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fanfic-writing-addic · 2 years

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“You know leaving isn’t going to solve anything” Oliver says standing in a corner arms crossed

I pause from packing for a second and turn to him “Oliver we both know it’s safer for me in central city I walk out of the door and people try to kill me” I yell at him flaling my arms then turn back to packing

“So your plan is to leave at 1am hope on a train and leave without saying goodbye to the team what about Thea and I mean where will you be staying”

“Oliver look I understand you’re worried I get that I was worried about you every day for five years when you were in prison somewhere over in China ok I’m staying with Barry and I’ll work at Star labs and it’s for the best that you’re the only one who knows where I am here are letters I wrote one for everyone on the team including you this is for the best” I say as I hand him the letters he looks at them

Then he sighs “I know it’s for the best but you’re still my sister you’re going to be hours away and we both know it’s to risky for you to call you have too many enemies and I blame that on my self”

“Why it’s not you’re fault”

“I left you when you needed me you were 16 and didn’t know the first thing about relationships or the bad groups you could get caught up in im your older brother I was supposed to protect you”

“I was like that because I was looking for you I knew what I was getting into and I promise you I’ll be fine” I tell him as I zip up the bag throw it over my shoulder and hug him “I’ll be ok”

“You better be” he responds i smile then back away and cutch my trian I watch as everything goes by the city lights everything I lean against the window and start play some music

The first song that comes on is ‘welcome to my life’ it sums up my whole life “do you ever feel like breaking down do ever feel out of place like somehow you just don’t belong and no one understands you do you ever want to run away…” shortly after that line I fall asleep not to wake again until the train stops what can I say I’m a light sleeper I throw my bag over my shoulder and very groggyly step out of the train and onto the station

“Olivia” I hear Barry say he’s only seen me once and that was when Oliver took him to the prison I was at for help I also had brown hair then I dyed it blue so I’ll be shocked if he reconzes me and I also know he’s the flash Oliver told me

I walk to him and say “hi Barry it’s been a while”

“Last time I saw you you were in stripes” he says studying me

“Yeah” I say shifting nervously left and right

“So you’re STAR labs new weapons expert or more like police officer” he asks

“Something like that yeah” I say he nods his head then he takes me to his apartment

“Sorry I don’t have two beds it’s just a one room apartment you can sleep on the couch or I can or” I stop him

And say “it’ll work Tell I get back on my feet”

“Oh I forgot I’m going to be late STAR labs just a giant building you can’t miss it” then he runs out I sigh and start walking sure enough it’s a giant building it’s weird walking around no one knows me no one wants me dead I’m just another women in a leather jacket black t shirt ripped jeans tennie shoes and hair up in a ponytail walking down the street

I walk into STAR labs to see a man and a woman talking I’m not sure about what “hi I’m Olivia queen the new weapons expert or police officer as Barry calls it” I say nervously

“Hi I’m Catleyn snow” the woman says

“Hi I’m Cisco romon” the man says

I smile then ask “is there a pay phone around here”

“Out side” Catleyn says

I walk out side put in a few quarters and dial Oliver’s number “this is Oliver queen who is this”

“Hi Oliver this is Olivia I’m calling from a pay phone I just wanted to tell you I’m ok”

“Good how’s the city” he asks

“We’ll I just got here everything seems to be ok nothing out of the normal we’ll besides Barry running at full speed so he’s not late” I tell him

He laughs “I didn’t mean an evlation I just meant how do you like it”

“Well it’s definitely not starling city do you think I can ever come back”

“I don’t know livia” I sigh at those words then he asks “so how’s Barry”

“I hate him I’m fine with sleeping on the couch you can’t fit two beds in his apartment he’s just annoying”

“You just got there and you already don’t like him” he asks

“Yeah I just don’t trust him Oliver”

“He’s a good guy I wouldn’t have you staying with him if he wasn’t and I know you you will get your own place and your life in order”

“I don’t know about that” I say

“Well I believe in you sis”

“Thanks” I tell him

“Yeah I have to go love you call me later be safe and please don’t get yourself arrested”

“Love you to I’ll try to be safe and i make no promises” I hear him laugh before he hangs up I stand there for a minute with the phone still up to my ear before I hang up I guess this is my life now

I walk in to see Catleyn giveing Barry some iv bags“what’s wrong” I ask

“He fainted” she responds

I face palm then ask “why wait do i want to know” I mean for all I know he could be a drug addic who overdosed or an acholic who drink to much believe me I know I’ve been both

