Lighten Up
I was staring out the window of my car looking at the 18 inches of snow covering most of the landscape these days when a memory waved it's hand to get my attention from the cobwebbed recesses of the mass of cells I hesitatingly call a brain.
Remember walking on snow that had a crust on it. If you walked just right.... flat footed it was like walking on water, frozen water. Sometimes you'd hit spot that was weak and you'd crunch down through the crust. If you angled your heel just right you could crunch through on purpose that way. As a kid I remember having races to see who could swiftly, yet lightly traverse the farthest without breaking through.
When the snow had thinner layer I'd watch our dog Pepper out the window as she would wander around the yard and occasionally one of her paws would break through. She always had such a questioning look on her face. Pepper was the best dog that ever lived. My mom taught her to play dead and then modified the command so that she would fall over when asked "what would you rather be then a democrat?" Of course all you really had to say was "what would" and she'd be on her side, tail thumping. Eventually mom got her to stop wagging the tail. I miss my mom.
I'm at the age where a good number of friends are watching their parents decline physically and they ask for prayers for physical health for continued years. Those requests sometimes crush my heart as they cause me to think of my mom and wonder sometimes why God leaves the victims of mental deterioration on earth. Heaven awaits....
Maybe if I lay down on the snow and spread my body weight out I can crawl across without breaking through.
ba
Humor - I don't get it !
Some co-workers recently replaced a motivational poster in our help desk phone room with this demotivational poster from www.despair.com
Shortly there after some printed editorial comments appeared below. One attributed to the manager of the Information Center said "If you believe this you shouldn't be working here" another added
"If I believe this, I....
will be flipping burgers at Micky D's
will be singin on the street for money
living off my parents
I can't fathom that someone, anyone doesn't know that humor and sarcasm are such effective teachers.
On another note on my way to work this morning I hear an advertisement for a local restaurant that offered "come eat where the food is hot and the wine is cold". Now I'm not a sommelier but isn't wine (other then Sangria's and Spumati's) supposed to be just below room temp? So off to the net I went and discovered this handy chart.
Temp F Notes
100° - Warm Bath
66° - Vintage Port
64° - Bordeaux, Shiraz
63° - Red Burgundy, Cabernet
61° - Rioja, Pinot Noir
59° - Chianti, Zinfandel
57° - Tawny/NV Port, Madeira
55° - Ideal storage for all wines
54° - Beaujolais, rose
52° - Viognier, Sauternes
48° - Chardonnay
47° - Riesling
45° - Champagne
43° - Ice Wines
41° - Asti Spumanti
35° is the average fridge temperature and notably a Merlot is not on the list so I'm still in the dark as it is my wine of choice. I also admit that I have never had a glass of Warm Bath wine. Probably the temperature is only important for the first bottle or so anyway.
ba
Kids n Theatre
Had a rehearsal last night downtown at the Civic Center. Sesame Street Live was opening in the theater and as I walked in I counted at least 7 parents carrying in toddlers who were sound asleep in their arms. Best $25 they ever spent. I guess maybe the kids will wake for the show. How many fathers sat there and thought I paid how much to sit and watch this while my kid sleeps.
Two nights before I was at an Annie rehearsal. The girls playing the orphans are the best. Kids that perform are outgoing and inherently honest since they haven't learned the games we adults play. They help me keep feeling young as I observe and interact with them. Having just done Oliver I've noticed there is a vast social difference between girls and boys that age. I guess it makes sense but man I didn't realize the extent. Competition. Most of the girls seem very happy with who they are and just want to act and have fun. The boys on the other hand just can't seem to resist teasing each other, proving oneself to be better or funnier or something. It strikes me that this reverses very quickly when the teen years hit. Go figure.
Here's a pic from the last Annie which featured our dog Portugal, famed on stage and in story*.
Have a great weekend.....
ba
*Disposable Dogs - Heartwarming, True Stories of Courage and Compassion by Steve Swanbeck
Self Portrait Found
Sometimes I feel like this bike might feel if it felt.
If you don't understand consider yourself lucky.
ba
PS. The picture was found at the site listed in the links.
Living Digital in an Analog World
The world is filled with mostly analog people I think. People who appreciate gray more then black and white. Subjective people. I find I'm a bit guy. A bit is the lowest form of computer decisioning. A bit is either on or off, more appropriately 1 or 0 (<-zero not oh). Spock was my kinda guy. Narrow the the quest(ion) down to it's least common denominator and make a decision.
Now obviously I'm writing in broad generalities and there is certainly an analog side of me but I think I've struck on why I'm a digital person rather then analog. I understand time. Not totally like Stephen Hawking does but and maybe a better phrase would be I respect time. Time is the ultimate digital measure. Larry Norman wrote these words in a song.
I keep looking in the mirror at the age around my eyes, time is such an earnest laborer, precision is its neighbor.I wish I could be more analog. I think they are truly happier people.
I leave you with a link to a special clock. (it requires flashplayer or shockwave)
CLICK HERE FOR ETHNIC MINORITY CLOCK ba
Under the Weather
Have been suffering from a moderate head cold. So I got to wondering where did the phrase "under the weather" come from ? Here's what a quick search of the web offered.
The term is correctly ‘under the weather bow’ which is a gloomy prospect; the weather bow is the side upon which all the rotten weather is blowing.”
or
On a ship the greatest swaying action is on deck, and the most stable point is down near the keel. Hence seasick passengers tend to feel better below deck.Not sure I like either explanations myself. And why do we call it a cold anyway ?
This is the time of year when I question living in CNY.
