WeirdBlog.com

Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

If you live in big cities like paris you have to take of your children carefully as there are many things that are not suitable for children for example pari en ligne on internet, violence movies and so forth, you have to make sure that your auxiliaire de vie teach them the right way so they know which one good for them and which one not. Based on this condition garde d’enfants à paris have make good standard on the things that are suitable for children and how to educate the children properly so in the future they will be good person that could differentiate which one good for them and which one not.

Some of you are confused to sell several items. What makes it difficult is about the way to promote the items. Definitely as a seller you want to find a credible or a serious buyer so you don’t need to waste your time for buyers who just want to play with you. In this case, you can use the latest technology and it can be an effective way to promote the items that you want to sell. There is good news for you who have the same case with the case above.

Now, you can use certain online program for business marketing. The name of the program is known as Cellit Mobile Marketing and this program is supported by CellitMarketing.Com. This kind of way is an effective way especially if you are using internet recently to run your business. The advantage of using this program is on the service because they have additional service called text messaging service. This service is using text messaging service because although you are using internet but you can still share the information on your customers’ mobile phone. Probably, you are asking about how if you have to include the picture of the products. In fact most of sellers do it so their customers are sure with their items. Of course, you can also do the same action even if you are using mobile marketing service.

I bet some of you want to sell a house and the good way to sell a house is by including the picture of the house. For this kind of case, you can let House4Cell do the job. What you need to do is giving the specific information about the house that you want to sell and of course the picture of it from the best angle. If all set, you can automatically deliver it to the people who have this feature and they can read it the same with what you are informed. It can be useful for gaining more customers who are using mobile phone recently. It is not only for a person who want to sell their items but companies which want to promote their products and services are allowed to use this service. In short, they can use SMS solution service. One thing to notice for people who want to use this program is Mobile Coupons. If you can get the coupons, there is an opportunity for you to enjoy special packages such as discount price and many more.

As a businessman, we have already realized that somehow, marketing is the most important thing in any kinds of businesses. There are no such kinds of businesses in the world would be able to survive without the excellent marketing actions. It even defines the life of a business. If the marketing teams unable to accomplish their mission, no such business could stay alive. There are too many competitors in the world today, so as a businessman, we should be smart enough to define the perfect marketing actions for the company. We should define the perfect guidelines for the marketing teams so they could be the most effective marketers in the world.

It would give us some sorts of excellent chances to sell more and more and it means, we could get some benefits of the business. Speaking about marketing actions, we should consider the most effective marketing action. It should be something with fewer costs but much impact. We should consider of using the MOBILE MARKETING system. It might be the perfect kind of marketing system for us. Speaking about it, we should consider of using the Cellit Mobile Marketing service. They would give us some chances to promote more products efficiently.

They could use the SHORTCODES to promote something about our products. It would be something more efficient and it might be considered as something even more effective. We should try to search for more information about it in the internet. We would have some chances to learn more about the mobile marketing and the Shortcodes too. It might be the most effective media to make some sorts of excellent promoting action for us. We could try to click the Cellitmarketing.com to get more information about it. With the excellent promotion action, we would have some chances to make more benefits of it.

Here are some fitness boot camp marketing strategies that will increase your online presence using search engine keywords. Have fun with it and reach clients you couldn’t reach any other way.

I was looking over my stats recently and I began to think about something. What do you do when you’re at the very top already? Everyone tells you that you’re going to need to rank for certain keywords, like personal trainer, fitness, weight loss, and body building – for your local city. But what do you do once you’ve managed that? A lot of people start looking for synonyms, or start trying to rank for keywords that are totally unrelated. However, the fitness boot camp marketing tips here will tell you something completely different.

Before you start trying to use this method, you’re going to already need a number one rank for your top ten to twenty keywords. Ideally, you ought to have multiple listings on the first page of Google. I almost always ask clients about how they first found me. After all, referrals are my biggest source of clients after marketing online, and learning who the referrals are can make a big difference. Online marketing isn’t so clearcut. About half my clients are directly looking for local fitness solutions. They get to my site through a bunch of different methods, including organic searches, adwords, etc.

Believe it or not, the other 50% aren’t looking for anything related to fitness. That’s the weird thing I found out recently. These people just stumble on the site, read it all the way through, and find out that they really want to get into better shape. A lot of them haven’t even considered the training option before. They might have thought about it once or twice, but assumed that only rich people can get personal trainers. With the way things are marketed by most people, I don’t blame them. We all know the economy is kind of lousy these days – it’s easy to assume you can’t afford a trainer.

Today, I found out that one of my top search results was actually “flying monkeys Newport” How’s that for strange? Most of the time, I don’t care who gets to my site unless they end up being a client. But the fascinating thing is that this person actually did convert. I’d asked the client how they got to my page and what they ended up reading. They started out with an article, went through the conversion page, and got in touch with me.

There are a few other really weird keywords I’ve gotten business out of, too. For instance, I’m currently number one for the phrase “Irvine cabinets.” I’ve also ranked well for “anytime fitness cost” – a keyword I never even tried for, “best doughnuts Newport,” “Irvine snow December 9th,” and “I want to be fashionable.” I ranked for “Irvine News” a little bit ago, and I still get a lot of searches for that.

So what’s the lesson here? If you’re going to dominate your local niche, you need to be the authority for your area – on everything! It takes a little effort, but you’ll end up increasing the chances of local people giving you business. It takes a little effort, but it’s totally worth it in the long run.

