Bonne Chance @ DAHplaytime

No new "me" just MinkeeLALA from Seattle

Monkey:  So, what's this I hear about a new me?

DAH:  There's only one you, for me, you know.

Monkey:  You say that, then off you go to Seattle.

DAH:  CHance and I went to Seattle last week, right.

Monkey:  And where was I?

DAH:  Sitting on the little sofa in our upstairs bedroom at home.

Monkey:  And where was Chaussette de Singe?

DAH:  Sitting next to you. Listen, CHance thought about bringing you, but decided there wasn't going to be much for you to do on this trip.

Monkey:  So it was a monkey-less trip?

DAH:  Yeah. Sorry.

Monkey:  What about a new me?

DAH:  What about what?

Monkey:  You've replaced me, you traitor, you turncoat. You have a new monkey!

DAH:  Oh, you mean MinkeeLALA.

Monkey:  Minkie-la-la?

DAH:  No, MinkeeLALA. Imagine Molly Shannon doing an over-the-top imitation of Peter Sellers in that Pink Panther movie where he can't pronounce the word "monkey" intelligibly.

Monkey:  I don't know what you're talking about.

DAH:  Well, never mind.

Monkey:  Never mind your new little friend!?!? Ha!

DAH:  Jealousy doesn't become you.

Monkey:  You think you can just replace me! I won't go without a fight!

DAH:  I'm not replacing you. Just adding to the family.

Monkey:  You should talk to me! You could have asked me. How did you think I would feel? Did you even pause to think about me?

DAH:  What about Chaussette? I don't remember being consulted.

Monkey:  That's different. That was MY choice.

DAH:  That's a bit of a double standard. You get to make choices without discussion, but I'm denigrated for so doing.

Monkey:  Not at all, Mr. Fancy-talking-smarty-pants. I know what's right. I know what's fair. I know what's best. Nothing double about that.

DAH:  And what am I? Chopped liver?

Monkey:  We monkeys prefer a creamier pate.

DAH:  All about you, eh?

Monkey:  What choice do I have? I'm only me.

DAH:  True. True.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com

Bon Chance at DAHplaytime Good Luck Tip O'The Week: Recognize Your Mistakes

I heard something in passing on the radio this morning, while enjoying a pretty darn good breakfast buffet at Seattle's Inn at Harbor Steps. The radio announcer said something like: "It's best to try lots of things, make lots of mistakes, recognize those mistakes, and move on."

I like that. And the key is to recognize mistakes quickly. Or to recognize those efforts that aren't going to yield desired results (so, not really mistakes, but, rather, things that won't work). Choose the winners and invest in those.

This is so much easier than it sounds. I know that employers do this. That's why they try to have a short 30-90 day) introductory period for new employees, during which time either side can say, "Sorry, this isn't working" without significant consequence.

My personal problem is that I work in the wine business, in which adding a new wine takes a lot longer than adding a new employee. Instead of 90 days, it might be 900. Which gives us plenty of time to get attached to that wine, whether it proves to be a winner or not.

But it's so important to recognize the non-winners early, before investing too much in them. And it's so hard to maintain the passion and enthusiasm that success usually depends upon, while at the same time being ever-vigilant and prepared to cut your losses.

Still, it's essential to making your own good luck that you identify those "mistakes" early ... those things that aren't going to get you where you need to go. Watch for them, and be prepared to act. Invest in your winners, not the things you simply wish were winners. Your luck will be better.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com

Bonne Chance @ DAHplaytime.com Good Luck Tip O'The Week! SHRUG IT OFF!

A key trait of lucky people (those that both perceive themselves to be lucky, and are perceived to be lucky by others) is the ability to shrug off today's disasters. We know that today's disaster is temporary. Yes, we all encounter challenges, difficulties, and set-backs. To make your own luck, shrug off the bad stuff, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on.

Tom Perls of Boston University's New England Centenarian Study (reported in THE WEEK October 15, 2010) suggests, of those living to 100 years and older, "Our subjects are generally extroverted and gregarious and have a stable social network … furthermore, they're aren't neurotic … they don't bemoan life's difficulties; they are masters at the art of letting go."

Maybe deliberate optimism contributes to a long life as well as good luck. And maybe long-life and good-luck travel hand in hand.

