Short

Can I just say I have such a terrible headache today.  I'm not exactly sure what it's from, but it's just killing me.  I don't think I can spend too much time blogging today, and instead I'll just go take a nap.

Enjoy the picture of the day.  Only one today.


Picture(s) of the Day

Picture 19
Our office is moving tomorrow, as I mentioned.  Here's the view from my chair.  I'll be glad when this is over.

Warm Weather Fun

Well, thanks to the warm weather it is once again grilling season.  I used to grill year round when we lived in the apartment because we had a nice covered porch.  I actually did it a little more often at our last place because it was right outside the sliding door.  It's a bit of hassle now because it's in the garage and I have to shimmy it out and get it to the driveway.

Despite the hassle, today we got to have our first meal of lime skewers! YUM!  We took some chicken skewers marinated in tequila lime, made some grilled asparagus, and then I made some homemade corn bread.  It was freaking delicious.

Picture(s) of the Day:

Picture 17
Why was my Romaine leaves so large today?  They were freaking huge today, not sure what that was all about.










Picture 18
Here is my homemade cornbread before I threw it in the oven.  It was pretty much delicious.

Some People

There are some people in this world who really just should be burned off it.  Given the number of people in this world there's probably a lot of people like that, but I don't know them all so I can't add them to the list of people who should be burned off it.  But really, what are you doing?  Why are you even here.  I think you should help people around you, and at the very least you shouldn't harm them, so I really just don't understand people who are just walking shit bags.  Rather than being a nasty ass, why can't you not be that way.

I know I'm not being specific, and that's on purpose because I don't want to say "Hey asshole, you're an asshole." because if a friend or family member of this person somehow stumbled onto this they wouldn't know who I'm talking about.  But the point is there are some people who don't do even the bare minimum.  They aren't good to others, they help no one, and instead of the "if you can't help don't hurt" idea, they seem to have no problem being hurtful.

Also, don't assume you know who I'm talking about, because you have no idea.  But screw this crap, on to something more fun.

Picture(s) of the Day:

Picture 15
Decided to head up to do an exchange at the store.  It's kind of rainy and crappy today.  This is our view as we drive.







Picture 16

After our exchange we headed down to Arbor Brew Co. for lunch.  I had my usual Drunken Chicken Sandwich.  As I was eating I noticed this giant "bottle top" on the wall behind us.  The cow amused me.

Welcome Back

Well, Spring/Summer has returned, and you can tell because today I had to get out there and mow the freaking lawn.  I almost made it to May, but we just couldn't quite get the entire way there, so April it is.  I guess it could be worse, a year or two ago we had a really warm spring starting in January (slight exaggeration), and I started mowing in March, so end of April is fine with me.

With that I'm also thinking about landscaping projects that we've had going on for a while.  The goal this year is to finally be rid of all our annoying rocks in our yard.  There is one more landscaping bed that needs to be de-rocked, and then the side of the driveway.  Hard work, but I want them out of here.

We also missed our winter cold period to remove all the hornet nests that have cropped up along our house line.  The problem is they decided the best place was the highest point on our house, which can be a little hard to get to.  They also decided that inside the exhaust vent for our bathroom fan and for our fireplace were good places to set up camp.  Friggin' a-holes.

It's still good.  I love Spring/Summer, I enjoy the warmer weather, and I gladly welcome back the season.

Picture(s) of the Day:

Picture 12
Tori finally made it to Gratzi.  We've been talking about it for ages, but we finally got her there.  Last week it was decided that we'd go for lunch and today we headed down.  It was delicious as always, and a nice little change from the usual places one goes out to.


Picture 13
As i mentioned above the hornets decided our exhaust vent for our bathroom was a nice home, so Tori wanted to help get rid of them by poking the next with a large stick.  It actually worked and we dislodged the thing.  It didn't seem like this one really had any hornets anymore.  I guess they didn't care for the location.




Picture 14
These are the dislodged nests.  Not much to say about them.  Friggin' Hornets.

Peace Out

Some days I feel like I really need to just go somewhere quiet and peaceful like the middle of the woods or some where that no one else is.  Just some quiet, no cars, no noises except your standard nature sounds.  I think that place should be warm too.  Like not beach, tropics, or anything like that.  Like warmer summer, middle of nowhere, forest, lake, perhaps a nice clear night to see the sky.  That's what I need some days.  Today is one of those days.

Picture(s) of the Day:

Picture 9
Got some extra Zingerman's Lunch today when they ordered a few too many for a meeting they were having.  This was a new sandwich for me, it was smoked turkey with a spicy honey mustard and Munster cheese then all grilled up.  It was tasty but I think I prefer my regular better.  I also tried one of the vegetarian sandwiches, which was tasty but a little too much vinegar so I couldn't eat a ton.