Chronic anxiety disorder victims should have the title courageous, not weird. What really annoys me is ignorant people who have never experienced an attack often judge a anxious person the wrong way. Thinking they are strange,weird, or out of control. I would like you to read this article and think about your self in a whole different protective, never ever think you are weak.Any one can be a victim to chronic anxiety, disorder, never think you are invincible!For an outsider it is hard for them to image that someone could fear the simplest every day things. Panic disorder seems to happen so quick, one day you are a confident happy person, then the next morning you wake up and it is like something has came in an invaded your body whilst you slept. It takes over your thoughts, and makes you scared of the things you always took for granted, going shopping, visiting the bank, even taking a drive in your car.Chronic anxiety disorder can happen to anyone!The worst part about all this is that you begin to loose faith in your own ability, you allow your self to be frightened of situations that should have no fear attacked to them what so ever. Unfortunately this is your way of protecting your self from triggering a panic attack. Its Like you have to force your self to just leave the house, that becomes very depressing.Do You Realize That People with chronic anxiety disorder actually do the bravest things on a daily bases?You not only get up each day and get on with your life, you pick yourself up after every set back and continue to face the fear. This in its self deserves an award. Many chronic anxiety disorder victims fail, not only once but hundreds of times week in week out, but because you continue the battle it makes you a winner.I will honestly say this, the experience and all the fear I went through for 13 years was be the hardest challenge I have ever had to face, but the triumph for me was after I learnt how to overcome panic and anxiety attack.

There is light at the end of the tunnel  for victims to chronic anxiety disorder,that is the good news!

One day you just wake up for no apparent reason and bang chronic anxiety disorder slaps you in the face!I have actually gained more confidence now then I previously had before, opportunities have opened there doors for me in so many different ways. I do not regret the any part of my experience now that i look back on it, I won in the end and that is all that matters.

Severe anxiety disorder,  victims are people  in my books that should be labeled courageous, not weak and pathetic. The thing that annoys me is someone who has never had the frightening experience can be so quick to judge an anxious person in way they do. They often think you’re just weird or unusual. You need to read this article and start thinking about your self in a whole different way, do not for one moment think you’re weak. I will point out why you should hold your head high.Never think your weak just because you have severe anxiety disorder!Majority of the time it is quite difficult for an outsider to image someone could even fear something as simple as an every day task. Panic attacks sneak up so quickly, and they usually happen in an instant without any warning, and this can happens to any most normal person. You could be a normal happy person today then tomorrow this may be a whole different ball game, panic takes over your thoughts like a house invader whilst you sleep. It starts to take your control away. It can make you fearful of the things you have always taken for granted, going to BBQ s, visiting a shopping mall, even taking a short drive in a car.Never think you are weird because you suffer from severe anxiety disorder!The horrible thing about this is, you quickly start to begin to loose all faith in your own capabilities, you find your self frightened in situations that are so familiar to you it is ridiculous for you to even think about being scared. Unfortunately you then tend not go out as much, this is a protection thing so you do not have to face the fear of having an attack. Very depressing.Do you actually know that severe anxiety disorder victims do the bravest things every day?You rise every morning and get on with your day, you get up and dust your self off after every set back, and you continue to face the fear on a regular bases. You actually deserve an award for that effort. Many severe anxiety disorder victims fail, not once, but dozens of times daily, weekly, monthly, but you still continue you battle through, this makes you a very big winner.The good news is there is light at the end of every tunnel for severe anxiety  disorder sufferers!I will be completely honest here, the hardest challenge I have ever had to face was the 13 years of fear I went through, but the biggest reward for me was, after I learned how to over come sever anxiety disorder, I then gained more confidence then ever before. There has been so many great opportunities and doors have opened up every where.So for me it has been a blessing in disguise having been a victim to severe anxiety disorder, I personally do not regret a thing, the end result is all that matters and mine has been a good, no a great one.Severe anxiety disorder can happen to any one do not think you are invincible!

Super Bowl New Orleans Saints Vs. Indianapolis Colts Predictions

Super Bowl New Orleans Saints Vs. Indianapolis Colts Drafts: In the NFL, Indianapolis and New Orleans are still standing, and could meet as undefeateds in the Super Bowl. That would require both to go 18-0. Only one NFL team has ever reached 18-0 — two teams won’t achieve that in the same season. Imagine if the Colts and Saints have both locked up top seeds at 13-0 when the sun sets on Dec. 13 — both would have considerable trouble staying motivated until the divisional round a full month later.But we get ahead of ourselves! New Orleans first must get fired up for its next three opponents: Carolina, St. Louis and City of Tampa, with a combined record of 4-18. Indianapolis has a slightly tougher assignment with its next three opponents: Houston, New England and Baltimore, with a combined record of 14-8.The Saints have emerged as this season’s most fun team to watch. They’re zany and emotional; the Colts are cool and efficient. The two would make a fabulous Super Bowl pairing, owing to their contrasting styles and lack of negative storylines. But the Colts and Saints have one thing in common — lots of nobodies playing well.Indianapolis starts numerous players who were undrafted (Gary Brackett, Ryan Lilja, Daniel Muir, Gijon Robinson, future Hall of Famer Jeff Saturday) or who came out of nowhere (Pierre Garcon, from Division III Mount Union College). The New Orleans lineup is heavy on out-of-nowhere players, or those unwanted by previous teams. Starting Monday night were undrafted players Mike Bell, Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Jabari Greer, while the undrafted Pierre Thomas came off the bench to rush for 91 yards and catch the game-winning touchdown pass. Jahri Evans of Bloomsburg University, a Division II school, started on the offensive line with Jermon Bushrod of Towson University, a Division I-AA college. Jonathan Goodwin, Anthony Hargrove, Scott Shanle and David Thomas, all let go by other teams, started for the NFC’s only undefeated club. New Orleans standouts Drew Brees, Darren Sharper and Jonathan Vilma were players other teams actively wanted to unload. Brees, the best quarterback in the NFC, was shown the door by San Diego, then rejected when he offered to sign with Miami; Green Bay let Sharper walk as “washed-up” five years ago! Scan around the NFL and behold team after team stacked with big-money first-round draft choices who don’t perform. Give me motivated castoffs any day.In other football news, it would be weird to wake up and find your team has the league’s leading rusher, plus the No. 1 rushing attack in terms of average gain — a spectacular 5.5 yards per carry — yet also find your team is 1-6. That’s how the Tennessee Titans find themselves after hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game that produced a combined 522 yards rushing and 238 yards passing. It would be weird to wake up and realize you had rushed for 177 yards on just eight carries Sunday, yet only touched the ball once in the fourth quarter. That’s how Maurice Jones-Drew finds himself right now.

