a little hope, laughter and love

It took me a while but I finally got it.  It’s been a little while since my last post and I’ve thought about posting something just about every day.  I know every blogger can relate.  You are on a roll, posting regularly and then all of a sudden you hit a wall.  It’s not a real wall.  It’s all in the mind.  But it sure feels real.  I listened to a podcast today from a fellow blogger and friend in which he spoke of letting go of the outcome.  And I finally got it.  I’ve been writing this blog and all the articles and posts about my Post-It Notes and got a little attached to getting good feedback and encouragement from others.  I loved it so much that every time I’d write a post I’d see people like it on FaceBook or send an email thanking me for what I wrote.  But those acknowledgements don’t come that often…and at some point I got a little sad about it.  I knew people were reading the blog.  But nobody was commenting or saying what difference it was making for them.  So I got all in my head and stopped writing.  The outcome of praise and acknowledgement became something I got attached to.  I needed it…to confirm that I was doing the right thing…to confirm that I was on the right path…that the writing I was doing is making a difference.  I got so attached to it that I forgot why I started this whole project to begin with!

So today I let go of being attached to that outcome.  I’m not saying I don’t love the acknowledgement.  I don’t think I’m ever going to not love that.  But I don’t have to write for it.  I can make a difference…which is all I really want to do in writing this blog.  I don’t lead seminars anymore.  I’m not really coaching people individually at the moment.  This is my outlet for making a difference before I explode from keeping it all in.  So I want to thank my friend Dean for saying what you said in your podcast today.  I can relate.  And so I’m free to write and be for my readers and not all stuck up on myself.  Thank you for reading everyone.  I sure love you.

This is an AMAZING video done by PBS in tribute to the legendary Julia Childs.
Favorite line…

Bring on the roasted potatoes, bring on the roseeeee

This is what good cooking is all about. This is the way to live.

In celebration of her 100th birthday, Julia Child Remixed by John D. Boswell, aka melodysheep, for PBS Digital Studios

So I wanted to update my blog with a new look and feel.  I started this process about a week ago and found a couple of really cool themes for a great price.  I thought…this should be fun!  Well…I’ve had to have a completely immersive experience to learn how to update the formatting and get downtownharold.com back up and running very quickly.  I’m a pretty smart guy.  But I’ve never felt dumber in my whole life than I have in the past couple of days.  I was so annoyed and had to ask for help from the tech people at the different websites I needed.  I hated asking for help because I think secretly they are judging me and wondering why I didn’t leave this to the professionals.  Sitting at my kitchen island with my website not working and chatting in a little window to get it back up can be quite daunting.  I know this didn’t have to be my experience.  I really could have relied on countless other people to do it for me and spend the money to get it done.  But this was my project and I needed to teach myself how to do it.

So I’m back up.  I’m not done by any means…but it’s a good start.  I now need to create a logo for my blog.  I also need to create a few other things but it’ll all work out.  I did lose a couple of posts I did earlier today…screw it.  I’ll post a few things to make up for it.  The whole reason I started this was to have a place to share, to inspire, to motivate, to discuss and to express myself.  And looking back over the last couple of days of learning and panicking I learned that it doesn’t have to be perfect but I am certainly glad the hard part is over.  So here’s the next iteration of downtownharold.com.  Thanks for everyone who reads and to those who subscribe and are even slightly interested in what I care about.  It’s great to be connected to you.  And it’s good to be loved by you.  Harold

Keeping up with the latest episode of Family Guy, MasterChef and New Girl on Hulu Plus just got a little easier and I am so delighted!  Hulu Plus arrives on Apple TV today.

To start watching Hulu Plus shows instantly, find “Hulu Plus” on the Apple TV home screen. If you are a Hulu Plus subscriber, simply enter your username and password to start streaming last night’s episode of Modern Family from the biggest screen in the house.

If you do not have a Hulu Plus account, you can easily sign-up two ways:

1. Go to www.huluplus.com/appletv and register online.  Launch Hulu Plus on your Apple TV, log in with your new credentials and start streaming.