Picture 10

We had a laptop battery freak out today.  I'm not sure what happened by the cells in it went solid and then broke out the casting.  One of the people at work is going to take it over to the battery guys that work at the University to have a look at it simply for fun.  Very odd.

Picture 11
I arrived late at game night and they already started playing Monopoly, doesn't matter, I had the biggest mansion anyway.

Oblivion

Last night using the unexpected gift card I got for administrative professionals day we decided to go out to the movies in honor of cheap movie Wednesday.  Actually we had planned going out the the movies all along, but this just made it free, so hey more enjoyable.  Anyway  none of this is the point, the point is that we decided to see Oblivion with Tom Cruise.  This wasn't on my absolutely must see movies but it had Morgan Freemen and seemed like it might be interesting enough.

It was actually a pretty good movie.  I have to say it was a bit predictable in a lot of the parts, but I still enjoyed it.  It was also quite long and probably could have shaved a few parts off to make it a little more streamlined and remove some of the dragging sections.

The basic idea is it's after some alien war that destroyed most the earth which is basically inhabited except by a few rogue aliens.  Tom Cruise is in charge of repairing drones that keep the reactors safe as the rest of the survivors of humanity head to their new home on one of moons around Jupiter (or maybe it was Saturn).  However he's been having some weird dreams and it turns out something isn't right.  I won't give anymore information to avoid spoilers.

Like I said there was a lot that was kind of predictable, just having seen other movies and you get the idea that things aren't really going to be what you expect so you're on the look out and thinking about what might be really going on.  I don't think it made the movie any less enjoyable, but it wasn't a big shocking reveal once you got into it.  I'd say if you like sci-fi movies it's worth a seeing, maybe go on cheap movie Wednesday.  If you're not into that kind of movie then I guess wait till Netflix or just skip it.  I enjoyed it though.

Picture(s) of the Day: Day 3

Picture 5

I had to take a walk over to building 520 which is on the other side of Huron Parkway. It's actually not bad because we have this tunnel that connects our building that goes under the street.  It's a little creepy when you get to the other side though because there is this empty lab that looks like a zombie apocalypse started there


Picture 6

Tori decided that she was going to cook us dinner tonight.  She's been wanting to for a while but tonight was the night.  She made us a chicken breast stuffed with Swiss Cheese cooked in a wine, which then is turned to a wine cream sauce.  She also made fresh green beans glazed with butter and brown sugar, and Becky threw in some roasted red potatoes.  It was absolutely delicious and she can cook for us any time!


Picture 7

Simon never misses a chance to be in the way while people are cooking.  But look at that face and how happy he looks. You really can't stay mad at him.  It does get annoying when he decides he wants to sit in the middle of the kitchen right in front of the fridge and won't move out of the way.





Picture 8

We ordered Jasmine some stuff for her room this week, and the last of it arrived today.  It looks pretty good.  Today her comforter arrived, which really ties all the rest of it together.  The sheets came earlier this week, and she got some neat little candle holders that look like Persian or Indian lanterns.  Then of course earlier when she moved in we got her the bed, and then painted her room and got her some curtains.  She's pretty settled now I think, what with a proper teenager room. 

It's A Big Bright Beautiful World

Yesterday we took Jasmine to her college orientation and I was struck by an extremely strong feeling of hope and happiness for her.  It's kind of weird how fast you take on these mentor, guide, and parent like roles and then even stranger how it can mean so much to see them succeeding and going out there on life's next big adventure.

As I was sitting there listening to things that I already knew, my mind started to wander and I thought about all the great things she is about to experience.  She's getting to go to a university, she has a fantastic scholarship, she's going to have a great experience.  She's being set up to have all sorts of wonderful opportunities, and I'm so happy that she has that chance to make her life whatever she wants it to be.

I was not excited about college, I didn't have anyone to help me.  I didn't have anyone to show me what I should be doing, to explain financial aid.  I was left wandering in the wilderness, so to speak and because of that I didn't succeed.  It took me three tries before I was successful in college, and that meant I wasted so much time.  I was also hindered by tons of baggage from being rootless and moving around so much.  I'm glad that Jasmine has that stability and support system to help guide her into this next chapter and I so much hope that she is successful and has a great time.  She seems excited about it and I'm sure she will have everything she wanted in this experience.

It was a good day.


Picture(s) of the Day: Day 2

Picture 4:
Today was administrative professionals day, and my office actually decided to get acknowledge it this year.  They got me this lovely card and a gift card to the movies!  Holy cow!  It was pretty excellent!

