The Now Page of Phil Sawatsky

from Woodstock Ontario Canada

Now it up!

Personal Mastodon freeCodeCamp Mastodon


Monday May 29th, 2023
Ellie the Dog, Damien 666, the Soul Motivators, and the DDT

So, our 9 year old epileptic chihuahua was missing this morning. That is, until i looked under the side table. She had climbed inside and was sitting on WWE's book of top 10s.

Since it was Ellie's Daughter Mollie's seventh birthday, we all sat down to finish watching "Dog Gone Trouble" together.

i couldn't help but remember how i quoted the book i found Ellie on a few weeks ago. A wrestler named "Damien 666" was on the top ten face-painted superstars list.

Saturdy i couldn't remember what the DDT wrestling move stood for. Wikipedia held the answer: Jake the Snake Roberts' pet python Damien's Death Trap!

That night we watched the Soul Motivators play "Everything's Gonna be Allright".

What do you think?

When i came downstairs after writing this Aunt Liz had bought a new liquid dispenser. Know what it said on it? "SOAP"! (they were the first band on Saturday's free concert at the KPL: )


Saturday May 27th, 2023
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Welcomes Sami Zayn! (Afternoon of Champions)

Kyle, Anthony, Brendan, Doug and i (Corps 544) witnessed as ...

NOAH called it: the first match at Afternoon of Champions in Jeddah Saudi Arabia was Seth Rollins over AJ Styles

Same afternon Kyle called that after Cody's last win over a bloody Brock at Backlash, this time Cody lost without tapping to the kimura lock on his broken left arm. This makes it 1-1 for CodyRhodes&Lesnar

Triple-swerve happened in the main main event where: 1)the usos almost didn't show up; 2)they tried to help roman and solo at first; and 3)the usos mistakenly stereo-kicked solo; which let to Jimmy uso kicking roman on purpose to set Kevin&Sammy up for the big pin. This was also the first out of 9 saudi events where sami was allowed to enter the country due to peace talks — and he got the win!!!! Kyle called it: "shenanigans happened"

Kyle also called that Asuka would win out over Bianca BelAir: "Kyle was ready for Asuka!"


Friday May 26th, 2023
Now May Come June

Now reading this short & succinct free book. Now, it insightfully details how even a Clark Kent (Crazy is my Superpower) can leave a lasting legacy by simplifying the day's code.


Monday May 15th, 2023
An Anniversary, a Birthday, Five Funerals, a Concert, &5 Signatures

My Wife Liz&i now have 19 years under our marriage hard hats!

Earlier this week, our youngest turned 13, so Liz&i now have 4 teenagers!

Yesterday Kyle and i watched the conclusion of 2pac's docuseries.

Watching 20 semi-famous comedians afterwards talk about their deceased heroes was surreal.

Also yesterday Kyle told me about his meet&greet with MadChild of Swollen Members fame.

Kyle got to finally meet one of his heroes face to face.

To round off the best week of Kyle's life so far, he got 5 signatures:


Over April Now May
It's gonna be May—Kyle

Kyle referenced the Nsync song on the cusp of May! Think it was while we were watching Carol Burnett's 90th celebration.

A King will be crowned!

May the 4th be with us all!

Cinqo de Mayo is even closer!

Liminal Fiction asked a question on Mastododn. Would immortailty make life meaningless?

Ty said he wouldn't want to live forever. Wouldn't want to spend forever gasping for air in space!

Liz says she'd only want immortality if her kids could have it too; but not worrying about death would give life more meaning.

Interestingly enough, Kyle and i have been watching and listening to 2pac and The Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die; Iconic Records' Life After Death; King of New York.

Personally I came to realize I may be half way through my expected life span. Could you imagine if I made it to the next century? 120y + 1mo!

The week i was listening to Kyle's 2h LAD Playlist (which spotify only played for 1h then switched to DMX) Ami and i got 7 calls from Liz within 5 minutes. Then had ta reset my Glibgoglabulab password for no reason.

I guess if our phones stop working some day we can send each other snail mail! )


Week of Wednesday April 26th, 2023
Three Birthdays, a Doctor & a Funeral

Dad & Son duo Bruce & Dan's birthdays are a day apart. Bruce visited Wonderland with free tickets from his Union & Dan's studying Nursing.

Started watching The Good Doctor with Liz for the second time. The 1st was a few years back & we only got through a few eipsodes.

Kyle and i watched his hero 2pac's Dockumentary on FX called (after his song) "Dear Mama". It's about how sadly 2pac followed his Mom's ideology to his death. Or is that what they wanted us to think it was Poetic Justice or was it supposed{to BE or not 2b} a Juicy Story? I am sure she would give up her beliefs if it brought him back.

