Uncle XOQ

Uncle XOQ (pronounced Zok) is the fun, wise, off beat, approachable Uncle we all wish we had when we were kids.

Coming soon, just in time for the 2012 Holiday season and Autumn/Winter Birthdays, Uncle XOQ, in paperback and ebook will be on sale this year.

Zoey Stevens has started the illustrations for this first in a series of "Uncle XOQ" kids' books. Zoey's magical skills are putting a face to Uncle XOQ, his nephew, and the kids and adults in their world.

The "truth" of Uncle XOQ is his ability to make sense of the confusing challenges faced by all of us. Uncle XOQ dishes out his unique observations to his favorite nephew; a young teenager trying to find his voice and his identity.

With his off beat sense of humor, and a mind filled with quotes and sayings based on his interesting life experiences, Uncle XOQ is always available with answers, motivation, and clever ideas about how to get unstuck.

Giving this new book as a gift to kids of all ages, will be another beginning; a new way for you to connect with family and friends.

Keep an eye out for more insights into the Uncle XOQ story.

Uncle XOQ by Robby Hoffman
Illustrated by Zoey Stevens

See Beneath

February 19, 2012 ..... Carlsbad, CA

If you are reading this in the future, I trust the feeling of pride this Dad has for his son in this moment still radiates from this page. Three weeks into his Kickstarter campaign for Aiko & Egor, Casey and his team have $10,745 committed to their project. The "Assembly of Backers" includes family, friends, school-mates, autism professionals, and parents of the children who will directly benefit from the products See Beneath, Inc. will produce. These are all people Casey has touched, directly or indirectly, from as far back as 1986. They have taken the time to help make the goal of $12,000 attainable (or is it obtainable?).

I can't help but reflect on Casey's path to this moment, remembering each step of the journey and the decisions made about which college, what major, work study jobs, internship, first job out of university, and meeting Gerin and Jim to begin creating Aiko and Egor.

My philosophy can be distilled down to this: there are no mistakes in life if you learn from your experiences. I always tell Casey that each decision should be made with eyes wide open. Analyze the pluses and minuses, be intentional about considering your options, then choose with confidence in the moment knowing that the road ahead leads to valuable experiences, lessons, and ultimately more decisions built on a new collection of wisdom.

In the light of keeping this post simple and to the point, I'll end by sharing a moment on the sidewalk in front of my sister's home on Francisco St. in Berkeley: Casey on the right and Leland on the left. Taken during a visit with Frankie; James' wife and the mother of Leland. I met them while volunteering for the MS Society in the Bay Area. James eventually passed away from complications of MS and to thank me for my service, Frankie gave me one of my most treasured possessions: a full sized hour glass (see photo). The sands of time continue to flow and we all are simply a tiny grain on the surface of a beautiful planet.

Aiko & Egor

See Beneath, Inc. is a start-up non-profit company dedicated to producing educational tools for young autistic kids. It is the inspiration of three creative people: Casey Hoffman, Gerin Gaskin, and Jim Turner. Casey and Gerin are early childhood Interventionists and Jim is an artist. They saw a need and they went for it.

I admire them. I support them. I believe in them. I am going to put my money behind them by giving generously to their Kickstarter Project. I am requesting that you GIVE what you can afford.

Raising funds to offset the costs of producing their first DVD and to continue producing more episodes in the Aiko & Egor animated series is a big challenge. Casey and Gerin have spent 3 years, countless hours a week, sitting across from 2-3 year old kids with different degrees of attention deficits. As you can imagine, this work requires incredible patience and specific skills.

After full days of driving all over San Diego County to these kid's homes, interacting with frustrated parents, and making tiny, incremental progress at connecting with these toddlers, Casey and Gerin have also spent a year and a half of their evenings and weekends with a team of writers and animators producing the Pilot Episode of Aiko & Egor.

When you watch their first video, remember the simple goals of the creators: to grab and hold the attention of a young child with Autism and to maintain that connection while teaching core skills. Stop, look and listen is natural for a normal child; but not for kids with complicated attention deficit disorders.

Their research is supporting their work. The kids are mesmerized by "Aiko & Egor" and their undersea friends. The lessons are being communicated. It is the beginning of a series of DVD's that families can watch together while Mom and Dad, and brother and sister, can be part of a transformation.

Many of us have learned the importance of "see-ing beneath" the surface of human situations to uncover solutions. The name of Casey, Gerin, and Jim's new non-profit corporation clearly states the truth about their intention. They know that behind the veil of autism syndrome is a child waiting to be discovered.

