see in someone to whom you will be entrusting your teenager, never mind more than two thousand dollars of your hard-earned cash?"

Well what I can tell you is that I know of many thing that will kill a business. I know things that most people have no clue of simply because they would NEVER in their lives think of taking a risk.  If you recall in the Glenn Beck video, he mentioned something of several well known people who made some big mistakes.  Why don't you read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  If you will study it carefully you will find that failure is part of becoming successful. So don't be so critical of someone who has failed just because they have failed. Look a little closer to whether they have given up because of it or have just allowed that failure to better instruct them and toughen them up for future events. It was once said that 'true love is telling a person what they need to hear not what they want to hear.' So if indeed you love America, let a few of those big businesses fail and forget the bailouts! Let them fail and reorganize and come back tougher so that they do not make the same mistakes again!  Failure is not a bad word. It only becomes that when you allow that to be the ending scene!

The Price of Success

15 Mar 2009

Do you ever wonder what the price of success is?  Is it the stroke of genius, having an idea that no one else has ever thought of?  Is it the result of education and countless grueling hours of study? Is it dedicated hard work? Is it a blessings of the gods? Is it found in the fortune of having natural talent?  I am sure there are many other responses that I could get and they would all have some logic to them. I have found that there are 3 essential elements to success and everything else is just an appendage.

DDS are the initials for the three elements that I will talk about and it doesn't stand for Doctor of Dental Surgery. (Sorry Doc, it takes just a bit more than being a dental surgeon).  The three characteristics that I am talking about are Discipline, Dedication and Sacrifice. Lets look at each one.

Discipline - This one has to be self-imposed. It is impossible for external discipline to have a lasting effect. This is one that I saw put into action with the recent graduation of my son from the Marine Corp. They had imposed the most rigorous discipline that happens in just about anywhere in the world. The results are impressive, but take away that discipline and the person who was subject to it will fall back to the standards he or she was accustomed to before being submitted to the discipline.  Discipline is internal! If there is no self-discipline no external discipline, once it disappears, will make it stick. The day of graduation I was shocked at the great results that my son demonstrated and I could hardly believe the change.  The day after graduation I saw all that hard work disappear into thin air.  Ok, ok so you say he deserved a break after what he had gone through, but the truth is and will always be that take away the discipline, external or internal, and the law of inactivity sets its heavy hand on the subject in question.  There is NO escape!

Dedication - This is another word for commitment.This also is an internal thing. What you personally are not committed to cannot be externally imposed. Sure, you can force, obligate and imprison someone to get them to do something, but that effort is NOT of free will and choice. Take away the imposition and the dedication disappears faster than the forced discipline. In fact, the person when allowed escapes as fast as possible. This is much how a j-o-b is treated today. The dedication many people have is to the paycheck that is on the near horizon. Alleviate the need for the paycheck and watch how fast they run from the job. Dedication can be measured by how long a person will stay at their post without pay. (and of course by the effort that is expended while at the post regardless of the immediate reward.) This is a topic for greater study.

Sacrifice - The definition here that I want you to understand is 'the surrender or abandonment of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or greater value.' In our day and age, the law of minimum effort is highly prized. Most people seek pleasure and ease over pain and suffering. I know that sounds ridiculous and perhaps I need to reword it. Robert Frost put it as taking the "road less traveled." That sounds better doesn't it? But a close look at the road less traveled means pain and suffering. There are no rest stops, there are no roadside diners, there are no SOS phones. It is not paved and there is a great chance of getting lost and definitely there is peril along the way. So why would anyone want to take that road anyway?  The answer is simple, yet difficult to comprehend - because... "that has made all the difference."  Exchanging the pleasure of entertainment for many hours of extra work and dedication takes self-discipline. Doing things that you know are going to cause pain and suffering instead of seeking the easy route will cause growth and increased wisdom. However, this too takes a few smarts to do it right, as self-inflicted punishment and simply going without something to consider it as a sacrifice doesn't always bring a successful result. This also is a topic for greater study.

There Is No Power In Chaos talks about these three characteristics and places them in Quarters 2 and 3, which just happen to be between Quarters 1 and 4. (Amazing isn't it?) Take a look at the book as it is now available, free of charge. It will give you a better understanding of many aspects of what it takes to travel the road to success.

EARS, OPEN!  EYES, CLICK!

