July | 2013 | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the month “July, 2013”

29 Jul 2013

Join Me On the Radio

I will be on the radio; join me on the Internet streaming site!

A secret about me (probably because I haven’t talked about my college years for a long time). As I worked toward my degree (Communications) back around 1980 I was also “on the air” at the college radio station. A public radio stations where students could learn the craft ( I was focused on broadcasting). As the station manager I learned a lot about running a business, but my favorite time was getting on the radio and sharing music and information to the people on campus and around the city where the university was located (in the heart of the great northern state of Wisconsin USA).

So many of us from that time (late 1970’s to early 1980’s) are coming back for a reunion and 4 days of radio merriment. Also to raise funds for our school.

To All My Tracks In The Dust followers: If you want to listen ON THE INTERNET it will be available to stream at this link (for Windows and I-tunes users): http://www.uwsp.edu/wwsp/Pages/default.aspx

You can join me LIVE for 2 hours on Thursday August 1st from Noon to 2 pm:

That is 12:00 PM CDT US to 2:00 PM CDT US. And of course join any time you wish. I can promise you that some of the music will be classic time-machine stuff, but expect some fairly eclectic stuff as well.

Wherever you are; whether you join or not- keep music in your heart always!

Mark

Let’s Get Exposed: College Radio Stations (altavozdistroco.com)
26 Signs You Were A College Radio DJ (buzzfeed.com)

23 Jul 2013

2 Comments

You Are The New Day

You Are the New Day.

You can make the difference every day.

One of my favorite songs (traditional) by a group I listened to often long ago.

Go out and make a difference and be involved in someone’s life. Don’t close yourself off to living. Life is short.

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged choices, Emotion, favorite songs, Happiness, Memories, Music, new day, Postive Thinking, Rock music, Self-Awareness

09 Jul 2013

The “Scale of Accountability” Again

Nearly every day something will trigger the Scale of Accountability. It keeps coming back to mind to me. I posted this last year, but it is something that has been great to keep a perspective on things on so many levels.

Often I see people around me angered and frustrated with the situations they are in- I hear them explaining things away as though they are “circumstantial” or must be blamed on other things around them. I wonder what their life is like day-to-day. Are they feeling like a victim; acting like a victim?

There are so many of those people who seem to appear in so many places in life. They seem to be lost because they don’t have a “center” in their lives, but they aren’t looking for one either. Often they surround themselves with more people who feel the way they do, which just makes it all the easier to stay in the place they are. They are unsure why they are stuck in a place they don’t want to be, but that is “the way it is” they’ll say…

So I ask my kids to be accountable to themselves and also to the life they choose and to God. Be aware, take action when they need to make a difference in what is happening. Things will change. Life will take on a new meaning.

The Scale of Accountability: What direction do you take?

Are You Accountable?

Make It Happen – DO IT
Find Solutions – SOLVE IT
Own Responsibility – OWN IT
Acknowledge Situation – SEE IT

Are You A Victim?

Wait and Hope It Gets Better
Excuses-Reasons “I can’t”
Blaming Others
Unaware-Unconscious-Ignore

Responsibility (thendley.wordpress.com)

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Accountability, Blame, choices, Doubt, Faith, Finding Fault, mental-health, Philosophy, Rationalization (making excuses), Reality Check, Self-Awareness, Taking Responsibility

08 Jul 2013

1 Comment

A “Dog Person” or a “Cat Person”

Having become a new owner of a dog for the first time ever in my life, I imagine there are a lot of people who will say “what took you so long?”

For most of my life from early on there were cats in my home. My mother was a “cat person” and we had several cats over my childhood, mostly they were my mom’s (one in particular was certainly hers alone) but I liked them (except for that “one”). It was something I became accustomed to. My dad hated them really. He saw no use for a cat. Once he figured out that one of the cats we had didn’t like the sound of the food blender, he spent a period of time with the base of it plugged in next to his favorite chair, and if the cat came near he would switch it on.

After my wife and I got married, we lived in small apartments where a dog was not very practical. At one point when we finally decided on a cat, we found out that it was not allowed in our apartment area and it factored into a decision to move.

So then…many cats later (and 4 kids)…my wife finally got her dog (did I mention she grew up with dogs?). So she became a dog-owner several years ago, and the dog was perfect for her. Just what she’d always wanted, but for some reason or another we never had gotten to having a dog in our family before.

The last cat I had was a big grey Russian-Blue type of cat, with a bit of tabby in him I am sure. What some may have called a “barn cat” I suppose. He would greet me at the door, follow me around, come hop up on my lap at the end of the day and sit next to my chair when I would be working at the computer. He will always be “my cat.”

Now a DOG. Just a mutt. But a dog that I will call mine. It’s part Border Collie/part Australian Shepard, part goofy. I am told that a mutt owner needs to know the suspected “parts”. I know I am not prepared for the higher maintenance of a dog but everyone says you get used to it. The walking, the cleaning up afterward. He was adopted from a dog pound. Saved one from the possible sad early ending of so many dogs that get neglected or rejected in their lives and end up there.

I know… I know…. There are “cat people” and there are “dog people”. I am trying to convert. Hoping he can teach me ( the old dog) some new tricks. A dog person. Yup. Working on it. Likely a life changer right?

Dog Person or a Cat Person: What Are You? (business2community.com)

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged barn cat, border collie, Cat, Cats vs Dogs, choices, Dog, Life changers, Memories, Multi-Cat Homes, Owning a pet, Pet, relationships

02 Jul 2013

The Soundtrack to Capture Summer

I grew up in an American city that sat on the shore of Lake Michigan, America’s largest freshwater lake.

As kids every summer we would get on our bikes or take the bus and head down to the sandy beach called the North Beach. It was connected to another beach that sat just outside the city zoo. We would spend hours in the sun, walking the beach, eating sandwiches and soda.

As we grew up we would cruise down in our parents cars and suck up the sun and suds (beer in Wisconsin is a staple).

During that time we always had music playing. It went from a small “transistor” radio to a boom-box with cassettes. Over time it created a soundtrack for the summer. Some times the laid back sounds of soul music (loved the Motown sound and the Philly sound), sometimes it was just pop rock and other times the latest in jazz.

One thing for sure even now, the music paints a very clear picture in my mind of those times gone by. I can see it in my mind’s eye with clarity with the accompanying smells of the grill and the scent of coconut oil suntan lotion. There are so many songs that dial-up those images.

Whether on a beach in Florida, a local hot bar or hotspot in your town or your own back yard…

Whether it is the Beach Boys, the Temptations, Chicago or Santana…

Whether it was sounds of a Pitbull club mix or Daft Punk jam- you get your inspiration somewhere….

“What artists are in your personal summer soundtrack?”