You know, when I first completed this site, I considered this a milestone in my life. After years of writing about The Viable Alternative, I finally was able to compile it all into one neat little site. I beamed with pride at what I considered an intellectual masterpiece of all the insights that helped me on my path of personal development.Well, after my “crowing achievement”, when I realized all was “done”, I excitedly email several trusted friends of mine who’ve been what I’ve considered confidants on my path of self-discovery and tell them to check out my site.One of my friends, who has been a trusted mentor of mine, gave me what my ego considered to be some damning feedback about my site. Now, I always welcome constructive criticism from trusted and well meaning people, because it helps me to grow and work on my blindspots. However, due to fact that I am a sensitive person by nature, (a quality that I have always loathed about myself), the feedback was quite stinging.The feedback given to me was that I still came off as very guarded in my writing, which, she said, is a reflection of how I am in real life. Furthermore, I was told that my writing had too much head and not enough heart.What?…..Wow! How could someone NOT be impressed by such an obvious intellectual masterpiece? After all the tremendous growth I’ve made in the past 2.5 years culminating in me being FINALLY ready to do a site like this, how can someone still be saying this?Well, after licking my wounds for a few days, and almost scrapping the site altogether (I said “almost”, but yes, I’m such a perfectionist..sheesh), the clouds began to part and a whole new realization about what’s to be the next phase of my life opened up. A lesson that I was only now ready to receive had become plain to me. The next phase of my life is to involve learning to let down my guard.You see, one of the main reasons I started my path of self improvement was because I felt I was too stifled. I wanted to learn how to un-stifle myself and become fully self expressed. I hated the fact that some days, I’d be this suave, charismatic person, while MOST other times, I was stilted, self-conscious and inhibited.I would read stories about people I admired, one of them being “The Rock,” a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, professional wrestler and actor, and I would gush with admiration (and envy) when people would praise his charisma, his wittiness, and aura of power. I wanted to be that confident, charismatic guy that people loved and thought was cool. I wanted to be that guy who was always on, always had something witty to say, who exuded that “power.”To be honest however, I failed miserably at achieving this “goal”, and the more I tried to be that “guy”, the more frustrated and inhibited I became. For YEARS I banged my head against the wall getting absolutely nowhere. In fact, I reflect in embarrassment on how annoying I must’ve been to others. Can you imagine what it’s like to be around someone who’s “trying” to be cool and confident in order to be liked? It’s weird when others do it and I must’ve looked quite weird myself. There’s a sense that something is off, and my friend, something was definitely off with me.Well, the reason why I failed so miserably was because I was missing a piece of the puzzle. That piece was a willingness to let down my guard.For as long as I can remember right from infancy, I had a deep emotional wound that left me with a feeling of always being weak and vulnerable. This caused me to be very sensitive as a child. I used to cry at the drop of a hat. From some of the deep soul searching I’ve done over the years, I really think it might’ve come from the fact that at one point in my life at a very, very young age, I felt as if I were abandoned by my mother. That wound was further exacerbated by the emotional wounds inflicted by people in and out of my family while I was growing up.With me seeing the world as a hostile, unfriendly place in which I felt too weak to defend myself against to the very core of my being, I learned to build a wall around me that would hide my pain from me and from others. This would be where I stopped living from the TRUE core of who I was, and constructed a false self known as my “ego”.So with this type of past, here I am YEARS later, saying that I want to be free, spontaneous and fully self-expressed but failing miserably.The problem was that this whole “altruistic” goal of mine was all b.s.I was coming from my ego, where I wanted to look cool so I could be loved and admired by everyone. I really didn’t give a rat’s ass about expressing myself from my core, which is what TRUE self expression is. Hence the conflict I had: on one end, I was desperately attached to projecting a certain persona to the public while on the other end I was cursing my life as to why I wasn’t able to freely express myself and be spontaneous.By identifying with my ego and its goals, I was able to stay hidden behind the wall I built up to hide my pain. And if I insisted on hiding my pain, there was absolutely NO way I could ever hope to ever be “free”. Imagine watching a fight where someone gets badly injured and is trying to protect his wound. Chances are you’re going to witness this guy receive a good pummeling by his opponent. He’s not free to “express” his fighting skills because he’s trying to protect something.Ironically, I was that guy, the guy who was being pummeled by life because I couldn’t, or wouldn’t let my guard down. Imagine wanting to be free, but somehow “something” seems to be holding you back. Take it from me, it sucks, and I would know because I lived that way for most of my life.I wanted to be free but I didn’t want to pay the price.The price I now realize would be me manning up, letting go of my ego so my core self can shine through. That would mean giving up “control” of how I wanted to look and giving that power over to my core self.It would mean letting my guard down and being… vulnerable.By the way, when I say, “vulnerable”, I don’t mean I become a person who falls down on his back crying anytime someone does or says something to me I don’t like. Rather, I mean being a person who’s willing to express and SHARE who I am with the world, warts and all, without fear of who will or will not accept me.At this new crossroads in my life, I realize my overwhelming desire that I nursed deep down for years to lose my “inhibitions” would NEVER ever be achieved if I was attached to looking a certain way to the people. That’s not being free, but somehow, I was able to lie to myself all these years that I was indeed striving for freedom. Somebody shoot me….just kidding.My ego had absolutely NO interest in letting my core self shine through unless it expressed an image that was pleasing to my ego. It was terrified of giving up “control” because it was afraid of what may come up. Hence the reason for the existence of the robotic, emotionless, frustrated individual that many people knew to be me, living totally inauthetically in that he said he wanted one thing (freedom of self expression) but was actively pursing the opposite goal (expressing a false self engineered by the ego in order to look good and protect himself). Sad, but true.I now accept the fact that by letting my core shine through, everything expressed by my core may not be in line with the image my ego wants me to present to the world. Everything expressed by my CORE self may not be so “peachy”. My “warts” are certain to come up as well. However it’s these “warts”, these odd quirks that we all have that actually set us apart from each otherNow, don’t get me wrong, like I said earlier, the last 2.5 years was probably the period of some of the greatest growth I had ever experienced in my life. A lot of this growth had enabled me to connect more to my true self and become less inhibited. The feedback I had received was my friend pointing out a blindspot that I hadn’t been able to see in order to aid me in my growth and self-discovery process. Had I been given this feedback let’s say three years ago, it would’ve sounded like some extinct Biblical language. In fact, it was like a extinct language to me, because people had told me before that I was guarded, but frankly, either I didn’t care, or I didn’t know really how to take it or what to do about it.Hey, like I said in my about me page, I am in no way some type of guru. I am a work in progress and will be so until the day I die. I am here to share my insights that I’ve learned in my life to help you along.I’ve written this to extend my hand to you, in the way someone who was drowning in quicksand has figured how to climb out, and wants to take others in the same predicament with him as he climbs to safety. I’ve learned the past year that fulfillment, the number one thing we all seek in life, is gained by giving value to others. How I personally gain fulfillment is by inspiring others, and giving others insight from what I’ve been through.There’s no way I could really effectively do that unless I learn to let my guard down so my own core self can shine through.If you’re painfully self-conscious to the point where you’re afraid of making any move because you’re afraid of looking bad, I feel your pain. It feels so constricting, so stifling. It feels as if you’re in your own prison looking out at a world that seems to be freely living life. What’s worse is when you try to solve this but can’t seem to get anywhere year after frustrating year. It feels as if your life is passing you by.I invite you to welcome the possibility that you really have no idea what freedom really is…..News Flash: I didn’t. The “freedom” you desire has strings attached, but that’s not really freedom, is it?First off, let’s call a spade a spade. There’s no use living under false pretenses any longer. Your REAL goal is to hide behind a wall and have the world see you a certain way. That’s why you haven’t been able to make any “progress”. You think you want one thing but have been going after something else.Think about comedians. I’ve read that some comedians tend to be some of the saddest people on this planet, though they make people laugh for a living. I’m not saying all comedians are like this, but those who are, they use humour as a wall to hide behind their pain that most likely originated from childhood. Comedy is a way they escape from their pain and also gain acceptance from others.They may be able to make people laugh and gain people’s acceptance, but are they really free? Are they REALLY expressing themselves?Hey, I have my own wall I hide behind, and will continue to do so until I fully evolve to the next level where I’m fully able to let my guard down.The difference between me and you is that I have now realized The Illusion that I’ve been living and choose not to live this way anymore. I’m sharing my insight here with you to give you a chance to make the same choice.Now, if you’ve seen the light and have made the decision that you don’t want TRUE freedom and rather continue hiding behind a wall constructed by your ego where you’re seeking to appear a certain way to the world, I wish you all the best. At least now, you’re honest about what you want and are no longer lying to yourself.If on the other hand you’re tired of living all the b.s., and want to be truly free, you must first acknowledge that there is a SELF within you that you had no idea about that is far, FAR greater than any image that your ego tried to project to the world.It is a self so complex, so vast, yet so beautiful that it scares the hell out of your ego because your ego can’t truly grasp it, so it tries to bottle it up and put it in a corner to use for its own selfish devices.Unstifling our selves involves giving up the idea of “control” and surrendering to a greater self that can never be controlled. It involves getting out of our way and letting ourselves BE. Now, what may now come forth may not always be “pretty” the way we may want. It may not always be wrapped up in a nice neat little bow. Some “dark stuff” may emerge from time to time. However, because it will be coming from our CORE, and not from our ego, that in and of itself is BEAUTIFUL as well.Our true, core self within each of us does not give a damn about how the world perceives it. It has no need to “hide” because it’s already aware that it was “fearfully and wonderfully made.” It’s not concerned with the past or future because it lives in now, and is thus able to flow from moment to moment.Before I go, I’ll let you in on one more thing: by letting our core selves shine through, we will exude charisma EFFORTLESSLY.Now, doesn’t that sound like TRUE freedom to you? Well, it does to me.Giving up control is the price you and I have to pay for freedom, but I’m prepared, because as I heard a “retired” millionaire once say, “freedom ain’t free.”This is The Viable Alternative.Hope this helps.IKE LOVE

