Sunday Scribblings–10/10/10

Essential

Tell us what is essential for you today - but only tell us the essential bits.

Time.  Friends.  Music.  Finishing.  Enjoying.  Seeing.  Doing.  Being.

Sunday Scribblings – 8/8/10

half-way

I thought I would embed a video from a YouTube search for “halfway.”  It’s a short film called “Only Halfway Home” about Levon Helm.  I don’t really have time to watch it tonight, but I’m sure it will be good:

Sunday Scribblings – 7/25/10

Letter

Although most people use email or text messaging these days (as do I), I still enjoy receiving actual letters in the mail from friends and family.  I like the element of surprise, that thrill you get when you see something with your name on it.  I also enjoy the physical part, holding it in your hands and looking at the other person’s handwriting (if they did hand-write the letter).  I don’t really send or receive letters too often, except from or to a few people.  We may live in an era of technology, but nothing can replace a good old-fashioned letter.  They look a lot nicer than a text, and you can keep them forever. 

Sunday Scribblings - 7/11/10

Video Prompt

The instructions are:

1. Watch this video.
2. Write about the person it makes you think about.

I believe my friend Jess is amazing.  She is so kind to me, and we get along so well.  We really share a connection that's ever-growing.  I feel at home whenever I'm spending time with her.  Everything else gets put on the backburner because I value my time with her more than anything.  She makes me incredibly happy, even happier than the people in the above video.  She's a true friend and I think the world of her.

Sunday Scribblings - 6/6/10

Mess

Some people can't stand a mess, and others can't seem to clean them up.  Me?  I'm in the middle.  I like things a little untidy, enough to make a room feel lived-in, but not completely messy.  Sometimes I do struggle with messes.  My computer desk is full of junk laying about -- Old cell phones, pieces of paper, knick-knacks and such.  Some of it is useful, though, like a cup full of pens and USB drives or my iPod.

The main problem I have with messes is piles.  I have piles of things, mostly paperwork, magazines, letters and such things, and when those piles get out of hand I start a new pile.  Pretty soon, I have way too many piles.  Sometimes I need to clean the piles, consolidate piles, or just get rid of them altogether.  I suppose piles are my way of organizing the things around me, but it doesn't always work.

Hey, this post has done some good!  It has inspired me to clean my messy piles. 

Sunday Scribblings - 4/25/10

Dinner

Here's mine from earlier tonight:



It's a chicken breast that I marinated in strawberries.  I think it actually turned out pretty well.

Sunday Scribblings - 4/18/10

Wonder

I think wonder is a, well, wonderful thing to have in life.  A sense of wonder can keep you from being too cynical, too tired of life, too bored.  The world is an amazing place, so why shouldn't we regard it with wonder and awe? 

One of the reasons I enjoy watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is that Craig still has that sense of wonder.  He may be a popular TV talk show host, but inside he's still that ten-year-old boy who wants to see cool things and learn more about them.  I love how he enjoys Mythbusters so much.  He's not afraid to call something awesome if he thinks it is.  I appreciate his enthusiasm.  It's refreshing in this world of ultra-serious people who don't like to have fun.

Sunday Scribblings - 3/14/10

The book that changed everything

In my junior year of high school, I took a class on British Literature so I could have my English class for the year.  I was expecting to read long, boring stories full of uptight, aristocratic ladies and gentlemen who sat around drinking tea and gossiping about who proposed marriage to whom and going fox hunting.  That's what I was expecting, but not what I found.

What I found was the first novel we read, Wuthering Heights.

Now here's a story!  Yes, there's romance, but there's also harsh, unforgiving environments and people who are unrefined, passionate and even violent.  Wuthering Heights isn't boring at all, and I really enjoyed it.  It was that book that taught me that old literature doesn't have to be sleep-inducing.  It's still one of my favorite novels.

I'm really glad that my class didn't start out with Emily Bronte's sister's novel Jane Eyre.  That one I'm not such a fan of, although it does have its moments.   