I remind myself to "shrug it off" with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Make your spirits high, shrug off the old nonsense, get lucky and live long.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com

Monkey Me, not my monkey

Monkey:  Me, me, me, me, meeeeeeee!

DAH:  La, la, la, la, laaaaaaa!

Monkey:  What are you doing.

DAH:  Singing! You were singing.

Monkey:  I was not singing.

DAH:  What do you call, "Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi!"

Monkey:  I call that a homophone.

DAH:  What?

Monkey:  "Homophone." Words that are spelled differently but sound the same. I was saying "me" not "mi."

DAH:  Well, all I can say is written conversation is weird, because you're supposed to hear it in your head but you're looking at it, and you can't shut off seeing the words from hearing the words, and my response to your me-ing is therefore totally inexplicable.

Monkey:  Uh-huh.

DAH:  Why are you saying "me, me, me?"

Monkey:  I am, therefore I am.

DAH:  And that is -- what, exactly?

Monkey:  All that matters. And reason enough.

DAH:  I'm still not tracking.

Monkey:  I exist. That's the only thing I know for sure. So my existence is all that really matters, to me. And it is, ipso facto, reason enough for me to exist. I don't really need to know anything else.

DAH:  You exist, and that's the reason you exist?

Monkey:  That's all I need to know.

DAH:  You operate your so-called life on this basis?

Monkey:  I do.

DAH:  What if a monkey existed in my mind, and claimed self-awareness and existence?

Monkey:  Ooooh. That's one of those "If a tree falls in the woods and nobody's there to hear it does it make a sound" kind of questions. I can't answer that. And I don't need to answer that. Because I am.

DAH:  I think we're going to have to talk about this some more, maybe a series of conversations.

Monkey:  Sort of a philosophical serialization?

DAH:  Like Socrates read by Captain Crunch?

Monkey:  There you go, getting all homophonic again.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com and that's not my monkey.

Monkey Waiting

Monkey: Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

DAH: Are you bored?

Monkey: Monkey don't like waiting.

DAH: Most of us don't like waiting.

Monkey: But why do I have to wait? Why? WHY?

DAH: You don't have to. You can do something else.

Monkey: I can do something? I have control? Why did I not see this memo earlier?

DAH: There was no memo. This isn't news.

Monkey: Not NEWS? But I can do something! I don't have to wait! I have POWER! What can I do? What can I do?

DAH: Something else.

Monkey: Something else? That's sort of inadequate, instruction-wise, DAH.

DAH: You don't have to wait. You can do something else. Anything else, other than what you're waiting for.

Monkey: Stop right there. Let's see if I understand you correctly. May I ask a few clarifying questions?

DAH: Shoot.

Monkey: We're waiting because we want something to happen, yes?

DAH: That's right.

Monkey: And this thing we want to happen, the outcome we desire, is outside our control.

DAH: Outside our total control, correct.

Monkey: So we're waiting until other forces change the situation, hopefully in the direction of our desired outcome.

DAH: Yeah. Like if it's 2:00 AM and dark outside, and you really really really want the morning light to come because you want to go banana hunting, but that's illegal in the dark. The coming of dawn is outside your control, so you have to wait.

Monkey: Banana hunting? Whatever.

DAH: Just a little humor.

Monkey: Very little. You should stick with being the straight man in this team.

DAH: O.K.

Monkey: But you said I could do something.

DAH: You can. You can decide not to like banana hunting. You can turn on the lights and hunt for dust bunnies. You can do something else.

Monkey: I'm not so much into rabbit, thanks. So you're saying I have the kind of control that allows me to do something, to stop waiting, but I probably have to give up what I wanted, the thing that's making me wait?

DAH: Spot on, my dear Monkey.

Monkey: I'm not your deer monkey, I'm just a regular ol' monkey. And I'm disappointed in this control you're offering me. I still want what I'm waiting for, and I don't want to change what I'm wanting.

DAH: That's a lot of wanting in one sentence. And I'm afraid you're back to tick-tock, tick-tock.

Monkey: (long sigh)

DAH: Yup.

Monkey: O.K. I'll wait. But I won't like it.

DAH: Me neither.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com