“I don’t know” she responds

“I mean it could be drugs or alcohol or” she stops me in the middle of my sentence

Then says “what no no no he’s dosnt do drugs and I don’t think he drinks”

That makes me feel better “could he not be eating enough then I mean he is running a lot and very fast”

She looks at me and I feel things get more acward “I don’t know when he wakes up I’ll run tests”

He wakes up a few minutes later and asks “what happened”

“You passed out” Catleyn responded coldly

“So one iv bag and I’m ready to go” he asks

“Try 40” Catleyn replys

“Guess you were thirsty” Cisco says

Everything in my body shives “do me a favor and never say that again” Barry smiles and I roll my eyes at him

“How’s Barry” I hear someone ask I turn around to see a man “who is she” he asks pointing towards me

“Olivia queen” I respond

“You’re Oliver’s-“ he begins to say I stop him

“I know what you’re going to say the answer is yes”

“Oh ok” he responds

“I’m fine joe” Barry says

Then a man wheels in “hi you must be miss queen im dr Harrison wells”

I cross my arms letting all my walks go up I go cold as my brother likes to call it “I know who you are and don’t call me miss call me queen or Olivia that’s it also I don’t like you I know your type you act nice you act good but in the end you always end up turning on the you try to help who you care about so don’t try to be my friend don’t try to be nice to me don’t talk to me unless you have no choice do you understand” I give him a stern look at the end

“I read your file you have every reason not to trust me” he begins to say I interpret him

“I don’t just not trust you wells I hate you for one reason you are going to turn on all of those people you can fool them and the rest of the world but you can’t fool me” I say pointing a finger in his face before I walk off I walk outside and sit on a bench just outside of STAR labs

I don’t know how much time passed by the time joe walks out and sits next to me “he wasn’t eating enough” he says

“Not shocking” I respond

“So you want to tell me what that was about” he asks

“No” I respond

“I get you hate him I don’t know what happened to you in the past and I don’t care as long as you don’t end up in iron heights being Henry Allen’s cell mate just at least tolerate him until we or you have some sort of evidence against him” he says

“Fair but may I ask Henry Allen that’s Barry’s dad isn’t it” I ask

“Yes it is” he responds i sigh

He pats me on the back then says “come one we need to help him out against this guy who can apperinly replicate him self”

“What did I get myself into” I ask

“I ask myself that every day now come on” he says so I do

“Just in time he’s getting ready to take him out” Cisco says exsitidly

“I should go” joe says

“He just jumped” I hear Barry says through the intercom sounding heart broken

I take the mic and say “Barry it’s ok it’s not your fault now run back here and we can talk all about it or we can just stare at a blank wall just get back here please” the tone I said it in shocked everyone including myself I only use that tone that nice calm I’m ok who I really am tone on Thea and Oliver sometimes felicity when he gets back and changes we head home

“So how was your first day” he asks

“We’ll it made me qution why Oliver made me come here as well as my sanity but you know I guess thats normal” he smiles at me as he opens the door I go to the bathroom throw on my pjs and get ready for bed

“Night” he says as he cuts the lights out

“Night” I respond I turn may back towards the door put my music in my ears and tune out the world

#chapter one #arrows little sister (not Thea #fanfic #the flash #mine #oc #oc/barry allen #Cisco #joe #Caitlyn #ramand #I know that’s not everyone I’m just having a hard time rembering names #also I just started the flash and haven’t watched arrow yet so give me a minute #and I’m open to suggestions

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

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Missed Classic 69: Borrowed Time (1985) – Introduction

Written by Joe Pranevich

If you are like me, sometimes research takes you places that you don’t expect. When I started into Batman Returns, I expected to find that it was a half-assed game produced by a no-name little software outlet who won the minimum bid to make the ninth licensed game based on the 1992 movie. And, it might still be that. I haven’t even looked at the game yet as I wait for a copy of the manual to arrive by mail. (I’ll be donating it to the Internet Archive once I wrap up my review.) Instead, I discovered the story of Subway Software and one of it founders, Bill Kunkel.

