Monthly Archives: November 2011

The Roof of Culture is Green

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When one is asked “Why does this issue matter?”, it most commonly is attached to some global dilemma currently taking place in the world, from deforestation in South America, to global warming affecting the poles, to poverty stricken nations affected by some natural disaster. The smaller scale topics are often left out, such as tribal wars in Ecuador or child labor in southern Africa.  These topics mainly remain unquestioned. Unfortunately, when these topics are questioned and analyzed, very few are adequately considered. The results, which can even be considered rewards, of a simple topic such as the use of green roofs in society, can create an overall sense of awe in society. There have been some people who have studied the relationship between green roof’s and culture, such as Emma Dummett, student of University of Edinburgh, and Mark Anater and William Koonce, writers for the Urethanes Technology International articles but there are too few people on this planet that know of the conditions these authors explain. Those who rarely pay attention to such little articles, miss out on the realization of the importance of green roofs in their relationship with culture and architecture, and in humanities in general. I believe it is important to contribute my own opinions to this underappreciated topic in society. In addition, I will analyze the thoughts of those mentioned above who have delved deep into the research of Le Corbusier and his connection between nature and culture through green roofs. And lastly I will give my own thoughts about their conclusions.

Previously in class, the name Le Corbusier was referred to, and because of my interest in French culture and language, I had an immediate interest in why he was being mentioned.  What more could I have asked for? Not only was he a French architect, but he had a particular passion for nature and green space, just as I do. Our connection was imminent and I wanted to know more. Though I knew some benefits of combining nature with our lifestyle, I was surprised by what Le Corbusier was mentioning about the depravity of society during the early 1900s. He mentioned that people were receiving less than the proper amount of sunlight each day, which is six hours. He also mentioned that green space was being taken over and that the aesthetic settings of an environment were being lost. Until I was told about all of this, my mind remained subjective, only to my own reality which is nothing like the one Le Corbusier describes. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the likeliness of this occurring in the time Le Corbusier was probable. Not only in the past was this nature deprived lifestyle pressed upon humans, but also in today’s society. Currently in less fortunate parts of the globe, people are being deprived of their basic needs. With this empathetic feeling in mind, I instantly realized just how important a small factor such as sunlight and nature could affect our daily lives. Just to share a slight glimpse of the importance Le Corbusier’s thinking, it is common knowledge that weather has an effect on a person’s mood. When it is winter and cold, a person may feel more susceptible to negative emotions such as depression. But when it is spring the flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining, there is a grand boost of energy and optimism. Flowers and sunlight coordinate with nature, and nature coordinates with peoples’ tendencies to behave in certain ways– positive ones. It was in that sense that people were being deprived of basic necessities that offer a life of content and pleasantness. Now what is the most basic and simple way to provide these people with the connection to nature and the necessities it contains for a happy life? Le Corbusier would answer this simply by saying each house needs to begin with a green roof. Le Corbusier, being an architect, did just that. He put green roofs on each of the houses he designed. Previously mentioned Emma Dummett, does a thorough explanation of Le Corbusier and his creation of the relationship between architecture, nature, social aspects and culture.

Next, few can automatically see the relationship between nature and culture. Emma Dummett who wrote “Vernacular architecture, nature and the sacred: Le Corbusier and the influence of the ‘journey to the east’” is here to assist you. In her paper she discusses and explains Le Corbusier’s view of how members of society are deprived of their basic needs and how, through nature, they are connected to the sacred. She begins by stating Le Corbusiers’ two most strongly held beliefs: “the need for human society to reconnect with the natural world, and the importance of finding a new form of sacred or spiritual experience for the skeptical world of the twentieth-century, industrialized West” (Dummett 1). Where does the answer for both of these needs come from? Green roofs of course! Green roofs provide the perfect connection between the natural world and society while at the same time offering that cultural or spiritual experience the fast paced and quickly growing society needs.