2 Mar 2009

The presenting officer yelled out "Ears!" and we yelled back "OPEN!"  He wanted to know if we were listening. Then he would yell out "Eyes!" and we would yell back to him "CLICK!" We glued our eyes on him.  And within an hour, I had lost my voice. He kept telling us that he wanted MAX VOLUME and personally I could not yell any louder.  That was the beginning of family day at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. Jeremy, now Private Rekow, graduated from the Marine Corp Basic training and as you can imagine I am a proud dad.

The 2 days that we spent there were an awesome experience for me. As he explains the hardships and difficulty of the training I constantly wondered if I could have endured the 3 months that it takes to go through.  Their Drill Instructors (DI) make life literally impossible for the recruits, but it is NOT to make them drop out, in fact, they say the easiest way out of there is graduation! Those who mess up just get put back another 2 weeks into another class! One person has been there for almost a year, and it is NOT something you want to stick around just to keep redoing it.

The DIs make life difficult on purpose. Their objective is to get the recruits to be obedient to ANY command no matter how silly it may seem. They must break old habits and build new ones in a matter of 90 days.  It is incredible training and I wondered many times if it could be replicated outside of that environment.  I doubt it highly.

You ask why would anyone want to imitate that training outside a military environment? Because that is the fastest way to change for hundreds of boys that I have seen.  But being with my boy in the days after all of that intensive training I see him once again fall back into old habits faster that it took him to build the new ones.  My conclusion, most of the change that you see and are initially impressed with is the work of the Drill Instructors.  The can inflict punishment on the recruits that they can do nothing about, yet when their free agency is returned to them, the forced discipline goes out the "porthole" (window).  Self Discipline is a coveted ability! It is the fabric of accomplishment.

One other aspect that accompanies discipline is commitment. That is one of the three things the Marines instill in their recruits, Honor, Courage, and Commitment.  Without commitment most everything else does not matter. When those two things are put together most anything can be accomplished. And that is a good topic for another day...

19 Feb 2009

My mood is very reflective today.  I just received notice of an old high school buddy that ended his own life. I do not know the details of why he did it, but this is not the first person that I hear about recently of either carrying through with it or talking about it.  We do live in a time that is not easy to live in.  We have threats coming from everywhere and it doesn't look very promising in the near future either. I am NOT an alarmist nor do I consider myself to be a pessimist.  So I do not want to be the bearer of bad news but I do want to make you aware of things that are going to happen. They are not going to come about because I said so, but because it has been prophesied to happen. ( I 'll talk about this in a minute.) The matter of fact is that we live in a very unique time.  Part of the situation is that we find ourselves at a point in history that has been talked about for centuries, yet because of our own disbelief or perhaps because of our own preoccupations,(the things that hold our attention) the world as a whole does not recognize what is happening. The world is bustling about their own business. There are two things I will mention.

9 Feb 2009

There is Good News and There is Bad News

Here is where I am supposed to ask"Do you want the Good News first or the Bad News?"  Usually one would think that if we save the good news for last it will compensate for any bad news.  But...I will do it backwards from that.  First the good news. For the same reason that I do not like sending emails to a "list" of people, even though they have opted-in to receive information from me, I am still a nuisance every time I must send an email.  So what happens to the emails when most people "don't have time to read it or the topic doesn't grab attention"?  The email gets eliminated or stored away never to be read.

To achieve maximum communication with the fans of Operation Teen Author to let them know what is happening and what the OTA kids are doing, I invested in a DeskTop Communication System.  All you have to do is download a little Reader Application to your computer and it sets right down on the bottom in the tool bar and when a new issue of OTA News or QFY (Yes this is a new publication!!) is sent out, the reader lets you know that it is there to read, and it doesn't get lost in SPAM, in HAM or cyberspace or amongst all of the other emails!  To me at least, that is good news. If I want to follow something or someone I can find it immediately and it doesn't get lost in the hundreds of other things that I have.

The second part of the good news is that QFY, which stands for A Quarter For You, is a new weekly newsletter that is dedicated to explaining the COnCEPT Q Philosophy.  I know this may seem a bit precipitated to jump for joy until you know just what the whole thing is all about, or even have to pay something to find out what it is, but that is the good news!  There Is No Power In Chaos, the ebook, is now being offered for FREE!  Free you say? Why would you give away something that is sold in a 350 page hardbound for $27.95 and as an ebook for $19.95?  It is simple, COnCEPT Q IS a fantastic concept and more people must know about! But there are some concepts that need to be read twice to "get" the message.  Solution? A weekly newsletter that helps give more understanding.  But, won't that give away the whole idea and where do I profit?  Well, as I have stated before, the book only scratches the surface, it is the tip of the iceberg and there are volumes yet to be written and thousands of questions that are asked as a person begins to understand.