I remember it clearly as if it were yesterday…It was in the early 2000s, in the month of November, on a sunny afternoon. (I know, how cliche, but it really was sunny that afternoon.)It was a really strange time of my life because I wasn’t working, having left the only “real job” of my adult life almost a year earlier. Well, I was sort of working with some startup that had big dreams, but I wasn’t getting paid for it, and frankly, I was just going through the motions with it and with life as a whole. I really had no drive to do anything, no motivation, nothing whatsoever. Of course I would’ve “liked” to have the symbols of success (nice care, nice pad, money, etc.) if they were bestowed to me by some benevolent “genie”, but really, that obviously wasn’t happening. Not only did I NOT have the desire or the motivation to pursue these things, but honestly, I didn’t think I had the capability of attaining them either if I were to pursue them.Now, of course I know that the pursuit of material things is a road to nowhere, but really, if I had been pursuing these things, at least I would’ve been passionate about SOMETHING, and have been moving in SOME direction. In my case, I was just standing still doing nothing.The thing was, I wasn’t lazy, nor was I depressed. I was just simply devoid of any desire for anything in life. I just didn’t care. I was bereft of any inspiration to do anything at all.Was I happy?Well…would you be if you were living like this? I think we both know the answer.Deep down I knew there was something wrong considering the fact I hadn’t always been like this. The thing was, on the surface I thought that me being devoid of any ambition or any desire was the right, spiritual way to be, but it fought with every nuance of my being on a deeper level, i.e. it sucked to be me.I think Thoreau coined my condition best: “quiet desperation.”So, there I was, on this particular November afternoon, stopping in front of a bookstore that had a table display of books, when one in particular piqued my curiosity due to the title, so I picked it up in order to check it out.I glance through the book and its subject matter seemed interesting enough, but I didn’t feel a need to buy it. However, over the next few days, for some reason, my mind kept on going back to that book, though I didn’t even remember the name, so the next time I passed by the bookstore, I bought the book.And you know what? The book changed my life…The name? “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, a book about the principles of success. Well actually, it was another version of the book, “Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice” by Dennis Kimbro, but reading that prompted me to possessedly go and buy the original version by Napoleon Hill. Needless to say, these two books single handedly gave me back something I hadn’t felt in several years: my inspiration in life to be successful and do something great on this earth.In addition to re-kindling my desire to be successful, after reading these books over and over, and over again, I realized something else: I had a pitifully LOW self-esteem.Low self esteem is funny, because most people who have it don’t know they have it and would never admit to it. If someone who was able to notice low self esteem in another person and pointed it out to him, he (or she) would either deny it or get very defensive. This is because people are very good at hiding their low self esteem from themselves through innumerable avenues, some of which include, erecting walls of materialism, bravado, or by simply just being an out and out asshole to the entire world.I was no different.It was when I learned this that I can say that I officially started my path of “self improvement” and self discovery. (There’s a reason why I put “self improvement” in quotes, stay tuned). I hit the ground running and threw myself into the whole process headfirst. My burning desire was to become a better person, raise my self esteem, and become a confident person that was secure with himself.The Desert YearsNow, this is where I wish I could tell my happy ending, where I acquire unstoppable confidence, strike it filthy rich a few years later and fly off in my pink unicorn to my mansion on top of a hill at the end of the rainbow, where I sip glasses of Cristal and party nightly with the likes of Diddy and Naomi Campbell.Nope. Definitely not with me.Instead, I entered into another “desert” period in my life that lasted five years. It was a period where I experienced very little if any growth whatsoever. Instead I went around in circles, reading book, after book after book, going to different seminars, visiting a hypnotist, talking to coaches, listening to CD after CD, etc, all in the hopes of finding that magic pill, that one marvelous distinction that would enable me to finally let go of my negative beliefs, show me how to get over the past, and show me how to be a better person.I remember buying book after book, hoping that each book would be “the one” that would give me that magical insight that would change my life. I would read each book accompanied with a “trusty” highlighter pen, highlighting everything I found insightful in the book, hoping that somehow these words would seep into my consciousness and help change me.Sadly, that didn’t happen. All I’d get was a dry highlighter pen, but no real personal growth. I instead become a walking “self help” encyclopedia, full of inspirational quotes that made me look all positive and enlightened. I probably was able to recite to you on command, page 73 of every book I read, that’s how into “improving myself” I was.As I read more and more books, I’d feel more “enlightened” and “knowledgeable”, but at times, I’d have a somber moment where I’d say to myself, “you have all this knowledge, you’ve read all these books, but where’s the REAL growth?” I’d ponder this briefly and then think, “Oh well, on to the next book!” and sweep the one insight that I TRULY needed to pay attention to under the rug.I was lost.I remember taking the Landmark Forum and its follow-up course, “The Advanced Seminar.” I thought that now surely this was the place that would make me transform. After all, before I even took these courses I heard of some miraculous stories of the breakthroughs and transformations people received. As a matter of fact, upon taking these two courses. I did receive some tremendous insights, and I did see some people make some incredible remarkable change, but at the end of the day, I was thinking, “how ’bout me?”I had more knowledge, more insight, but I still felt TERRIBLY lacking.”Why can’t I change?”"When am I going to get rid of this horrible feeling of inadequacy I have?”I would ask these questions to myself over and over again, after the next, best self-help tool I discovered out there that I hoped would empower me to become a better person wound up getting me nowhere. I went to a hypnotist, hoping she would be able to hypnotize me to be a confident person….that didn’t’ work. In fact in retrospect, I just think she was a sucky hypnotist (no offense to her). The only “improvement” I got from her was a lesson of not to EVER waste my money or time with her again.I talked to several coaches…nothing. In fact, one got so frustrated with me he almost kicked me out of his coaching group.It’s funny, because during this period, I remember talking to a guy in my gym who I have to say, was a complete mess. He would complain to me over and over again about his girlfriend and how he didn’t trust her. The obvious solution to his “problem” that I would explain to him was to leave her, but he’d have a barrel of excuses of why he couldn’t do that. Yet, what surprised me was that he was an avid reader