Kyle's broa Noa also celebrated 16 last week.


Friday April 21st, 2023
Blender3d or freeCodeCamp?

Trying to decide. Have been fluctuating between these two (and many others) for nearly a decade!

Thought it might be cool to simulate having a Daymak Skyrider in the backyard.

Not that I could reliably do either. Just as a hobby(ies.)


Easter Weekend 2023
Ty Rumplestiltskinned & Mario Movie

Tuesday Ty's left eye started hurting. Wedneday he woke with a puffy right middle finger.

Friday we all went to see Mario&Princess save Luigi. Afterwards Ty's finger had a scab and it was getting more puffy. His eye was also getting more sore. By the time we got to emergency he was sniffling and having serious eye pain.

Doc sent him home with a script after lancing his finger

When the Doc asked Ty told him he might want to be a Blacksmith


Saturday and Sunday April 1st & 2nd, 2023
Empty god & WrestleZAYNia

Saturday watched the killer timing of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens over come the Uso twins Jey & Jimi to hold the Tag Team Titles for the first time!

Possibly as an aside, the final episode of Walking Dead has Rick's Daughter Judith in a hospital bed after geting shot. She says her *deceased* mom told her lost dad: "We're the ones."

Sunday morning found Emptygod's Insightful Quotes in my neocities feed.

Will the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes take out Romam Reigns Sunday Night?

On the way to find out, heard about Trisha Hersey the nap bishop. She says Rest is Divinity & Resistance. Also heard about a 42 year old Bengali Canadian woman who skateboards with her family in a saari!


Wednesday March 29th, 2023
Kyle kills Jesus

Son Zac happened to be watching s11e5 the South Park episode where Kyle kills Jesus. Zac was saying "Jesus already looked so cool and then they had to go and add the (sun)glasses!"


Sunday March 26th, 2023
Adam Sandler: Comedy Award

Nephew Kyle and I watched our 5th award show this year. Got tired of laughing 2hrs in (you know when your cheeks hurt from smiling. )


Wednesday March 15th, 2023
The Book Of Life

After watching Guillermo DelToro win the first Oscar on Sunday for his Pinnochio (over his Puss in Boots: Last Wish,) we sat down and re-watched a classic world-changing epic: Write your own story! Ice Cube as the Candlemaker


Sunday March 5th, 2023
Space Jam: A New Legacy

Isn't it funny when toon characters are told to go back to the fundaMentals?

It may be even funnier when a movie tells its audience "beware of new technologies!"


Saturday February 25th, 2023
Watching Space Jam

Zac chose it & Ami picked 7pm. [turns out the new space jam is available on Thursday so we watched the Simpsons movie instead. Dear lord thanks for this Bountiful...penis—Ned Flanders]


Monday February 20th, 2023 (Family Day)
Watching Monster House

Liz wanted to do something with the kids and asked them what movie they wanted to watch. 3 out of 4 agreed on Monster House which is a 3d animated horror B-movie by Stephen Spielberg & Robert Zemeckis.


Thursday February 9th, 2023
Reading Parent Nation by Dana Suskind, MD

About halfway through the book asks you to think up what kind of sociery you'd like your child to be brought up in

Mine would ensure ethat everyone gets all the ____ they need and want:


Son Zac's New Musical Composition
Tuesday January 10th, 2023

Bouncing Daisys

To describe it in 2 words I'd use "Marioesque, upbeat."


Ew Nears Revolution
Tuesday January 10th, 2023

Finally published a book about the silly mistakes kids make. I've been working on it off and on since I retired in 2015!

Hoping to read through Derek's notes on a new book every week: ~310 books to go!

Liking what podcast transcripts I've seen so far related to parenting.

Thinking about uploading my notes on Derek's books:

Unsure whether to post them here or on my book page. Ah, what the hell...


derek sivers bookmarks dec 2022

Hell Yeah or No:

What are the odds of that?

Wondering if a girl moved nearby and she walked by x 3

Obvious to you. Amazing to others.

Hit songwriters often admit that their most successful hit was one they thought was just stupid, not even worth recording.

OK Milt, I'll start writing again

time spent doing one thing is time not spent doing another

Learning the lesson, not the example

[dont]Read the book positioning.

Projecting Meaning:

Talking Heads songwriter david byrne would write little phrases on pieces of paper, throw them into a bowl, and shuffle them. The listener creates meaning that wasn't intended.


