Anyone Have A Question About This Car?

Yeah, all I can say…

Anyone have a question about this car?

I am pretty sure this car is owned by Matthew Lesko, “The Question Mark Guy.”

Lesko was in a number of commercials and infomercials about asking him how to get free information and grant money from the government. 

He dresses and drives in question marks, and I’ve seen him a number of times around town. Frankly, it’s sort of hard to miss this guy!

His self promotion sort of makes you wonder, if you had to choose just one symbol to wear everywhere to represent you to the world–it could be a punctuation mark or anything else–what would that look like?  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Don’t Worry–Be Happy!

Happy Friday everyone!

Yesterday, someone gave me a couple of these bright yellow smileys–one on the back of each of my hands. 

I was going around waving these happy faces all day.  

Of course, sitting in meetings was a little weird with these on, but then again, maybe that is part of setting a colorful and happy tone. 

It’s funny how a little smile sticker can make the whole world seem right again. 

Maybe we can learn to live life, love life, and make the most of every single day. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

That Look On Their Face

So I love that look on people’s face when I say something that just startles them or takes them back a little. 

The other day when I got a haircut, the barber lady was talking to me (BTW, she’s a very nice person).

At one point, she says something about my hair being a little different on each side. 

So I blurt out something like:

“Well, that’s because my brains are pushing it out!”

I got the funniest look from her…yes, it was priceless.

First, she’s like right, of course, your brains are pushing out your hair!

Then, she looks at me, and I start smirking, and she gives me the big eyes and raised eyebrows, like a combination of that’s funny and now don’t be such a wise guy. 

Then, we both started laughing. 

I love that. 

I love doing that with people. 

Being alive. 

Getting a reaction. 

Making them wonder for a second. 

Getting them to smile and laugh. 

Maybe my brains are pushing my hair out!  😉

(Source Art: Sean M., 8th Grade Montgomery County and Photo by Andy Blumenthal)

An Introverted Extrovert

I thought this was an interesting phrase someone used the other day to describe their personality.

They called themselves an “Introverted Extrovert.”

I asked what they meant, and they explained as follows:

“I’m Introverted until I get to know someone then I am extroverted with them.”

This actually made a lot of sense to me.

We may be reticent at the beginning when meeting new people, but once we feel comfortable with others and start to trust them, then we naturally open up to them.

The truth is most people aren’t extroverted (social) or introverted (shy). 

Instead, people are on a continuum, which is generally a bell-shaped curve.  

In other words, most people are somewhere in the middle—either introverted extroverts or extroverted introverts. 

Well, what’s an extroverted introvert?

It’s someone who tends to be more comfortable and trusting and social with people, but they also need time alone to recharge, and perhaps they even get shy sometimes. 

Most people don’t exist on the extremes–that’s why they are called extremes!

So don’t be so quick to judge yourself as an introspective introvert or an outgoing extrovert or anything else for that matter. 

We are “this” AND “that”–sometimes maybe a little more this or that, but that’s all part of us and it’s okay to be us! 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

We’re A Bunch of Chemicals+

So it’s pretty well known that we are a combination of nature and nurture. 

Nature is our genetics and our hormones–it’s sort of the innate material that make up who we are. 

Nurture, of course, is all those external influencers, like parents, friends, teachers, religious figures, experiences, etc.–that shape us. 

In a way, it’s hard to think of ourselves as a product of nature and nature, because that sort of removes our conscious free choice in the whole matter of who we are and what we do. 

For example, if someone is a raging lunatic, sociopath, serial killer, because they have a brain or hormonal defect and grew up in a broken and abusive home(s), then the question is, well how can you really or fully blame them for their actions–is it really their actions? 

Don’t we have to ask ourselves how much control does a person have over themselves if they are physically and environmentally predisposed to be a certain way–even a very socially unacceptable and hurtful way?

This is where the courts and justice system come into play in looking at things such as whether the person is even competent to stand trial (e.g. the insanity defense) or are there mitigating circumstances to reduce the person’s culpability.

I would imagine it is quite difficult to exactly judge the level of self control that a person is or should be able to exert given their individual set of nature and nurture.  

And even if the person isn’t fully in control of themselves, does that help the victim or their families who are still left reeling from the harm and/or loss caused to them by the perpetrator?

Yet it is uncontested that people are driven by nature and nurture, and just in today’s Wall Street Journal, there was a discussion of the influence of a person’s hormone levels on their personality and behavior.

– Generally, more testosterone makes a person aggressive, while more estrogen makes them sensitive. 

– Similarly, dopamine makes people more energetic, while serotonin makes them more sociable. 

