It's on the Move!

I am getting slap happy about the relationship game. A flood of ideas have been flooding forward, as they always have with my friend Mike.

Isn't this funny. Ever since we were eight years old we always made up games together. First it was making cut out football players - who looked pretty damn real. We would position them, move them about and create our own reinactments of Los Angeles Ram football. Then came Hot Wheels, Gi Joes, sports, Marble Baseball, and fast forward to today - we are doing the same damn thing!

Mike said today, not much has changed. I disagree. Of course we are creating an exciting game like olden days, however we both have changed drastically. When you turn fifty you've lived a lot of life. I feel as a therapist I have been in excellerated life for years. I bring stuff to the surface in hordes of people and we deal with it. This brings up my issues that I must process. I have lived many many lifetimes as a result. The bad or good news is that I still have a lot of growing to do, but "I", as Martin Luther King said, "have seen the mountain top!"

Hopefully the knowledge I have gained in all my lifetimes will be translated into this game. I can't wait to sit down and play the game with my fiance' and her daughter. You want to deal with relationships - well this will be the real test for me - that's for sure.

So thanks for your comments - keep them coming. And together let's have fun on Facebook playing this thing.

Are You Game?

It seems that my life is so busy right now with home improvements, not only at my home, but out in the desert, and now at my dad's that I have started to live vicariously through my friend Mike. Mike is creating a game for the internet - through Facebook and as he progresses forward step by step, my opportunity to partner a game with him gets closer too. How exciting is this? Perhaps this is why I have maxed out my current schedule. Awaiting the next creative endeavor can be difficult at best.

So ideas. Do you have any ideas for the possible game? I have been racking my brain with scenarios for not the Burn Ward game, but a game on relationships. What idiotic things have gone on while you've dated, been married, heard from coworkers that are game worthy. The number one scenario that happened to me was in my last relationship, when my fiance at the time literally kicked me out of the bed in the middle of the night while I was sound asleep because she was still upset with something I said to her earlier in the day! Do you think she had anger issues?

Maybe this is a great question to ask the Burn Warders. Driving Michelle and Dave around while they were getting some was a classic! I am sure there are a ton more. Just imagine playing a game with fun antics, where you can win fabulous prizes - on line. Yeah, that's the ticket!

So let me know. Blog in or contact me at drscottalpert.com

Have a tremendous day.

Return to Dad's

This past weekend was like heaven and hell. Being reunited with my father is a real treat. Yes, as you read in the book, my early years with my father were horrible and set inside of me a lot of anxiety, fear, panic, etc. Fast forward to the present, my father and I have not only worked through our issues, but are as close as two can get - and I write this with pride. How often can the abuser and the abusee hash things out and find unconditional love? Well us two sure have.

It is funny even typing this. I mean funny strange. I haven't thought about my abusive father for years! He has been my best friend for over twenty years and if it wasn't this way, I would have never agreed to what I did for him this past weekend.

If you didn't know by now I like construction. Yes the part inside of me that studied architecture still yearns for creative expression. Well when my father asked me to help him with his home rennovation, I jumped at the offer. This, I thought would give us a project to do together, you know the father son thing, and do some real male bonding. When I showed up with tile saw in hand, I felt like an ant facing a mountain!

You would think that this would be a family affair. Home improvement projects usually are. But where was my brother? Off to a softball game? You've got to be kidding! And for my dad, well unfortunatly his back went out and instead of working on his floor, I was massaging his back! The saddest thing - nobody cleaned out the rooms I had to tile, so there I was on my own, pulling out furniture, closests, nasty carpeting, and scrapping the floors on my own. Don't four people live there?

Aching and angry as hell I wondered if God was punishing me or teaching me some spiritual lesson. Why was I always the responsible one. I just want to have fun - sound familiar?

So with scrapper in hand I started to sing out a church hymn. I figured if I was in hell at least I could ask God to join me. As soon as the lyrics came out my phone started to ring. One sister, the other, her husband, even my brother and his wife returned. Like magic I was surrounded by a loving, and helpful family and we were all working as a team! Eric was unloading material, Samantha was cutting tile, Mara was buttering up tiles, David was bringing tiles to me, Michelle was setting tiles, and I was slapping down tiles like nobodies business! As a team we jammed! Unfortunately the team work wasn't this way the day before, but hey I'm not complaining anymore - this was what I had imagined from the start.

Though we are a dysfunctional bunch, when motivated we can accomplish great things. Again, this project just began and I have a lot of weekends ahead of transforming my dad's place. But one thing is for certain - though dysfunctional our family is full of love for each other and I feel proud to be part of it!