The Picture Project

Last year I made a goal to take more pictures, I really didn't do it and I didn't add it to my goals this year.  Instead I wanted to work on uploading all my old pictures.  I have a TON of old pictures.  In a matter of a few years I took nearly 100 rolls of film, which is a lot considering how much it was to take photos.  I loved taking photos, and I loved having pictures all over the place.

Perhaps part of the reason I don't take pictures is that there is no physical record of it anymore, so it loses some of the fun of taking the photos and waiting to get them back.  I mean you still get them sometimes, like when we had disposable cameras at our wedding, or a waterproof camera when we went to the beach.  I think another issue is that I feel weird taking photos now, I mean people do it all the time with their cameras so why should I feel weird about taking pictures.  Yet for some reason I feel strange about taking pictures and I'm not entirely sure how I should be initiating the photograph.

Finally one of the larges reasons I don't take many pictures anymore is because I feel like I have nothing worth photographing.  Nothing is so interesting that I haven't seen a hundred times that I really need to take a picture of.  I mean, I guess if you think about it from say 40 years down the road I may find just the average mundane pictures really interesting so perhaps this is the worst justification for not taking pictures that I have every had.

Well, here's what's going on.  I've decided that for the next year I will post at the end of each blog at least one photograph that I took that day.  It doesn't have to be special or interesting, but I will take at least one photo each day.  I may write a little about each photo or I may just post it with a short caption.  So that is my little project, I hope you enjoy it.

Picture(s) of the Day: Day 1

Picture 1:
We got lunch today at Tower Inn because we were at EMU for Jasmine's orientation.  We didn't feel like eating the food at EMU so for our lunch break we snuck out and got some cheese fries.  It was really good and the place wasn't too bad.  I've passed it hundreds of times and this was the first time we'd been, it was fun!







Picture 2 & 3:
After ditching out on the free lunch at EMU and getting out lunch at Tower Inn we decided we might as well get dessert and headed down to Dom's to pick up some doughnuts.  It was a bit of a walk there and back (about 2 miles when all was said and done) but it was a nice day.  We also got to get right up next to our famous water tower, so I figured might as well snap a few pictures.

Crossed Paths

Every once in a while I like to think about how I may have run into someone in my past and not known who they are.  For example, I used to work in the mall, I'm sure that some people I'm friends with now but didn't know then came into my store shopping.  It's very possible that I sold them something, discussed an item, rang them up.  It's possible that I saw them multiple times and didn't even know it.  Flash forward many years and now they're vital parts of my life.

The idea that I'm interacting with someone today that may be a regular part of my life somewhere down the road and I don't even know it is really fascinating to me.  Likewise it seems almost like there are some people you are destined to meet.  I once had a choice in my life as to where to work.  Actually, I had three choices, three totally different locations unrelated, but no matter what option I decided to go with I would have met a friend of mine.  My friend worked at all three places in a short space of time, so no matter which choice I made we would still have crossed paths.  Yes, that may just be a crazy random coincidence, I'm not necessarily a believer in fate or anything, but I think it's still a fascinating thing.

There are just a lot of people that I'm close to now that when we look back at our pasts our paths certainly crossed but we had no idea, didn't know each other, and now here we are walking the same path now.  Just something that I like to think about sometime.

Sick

I am so sick today.  I have never felt this sick ever.  What have I done to myself.

Excuse me while I go die.

Slow Creep

It's weird how things just kind of creep up on you and you don't even realize what is going on.  You may be going along and suddenly something is different and you didn't even see how it happened.  It's kind of like if you're walking around in a new city and you're not really paying attention and then you are aware that you have no idea where you are or how you got there.

Now that's not necessarily a bad thing.  There are many good things that can creep up on you.  You may one day realize you've become great friends with someone and looking back you can't really figure out how it came to that.  Maybe you were just talking, or you'd do something, or be at the same things and slowly over time your paths converged and before you know it you are super great friends.  Or looking back you may find yourself doing something great and it's something that you've talked about and planned for years, but you're not entirely sure where the idea first came from, and how it became such an important thing to do.

I feel like this happens a lot in my life.  I look at some really great friends that I have that just kind of slowly happened and at first I didn't notice it happening, but now I look around and I can't imagine it any other way, and have no idea how I became so attached to them.  In the end it really doesn't matter because I'm grateful for that slow creep that brought me to where I am now.

Just some random thoughts.

Travel Options

Well, it looks like we are going to be taking a trip in a few weeks, but the question is where do we go?  Right now I'm kind of torn on what I want to do.

Part of me want something slower and relaxing say perhaps something by the ocean.  Swimming, visiting some interesting places I haven't been before.  That kind of sounds like perhaps going to Florida and staying on the ocean, perhaps finally making out to Kennedy Space Center.  Another possibility is perhaps going all the way down to Key West for some snorkeling visit a famous house.  That sounds like a nice slow trip, nothing too strenuous.

