 
Delivered fresh on January 23rd, 2012
Greetings!
I was reminded the other day that: There will come a day when the ship has sailed – for good. I will have run out of second and third chances. I will have run out of time. "The harvest is past, the summer is over and we are not saved." Carpe Diem! That we have all the time in the world? That has been an illusion... Dana DANA DELIVERED! User's Guide: 1) Open up your Dana Delivered! email. 2) Choose an article from the menu on the left hand side or just start from the beginning and read all the way through. 3) If you are reading an article and want to finish, Click on "Read More..." and you will be taken to our website. You can finish reading and while there, have a look around. Note: Dana's Dailies changes, well, daily so come back often. 4) Click on any of the words highlighted in red and you will be taken right to our site, DanaRoc.com. In INSPIRING PEOPLE: Dana talks with NASA Mission Manager, Wanda Harding. Ever meet a real life Rocket Scientist? Meet NASA’s Wanda Harding! Wanda is on the frontline of an elite group of scientists exploring new frontiers. Read Dana's EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Wanda Harding and peer into "the great beyond". Take a minute to read DANA'S WEEKLY INSIGHT and make sure that you listen to the AUDIO VERSION as well. There may be someone who needs you to pass that along. Check out DANA'S DAILIES for no other reason than to hopefully smile. And come back and visit the blog all week at www.danaroc.com/dailies. The special article FROM DANA'S GUESTS: this week is The Man Behind The Video: will.i.am. Singer, songwriter will.i.am shares intimately about how he was inspired to create the Yes We Can video. A must read! Check out AUGUSTE ROC'S MY TWO CENTS (For Whatever It Is Worth). There is something in it for YOU! While it may be "Two Cents" but you'll find it's worth a whole lot more. Feel free to email your comments to Auguste at auguste@danaroc.com. This week's THE GOOD LIFE : BOOKS selection is American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau by Al Gore (Foreword), Bill McKibben (Editor). Beautiful selections written about the environment, by some of the greatest literary minds, is what makes this book a must have. (Definitely a must browse...). Read it! Something useful in THE GOOD LIFE : WEB SITES is Urban Farm Guys this week. Check it out! And there's more so sit back, grab a cup of coffee, relax and enjoy. As always, thanks for reading! Stay cool. Be hungry. Never look back. Always reach back. Fear not. Believe always, Dana What A Man's Gotta Do
Sometimes you just have to go there... A person can only be pushed—but so far! Maybe you have never been there so it might be hard for you to relate. But for those who have been faced with having to endure the kind of injustice that just doesn't make any sense, this one is definitely for you. If you've ever found yourself in the unenviable position of having to take the kind of stand that could severely compromise your personal well being, then we're definitely on the same page. But, if you cringe at the prospect of confronting the establishment in a noble attempt to take back what is rightfully yours, then we probably aren't riding the same wavelength. Either way ... It was a rare and exceptional moment when the perfect opportunity met with my gnawing obsession to finally dispense justice. I remember it like it was yesterday. Sitting there on the sofa, Denise and I eagerly watch as she closes the door behind her, and then we carefully wait just long enough to ensure that she is completely next door. Mrs. White, a neighbor who frequently asks my mother to borrow one thing or another, is out of sugar this time (or maybe it could be milk), and according to the usual pattern, this means that I have roughly five minutes to execute on my plan. Thank God for Mrs. White! Denise is a little bit nervous which I can totally understand because she is, after all, only four. And even though I am, for the most part, fearless at five, I'm sort of shaking in my boots at the thought of the possible consequences and yet I am completely committed to my cause, feeling entirely justified about what I know I have every right to do... It had been two days earlier that our grandparents had dropped off the Easter basket that the Easter Bunny had left at their house just for us. As soon as they kissed us goodbye, my mother decided that she would take all of the chocolate candy eggs out of the baskets that belonged to me and Denise, and divide those eggs up into two categories - those offensive marshmallow Easter eggs in one bowl and the good milk-chocolate-creamy-melt-in-your-mouth eggs in a separate container with a lid. She authoritatively set aside the bowl with the marshmallow eggs, smugly put the container with the lid just out of my reach, and then declared without explanation, that we were not allowed to eat the eggs in that container, reducing us to having to eat the offensive marshmallow eggs with the chocolate that tasted like cardboard and crumbled when you tried to take your first bite. Would my grandparents have appreciated this behavior from her? I imagined that she knew they would not. I was annoyed but Denise looked—in shock. She had been counting on those Easter baskets just because she loved those creamy eggs so much. As I watched her fade away into the distance, defeated and heading to our room for a nap, I knew that something had to be done. This was, for me, an undeniable call to action. Somebody had to stand up for the little guy and that somebody was going to have to be me. Two long days ago, affording my righteous indignation plenty of time to ferment, I'm kind of nervous but feeling equal to the task. I direct Denise to take up her position as “look out� at the front door, and then I grab the kitchen stool and climb up on the counter. When I open the cupboard and finally retrieve our creamy chocolate eggs, the smile on Denise's face makes me feel like a hero in one of our books. We gobble up those Easter eggs, enjoying every smooth and chocolaty bite as if there is no tomorrow and when we hear the keys in the door, signaling my mother's return, we fear that we may have just eaten our very last meal. Imagine. I wasn't totally defeated, however, that day because ultimately I did learn a few lessons: I learned that day, the hard way, that my parents were definitely not running a democratic household and I learned that my mother's no fool. And, in hindsight I suppose that I could have picked a more direct, honest and responsible way to “stand up for my rights.� But I also learned that— If you really believe in your cause, there will be times when you've just got to be willing to go there; to a place where you're scared and not at all certain about the way things will work out. I appreciate that I can laugh out loud every time I remember that Easter egg drama, and even though I question to this day, the appropriateness of my disobedience, I would likely do it all over again. In my world at five years old, those Easter eggs were a very big deal and to me, they were rightfully mine. And although I would later realize that my mother had good reason and that she was rightfully being a mom, I admire the kid that I was - that kid who would not be denied and I pray that I will never back down from a fight. I hope that I won't ever live life afraid. And you? Is there something for which you'd be willing to fight—or not—because you're scared you might pay with your hide? With reverence for the possible consequences, yet in full deference to your personal cause, would you be willing to arm yourself with the courage of your convictions? Would you be willing to stand for what you believe? Maybe you have never been there so it might be hard for you to relate, but consider that you could give yourself permission to “go there�, that your courage might speak for someone else who has yet to find their voice; that your resolve might wax heroic in someone else's eyes or perhaps you'll only simply discover something about yourself that will absolutely blow your mind and cause you to reconsider—just how powerful you really are! Dana Have a great week!