Before I carry this out further, it is important to define what a green roof actually is. Most would assume that it is a roof that some sort of vegetation covers, offering a beautiful sight. Is that all though? Just as a religious group walks into their temple or shrine and feels a sense of awe, a weight taken off their shoulders, a feeling that they are no longer on earth, that they are in another reality, so it is the same with green roofs. Day to day, people are clustered with each other in confined spaces, deprived of sunlight, unable to escape from the dark reality of their lives. This lifestyle is even carried to their homes, where they have children who need to be fed, work that still needs to be finished, and cleaning to do. The green roof is their temple, their shrine. It provides the same cultural affect the temple does to the religious group. It gives a person a sense of freedom and lightness. To continue the analogy, religious groups often have special medicine for their people, or certain out worldly ways of healing. Does this not stand true for green roofs also? Green roofs provide an open space full of oxygen and sunlight and a view of greenery. This offers a sort of combination of the safe out worldly ways of healing, but these ways have now become tangible. On the subject of green roofs, Dummett states that “Le Corbusier incorporated those aspects of nature which are easily controllable into his designs, in a way which implies that the natural world has a role to play in servicing human needs” (Dummett 15). In contrast to early years, if people were now asked what are the basic fundamental human needs, most would respond by saying protection, individuality, affection, leisure, creation, and freedom. Without a doubt, Le Corbusier, through his architectural green roofs, offers each of these basic human needs. Having a green roof offers a sense of protection, you are high up, apart from the world if disaster and misfortune. You are free of all obligations when you go to your green roof. It is your vacation; it is where you go to spend leisure time, to let your imagination be free and creativity run wild. Green roofs offer you the chance to be an individual, to stand out among the rest, and show that as you love nature, nature will love you. Nature will offer you shade when it is hot, it will care for you by giving you oxygen to survive, and it grows with you and gives you a peaceful setting to relax in. Now that the importance of the connection to nature, and the wonderful human needs it provides has been examined, we can look on to see how Le Corbusier’s work has grown throughout the years.

Recently, it can be assumed that one would know that green roofs are becoming increasingly popular in urban areas due to the recent global move in environmentalism. William Koonce and Mark Anater, wrote an article in the Urethanes Technology International called “Green Roof Systems Become Increasingly Popular In US and Europe”. To make an immediate connection with their article, a question must be asked. Do you think Le Corbusier thought of all the other functions that green roofs could provide for the modern day home? Not only has he provided a link to the cultural past with his green roofs, but he has also established root functions for the house “—shielding the building from cold and heat, rain and snow – green roofs have additional benefits. These include conservation of energy, extension of the service life of the roof, reduction in storm water run-off and flow rates, and overall cost reduction over the life of the roof and restoration of ecological and aesthetic value to open spaces in urban areas” (Koonce 1). Le Corbusier has successfully provided the owners of the green roofed house basic human needs, a link to the cultural past, and now a positively set based life, not only for the owner himself, but also for the world in general. From saving the owner money, to conserving energy, Le Corbusier has thought of it all. The advantages of having a green roof are clear and this is why there has been a recent growth of green roofs all over the world, especially in Europe and North America. Koonce states that “Green roof technology is well-established in Europe and its inherent advantages for energy efficiency, longevity, storm water management, ecological responsibility and improved quality of life are making it more popular in North America” (Koonce 6).

In final analysis, present day humans do not realize it, but when they create green roofs, it is actually a teleportation to the most basic necessities of life. Le Corbusier knew this concept early on, and through his green roofs, he assisted humans in the entering of a meditative and supernatural state. He did this by having them step into something exceedingly aesthetically beautiful, the green roof. After being in the depths of a crusted and failing civilization depriving them of life’s necessities, people are now able to enter an environmental retreat at home. This concept was explained in Dummett’s paper, discussing the nearly tangible connection between Le Corbusier’s green roof designs, nature, culture and humans essential needs. Green roofs provided the basic human necessities such as, protection, freedom, creativity. Now, the original question was, “Does this issue matter?” It matters in the sense that Le Corbusier’s conception of the green roof could be the one most productive efforts to stabilize society will providing people with a portal to their culture past, the fundamental necessities of peoples’ present and long lasting harmony of the future.