Geez, my good news seems to be overwhelming any bad news I can give.  If you want a copy of There Is No Power In Chaos ebook go here:

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE EBOOK HERE

and if you want a QFY Desktop reader go here:

Now for the bad news: I am not going to send out any more emails from my autoresponder system, if you actually like hearing from me that way, I am sorry but you will have to use the reader above to keep up.  But other than that, and that actually should be good news, the only bad news is what you watch on TV every day!

30 Jan 2009

As the launch of Operation Teen Author draws near and teenagers begin to fill the spots in the program I continue to grow more excited at the enormous possibilities this program has.  This first one is painful.  All of the systems have to be put into place but as time goes on we find ways to enhance the communication to all of the participants as well as those who are interested in following the program.

One of the most interesting little gadgets that I have put to use is a Desktop Reader.It is a small application that you install to your computer and as events, news, updates, and Teen Author profiles are published as well as articles they write,all these things are configured in a news bulletin and posted on the server.  The little icon in the tool bar below shows that you have mail.  And when you click on it, the reader opens up in a window that you can see how your favorite Teen Author is doing!!  No SPAM. No make me bigger ads. No unwanted messages that clutter your inbox.  It is pure OTA!  Now isn't that cool?

So first of all Download your Reader at one of these two addresses and begin following Operation Teen Author!

Windows: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com/reader/win/1912/1369
Mac: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com/reader/mac/1912/1369

Vote for your favorite candidate and help him or her win some of the fabulous prizes for the Top Author!  Please stay tuned!If things go as well as I hope they do we will offer prizes for faithful followers of the OTA Program.  Hint: We can see who reads their mail and who doesn't.

24 Jan 2009

It is a good thing I didn't really want to keep this resolution. Yeah right, I still haven't learned to write here on a constant basis.  And it is not that I don't want to just I let time slip by without getting it done.  I want to take a minute and tell a story.

A Violinist in the Subway

A man stood in a subway station in Washington D.C. and began to play the violin on a cold morning in January.  During the following 43 minutes he played 6 works of Bach.  During the same time it was calculated that more than 1000 people passed by, the majority on their way to work.

Three minutes passed before someone stopped in front of the musician. A middle-aged man paused for a moment after he had passed by and stated that there was a person playing music.

A minute later, the violinist received his first donation: a lady put a dollar in an open violin case and continued on her way.

A few minutes later someone leaned up against a wall to listen, but shortly looked at his watch and continued on.

The person who paid the closest attention was a three-year-old child. The mother pulled the child's arm, in a hurry, but the child stood firm in front of the musician. When the mother finally achieved to pull the child away, he continued to looked back at the artist.  This was repeated by other children as well. Everyone of the parents, without exception, forced them to continue on.

In three fourths of an hour that the musician played, only seven people stopped and another twenty gave money without interrupting their journey. The violinist took in 32 dollars. When he finished playing he remained quiet, no one said anything. There was no applauding and no recognition.

No one knew it, but this violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world, playing the most complex works ever written on a violin valued at 3.5 million dollars.  Three days before his performance in the subway, Bell filled a theater in Boston at an average entrance price of $100.

This is a true story. The performance of Joshua Bell in incognito in the subway was organized by The Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, the likes and priorities of people.  The conclusion was: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One of the conclusions of this experience could be the following: If we don't have a moment to stop and listen to one of the world's greatest musicians playing the best music ever written, what other things are we missing?

I have invited many youth to participate in Operation Teen Author and have been turned down time after time because they were too busy or for numerous other excuses and especially the one "because I am not an author."  Operation Teen Author is not just about being an author.  It is about learning some qualities that will enhance everything they do in life.  It is the result of many years of preparation for it.  Yet it seems that they too, have grown to the point of being in a hurry.

10 Jan 2009

Oh how easy it is to break a New Year's resolution. But most of the time that comes from not building in a system of habits.  Good ones that is. Yes, I DO know that in the second week of my resolution to post on Monday AND Friday, I have missed Monday and will barely make it under the wire to have this done by 12:00 Midnight, Pacific time.  And that is part of Quarter 3. (Found in the COnCEPT Q Philosophy, described in There Is No Power In Chaos).  For me it is actually 8:00 AM in Spain time on Saturday morning. I just came back from a meeting I was supposed to have at 7AM. Now that is awfully early for a Saturday morning, you say?  Yes it is considering a couple of things.

