Homework 10

I am the musician of the group. As a group we have already decided to use the background music from batman so my main goal is to search for sound effects and possibly search for music for any particular scenes such as for the intro story and any other cut scenes we may have.

I write a lot of my own music but depending on whether or not I can find a way to record music from my keyboard and import it to my computer will depend on whether or not we can use that music or sound effects. Otherwise I will simply search online for sound effects or short music for cut scenes.

As far as sound effects go, I will be searching for sounds for:

• a door opening
• sword/knife slashes
• gunshots
• crying victims
• the main character walking
• enemy "zombie" noises (growling, snarling, etc.)
• fighting sounds (slashing, hitting, stabbing, etc.)

Think like a man of action

Simple enough right?

Well the idea is simple, the habit is a little tougher. But if you're willing to say "challenge accepted", you'll find yourself in a whole new world of opportunity, adventure, and action.

30 Day Action Challenge:

From this very moment and through the next 30 days, you are charmed. Charmed with the power of spirit. Find a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, a little charm to keep in your pocket, anything at all to keep with you for the next 30 days to remind yourself of what you are trying to accomplish.

And from now until then, you must simply follow these two rules just once per day:

1. A choice of what to do with your free time must be of something out of your comfort zone

2. Everything that can be done to make yourself feel more relaxed and well rested must be done

It's the work hard play hard lifestyle (or rather: rest hard). Too many people get stuck in the same old routine because they 1. are too afraid to try something new OR 2. don't have the time or energy to try that new thing today.

But as they say, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten.

So a few tips to incorporate this habit into your life:

Rule 1:

-Even if you're tired (actually especially if you're tired), always choose the more active choice. Choose the gym over the computer, taking a drive over watching a movie, studying in the library instead of at home, going to pick up a pizza instead of having it delivered. Simply getting out and moving brings you closer to something new and exciting, even with simple steps like this.

-If you really want to spend your time doing a regular activity, simply change the location such as bikeriding a trail instead of working out at the gym. Or change the style such as reading an ancient Greek historical fiction novel instead of your usual magazine.

-Block sites like facebook or youtube that are distracting. Don't even bother just trying to resist the urge to get on them when online, that's just a waste of energy and causes your mind to obsess more. Just block them.

Rule 2:

-Sleep with socks and, if you like, mittens. Keeping your hands and feet warm help you to sleep deeper and are perfect if you know you'll be getting less sleep.

-Keep naps less than an hour or else you'll go into a deep sleep. Although you may not want to wake up, just tell yourself you are just going to get up and walk around the house one time before sitting back down. Most likely that'll be enough to wake you up to where you don't want to go back to sleep.

-Keep your bed area clean, uncluttered, and smelling good. You want your room to feel like a safe haven from the stress of the rest of the world. Mental stress can build up from items scattered all over.

-When you're stressed, you don't exhale as much as you inhale. Focus on keeping your breath even and steady when it goes in and when it is let out.

-It's never bad to set aside time for your guilty pleasures. When stressed, I often take long drives with my favorite CDs, get wrapped up in an adventurous video game (you're never too old for games!), or go out for dessert with my best friends. If I didn't set aside some time for these things, I wouldn't have the energy to deal with anything else.

-Try this whole month NOT to multitask. Multitasking often leads to poor performance and lengthened time on the multiple activities you are doing. Watching TV while doing work that requires focus may make the work seem more enjoyable, but now it's going to take twice as long and you can only pay half attention to the show and half attention to your work, so really, you're only burdening your TV time. Plus, it feels so much better to watch TV when you give yourself permission to focus all of your attention only on the show.

Small Talk

I could list a million tips on how to make light conversation, but memorizing tips isn't actually going to help you unless you practice each one while practicing talking to someone. So here is an exercise that not only gives you plenty of practice to keep small talk going, but also shows real progress in your ability to keep a conversation smooth with no awkward silences.

1. Find an object in your room. The more ordinary the better. (Example: lamp, blanket, chair, fan, etc.)

2. Watch the clock or set a timer for 5 minutes. You now have 5 minutes to ramble on and on about that object from everything to where you got it from, to what it reminds you of, to its color, to what you use it for.

3. That's it! Put a small box on your calender in each of the next 7 days and as you finish the exercise each day, put a checkmark in each box. Keep practicing for the next 30 days if you want to show even more progress.

