AGAIN WITH THE DRESS

Dresses are gold and white
Dresses are black and blue
Dresses aren't worth a fight
Dresses aren't worth a poo

More Randoms

-- Remember that time when everything was simple? Remember when thinking only took seconds and the decisions we made didn't need to be final? [...]

-- I've seen FRIENDS enough that the discrepancies are much more obvious now. Like Phoebe says her birthday is February 18th when she meets her brother, but it's right before Halloween in the episode where nobody shows up on time for her party. Ironically, that's when Frank Jr. says his birthday is. Or when in the first couple episodes the apartment numbers are 5 and 6 then switch to 19 and 20, but go back to 5 and 6 for a minute, then officially switch to 19 and 20.

-- The darkness clouds the road, but each mailbox is clearly visible. I haven't slept in weeks, or at least it feels that way. It doesn't really matter where we go, as long as we're not gone long, or coming back to where we started. The Texaco is still ablaze in the rear-view mirror. How could we have let things get this out of hand? What started off as a simple hobby has gotten so mixed up. Who would have guessed there would be so many of us with the same name? [...]

-- Do people still use matches to light cigars?

-- The view from down here. (up here? in there? out there? and any other possible way to view it)

-- St. Patrick's Day.

-- Wow, February is pretty much over.

--  If I had a million dollars I would buy you a gold and white dress or a black and blue dress (but not a real gold and white or black and blue dress, that's cruel)

Cleaning Always Makes You Feel Dirty

They say for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? That's one of the basic laws of physics or something. So what? (Or So....what? I guess it's all about inflection isn't it?) I always feel like when I clean the dirt doesn't really go away, it just attaches itself to me. As such "I clean" would have the equal and opposite reaction of "Therefore I become dirty." Right? I guess the dirt has to go somewhere.  And with that thought, it seems I'm going nowhere.

Not sure what kind of road block I've been experiencing lately, but things feel very much like a purgatory scenario. I'm not necessarily "in between jobs" but I feel like the transition isn't flowing very well. I'm not particularly sure what to do with time off, even if it's not a LOT of time off. And I'm not particularly sure what to do when I'm not off. It's like I'm expecting a learning curve but there is none, and the equal and opposite reaction there is I'm not learning anything.

I think I'm going to start a "writing prompt" challenge next week. Ironically, given my new schedule, I suspect that next week could mean any time between tomorrow and Monday or Tuesday. Maybe I should just say I think I'm going to start a writing prompt challenge soon. No commitments. That sounds more doable.

I think it's time to bring back the accountability chief.

My hockey teams have been playing out west this week. That's been exciting. Well, not as exciting as the fact that it's time to consider whether or not I'm going to re-subscribe to MLB.TV this year. Spring training is getting going, which means with the subscription I can watch Spring Training exhibition games. I wish more things were free. That would make them easier to consider.

It might also be easier to think about baseball when it's not minus-anything degrees outside.

Wonderings

What makes for good reading? Vivid imagery, captivating action, the combination of the two? What makes something worth continuing past the initial sentence? Does the title reflect on how one will dive in? 

Maybe it's because it's been so long since I've been to a work shopping group, or maybe it's because I just watched Jurassic Park and that movie really pumps the adrenaline for me, but I spend more time lately wondering about what gets me into thing things I read, watch, or listen to. 

I guess it's hard to imagine Jurassic Park as a book. Imagery like that is something I wouldn't be able to picture with just the words. But I haven't read it as a book, so I don't know how the island is described.  That's kind of the downfall of books going to movies too, isn't it? Take something like Chronicles of Narnia. I have yet to see any of the movies aside from the first one because I prefer my vision of Narnia and my vision of the Snow Queen to not be clouded with actors and actresses. Sort of like if I would have gotten into Harry Potter. Being inclined to watch movies with Alan Rickman, I would have never been able to read them the same knowing Snapes to be the sad robot from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. And I wouldn't be able to read LOTR without thinking of Radio Flyer every time I see the word Frodo (or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy with the other guy). 

So I tend to lean more towards a flow of action to keep me interested in something to read. I was absolutely Fascinated with the Chronicles of Narnia series. I feel like literature and film should be separate entities. It seems like literature would be a bigger money maker if people weren't set on "waiting for the movie version." I mean, books are still more expensive than movie tickets, right? 

