Posted in Faith
When tough times come, think about tough times in your past. In my experience, they have always passed. You might say that God’s track record is good with me and my life’s crises. God has always pulled me through to a better day. It isn’t always easy to tell myself that when I’m having a tough time. It can seem that the whole world is falling apart around me sometimes. I try not to lose hope in those times because of God’s track record.
You base chance percentages on what has occurred and if you are like me there are many occurrences of God’s saving grace throughout my life’s history. If you can’t find any, how about the fact that your are alive right now? Something to think about. God’s nature is exemplified through our life histories. When we call on Him we can be sure He will be true to his nature and get you through. For me and in my eyes, that is God’s track record.
Posted in Self Improvement
We all have dreams, some big some small, all important to us. People around you, be they your boss or co-worker, friend, or family member, have dreams and we all need encouragement. I just saw a hilarious movie called “Couples Retreat” in which a masseuse goes up to everyone squeezing there derriere and saying: “encouragement.” It is very funny and it “works” because people actually might even let someone grab their butt if it actually gave them some. All the fitness equipment in the world can’t build the encouragement muscle like the words of someone else.
There are times in our lives when we need encouragement toward our dreams. Be sensitive to the hopes and dreams of those around you and be ready and willing to encourage them to get there. The way you do it will depend on you and your “style.” In the past, I have tried to encourage people in my life through gift cards, a pat on the back, or even just a thumbs up from across the room. Encouragement comes in many forms. The most important ingredient is caring.
What’s in it for you? You might ask. Well, maybe nothing. Probably though you will feel good about helping someone to get what they want. We spend so much time in today’s society looking out for ourselves, it can only be good for us to think of someone else, for no reason, for a change.
Posted in Blogging A to Z
I’ve met all kinds of bloggers in my journey and they range from “I don’t care about stats” to “I’m doing stuff for hours a day to increase my stats.” Stats are important to me and I check them daily but they aren’t the only thing I blog for. At the end of the day (and if you blog like I do it’s usually a late one) it’s about the enjoyment you had blogging. Some people can have enjoyment in blogging without money or a large readership … for others. without that it seems a waste of time. I fall into the latter camp.
If you care about success, you will define it. I have defined mine as about $2-400/month and at least 200 unique visitors a day. If I am hitting those benchmarks, I feel successful blogging. I made these goals after years of tracking my stats and seeing what was “good” for me.
I check two things every time I log on:
- Google Analytics – This is the best free way to check how many visitors I have each day.
- Google Adsense – This tells me the money I make by clicks on my many pages.
I used to check a lot more but found I was taking time away from creating content. That should always be the top priority, in my opinion, of a successful blogger.
Posted in Blog Stats
I’m 7 days late in writing this monthly blog stat post. Perhaps it’s because I experienced so much change in my blogging that I had no space to think about it in my brain. In February I did something gargantuan like the Kraken in Clash of the Titans. While some people are giving away a Bluetooth headset to their 1,000th visitor etc, I am now blogging with far less ambition. My drive to produce quality content is still there, but I’ve toned it way down. This is most clearly shown in how I merged all three of my blogs into this one. Damien at the Speed of Life is now my one and only blog. I’ll probably have more to say about it later but for now I will tell you it is a pleasurable feeling with only one “house to keep in order.” Here are my stats the first month after merging:
Circulation: Backlinks may be weird this month. I applied a 301 redirect with a wildcard. That means that a post that was once h ttp://dynamitelessonplan.com/class will be redirected to damienriley.com/class and so on throughout the old blog being migrated. Inlinks for February: 5,211 (source Yahoo Site Explorer).
Analytics: Traffic of course surged. Redirects from the 2 old domains is causing this. Time will tell if I sustan numbers like these. Visitors in Feb: 6,180
Net: Currently my 2 income sources are Google Adsense and a company called PayU2Blog that I highly recommend you try writing for. They do have very strict guidelines though. Know that before you apply. In February I made: $160 Google Adsense and $110 from PayU2Blog. I also made $16.25 from TextLink Ads but they have dropped me from their service. They say they will re-evaluate my blog later to see if I qualify again. They were a pretty solid $20-50 a month when I had three blogs so I hope they’ll take me on again. Total NET for Feb: $286.75 I don’t know that March will be this high but I am still getting work from PayU2Blog and the other day I made over $5 on Adsense so things look hopeful. I am mostly glad I have less to maintain so I can spend more time with my wife and kids and less time managing three lightly visited blogs.
Posted in Damien Riley Tunes
Last night I played a 90 minute set at the Grind in Apple Valley, CA. It’s a wonderful place and I really enjoyed playing my music there. I used an SM58 mic through a Carvin portable PA. I had planned 45 minutes of songs I have memorized and then another 45 mins of songs I printed the music out for. As luck would have it, I realized just as I started, I’d left the music at home! Yipe! Needless to say … I improvised.
Most the night there were at the most 15 people in the place so it wasn’t a large crowd. This was probably due to (I was told by 2 people) the rain outside. Apparently people like to stay home when the showers begin. I wish more people knew about the Grind because it is a really hip coffee house that features live music. They have giant paintings of great jazz and rock musicians inside and the place has a real laid back, artistic feel to it. If you get a chance you should definitely check the place out.