  NASA Mission Manager, Wanda Harding
Few people have the ability to captivate people and hold them spellbound. Wanda Harding possesses that ability because she is one of a very few elite scientists that get to play in outer-space. Imagine... DR: I am here today with Wanda Harding, Mission Integration Manager with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Did I get that right Wanda? WH: That was our old title. We just go by Mission Manager now. DR: Can you tell me what exactly a Mission Manager is and what is it exactly that a Mission Manager do? WH: I am a Mission Manager with The Launch Services Program down at The Kennedy Space Center. Our role is equivalent to a Project Manager. Our organization serves as basically the bridge from earth to space for NASA’s spacecraft and satellite missions. There is a Mission Manager responsible for the team from the NASA side, that works with the spacecraft customer over a period of three to five years making sure that all the requirements are in place, that the launch vehicle is appropriate for the type of mission that is being launched and making sure that at the end of the day, when we launch the spacecraft, we insert it into its proper orbit and get it on its way. The exciting part with that job is of course the day of launch where you actually get a chance to sit on console after working the mission for a number of years... DR: Wow... WH: And you are part of The Launch Management Team that gets to give that final “go� as we are going into terminal count for the mission. DR: What is that like? WH: In one word “It’s amazing�. The first thought that captures you is “Woo! Okay, we are finally here�. But then, the next thought, like in the case of the Mars Mission, when you realize that you are about to send something, not just off the planet, but to another planet. That is a whole different layer of excitement that is generated. DR: Is there anything that you can compare that to for us earthlings? WH: Oh my goodness. I would say that the thrill is probably like the first time you got to drive the car by yourself or whatever momentous occasion where you have waited and put a lot of effort behind it and its finally here. But I don’t think that does it justice. I think the next best thing is to actually...
 Sometimes you just have to follow your heart... Singer, Songwriter, will.i.am
The Man Behind The Video: will.i.am The yes we can song I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates... Torn between the candidates I was never really big on politics...and actually I'm still not big on politics... but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry... And we supported Kerry with all our might... We performed and performed and performed for the DNC... doing all we could do to get the youth involved... The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me... So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early... And i found myself torn... But this time it's not that simple... So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me... And then came...
 Even Though...
If you are thinking "It's too hard" or if you are thinking "I can't", watch this video clip about a world class Olympic weight lifter and then take a moment to think again...
That's my two cents (for whatever it's worth), Auguste Roc
 The 100 Years Project - Stuart Dawes
Name: Stuart Dawes Age: 35 years old Where are you from: I was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Where do you live: New York City – Brooklyn specifically. Occupation: I train people to fight and I sell books and read to babies. 100 Years from now what do want to be remembered for? As someone who tried to realize his potential as a human being and did that exact thing.
 Urban Farm Guys
Why I am recommending Urban Farm Guys: These families have put their own comfort and safety on the line, choosing to live and farm in one of the worst communities in the United States for a chance to transform the lives of people who have been without hope.
 American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau
Why I am recommending this book: The subject matter is not only timeless, but timely -- Being GREEN, going GREEN, thinking GREEN, GREEN is the new black - GREEN is what we are talking about these days.
Click here to purchase this book. Amazon.com Click here to purchase this book.
 
"I just woke up one day and it dawned on me that, either way you slice it, I am going to be 50 years old soon. I can either be 50 years old and living my dream or I can be 50 years old dying a slow death." -- A Friend (right before she decided to get her law degree and become a lawyer which meant going back to high school, graduating #1 in her class in college and graduating with honors from Law School)
 
DanaRoc.com is a multimedia Internet destination featuring Dana Delivered! -- an ezine filled with interesting stories and fun tidbits delivered fresh to your email inbox first thing every Monday morning. Both entertaining and informative, Dana Delivered! is packed full of sound advice, inspiring perspectives, great original interviews with influential and successful people, insightful and interesting guest articles, regular columnists, Dana's recommendations and more.
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