2.  Create a Hulu Plus account directly through Apple TV by using your existing iTunes account and following the sign up instructions on the screen.  If you sign up for Hulu Plus through Apple TV, you will be emailed instructions on how to complete your registration so you can use Hulu Plus on all other supported devices.  After your free 1-week trial ends, your iTunes Account will be charged $7.99 per month as a recurring transaction.

Learn more about setting up Hulu Plus on your Apple TV by watching their Getting Started video.

For those of you who are new to the service, Hulu Plus is the only online premium video subscription that streams current and classic TV programming on demand from hundreds of content partners, including top broadcast networks ABC, NBC, FOX, The CW and Univision. Hulu Plus subscribers can watch on any enabled devices for $7.99/month with limited advertising. For many popular shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers every episode of the current season. Hulu Plus subscribers also have access to back seasons and full runs of some of TV’s greatest shows, including many that were not available online before, in HD whenever possible.

Happy watching!  I know I’m already exploring all the cool new stuff with my free week!  I may just stay a while!

Source: Hulu.com

While looking for some fun ideas to do for holiday parties this year, my catering team and I came up with a very simple idea to do with strawberries, icing and brownies.  We made little Santa Hats with the ingredients and presented them a few different ways to show them off.  As normal, I took all the shots with my iPhone.  If you need the recipe for any of the items, let me know.  I’m happy to share!

Immediately after Chic-fil-A decided to remove the Jim Henson Muppet promotion, the moved up The Berenstain Bears promotion of giving out free books with purchase.  The Berenstain family has posted on their website a distancing of the promotion and saying they have no say in this promotion.  It was decided to move forward with it well before this whole anti-gay thing started.

The book being distributed is heavy on the Golden Rule…which seems a little ironic given the situation.  I’ve always loved bears…now I love them even more!

Brother Bear says…Bullies can point out what about you is wrong, but a good friend can show you what about you is strong.

I think I’m beginning to get a little better understanding of what is happening on the planet at this time.  All of this talk of gay rights, Christianity and chicken got me so upset over the last week that I seriously began to doubt that we, as a species, would ever really find a way out of this.  It felt hopeless.  I have never felt the level of despair and hopelessness I’ve felt recently.  As bad as it has ever gotten for me and my life, and believe me I’ve had some rotten times mixed into the great stuff, I’ve never ever lost hope that it could get better.  Until I saw how people treated each other this past week.  The things that were said were hurtful on both sides.  All of a sudden you either believed in Jesus Christ and his selected bible passages…or you were a total heathen and deserved death, hatred, or at the very least, to be vilified.

I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life for the most part.  I didn’t have the same experience of coming out as a lot of teenagers and others have had.  My parents accepted me the minute I told them I was gay.  That was at 11 years old.  At 9 years old I remember telling my dad that I was different than the other boys.  I didn’t know why I was different…I just remember liking my boy friends and loved being with them.  My dad and I sat on the floor in my parent’s bedroom and talked about it.  He assured me that there was not a thing wrong with my feelings nor about my feeling different.  He told me it was normal and that it may change, but not to worry about it…just be myself.  Then we listened to music together…Roger Whittaker to be exact.  The song I remember from that time is New World in The Morning.  The lyrics went like this:

Everybody talks about a new world in the morning.

A new world in the morning so they say.

I, myself don’t talk about a new world in the morning.

A new world in the morning, that’s today.

And I can feel a new tomorrow comin’ on.

And I don’t know why I have to make a song.

Everybody talks a bout a new world in the morning.

New world in the morning takes so long.

I’m very appreciative of my parent’s love and acceptance of me.  Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t experience that kind of love like I did.  Whenever I did experience being called a fag or other hateful words intended to hurt me, I paid no attention.  I embraced it for the most part.  If you were going to call me fag or gay, then I’d be the best fag or gay you’d ever met.  It was the ultimate in revenge really.  In Junior High and High School I went so far as to wear makeup to school and dress in crazy clothes.  Luckily it was the 80’s so you could pretty much get away with crazy stuff like that and everybody thought it was cool….mostly.