Sunday Scribblings - 2/7/10

Message

I'm not really one for leaving messages, especially phone messages.  I prefer to say what I have to say directly to the person who needs to know it so that I know they received the information.  When leaving a message, you have no idea if or when the person will get the message, nor do you know if or when they will call you back.  I guess I don't like the uncertain nature of message-leaving.  Oddly enough, email doesn't bother me, but perhaps that's because email only works one way.  You're leaving a message for the person, but they're doing the same.  However, I'm still bothered by the uncertain nature of it.  You never know if the person received the email until they reply.  Thankfully, replying to emails is easy and almost always expected.

Sunday Scribblings - 1/31/10

Milestone

I'm the kind of person that always needs a milestone to reach for, something coming up on the horizon.  Whether it's a holiday, my birthday, a vacation, an appointment, or just the weekend, I like to know what's coming up next.  I suppose I'm like this because I want time to have some context.  How can one appreciate time if one has no reminder that time is passing?  Don't get me wrong, I love to live in the moment, but I stay grounded by thinking about what's coming up. 

I'm not really sure how to explain it any better than that.  Is anyone else like that, or just me? 

Sunday Scribblings - 1/17/10

"The Good Old Days"

I often think back on my childhood with nostalgia, reflecting on how much easier things seemed back then.  No responsibilities, nothing to worry about.  No competition for anything.  Needs were taken care of by someone else.  Now, of course not all of these statements are completely valid, but when you're a kid you often don't notice the day-to-day struggle.  You're just busy being a kid.

One thing I wish I had again is the sense of timelessness.  What I mean by that is, as a child, you really don't see the quick passage of time.  A year seems like a very long time.  Even an hour seems like an eternity.  Time seems to stand still when you're a child.  You truly live in the moment.  I find it hard to do that as an adult when I see the days, weeks and months just fly by. 

There's something funny about time.  It makes you forget.  When I was in college, I'd think back to middle school and how much easier everything was back then, except I couldn't remember what it was like.  Was the work easy, or hard?  How much time did I have to spend on it?  How did it seem to me at the time?  These are the things you forget, because all you know is how you feel now.  It almost makes me wish I had written a journal, even a mundane one.  I could see what life was like for me back in that time and compare it to today.  But yesterday is mostly a memory.  I don't know how accurate the memory is, but it just is.

Sunday Scribblings - 1/10/10

Extreme

It's kind of amazing how extreme humans really are.  The pervasiveness of the media has allowed us to see sights and hear stories that we normally can't even imagine.  Think of reality TV, for example.  Someone you might see in a coffee shop or in your college class today might become the next outrageous reality contestant tomorrow.  Real celebrities are no longer the only people whose dirty laundry is getting aired.  Situations like the Jon and Kate divorce would usually happen in private, but now it's possible for all of America to see it happen.  The fame brought by cameras just makes it worse.

Stories on the news alert us to tragedies that most of us can't even fathom.  Children mistreated, horrible crimes committed, people finding new depths to sink to.  Things that only police would have known about in the past are now made public.  Sometimes it's just too much to think about.  Sometimes you don't realize how extreme things are under the surface until the surface breaks apart.

Sunday Scribblings - 1/3/09

New Leaf

A new year is upon us.  Do I turn a new leaf, or do I keep going?

I think the answer is to do both.

Life isn't necessarily all about stops and starts with events and trends fitting into nice little categories such as years, decades or weeks.  What I do believe is the power of the new day.  When you go to sleep and wake up, you have an entirely new day to do whatever your heart desires.  Whatever happened yesterday, you can make each day the best possible day if you just try.  Once you see the potential in each new day, your attitude will change dramatically.

Otherwise, I don't think a new year changes things too much.  The only exception comes when you choose to make things different.  I think that's where resolutions come into play.  Unfortunately, many people have trouble with resolutions and thus have trouble turning over that new leaf.