How To Live

Be Independant:

xNO be with more then one person

Fill your senses:

The smart choice is sales: it will always be valuable. Learn to sell and you'll be paid well at any age.

Intertwine with the world:

xNO You can't see your own culture while you're insided of it. Once you get out and look back, you can see the fine line between personality and environment

Follow the great book:

xNO Whatever book you choose, let it decide for you (tried this for a decade or so and it didn't go well at all.(

Laugh at Life:

Observation, creativityt, and empathy in an instant: what could be a better sign of a sound mind?

Love:

You don't judge your friendships by how successful your friend becomes so don't love or judge your children that way. Don't try to change them. Just give them an environment where they can thrive. Give them the safety to experiment and fail up!

Create:

Keep a counterweight job

Don't die:

Those who die from accidents die younger, so avoid accidents even more than heart attacks and cancer.

Balance everything:

Schedule the clock to keep you interested and follow your highest self, not your passing mood. List what makes you happy and schedule that. (reminds me of Rush's "reserves a quiet defence, lining out the day's events; the river!")

__

Wow I really didn't hear those lyrics correctly. I thought about 5 times important lessons were being taught but it turns out the real lyrics are a little less ingratiating than what I thought I'd heard:

Original Tom Sawyer Lyrics


derek sivers bookmarks part 2 december 2022

Your music and People:

creative and considerate fame

Rockstars have a boss?

But you only have a boss if you choose to

Get Specific:

You can't act on a vague desire

Turn a vague goal into specifoc steps to make it easier to take action.

Also lets you test the theory.

Research first.

Call&Ask How they Got There:

Bring a small gift and ask for 5minutes.

derek sivers bookmarks hoopla part 3 dec 2022

anything you want: 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur

no "yes." either "hell yeah!" or "no":

saying no to most things is how you make room for more "hell yeah!" moments

the co-op business model: share whatever you have:

started out free

http://hostbaby.com/ is $10-20/month usd for a custom domain with merch and concerts {aka bandzoogle} - it was started by derek sharing his $300/mo server for $20/mo.

ideas are just a multiplier of execution:

bad idea -$1

ok idea $1

kiler idea $20

times by execution: okX100 :]X1000 :}X10000

that's why derek is not interested in people's ideas until he can see their execution

you can afford to be generous:

all exemplary customer service comes from an abundance mindset. inverse is also true.

care about your customers more than you care about yourself:

tao - company willing to die for customers

like you don't need the money:

people can sense if a company's in it for tha cash. they would rather give to someone who doesn't need their help - labels sign musicians who don't need their help. do it for love, generously, trustingly - then they want to pay you. universal

customer service is everything:

not an expense but the core profit center like sales

every interaction is your moment to shine:

take a few minutes to get to know them & listen to their music.

lose every fight:

don't even be a slight bit agressive; replace that with something kind and generous. empthy practice. loud complainers become loud evangelists.

don't punish everyone for one person's mistake:

airline shoe removal started when 1 person tried lighting their shoe on fire.

you should feelpain when unclear:

xNO $5000 time penalty for an unclear sentence. clarity is efficient.

the most successful email i ever wrote:

you are the customer of the year!

little things make all the difference:

one line of code cutomized the from email as "cdbaby loves {firstname.} never need to act like a big boring company. ask for squid: get squid.

delegate or die: the self employed trap;

gather everybody around for each question; explain the reasons why.

make myself unnecessesary to the running of my company. explain goal higherarchy. you have my full permission to use that guideline to make decisions in the future. help them understand the history&philosophy of the company. e-myth revisited book by michael gruber. make sure the place could go a year without you and still be doing better.

it's ok to be casual:

hiring friends of friends without background checks or interviews

naive quitting:

hired and trained my replacement. decide from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, rther than follow norms.

don't add your two cents:

once you become the boss your opinion is dangerous. adding $0.02 can really hurt morale. anything more than $0.02 still needs to be addressed with care. otherwise, let it go so the other person can feel full ownership of the idea.

prepare to double:

going from 10 to 20 clients can cause frazzle. more of the same doesn't work. you have to do things in a new way. internal processes should be designed to handle double the current load. this sends the message: "come on in; plenty of room for everyone"

it's about being, not having:

derek could have hired someone to produce his music or code his site in weeks but he wanted to be a producer&programmer so he read books and took years to learn these himself. the joy of learning&doing. to have a record or site is not the point, to be happy is. you don't hire a taxi to take you to a marathon finish line.