of self-help books, just like me, having ready many of the ones I had. He in fact bragged that he had a whole suitcase full of these books. I thought to myself in utter disgust, “Is this guy serious? Why is this guy such a debacle if he is supposed to have read all these books?”The truth of the matter was that I really was no different myself. The reason why I was able to see that this guy was a debacle was because I was only seeing a reflection of myself in him. I, despite having read all these books was quite a debacle myself. I was pointing at him, but four fingers were pointing right back at me. I just didn’t see it.I really, really, really wanted to change. The coaches at the seminars I attended were able to sense my desperation. I had all this negative self-talk going on inside my head, and I wanted to get rid of it. I had this deep feeling of inadequacy, and I wanted get rid of that. I lacked confidence, and I wanted to gain it. I felt as if I had been a horrible, inconsiderate, insensitive bastard in the past, and I wanted to become a good person that people would be able to look up to. I wanted to learn how to stop clinging to my past and be able to let go.What was frustrating was that during this period, I had read and heard stories about people who credited a certain book, seminar or encounter with someone for giving them some insight that changed the entire way they perceived themselves and the world. They would note that it was this “shift” in perception they received that enabled them to transform from insecure, “bad”, unsuccessful people to happy, confident and successful.I was looking for something that would do similar for me and fix all these “horrible” things I had. Yet, in all my five years of “self improvement”, the only major change that had come in me was after I first read “Think and Grow Rich,” which I wouldn’t even count because it was what first got me on my path. So in actuality, in five years, I had really gotten nowhere.Oddly enough, I was somehow able to fool myself that I was “changing” because I was reading all these books and gaining all these “wonderful” insights.Yet funny how these “insights” brought absolutely no real improvement to the quality of my life, nor did they improve my self esteem in any way. I was the same old me who started the journey five years earlier covered with a thin veneer of knowledge from a bunch of self-help books and quotes spouted by famous people.I was a mess.I liken this period of my life to the Biblical story of the Israelites wandering the wilderness for forty years without entering the “Promised Land.” They just tread the same ground over and over and over again for forty years.I too was in the wilderness because I was in a place that was bearing no type of fruit. I just thank God it was five years, not forty.Something had to give.My “Deliverance”So, 2005 comes along.In the very beginning of this year, two significant things happen.The first thing was when a cousin of mine came to my house for the first time and stayed for a few days. Upon looking at my bookshelf and seeing all these self help books, he comes to me and asks me, “Why are you looking for something you already have?”That question struck me because it was told to me several years before. I didn’t get it when it was first told to me, and I didn’t get it when my cousin said it. However, now, these words struck me in a different way. I figured that since I was hearing these words for a second time, there must have been a message in there for me. I started to let them marinate in my spirit so I could find learn the message that they carried.The second event was that I could sense that God was speaking to my heart trying to tell me something.That “something” was Him telling me not to hang out with my childhood friends for the whole of 2005.See, these childhood friends of mine have been my “family” for almost my entire life. They had also been a foundation of security for me most of my life, because I felt that no matter what I went through socially, they would always be there. The insight that God was giving me was that by not hanging out with them for an entire year, I will start to develop that foundation within myself. Also, being absent of their “influence” will help me start to see an aspect of myself that I previously wasn’t aware of.That’s similar to the scenario of a tree bent in a certain way would grow in a certain way, however, if you unbend it, it would grow in a different direction.This was a PROFOUND insight that I definitely could not have thought of on my own. It was completely out of the box of my reality.Me, looking desperately for answers, saw no choice but to listen.So to my childhood friends who are reading this, if you’ve been wondering why I wasn’t around for all of ‘05 and making “excuses” why I couldn’t hang out, (if you remember or even care), this was the reason. It was all for self discovery purposes, nothing personal. You guys may find it “weird”, but I’ve come to accept the fact that I’m just not a normal person. Also, if you do find it weird, I retort with my oft repeated phrase that you know very well, “your opinion means absolutely nothing to me.”Either way, I digress.So, getting back to 2005, it was a year like every other of the previous four years: going to seminars, reading book after book, having all these wonderful insights making me believe that I was enlightened, all coupled with the frustration of being in my own way. I think you get the picture.However, come the last two months of that year, November and December, I received two MAJOR insights, one insight for each month, that unlike all the countless other “insights” I received, were the ones that were to lead me out of the wilderness.The first one I’m not going to get into, as it I another topic for another blog. Also, it really didn’t have an immediate effect on my life as did the second, which began to change things immediately.The second insight is the topic of this blog.It was late in December, a couple of days after Christmas. I was talking to my mom in her room while she was watching TV. In the conversation, she mentions to me that she had a deep conversation with my brother and the subject was yours truly.She mentioned that my brother was complaining, added to the complaint of my other siblings that I was emotionally unavailable and even though he tried to communicate with me on a deeper level, I wouldn’t let him in and kept him at arm length.The news of this didn’t shock me because my siblings had complained about this before. I knew that ever since my childhood that I had always been emotionally distant from my siblings and never really attempted to foster a close relationship with any of them. As I had “matured”, I knew this wasn’t a good thing, and I felt that by becoming a better person through my “self improvement”, this would somehow remedy itself.Upon hearing this, I told my mom that I was trying to change, and that I had been reading a lot of self improvement books and going to seminars for a number of years, and the insights I had received had helped me to grow.I then asked her a crucial question, “Haven’t you noticed any change in me?”To this she responded that she didn’t see too much of me because she left for work before me and I usually returned home from work late, and at that time she was already in bed, so she really couldn’t tell if I had many any change at all.All of sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been doing this whole self improvement “thing” to please my mother.Why does that insight even matter?Well let me take you back a few years to my childhood. When I was growing up, my father was the strict disciplinarian in the house, and coupled with that, he