The meeting was with a young man who wants to work with me.  We met last night and supposedly we agreed to continue the meeting this morning. But I can understand why he did not show up. It is cold.  It is dark. It is raining and to get to the meeting point he was going to get wet. And most of all IT IS EARLY! And on a Saturday morning on top of that! Now who in their cozy bed and accommodating mind is going to crawl out of bed and do something that is, well to put it lightly, unaccommodating?

If you want to be different than the rest of the mob, then you've gotta be willing to DO things they will NOT do. (Even if those things are not easy to do.)

And what is that part of Q3  mentioned above? It is a little thing called commitment.  When I say little thing, in reality commitment IS a little thing, at least when it comes to making one. The big part of it, is keeping the commitments that you make. That is where many people fail, or at least fall short. They just simply DO NOT keep the commitments they make.

I sent a text message to Sleeping Beauty (the "if you want to be different" line above) and he just called with an "I overslept the alarm" excuse. He was now ready to go to the meeting, now that it is not dark and it has stopped raining so hard.  However if I put down what I am doing now I give him the wrong message that it is ok to break commitments.  And THAT is NOT ok. I will give him another opportunity next Saturday. But only one more. Am I being hard? Perhaps it would be with any one else from the mob, but not for someone that wants to be different...

1 Jan 2009

New Years day serves as a point that we analyze the past and at least hope for change in the future.  This is one of those days that I am going to take on a new little task "hoping that I can keep it up, yet making a commitment to do so, because hope alone usually doesn't get the job done."  Mondays and Thursdays I will make a small post here to keep a rolling blog.  With that said....

Humans are creatures of habit.  That is a fact.  And even though the New Year rolls around, the body does not recognize holidays, weekends or any other "special" day.  One you have created a habit, that is what your body does.  For instance, if I go to bed at midnight every night, that is when my body gets tired and is ready to rest.  And every year at New Year's I do my best to stay up in the late hours of the night to celebrate the occasion. (at least they are late to me!) But I get tired.  It is a habit. That is my body's schedule.  Every year my wife, who is a night owl, she wants me to do things and stay up and play games and watch movies.  My body doesn't understand that. It says S-L-E-E-P, and most of the time it obeys.  So I get tired.  Well this year 2009 got off to a rocky start. At 1:00 am I am ready to call it good and give my body the rest it is demanding.  "But it is NEW YEARS! and once a year won't kill you!" she says.

Ok, I can do that....but wait! Understand that even though I am an easy going guy and I can handle many things I am still human and when I am tired, I too, can get cranky.  My wife loves "Mama Mia" and hey, that is fine with me! She has gone to see it 2 or 3 times at the movies. I am cool with that. But I personally DO NOT want to see it. I am, well, what you might say... not much of a fan of Musicals. Ok, ok, so don't like me for that ,but what do you want me to tell you? My brain gets irritated feelings when people sing their lines.  I am not saying that I don't like music, I just don't like musicals ok?

Now if I prepare my mind properly I suppose that I could put up with it, but JOLIN!! (Spanish semi-cuss word, like frick, for instance.) Last minute decision at 1 AM January,1 2009..."Oh, let's watch Mama Mia"...and I am obligated to be there! Oh yeah, I can stretch out on the hard floor with a pillow and fall asleep if I like, but I have 2 hours of tourture ahead of me. Ok, maybe I am over doing it, but believe me, at that hour of the night my already "I-don't-like-the-movie" and tired brain is taking all of those warm fuzzy feelings and turning them into agitation.  (Side note: I did try the sleep on a hard floor thing and the discomfort only worsened my brain's function.)  Let's put it this way...I failed the test...if that is what it took to prove my true love to my wife.

But I only was in a pissy mood until I could get home and climb into my nice, soft and warm bed and get my normal 5 hours of nightly rest.  You see, I can joke about it this morning! Now when the wife awakens I gotta smooth over my poor 2009 New Year's performance.  For those of you that read this and consider me a jerk I do promise that I am a considerate husband most of the time.  I have even written an e-book called, No Money? Sorry, No Honey! It Is More Than a Matter of Money! If you'd like a free copy, you are more than welcome to click on the link and download the book. ( It is also available in softbound by clicking on the online store link.)  Lets hope I get this straightened out by the time I write again on Friday!... Until then... Happy New Year!