The Real Rebecca Dunn Bryant, cont'd

The ratio of my big sister's skill set to her internet presence is still deemed unacceptable by my standards. Thus, here is an addendum to the original Rebecca Dunn Bryant (the original) post.

I say addendum rather than continuation as the title implies, because this is more of a prequel than a sequel.

Enjoy.

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Rebecca Daughtry Dunn, soon (within just about a quarter century) to become Rebecca Dunn Bryant, was born back when grown-ups still wore bell bottoms... and not to be silly. I have pictures (are you listening Rebecca?), but that is for another forum another day.

I used to think my big sister was a big meanie, until I realized she was a genius.

Which is really funny, because I was the math science wizard in the family- master of all the easily quantifiable.

But true brilliance lies in a deeper understanding... the kind of understanding of truth accepted by the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain... the scientist, the lover/artist, and the caveman.

But I digress.

Back to what I was saying about, "until I realized she was a genius." Rebecca Daughtry Dunn (now closer to becoming Rebecca Dunn Bryant), attended university at C.U., commonly known as the University of Colorado at Boulder. She must have listened, read, and otherwise absorbed a lot, because from year 1 she was a changed woman.

Whew! This was the peak of what I perceived as her chief meanie phase. All this talk about sustainability and urgency and greenhouse and collaboration and blah blah blah blah blah...

I didn't want to hear it... I was big man on campus at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Alabama. What do I care about all this crap? The cold war is over... woo hoo! (or booh hoo?)

If I have my math right (I'm going to get a real resume from sister soon), Rebecca Dunn Bryant graduated around 1996. Which sucked, because I could no longer go visit Colorado in summers anymore.

Some of my fondest memories are of building a factory out of raw materials found all around us (it's really cool- just like the stuff I learned in Civil Engineering in college, except you dig it up/chop down/harvest the stuff around you, then test it, until you find the acceptable building material properties).

Plus, it was just great to get away from EVERYTHING. One time, Myatt Harvill and I got barricaded in our tent by what turned out to be a cow. STOP LAUGHING... Everything is scary at night.

So I double-digressed.

Here's the deal: over the past decade, I have come to believe that the most powerful thing that can be affected in this world during one's life is to change the thinking of others. It is pretty much sad/tragic/pathetic that our political system has so much power of redefining words and drilling [by repetition], drilling [by repetition], drilling [by repetition], drilling [by repetition], ideas into our heads until we believe them (who thought oil when I said drilling?).

The second most obvious wielders of this power are the Television Commercial Advertisers and Product Placement people. No comment there. Trying out libertarianism.

Was that digression number 3? Back on track:

Rebecca Dunn kept telling me stuff about this "changing of thoughts," and SO much more, when she was in college, but I did NOT understand.

Meanwhile, Crockett Dunn was in college, too. And he/I took a course on architecture. To keep it short, this lead to my belief that the two most powerful jobs a human can hold in one's lifetime are architect or educator.... this is how one changes a society's thinking.

This is how one changes a society's thinking overtly, openly, kindly, graciously, POSITIVELY.

So now we've survived what I like to call, "Gulf War, Esquire," and somehow made it through Y2K (Buddy Dunn asked me if toilet paper would be affected by y2K. That was the funniest thing I'd heard in 18 months), and now we're in the middle of, "Gulf War II: Mission Accomplished."

At this same time, my sister, Rebecca Dunn Bryant, went first to C.U. and then to Tulane Architecture School, where she learned how to change the hearts and minds of fellow human beings with beauty and composition.

And she learned how not to take more than she gave. And she learned all the stuff that we all know deep inside, as I burnt myself out trying to "get ahead," in my business.

But the cray thing... she got all these certifications with words like GREEN, and LEED, and stuff that meant nothing to me- she got all these after college (is it called post-grad?), and they didn't mean anything to me.

Now, it appears my big meanie sister had it right all the time. Even FOX News routinely agrees with her! Green, LEED Certified, Sustainability....

That's when I realized Rebecca Dunn was not a meanie but a genius.

the case for DVR, and why TiVo has the best UI

Protecting kids (and adults) from Commercial Advertisements on television is a life molding choice.

To illustrate, when I recently visited with family, my niece was telling us to be quiet during the commercials, telling us why she liked the commercial... and she knew what happened at the end.

At this point in my life, being a 8+ year DVR user, I resent having to watch any television commercial. Luckily, with TiVo, I do not have to.

Why do I resent the advertisements? Because they are sinister…. drilling into my conscious and subconscious mind what I should like/dislike, covet, or purchase;

Implying a new duster/mop/floor cleanser will save my marriage;

Telling me a new car will make me feel like an 18 year old man again.

Moreover, these are the same strategies of repetition that the Bush administration used to drill words into our minds like "WMD," "No Child Left Behind," and others. In fact, all good political strategists use these techniques.

And guess what? So does commercial television advertising. This is about as close to evil as you can get.

It takes away one's creativity and freedom of choice and signs you up to be a rat-race consumer member.

As it happens, that is why I choose TiVo as part of my internet desk station, where I can email and excercise simultaneously, or take a break and watch my

Riddle me this...

I was told by a woman very close to me, that the to the left, reading "I shower naked," is "just not funny."

I do not understand this. This shirt is hilarious.

Furthermore, to add to my neverending confusion about this gender named female, the very same woman laughed aloud and said the t-shirt to the right, reading, "I'm naked," is hilarious.

Fully clothed and confused,

Crockett Dunn