Monday, April 03, 2006

Issue 360 - Essential Experience

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.
I had a load of things 'stored up' to write about today, but I'm buggered if I can remember them now as I start to write!
Ho hum, I will just write about the week, and maybe it will come to me!

By the way, a quick Happy Birthday today to my Florida-dwelling brother Garry, http://www.garrybryan.com

My friend Alan decided to try curling with me last week.
I've mentioned Alan often, I can bounce any idea I have off him.
Remember him?
Tall?
Fairly far back in the queue when the good looks were being handed out?
Bald patch the size of a small family car?
Magic site? http://www.thebestonlinemagic.com

Anyway he came along, and while I was able to play 'normally' as an experienced player, Alan got lumbered in with a load of other beginners.
It didn't take long as I was playing, to hear a resounding thump, and I looked to see Alan's large frame take a speedy trip to the ice!
My playing partner told me she didn't want to laugh, but I told her to laugh all she wanted, as 'he wouldn't mind,' while I gleefully pointed and shouted just in case anyone else had missed it.
I've been going a few weeks now, and I'm finally beginning to get the stones to end up where I want them to go.
Well vaguely at least!
It's a shame that this week is the last session for 6 months, as my subconscious mind is starting to grasp the technique.
It's not very original to say that practice makes perfect, but it sure helps!

It was also Poppit's funeral last week.
It always seems strange to put the words 'lovely' and 'funeral' together, but that's how I would describe it.
The service was Humanist, and while the woman delivering it gave time for people of any faith to consider their faith, the service concentrated on the human spirit of the man, and what he had given us.
The place was packed, with many people having to stand outside!
There was blues music playing, it was a great way to send him off, and it struck me that of the huge amount of musicians that turned up, most of them had only come to know Poppit in the last 3/4 years.
These turned out to be the last years of his life, but it go to show it's *never* to late to take a new direction, it really isn't.

On the back of the order of service for the funeral, there was stuck a plectrum.
It was a touch to bring a smile to the face, and I was glad to be able to use mine yesterday at a jam.
I was playing bass, and while someone told me my playing had come on, I could still sense a problem, and this is it...
When I first played the drums again locally a few years ago, having not played for around 15 years, I was nervous.
I was nervous of making mistakes, and how I would cope when those mistakes came.
In time, I not only made less mistakes, but grew more confident in my ability to work round the mistakes.
This can only come with experience, there is absolutely no substitute for it, and anyone telling you otherwise is simply wrong.
My bass playing is still at that nervous stage.
As a performer, I have no problem in coping with cock-ups, but I still am not at the stage where my fingers instantly know where to go on the guitar.
Does this bother me?
No, because I know where I am on the learning curve, I know it is an unavoidable stage, and I know that only one thing will get me past that stage, and that's to keep going!

I've finally settled on my idea to mark my 40th this year.
As you know I've been hurling ideas around, and seem to have found something that presses my buttons.
I'll be launching it on 24th April, so havn't got long to get it ready.
I was looking at online payment processors, and found a new one called paydotcom.
They seem to offer what I need, but I have not heard anything about whether they are good or bad.
When I first started my online adventure, I spent a lot of time in marketing forums, learning, asking questions, helping others if I could.
I know they are a great resource, so I posted the question in a couple.
I got an email right away from Lynn Terry, who runs the successful SelfStartersWeeklyTips site, directing me to the threads on her forum.
Lynn is as helpful as can be, if you ever have an online marketing question, she's as good a starting point as any.
If you fancy a look at the thread, it's here:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=38218#38218
If you've not been there before, why not say hello, and tell Lynn that I sent you!

Someone I met on that very same forum many moons ago is Sandra Sims.
She runs a site dedicated to charity fundraising, and it really is a mine of information.
She sent me a very quick answer to a question I had for her, so go and look at her site.
This is a site put together by someone like me, who learnt the knowledge as they went along, and concentrates on a subject they know and love:
http://www.stepbystepfundraising.com

Ok, that's it for this week.
Considering I still havn't remembered what I wanted to write about, I've covered the point of gaining experience by simply carrying on, I've covered how you can get huge amounts of information by developing online friendships, and I've covered how, as long as you can laugh at yourself too, nothing exercises the funny muscles quite like seeing a friend fall over.

Have a good week,

'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
mailto:gordon@gordonbryan.com
Get my book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days’ here:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, you have a great blog here! You really are very talented and deserve an honest compliment, congratulations! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

I have a free testdrive online site/blog. It successfully covers free testdrive online related stuff.

Come and check it out when you get time, as I would be honored to help a hard-working person like you become successful in this business. Scott.