The other part of me wants to head out to California visit the bay area, perhaps visit a vineyard, see the sights and all that fun stuff.  Maybe even drive along the coast, see the Pacific, there are some lovely national parks in the area.

So, where do we go?

The Future

Sometimes I worry about the younger people I see.  They're all for talking about standing up to bullies, but they seem to not notice when they themselves are being bullied.  They let people around them treat them like crap and they never stand up to it.  They don't seem to be riled up about anything, and when they are they make a post on Facebook about it but they don't necessarily translate that into action.

I mean, I know this is just sweeping generalizations as I have many other examples, like Nerdfighteria, that do a lot of great things.  But I'm more talking about the students I work with on a regular basis.  They are often dealt a bad hand, but it doesn't seem to bother them.  They let people walk over them, they let people abuse their good nature, they let people treat them poorly, and they do nothing to stop it.  They don't stand up to it, the don't tell people to take a flying fuck through a rolling doughnut. 

Where are the people who are willing to stand up and say, "NO! YOU SHALL NOT GO ANY FURTHER!"  I wonder if they have it in them to protest to change things, to stand up to tyranny, to fight the good fights.  Will they be the people they can be, or will they just be sheep?

Oz

A few weeks ago while my cousins were in town we decided to hit the theater on cheap movie Wednesday and as there wasn't too much out we ended up going to see Oz The Great and Powerful.  Sad to say this really wasn't a very good movie.  The acting was really over the top and silly especially when talking about the Wicked Witch, the story wasn't all that great really, and in the end the best characters were a CGI flying monkey and a CGI china doll.  This is usually the things I dislike most about movies, because I really don't care for the CGI people, but in this case that was the highlight.

I think visually it was nice to look at generally.  The scenery was interesting, the effects weren't super lame.  But it just really dragged on and I couldn't take it seriously.  It was almost like they were trying to make fun of it rather than make a serious movie.  There was also the situation that it was made for 3D so there were moments in the movie that, even though we were seeing it NOT in 3D (as god intended), you could tell that the scene was set up for 3D.  OH THE WITCH IS LOOKING RIGHT FOR YOU! SHE'S GONNA GET YOU!

Can we really give this 3D bullshit a rest?  I absolutely hate it.  It doesn't add anything except cost.  Ohhh it's so cool.  No. No it's not.  Stop it.  They're just trying to wrangle some more cash out of you by making you pay more for the glasses, then buy a new 3D Bluray player and 3D TV, and then higher cost 3D Blurays.  You're being duped into something that's not really even that interesting to begin with. *grumblegrumblegrumble*

So in the end, I'd say wait until this is on whatever premium channel yo happen to get.  Certainly don't go see it in the theater.  I wouldn't even pay to OnDemand it, and it wouldn't be a high priority in my Netflix queue.

Faith In Humanity

It's easy after events like yesterday to lose faith in humanity.  You see these events, you think about the people who would do such things, you listen to the people on the television and on the internet and the terrible things that they say.  But when it comes down to it those people, despite sucking harder than anything can suck, are really tiny.  They are the small minority.

When you actually pay attention and see all the people who ran in to help, the volunteers bystanders, police, fire, and other first responders you realize that the number of people who don't suck and who exhibit awesome far outweigh the few who are terrible excuses for humans.  You see people going in to donate blood, giving cash, sending care packages, offering help whenever they can.

In the end you see that there are a few people in the world who are terrible, who are willing to commit disgusting acts.   However, these terrible events highlight that the vast majority of people have goodness and love in them and will help those around them, will go out of their way to be kind, and show us that we should have faith in humanity.

Hyperbole

Today, as anyone who isn't living under a rock knows, there was a major incident in Boston.  It's unclear who is responsible, there's also still a lot of incomplete information out that, so we will have to wait before we get a full picture of the events.  It's really unfortunate and these events really are upsetting and terrible.  However, I'm not going to talk about the actual events, or my reaction to what is happening.  I'll give that a few days when we have a better picture of what's going on and it's not just opinions and rumors.





No, instead I'm going to rant for a few minutes on how insane we've become.  I'm not talking about the insanity of someone killing other people.  What I'm talking about is the way we react to things, the things we say about events, the coverage we watch.  More a general discussion on society in general.  You see, as I was watching the news when I got home tonight to get more detailed information on what was happening, I was really just kind of disgusted by the commentators.  Now, I wanted to get the NBC coverage with Brian Williams, who seemed to have a more stable and middle of the road discussion on it.  I kind of scoffed when he was talking about how we didn't know if this was terrorism or what, because really it sure looks like it.  But generally he was the same kind of anchor that you expect from a nightly news network.  He told what he knew, he didn't try to speculate, he didn't get overly excited but tried to stay cool and stick to the facts that he had.  This is what the country needs, and I think this is why we're all crazy.