wasn’t always an easy person to deal with. From a young age, he came down very hard on me and the older of my two sisters, and so, we were dependent on our mother for refuge.Because of all this, it can be easy to see how my father became the “bad guy” and my mother was the “good guy”. My father was the one associated with having a bad temper, being impatient, angry, etc, and my mother was associated with being loving, caring, patient, nurturing, etc. Thus, compared to our younger two siblings, it became important for me and the older of my two sisters to stay on our mother’s “good side” because if we didn’t, we would be at the mercy to the whims of our father.Furthermore, as a child, I had a very bad temper, and was prone to throwing huge temper tantrums. When I would do this, my mom would say to me disapprovingly, “You’re just like your father.”Well, of course, it sucked to hear that, because I didn’t want to be like my father, I wanted to be like my mother. My mom knew this, and over the years, she would play the manipulation game whenever she and I would have a disagreement by hanging over my head the comment, “You’re just like HIM.”This had the effect of immediately putting me on the defensive or shutting me up. Either way, it gave my mom a “power” over me. It made me want to be more like her, and since she became the “measuring stick” of who to be like in my house, it also made me believe all the other negative labels she had placed on me.Thus, over the years, I would develop this persistent fear that I was going to turn out just like my father. One of the main reasons for embarking on the path of self improvement was to “finally address” this issue of me being this horrible person in the past and become a person who my mother could look at proudly and say, “Wow, you’re totally different from your father. You’re more like me.”This was the reason why I had gotten absolutely nowhere in five years of “self improvement.” I had talked a big game of wanting to become a better, more positive person, improve my self esteem, etc, but in actuality all I wanted was approval from my mother.I remember watching those Warner Brothers or Hanna Barbera cartoons as a little kid where some cat (Tom or Sylvester) would be trying to chase a little bird to eat, but their efforts were always thwarted by the big mother hen or some other guardian that watched over the little chick. So, to fool whoever was protecting the chick, the cat would disguise himself as a bird. However, the plan would always fail because although the cat was dressed as a bird, in one way or another, his nature of being a cat would always rise to the surface (e.g. trying to eat the little chick.)This was similar to my quest for self improvement. On the surface, I was saying I wanted to become a better person, improve my self esteem, etc, but below that something else was going on.You see, when I made the decision of improving myself, I was riddled with guilt for who I was up until that point for not naturally being able to display the “characteristics” of my mother. I felt guilty for being such a rude, inconsiderate, selfish, impatient bastard in my past, and because I felt I really couldn’t be trusted with my own self improvement, I looked to others who accused me of these things in the past, as well as my mom as indicators of whether I was changing or not. Thus, the more pleasing I was to others, the happier I was because it meant I was changing. However, if I did something to step on another person’s toes, I would be depressed that I was failing in my quest to become a better person.To add to that, I also tried to be overly pleasing to women, which meant walking on egg shells around them because afraid to say the wrong thing, seeking their approval, and putting up with disrespect that I had no business putting up with. I figured by gaining the approval of women, it would mean that I was different from my father, which would gain me the prize of my mother’s approval.In any case, this all gave me a resentment towards women and my mother, because I gave them power over me to control my mental well being. What made me more resentful was that I wasn’t getting their approval back in return.All who are reading this may be able to take a “wild guess” as to how my dating life was.If a person were to take a good look at my quest for self improvement, they would see me constantly beating myself for not being a good person, me beating myself up for days on end for lapsing into the “old me”, me trying to acquire “knowledge” so as to impress people into believing I was a “good person”, me being so stiff and stifled because I couldn’t trust myself to be “free” because I might mess up, me being terrified of receiving someone’s disapproval because then it meant that I really hadn’t changed.My goodness, it’s a miracle that I didn’t leap from a window or go postal.I remember reading a quote during my years in the wilderness that went something like this (I don’t remember it verbatim), “Change produced by hate can never produce love.”Oh yes, I definitely hated myself.Now, let me ask you, does all this sound like self improvement to you?Now you can see why I put “self improvement” in quotes. Clearly, I wasn’t improving myself. All I was doing was seeking an affirmation that I wasn’t a bad person while beating myself up along the way.The thing was, I really didn’t know I was doing all this.It was as if I were setting out from a journey to Chicago from New York with a map of Detroit, complaining the whole time why I wasn’t getting any closer to Chicago or why where I was winding up didn’t resemble Chicago at all.That revealing conversation with my mom made me realize I was looking at the wrong map…..DOH!At least now with the right map, I could get an inkling of where I needed to go.I would also like to add that had I not followed Divine guidance and taken time away from my friends, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this revelation. Taking time away from the people that I had been around all my life allowed me to gain a different perspective of myself that made it ripe for me to receive the breakthrough I did.Obedience to Divine guidance pays!When I got this breakthrough, I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief because a big burden was lifted off my back. I now was able to see that I had a lot of guilt in being a man instilled in me by society, my family and the Church, and I read some very interesting books that helped strip away a lot of that guilt. I also now began the painstaking process of untangling myself from approval seeking (which I might add is still going on up till now).I also cut down considerably on the amount of self improvement books I read. The urgent need that I had once felt to read every self improvement book in sight left me.Finally, the REAL self improvement process had begun. It was as if God had said to me, “Now you’re ready for Me to deal with you.” He now was in the driver’s seat.Oh, and in case you were wondering, I still don’t have the pink unicorn or the mansion on the hill. In fact, if you might be thinking that my life got any “easier”, I’m here to tell you that it didn’t. Straight from the desert, I had a brief respite before I was led into “purgatory”, (though it still felt like hell). This period lasted for another three and a half years where my life actually got harder. However, this served to be a cleansing period where, unlike the previous five years, I experienced a lot of growth, though I must admit, I didn’t care too much for many of the experiences I had that forced me to grow.Hey, you know the saying, “be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.” Boy did I get it.Hope this helps,IKE LOVE