Stay Positive and Go Green

Garth E. Beyer

Works Cited

Dummett, Emma. “Vernacular Architecture, Nature and the Sacred: Le Corbusier and the Influence of   the ‘journey to the East’” Google Docs – Online Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Surveys, File Storage and More. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.

Koonce, William, and Mark Anater. “GREEN ROOF SYSTEMS BECOME INCREASINGLY POPULAR IN US     AND EUROPE.” Urethanes Technology International 27.1 (2010): 18-21. Advanced Placement     Source. EBSCO. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Subsidizing Delegation to Acquire More Time

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Team-Work Accountability

In a haste to delegate and decrease your responsibilities, you may hand tasks and duties to someone else. I highly encourage it when you are looking to acquire more freedom from stress and more time to take part in what you love. But when the tasks are for a shared vision you need to take the time in the beginning to make sure you are not putting the extra weight on their back before you teach them how to work with it on their back. Delegation is a shared process and will be added as a chapter by itself in the eBook “Parents Cost Us Money Too”, as a matter of prevention over clean-up.

In the beginning the vision needs to merge between the partners. Not only the desired result of both parties, but also the process and timeline. By communicating a timeline together there is a lesser necessity to make frequent meetings in the future, which results in exactly what you wanted: more time!

Delegation is tough… to start

When you begin delegating you will often feel that you are doing even more work than before. I thought the point of delegation was to give you freedom and remove stress from your life? This empowering result of delegation comes AFTER you follow the four D’s of delegation.

1. Define the problem

What is the issue at hand? What are you delegating?

2. Discover the resolution for the issue

Ask questions to focus on the result of the delegation.

3. Discern the ideas by brainstorming

How are you going to get the desired result? What will work? What wont? What needs to be taught?

4. Direct the partner– the most important.

What resources do you have available to increase their success rate? What role will you play while they carry out the task? Are there other members of your team that assist?

There you have it, a quick and straightforward approach to delegating.  Remember, it is often difficult to start but you only have to focus on the results that delegating will offer. Need further help or a more in-depth reasoning behind an aspect of delegation, feel free to comment and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Stay Positive and Delegate

Garth E. Beyer

Long-Term Legacy and Short-Term Impact of a Writer

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 My quick addition of Ch. 8 of “The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way” by Jeffrey Gitomer.

You are a fantastic writer. Well, maybe not. BUT I know you are a lot better than when you began writing. When I started writing, I was awful. My first story was about how my brother gave me a nickel for Christmas. There was not even a point to the story; I made it seem that the nickel was all I wanted to receive for the holidays. I was six years old and I definitely wanted more than a nickel. I fight myself to not burn the essay every time I take it out. Why don’t I set it to flames? Because you can always find something new to learn or notice when you review an earlier piece of writing. Although I do not burn it, I do “RIP” it.

A Gravestone Story

Gitomer touches on the necessity to use strong examples to get your reader shaking their heads in agreement. I have a bunch of stories and examples to share about particular life lessons, but when I type them; while the story may be strong to me, it would not be to someone else. You not only need to put on the audience members shoes when using an example of a personal story, but you have to wear their shirt, pants, and even the underwear with their name sewn into it. Understand your readers.

On the top of my essay about the Christmas gift of a nickel, I wrote “R.I.P.” When you are writing, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

1. Recognize – Are you winning over your readers? Make sure that you have them shaking their heads in agreement with your side.

2. Impact – Is every sentence pushing a lesson or feeling into the reader? Check again to see if you are persuading them to act, or simply telling them to do something because you said so.

3. Point – You may have heard that “math is everything, the rest is just fluff.” In the case of writing, “significance” is everything, and information is just the fluff. As you review your writing, are you learning more statistics than understanding the real message?