It was a great time and I wand to thank the staff there as well as the people who walked past me as I played my tunes. Those who sat and listened for a while, especially the couple who requested REM, you made my night. You rock. Below is my “intended” set-list from last night. I did play most of them but the ones I just absolutely had no clue on the lyrics I skipped. I was fortunate enough to be given another night to play in April so I am looking forward to that. I already have a request to do REM’s “So Central Rain” from the Grind Facebook page. You can keep up with my upcoming shows at the Grind and elsewhere on Myspace: damienrileytunes BOOKMARK IT!
Set List:
Set 1 – 45 mins
Black Balloon
The One I Love
Remedy
These days
All I Want
People
Day Tripper
Talk to Me
Our lady of the well
Land of the Living
Keep on Rocking in the Free World
The Coward of the County
Wish You Were Here
Angelyne
No Kings
The Gambler
Set 2 (with music sheets) -45m
Rocket Man
Roll to Me
Driver 8
Viva la Vida
Tough Enough
One More day – Diamond Rio
Postmarked Birmingham
Better Days
The Frozen Man
Save it for Later
Blue
You’ve Got a Friend
Angels in Our Fields
Fields of Mustard
Follow the Spirit
Posted in Psychology
A good friend of mine I haven’t seen in years wrote something I really identified with on his Facebook:
There can be no other frame of mind, mood, or external circumstances better suited or more beneficial to our progress than our present circumstances, however hopeless or dismal they may seem.
I love the word progress. The city I teach in, Adelanto, is actually named after the Spanish word for that. This is ironic to some because the city is mostly the “beginnings” of neighborhoods and ideas for commerce. Still, it is the city of endless possibilities.
Meditating on a word as a “mantra” throughout the day is an excellent cognitive way to improve your psychology. There are so many to choose from, it can seem a daunting task to choose. But what better word can we meditate on other than “progress.” Through fire and rain and all storms of life, we can and do progress. It may take some time to regroup but we will all look back on out trials and see them for what they are: progress.
Thanks Brad!
Posted in Inspiration
I often measure my level of success by those around me. This is not always the best way to success itself. If a colleague of mine has high scores in a given area, I tend to compete to get my just as high. But scores aren’t always the most important target. In fact, I have learned that when I search my heart for the things and methods that matter for my success, the test scores just come automatically. Perhaps that is true with any measure of success in work per se.
One of the quotes on my quote page says: “If at first you don’t succedd, redefine success.” I don’t know who said it but it is a very true axiom. Many times we do the same thing over and over and get nowhere. Some of us are stubborn and refuse to try something new or risky out of fear that it won’t work. The truth is that we must define our own success and find a way there.
Another analogy is from my blogging life. I have had more trouble than you can shake a stick at with the menalto “gallery” software on my blog. In this latest migration/merger on my 4 blogs into one, I have lost all of my internal photos hosted on the gallery software. I have spent the last 3 days trying to get it to work at the new loaction to no avail. The temptation is to get down and dirty in the forums and find a solutions but hosestly, I don’t want to spend another moment on it. I am simply making a folder called “images” where I will host and organize my own pics for the blog and aim at success that way. Mostly I chose this path because I CAN DO IT. All too often, I try to look the part when I really don’t have the know how.
What is causing you grief about work today? I encourage you to look at it another way and find a different way to success. You will find, once there, that people will applaud … even if not at first. It will be seen.
Posted in Blog Safari
This is a collection of 6-12 excellent posts I ran across through the week. I hope you check them out they’re here because they impressed me in one way or another.
How to Quiet Your Mind from Think Simple Now gives you some great advice on how to find calm and clarity. These are my 2 most sought-after possessions.
Zamzar free onlinefile conversion is an amazing way to “un-pdf” docs. You can also convert all types of files from images to excel etc. Since so many teaching materials are licked in pdf, this is a great research for making your own templates from existing ones. The way it works is you enter starting file or url and then choose what format to convert it to. Then they email you the conversion. It’s 100% free but there is a 100MB limit.
The State of the Internet from JaypeeOnline. This is a copl visual of where the internet stands today. Hard to believe there was a time when all we had were encyclopedias and museums to “go places” like the internet.
Deep Breathing Exercises from Blogging Behavioral. I am a big fan of breathing correctly and taking time out of the day to rejuvenate my body with its benefits. This is an absolutely excellent article, I recommend it highly.
My gripe with Homework from Coffee Yogurtry is an excellent testimony to what many teachers believe and respect: homework can have little possitive effect on kids. Some homework is good, they say, but untaught busiwork can actually teach a kid to do things the wrong way. Since I’ve been writing about this for a while, I was really happy to read abother person who agrees with me.
Sexiest Song of All Time Poll from Pop Culture Dish. This one needs no introduction, it’s a great poll and please go vote. Malcolm always has great polls.
I’m always looking for exciting, innovative bloggers to feature in a blog safari. If you run across one or you yourself are one, please drop me a line at damien [at] damienriley [dot] com :)
My after-school guitar students always come in with two questions: “When can I take a guitar home” and “Can I have a pick.” To the first question I reply that they need to play 3 chords reasonable well before I will let them take a school guitar home. To the second I say: “Learn to play the guitar first, then get your own pick.” The fact is, a pick is only necessary and helpful when you actually know how to play something. Kids are surprised to find nowadays to see that the Guitar Heroes on tv stands have little to do with the rigors of learning the real guitar. There is a parallel to life here I think. Just as the kids are about the guitar picks, we want the finished product of life without going through the trenches of earning it. We get big ticket items like houses, cars, boats, etc. on credit. This allows us to instantly look like the life we imagines. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t count the true cost enough and we end up empty. 