make it everything you want:

derek wanted to keep it small, mba's couldn't understand. you have to do what you love most, or risk losing interest. even if you say it's for the money; that's only a means to happiness, right? after a certain point more money creates only more problems, not happiness. make sure you know what truly makes u happy & never forget!

trust, but verify:

hired a guy who signed a contract saying "every album; to every company; every week" but had to fire him. worked 15hr days for months to catch up. when delegating both trust and verifying are required.

delegate but don't abdicate:

profit sharing plan choice left up to employees; all profits went to them; derek discovered & fixed this but the employees now hated him

how i knew i was done with my company: journaled and got grilled about it by a friend. you'll know when it's time. slept well & woke with ideas for his next company {ask derek this someday?}

why i gave my company to charity:

charitable trust called musicians charitable remainder unitrust. 5%/yr goes to derek. when he dies all goes to charity. saved $5mil in taxes. "this guy has everything" "but i have something he'll never have: enough" derek lives without a house or car or even a tv. this gives him the freedom to live anywhere anytime {this was written before he had his son though} doing it this way made derek happiest. avoids frivolous lawsuits and other headaches.

you make your perfect world:

just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you; when are you being most real?


Never Wait:

Expert in Copyright law says to keep record that you contacted the author for permission but sell it now and pay them later if they ask.

Was 10% Now 90%

Decades back only 10% of ypur career ws up to you. Now it's 90% you planning it out and building a following.

You don't get extreme results without extreme actions:

xNO if you want extreme fame you Can't get 2 dogs that need you to be home.

Flip it In Your Favour:

Song not getting played? Start a radio station like somafm. I started cdbaby now distribution doesn't suck.

Not happy with existing venues? Make a new one:

Story of "The Hotel Cafe" in Hollywood

When your music can't speak for itself:

Come up with a great description

A curious answer to the most cderek sivers bookmarks hoopla part 3 dec 2022

anything you want: 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur

no "yes." either "hell yeah!" or "no":

saying no to most things is how you make room for more "hell yeah!" moments

the co-op business model: share whatever you have:

started out free

http://hostbaby.com/ is $10-20/month usd for a custom domain with merch and concerts {aka bandzoogle} - it was started by derek sharing his $300/mo server for $20/mo.

ideas are just a multiplier of execution:

bad idea -$1

ok idea $1

kiler idea $20

times by execution: okX100 :]X1000 :}X10000

that's why derek is not interested in people's ideas until he can see their execution

you can afford to be generous:

all exemplary customer service comes from an abundance mindset. inverse is also true.

care about your customers more than you care about yourself:

tao - company willing to die for customers

like you don't need the money:

people can sense if a company's in it for tha cash. they would rather give to someone who doesn't need their help - labels sign musicians who don't need their help. do it for love, generously, trustingly - then they want to pay you. universal

customer service is everything:

not an expense but the core profit center like sales

every interaction is your moment to shine:

take a few minutes to get to know them & listen to their music.

lose every fight:

don't even be a slight bit agressive; replace that with something kind and generous. empthy practice. loud complainers become loud evangelists.

don't punish everyone for one person's mistake:

airline shoe removal started when 1 person tried lighting their shoe on fire.

you should feelpain when unclear:

xNO $5000 time penalty for an unclear sentence. clarity is efficient.

the most successful email i ever wrote:

you are the customer of the year!

little things make all the difference:

one line of code cutomized the from email as "cdbaby loves {firstname.} never need to act like a big boring company. ask for squid: get squid.

delegate or die: the self employed trap;

gather everybody around for each question; explain the reasons why.

make myself unnecessesary to the running of my company. explain goal higherarchy. you have my full permission to use that guideline to make decisions in the future. help them understand the history&philosophy of the company. e-myth revisited book by michael gruber. make sure the place could go a year without you and still be doing better.

it's ok to be casual:

hiring friends of friends without background checks or interviews

naive quitting:

hired and trained my replacement. decide from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, rther than follow norms.

don't add your two cents:

once you become the boss your opinion is dangerous. adding $0.02 can really hurt morale. anything more than $0.02 still needs to be addressed with care. otherwise, let it go so the other person can feel full ownership of the idea.

prepare to double:

going from 10 to 20 clients can cause frazzle. more of the same doesn't work. you have to do things in a new way. internal processes should be designed to handle double the current load. this sends the message: "come on in; plenty of room for everyone"

it's about being, not having:

derek could have hired someone to produce his music or code his site in weeks but he wanted to be a producer&programmer so he read books and took years to learn these himself. the joy of learning&doing. to have a record or site is not the point, to be happy is. you don't hire a taxi to take you to a marathon finish line.