Instead I decided to flip through the stations to see how the cable companies were handling it, so I watched a bit of MSNBC, a bit of CNN, and a bit of Fox News.  I hate that the stereotypes are true, but within seconds I heard Fox commentators and guests talking about "Arabs" and "Muslims", CNN seemed somewhat behind and not entirely sure what was going on, and MSNBC was over the top in the discussion saying things like how this was a happy day and whoever did this "stabbed at the heart of joy"  and how this was just a happy "lovefest" that was ruined.  THOSE ARE DIRECT QUOTES!  Really?  Stabbed in the heart of joy?  Can we tone it down?  Really, let's tone it down this is just absurd. 

I'm going to sound cold and heartless here, but yes people were injured, and we're at two deaths.  While this is a terrible thing that I wouldn't wish on anyone it's not the sinking of the Titanic it's not 9/11, it's not the 7/7 bombings, it's not PanAm 103, it's not the Madrid bombings, it's not Newton, it's not Columbine, it's not Virginia Tech, it's not even Aurora.  I'm not in anyway saying that it was bad, or that the pain these families are feeling is unjustified, or that it shouldn't concern people.  I'm saying the way I'm seeing it presented on the news is over the top.  We've seemed to have lost track of what things are and we blow everything up beyond the level that they should be.  This was a sick and terrible thing, absolutely.  It was designed to terrify people, absolutely.  But, do we need to exaggerate the reality of the situation?



I see these guests and commentators say things like "No one could imagine such horror."  Well, first off at least one person could, because one person thought up this scheme.  One person decided to go through with this act knowing what would happen when it was executed.  So, right from the start someone could indeed imagine such horror.  Furthermore, I'm pretty sure MANY people in the world, and in this country, could imagine such horror.  The first responders to all the incidents I cited above.  Those serving in the military during times of war, from those serving in the two wars we've been fighting the last decade, to the survivors who stormed the beaches of Normandy, they could imagine such horror.  The survivors from death camps around the world, from the holocaust, to North Korea.  The sad fact of the matter is that MANY people could imagine such horror. 

Every day people are blown away by bombers in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, some people like pointing out that we're doing the same with our drones in these countries as well as in Pakistan.  But that doesn't mean that people here don't care just because they care about what is happening today.  I absolutely despise the tone of some of the posts I see online that say "well X people died today when a drone bombed a wedding, but no one gives a shit about that."  First, you can care about both.  Second it's always a bigger deal when it's at home happening to people you know, or at the very least you share a national identity with.  That's not even getting into the idea of dealing with countries you're at war with, which opens up a completely different conversation that maybe I'll discuss on a different blog.

The point is, we need to have a reality check.  We need to stop with the hyperbole that spews out of seemingly all news stories.  We need information, we need facts, we need that shared understanding of events, and what we don't need is the endless hours of droning that comes out of these echo chambers on cable news.  You never have to hear the opinion of someone who has a different point of view, and that's a tragedy.  And you get to hear all hype in an effort to keep viewers so cable news can sell advertising time.  The absurd becomes the norm, and we all just go along with it.  The system is broken and we're letting it happen because we're buying into it.  We're blowing things out of proportion to get ratings.  It's disingenuous and disgusting. 

Yes, this was a terrible day for people in this country who lost someone, who were injured, who were there.  We should rightly feel concerned for our fellow citizens.  We should rightly feel disgusted by whoever did this.  We should want the person(s) involved in this brought to justice.  But we should not allow empty headed hacks on television shape this into something it isn't.

Letting Go

I have a hard time dealing with other people sometimes.  Especially when these other people are being real big dummies.  Their poor decisions and behaviors make me unreasonably angry at what they're doing and it's really hard to deal with that.  I get it, yes people have to "make their own mistakes" or whatever, but only people too stupid to learn from others need to do that.  That's like reinventing the wheel every time you make a car because you need to learn to do it.  No, you don't.  You need to make a car.  You don't have to make every mistake in the world to learn.  You can see what others have done and go, "Yeah, I think I better not."

All I'm saying is that if EVERYONE thinks one thing, and you are the only one that thinks another thing, it is possible that perhaps you are wrong and should listen to everyone.  And that's not one of t those "independent thinker changing the world, don't conform" kind of ideas.  Like more along the lines of, "Let's go swimming a few hundred yards up from the edge of Niagara Falls" and everyone saying, "Yeah, that's not a good idea." sort of situations.

