Welcome to the online home of me, some guy given the name John Cleveland Payne. In the grand scheme of life, I am just another guy with another blog. But to myself, and hopefully to all of you who actually read this, I am something a little more special. From a young age, I fell in love of the idea of ‘the message’ and medium in which you try to transmit.
Basically, everyone has a message to give to the world. Some are basic, some complex, some have the power to up lift and some are just out there to bring as many people down as possible. But everyone has a message, and most people have problems identifying their message. And the ones who get that far can seem to figure out how to get the world to listen.
Well, I have a message, and this is where I will get a chance to share it. Hopefully, you’ll get plenty of things to keep you motivated or inspired, provide knowledge and comfort, and just have a little fun. Apologies for the state of flux and state of seemingly confusing messages that you’ll get here for a while, as I am doing a lot of personal soul searching, and scrubbing of old ideas to take the best of the past to build a new beginning.
In 2007, I changed the name of blog from “The Mis-Adventures Of The Jazzy Cool One” to “Life In Fast Forward.” I began to tear down old blogs and newsletters and try to find places for them here. My goal is to take the focus off of me the person, and show the world the life I live and share with every human on the planet. I aspire to life at a very high standard, and instead of dealing with people who rather slow us down, I want to find ways to help people pick up there own pace. As you get to see an insight to the further adventures I hope to lead, hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride, and want to come along.
Other things
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Other things
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A Little Something For Anne Pressly
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Anne Pressly was 26 years old. She worked in TV news in a small/mid-sized market which allowed her to rise to a fairly coveted position, full time morning news anchor, at a young age. She also happened to be great at her job, which is always a big help.
I use the past tense because Anne Pressly passed away last night. The world might have only known her in the moment for the very brief and uncredited role she picked up in the movie “W.” Anne was in Shreveport, LA covering the making of the movie, and director Oliver Stone picked her out to play a small snippet of conservative pundit Anne Coulter. Pressly proved that even in 2008, you can be discovered sitting at a soda shoppe.
Unfortunately, the world knows her as the Little Rock TV reporter who was attacked and beaten in her home, barely six days ago as I am writing this. Working in a radio news room, we were all stunned as my reporter co-worker and former co-worker's of Anne's read the police report that was fax over to us describing crime scene, and the first mention on television we saw was about 15 minutes later as Tony Harris on CNN gave about a 8 second breaking news line that sounded random and had no linking information, other than her station was a CNN affiliate.
Six days later, Anne is gone. Today, seven days later, there will be a lot of sadness with more to come. It's Sunday, so there will probably be large attendance at churches here in Little Rock, and probably the country, of people praying for Anne's family. The massive world-wide coverage of this story and the explosion of attendees to candlelight vigils and activity on online forums boggles my mind personally, but to those who knew Anne, it is no surprise. It may sound cliché, but Anne Pressly was truly one of those 'sweet girls.'
In life, there is a lesson to be learned in everything, and this is a prime example. You time on this planet is not guaranteed, and you will have no advanced knowledge of when it will ultimately be up. Get out in the world and make an impact, and do it now. Then keep doing it as much as you possibly can. Some will be able to 'give' more gifts than others, some will have larger gifts, some will just be able to show there light just by there presence.
Anne Pressly's parents have announced that they will be donating their daughter's organs. Knowing a few people who received life saving organ donations, I can truly say that Anne will definitely live on in the hearts and minds of those who will receive those precious gifts. More importantly, even after have such a random tragedy befall her, Anne Pressly still gets to have a positive impact into someone's lives.
Anne Pressly is gone to soon. There is no telling what kind of impact she could have had as a reporter or a person if she had lived another 50-years...or just one more day. Don't let a quick moment of inspiration pass you. If you are moved to act on anything at anytime, then act. If it’s not a simple as stepping up to the plate, then get started on a plan of action. Just do something.
My return to actual blogging today falls on Blog Action Day 2008, with today's topic being poverty. And despite the fact we are all looking at the corner ticker of our tv's and are wondering about our 401k's, most of us, especially if we are sitting at our jobs reading blogs on company time, don't know and will never experience actual poverty.
I went to the US Census Bureau to check out the current stats poverty for the US, and it scared me. A lot. While I do worry about the economy and the status of my company and my job...there are people out there so far gone that they don't even try to give themselves the false hope that they can pull out of their status. Because, by themselves, they have no chance. And as the ranks of the poor are seriously growing, even with help, it don't look so good.
If you've got a little bit to give, and trust me, I understand the tightening of all purse strings, be sure to give a little bit. Because you'll never know when you just might need a lot. If you don't have a favorite charity, tryoneofthese.
When you take on new responsibilities, it is amazing what you learn about yourself.
I have taken on a weird hybrid role with out sales staff in helping them and clients understand our capabilities from the websites. In this time, I have been able to confirm that I am still a horrible sales person. Not exactly earth shattering, but knowing your limits are important.
But I have found that I am a much greater marketer than I thought. Which isn't the same thing. I have been able to rationalize that my 'ability to close the deal' isn't up to par, but my 'ability to push the idea and product' is strong. Very strong. If I am ever able to work full time as on-air talent, I think this will prove valuable.
I have also gain another level of respect for our fine sales staff. While all are trying to do the best they can for themselves, its not every man and women for themselves. No serious jealousy, backstabbing, or sabotage. Our sales staff do there best to hype each other up, just like a solid sports team. Our sales staff know how to work each other to get the best competition for themselves internally, without being over-competitive. They are impressive.