Happy reading - tell a friend.

Some Things Never Change

From time to time my best friend Mike is on track. For some reason we were talking about life today and the subject came up about how people never change. I have seen many changes in people: their income, their marital status, even their physical appearance, but we both realized that people overall never change. Perhaps I gave my stamp of approval on this too quickly.

I have seen transformations on a daily basis. Many criminals and drug addicts have changed their lives for the better and continue to impact themselves and others. Yes they have changed. My life direction years ago changed from sports and architecture to Spiritual Psychology as a living. Darryl was a burn out and is now in semi retirement. Ernie made a killing in the auto industry, while Dave is very successful in advertising! These people once professed burn outs, hovering around the Burn Ward changed their lives big time though did they really change? Dave, John Darryl, Ernie, and myself on the inside are still happy go lucky and similiar to how we were while in the sizzle of burning out in the Burn Ward.

Spiritually we all have souls, and it is our job to nurture and assist our soul into growth and development. In doing so we do change. I have seen many backslide. I have seen my fair share of people going psychotic and even dieing when they fail to work on bettering themselves. I believe that halting the growth cycle is hazardous to our health.

I am well aware of the times I have halted my own growth process. Fearing the unknown I will hold tight to the familiar - whatever that is. I have termed this being attached to the drama. When everything in life falls apart I do have my anger and resentments to hold tight to, when the simple act of letting them go helps propel me to great heights of growth and awareness. But that is such a huge leap of faith to go through. Instead it is simply easier to hang on to my pain, poor health and being right. According to the poet Rumi - "There is a field out there beyond right and wrong doing. I'll meet you there." :-)

Happy reading and blog on

Hesitation

Hello blog fan, Scott here. I have been hesitating lately, knowing full well that without any marketing, my book will fade into the dust like so many failed projects throughout the ages. In talking with many friends we all agree the creative process is easily accessed, but the marking aspect is new, confusing, and seems to be walking down a dark plank to a deep void - any false steps can lead to a huge fall. Do I stop moving forward? If I do I will miss the fall for sure. If I do plod on who knows the trouble that awaits? Or in the future if I keep on going I may at last reach my goal of spreading a life changing event that meant the World to me!

So what - another side of me screams. The events at the Burn Ward meant a lot to me and to John. To other folks that didn't experience the same, does it really matter to them? An interesting question. I hear about lots of paranormal experiences from clients at work on a continual basis. My reaction to them is intrigue. Would I like to read it in a book? Well to be honest, only a few of the depictions have caught my interest. Others are just psychotic renditions of sillyness.

Have I hesitated in spreading the Burn Ward news because of my physical condition? I am nursing a pulled tooth and the gaping hole in my mouth. I have been in the center of household destruction with plaster difficulty, cabinet hell, and now the starting of a new project for my dad's house.

Perhaps all the busyness is giving my mind a break from focusing on a book I had spent the better part of two years on. Typing day and night and obsessing about events from my distant past can be a bit much at times. Trust me - it was a passionate experience but when the switch was turned off in it's completion it is nice to obsess on another hobby like home repair. If you have the knack to work a hammer and a saw you would understand my meaning.

So I hesitate, for whatever reason. I let my mind focus on healing my body, completing handyman projects, and begin the creative process for an exciting game for the internet -

More to follow.

Happy to be Back!

Hello everybody. Have been under the weather and had to have a tooth removed. My dentist years ago told me if I kept my wisdom teeth, since they were softer than regular teeth I would have problems in later life. Well he was right! My tooth was extremely healthy, I bit into a sandwich and it split in two! This was something my current dentist - Dr. Joe - told me was very rare. In this case it isn't too great being rare. So after trying to save the tooth for the past few months and my heart palpitating from the extra infection and battles from my immune system the tooth was exed! Good riddens you crack pot!!

Have you ever had a tooth removed? If you hate any medical related situations like I do, it can be a living hell. Thank God one of my best friends is my dentist. Joe has the most incredible chair side manner and literally hand walked me through the entire process.

If you are squeemish, avoid reading the following:

I had never had a tooth removed, unlike the majority of my friends as teens had all their teeth pulled at once. At this time I was too stoned and into partying to even think about going through all that nonsense and opted to deal with it later in life. Damn.

So here I am - a big sissy, in the chair having to rush miles from the desert to arrive out in Mission Viejo to undergo a tooth extraction. When I arrived - late of course - they rushed me into a chair, checked my blood pressure - which I hate worse than cleaning out urine underneath the cat box - and then they tell me - "You need to relax before we cut into your mouth!" Oh great - how in the world am I going to relax when I see them setting up needles, plyers, rubber gloves and a huge hammer - just in case I am suspecting.