..and come on, apparently only four movies get featured at the Oscars. 

24

24

The drinks we pour
at hour twenty-four
cost no more
at the Jersey Shore.

Signs on the door
say "feed the poor"
with coats they wore
left on the floor.

The crowd will roar
as number twenty-four
makes his average soar
and golfers yell, "Fore!"

Rhymes galore
for 24
but there's no more
this poem's a chore.

Have a Coke and a Smile

Four friends gather together for a group project. Seniors and Freshmen working together on a presentation. Who would have ever imagined that 13 years later it would still be a memorable event? We may not see each other regularly, or at all, we may not communicate, keep in touch, or anything of the sort, but when it comes to the date February 23, 2002, we will never be out of touch.

We get together in the basement, play some pool, watch some veggie tales, and talk a little bit about our project. We jump in the Fangmobile and take a drive to Taco Bell, but we end up getting Little Caesar's Pizza. We trade drivers for the drive back, but that doesn't exactly work out in anybody's favor and it goes into the "we don't talk about that" folder. We have coke with our pizza and discuss the advertisements for coca cola and it appears as though we have been "drugged" by the caffeine.

There were bonds formed that day that I will never forget. And I can't go a February 23rd without drinking at least one coke. I haven't got a Little Caesar's around that I can find, but I generally try to find a Taco Bell. It didn't happen this year, but I did think about it.

I think about this day more than annually, and it's definitely an abridged version of a day that was DEFINITELY one of the highlights of my senior year in high school. I know that I made at least one strong friendship, and the two of us had a pretty interesting week to follow the 23rd. Our group celebrated March 23 at Big Boy with a band trip and created a tradition where we gifted somebody with the taco salad box and mementos relating to our time together. Funny story about that...it involves a tapioca pudding filled water balloon, a car, and some really mad zoo animals. I'll have to save that one for another time.

I really expected this to be a little longer, but the fact is that I did more reminiscing than writing. More thinking about things I don't regret regardless of how life happened. We're all stronger, smarter, and happier.

But all in all, even though the 23rd has technically passed, it's still the 23rd cause I haven't gone to bed yet. There's no pumpkins on this ride. And no fairy godmother. Just one memory of four friends who had no idea what was going to happen on that snowy Saturday. But with every great day, we always have to be prepared for the horse fallin' in the trailer at McDonald's...cause that always seems to sneak up on ya.

But you still get a happy meal, a coke, and a smile.

The Next Great Idea

Just taking a moment today to take down a few ideas for potential later things...

"Mop Wars"
"The Pond on My Stoop"
"Today I passed a parking lot that made me think I was passing a sale tent. Snow is a beautiful thing."
"I'm scared to sleep in my room because I don't want to let the warmth out."
"It's fun watching FRIENDS when you know what happens and you just wonder how far in advance the writers planned ahead."
"Bacon Wrapped String Cheese."

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Hockey

I've finally managed to get myself back into hockey mode as a result of my new schedule. I've still got good feelings about the Columbus Blue Jackets. I'm always going to love the Detroit Red Wings. I'm not particularly impressed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, nor have I really been interested in their games this season. That's not really by design though. Aside from dramatic barriers at work before my recent transfer, my days off weren't going to do me any good unless I went out to watch the game which has seemed financially unsound. But really, it's the Penguins. Then again, it's hockey...and I like hockey. With any luck I will be able to make it to a game again. Last season I hit up a pre-season game as part of my "grab Pittsburgh by the balls....or pucks..." campaign. It was short lived, but pretty fun. It was the year I completed the Pittsburgh "trifecta" so to speak.. Saw the Pirates, Pens, and Steelers in 2013.

Anyways, the game going on right now is what's provoking this post tonight. The Boston Bruins are looking like they need to hit the panic button. Tuukka Rask NEEDS some time off if he's gonna be the top dog there. The last two times I saw them play and start a backup, Rask has come into the game to try and put a cork in a leaky tank. He can't win the game for them though, the offense needs to give the defense something to fight for.