by
[removed][removed]
Andie Ryan

The cult hit The Room is fast becoming the Rocky Horror of its generation. Originally released in 2003, the film quickly sank like a stone and seemed destined for obscurity…until it was discovered by a small but enthusiastic contingent of movie geeks and irony-loving hipsters. Since then, midnight screenings have been cropping up all over the country, attended by boisterous fans who dress up like the film’s characters and act out scenes at the front of the theatre. Tommy Wiseau—the movie’s writer, director, producer and star—has fully embraced the hype and even makes appearances at screenings to sign autographs and greet loyal “Roomies”, yet remains strangely tight-lipped about the film’s production, script, and actors. So imagine our delight when Juliette Danielle— The Room ’s leading lady—agreed to be interviewed for Praxis . Juliette is—of course—nothing like her Room character, the deliciously evil and duplicitous Lisa. She rescues feral cats, she likes karaoke, and she has a great sense of humor about The Room and its legions of devoted fans. Andie Ryan finds out more.

AR: There is a lot of unintentional hilarity in The Room . Did you have trouble keeping a straight face while shooting certain scenes? JD: Tommy ran a pretty tight ship in that regard. He takes his craft very seriously. There wasn’t a lot of cracking up on set. But I can remember one time that I just lost it. It’s the line where Johnny has locked himself in the bathroom and he says, “In a few minutes, bitch.” I was doing okay until I saw the entire crew in my field of vision, stifling their laughter. I couldn’t help it. Tommy came out and demanded to know what was so funny. That made it worse!

AR: What was the most difficult scene to shoot?

JD: I’m sure most people would think I’d say the love scenes with Tommy, but the roof scene with Denny and Chris R was by FAR the hardest. The line that killed me was “What kind of money?” I mean, how do you say that? AR: That was a kick ass line! And you delivered it with such aplomb. Speaking of Chris R…he was kinda hunky. He only made that one brief appearance in the film—was he in other scenes that were cut? JD: Not that I recall. Although I think he would have made a great addition to the party scene.

AR: What is your favorite line from the film? “Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!” AR: Did you and your costars hang out off-set during filming? JD: A little bit. I dragged—and I mean dragged —a few of them to karaoke a couple of times. AR: Oh, that rules! Who ended up going out with you?

JD: Philip (Haldiman) and a few of the cast members who didn’t last. The previous Michelle and Mark. Oh, and I totally forgot to mention, I was originally cast in the role of Michelle. The original Lisa was closer to Johnny’s age, but she had a random accent and a personality that didn’t seem to fit. There were a lot of cast changes prior to filming.