Rather than jump straight into Batman, I’d like to tell Mr. Kunkel’s story through a different game: an illustrated text adventure called Borrowed Time, Subway Software’s first release. As so many of these games were, it was a multi-party affair: developed by Interplay using their adventure game engine, based on a story and design by Kunkel’s company, and published by Activision. This was still around four months before Activision bought Infocom so it is not quite a cousin to the games that we have looked at in the Zork marathon, but it is a sign that they were interested in the interactive fiction genre. Borrowed Time has kidnapping, murder, and at least one HIPAA violation. It was also pretty fun to play to whet my appetite for Batman. Let’s get to it.

Bill Kunkel, enjoying a pizza in 2005.

Prior to doing my usual pre-game research, I had never heard of Bill Kunkel. That’s not unusual; while we have a few designers that we’ve come know very well, the majority of the staff in any given game is anonymous. I claim no special talent or access to sources, but a combination of Google and digging through old magazines and interviews usually gives us a picture. For some of these games, I enjoy the research even more than the playthrough! As I dug into Kunkel’s history, the information just kept coming: his writing projects, his impact on the history of video games, and even his battles with drug addiction. As a game journalist, he wrote hundreds of articles over four decades, not to mention fanzines on several topics, plus edited multiple magazines. He was an expert witness on several of the legal battles that shaped our industry. There’s no way for me to read and absorb all that in a couple of weeks, but he comes off to me as a fan’s fan. He loved conventions and fanzines, comic books and professional wrestling, and the gaming journalism that he would become famous for. Along the way, almost by accident, he ended up writing games. It’s a fun story– no doubt exaggerated by his own talent for self-promotion– but one that I am happy to share.

Bill’s writing career began in fandom, producing an independent science-fiction fan magazine called Genook when he was just seventeen years old. Genook was followed by Rats!, another fan magazine, but by this point he was establishing himself as a member of the New York fan community. It was through these fan-connections that he was introduced to Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley, a husband and wife pair who would become his long-time friends and collaborators. They are themselves worthy of a series of posts, a constant presence in almost every one of Kunkel’s projects. One of their first collaborations would be another fan magazine, Four-Star Extra, where the four of them would each write an article every month on a chosen topic. They introduced Kunkel to the DC writer and editor Denny O’Neil at one of their weekly fandom parties; it was through that connection that Bill sold his first comic book script, eventually to be published in the anthology comic House of Mystery. (Kunkel’s memoirs state that he sold this story in 1971, but the earliest I found it was in House of Mystery #252 in 1977. I am uncertain whether this story was shelved for many years, published without a by-line, or if the online comic book databases are incomplete for this period.) Based on this connection, Kunkel became a freelance “fill-in” author for DC comics, writing stories that would be held back and used if the regular stories of the issue were delayed. While they were sold, it is unclear how many (if any) were used by DC. It was not glamorous, but he was working in comics!

Several of Kunkel’s later games seem inspired by these early interests.

Without making it as more than a fill-in writer in comics, Kunkel embarked on a project in a different segment of fandom: professional wrestling. He and his near-permanent partners, Katz and Worley, wrote and distributed a magazine called Main Event featuring photography and articles about WWWF stars and matches. The WWWF was the precursor of the WWF and later the WWE. Kunkel both wrote and photographed for the magazine which was sold at WWWF events, with the support and permission of Vince McMahon, Sr. The magazine led Kunkel and Kats doing radio, a 1AM Main Event wrestling talk show on New York’s WHBI. Although Kunkel folded the magazine after a short time, he continued to love and write about wrestling for the remainder of his career.

By 1976, Kunkel was back writing comics. The second time was a charm and DC gave him higher profile work including a shot at reviving a 1940s character, “The Vigilante”, in World’s Finest. Looking back on his time at DC, Kunkel remarked that he worked on “Lois Lane, The Private Life of Clark Kent, Vigilante, romance stories, horror stories and Jor-El only knows what all else”. But Kunkel did not enjoy the corporate environs of DC and switched teams to work in the “bullpen” at Marvel. Once there, he worked on “Spiderman, Captain America, The Falcon, Wonder Man, Dr. Strange, and some fill-in stories that may still be sitting in the office files”. Even that work didn’t last long and he was shortly doing uncredited and low-paying work writing Richie Rich for Harvey Comics. He ricocheted around the industry, doing stints or freelance work for everyone that would pay him. By 1978 however, Kunkel’s life was falling apart. He was unable to make a living and considered himself a “parasite” on his wife and his marriage. By his own admission, he was already battling drug addiction. He needed a big break.

The very first “Electronic Games” in 1981. Can Asteroids conquer Space Invaders? We still want to know.