When the time came I was ready. I didn't want to face this alone so I started to hum a song I heard from Guru Singh - "To be confident, that the Infinite, will take care of it, we're so fortunate." Trust me I wasn't fortunate to see that huge needle getting ready to be plunged into my absessed gum, but I was fortunate that God was on my side - or I was deluding myself into believing this.

Whatever Joe did was amazing! He hit the right area and I felt the constantly soar and pressurized location, that was hungry for something ease. At it did I did. Then step by step Joe prepared me for this and that. A painful tug here and a painful tug there, and some ooze came out, causing a weird taste in my mouth - probably all that infected junk, then the tooth slid right out. Nice work Picasso!

I kept wondering as he stitched my gum if this being a wisdom tooth would make me less wise? Yuck yuck.

The best is what happened an hour later. I found myself on my dad's couch in Anaheim watch "The Tooth Fairy" with The Rock. Pretty apprapro.

So now I am in healing mode. Was able to work today, and now return my focus on what really matters - marketing this book in which I have heard no feedback. Did I shock the folks who lived it? Has it brought back unpleasant memories of days gone by? Has it angered people and they are amassing an angry mob to lynch my ass. A wisdom tooth is one thing, I wonder if Dr. Joe can reattach my head after the mob rips it off of me.

Happy reading and kind remarks are always welcomed.

The Game is in Development

Today has been a blast! I love when the creative juices are flowing! I am just kicking back at work - a rare easy day, and just thinking about a new game Mike and I came up with on my drive to work.

How fortunate am I to have a daily relationship with somebody for almost fifty years! I can't believe we are so old, and have known each other for so long, but it's true. Fortunately we are both in great shape and look half our ages. That is probably because we have made ourselves laugh and tapped into our collective creative juices from the moment we met each other high in a back yare Avocado tree!

I don't want to jinx the subject, but we've moved away from the Burn Ward game and focused on another subject. Currently Mike is in production on a Corporate Bull game - a game we kicked around ideas for over twenty years ago. Trust me, the board game is great! Now Mike is taking it electronic and we came up with it's sequel, soon to be released. Well not soon, but the beginnings of it are a crack up!

Go onto bigredshoes.com if you'd like, and check out what Mike has been doing with the game Corporate Bull, and his other dasterdly projects. How cool is it to live your passion as an artist? Mike has survived somehow doing this for years and continues to be a trend setter.

Originally when Mike moved out of state for his first sales job he went through office politics that drove him nuts! Because of this Corporate Bull came to be. His original version was called the "Brown Nose Game" because he learned that in order to move up the corporate ladder many people kissed the bosses ass to do so. Becuase this name wasn't "politically correct", the name was changed.

In the original version every player starts with a bicycle, moves around the game by rolling dice, grabbing a card and following the directions. You were asked to buy a fax machine, a "pager", and bought a new vehicle, collected brown nose cards and ultimately became the CEO of a large firm. Black mail and gossip were common themes in the game. I hope this electronic version contains some of the same gags we devised. Trust me, the old material still applies today.

So now we are at it again. The same old comedy duo is poking fun at life the way that we see it through our skewed vision. As for the Burn Ward Game - Who knows? Perhaps it may fly, but the ideas for it aren't flying out like this current project.

Stay tuned. It should be a goody!!!

NOT AGAIN!

Well the initial review from Michelle is in. She hates that I used her first name. Sheesh! I thought I told her about this and now she is upset. Is everybody going to lynch me? My friend Don assured me I can use first names with no difficulties at all - legally. Well that may be so on the legal level, but I am seeing that emotionally people once they see their name in print get triggered. Well not everybody - Dave, Don, and Johnny boy are eating it up.

Well I guess I asked for it. In writing some kind of historical piece it was inevitable that people would get upset in reading about what happened in their world so long ago. Should I not write, should I hold my passion deep inside of me? Hell no! This is art, mixed with fact, mixed with creativity, mixed with a few manufactured items that make the subject matter flow better. This book wasn't intended to be a gossip piece anyway. It was intended to prove that God does exist and He existed in the most unlikely place ever!!!

Michelle, you should love I mentioned your name, because you are a star in this book to me. Maybe Danielle is going to be a bit more pissed because her actions are described pretty accurately and it must be really difficult to see our short comings in print. Just wait till the movie comes out anyway. I'm sure I'll here from her and others at this time. Bring it on.

