Graffiti Art

I have been recently learning how to draw graffiti letters. Here are some of the pieces I've done. Note: I'm still learning how to color them so that the color schemes complement the piece plus cool designs.

Positive Quotes

I have just started a new blog post series (logo made by me)! I hope to bring five quotes about different problems, emotions, or most anything else! Here is the subject for this post: Perseverance

"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.”
- Author: Unknown

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.”
- Douglas MacArthur

“Edison failed 10, 000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.”
- Napoleon Hill

“Try and fail, but don't fail to try.”
- Stephen Kaggwa

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
- Benjamin Franklin


Do you have any quotes or topics? Send your ideas to me (markdmckinney@gmail.com).

Leading with Grace

Today, I am presenting a post by Dr. Jack King of the Northfork Center for Servant Leadership. Dr. King works to develop servant leaders. At Leadership Upsidedown he develops and teaches young leaders the timeless principles and values of servant leadership. I met Dr. King on Twitter and always appreciate his support.

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I believe we often share a misconception about leading, leadership, and leaders. What do you think?

For example, does leading have to be stuffy? No. It is much of the time, but nothing says it has to be.

Leading has everything to do with love. Did you know that? Think about it for a moment. When you boil everything down, every leader you want to follow generously seasons all they do with love. Really.

They lead because they exude a love for others. They lead because they love what they do. They lead because they love what you do, and what you help others do.

Leading is not static. Because life is not static.

Leading is energy; it is flow. Leading is emotion, full tilt. Leading is electrifying. Leading is moving; it is intense. Because leading loves.

Did you watch the video? Did you wonder why it's on this page? Some of you may have thought something like, "Boy, Jack must have flipped his lid. What's this video got to do with servant leadership anyway?"

After all, servant leadership is soft, right? Only wimps are servant leaders, right? Wrong. On both counts.

Servant leadership requires strength; it is not for the faint of heart. The servant as leader, Robert Greenleaf suggests, sets out, first and foremost, to help those served to grow as persons, and for the least privileged in society to benefit, or at least, not be further deprived. Nuttin' easy about that.

Speaking of nuttin', Damien and Tourie Escobar, also know as Nuttin' but Stringz, bring popular and classical genres to the streets. In so doing, they edify, they inspire, they energize, and they move others to new heights. Did you pick up on their thoughts about "a lot of young kids getting violin lessons?" Damien and Tourie quietly lead with grace (well, maybe not so quietly.

And so can you!

Now get out there and quietly take the lead. Before you know it, followers will soon raise their arms high to the sky, joyfully moving them from side to side in tribute to your graceful leadership. Give it a try. You'll see!

Facts About Ego

Google’s dictionary defines “ego” as “an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others.” In other words, ego makes you feel inappropriately better than other people. For example, if you walked up to a person and said that you did something that they might like and they were to respond saying “Are you serious? Mine is so much better than yours,” this would mean they have a huge ego. Ego can destroy teams and relationships as you probably saw above.

Ego won’t just destroy others, it will also destroy you. If you have a big ego, you will learn to be more and more of disrespectful. Also, people will not want to be around you much because all you’re going to do is complement yourself. Another thing that will happen to you if you keep growing your ego is that you will never be happy. You will always try to make yourself better than someone else. You can never say that something is good or that you really like an idea. No, you will always try to put down others.

If you put ego aside, wonders will happen for you. People will enjoy your presence. People will want to share things with you. More importantly, by setting your ego aside, you will be so much happier. You will always feel more supported by others. You’ll also get that good feeling that comes from helping make someone else feel happy. Your mind won’t be clouded with thoughts of just yourself. Your mind will be full of thoughts of others.

A way to do this is to have the trait of humility. Humility makes you courteous and respectful. In Matthew 5:5, within the King James Bible, it says “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” An example of humility, is saying “You first buddy!” when you are entering a door or doing an activity. Being humble will help balance your ego by putting other people in front of yourself.

So don’t allow ego to get in your way because it’s just going to bring you down. Scientist Nathaniel Bronner Jr. says “Ego has a voracious appetite, the more you feed it, the hungrier it gets.” I think he is so right.

My Leadership Page: Leader: Me!

How to Get Along With an Enemy

We always want to avoid making enemies, but it will certainly happen. It may be the opposite of what you would want to do, but the first step to try to turn enemies into friends is to get to know the person better. As Abraham Lincoln said, “I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.” Getting to know them will enable you to learn about most of his or her strengths and weaknesses. Knowing that will help you understand them and get along. You might even figure out what you did (if you did really do something) to them. Then you can apologize to them and this will hopefully turn your enemy into your friend.

Now what if that doesn’t work because they just don’t seem to like you for whatever reason, you must now learn how to get along with them. To do this, you must first ignore their comments. Now I don’t mean that you should blow them off like “who cares about them” because that’s just what they would do to you. No, you must not react to their comments in a negative way. Don’t make their problem your problem. The next step is to not say anything about what he or she does. Don’t be critical of them. Don’t make negative comments. Otherwise, again, you are doing exactly what they are doing. You must ignore the urge to get back at them or the desire to embarrass them. Finally, you must always remember to be nice to them even if they are being a jerk to you. If you do this you will be setting an example. Hopefully they will follow your example.

The people we don’t like are usually the people we don’t know or seem to be not like us. We don’t usually like people that are different from us. The solution is to get to know others even if they are different and be nice to everyone we see.
Will Rogers, speaking of Leon Trosky, said, “I bet you if I had met him and had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man that I didn't like.” Get to know people. You’ll be surprised how much you might like them.