The point I'm making is I need to find a way to keep myself sane when I watch so many people around me doing stupid ass shit.  I try to think that it's their lives to cock up, but it's still very hard to watch and let them fail.  It hurts me to see it.  So, I need to find a way to deal and I'm not sure how.

Happy Sweet 16

Today is the 15th anniversary of Simon living with us.  We got him back in 1998 and picked him up after his fixing at the Huron Valley Humane Society.  Now we don't actually know how old he is, but when we got him they said he was about  year old, so we're just going to say that today is his birthday.  I have to say for being the equivalent of like 120 years old, he's doing pretty good.  I mean he's not chasing balls or anything but he is happy enough, gets up likes to get up in the morning and go down stairs for his morning nap.  Still enjoys barking at the neighbors as they walk down the street in front of our house. And as you can see from the pictures he gets pretty happy when silly things are happening.  He also makes these amused faces when we pull out the Dyson, or do any cleaning or furniture moving.  He seems to enjoy things happening.

Sam and Ronan also decided that given it was Simon's sweet 16 party that they'd get dressed up and celebrate too.  By that I mean that we took somewhere around 40 minutes and about 3 or 4 Kraft singles and tried to herd the friggin' butt faces into the same general area so we could get a party picture.  They were just too excited by the cheese to pay attention and listen.  Ronan kept trying to roll over thinking that trick would get him some of the glorious cheese. 

So, happy birthday to Simon.  He's had a wonderful 15 years with us, and while he's slowing down and I'm sure he won't be with us forever, it's been a great time with him over the years.  Anyhow, here are some of the pictures we manage to take.

Surprise Dinner

Well, for some reason I was allowed to go home early today, which was fantastic! Then to add to that wonderful event Becky decided that since things are going ok, and we haven't really gone out for a good meal in a while that we should get some good dinner. Being last minute we packed up Jazzy, called a few people and ended up heading up to Benihana. OMG! SO GOOD! We haven't been in quite a while, I'm not even sure how long it has been. This is still probably my favorite meal of all time. Though I really get annoyed when they change up the order they serve the food. You can't serve me the appetizer after the sides, and then save the main meal for the end. It's just too confusing. Anyway, a delicious meal today, and thank Dumbledore the week is over.

Stop The Insanity

What the hell is going on with North Korea.  Seriously?  I mean I know they get all blustery and like to say a bunch of crazy ass shit, but really?  Really?  It's getting a bit silly and a bit extreme.  Do I think anything will happen, no not really but it's seriously some crazy nonsense.  But, to explain things I turn to the Vlogbrothers.

Apparently Successful

Well today the big event that I've been working on for months finally happened, and apparently it was successful.  It seemed to me to be much ado about nothing.  I'm really glad it's finally over, and I don't have to work so much.  I mean in the past two days I've worked 24 hours.  That's insane!  I mean, it's only Wednesday, I still have two days to go and I'm already at 32 hours for the week.

Thank goodness for the weekend.  Almost there.

The Longest Day

Today I worked 13.5 hours.  It was completely unnecessary as I didn't actually DO anything.  The caterer was set, the building was set.  If something had gone wrong, there really wouldn't have been anything I could have done.  But instead of being able to go home, I got to stay at work all freaking day.  Tomorrow I have to work 10 hours as well, so that will be fun.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, which seems appropriate because if I were still teaching this week we would be covering the Holocaust.  As we get further and further away from World War II we are quickly losing the witnesses of these events.  Soon the people who fought the war, lost family, survived the camps will all be gone, and their voices will be left only to memory or documentary film.  As such we are also getting more detached from the events, and it's becoming more of a story for history books and less an event that people we know experienced.  This of course happens with all history, as the generations go on. 

I notice a change in the way people talk about the Holocaust, where now there is this push to point out that other groups were murdered too.  Political dissidents, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally disabled, the handicapped or anyone else the Nazis decided were undesirable.  While I think it is important to note that just as many people were killed during this time that weren't Jews, it should be noted that these other groups were not hunted and eradicated in the same way.  They are all small slices of the pie, where as the majority of the pie was Jewish.  It's almost a subtle form of Holocaust denial to try and lessen the magnitude of the event by saying, "Yeah, but these people died too."  It's as if to say that the focus is too much on the Jewish deaths and no one acknowledges that others died too.

I'm also reminded of an interview I had at a charter school for a teaching position.  The interviewer asked me how I was going to deal with events such as the holocaust, and in a round about way asked me how I was going to teach it as an opinion.  Let that sink in.  A school administrator asked me how I was going to teach the Holocaust as an opinion not as a historic fact. I won't say where this school was, or what type of demographics populate the school, but I was shocked that I was being asked and didn't know how to even respond at first.  I believe that perhaps my answer may have kept me from getting the job, but I told them that while the justification and reasoning behind some events may be up for debate, there are somethings that are facts and can not be taught as an opinion.