I guess the ill feelings come with the territory. In stepping out people seem to push back. This reminds me of a pilot series I worked on years ago called "Star Power". My friend Leslie McRay was a Hollywood socialite who was close to all the mega stars in Hollywood. The show was simply interviewing stars who went through adversity en route to becoming mega stars. All of these people - Omar Sharif, Faith Ford, and Troy Donahue were a few, just off the top of my head that heard a thousand "no you cant's on the way to becoming household names. I haven't heard a thousand, maybe about twenty or so, but I am committed to see this book all the way to the top!

Thanks to all the yes people who surround me. Comments on the blog are always appreciated.

Much love and happy reading.

Albert Saparoff - Epitate

The other day I heard about victims of a building fire having to be sent to the burn ward. I know it's not a chuckling matter, but I did anyway. I had a friend of mine who volunteered his time giving healings to people at a burn ward in the Orange County. Originally he went to the facility to assist a daughter of a friend of his. What amazed everybody was how quickly she was healing.

Non touch healing was shown to me by the late Albert Saparoff. He would place his hands around your body and you could literally feel yourself vibrating. Albert explained it as allowing the healing forces of the universe (God) to enter through his head, move down his arms and go into the places of a person he was working on. To him he was an instrument of God's. When I do healings, I like to recite the Lord's prayer to stay connected to the universal healing energy. As for my friend Jim - at the hospital burn ward, he actually touches people when inspired to do so.

We all have the ability to do this - though we tend to negate our God given ability - or is it something else. Perhaps we choose not to use our gifts fearing ridicule. Many people become comfortable in their "less than" roles often complaining about how life has dealt them a raw hand.

Driving to work today, I remembered something Albert told me. "We live in the Universe - Uni = one, Verse = song, we live in one song!" When we tune in to the key of life - magic takes place. Yes there are always excuses, why we can't stand in our authentic, energetic center. Even so, in any given moment we can easily shift our attention to the healing forces singing throughout all creation! And you just thought you were going to read something ridiculous about a ridiculous book. In all actuality this is the book.

We live, we die, what goes on between the two is of our own creation. We all lost a hero a few months ago with the passing of Albert Saparoff. Ninety four years young, as he said it. Albert was a real heal. I mean healer. And I know Albert would laugh at that. When I met Albert I was hungry to learn about Spiritual things. Isn't it amazing how certain people show up in your life at the perfect time to help teach you what you are yearning for. Well Albert was into positive thinking before it was a fad. At fifty Albert changed from being a concert musician to a film maker. His program "Get High on Life" in the 1970's went into the inner city to teach children to avoid drugs and get high on thier accomplishments. His program was even adapted to the military! I was close with Albert the last twenty years of his life. I took Albert to Hawaii - knowing it was going to be his last trip. We had an amazing time!

I don't understand why Albert is so present in my thoughts today. Perhaps when thinking about healers he tops my list. But with him gone it is time to pass the baton to someone else. For now I'll take it and try to show others how to do the same.

Wishing you all happy reading, and again let me know your thoughts of the Haunted House Burn Ward book.

More Evidence

As a doctor of psychology it is my job to assess people who are in a crisis. Day in and out I meet some extraordinary people who have battled with not only mental illness but also the paranormal. Yesterday a client was talking to me about living in a haunted house.

Now for most professionals in my field, they would look upon this as having delusions, as for me, I need to investigate a tad bit more because I lived in one. This person began describing plates falling from the table, books getting tossed from the shelf, and feeling such a dark presence in the room they brought in their Pastor to chase the evil spirit away. Why didn't we think of that? Perhaps we didn't because of the Buddha fountain in our room and it might have given the preacher the wrong message.

I am hungry to find out more about the great beyond. As I get closer to transitional age I wonder if I fear death or pain more? It is inevitable - we all die and we never talk about it. Is it pleasant? Do we instantly come back if we have unfinished business or learning here? Do we hang around in the ether with God for a bit before coming back. Or do was move on - whatever that means. Do we grow spiritually and become an unseen teacher or guide as Gary Zucav wrote about?

Years ago I interviewed a Vietnam vet. This man was clinically dead seven times! He recalled each event and one in particular will always stay with me. Getting shot on the battlefield would probably be the worst. He was shot numerous times and was fortunate to get airlifted out in a helicopter. At this time he had numerous out of body experiences, kept popping out of the helicopter, would freak out and zoom back into his body, would pop out again, wonder if he would return, would, and eventually made it to the hospital in time to be saved. Wow! All he said was he saw the white light, was tempted to go to it, but felt he was too young to die and fought hard to remain. What is in that light? What is on the other side? Are you curious too?

What Can I Say?

