‘Person of Interest’

Here's an interesting fellow with some surprises in his personal life.

‘Person of Interest’ is a well written show with a clever premise.

Jim Caviezel plays the lead.

(Early on, folks in the business told him he should change is name because nobody would be able to pronounce his real one.) 

Jim Caviezel, the star of the blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ, told an interviewer that he had been challenged by a friend who was not pro-life to live up to his professed pro-life convictions and adopt a disabled child. The friend told Caviezel that if he did that, then he would change to the pro-life position.

When Caviezel and his wife, Kerri, went to China to adopt not one, but eventually two orphans suffering from brain tumors, the friend reneged on the deal. Caviezel, however, said, "It didn't matter to me because the joy that we had from (Bo) - he’s like our own."

The couple’s first child, Bo, had been abandoned on a train, grew up in an orphanage until he was five and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The Caviezels nursed Bo through his surgeries and he remains today at the center of the family.

"We took the harder road," the actor said. "That is what faith is to me; it’s action."  They eventually adopted a third orphaned child. 

What are some of the things you find most rewarding about being a dad?

"The other day my little girl jumped in my lap, put her hand on my face, and whispered in my ear, "Papa, I love you so much." It pulls on your heartstrings. When you come home and the kids run to you, come up and grab your leg. We have a little thing. They stand on my feet and I walk them into the kitchen and we just laugh"

~ Interview by Hilary White

(It's always a pleasure to find an actor who doesn't fit the entertainment industry model of shallow living, isn't it.)

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

Japan, 2011

No, it isn't really falling, Chicken Little, even though it seems like it is these days. Earthquakes, tsunamis, destructive storms and floods, and all.

China 2008

Japan, Haiti, Chile, China, and Turkey have caught our attention in recent months. Unusual? Are such things occurring more frequently? No, they're not.

Unsuccessful People

From the book “How To Become a Total Failure: 

The Ten Rules of Highly Unsuccessful People,” 

by Bill Guillory and Phil Davis.

1. Resist learning anything new.  (The more you know, the more people will expect.)

2. Don’t share what you know with others.  (Knowledge is power. Don’t give away your power.)

3. Be a jerk.  (Jerks get what they want and decent behavior isn't expected.)

4. Always look out for number one.  (It's a zero-sum game.)

5. It’s all about the money.  (Money equals success!)

6. Promise things you have no intention of doing.   (The more you promise, the more responsible you look.)

7. It’s always someone else’s fault.  (Your success is dependent on your ability to CYA.)

8. Truth is in the eye of the beholder.  (The truth that benefits you most.)

9. Do the least that’s necessary for success.  (Be all that you can be with as little effort as possible.)

10. The customer is someone you must tolerate.  (Customers are never satisfied no matter what you do.)

I ran across this book after many years and three careers.  It explains so much about why some well-placed individuals, even some agencies were so difficult to engage.  Not that I didn't make my share of mistakes along the way, of course; just noting the rice-bowling, backside-covering, minimal-performing players along the way.  It explains a lot, doesn't it.

Let's add an eleventh ...

11. Divert decisions to consensus meetings, data gathering, and follow-on meetings.  (That way, if anything goes wrong, there are others that can be blamed.)