Today I think it important to remember history, to remember the events, and to push back on any kind of denial even when it is subtle.  General Eisenhower at the time visited the camps so he could relay his own personal accounts, so there would be no questions about how severe and terrible the conditions were.  He then had as many people as he could visit the camps, both from nearby towns and US and Allied soldiers.  He knew that first hand accounts would be necessary to keep people from denying it later.  If you'd like to read some of the primary documents, I suggest you visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library collection found here.  There are many documents that have been scanned for you to read.  Also, visit in person or online the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here.

Television

Started watching Mad Men today on Netflix.  During the first episode I wasn't sure if I'd really enjoy watching it.  It just wasn't really that interesting and then you have the blatant sexism, antisemitism, etc. which really turned me off.  And I know they're going for trying to capture the ideas of the period and so forth so I get why it's there, but it still rubs me the wrong way.  However, we watched about five episodes today and I think I'm interested enough to watch some more.  I'm not entirely sure what about it I find compelling enough to keep watching but I do.

At the same time I'm also still watching Revolution, which has terrible acting, terrible dialogue, and the only redeeming quality is the basic premise.  So, here I am still watching it.  I'm always grabbed by those post-apocalyptic type stories.

Tonight we have another new episode of Game of Thrones, and the season finale of Shameless.  Next week The Borgias is back.  Sunday really is my best TV night. The only other thing through out the week that I watch right now is Go On and The Office.  Go On I freaking love, and The Office is on the last season, so I'm keeping up with that. Though for both I usually have to catch it OnDemand because I miss it when it airs.

Grumble

Well, if I didn't have this stupid meeting next week I'd be writing my last blog from Disney today.  Yes, we wanted to go to Florida with the girls this week on account of it is spring break for LHS, but I have a meeting.  The biggest thing keeping me that I can tell from this week was that people can't get their shit together and decide if they're actually coming to the meeting or not, so I have to sit around making, remaking, or throwing away name badges and tent cards.

Really people, get your shit together so I can go on vacation.  I haven't had a vacation since last year's trip to Disney.  Now, I did get a week off at Christmas because the U shuts down, but that wasn't a break as there were a ton of events I had to go to/prepare for.  But even still that's four months ago, which is a long time to go in a job you despise.

All I'm saying is I need a break.

Goals Update

Well, yet another month has passed this year, and we're now through the worst part of winter that I really don't enjoy.  But with that also comes an update on goals.

Goal Number One - Get A New Job: Still pretty much dead in the water on this one.  No new jobs applied to, nothing that looks promising, just sitting here with no leads.  I did finish my HTML book that I was studying so that's something, but I also still feel like it may be way over my head. 

Goal Number Two - Read At Least 12 Books: I've read two plays this year so far, Little Women and The Odd Couple.  I also finished my CSS book, which took far too long.  I've got to read some other things as well now that I've finished that.  I'm really behind on my Time magazine, but I also have to read some plays for the summer show. 

Goal Number Three - Go Out West: Hasn't happened, no plans yet.

Goal Number Four - Be Consistently Active:  I'm still getting up every morning, and now I've added in some evening runs.  I'm not yet very consistent with the runs, but I generally get in a few.  My goal is of course to be very regular on my running, so we're building up.  My time has been improving so that's a benefit.  My mile run is down one minute from when I first started. So, doing really well this year so far! 

Goal Number Five - Consistently Log Meals: Still at 100% on this.

Goal Number Six - Digitize My Photos: Haven't touched this at all.  I need to get on it though.  It does help that I've organized my office because it makes it easier for me to get to things I need.

Goal Number Seven - Have Seven New Experiences:  Still at 2/7 on this one, which means I just have 5 more to go, and I know we'll get a few more as the year goes.  Perhaps I should look into things and actually plan out some new items.  Any suggestions of things I should try?

So, there yo have it, the update or where things are.

Lost

Tonight when there was nothing on worth watching, I decided to pull of Netflix and watch something.  Well I didn't have that much time before bed, so I settled on watching the first episode of Lost.  Now, I haven't seen the first episode of Lost since it aired, so while I remembered a few things, like the demise of the captain of the plane, that's really about all I recalled.  I also knew that it opened right on Jack's eye, which is basically how it ends as well, but I forgot that it also opens how it ends with Jack surrounded by bamboo and Vincent coming out of the brush.

It was fun watching it again, and I think I'll finish the series, because it was interesting to know how it ends and then watch it again.  You pick up on little things and go, look at that they mentioned this now and will come to it later!  So I think it will be neat to see it knowing what we know at the end rather than going along with the story trying to figure it out and focusing on t he wrong things.  I think it's also fun because Jasmine watched the episode.  She's never seen any of Lost, so it was all new to her, and it was kind of fun to watch how she reacted to it and what she said about it.

