brianreeder.com - I do what I want!

I’m pulling this from my other site, strikeyourcolors.com. I haven’t posted in a long time over there, but I love what I have written over there. This post, “Time - Or Waste Not Want Not”, is one of my favorites. Here it is in it’s entirety.

The other night I had a conversation that started as many do, superficial and factual. But as I talked, I made a subtle change, and started saying things like “I feel like, I believe that, etc.”. And amazingly, some of those I was talking with did as well. This typical conversation turned into an emotionally charged look at ourselves. And as the conversation progressed, I began to see something.

Some people are so concerned with how much money they make, what car they drive, where they live, who their friends are, etc. But as soon as you strip all that away and see someone for who they really are, they have NOTHING to say. They get uncomfortable and distant. You could have pointed at each person in the room and been able to tell whether they were concerned with supRA-ficial (opinions, feelings, etc.) issues and not just supER-ficial (money, possessions, pleasure, etc.) ones.

They were able to discuss things beyond haircuts, heels, and hiltons. Not just emotion, but also give opinion on other topics and discuss their future: goals, dreams, etc. It was incredible to see the superficial people squirm and awkwardly try to contribute.

I know that much of this difference can be because of past pains, experiences, and emotional trauma. But, I think it’s a mindset you choose to have or to not have. With those mindsets come different ways of thinking about things. And to me, the difference is time.

SupER-ficial mentality- “I’ll do it tomorrow, I’ll change tomorrow, they’ll change tomorrow, it’ll fix itself, I’ll get to it eventually.”

SupRA-ficial mentality- “I’ll do it today, I’ll change it today, I’ll take responsibility, I’ll try to make it better.”

This is my rant:

Time is so precious. It is any persons MOST valuable asset. It is the one thing that we can NEVER get back- you waste it, it’s gone. So why do people just sit around, stagnant in their pool of cheap comforts and meaningless pleasures? Unwilling and un-wanting anyone to rip them outside of that. Accomplishing enough to get them through that day- nothing more.

How dare they waste what others would give everything for more of? I’m not saying “no relaxation!”, EVERYONE needs that. But their is a difference between relaxing FROM doing something and relaxing AS doing something.

If it’s chilling out, splitting a bottle of wine, and watching a movie after being at work and on the go all day, great. If it’s chilling out, splitting a bottle of wine, and watching a movie after sleeping and surfing the internet all day, I don’t get it. Once in a while, for sure, lazy days are needed. But when you’re lazy days start outnumbering your productive days, find something to do!! When the focus of your life is to just to get that pleasure or that comfort, I think something is missing.

I’ll leave you with this-

If you were on your deathbed and someone said “for all your money, I’ll give you another year.” Another year to be with those close to me, doing things I enjoy?

Who would hesitate?

Now imagine that question is posed to an 8 year old terminal cancer patient, who hasn’t been able experience all the joys, frustrations, loves, and sorrows of a full life. Do you think he would be spending that time doing only what comes easy?

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” -Dion Boucicault

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How is it that a story with 278 diggs after 21 hours and only 1 bury could all of a sudden disappear off of the HOTTEST of upcoming?!? I thought digg.com didn’t mess with it’s content at all? That is absolute bull.

Here it is:

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My first pair in 3 years. And I am very excited about them. Not because they are particularly amazing (they have/give me no special abilities, such as x-ray vision), but more so because they fit. I think “more so” has been my phrase of choice lately. I tend to do that, and I think everyone does. Two common phrases lately:

“It is what it is”
“I’m not gonna lie”

I try to stay away from “I’m not gonna lie”, it sounds a little girly. But, “It is what it is” is an amazing statement. It ends conversations, but makes people think you know what you’re talking about. Sometimes I know what I’m talking about, other times I don’t. If you sound like you know what you’re talking about people are WAY more likely to believe you. Just take an authoritative tone and people will usually nod and make up some fact to support your statement. That isn’t to say I lie a lot, in fact I do all I can not to lie. I hate liars. But, I also hate when people enjoy telling the harsh truth. That isn’t to say sugar coating things is great, but don’t take pleasure in telling your student they’re failing, or telling your friend they have toilet paper stuck to their foot. Actually I take back that second one, that is always funny to watch. If that makes me a cold-hearted ass so be it, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard it and I’m confident it won’t be the last. I heard it once in Thailand, from a girl I never dated but was forced to break up with. A Thai girl who liked me called me 30 times a day and showed up at my apartment building a couple of times. Talk about awkward. Especially because she pronounced my name Bi-an. My name is not Bi-an, it’s Brian. Or Breeder, that’s become a common name as well. Jessie introduces me as Breeder, which is kind of awkward to follow up with - “my name is really Brian, good to meet you”. Jessie usually responds “it’s not Brian, it’s Breeder. Breed. Er.” She chastised me for this being the first pair of jeans in a while.

But hey, jeans are expensive.

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So many people spend a lot of money trying to lose weight, gain weight, get fit, gain muscle, lose fat, etc. I personally spend $30 bucks a month on a 24 Hour Fitness membership. I use it, but I know I’m one of few that does. I know a girl that spent $40 a month on a gym membership she didn’t use. For 3 years. Let’s do the math.

36 months x $40 a month = $1440

Her reasoning for keeping it: she MIGHT start going again and spent $200 to sign up initially. She said she’s went to the gym for about 2 months, 4 times a week. So:

9 weeks x 4 times per week = 36 visits

$1440 in monthly charges + $200 sign up fee / 36 visits = $45.56 per visit

So this girl paid more than her monthly bill per actual gym visit. And I know she’s not alone.

Now my idea: Many people are shifting to a non-gym workout regiment these days, some of the activities being:

Cardio-respiratory: walking, running, swimming, cycling, sports, etc
Muscular: swimming, sports, cycling, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc

I know the guys here at db clay are doing push-ups sporadically throughout the workday. All of these exercises lack one pretty obvious thing - you don’t need machines to do them. At most you’re looking at investing in a bicycle, a pair of shoes, possibly a football/basketball/etc., maybe paying to go to the pool. But you these are usually one time fees.

They do lack one thing - weights. You can get the workout in else ware (notably swimming), but weights will help you bulk up, or gain muscle to lose fat. Body weight is great once you’re already fit, but if you’re looking for increased results you need to up the ante. So my thought is, instead of buying that membership to use machines/dumbbells four times a year, just buy rocks. I have a couple of reasons for suggesting this.

1. Rocks are cheap.
2. Rocks are heavy. (weight)
3. You can control how much rocks weigh (get different sizes)
4. Rocks are functional weight.

Why is functional weight important? Well to some it’s not, but I would much prefer to do something I may be doing in the future (doing chores, working outside, manly things, etc.) than doing bench press all day. Plus, lifting rocks works many muscle groups at the same time, stabilizers and major groups. So you’re getting a better workout, faster.

So get out there and get some rocks, they don’t require a membership and will always be there for you!

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PS HERO is one of the best Photoshop Tutorial sites on the web. The tutorials are extremely digestible, and hold your hand through the process. Step-by-step (not the TV show, which was awesome. I really like Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Sommers… awesome) instructions with accompanying images doing a great job explaining the process. As well, their is a .psd file at the end of the tutorial if you need additional help or want to play around with the end result.

To date my favorite tutorial is definitely the “Basic Photo Reflections“. I had no idea how to do this, and managed to pull of a pretty solid image myself.

Here is the original image (from the tutorial):

And the Photoshopped image:

Not only does he do photo effects, but also graphic design, text effects, and general tips and tricks. He also takes requests!!!! I plan on requesting how he can help me eliminate all those pesky tourists from my otherwise picturesque photos…

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