make it everything you want:

derek wanted to keep it small, mba's couldn't understand. you have to do what you love most, or risk losing interest. even if you say it's for the money; that's only a means to happiness, right? after a certain point more money creates only more problems, not happiness. make sure you know what truly makes u happy & never forget!

trust, but verify:

hired a guy who signed a contract saying "every album; to every company; every week" but had to fire him. worked 15hr days for months to catch up. when delegating both trust and verifying are required.

delegate but don't abdicate:

profit sharing plan choice left up to employees; all profits went to them; derek discovered & fixed this but the employees now hated him

how i knew i was done with my company: journaled and got grilled about it by a friend. you'll know when it's time. slept well & woke with ideas for his next company {ask derek this someday?}

why i gave my company to charity:

charitable trust called musicians charitable remainder unitrust. 5%/yr goes to derek. when he dies all goes to charity. saved $5mil in taxes. "this guy has everything" "but i have something he'll never have: enough" derek lives without a house or car or even a tv. this gives him the freedom to live anywhere anytime {this was written before he had his son though} doing it this way made derek happiest. avoids frivolous lawsuits and other headaches.

you make your perfect world:

just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you; when are you being most real?

Common question:

Choose the right description and you can pique their interest in your music. Don't lose their interest by giving a generic answer.

Without a good reason, they won't bother:

"You'll have to come to our concert to find out hiw we sound" will never work.

Don't know how to describe your music?

Treat teens to a pizza to get their opinions. Once you think you've got a good description try it out on people. If their eyes light up you know you've got a good one!

Hillbilly Flamenco:

The day they started using those two words to describe their music, the world opened up. Teach the crowd an easy and fun description.

Proudly Exclude Most People:

Most musicians are trying to please everyone so when you don't it shows tou have talent and confidence.derek sivers bookmarks hoopla part 3 dec 2022


anything you want: 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur

no "yes." either "hell yeah!" or "no":

saying no to most things is how you make room for more "hell yeah!" moments

the co-op business model: share whatever you have:

started out free

http://hostbaby.com/ is $10-20/month usd for a custom domain with merch and concerts {aka bandzoogle} - it was started by derek sharing his $300/mo server for $20/mo.

ideas are just a multiplier of execution:

bad idea -$1

ok idea $1

kiler idea $20

times by execution: okX100 :]X1000 :}X10000

that's why derek is not interested in people's ideas until he can see their execution

you can afford to be generous:

all exemplary customer service comes from an abundance mindset. inverse is also true.

care about your customers more than you care about yourself:

tao - company willing to die for customers

like you don't need the money:

people can sense if a company's in it for tha cash. they would rather give to someone who doesn't need their help - labels sign musicians who don't need their help. do it for love, generously, trustingly - then they want to pay you. universal

customer service is everything:

not an expense but the core profit center like sales

every interaction is your moment to shine:

take a few minutes to get to know them & listen to their music.

lose every fight:

don't even be a slight bit agressive; replace that with something kind and generous. empthy practice. loud complainers become loud evangelists.

don't punish everyone for one person's mistake:

airline shoe removal started when 1 person tried lighting their shoe on fire.

you should feelpain when unclear:

xNO $5000 time penalty for an unclear sentence. clarity is efficient.

the most successful email i ever wrote:

you are the customer of the year!

little things make all the difference:

one line of code cutomized the from email as "cdbaby loves {firstname.} never need to act like a big boring company. ask for squid: get squid.

delegate or die: the self employed trap;

gather everybody around for each question; explain the reasons why.

make myself unnecessesary to the running of my company. explain goal higherarchy. you have my full permission to use that guideline to make decisions in the future. help them understand the history&philosophy of the company. e-myth revisited book by michael gruber. make sure the place could go a year without you and still be doing better.

it's ok to be casual:

hiring friends of friends without background checks or interviews

naive quitting:

hired and trained my replacement. decide from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, rther than follow norms.

don't add your two cents:

once you become the boss your opinion is dangerous. adding $0.02 can really hurt morale. anything more than $0.02 still needs to be addressed with care. otherwise, let it go so the other person can feel full ownership of the idea.

prepare to double:

going from 10 to 20 clients can cause frazzle. more of the same doesn't work. you have to do things in a new way. internal processes should be designed to handle double the current load. this sends the message: "come on in; plenty of room for everyone"

it's about being, not having:

derek could have hired someone to produce his music or code his site in weeks but he wanted to be a producer&programmer so he read books and took years to learn these himself. the joy of learning&doing. to have a record or site is not the point, to be happy is. you don't hire a taxi to take you to a marathon finish line.