Kunkel’s “big idea” came in 1979 when he started writing “Arcade Alley”, a regular column in Video magazine. It is dramatically oversimplifying the story to say that he was onto something, that very few others were covering the nascent home video game industry. By 1981, this idea took form as Kunkel was able to convince Reese Publishing to back his new project, Electronic Games, with him as a writer and editor. The first issue soared off the shelves and the magazine quickly became a monthly, documenting and promoting the first era of home video games. Perhaps ironically, the magazine landed just as his marriage was ending. Kunkel was a leading voice in game journalism throughout the first age of video games, but the crash in 1983 that led to so many unsold E.T. cartridges also led to a decline in fortunes at Electronic Games. By 1985, he and his partners were out and the magazine’s first life was over. For Kunkel, Katz, and Worley, it was time to embark on the next phases of their careers. Enter: Subway Software.

Operating on their own once again, the trio formed two companies: one to further their journalistic pursuits and a second to design games. They had reviewed and discussed software for so many years– plus made many industry connections– weren’t they uniquely qualified to write games themselves? Nevermind that none of the three of them were programmers in a field where programmer-designers were still the dominant paradigm. From that idea, “Subway Software” was formed. The name was selected for the rather mundane reason that none of them (at the time) could drive. Instead, they traveled (and no doubt planned games) on the subway between their various homes around the city. They landed their first deal with Interplay and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have had some difficulty tracking down a complete list of games that Subway Software worked on, but between Wikipedia and MobyGames I have located seventeen games. Neither site appears to have a complete list and there may be inaccuracies. For our purposes, only four of them are adventure games and those credits appear to be correct: Borrowed Time (1985), Star Trek: First Contact (1988), Omnicrom Conspiracy (1990), and Batman Returns (1992). We’ll be looking at the first and last of those on this blog, plus the Star Trek game has been on my “want to play” list for some time. Subway Software appears to have closed its doors in 1992, just in time for Kunkel to start the “new” run of Electronic Games. We’ll look at that leap more closely and finish off his story when we get to Batman Returns.

My first time using an amiga emulator. I can’t seem to fix the aspect ratio.

Having come this far, there is not that much to say about Borrowed Time itself. As Kunkel and his friends were only providing the script and the design, the heaviest lifting was done by Interplay. Their game engine, already used for Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction (both 1984), was done and supported a few different platforms. We’ve already looked at one game based on a later version of the same engine, Mike Berlyn’s Tass Times in Tonetown. Unlike Infocom who chose the least common denominator, Interplay believed in taking advantage of each platform capabilities. To that end, the graphics in each of the several ports are quite different. I’ll be playing the Amiga version as that appears to be the most mature of the several iterations.

Although I’ve focused on Kunkel, other credits on the game are no less important. We could have waxed equally about Brian Fargo, the plotter of the game, who founded Interplay Entertainment, worked on seminal games likes the Bard’s Tale series, and so many other things. He cut his teeth on The Demon’s Forge (1981), another early graphical text adventure we should look at eventually. He was joined in that role by Michael Cranford, another Interplay developer who was most famous for his work on Bard’s Tale.

The manual is about as boring as it is physically possible for a manual to be.

The manual itself isn’t very good, but it summarizes the plot well enough: “As private eye Sam Harlow, you must discover who is trying to murder you, collect the appropriate evidence and bring it to the police, while avoiding constant attempts on your life.” There is also a “Living Tutorial” at the start which provides a nice overview of the text adventure genre and how to play a game like this. I do not know why it is a “living” tutorial and they do not let you practice any gameplay; my impression is that they may have wanted to make it into a minigame but ran out of time or motivation. Even without being alive, it’s not a bad introduction to newcomers to the genre.

I am uncertain how much success this game garnered in its release, except to say that it must have been both successful enough for a re-release and not successful enough that no one thought name recognition would be valuable. It hit the bargain bins in 1989 as Time to Die. I have played through a bit of that version and, other than the logo, I did not immediately see any differences. With that, there is nothing to do but play the game!

Being a detective is so relaxing.

The Chase

The game opens in my detective’s office where I am sticking my feet up on a surprisingly bright day for a noir detective story. The phone rings and the voice on the other end warns me that someone wants me dead… A shadow darkens the window, but fortunately it’s just the window washer. Whew! Although not captured by my simple screenshots, the scenes are lightly animated. In this first scene, my feet is tapping a bit. In the next scene, the water cooler bubbles. In neither case is the animation more than a handful of frames, but it is a lovely touch.

