{"id":884,"date":"2015-11-22T21:37:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T02:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/?p=884"},"modified":"2015-11-22T22:24:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T03:24:38","slug":"something-to-help-me-slow-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/?p=884","title":{"rendered":"Something To Help Me Slow Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steering<\/a>I was looking for something to store my headphones in or on and was not successful in my search for quite some time. I either did not like the look or did not want to spend as much on a stand as I had on the headphones. I am also difficult to buy presents for, especially at Christmas. In general, the things I like are either expensive, or I do not wait for some special occasion so that they can be given to me. Considerate but impatient.<\/p>\n

So every Christmas, my wife and children ask me what I want. I stammer around trying to think of something, am not successful, then tell them that I don’t need anything and a card would be wonderful. I understand that if I were the one asking for suggestions from them, that answer would be totally unacceptable. As I have matured, I try to give general suggestions for presents rather than a specific request.<\/p>\n

A few years ago when the question came in December, I asked my children to try and find me something for my headphones. They were successful, very successful. On Christmas Day they presented me with what I considered to be an exceptional gift. Since then it has turned out to be better than I had imagined.<\/p>\n

Here is Headphone Man.<\/p>\n

\"2-24-2013-Headphone-Man-005-Edit-2-1x1-CR\"<\/a>

Headphone Man, \u00a92013, RAR<\/p><\/div>\n

His job was to live at the end of my desk and keep track of my various headphones. Since his arrival that Christmas, I have learned he does more than that.<\/p>\n

I take a lot of pictures, and he helps with some of my ideas. One year he dressed for all of the national holidays, and I captured each one, some in color, others in black and white. He is quite versatile. He celebrates special occasions, like graduations and weddings. All are photographed. Occasionally I send his picture to those who I think might enjoy seeing what he is up to.<\/p>\n

Now, I am somewhat dyslexic and I tend to think graphically, so my first impulse is to show someone a picture and wait for his or her reaction. This works for some of the people I know. It does not work for everyone. Some people need a little narrative about what they are seeing. In regards to pictures of Headphone Man, the question is usually one of perplexity – what’s with the Headphone Man pictures? In every case when the question is asked, I answer:<\/p>\n

“Whimsy… a moment of mirth… no brain… no ears… no arms or hands… no genitalia… but, something is going on in there, look at the expression on his face, it never changes!” <\/em><\/p>\n

I have not had anyone not smile at the picture once they hear this answer, and subsequently become a fan of Headphone Man.<\/p>\n

As I said, Headphone Man sits at the end of my desk. He has been there for almost three years. No matter what is going on in my life, how rushed or focused I am, when I look his way, I smile and momentarily slow down. That is good for me.<\/p>\n

He does more than watch out for my headphones, he watches out for the head the phones go on, as well.<\/p>\n

He has been stylin’ lately. Lookin’ good, too!<\/p>\n

\"4-28-2013-Headphone-Man-003-Edit-2-CR\"<\/a>

Headphone Man, \u00a92013, RAR<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was looking for something to store my headphones in or on and was not successful in my search for quite some time. I either did not like the look or did not want to spend as much on a stand as I had on the headphones. I am also difficult to buy presents for, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-plain-fun","category-mindfulness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":896,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions\/896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steeringtheelephant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}