On the other hand, I think this year is different.  People out there are looking for things to change, and I think a new year just may be the hope they have for that change to come.  I know the year is bringing some changes for me.  Nothing too big, but my life right now is definitely a little different.  I hate to be so cryptic, but I don't like spilling the details of my life online. 

I guess the real answer is this:  Some things change, some things stay the same, and change can only come if you make it so.

Sunday Scribblings - 12/27/09

Delicious:



That's lefse, for those of you who aren't Norwegian.  It's good.

Sunday Scribblings - 12/13/09

Brave

Here are some people who I think are brave:

• NHL Hockey goalies
• Astronauts
• Single mothers
• Soldiers
• U.S. Presidents
• Door-to-door salespeople
• People who skydive
• Cops, firemen, etc.
• People who go into mosh pits
• People who work with wild animals
• Men who do construction on skyscrapers
• Anyone in any oppressed group who speaks against their oppression
  
• The Mythbusters

Sunday Scribblings - 12/6/09

Weird

I tried to think of the weirdest thing I've ever seen, but I'm not coming up with anything.  Instead of that, I'm going to use the very first thing that comes to my mind when I think about weird and choose my . . .

Top Five "Weird" Al Yankovic Songs Of All Time

With one exception, I also think these are the best "Weird" Al songs of all time.  However, I decided to go with my favorites.  Also, I'm not thinking about the videos because that would be an entirely different list.

1)  "Dare To Be Stupid."  It's basically Al's anthem.  I love all the wordplay in this song, as well as the wacky music.

2)  "White and Nerdy."  Al can sing, but can he also rap?  Yes!  Most of the references in this song will become dated in ten years, but Al's motormouth rapping skills will always impress.

3)  "I Lost On Jeopardy."  With this song, Al speaks for the nervous, incompetent wrecks in all of us.  You have to love Don Pardo's long parting shot near the end.

4)  "Fat."  His other Michael Jackson song, "Eat It," was his first success at grabbing onto the popular zeitgeist to create a hit on radio and MTV.  "Fat," though, is just funnier.  It's even funny without the video (which is Al's very best video, in my opnion).

5)  "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota."  This epic song showcases Al's wacky sense of humor and love for the bizarre and unusual.  It captures the American traveling spirit and has something for everyone.  It's also quite different from Al's other songs as it's longer and an original composition instead of a parody.

Sunday Scribblings - 11/29/09

Game

I'm not much of a game player at all.  I'm not all that competitive.  Board games mostly bore me to death.  I think my favorite type of games are those in which something happens - pinball and tetris, for example.  In pinball, you can see the ball crash into everything and make all sorts of noises.  That pleases me.  I don't even bother noticing the points.  Tetris is visually appealing.  You see gaps filled and rows disappear.  You have to use your visual-spatial skills to figure out where to put the pieces next.  You have to plan ahead and think about what pieces might be coming up.  Those are the kinds of games I like to play.

I also like bowling.  I like the feel of the ball as it leaves your hand.  I like the satisfaction of seeing the ball crash into the pins and waiting to see how many get knocked down.  I like seeing the pins fly about after a good swing.  I like waiting for the ball to reappear for the next attempt.  Again, I really don't care about the points.  The journey is the destination for me.

When I was younger, we had an original Nintendo system.  You weren't cool unless you had one, so having one automatically made me feel cool.  Of course, Super Mario Brothers was the favorite game to play.  I must have spent hours playing that.  I also enjoyed Bubble Bobble and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.  Video games were primitive back then, but a lot more innocent and even more fun.  Today's video games are like movies with controllers.

We didn't have a Sega Genesis, but when I did get to play on one, I really enjoyed Sonic The Hedgehog.  Oh my lord, was that a fun game.  Watching Sonic spin around and fly about was one of the pure joys of my childhood.