So there is nothing inherently “wrong” with you for being a certain way…that’s your makeup, but you are responsible for how you manage yourself given what you’ve got.   

In other words, where you have lemons, you’ve got to make lemonade!

In a nutshell, we are truly a combination of our genetic makeup, a bunch of chemicals, some environmental molding, and the exertion of our willpower, faith, and belief in what’s right and wrong. 

What happens when you mix these altogether, you get you and only you! 😉

(Source photo: here with attribution to skeeze)

Winning Attitude

I met this lady at the shopping outlets a few weeks ago. 

One of the awesome brand stores was running a sale with 70% off!

Check, check–not a gimmick–we race over with the crowd already forming lined up outside the doors. 

This salesperson was there to guide just a few people in at a time–I guess, so the mob wouldn’t rip the joint to sale shreds!

This lady (pictured) had something awesome about her.

Working part time in retail, I’d imagine that it’s not the job’s salary and benefits that is perking her up or “getting her out of bed in the morning.” 

Yet, she had the most unbelievably great attitude. 

She stopped to talk with us and tell us about her background studying and living in Israel during the year, and that she had a twin sister working in the same store for the Summer. 

Her energy and enthusiasm was inspirational and I would imagine could even be contagious to many who let themselves revel in it rather than resist it. 

As people waited on the line, this women offered them her umbrella to stay dry and cool. 

Waiting on line is not the most fun thing, even when it’s for a 70% off sale, but this lady kept everyone smiling and sort of stress free with frequent updates and walking and talking up/down the line.

Listen, we all know people who do the same or similar jobs: one is grouchy, sullen, and is for all intensive purposes miserable all or most of the time; the other is generally smiling and happy to be there learning and contributing, and have the job.

What a difference between these 2 types of people!

And what a enormous contrast between the positive and negative impacts they have on others and on the organization. 

It’s not just what you say and do, but how you go about doing it. 

Yes, we all have various challenges and problems in our lives, but how do you deal with it.

This doesn’t mean you should be a phony baloney head–you need to be genuine and real to be credible and a high-functioning human being–and of course, everyone has bad days. 

But an overall winning attitude goes a long way in life and towards success–for yourself and how you can influence others. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Mine and Yours

In synagogue today, we read from Pirkei Avot (“Ethics of Our Fathers”).

And I talked with my friends at lunch about one passage from this timeless wisdom.

There are 4 types of people:

1) “Average Joe”

What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours in yours. 

Someone described this as “his and her–separate–accounts.”

2) Stupid

What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours in mine. 

Ah, this is just someone whose plain old confused.

3) Wicked

What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.  

One guy described his ex-wife this way.

4) Righteous 

What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is yours.  

We all agreed this is the meaning of life–to be kind and giving to others.

What type of person are you? And what type of person do you want to be?  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Tznius Police

So there is an important concept in Judaism as well as other religions of modesty for the sexes. 

This means appropriately covering up in dress and acting modestly. 

In Hebrew, we call it Tznius!

As kids, I remember the kids used to sing, “Tznius, don’t show you knee-ius.”

It seems like these days, “everything goes,” where extreme sexuality in public and showing off is the rage. 

But as I remember the older generation saying, “Maybe some things are better left to the imagination.”

That doesn’t mean we need to be a bunch of prudes–inhibit or prohibit people from being who they are. 

Freedom means everyone is allowed and has a fundamental right to self-expression. 

But also, people that want to show more restraint and modesty can do that too. 

Perhaps, sometimes things in our society can get a little too superficial, where like and love is only skin deep. 

We forget the inner person and the soul in lieu of momentary pleasures of the flesh. 

I don’t think we need the tznius police to come out and tell us what to do, but rather that we need to be consider people inside and out for what and who they really are. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Three Types of Personality Verts

It’s funny, we were out with some other people for dinner.

At one point, the conversion turned to the personality types (in terms of sociability) at the table. 

One person said, “I’m an extrovert!” – they were so proud that they are expressive and outgoing. 

Another person goes, “I’m an introvert!” – they were equally proud that they are thoughtful and more reticent.

A third person then says, “I’m just antisocial!” – they were half laughing and have serious that they are not sociable and even a little antagonistic to others. 

That’s when I came up with the new antisocial term, called an antivert!

Looking up that word on google to see if it already existed, I see someone has used it to brand an antihistamine for preventing and treating motion sickness and vertigo — hence from vertigo, this medicine is an antivert.

If you think of antisocial people as a little of balance or off-kilter and eccentric, then the word antivert works both to treat vertigo as well as to describe people that are the antisocial personality type. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Nature of Charisma