make it everything you want:

derek wanted to keep it small, mba's couldn't understand. you have to do what you love most, or risk losing interest. even if you say it's for the money; that's only a means to happiness, right? after a certain point more money creates only more problems, not happiness. make sure you know what truly makes u happy & never forget!

trust, but verify:

hired a guy who signed a contract saying "every album; to every company; every week" but had to fire him. worked 15hr days for months to catch up. when delegating both trust and verifying are required.

delegate but don't abdicate:

profit sharing plan choice left up to employees; all profits went to them; derek discovered & fixed this but the employees now hated him

how i knew i was done with my company: journaled and got grilled about it by a friend. you'll know when it's time. slept well & woke with ideas for his next company {ask derek this someday?}

why i gave my company to charity:

charitable trust called musicians charitable remainder unitrust. 5%/yr goes to derek. when he dies all goes to charity. saved $5mil in taxes. "this guy has everything" "but i have something he'll never have: enough" derek lives without a house or car or even a tv. this gives him the freedom to live anywhere anytime {this was written before he had his son though} doing it this way made derek happiest. avoids frivolous lawsuits and other headaches.

you make your perfect world:

just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you; when are you being most real?

Well rounded doesn't cut:

Focus sharp as a knife to cut through apathy.

Why you need database:

Ask Derek if his free database software is ready.

Valuable to others, or only to you?

2Choices: try to make your songs valuble to others; or don't try to please anyone but you. You might be happier with the second choice, and even though you won't care, people might respect&appreciate you more.

Pricing Philosophy:

1500$ for 2 hours or $2000 for 1. Covers travel time anyway. People can respect if money's not most important.

Emphasize Meaning Over Price:

Gave cds away as pay what you want. Made more fans and more money.

Some People Like To Pay. Let Them:

Not everyone is broke.

Give people a reason to support. Tell them what it goes toward. Show you appreciate. It will actually make them happy to give you money. Radiohead offered "In Rainbows" for free; 40% paid anyway.

The higher the price, the more they value it:

xNO People think it's considerate to charge more; but money is only charged for advice or school to make sure someone will do the work.

Are fans telling friends? If not don't promote:

Until that point best uae of your time is to refine and improve.

Seth Godin's book Purple Cow

Don't promote until people can take action:

You might waste the moment you have their attention. 1)record your music 2)converse with promoters without pitching anything 3)prepare your marketing plan but don't execute yet 4)get your music distributed everywhere &test that it streams and works 5)then do your promotional plan and tell everyone. Repeat this cycle twice for crowd funding

Never have a limit on your income:

Imagine a masseuse and a book writer get popular. The masseuse will be limited by her hands on time with a customer. The book writer can continue to make money after the work is finished without effort. Same goes with concerts and downloads. Which business would you rather be in? Look for ways you can generate income while you sleep.

Move to the big city:

xNO LA NY SF and London give more opportunities but where's the work life balance?

Detailed dreams blind you to new means:

Ask yourself wht the point is of your dreams. Then see if there is a simpler way to get there. Don't let details distract you from your goal. Let go of outdted dreams that keep you fderek sivers bookmarks hoopla part 3 dec 2022

anything you want: 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur

no "yes." either "hell yeah!" or "no":

saying no to most things is how you make room for more "hell yeah!" moments

the co-op business model: share whatever you have:

started out free

http://hostbaby.com/ is $10-20/month usd for a custom domain with merch and concerts {aka bandzoogle} - it was started by derek sharing his $300/mo server for $20/mo.

ideas are just a multiplier of execution:

bad idea -$1

ok idea $1

kiler idea $20

times by execution: okX100 :]X1000 :}X10000

that's why derek is not interested in people's ideas until he can see their execution

you can afford to be generous:

all exemplary customer service comes from an abundance mindset. inverse is also true.

care about your customers more than you care about yourself:

tao - company willing to die for customers

like you don't need the money:

people can sense if a company's in it for tha cash. they would rather give to someone who doesn't need their help - labels sign musicians who don't need their help. do it for love, generously, trustingly - then they want to pay you. universal

customer service is everything:

not an expense but the core profit center like sales

every interaction is your moment to shine:

take a few minutes to get to know them & listen to their music.

lose every fight:

don't even be a slight bit agressive; replace that with something kind and generous. empthy practice. loud complainers become loud evangelists.

don't punish everyone for one person's mistake:

airline shoe removal started when 1 person tried lighting their shoe on fire.