I take stock: I’m carrying a wallet with my ID and a gun permit, plus a loaded handgun with six bullets. Is that a homage to hard-boiled detectives needing guns? Or a clue that I’ll have to be selective in how many people I shoot along the way? Searching the desk, I find an overdue alimony check made out to my ex-wife, Rita Sweeny. Could she be behind this? As I explore, I get the feeling that I am being watched. The writing is terse but tense. Just to the east, my secretary has her own desk notepad. She’s off at a dentist’s appointment, but she left me a note that “Mavis” called and wants me to get back to her. I try to call “Mavis” on my phone, but all I get is a busy signal.

Bang. I’m dead.

I hear a gun cocking somewhere and I head out of my office… and right into an ambush. A pair of thugs are approaching me in the alleyway. If I backtrack into my office, they catch up and kill me quickly. I try to replay the start of the game faster, but that seems to have no bearing on when they arrive. I try to shoot them, but the game criticises me for resorting to that kind of violence… right before telling me that I’m dead. I even try calling the police, but they have a busy signal as well. What kind of police force has a busy signal? I search for other ways out of my office. The window-washer’s platform comes to mind, but I can’t open or break the windows to get out. What am I missing?

After my tenth restore or so, I discover that while I cannot run back into my office, I can run into the hotel across the street. That takes me into a lobby with a single chair and a door to the north. I duck behind the chair and the thugs shoot at me unsuccessfully, From there, I can crawl to the doorway and emerge on a landing at the bottom of a stairwell. If I even stop to look at anything, the thugs catch up and kill me. If I go up the stairs, they catch up and kill me. It’s a very tense situation. It takes a few deaths (and a close look at the screen) to realize that there is a lock on the door. If I lock it first, the thugs take longer to bash their way through. That gives me time to race up the stairs into an empty attic, a dead end except for a locked window. Unlike at my office, I can break this window revealing a shard of glass and a way out. I pocket the glass just in time because the thugs are running up the stairs.

If I were in the circus, I’d be going on top of the wire.

Outside the window is a ledge, but there is a cable covered with laundry leading to the other side of an alley. I can cross it hand-over-hand to get to the window of the bar across the street. The thugs stop firing but now they follow my lead to cross the cable. This window is locked and apparently unbreakable so they have a couple of turns to catch up and throw me to my death. On my next attempt, I use my shard of glass to cut the cable and send them to the street below. With the thugs defeated, I am now allowed to enter the bar and descend to street level.

Inside the establishment, the barmaid tells me that she had seen the thugs outside and tried to warn me– she is the person from Irene’s message. She tells me that she saw Farnham’s man, Charlie Lebock, tell my wife and Fred Mongo that I would never finish my investigation. Before she can continue, she is spooked by the sight of someone in one of the booths and runs out into the street. There is a lot to unpack here. She specifically said “my wife” which might be Rita, or maybe I got married again? I’m not sure. You’d think I’d know that sort of thing. Does that mean that Rita is working with Fred? Does Fred work for Farnham? There are too many names and I can’t stitch it all together into a plot yet.

Relaxing at the bar.

Pausing for Breath

That was exciting! Since my character has a chance to pause for a breather, I will as well. The interface is interesting, but not quite as functional as it appears. It consists of four key areas: an animated image, a list of nouns, a list of verbs, and a graphical depiction of our inventory. The noun list looks like it’s supposed to be updating for where you are, but it doesn’t; it’s still “correct” for my office and not much else. The list of verbs is also incomplete and does not cover many of the actions that I just needed to take, including “hide” and “break”. (Not to mention the lack of connecting words!) I’m not sure how sophisticated the parser is, but it seems fairly good for its era with full-sentence recognition. Maybe not as mature as Infocom, but a far cry from the two-word era of the early 1980s.

I’m going to leave us here for now, just as the game is about to begin. This is an introductory post so please feel free to leave your guesses for the rating below. We’ll be posting the final part in two days so don’t wait! As far as score advice goes, the only related game we have played so far is Tass Times, which scored 47. It was also played 170 games ago (one of the first for the blog!) so our standards may have wandered a bit since then. And yes, it really has been 170 games. Doesn’t time just fly by?