You Would Have Thought I Wrote In Red – I Didn’t

At first glance you would think that my essay was simply a white page of paper with red marker all over it. With further investigation, you will find actual words inside the red. When I edited my essay, I highlighted in pen everything that I knew was not leaving an impact. The less red, the more loved it will be by your readers.

NOTE: While in sociology class and studying on the topic of “education”, I read an article that was persuading schools to BAN the use of red pens in elementary schools. The author declared that using red pen to correct papers left too much of a negative impact on younger students. The sociologist concluded that the color of red is too harsh, powerful, oppressive, and negative. See for yourself by googling “the significance of the color red”. You do not have to click on a link, it will state right under the link how it relates to violence and warfare. While red can also signify “love”, it is less of an impact and does not support the imaginations of younger people as much as violence does.

I stated that editing in red was troublesome for the youth, but not for you, not for people who honestly want to be writers. The negative impact is all the more reason to grade yourself with red, because you need to be rough with yourself. No one else is there to watch over your shoulder, otherwise they would be writing for you. Let the red ink sink into your writing abilities.

4.5 Extra Steps to Writing Better

1. We all know that a persuasive piece of writing is to compel the reader to act! What we continuously fail to do is define what we want our readers to act on before we write. We figure on that if we write the article, we will just add the call to action at the end and it’s a done deal. NOPE.

2. I often read that the best way to market is to write, act, read, invest, spend, as if you were the prospect of the product. The same goes with writing a persuasive article, you must consistently remind yourself that you are not only the writer, but you are the reader as well. Would you share your paper or throw it away? Forward it in an email to a friend, or skip over it?
3. During Dale Suslicks last un-workshop, one gentleman stated how difficult it was to write. He believed it was so much easier to speak because it flowed better than writing. I began to tell him how I have the same problem, but it depends on who your audience is. Do you want them to read it as if you were speaking directly to them? Then check yourself by reading your own written work aloud for a conclusion. Similarly, you can read your work out loud to see how “speaky” it sounds to make improvements. Remember, keep that red pen near!

4. I am coming to find more and more that when an idea pops in your mind, it does not like to stay. Write it out. Do not just take a note, or think you will remember it. You won’t. But I also added that you should not write on a small note because when you go back to it, the feelings behind the idea are not as powerful and you will have a much harder time to write out a full article of complete thoughts. By writing less to begin with, you limit yourself when you go back to it. That does not mean you need to write pages upon pages about an idea, but enough so that YOU get just as inspired as your readers when you read.

4. 5 On the other hand, it is fortunate for you to keep notes of small ideas that may not have manifested immediately in your mind. You can use these when you are coming near a deadline, want to free-write, or when an opportunity arises for you to test some of the ideas.

Empower Yourself

Launch yourself into learning everything you need to know to get what you want, when you want it. Read up on blogs and articles of successful people in your area of interest daily. I hope that whether you have read “The Little Green Book to Getting Your Way” or not, that you have understood more of how to create a long-term legacy and a short-term impact with your writing and life. Gitomer says, “Writing leads to wealth.” Where is yours leading you?

Stay Positive and Write On

Garth E. Beyer

If you have not yet read Jeffrey Gitomer’s “The Little Green Book to Getting Your Way”, you can do that at http://www.gitomer.com/Jeffrey-Gitomer-Little-Green-Book-of-Getting-Your-Way-pluLGB.html

Poetry Night 001

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Hey there, welcome to the first edition of Poetry Night. I am an ardent writer of poetry and I have written no less than a 70 poem manuscript. Every week I will choose one night that I will be posting a poem that I have written or someone else has written that I feel must be shared. I hope you truly enjoy it. If you do not care for a particular poem, do not flee. I am a writer of vast variety and I can guarantee that the next Poetry Night will present a new genre of poem. As always, I truly urge you to give feedback: positive, constructive, and critical.