you should feelpain when unclear:

xNO $5000 time penalty for an unclear sentence. clarity is efficient.

the most successful email i ever wrote:

you are the customer of the year!

little things make all the difference:

one line of code cutomized the from email as "cdbaby loves {firstname.} never need to act like a big boring company. ask for squid: get squid.

delegate or die: the self employed trap;

gather everybody around for each question; explain the reasons why.

make myself unnecessesary to the running of my company. explain goal higherarchy. you have my full permission to use that guideline to make decisions in the future. help them understand the history&philosophy of the company. e-myth revisited book by michael gruber. make sure the place could go a year without you and still be doing better.

it's ok to be casual:

hiring friends of friends without background checks or interviews

naive quitting:

hired and trained my replacement. decide from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, rther than follow norms.

don't add your two cents:

once you become the boss your opinion is dangerous. adding $0.02 can really hurt morale. anything more than $0.02 still needs to be addressed with care. otherwise, let it go so the other person can feel full ownership of the idea.

prepare to double:

going from 10 to 20 clients can cause frazzle. more of the same doesn't work. you have to do things in a new way. internal processes should be designed to handle double the current load. this sends the message: "come on in; plenty of room for everyone"

it's about being, not having:

derek could have hired someone to produce his music or code his site in weeks but he wanted to be a producer&programmer so he read books and took years to learn these himself. the joy of learning&doing. to have a record or site is not the point, to be happy is. you don't hire a taxi to take you to a marathon finish line.

make it everything you want:

derek wanted to keep it small, mba's couldn't understand. you have to do what you love most, or risk losing interest. even if you say it's for the money; that's only a means to happiness, right? after a certain point more money creates only more problems, not happiness. make sure you know what truly makes u happy & never forget!

trust, but verify:

hired a guy who signed a contract saying "every album; to every company; every week" but had to fire him. worked 15hr days for months to catch up. when delegating both trust and verifying are required.

delegate but don't abdicate:

profit sharing plan choice left up to employees; all profits went to them; derek discovered & fixed this but the employees now hated him

how i knew i was done with my company: journaled and got grilled about it by a friend. you'll know when it's time. slept well & woke with ideas for his next company {ask derek this someday?}

why i gave my company to charity:

charitable trust called musicians charitable remainder unitrust. 5%/yr goes to derek. when he dies all goes to charity. saved $5mil in taxes. "this guy has everything" "but i have something he'll never have: enough" derek lives without a house or car or even a tv. this gives him the freedom to live anywhere anytime {this was written before he had his son though} doing it this way made derek happiest. avoids frivolous lawsuits and other headaches.

you make your perfect world:

just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you; when are you being most real?



End of Year Dump
Sunday December 32nd, 2022{3?}

Movie notes

escape the undertaker with new day netflix choose your own adventure

Destroy the power urn and don't join the undertaker to win

guillermo del toro's pinocchio 2022

gepetto[voiced by the cool old man from the strain] has a wonderful son but when the son goes to retrieve the perfect pinecone from the church he gets bombed and dies. Gepetto is driven to the drink and plants the perfect pine cone. When it grows intp a tree, a cricket takes up residence inside. Gepetto chops it down and half-makes a puppet out of it then falls down the stairs in a drunken stupor to sleep.

At night an angel brings pinocchio to life and charges the cricket with being his helper. Gepetto sees pinocchio imitate and annoy him so he tries to lock him away while he goes to church. Pinocchio finds his way there amd the people think pinocchio must be a demon. The priest asks why the wooden statue of christ is unfinished while gepetto is wasting his time on this puppet. The priest also later sees pinocchio as a threat because pinocchio thinks for himself.

The priest asks Gepetto to send Pinocchio to school. They agree but on the way the circus owner convinces pinocchio to sign on the line telling him the world will worship him like that statue of jesus.

__ At this point Netflix stopped the movie saying to try a different title so i watched the 30minute documentary showing how everything in the film was hand made. Pinocchio is the world's first fully 3d printed puppet in a movie. Guillermo highlighted how pinocchio envied christ and how everyone sang to him so why wouldn't they like pinocchio too? __

Gepetto leaves to chase pino across italy. Pino sings a poop and fart song to mussolini who kills pino. Pino waits for the sand in the hourglass to drop before returning to a splatoon-style army training camp. Pino and Candlewick tie but Cand's Dad askes Camd to shoot Pino. Cand refuses as bombs begin to drop.

Circus leader plans to burn pino "bright like a star" on a cross but the monkey saves pino.