There was a very popular video game arcade in town called Wonderland.  Most games were only 5 cents per play.  Even in the 80s, that was cheap!  For $5 plus admission, you could spend all day there.  I didn't think it was all that great until I discovered that the majority of the games were upstairs.  When I saw the number of games up there, I was in heaven.  I'd play one game, then move on to the next.  That was a great place for kids. 

When I was a teenager, we had an original Playstation.  The racing games were my favorite.  Demolition Derby was great fun.  The music was good too.  The whole point of the game was to crash into other cars.  How awesome is that?  I also enjoyed the jetski game, even if I never progressed beyond the three basic levels.  It was very pleasurable to see the onscreen jetskis moving about, turning, jumping, flipping.  It was a beautiful game, too, with exotic locations and clear blue water. 

I don't play games too often now, but every so often I'll play online tetris or other little amusing flash games.  Even today, tetris is my favorite.  It's the game for people who don't like games.

Sunday Scribblings - 11/22/09

Beauty

Tonight, I'm going to let pictures speak louder than words:













I wouldn't be me if I didn't include at least one picture of a beautiful woman.  What is beauty?  You know it when you see it.

Sunday Scribblings - 10/18/09

Junk

One of the peculiarities of modern life is the concept of junk.  Our houses are larger than ever, so we have more space to put things.  Something about human nature compels us to fill all the space we have and consume, consume, consume.  So we acquire endless amounts of 'stuff,' some useful and some not so useful.

Roger Ebert wrote a good blog recently about his very large collection of books.  He knows that many of them are doing nothing more than sitting there, but he can't compel himself to throw them out.  Each of his books means something to him, even if he hasn't read it in years or at all.  I think that post is as good as any to illustrate our love-hate relationship with our things.

Are these habits natural or are they learned?  I know I see patterns in behavior among people I know.  I'm not naming names, of course.  I think the way a family deals with 'stuff' can determine a person's reaction to 'stuff' in his or her own life.  One either takes up the same habits or rejects such habits after living in a house full of 'stuff.'

I think part of this is simple human nature.  It's much easier to let things pile up than take the effort to put it away, categorize it, remove it, deal with it.  Organizing things becomes a 'later' activity, but for too many people 'later' becomes 'never.

I'm in the middle of the spectrum, I think.  I do have a lot of stuff, that's for sure.  On the other hand, I'm not afraid to go through things once in a while and cut out what doesn't belong.  Like Mr. Ebert, a lot of the space in my room is devoted to books.  I do re-read books, so I don't have a major reason to get rid of them.  The big problem for me is acquiring more books.  I love nothing more than a used book store or used book sale.  I have a huge to-buy list which grows all the time.  The problem isn't just the number of books, but the size of the books.  A large coffee table book takes up the space of two or three paperbacks, at least.  Thick books take up a lot more space than thin books.  One must be an expert in making the most of the space available.

Another reason to keep 'stuff' is that 'stuff' has a lot to do with memories.  This is not necessarily bad.  I think we should keep things that mean something to us.  But when does it go too far?  I tend to keep all the holiday cards I receive over the years.  I was surprised to find out that many people do not.  I suspect most of those will disappear someday.  If the only thing the card says is "Happy Birthday!," does it really have a reason to be kept?

I also have a large collection of newspaper and magazine articles.  I've kept a good number of issues of The Hockey News.  I haven't re-read a single one, but I can't help but want to keep certain issues.  I'm sure most of those could go as well.

I think I mostly have the right approach.  It's OK to keep things around, if you have the guts to go through it all once in a while and reassess what needs to be kept and what you still want to keep.  Opinions change, emotions change, and priorities change.  Our collection of 'stuff' also needs to change.

Sunday Scribblings - 9/20/09

Hungry

I'm kind of hungry right now.  I'm trying to eat healthier, and that means smaller portions.  1/2 of a bag of popcorn isn't too bad for a snack, but I could certainly eat more than that. 

Oh well, I guess being hungry just makes you look forward to the next meal even more.