Okay, that's not CNY but that's how it feels in mid February.
ba
Mom's Poem
Been a number of years since my mom disappeared into Alzhiemers or some form of dementia. A few years ago I jotted down a poem as I was struggling with the reality of it all. I found it a day or two ago and thought I'd post it here.
Mom’s Poem
It only left her body when it slowly stole her mind
Her life, her essence, its transport, just the vehicle left behind
Her recall, no longer total except in the way it’s gone
Uttering sentences like some pictures that a 2 year old has drawn.
Her eyes that used to sparkle - now dim and tired, gray
A glance could once speak volumes – now nothing more to say
Two hands that used to knit and deal - listless by her side
Two hands that loved me as I grew and wiped the tears I cried
Yesterday seems so long ago now that tomorrow never will
Relentless memories fill my heart, my mind just won’t be still
Hard words, indelible upon my heart, sting with deep regret
Reading…. sorry I can’t make it, maybe next time… better yet.
Grateful tears succeed in blurring these words that I now write
And from within a hope less incomplete is brought to light
Promises of heaven, future echoes whispered now
Provide comfort to her child, as Your strength, my faith allows.
May 1999
I have a few friends that are dealing with parents that are getting old and live far enough away to make visiting hard. Use your time wisely.
ba
PS - gone
Wonderware
I'm a wonderer. Life for me seems to be rife with all kinds of opportunities to wonder. Like just now I'm walking back to my office from a brief lunch break and I notice what looks like a bandana or skull cap laying on the ground on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is about 200 yards long and out in a grassy (snowy lately) area. Hhmmmm, maybe a picture will help set the scene.
Upon drawing closer I realize that it is not a bandana or skull cap but a colorful red,white and blue undergarment of the thong variety.
ASIDE Ever wonder why we call them a "pair" of underwear. Usually there are 3 in the packages I buy.
So most people would wonder how they got there and I admit I pondered that briefly (pun intended). Mostly, I wondered who was going to pick them up ? How long will they be there ? It will snow again soon, will they be shoveled till a later date ?
If they are still there tomorrow I'll let you know.
ba
A Slow Wednesday
A good friend is a vet surgeon and I have been helping him get his computers and network setup and upgraded. It is a very emotionally polarizing place to visit. I love animals (except most cats) and enjoy walking through and talking with the mostly dogs that find themselves there for reasons of distress. I tell them everything is going to be okay, that they're in good hands. Most respond with a tail wag, some with a fine whine requesting immediate release and some with a simple (yet clearly a struggle) lifting of the head. As I said it can be a very happy place and a very sad place at exactly the same moment.
Every now and then I wander in and I can tell that an animal has been put down. You can see it in the faces of the vet's, the vet techs and I swear in the eyes of the other animals. I don't know how they know but I believe they do.
The coolest animal I every saw there was a hedgehog. The vet spent 20 minutes trying to find the source of a minor amount of blood on its coat. I spent at least 10 minutes trying to figure out which end was which.
Finally to not bum your day totally.....
ba
Freakin Winkers ;)
Didn't think I be back so soon but I got to thinking........I hate winkers.
Mostly I hate them because I can't wink….. Not with either eye…. Most people can get one eye to wink, not me. When I was a kid I used to practice in front of a mirror but all that served to do was confuse the right side of my brain about what the left side face was supposed to be doing. Or was it the left side of my brain about the right side of my face ? Well either way…. You see when I wink my whole face scrunches up, even my ears move and for some stupid reason, like it’s going to help, I tilt my head…. I end up looking like a perfect example of what you’d see if you took the face of a baby happily filling it’s diaper (oh don’t try to tell me they’re not happy) and put it on one of those Sharpe’ puppies, you know the wrinkle dogs. One that has heard a strange noise. You know what I mean; we've all seen wink challenged people.
But I somewhat hate winkers because I never know what the wink means. What its purpose is ? Having been married for awhile I know and am quick to respond to what the "wink and a nod" means but a simple quick wink, I’m clueless. I have three or four peers (friends, co-workers, fellow thespians, etc...) that wink at me with some regularity. In casual conversation - I get the wink. Walking by them in the hall or office - I get the wink. Sitting across a table having lunch or a meeting - I get the wink. I mean what the HE double hockey sticks is wrong with people ? I sometimes, just sometimes, manage to return a smile but more often my ignorance about the origin of the wink leaves me weak, impotent. Unable to respond in kind I shuffle off with my head down cursing my mental or physical limitation, family genes or whatever has left me winkless.
For awhile when I got a wink from one of these people I was content to believe that it was a sty, a dirty contact or something in their eye. Or maybe it was a misplaced memory of some long ago angst that was causing some external manifestation. But the frequency and regularity, the determination in their eye (the one that stays open) makes me wonder about other motives.
So I curse the winkers....... both for their physical ability and mental powers.
ba
Teh 1st Blog
Teh 1st Blog is the hardest. It sets the standard by which all subsequent blogs are measured. I promise to work hard to never let the 3 people that wander here accidentally down.
I was at the theatre the other day waiting for my walk on role in Oliver (the darkest musical comedy ever) and I happened to walk by two stage moms of kids in the show. I overheard one say "I'd love to audition but I just don't think I could do it." As I passed them by I asked if she was married and offered that acting was just like being married. "Just go out there and pretend." I continued past wondering whether she knew I was joking.
As I get old(er) I find I prefer to not let people of the hook after I've behaved in a way that is unexpected, to not let them know I was attempting humor or just performing the antic for the response.
See ya in a couple of days I guess.....
ba