Example: "That's a balloon. It's green, which used to be my favorite color. It's gotten a bit deflated, my friends and I blew up a bunch of balloons a week ago just for fun, and now the air is running out. I'm surprised it has lasted as long as it did. Balloons can be so fun to pop. But so loud at the same time. And so difficult to tie! Even with small fingers, I still have a hard time tying balloons. You can see the reflection of the lamp in the balloon. Balloons are so fun to play games with. They're like sports in slow motion. Volleyball is so fun to play with a balloon..." Blah blah you get the idea.

While somewhat annoying and not at all how a real conversation should sound, this exercise gives you the skill of keeping even the simplest of a conversation going. If you can talk for 5 minutes about a thumbtack, you can easily talk for 15 about the weather. And don't worry, you won't sound like an irritating record of pointless info, this exercise only implants in you the ability to come up with something to say to avoid awkward silences, being rude, being stereotyped as "shy", etc.

And of course a few tips:

-Try not to begin too many sentences with "I" in practice. People like to talk about themselves, but few like to listen to an endless monologue about someone else.

-Keep the rambling about your object lighthearted. No one likes to leave a conversation feeling upset. Don't complain about your object or talk about it's downside. Talk about it's good qualities and why you like it.

-Speak slowly and clearly in practice. If you mix your words up a lot, this exercise will help that if you talk a little bit slower until you get the hang of coming up with conversation topics in a split second.

Happy Dream Day

In the theme of dreams...Happy Dream Day!

You are in a dream. Whatever you do will be safe. Whatever you say, no one will find insulting. Whatever you eat will not make you fat. Whatever you begin will not fail.

Naturally, be smart or your dream could become a nightmare. Tomorrow you will not be invincible, but your limitations are gone. Live a little differently. Step a little further.

Whenever you read this, you have until tomorrow morning when you first wake up to prepare. Now is your chance to do what you have always wanted, to tell someone something you've always wanted to say, and to treat yourself to whatever you desire.

Need some help? Here are a few guidelines you can choose to follow if you wish.

Treat yourself to something: indulge in chocolate cake-calories don't matter!, sign up for a massage, there's all the time in the world!, splurge on something you've been wanting-money has no worth in dreams

Start something new: your hobby of knitting hats has now become a successful business ever since you made your first sale, windsurfing lessons are now attainable since you scheduled out a time and made some phone calls, the backyard is now clean with a trampoline since you took the initiative to get some friends and clean it up

Get something off your chest/Confront a fear: tell someone something you've always wanted to-it's a dream-now's the time to tell them. But be smart of course. Now isn't the time to go off on a rant about what you can't stand. Now is the time to maturely explain how their actions make you feel.

Have an adventure: do something active! When have you ever had a dream that you were sitting on the computer having a great time? Go for a bikeride around town, drive out to a far away city with your friends, take a walk all over the city and make conversation with people along the way, take a risk!

Charm up the little moments: wake up fresh and ready to go, drink a bit of caffeine, wear some colorful hair extensions, stick a smiley face sticky note on a stranger's car. Enjoy the little things.

As stated before, be smart. Don't do something dangerous. Think of the consequences. Just don't overthink something you've always wanted to do. Just plan out some free time, go with the flow, and let life handle the rest. :)

Dream Journal

When I was in middle school, my best friend and I came across the discovery of lucid dreaming. We were so fascinated with the idea that you could control your dreams: flying through any magical world, conjuring up any element with your fingertips, meeting any person real or imaginary that you wished.

After several sleepovers staying up till midnight (that was pretty late for us 13 year olds) researching about lucid dreaming, we started our own dream journals. The journals were for us to record everything we could remember that happened in our dreams. And just as every internet article stated: our ability to recall more and more about our dreams increased every morning.

After several psychology classes and a remaining interest in dreams, I have learned throughout the years that recording dreams can have more benefits than you may realize. Though our 13 year old intentions were to lucid dream, meaning to control our dreams, dream recording can reveal a lot about yourself.

I'm not going to go into how to lucid dream, that would take up far too many pages, but I will point out that your dreams will become more realistic and intense. Dreams to me still hold a mystical aura about them that can inspire the following days. Nightmares may scare you, but continual people or things that show up in your dreams can reveal more about you too.

So next time you're at the store, add a spiral notebook to your list. Each morning, give yourself a minute to lay in your bed, slowly recalling everything you can remember, then begin to write. Keep it next to where you sleep. If you wake up in the middle of the night, jot down a quick reminder of the dream so you don't forget it the next morning. I heard some statistic that you forget 90% of your dreams within five minutes after you wake up. Whether that's entirely accurate or not, don't wait too long to record after you wake up.