King Tut’s Tomb

King Tut was well known for being only nine when he took the throne of Egypt and for his amazing tomb. What was so special about his tomb? The tomb was found by Howard Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon in November, 1922. When they found it, it wasn’t like any other tomb; it had been undisturbed for 3,000 years.

King Tut’s tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb had survived flash floods and robberies throughout the centuries. No one knew where it might be. It seemed impossible to find it until an American business man named Theodore M. Davis brought some light to the situation. Mr. Davis found some items that led to the discovery of the tomb. The first item was a famous cache in which was a collection of royal funerary items “from Tell el Amarna that were brought to Thebes to escape destruction” says kingtutone.com. The objects were hidden in a safe tomb because of the clay sealing of the cache which was done by King Tut! Inside were many treasures. One treasure was King Tutankhamen’s furniture. There was also more evidence that led to the discovery of the tomb.

Another piece of evidence was found in 1907 inside a crater. It had seal impressions of Tutankhamen and embalming or mummifying materials like linen bags, broken pottery, and natron which basically a type of soda ash. Another clue was a faience cup with King Tut’s name inscribed on it. Next to the cup was another indication of King Tut’s tomb was a cluster of fragments of gold foil with Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun inlaid upon it was found by Mr. Davis. Though he disregarded it but, Carter found it quite remarkable.
After studying it, Carter was certain that King Tut’s tomb was inside the Valley of the Kings. After that he went to his friend, Lord Carnarvon to fund his search. Carnarvon analyzed the clues and agreed to fund the search. They were able to dig in 1914 but had to stop digging because of the First World War.

After the war, they continued to dig. Though funds were running out for Carnarvon, Carter pleaded for one more season of digging and said that if he still didn’t find anything, he would pay for the dig. They agreed for one more season of digging. The project began by digging close to Ramesses VI’s tomb. While they were there, the workers were told to eliminate an Ancient workman’s hut. As the workers were doing what they were told, a step was found. Carter ordered the step to be clear of rubble and sand. At noon the next day, a entrance was found with a stamp on it. The stamp was a Necropolis seal which depicted the god, Anubis, standing above five conquered enemies.

Carter then hurriedly sent a telegram to Carnarvon saying “At last have made wonderful discovery in valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival; congratulations.” Carnarvon and his daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert, quickly made arrangements to go to Egypt and to arrive in Alexandria on November 23rd.

Once they arrived, they met Howard Carter and his assistant, A. R. Callender. The following day, Carter started to drill a hole in the door while Carnarvon, his daughter, and Callender were in the corner waiting anxiously. As the hole became larger, Carter could look through. Carter held a candle which lit up the room quite well. Carter was amazed of what he saw. Lord Carnarvon asked “Can you see anything?” and Carter replied “Yes, wonderful things.” They widened the hole so that you could barely squeeze your way through. Once they were inside, the air was warm. Carter held the candle higher and saw many amazing objects. They agreed that the next day they would explore further.

The next day, they came prepared with electronic lights. The tomb was finally excavated and was photographed. Carter later died in 1939. The tomb treasures are now in the Cairo Museum.

The Curse
A story says that Howard Carter was to come across a tablet. He asked Alan Gardiner to decipher it. After deciphering it, it said “Death will slay with his wings whoever disturbs the peace of the pharaoh.” Both thought this was nonsense but to not scare the workers, all mention of the tablet was wiped from the record. There are many other versions:
“They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death.”
“Let the hand raised against my form be withered! Let them be destroyed who attack my name, my foundation, my effigies, the images like unto me!”
“It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber. I am the protection for the deceased and I will kill all those who cross this threshold into the sacred precincts of the Royal King who lives forever.”
Why do people believe that the curse is true? Below are some facts that help support this:

• Of the 26 people present at the opening of the tomb, 6 had died.
• Of the 22 people present at the opening of the sarcophagus, 2 had died.
• Carter’s dog Susie starts howling then drops dead.
However, Carter died in 1939 at age 64, Harry Burton died in 1940 at age 60, and Sir Alan Gardiner died in 1963 at age 84. For me, I don’t believe that the curse is real. I think it is merely a coincidence. Why? Well I think that maybe there was disease because the tomb had not been opened for 3,000 years so the air must of been pretty bad. Plus with the mummy, I think that could give some people diseases. Scientists say that King Tut died from malaria or bone disease. So since the air had been trapped in there for 3,000 years, perhaps some of the diseases from the mummy were still lingering inside the tomb.

Lincoln's Dreams

It was the last morning of President Lincoln's life. He planned an evening at Ford's Theater for that night. Lincoln invited General Grant and his wife, but they declined. Following that, thirteen other people declined as well. Finally Major Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris agreed to join the Lincolns.

At the cabinet meeting that day, the president said that he had two peculiar dreams. One of the dreams was: "I'm in a boat, and I drift and I drift. Gentlemen, something extraordinary is going to happen and very soon." After that, Lincoln told the cabinet his other dream. His dream woke him in a cold sweat. He explained: "I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I left my bed and wandered downstairs. I went from room to room until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There before me was a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who acted as guards. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers. 'The President,' was his answer. 'He was killed by an assassin.'"

And so that night, President Lincoln was shot. He died the next morning. What is kind of funny is that he once said, "Most people regard dreams as foolish." You wonder what history would be like if Lincoln would of paid attention to his dreams.

Like this story? It was adapted from SHOCKING SECRETS OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 115 Surprising and Amusing Tales. Get the book for more Shocking Stories!