Gepetto's boat is swallowed by a whale. Pino and monkey get swallowed too. Pino saves them by lying so his nose grows long enough to exit the blow hole.

Gepetto is drowning so Pino smashes the hourglass to return with his last and final life. Gepetto makes it but Pino dies. The Cricket uses his wish to revive Pino.

Pino outlasts the others.

the lesson is to let others be as they are and don't change just to be accepted

Puss in boots: the last wish Zac's choice for Christmas 2022

puss used up 8 of his 9 lives, so he buried his boots and stayed with mama luna at a kitty retirement home. met a chihuahua with a cat costume named perrito who just wants to be friends. goldilocks and the 3 bears find puss to ask him to steal the map to the wishing star. when kotty soft paws or boots use the map it shows horrible impossible tragectories. but when perrito gets his paw on it the map shows a nice easy romp of a trip. perrito figures out that to get through the giant violent roses "you just have to stop and smell the roses!"

'little' jack horner, and his bag of magical items like wands and a sword with the stone stuck on it, catches up to puss, kitty, and perrito to steal the map. goldilocks and the 3 bears are also vying for the map, but when the bears find out goldi's wish is to find a 'real' family, they are sad she doesn't think of the bears as "just right". puss is also challenged by the white wolf who announces that his other name is death. puss decides to fight for his one last life; and that is enough to win over kitty who was only looking for someone she could trust. they find the star and the map now has a quote from pinocchio on it. whoever recites that will gain the power of the wishing star. perrito distracts death long enough for the bears to attack and jack horner dissappears into his bag'o magic items i think. the movie ends with the 2 cats and perrito on a ship headed for the land of FAR FAR AWAY {looks like the hollywood sign.}

2 movies are referenced: shrek 5, and guilermo del toro's pinnochio which is currently on netflix.

hoping to watch gdt's pino during the christmas break


Puss or Avatar
Sunday December 25th, 2022

Yesterday Liz started a new tradition by allowing the kids to open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Abby's Boyfriend Jack was here to help Abby build a cat condo.

Today our family ChrisMiss tradition of watching a movie in the local cinema happens. Zac is for Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, but Liz is leaning towards Avatar: The Way Of Water.


merrelaxy chrismilius at Galaxy Cinemas
6:50pm

puss in boots: the last wish {zac's choice} 100minutes 1h40m

worst movie i ever saw; ] zac will rue the day he thought to watch it back in january when he first heard about it. we were the only 6 in the whole theater. at one point kitty soft paws snuck up behind me and tapped me on my toque - i looked first at tyler beside me wondering "are his arms that long?" then at zac on the other side whose arms were no where near long enough. when i tried ta look behind me Liz wasn't there at first. afterwards she asked me "what did you think i was, a ghost?" ami abby and ty all gave me their left over popcorn. first time opening a can in half a decade. abby had given me my coffee crisp. afterwards ami asked me to say merry christmas to her like 20 times but abby kept saying "he doesn't have to say merry christmas" then ami said "there at least SHE said it" and then frankie went after my foot when i tried to get him to go in the cat condo jack and abby built yesterday [with a little help from Liz] oh yeah and ami's fave character from the movie is little jack horner who actually turned big but Liz figured out the lead-in ta that next movie in the series: shrek 5!


Twins Turn fourTeen
Saturday December 17th, 2022

Today my Wife Liz had her family over to celebrate Zac & Ty's 14th birthday.

Also thinking about starting a Green Web Business. There are a few things I need to do first:


Hopeful self-help might be the answer?
Friday November 11th, 2022

My Wife Liz was off this week so we watched a few movies: iRobot, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

After finding Derek's site, I noticed a few book reviews that look interesting. Maybe I can teach myself how to be a writer!

Our house is in transition as the bathroom is being replaced. Big thanks to Mom&Dad for helping fund that! Today we noticed a slow leak from the hot water heater.

Just signed up for Mastodon!

Here's how I choose to feel:

Might be the new new hope!


Now I am Nothing
Wednesday November 9th, 2022

Not sure but lately I've been questioning much of what was written. Went to the library several times but never found anything to fully read.

Words on this site I used to listen to once a week have fallen out of season. Would they serve anyone? Hard to know...

Now that I've been off for 7 years with the kids, it seems like they barely need me anymore. Now, is a change needed?

To start back out in the work force my Wife asked me to apply as a crossing guard yesterday. Not looking forward to waking up early{since my medication makes me sleep 12~15h most days. } Unsure if my injured wrists and shoulder can handle a stop sign.

Here's how I feel:

We shall see how it goes!