Back in Rockford, Illinois, I emailed the President of the local newspaper. I wrote to him that I wished to write for them in whatever position they could offer me so that I could build experience and my résumé. He forwarded my message to the Executive Editor and she emailed me what I had originally written to the President. The paragraph was exactly as I had written it, except…

On nearly every line, the font was red in one spot or another. At a glance, all you would see is red. Below my clearly edited paragraph was written a short and critical message. The Executive Editor began to say that if I were going to get the blogging position that I would have to improve my grammar, syntax, punctuation, and a list of other writing skills. I retained part her email and I would like to share it with you,

“I know getting edited by a stranger is tough to swallow, but if you were to blog for us, you’d need to improve your precision. Remember all those English teachers who were so focused on all that “stuff”? Well, we editors are even more Draconian about it.

Think you’re up for this? I hope so” – Linda (Executive Editor)”

It may not seem like a harsh message now, but at 15 years old, I was crushed. Since then, I recall her message when people give me negative criticism. It happens. People get yelled at. People express their opinions in *different* ways. So do not worry about putting things lightly, unless you want it to show your true character. I appreciate ALL feedback. In addition, I am interested in all of your poetry. Email me your favorite, best, or worst writing. I might just want to share it instead of my own next Poetry Night: TheGarthBox@Gmail.com

The Writing Ghost

The ghosts’ long sleeves, held hands tilting the sun.

We watched our own hands full of thick shakes, disappear.

They stare back, They wanted our gaze.

We spoke to the blind, to a world where a

String locks haunted paths that

Link a dark world in the next ghost.

Only the blind course our insane, voices in their arms,

An old crouched spirit knotted silent screams.

A warm bark pressed my chest – an apparatus.

Alone, in a way sane people are not a part of the world.

Scratched membranes need to stand,

Separate from a blank today.

That! sorts those who do not discover

themselves, their world in a way legalizing critical passion.

Everybody is stoned, pathetic, so strange,

We have joined a multitude of tears.

Elusive but those show us our differences

Between; people part of the world and those not.

Observe moments. truly keeping random peoples blueprints.

-          Everett

Stay Positive and Poetic

Garth E. Beyer

An Accord With Greatness

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Today we focus on positive perspectives and cultural knowledge. What do you get when you combine the two? If you thought of the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing), then you are correct. This incredible piece of literature has two to twenty lessons per Chapter and 81 chapters in all. Since there is so much knowledge to discover, I do not want to overwhelm you. Let’s read the second and third stanza of Chapter 63 and discuss how it can affect your life, business, and relationships.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63, by Lao Tzu

Second Stanza:

The difficult problems in life
Always start off being simple.
Great affairs always start off being small.
Therefore the sage never deals with the great
And is able to actualize his greatness.

Third Stanza:

Now light words generate little belief,
Much ease turns into much difficulty.
Therefore the sage treats things as though they were difficult,
And hence, never has difficulty.”

-   Translated by Charles Mueller, 2004

Can you visualize the power behind Lao Tzu’s words? In life we often take problems and set them aside, saying that we will deal with them later. We are all examples of this mistake. Before we know it, the problem has grown to a size we could never have fathomed. It then begins to come out of hiding and crush us. Can you think of a way or two that would prevent this from happening? Does being honest and strong come to mind? Be honest to yourself and others and muster up the strength to overcome the obstacle early on. By doing so, your reward is time and supplementary strength to strive for life success. For example, you have a couple of tasks to carry out for work. You have to write-up an introduction to the meeting you have tomorrow and file a summary to your boss of an interview you established. In regards to the second stanza, it would be in your best interest to follow through with these tasks early in your day. If you decide to contradict Lao Tzu’s philosophy, you will find yourself full of stress and pressure to complete the task before the following morning. Not only that, but your boss called you up hoping that you had a rough draft of the report done yet so that he could get prepared for the meeting as well. That was a lost opportunity for progress and greatness for you. To have the power to activate greatness, you must continuously distinguish the small tasks, duties, and callings of each day.