Please help them help Autistic kids and their parents. Thanks!

Click here to Go To Kickstarter and PLEDGE your support.

Thank you so much for helping autistic kids and their families.

You Make Me Want to Be a Better Man*

As the football season reaches its climax, the political season is in full form. Jud forwarded this information about Thomas Jefferson and it once again proves the point about humans. We have forgotten more than we have learned.  

Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man. At 9, he studied Latin, Greek and French. At 16, he entered the College of William and Mary. At 19, he began his Law studies. At 23, he started his own law practice. At 25, he was elected to the Virginia House. At 32, he was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.  At 33, he wrote the Declaration of Independence. At 33, he began revising Virginia's legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom. At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia At 40, he was elected to Congress. At 41, as the American minister to France, he negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams. At 46, he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington. At 53, he served as Vice President. At 55, he became the active head of Republican Party.  At 57, he was elected the 3rd President of the United States.  At 60, he orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size. At 61, he was elected to a second term as President. At 65, he retired to Monticello. At 80, he helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine. At 81, he created the University of Virginia and served as its first president. At 83, he died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Thomas Jefferson understood history and the nature of man. He is a voice from the past with a wake up call. Read through these quotes from Thomas Jefferson and marvel and shiver at the truth: "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe." "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." In the early 1960's, John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at. JFK made this statement:  "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." *"You make me want to be a better man."  As Good as it Gets, 1997, James Brooks

Drive

I have been driving since I was 15. Before I had my driver's license, my Mom let me use her brand new 1964 Mustang so she wouldn't have to pick me up at 5:30 after football practice. I parked it next to my Driver Education teacher in the High School parking lot (true story). 

Here is a salute to all my vehicles, spliced between the images from my drive through life.

My journey home continues in 2012 on my yellow brick road.

60 Years on Earth

The official moment I declared that I have been on planet Earth for 60 years is Dec 17, 2011 at 5:26 PM. It did NOT sneak up on me. I had been thinking about my 60th for 12 months. I had a party Dec 17, 2010 to mark the first day of my 60th year and we partied on 12/17/11 to celebrate the beginning of the rest of my life. If you had known me for the past 35 years, you would question why celebrating my birthday has all of a sudden become important. Why is this particular milestone different?


This is the official moment when I cross the line from middle age to senior status. AARP moved that right of passage to 50 years old awhile back, but I'm guessing their mouths were watering looking at the potential huge membership of people in my generation and they couldn't wait to welcome us into senior-dom. Greedy buggers!

This is a great opportunity for a Robby segue. Greed and fear are the driving emotions of humans in my lifetime (probably been that way forever). Fantasy and reality also occupy a huge space in our psychology and emotions. Our being-ness is a complex system of memories, current conditions, genetics, and decisions. I decided to pry open my own time capsule, borrowing an idea from Forrest Gump. The snapshots here are part of the timeline of my existence. There is no question that "life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get."


As a kid in the 1950's in NY, my world revolved around sports. Mickey Mantle was my idol. Negative family dynamics were buried under my total immersion in baseball, basketball, football and hockey. In bed after lights out, I listened to the Knicks and Rangers on my transistor radio under the covers. I spent countless hours in our Den watching all 154 Yankee baseball games on our Sylvania black and white TV.

In the 1960's, my family issues continued, but I had a great friend at school, David. He and I made our way through Junior High and High School, dominating all sports and eventually heading off to Penn and Princeton. During the first 4 months of college, American troops crossed the boarder into Cambodia and news of the horrific events occurring in villages across Vietnam appeared on the evening news. Protests boiled on college campuses as 18-25 year olds were inspired by the lyrics of Bob Dylan and the Beatles to NOT accept the status quo.

Of course there were other distractions. I was mesmerized by the Hollywood fantasy exemplified on the silver screen by my favorite Raquel Welch. I met and fell in love with a real life beauty, my college girlfriend/cheerleader Nancy. She became my first love and heartbreak. It took too many years to recover. The rest of the 1970's were filled with coaching, teaching, and exploring the highways of the USA, and ended with me moving to Bezerkeley. 

The internal changes that brought about that transition were only realized through hours and months of therapy and a healthier lifestyle in the 1980's. No piece about my life would be complete without my taking a moment to mention my angel, my older sister Lauren. She left me seeking deeper meaning in life and wondering, "What's it all about Alfie?"


My son was born in 1986 and I found myself being a philosophical Dad. We watched parts of the Never Ending Story ever morning. It depicted a world being torn apart by evil, but emphasized the power of a small boy to find the confidence necessary to save the goodness. 