Before we go, I’d like to introduce you to a new YouTube channel that I like already, Critical Kate and her Patreon. After I had drafted this post, I was doing some final spot-checks when I happened to notice that she had just written a detailed analysis of the works of Bill Kunkel. It’s a nice case of parallel evolution that we were both researching the same guy at the same time and came up with a similar set of concerns with the material, although her detailed look at the publishing history of Video magazine and his comics puts mine to shame. I used her research to make some final adjustments on this post. I hope you will check her out. See you soon!

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-69-borrowed-time-1985-introduction/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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ds4design · 8 years

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Top 10 Productivity Tips From Former Presidents

Presidents’ Day is this Monday, which means it’s the perfect time to look back on how some of the greatest people this country has known got things done. Here are ten of our favorite tips from former U.S. presidents.

10. Embrace Change

As humans, we really fear change. We struggle to change habits, reform our financial lives, and are deathly afraid of failure. Presidents do not have the luxury of being afraid of change. They need to hold multiple points of view in their head in order to solve the problems of future generations and their own.

Presidents have to navigate change, so it’s no surprise they have plenty of advice on it. Few lived in a time of as much change as John F. Kennedy, who once said:

But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: “Stay, thou art so fair.” And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

Of course, while it’s important to learn from past mistakes, nostalgia for the past can be a boring, manipulative emotion that blinds you to the needs of the future.

9. Take a Breath Before Replying When You’re Angry

Image from the Jefferson Encyclopedia

Most of us have no qualms shooting our mouth off at the faintest hint of something we disagree with, but that’s a stupid idea. If a president did this, they’d find themselves in some awkward situations.

To keep himself from firing off some stupid comment, Thomas Jefferson gave himself some rules. In Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life, Jefferson had a whole slew of tips for better living, most notably,“When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.” We’ve heard the idea of waiting five minutes before responding to criticism before, and it’s always worth repeating.

Other worthwhile tips from Jefferson’s letter include, “never spend your money before you have it,” “pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold,” and rather curiously, “take things always by their smooth handle.”

8. Simplify Your Presentations

Illustration by Sam Woolley.

Nobody likes a rambling presentation devoid of meaningful points. While we know that good public speaking requires preparation, Woodrow Wilson reminds us that it also needs precision.

A shorter speech seems easier to write, but it’s more a sign that a lot of work went into it. Short speeches are a sign of strength and preparation, something that Woodrow Wilson knew better than most. He once said, “If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

7. Be Truthful

Image by Monkik (Shutterstock).

It is easy to assume that those in power will share lies more often than truth, but there are certain occasions where it’s best to state the truth as plainly as possible. Grover Cleveland, who is often thought of as the most honest president we’ve had, knew this best when asked whether the Democratic Party should coverup a child born out of wedlock when he said, “Whatever you do, tell the truth.”

Cleveland did much more than talk. As the mayor of Buffalo he refused to turn a blind eye to crooked alderman, and as governor he attacked Tammany Hall, a political organization in New York well known for election fraud. Cleveland also knew the value of saying no, vetoing an insane 584 bills passed by Congress.

6. Exercise Every Day

Image from Sebastian Kaulitzki (Shutterstock)

Exercise is a very important way to keep your body and mind healthy. It’s even good for sleep. Exercise is a necessity to stay sane in a stressful career.

A large number of presidents have made it a point to add exercise into their daily routine. Obama planned for an hour of exercise a day, Clinton was an avid jogger, Teddy Roosevelt loved tennis, jogging, and boxing. George W. Bush was also an avid tennis player and jogger, while Jimmy Carter was a cross-country runner. John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan were all swimmers. Time and time again we’ve seen that exercise is as important for physical health as it is mental health, and in the stressful position of president, that seems to hold true.

5. Make What You Cannot Buy

DIY projects have long been one of the best ways to learn new skills and solve your own problems. You probably don’t think presidents have much skill in this department, but perpetual problem solver Thomas Jefferson proves that idea wrong.

Wired once called Thomas Jefferson’s house an “18th century palace of gadget geekery,” filled with all the latest DIY inventions and hacks. While Jefferson loved his old-world modding, few projects exemplify his ingenuity than his revolving bookstand. This book stand held five books open at adjustable angles so he could rotate and read them all at once for research, like some type of twisted, 18th century version of tabbed browsing. He also invented a writing tool called a polygraph (pictured above) that copied whatever he wrote on a duplicate piece of paper.