You may be feeling that this is irrelevant to your life. That you plan your day and you knock out all the simple tasks and to-do’s early on so that you can focus on your greatness the rest of the day. Whether this is you, or not, you might be interested more in what stanza three offers to enlighten you with. So I begin by asking you this? When you execute the small tasks, do you accomplish them? REALLY accomplish them? Or do you put forth just the right amount of effort to cross it off your list and move on? You will be more fortunate to discover greater success if you truly delve deep into the meaning that stanza three carries. Why don’t we extend the previous example to encompass the lessons from stanza three as well?  As Lao Tzu’s suggests, by taking the time and maximum energy to write an introduction for your meeting tomorrow and file a summary to your boss of the interview you partook in the previous day, you are paving your path to even further success than you deemed imaginable. Having put forth so much effort into such small tasks, your boss allowed you to run the meeting the following morning, allowing you to get on a first name basis of the CEO of your company. Not only that, but now your boss wants you to do a full-scale interview with other clients and he is going to your completed work to the Wall Street Journal. Does this inspire you and help you see the importance of putting forth your greatest effort even with the smallest of tasks? How can this relate to your career?

But wait, your success does not end there. I said at the beginning of this blog post that you can affect all areas of your life by following Lao Tzu’s factual philosophy. By executing the advice of dealing with small obligations, and dealing with them with all your effort — you show others that you are ready for the opportunity to excel in your business. In doing so, you become more prosperous. After becoming more prosperous by being an honorable hard-working person, you have more time and energy to devote to balancing your personal and family life. By using all of your will and effort to get tasks done, both small and large, you become wiser and stronger, you are able to do more of what you love, and have more time, energy, and money than ever before. The effort of positivity, honesty, encouragement, and success in daily tasks, is what you will receive in return from your accomplishments.

Stay Positive and be Sage-like

Garth E. Beyer

An Apple A Day, Will Make Success Stay!

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Every store, every online market, every shop; is a business. And every business has a goal. Already, every goal for a business is the same; they want to succeed. Now as consumers we run over the speed bump too quickly of what the meaning of success is to the owner and how they strive to achieve it. We want what we want when we want it, right?

Wrong. In a world where someone can create a business in less than a month, we find ourselves pushed and forced to make impulse purchases, unacknowledged buys and cheaply made items from one way advertising messages. On top of all that, there is the lack of honest help and service from employees or even the owner.

Just because a customer leaves happy does not mean the business interaction was a success. They might catch an advertisement on TV of the same product being sold cheaper at a closer store, or the item might have broken already, or they come to find that they aren’t even using it. But business owners tend to live in ignorant bliss with this fact.

But not all.

Every now and then, we, as customers, come across a really great store. When was the last time you walked into a store and were actually greeted by the owner of it? What a difference it is to be greeted by the owner then by a paid greeter at Wal-Mart! The first thing you catch is the passion of the owner. Isn’t a passion how every business gets created? Yet through the expansion or the lack of business, customers quickly no longer see the passion, but only see a large red sign that says “SALE”. Let me make a comparison here, there are businesses who will post a sale on a specific item, because they need some extra money or it just needs to be sold. Then there are businesses that charge you the full price but offer you a discount when you go to ring it up because it is your first time there, or the business noticed YOUR passion for what you are buying. Let me tell you, getting items scanned is not a business relationship. And in the long run, a 10% discount beats a “SALE” anyway.

So when was the last time you went to a store where the owner was there and could answer any question about any product? Rare, isn’t it? It is time for everyone to reevaluate the meaning of success. A business ran with passion, overflowing with knowledge and the willingness to share it with their customers, and striving to establish a connection through the business relationship is TRUE SUCCESS!

Credit for this idea of a blog post goes to Apple Wellness (Located in Fitchburg, WI 608-663-2640). I would like to thank Tim O’Brien, owner and manager of Apple Wellness for taking the time to make sure his customers are knowledgeable before their purchases and promoting better health for people through fitness and nutrition. Thanks!

Stay Positive and Have An Apple

Garth E. Beyer