Every once and a while I am at a loss for words. What should I write about pertaining to the book. My focus hasn't been on the book today for one good reason - I have been working hard on a home improvement project and been focusing only on reducing my anger.

Yep - I too get irritated. I guess that happens to me when I am on overload. Every day I wake up early, plaster, sand, paint, clean, haul out, go to Home Depot, and start the cycle again. Last night I was working to 11:30 pm! In fact, I took off a few hours of work in order to rush home to work some more. Yippie!

Are we close to finishing? I don't know. Somehow in my life things are thrown upon me at the last second and I find myself hauling things to the desert, tearing out tile, and installing something new. In fact this emergency handy man work has literally transformed the vacation place in the desert.

What happened to me? I used to get stoned, meditate in front of a Buddha fountain, and travel the country selling bootleg shirts. Now I play handyman in my off hours, play doctor during the week, and play exhausted on the weekends while I try to put all the pieces back together.

Am I complaining? Not one bit! I love being productive. Every project has led to incredible beauty. I handled the book this way and feel it is a real gem. The property out in the desert I am so proud of because I have done everything from fixing the foundation, to scraping the stucco off the ceiling and replastering it. With every project I learn, grow, and become more confident in my home improvement skills.

Once I dragged Michelle - from the book fame - out into the desert to help with laying saltillo tiles. She was exhausted in the first fifteen minutes.

Hey Michelle! Stop smoking those cigarettes and get down on your hands and knees for eight hours. This is how I keep my girlish figure.

It's interesting. I started this blog with nothing on my mind but knew it would lead me somewhere. I like staying busy - that is a given. I also do like to lazy around when I can. I love trying to accomplish new and interesting things in my life. The next project will be creating an awning - first for my dad and then for myself in the desert.

That's the blog of the day. May all your projects go smoothly and turn out awesome!

Uh Oh

Uh oh! It's happened. Michelle has purchased a copy of the book and is about to read it. Michelle is one of the original Burn Ward residents and stories of her run throughout the book. I am sure she will have a lot to say about it and can't wait to pass this on to everybody. Maybe, she will join in with the blogging fun.

It is interesting when somebody who experienced something extraordinary with you is in the process of reading your take on the experience. I hope my brutal honesty - especially about her sister doesn't trigger her like a few other friends. What is great about the triggering process is that people are really involved in the subject matter. Well, that is what I have tried to convince myself.

Knowing Michelle, she will laugh, say a lot of Dudes, and want to slug me in the arm when she sees me.

Happy reading to you all - especially to those who lived the Burn Ward.

A Tribute to Samantha

My last to do on my book list was accomplished today. Though I am sure there is a million more to do, but this is the from the short list. Today I signed a copy of the revised book for my sister Samantha. Though my blogs in the past may have painted a tainted view of her editing work - in her words, but let me assure everybody - without her help I would have been lost in the final stages.

Have you ever bitten off a big project and needed some assistance from anybody? This seems like an ongoing theme for me. I remember when I was laying floor tile and I had a few jobs that was so overwhelming I called in my other sister Mara and brother David to help. Just their being there was all the support I needed. But with the book I needed someone drastically! This was when Samantha answered the call.

In writing a book, it is writing draft after draft after draft, and still you have to edit it about fifty times more. In writing the same story again and again it is easy to get lost in it and lose objectivity. I try to push myself away from the project for a month, but after about a week there is this intense pull to complete the project. Obviously I am project driven and hate unfinished business. With Samantha reading the book, giving me pointers, suggestions, and correcting my poor grammer, the book took on a life it didn't have before. It was actually a book!!

Did she miss things? Yes. Did I screw up? Yes!!! Way more than her few misses. But writing, or really any project is art - a creation. There are still flaws in the book and I am hearing about them from readers now - and I am okay with it. I don't profess to be perfect - I too am a piece of art. Though some would say I am a piece of something else. Still, I believe this artwork came out beautiful because of the support I got from my sister in a cruicial period in the books development.

I am happy that this book became a family project, even if there were a few mentions about my father's angry outbursts in my youth. That was the bad daddy from yester year. If you met my father today you couldn't help but fall in love with him. Why not? He works at Disneyland, loves people, always has something kind to say, and he still looks handsome - like his son - thank you very much. My dad has become my best friend and to that level so has my mom who I blasted pretty much through the entire text. Both of them have great hearts, love people, and are always upbeat. I definitely come from good stock.

So thank you Samantha for your stepping forward and reading the over four hundred pages and doing masterful work. It is well appreciated and I hope the folks that read the book understand your input in this project and appreciate you too.

Much love.