And I have no idea what we sang together. If I had to guess, I probably sang a lot of Alanis Morisette and Dixie Chicks. Don’t ask—it was a phase!

AR: What is your favorite memory from the set of The Room ? JD: My sister spent a day hanging out on set. She’s 10 years younger than me and she thought it was the coolest thing. She got to watch me slap Greg over and over again to get the take right in the party scene.

AR: Do you keep in touch with your co-stars? JD: I keep in touch with Greg, Philip and Robyn ( Paris ), although Philip has been difficult because he moved out of state. Thank goodness for Facebook! AR: In five words or less, describe… Philip Haldiman (“Denny”): Funny, charming, talented nostril flarer. Carolyn Minnott: (“Claudette”) Smart, sassy, classy. Greg Sestero (“Mark”): Handsome, well mannered, classic. and last but not least…the mysterious Tommy Wiseau: Focused, fueled by Red bull.

AR: Do you think Tommy will ever release a director’s cut of “The Room” on DVD? I’d love to hear the cast commentary!

JD: Sadly, no. I’m not sure Tommy would want to hear what some of the cast would say.

AR: What do your friends and family think of The Room ? JD: I forbade them to watch it. Of course, my pleas were ignored. They like to quote lines to me on a constant basis. AR: Have you made appearances at any of midnight screenings? If so, how does it feel to sit in a theatre surrounded by fans shouting at the screen? Do you ever join in the shouting? JD: I have. I like to go before the movie starts and interact with the fans in line. Of course, there were people that recognized me right away, but about half of the crowd had never seen the movie before and had no idea who I was. I was handing out candy and they were looking at me like I was crazy.

I have only stayed for the whole movie at one screening, and that was many years ago. One fan shouted out, “Juliette, is it awkward to be in here right now?” And I shouted back, “Why, yes…yes it is!” Sometimes I do wish I could stay and watch the fun. Our fans are so creative and enthusiastic.

AR: Why do you not stay for the whole film? JD: Honestly? The nudity bothers me a great deal. I was a lot more liberal about things like that back in the day. If not for (the nude scenes) I would totally stay for the whole film and see all the fun antics of our diehard fans. At one screening there was this guy who went to the front of the theater and kicked a can back and forth while muttering things like, “I can’t believe I keep COMING here month after month.”

AR: Do you get recognized by fans often?

JD: I used to get recognized more in the beginning when I went out a lot. Plus, the movie was filmed quite a while ago, so I don’t have my baby face and über-blonde hair anymore. But I love my fans. The ones that find me on Facebook are so great. AR: What is the one question that fans are always asking you? JD: Ha ha, fans always want to know about TOMMY!

AR: How crazy is it to have famous fans like Kristen Bell, Paul Rudd, David Cross, and Will Arnett? Is that a bit surreal? JD: It’s ridiculous and completely awesome. Awesome because those guys are my idols. Ridiculous because I can’t believe they will admit they like it. It’s weird. I mean, Alec Baldwin has seen my boobs! AR: Wow, I didn’t realize Alec Baldwin was a “Roomie”! Has he mentioned it in interviews? JD: It was on TV awhile ago…I think it was on ABC World News Tonight . My friend called me frantically to tell me to change the channel. I practically peed my pants.

AR: There was a prominent billboard for The Room that was up in Hollywood for quite a while. Was it weird driving by that huge sign for so many years? JD: This was really cool because I lived in Hollywood for a lot of that time, and I did drive by it a lot. One of my friends visiting from Texas took a picture with me in front of it.

AR: Are you from Los Angeles originally? JD: No, I moved to Los Angeles with my mom and sister in 2001. I grew up in Sugar Land , Texas , a suburb of Houston .

AR: What inspired you to go into acting? JD: From an early age, my teachers told me to go into acting. I was always very extroverted and I liked to perform. I also watched movies constantly. I loved the way that film can suspend your disbelief and capture your imagination. But growing up in Texas , acting wasn’t really something I dreamed about. I’m a very practical girl. Then at 20 years old, I was in Los Angeles with my family and decided I owed it to myself to give it a shot.

AR: I understand you are now working in real estate. Are you doing any acting on the side? If not, do you see yourself returning to the craft in the future? JD: I love acting so much and at some point I would love to do it again. But as I said, I’m a practical girl. Shortly after The Room , some things in my life happened and I needed to be responsible and make sure I had a steady income. I would basically have to give up that stability to pursue my dreams again at this point. That really scares me.

AR: As long as you stay away from the computer business. Everyone knows it’s too competitive.

JD: Ha!

AR: Comedian Joe Lo Truglio calls The Room “a guilty pleasure in every sense of the word.” Do you have a so-bad-it’s-good favorite movie or TV show that’s a guilty pleasure for you? JD: Yes, I do! It’s a tie between Encino Man and Mystery Men . And…just added: They Live . “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.” That’s a great line. I can’t stop saying it. AR: What are your hobbies and interests? JD: I am very passionate about all animals, but I have a soft spot for cats. I volunteer three days a week at Purrfect Solutions Feline Rescue in Sherman Oaks. Nothing makes me happier. I have six cats living with me right now. All but one is a rescue.

AR: You get huge points for being a cat lover! What are the names of your kitties? JD: Kitty, Lola, Tia, Mia, Duffy, and Milo . Milo is our newest. He is totally feral and we can’t get close enough to pet him yet. But he’s fluffy, cute, and gets along with the others, so he’s staying.

AR: I have to ask, is there a “Johnny” in your life? JD: Tricky question. If you mean “do I have a guy who treats me like a princess?” Yes. If you mean, “do I wrap him around my little finger, cheat on him, and then drive him to his demise?” No, thank goodness.

AR: That’s awesome, you totally deserve to be treated like a princess. And you look great in a red dress.

JD: Thanks, every girl should have one!

For a primer on The Room (complete with video clips), click here.

A funny mash-up of Full House and The Room is here.