I was just saying the same thing to my cousin not that long ago regarding the Detroit football Lions. Currently (unless I missed the conclusion) the Lions are debating the contract signing for N. Suh. He'll forever be "the guy that stomped on that dude on Thanksgiving" but he's pretty good for keeping pressure on opposing QBs. He's not the whole team though. It's hard to say "build your team around ____" cause there's not really a right answer. It's easy to say build around your QB, but as we saw in Pittsburgh the past couple years you can surround your QB with the greatest receivers but if your Offensive Coordinator isn't calling the plays that accentuate your QB's talents everybody is on a different page and nobody is happy and nobody is scoring points. (Except Jason Hanson...who always kicks a field goal. He's by far the only retired football player other than Brett Favre that I can remember seeing the press conference for the retirement announcement.) Or you could say "Build your team around the Defense" and run the risk of losing a pretty talented TE or WR that can run some trick routes in a pinch because you put your extra dollars into somebody who steps on people when their temper flares up. I say just build a cohesive team. It's like an article I read about the Steelers at the end of their season. After all was said and done and the players were asked about the positives of the season the answer was a resounding "we all had a connection." They were cohesive. They may not have won it all, but they came out winners.

Wow, hello tangential football stuff. What am I trying to get at here? Anything? Yes, probably. ...Maybe. It's beginning to look a lot like hockey. And hockey season gets me all kinds of amp'd up once I get going. Off to the third period of the Bruins game here. But since I am a baseball fan and a Bruins fan, I will leave the Boston fans with the most famous line in sports movies (Angels in the Outfield):

"It could happen!"

Yes Penguins, I suppose, you too.

Adios, Two and a Half Men

I wouldn't say there was a whole lot of quality TV in the show Two and A Half Men, but I will say watching it was a pretty amusing ride. I never really did stick with the show. Work schedules just never seemed to accommodate, plus other shows came and went on other networks. I started getting into the show mostly as a 6:30 / 7:30 time filler on Fox during the week when I was off.

I will admit that I didn't really buy into the whole second era of the show after Charlie Sheen left. I never really cared to delve into what the parameters were there, but it wasn't a show I was watching regularly when the new episodes came up. It was nothing against the people that stayed, or the people added to the show, it was just something about changing a dynamic of the show that pretty much set the tone.

Having said that, I wasn't overly impressed with the finale, but I wasn't disinterested either. It was exactly what people hoped for in a sense. I think deep down everybody won with the way it ended. I felt the closure I needed to, but then again I've seen maybe four episodes related to the past four years. I don't adjust well to change. You should know that about me by now.

The anger management bit was funny, the scenes from France were pretty funny, and the show was ultimately good for a laugh. And that's all I really wanted out of that show. So with a half disinterested solely based on my lack of involvement in the past four years, I wish the show adieu. Farewell, Two and a Half Men, it was a good run, and all runs eventually have a finish line.

Out Of The Ashes We Rise

Into the Darkness You shine,
out of the ashes we rise, 
there's no one like You,
none like You. 

- Our God, Chris Tomlin

Here we are again, another year, another attempt at daily blogging. With any luck, this project will help me grow versus a vain attempt at drawing attention to the things I write. I have no "schedule of events" for the project. As you know, routine and planning are not my best friends. We are acquaintances, for sure, but we're definitely not married. Plans change, lives change. "Nothing is static, Everything is evolving. Everything is falling apart" (Fight Club).

Change. There's definitely been a lot of that going on in my life. Over the past 30 days, I've gotten a new car, new job, new schedule, new co-workers, etc. Few things remained the same, but the ones that have are solid foundations in the way I live. I did at one point feel like everything was falling apart. I got some strange news just before the new year that set a LOT of things in motion. Near the end of January as things got bigger and crazier I got news that my car was going to need enough work to pass inspection that it only made sense to set it free and begin a life of car payments and being "chained to the bank" so to speak. Next thing I knew, an employment opportunity I couldn't pass up set itself in my path. Anyways, before I knew it I was throwing around the word "new" like I had made it up.

But that's kind of the theme here for Lent, too, isn't it? Creating newness, promoting change, all for the greater good. For God. It's customary (necessary?) that we give something up for Lent, but I've always kind of gone against the grain. So I'm taking something extra on for Lent... at least lately with this blog. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm ready to do this again. For me. For God. Not "because I have to," or "out of routine," or "because it's on the schedule."

Here's hoping my eyes stay on the path, open to change, always aware that there's a Plan for me wherever I am in whatever I'm doing.