4. Write a Rulebook for Yourself

Consistency is important for a president and the best presidents formed some type of rulebook for themselves. Few did so as publicly as George Washington.

Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation were a guidebook to remain open and civil to everyone. Here are a few highlights:

14. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog not the table or desk on which another reads or writes; lean not upon anyone.

18. Read no letter, books, or papers in company, but when there is a necessity for the doing of it, you must ask leave; come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired, or give your opinion of them unasked. Also look not nigh when another is writing a letter.

20. The gestures of the body must be suited to the discourse you are upon.

35. Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.

73. Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.

Building your own guidebook might seem a little silly, but it’s a great way to ground yourself and figure out exactly what you want your public persona to be. Once that’s down on paper, it’s easier to remain consistent.

3. Embrace Your Rivals to Get New Points of View

Photo by Daytona.

Most of us do not want to surround ourselves with people with viewpoints that differ from our own. Yet, that’s exactly what Abraham Lincoln did with his cabinet, which we now like to call his “Team of Rivals,” a phrase borrowed from the book of the same name.

Instead of finding like-minded yes-men for his various cabinet positions, Lincoln picked his rivals from the presidential campaign, many of whom didn’t like each other.

While he made a point to surround himself with a variety of people in order to sharpen his own viewpoint, few people are more exemplary of this then William Seward, who’d eventually be his Secretary of State, and who Lincoln had pulled an upset victory on to secure the presidential nomination. Despite that loss, Seward and Lincoln would go on to be inseparable, despite their numerous disagreements on policy. Different points of view are important, and instead of always competing with your rivals, it’s best to learn from them.

2. Organize Your Day the Night Before

By the end of the day, most of us want to relax with some cable TV and zone out for a while before our next stressful day. Barack Obama reminds us that a better approach is to spend a little bit of time preparing for the next day.

Obama would often stay up until 1am leafing through documents to help him organize his thoughts. We’ve seen this idea echoed by many before, but it’s important to remember that most of us don’t need to do this every night. The president’s job is much more stressful than yours, so implementing this as a daily routine makes sense. The rest of us can utilize this tip before big meetings, presentations, or deadlines.

1. Associate with People Smarter than You

The people you surround yourself with have a big impact on your own success, so it makes sense to surround yourself with people smarter and more capable then you are. Chances are, you don’t know everything, so if you learn to delegate and get a good crew together, you can accomplish a lot more.

Most presidents have made it a point to find the best and brightest for their cabinet, but Woodrow Wilson might have summed it up best when he said, “I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.” Dwight Eisenhower too was a vocal proponent of trusting others intelligence. In his book, At Ease: Stories I Tell My Friends, he says:

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

Remember, “I don’t know,” is one of the smartest things you can say, and once you do, you can find the experts you need.

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ultralifehackerguru-blog · 8 years

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New Post has been published on http://www.lifehacker.guru/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents/

Top 10 Productivity Tips From Former Presidents

10. Embrace Change

Presidents have to navigate change, so it’s no surprise they have plenty of advice on it. Few lived in a time of as much change as John F. Kennedy, who once said:

Of course, while it’s important to learn from past mistakes, nostalgia for the past can be a boring, manipulative emotion that blinds you to the needs of the future.

9. Take a Breath Before Replying When You’re Angry

8. Simplify Your Presentations

Nobody likes a rambling presentation devoid of meaningful points. While we know that good public speaking requires preparation, Woodrow Wilson reminds us that it also needs precision.

7. Be Truthful

6. Exercise Every Day

Exercise is a very important way to keep your body and mind healthy. It’s even good for sleep. Exercise is a necessity to stay sane in a stressful career.

5. Make What You Cannot Buy

4. Write a Rulebook for Yourself

Consistency is important for a president and the best presidents formed some type of rulebook for themselves. Few did so as publicly as George Washington.

Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation were a guidebook to remain open and civil to everyone. Here are a few highlights:

14. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog not the table or desk on which another reads or writes; lean not upon anyone.

20. The gestures of the body must be suited to the discourse you are upon.

35. Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.

73. Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.

3. Embrace Your Rivals to Get New Points of View

Instead of finding like-minded yes-men for his various cabinet positions, Lincoln picked his rivals from the presidential campaign, many of whom didn’t like each other.

2. Organize Your Day the Night Before

1. Associate with People Smarter than You

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

Remember, “I don’t know,” is one of the smartest things you can say, and once you do, you can find the experts you need.

0 notes