"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."
- Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister

Welcome to May's "Mysteries of the Mind" monthly newsletter!

If you were to look around and realize that most of the people you hang out with on a daily basis were clowns, magicians, geeks, freaks, circus acts, hypnotists, performance artists, singers, costumed characters, animal trainers, jugglers, poker players, models, impersonators and dancers - would you think that something had gone terribly wrong or terribly right in your life?

I think that something has gone terribly right! (for me)

My friend Christina recently asked how I have so many wonderful and exotic experiences. After thinking about it for some time, I summarized the following 4 steps used to help govern my days:

1. Be in the right place at the right time. (Always be in right places.)
2. Look for opportunities that are available.
3. Be open & kind to everyone.
4. Ask for what I want in a way that helps others reach their goals.

By following these rules, my life is (and yours could instantly be) far more exciting. In realizing the above steps, one may seize so many wonderful opportunities. Below are just a few of my Facebook status updates from the last 2 weeks created through these 4 steps:

"I am moments away from taking a private 1 man behind the scenes tour of the San Diego wild animal Safari Park. I'll be helping feed the parks giraffes and rhinos!."

[Cuddling Giraffes]

[Petting Rhinos]

"About to perform for the drummer from Incubus and Dane Cook's personal manager at the Magic Castle."

"Backstage with Steve Martin after his show at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Steve put on a wonderful Bluegrass Banjo show."

[Paul Draper with Steve Martin]

"If money was no object, what would you spend your time doing?"

In the next few weeks I will start releasing some instructional web seminars discussing the tools that I use to find and enjoy the opportunities that are all around us. Please let me know if you have any questions that you would like me to answer.

I am now and always your friend,

-Paul Draper
paul@mentalmysteries.com
801-541-2976

Websites:
www.MentalMysteries.com
www.MentalMystery.com (agent friendly site)

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw

ATOM Corporate Peppermill
Reno, Nevada
May 21st -22nd

Montana Fairs
Butte, Montana
May 23rd - 24th

Paris Hotel Corporate
Las Vegas, Nevada
May 25th

Art Institute of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
May 26th

Comedy Festival
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 10th

Disneyland Private Event
Anaheim, California
June 14th

Polard Wedding
Las Vegas, Nevada
August 8th

MAGIC Live!
Las Vegas, Nevada
August 14th - 17th

MAGIC IN THE ROCKIES
Fort Collins, Colorado
September 8th - 12th

Levenberg Wedding
San Francisco, California
October 9th

2nd Monday Magic
Bakersfield, California
October 10th

Mindvention
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 16th - 18h

Magic and Meaning
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 19th - 22nd

McBride Magic for Medical Professionals
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 10th - 13th

UTA Theater Conference
Provo, Utah
January 26th - 28th

Paul to appear this summer on National T.V. show

I just finished shooting a show in Hollywood for the Oxygen Network. It will be out this summer.

If one of your personal dreams is to be a Hollywood or Broadway actor, TV host or performer, the best selection of books on the business can be found at Samuel French Inc.

Celebrating its 187th year, Samuel French, Inc. is the world's premiere theatrical publishing and licensing company. Samuel French, Inc. currently offers over 5,000 plays and musicals.
Samuel French

It is also a great place to pick up the industry magazine Backstage: The Actor's Resource, which will help you find auditions, agents, managers and industry news.

Mind Reading: Technology Turns Thought Into Action

"This is both very exciting and somewhat frightening at the same time," says Gerwin Schalk, a researcher who studies ECoG at the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center in Albany. "It really goes pretty close to what people used to call mind reading."

So perhaps it's not surprising that Schalk's research is funded by both the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Army.

The key to all of the new uses for ECoG is software, designed in part by Schalk, that helps scientists decode the electrical signals coming from the brain.

The brain uses those signals every time we wiggle a toe or form a thought. But the signals also provide a real-time broadcast of precisely what the brain is doing, and Schalk's software allows scientists to eavesdrop on this broadcast.

Read more: click here