By then I had Co-Founded Hospice of Central Az and had Directed Special Olympics in Santa Cruz. Filled with the satisfaction of these good works, I set about the business of trying to make a living as a self-employed man. Although that taught me a lot, it never worked out financially. In the 1990's, I spent all my time getting in and getting out of businesses and relationships. Transitions became the signature of my journey. Fortunately I maintained my connection to truth and stayed focused on being a Dad no matter what else was shaking my reality.

In the new millenium, Americans were brought to their collective knees when 2 planes hit and took down the twin towers, claiming 3,000 innocent souls, and throwing a nation into panic and anger. These are not a good mix of human emotions and they blinded a country, making its citizens vulnerable to the twisted manipulation of the evil Dick Cheney. To puff his chest and line the pockets of his cronies at Halliburton, he lead us with lies into a war we didn't need to fight in Iraq. 

That war ended the day before my 60th birthday, in a year when humans once again found their voice. In December 2011, Time magazine named its "Man of the Year = The Protestor". This honors the courage of regular humans, mostly in the Arab world, willing to stand up and demand a change of leadership in their countries. In America the "Occupy" copycats in cities across the land, inspired by the original "Occupy Wall Street" gang had a harder time with their message and demands. It is much more complicated and harder to define what change is needed in a "free" country being run by lobbyists, financial institutions, and corrupt politicians.

It is not as simple as throwing out the long standing Dictator. Its about changing a system that was put in place gradually since Ronald Reagan. "Money gone wild" was then turned loose during the first decade of the 2000's by the Bush administration. Amongst a laundry list of bankrupting ideas, regulations were turned off and the citizens economy was laid to waste by lending cheap money to humans who could not really afford to buy houses, cars, and products on cascading credit contracts.

Where does Earth and its humans go from here? What will happen during my 60's and how will "things" be at the celebration of my 70th birthday.  Time will tell, but I have to keep reminding myself that although I have a pretty good idea about the humans I'm sharing this ride with through space and time, hope springs eternal. The ultimate battle that humans need to win in order to overcome the challenges confronting us is exemplified by these great words from Forrest, very simple man: "Stupid is as stupid does."

2012

This is my "2012 - A Year in Review." Bending my mind around what I'd like to be analyzing in the rear view mirror on 12/22/12 is an opportunity to look ahead and consider the part I might play in creating change.

1. During the 2012 Holiday season, thousands of friends, family, and strangers have purchased 5,000 copies of my new kids book "Uncle XOQ".

2. Barrack Obama has been re-elected and the Democrats have won back the House.

3. The earthquakes in SoCal, South America, and Italy, the tsunami in the Philippines, and the volcano in Iceland have killed 116,000 and has scared 7 billion humans into realizing who's the boss = Earth.

4. Apple's newest game changer has sold 50 million units in 3 months. Mine is permanently imbedded behind my ear.

5. My employer caught me recording my work day through the mini-cam I had pinned to my apron. I was streaming live 24-7 on my website. I negotiated a settlement; instead of firing me, they have agreed to accept my offer of providing one year of free training to all SoCal employees. My workshops increase individual productivity if a corporation commits 5 hours per week for each worker to focus on their well-being through exercise and education about diet, healthcare, communication, and relationship skills.

In addition, I am keeping my eyes wide open about the inevitability of all of the following if we do not continue to protest against the deceit, corruption, and manipulation of corporations and governments worldwide. 

*"Crop contamination leads to world food crisis

Honeybee population collapse spreads to other species

As deadly superbug mutation goes wild

EPA pressured to regulate pharmaceuticals in the water supply

Terrorist strike on the U.S. water supply

Evidence links vaccines and neurological disorders

Vaccine industry goes all in with new vaccines for all sorts of 'diseases'

While the medical industry claims to find cause of autism

Scandal implicates major pharmaceutical company in scientific fraud

Medical imaging scandal unfolds as older patients begin to show serious health damage from radiation via mammograms and CT scans 

Nursing home drugging scandal exposed

War on health freedom ramps up, targeting raw milk, homeopathy, and herbs

Satellites breakdown

U.S. power gird suffers catastrophic failure

Weather patterns become increasingly radicalized

Nuclear weapons unleashed in the Middle East

U.S. debt gets downgraded world investors slash purchases of U.S. debt 

U.S. plans military conflict with China over natural resources

China unleashes an army of corporate espionage hackers into western nations

Cell phone brain tumors start to appear in younger usersThe world becomes a far more dangerous place for honest citizens"*

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*www.naturalnews.com/028167_predictions_2012.html