So here we are in 2012 and arguments are being started, wires are being crossed and a few people are stirring the pot for whatever reason.  It reminded me when I read Plato’s Republic.  The metaphor of the cave in particular, I believe, applies to this situation.  There are a group of people in a cave.  (cave could be interpreted to be life here).  The people inside the cave can only look upon the shadows cast upon the wall of the cave before them. Light comes to them from a great fire burning behind them, higher up, and at a distance. Located between this fire and the people of the cave is a road at a higher level along this road a low wall has been built. Here other people have puppets, which they use to cast the shadows upon the cave wall.

These shadows are given names by the people in the cave, and they consider them to be real things. However anyone outside of the cave in the bright sunlight would no longer see the shadows (or be under the illusion manifested by the puppet show). The people inside the cave cannot stand the bright light of the sun outside, and so always avert their eyes back to the shadow wall.

These are the people who seem to be asleep to the spiritual world, dreaming a dream of worldly consciousness, and afraid of waking up. The process of ‘waking up’ or turning away from the obsession with ego, and the mundane awareness, away from the shadows and back toward the light, is Metanoia – the transformation of the mind from that which is worldly to that which is the light of true consciousness.

People, at any time, can choose to not be enamored by the shadows in the cave.  The shadows have names…freedom of religion, the right of a business to operate however they want, the right to be married, the fear of God’s wrath when we say we know better than Him.  All of this is just a temporary distraction from what is really going on here…there is a brighter place that we have feared to go to together.  There are puppets used as distractions so we stay in the cave.  There is fear that you will wake up and stop believing all this.  But it’s really hard to save face and change your mind.  There is an art to changing your mind.  Christian’s can change their mind and stand on higher principals of love and acceptance.  But if they did they would have to accept love in all it’s forms.  My gay brothers and sisters would have to have a lot of compassion and understanding while we all grew together and come out of this cave.  And we’d have to remember that there are going to be those who are SO committed that we stay where we are that they will use any means necessary to keep us there…including dividing us, killing us and separating us inside our communities.  If there is a devil…surely this is it.

So what now?  We are on the cusp of something big…I can feel it.  All the distractions and smokescreens that will be thrown our way cannot take us off course from our journey together.  But they will try.  Chic Fil A is a distraction/shadow.  Sarah Palin eating at their place and flaunting it is a distraction/shadow.  Hate groups aren’t anything new…but they are also a distraction.  The KKK was a distraction.  It’s ALL a distraction.  It’s nothing but shadows.  So let’s get our head back in the game here and look for a way to bring this together.  There is a new world coming…and a new world in the morning, that’s today.

Be kind to each other.  For everyone (all of us) is fighting a hard battle.

Thank you dad (and mom) for the inspiration for this.  You did a great job with me and I love you for it.

Harold

There’s a video out there that’s been really pointing to a possible inspiration for Heath Ledger’s character performance of The Joker in The Dark Knight.  It is uncanny to watch Tom Waites interview…and while I originally went to see what all the fuss was about, I stayed to watch the whole interview because it is fantastic.  Take a look at the video…what do you think?  I think it’s pretty amazingly similar.  It really made me miss Heath Ledger and wonder what his role would have been in The Dark Knight Rises…given some of the older characters who showed up…Rest In Peace Heath.

Special thanks to towleroad.com for reminding me how great he was…

Oh how I love Alanis. Her lyrics are so amazing. Here she sings of moving into being a guardian not only for her new child…but for herself. So amazingly put in her song that I wanted to share it. She’s taking care of her child…but she’s taking care of herself so she can do that. I love that! Her new disc is coming out soon…

This little boy wrote a speech on acceptance and about people loving whomever they want.  He sounds so amazing and loving.  His speech was originally banned from his doing it in school so they brought him to New York City Council to give it.  It’s really amazing and beautiful and so well spoken.  I hope more kids grow up like him!  Great job!!

You can watch the video by clicking here.