And don't just write. Draw. Sketch out the people, the places, the objects. Use colored pencils to enhance what you were feeling. If you slept in a different place or for less or more hours than usual, jot that down too. Notice patterns and reoccuring themes.

My best friend's journal was the coolest thing an 8th grader could have. Hers was a spiral notebook with black lined paper inside that she wrote on with white and gold gel pens (remember how cool those were?). She doodled all over the tops and bottoms of pages, in between each dream and down the empty columns.

I noticed that many of my dreams took place in big open fields of grass or wide open bodies of water. These are both calming to me, and I noticed that I tend to be feeling good about my life when these dreams occur.

When I have nightmares, I often dream about world wars or riding insane roller coasters. Both of these make me feel like I am out of control and usually come into my dreams when my life feels like I need to make adjustments.

So get your dream journal today and start recording tomorrow morning. You never know what you might discover ;)

The 20 Year Cycle

Your age.....................................Your new age

• 17........................................17


• 25........................................5


• 39.......................................19
  
• 44.......................................4


• 62.......................................2


• 74.......................................14
  
  

See a pattern? You have been given something. A time ball. And it refreshes itself every 20 years. Now if you are 19 or under, you stay the age you are. But at 20, something special happens. You start over. You have just been born. And what did you do when you were just born? You let others take care of you. You cried until you got what you wanted. You didn't know how to think of the future so you lived in the present. No worries, no cares.

If you are 35, can you guess how old you'd be? That's right. 15. And what did you do when you were 15? You giggled over the opposite sex. You worked hard to make yourself look good. You did stupid things with friends, and you spent a lot of time playing games and getting lost in daydreams.

And then the time ball reaches age 40 and then what happens? That's right: it starts over again! Back to your ambitious, naive, spirited self.

So take your gift. The time ball works right away: the moment you read this text. Naturally, if you are 21, the time ball doesn't want you to cry until your mom brings you food. But think about it. You didn't worry about anything and you let others help you. So take a load off and rope up with some friends. Life doesn't have to be done alone.

What did you do at age 8? 12? 16? 19? Or rather, what did you WISH you did at age 8? 12? 16? 19? Now is your chance. You are no longer a middle aged lady in a mid life crisis and you are no longer a failure of a man who chose the wrong major and wrong job years ago. Today is your chance to change that. You are now naive and ambitious, so shoot for the stars :)

Happy 2010!

Personal goals are made constantly throughout the year, but a lot of times, we end up making too many goals for ourselves that we forget to focus on just one. We become too general or too specific and too overwhelmed that if we haven't forgotten the goal, we give up.

But New Years is a chance to pick just one thing to give yourself an entire year to practice or to do. That's why every New Years, I make a personal goal to change or work on a personality or lifestyle goal, such as becoming more social or surrounding yourself with people who care and encourage you.

Although these types of general goals may not seem as tangible and easy to determine if you've completed as if you had made a goal to visit a certain country or take a new class, learning new habits and improving your lifestyle is not done overnight. Giving yourself a full year to focus on the way you act and notice your usual habits will prove to be very beneficial and you'll notice a change in yourself by the end of December.

So take a few days to think about what could really be improved about you. And as always: write it down. I have a notebook that I keep all of my New Years Resolutions in. You don't have to record your progress unless you want to (which will help even more), but add in at least a general plan for how you're going to achieve your resolution.

For example, my New Years Resolution is to be true to my interests and put my talents to use. To focus on one thing at a time and not let laziness or my computer addiction get in the way. I love writing, playing music, and the outdoors, but often find myself bored at home with tons of unfinished piano songs, unfinished stories, and anywhere but exploring the outdoors. So to achieve my resolution, I have already made a corkboard to tack up music notes that I write as well as songs to learn. I plan to pick one story at a time to focus on and finish writing and then perhaps submit in a contest or to a publisher. I plan to let my friends see more of the real me so that maybe they'll even be interested and want to help! And I plan to make specific events to go camping or play sports and maybe even join the university Rock Climbing club.

Even if your New Years Resolution is very general like mine, it will be in the back of your mind throughout the year, making you subconsciously fulfill it. You don't even have to write it somewhere where you'll see it everyday because you'll probably get sick of it by the end of the year. Don't stress about your goal, just let it come naturally to you. Take it easy and good luck! May 2010 be a great year for you!