I've written about it a lot that I loved the final episode, but it occurred to me recently that it is a perfect lesson.  At the end everyone ends up in the same spot, and they don't care about all the mysteries or what things mean, they care about seeing each other again finally.  Everyone got bent that questions weren't answered and how that was a rip off.  But I think life may be just like this.  We worry about so many things daily, and we want answers to questions, but in the end none of that will matter. It'll matter who we spent our life with, and the love and connections we made with those people.  Just my thought, I may revisit as I re-watch the series.

People Need To Learn

Perhaps, just perhaps, if something has happened in the past more than once, then you might want to learn from that mistake.  Like, say you're doing something and you cut off your finger because you put your hand in the garbage disposal when it's on.  Then say a few weeks later, you turn on the garbage disposal and stick your hand down it and cut off another finger.  So you're down two fingers, and I'm not talking about the stupid little bitchy pinky that isn't any good for anything but promises, I'm talking about your most important fingers like the flip you off finger, or the pointer finger.  Hell, you lost your thumb too, yeah this is my story so I'll escalate it in any way I see reasonable!  YOU ARE A CRIPPLE ON THE LEFT HAND!

Now, lets flash forward like a year, and you turn on the garbage disposal with your two remaining digits on your left hand.  Should you A) put your hand down the disposal, or B) NOT put your hand down the disposal?

Some people don't learn, that's all I'm saying.

Got Punked

Yesterday was of course the first of April, so of course everyone needed to celebrate national lie to people day.  Saw a nice article from HBO saying that they were replacing Peter Dinklage with Warwick Davis on Game of Thrones, my mom tried to convince me she was going to pass on the offer on her house, someone on the ISS posted pictures of a totally obvious photoshop UFO.  However, I have to hand it to Tori and Jasmine because they really pulled off an elaborate and epic prank.

How it went down was around midday Becky and Tori were texting about her possibly joining us for dinner.  This is a totally normal occurrence and they decided that she may join us, but wasn't sure, but that usually means we'll see her around dinner time.  Well, a little while later Becky receives a text that confirms she'll be joining us because she got into it with her parents and wanted to not be home.  Cool, NBD.

Well, we get home and find that the guest room which was filled with all sorts of stuff that we've kind of just been dumping in there because there was nowhere else to put it, has been totally clean, and slightly rearranged.  In addition to this cleaning, Tori is laying on the bet, looking kind of upset and I notice two suitcases on the floor, and a few knickknacks on the dresser, including a new lamp.  The story goes that it was a bit of a fight and she needed somewhere to stay for a while.

I have to say Tori really sold it.  She was super gloomy and down, didn't get excited at all about dinner, seemed really upset.  Seriously, she SOLD IT.  I was actually quite concerned for about an hour or so until we headed off to the mall when I started replaying some things in my brain and thought, "wait a minute... are we being punked?"  Well when we returned from the mall, yes indeed we had been punked.  While we were gone Tori reset the room almost exactly as it was before she "moved in" which was really impressive since it was very random and junky in there, but it looked exactly like it had before she came in, except she had a nice note that said "APRIL FOOLS! HAHAH!"

I have to admit that's probably the most elaborate prank anyone has ever tried on me.  It also hit the exact right spot because she sold it so well I didn't even consider for a good 90 minutes that there was any possibility that it was all BS. 

So, well played.  Of all the attempts at fooling me that have ever been attempted in all my life none have been so successful, so complicated, and so well executed.  Tori is First Place at Pranks, she should add it to her award.

This is what it looked like when I got home:

And this is what it looked like before, and then after.  In fact I think everything may have been EXACTLY where it was originally.

Fort Knox Pants

It occurred to me today that my pants are a little over the top.  Generally pants have two closing devices, the zipper and then the button (or in some strange cases the snap, but generally it's a button).  Well these pants I have are a little overly enthusiastic about finding ways to close.  First there's a button, then there's a little clip thing, then there's another button, then the zipper. 

Seriously?  Why does anyone need that many closing devices?  Who do you think is trying to get in to these?  I assure, no one is so desperate to get into my pants that I need three redundant closing mechanisms.  I'm not being stormed like the Bastille.  I'm not the Beatles with screaming fans wanting to disrobe me.  This isn't the battle of Helm's Deep, I'm not defending against a horde of raging orcs. It's a pair of khakis.

Perhaps it's their method of trying to prevent sexual harassment in the office place?  Can't get in the pants quick with that kind of thing.  I'm surprised that they don't have two keys that must be turned at exactly the same time or the whole thing locks down.

What I'm saying here is my pants are stupid.