I have this new client. Let's call him Don.




Don doesn't like to commit to what he's doing. By commit I mean he doesn't like to put his whole physical presence into whatever move he's performing. It's this half-effort that keeps his heart-rate down, and by-and-large hinders his progress toward his goals.

Often times Don feels silly. He stops in the middle of a move and says "this is stupid" or "I don't want to do this anymore." He feels self-conscious somehow, even though I am right next to him, the only other person in the whole house, and I am doing the same move right along with him. This second behavior goes further in hurting him than the first, in that his progress is not hindered but halted.

I have tried sitting him down and asking him if he trusts me to do the job he's hired me to do. He has said yes to this question. Next I tried explaining to him that for me to do my job effectively I need his help. I need his commitment, or else we cannot accomplish what he wants to accomplish. I then asked him if we could proceed forward and if he could allow me the latitude I need to provide him with what he is paying me for. He, again, said yes.

And the bad attitude continues anyway. He has now gone so far as to tell me "no more ball exercises." By that he means the 22" balance ball that I had him use that session for many of his exercises. No more ball? That one little sentence cuts dozens and dozens of moves out of my usable repertoire with him. Yes, I know dozens and dozens more, but to put that limitation on myself for no good reason is just frustrating.

It's gotten to the point where I dread him coming in anymore. Working with him is pulling teeth and emotionally draining. This is not how this is supposed to work. I do this job because I love it, and I love people, but this guy seems set on frustrating me. Luckily, so far, I have managed to be diplomatic and show no signs of frustration, but diplomacy can only fail just so many times before I start to lose my cool.

Anyone have any psychological tricks, tips, tactics that they might want to suggest? Otherwise I am wasting this guy's money, and he is wasting my time.

Hey Hey Hey

So, If you've spoken to me recently I have probably ranted and raved about some new "green" strategy or product that I've managed to get into. I am starting a new business in that area, so the more and more research and reading I do the more excited I get.

Anyway, I know I haven't been writing much on here lately, but I still wanted to keep this a place for personal writing. I also want to share little green tidbits ALL THE TIME, but I don't want to do that here. This blog is a place for whim and whimsy and, of course we can't forget; poop.

So, if you are as interested in GREEN stuff as I am, and you want a daily, single-serving morsel of GREENness go check out the new blog. You can find it RIGHT HERE, and after today, there will be a link near the top of the link column to the left. I plan on writing a new nugget at least five times a week (M-F)

Please, enjoy, and tell anybody and everybody you know who might be interested.

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On a related note, is there anybody who reads here that might be able to help me with some blog template refining? I knew enough to tweak the new one a little bit, but there's a few more things I'd like to do that I just don't know how. Let me know. Thanks.

F*ck you HBO!

I feel so cheated. And for the second time.

HBO has a talent for putting together brilliantly written, cutting-edge shows. SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, ROME, CARNIVALE, DEADWOOD, etc.
They are also famous for f*cking it all up too.

Sopranos probably went on a couple seasons too many in my opinion. It was great, but began to just go on a little too long. Then we have Carnivale and Deadwood, both of them had the plug pulled when the story was clearly nowhere near any kind of resolution.

Six Feet Under is the rare shining example for me. It ran a perfect four seasons. It got better and better right to the very end, and the ending itself... was the only way a show with a theme like that could end. It was breath-taking. I have a feeling that any more than what we got would have began to outstay it's welcome, like Soprano's.

One of my biggest problems with network television (CBS, NBC, FOX) is a lot of shows tend to take a story that should be told in two to three seasons and stretch it with needless meandering of the story to stretch it out until the ratings start to slip, at which point the story fills in its holes and concludes. Lost, Heroes, 4400, and X-files, are only four of the most successful examples that come to mind. There is an answer to all the stupid crap on Lost, but I guarantee you that it won't be revealed until they decide to end the piece of garbage.

HBO has never suffered from this need. They don't need to come up with stupid filler episodes of their show that reveal NOTHING about the ongoing plot, and waste time with meaninglessness. Network TV does this as long as the ad dollars remain profitable. HBO relies on cable subscribers and DVD sales, not advertising dollars. All they need to know is that they are providing a product that sells subscriptions and DVD's. They had that with Deadwood, and they pulled the plug prematurely.

I just finished the last episode and it is SO unsatisfying. There is so much more to this tale, and you can sense it with every fiber of your being as you watch the final credits roll. It's like an abortion... of a three year old child, not a fetus.

Two surefire signs tell me that it was a premature cancellation. The first is a quote I read from series creator David Milch, saying that the show will be a four season story arch. The second is the fact that Milch did not write the final episode, or even much of the "final" season even. I know, he had another show to worry about, but from my television experience, most show creators like to have their hands in on the concluding of their creations. To most writers their work is like their child, so this is like seeing that child through to graduation personally. I've seen many interviews with Milch, and he doesn't strike me as the type to let someone finish his work for him.

The actors didn't even know it was over until some time after filming what is now the final season they found out (through the grapevine) that the set was being dismantled. HBO initially promised there would be two two-hour films made to wrap up what would have been the fourth season, but the news I just read said they went back on their word and scrapped it. F*ckers!

So the amazing and captivating story of DEADWOOD joins it's predecessor CARNIVALE on the scrap heap of unfinished HBO dramas. This is why I feel cheated. They hook you in, get you invested in a world and then leave that world permanently in limbo. The characters will never achieve what their creators intended, and we will never know. It's like those painful real-life experiences where you meet someone new, rapidly bond with them, and then they disappear and you never hear from them again. That may just be me, but it happens a lot in the acting world anyway. I have dozens of "close friends" that I may never see again. I hate that.

Now the characters of Deadwood join that list of friends I'll never see again. I repeat;

F*CK YOU HBO!

I've Been Saying For Years

"Walking and Depression A Duke University study reported that regular brisk walking and other forms of exercise had a greater positive effect on depression than antidepressants and a greater success ratio in terms of recurrence rate as well, doing better than even exercise when combined with medicine. "

Link to full page HERE

*****

"In a study of 202 depressed adults, investigators found that those who went through group-based exercise therapy did as well as those treated with an antidepressant drug. A third group that performed home-based exercise also improved, though to a lesser degree.

Importantly, the researchers found, all three groups did better than a fourth group given a placebo -- an inactive pill identical to the antidepressant."

Link to that full article HERE