Playing the Deeper Game

I'm in the first week of facilitating the Game of Games developmental workshop. My thinking seems to be changing. I realize that what I've been seeking -- here and elsewhere -- are mentees, not mere licensees. I wish nothing less than to father a lineage, to pass down in that way what I've learned. To walk this path I need courage, an unwavering commitment to move against the grain. I search within to find strength to move through uncharted territory: warrior's way. It is time to junk a lot of stuff, mostly tired, conventional poses. It is time to break out of the box I've put myself in. It is time to play the deeper game.

"Hey, we're a star!"

star
Originally uploaded by Angelojohn.

This morning I was interviewed about the Game of Games by Stephen Jacobs, Professor of Information Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology and host of a show called What the Tech. Been a while since I'd done any voice PR so I was a bit rusty. My five minutes of airwaves exposure kicked in the memory of previous days and tricks I used to get on radio or TV. It is kind of a lifestyle and, to work, needs to be part of a regular routine. What it involves is endlessly recycling clips, audio tapes, video tapes -- any PR about you. Polishing these off and sending targeted cover letter(s). Leveraging every media appearance or mention into other, better media appearances or mentions. Repeating this endlessly.

In the internet, niche-market age, there are more outlets than ever before. With attention spans contracting in response to ever-expanding streams of information (and advertising), it is difficult to be successful without knowing how to play this game. But the rules fortunately areen't that difficult to master. It's more about persistence and confidence than anything else.

Of course, I can hear you smirking now: "Hey, if you're so smart, why aren't you rich?!"

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New Tools and Services

The internet, it seems, breeds new tools each day.

Current favorites:

Onfolio: I find this “content management” tool – enabling one to easily collect references in the form of links or whole pages – indispensable (translation: something I actually paid for). It makes collecting and publishing material for e-zines easy.

21Publish: A new tool, introduced to me by Fernanda Iberra, that enables group or community blogging. We will use this as the glue that binds gamers playing The Game of Games.


Aweber: There is a bit of a learning curve here, but this for me is the best e-zine service out there. It lets one craft autoresponders, which will be a necessary and central part of my efforts to create solo-games for coaching clients.

"affirmation"

open door
Originally uploaded by Angelojohn.

here
stumble forward
another try

push
brittle
bones
one more
time
up
crooked
streets:

hard-hearted
new york

here
cold
wind
slaps
hard
across your
face

water
falls
down
purifies
night
winter
once again
rain

step around
old
ruins
failed art
memory


step around
be
nimble
hurry
pick up
your pace


behind you
litter

all the times
you screwed up
picked yourself up
and walked

each time
sudden
dawn
blank
canvas
upon which
to paint

things
fall
apart
shatter
come back
together

life finds
a way
to open
a door

*******

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Reflection on the intro Game of Games

Ran a free, Emilio De Lia-ess, intro Game of Games last night. Six people all told. Worked real well, although people bitched about it taking more time than they anticipated, lack of structure and a few other things. Despite all this, all got a lot our of it. E-mails continued to go back and forth after the thing was over. Even the biggest complainer (being constructive, actually) claimed, "I really got a lot out of it." Know we are on to something. However, Emilio' sense of humor is missed. I think I'm a pretty funny guy, but he has a lighter touch in these circumstances than I.

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"Affirmation"

Ok, here's a working draft of the 20th poem in the Thirtydays series. BK, my best critic, tells me the poems he enjoys most are the ones mined from real life, containing real life details. He doesn't much care for these, which he likely views as an exercise in craft. He may be right. Anyway, it is quite a challenge to craft a paired down, word a line poem like this. Similiar, I suppose to hiaku. The skill comes in eliminating, paring the thing down to its raw essence. The goal is to say just enough, not a word more. This one likely needs some pruning, but here it is anway:

“affirmation”

here

stumble forward

another try

push

brittle

bones

one more

time

up

crooked

streets:

hard-hearted

new york

here

cold

wind

slaps

hard

across your

face

water

falls

down

purifies

night

winter

once again

rain

step around

old

ruins

failed art

memory

step around

be

nimble

hurry

pick up

your pace

behind you

litter

all the times

you screwed up

picked yourself up

and walked

each time

sudden

dawn

blank

canvas

upon which

to paint

things

fall

apart

shatter

come back

together

life finds

a way

to open

a door

Poetry, Again

Well, I started writing for the 30 days series again. I am reluctant to public it, need to get on a bit of a roll again. Dazzled by the Dodge Poetry Festival. Found myself comparing myself to others (sometimes favorably), and was entralled with the notion of dusting off my indifferent reputation in this area. In the meantime, I ready for my reading on 10/30 and the first developmental workshop of The Game of Games. If only I could make a bit of money from all this creativity...

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