IT'S LEAP DAY :)
Monday February 29, 2016 9:32 am
Inexplicably I like Leap Day, and I'm not sure why I do... but I just do. This is number 15 for me in my lifetime. It's sort of a shame that I wasn't born on February 29, 1956 (my first Leap Day after my real birthday) because then I would be celebrating my 15th birthday today, oh, to be a kid again... sigh. I mean, that is how it works... right... you only age as you celebrate birthdays?
Amy Adams (who I think is pretty) played in the movie, Leap Year. The movie had some nice old Irish sayings in it so I thought I would include an Irish blessing.
"May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you."
Well, regardless whether this day is nothing more to you than any other day or not... I hope all who reads this has a great day today!
BIRTHDAYS
Friday February 26, 2916 9:32 am
Today marks the second birthday (Leni) so far this calendar year of our 14 grandchildren: last month we celebrated Audrey's at our house. We are trying something different this year and that is to have each of our grandchildren over for a day soon after their birthdays just to spend some time with us. You know, fix something they especially like to eat and just have a fun day... watching movies, etc.
Hopefully this will be more memorable for them then just getting a toy or something that they will most likely be through playing with in a matter of days.
In the past we (sort of) set a limit of 25.00 for each child as we were buying a toy... although, that wasn't a concrete number. Then, one year we thought for every birthday we would take each child out on their special day to eat at their favorite place. (That year turned very quickly into the most expensive year for us for birthdays.)
I gave it little thought beforehand as to where each might want to go? I also didn't think about the fact that we would be eating out as well. There was what you might expect from some: Burger King, Chuck E Cheese, and even a Golden Corall. etc. Those were in the range of 25.00 - 40.00 dollars... but there were some that climbed much higher! lol
Each was told they could get whatever they wanted and I remember one in particular (Red Robin) and for one of the very youngest ones the total bill was more than 60.00. It was also there that she had not been feeling well that day and she fell asleep at the table with her food hardly even touched.
Leni's birthday is today (Happy birthday Leni) and with Audrey's being last month we still have Leni to celebrate with once they are back from Nashville and then there will still be twelve more to go! Life passes so very quickly and birthdays are just one of the many ways we use to mark that passing. So, enjoy life as much as you are able.
I hope any and all who reads this has a nice day today.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Thursday February 25, 2016 6:39 pm
Fortunately I was off today and after I got a few errands run I came home and was flipping through channels and I saw a movie coming on that I had not seen in awhile. (The title for this blog is the movie of the same name.)
I decided to watch it for one scene and one scene only... however, there was a problem. I have been beat lately and always tired, so, at some point later in the movie, and obviously before the scene I wanted to see and the line I wanted to hear: I fell asleep. (I awoke to watch the last five minutes only.)
The scene I missed, but know so well caused me to want to write and ask if any person reading this has ever known another human being that because of them, and only for them, they make you long to be a better man?
Or, is your life more like the scene as Melvin is leaving his psychiatrist's office and feeling defeated, so he asks no one in particular but everyone in general, "Is this as good as it gets?"
MY VIEW KEEPS CHANGING
Thursday February 25, 2016 10:59 am
The first 15 months we lived here my large glass topped circular desk sat in the same spot in my upstairs office. However, in the brief period since I have been relegated to a small spot downstairs (with a different and much smaller desk) this is now the FOURTH TIME I find my desk moved. However, this one I actually like... sort of.
My desk now sets in a corner of the living-room and it's angled so as I type I can see out our front window. Now, I freely admit that the view is ugly, (all concrete and business store-fronts) however, it is also a busy view with lots to see.
One view, often on display, comes from the Jefferson Villa Motel which sets at about the 10:00 position from where I am presently typing. Apparently this motel offers amenable accommodations at affordable rates to many crack-addled men and women. The police are often there searching the rooms for who knows what? But, if I find I am both home and bored during one of these many raids it's still something to watch and enjoy.
Setting at about the 2:00 position from where I type sets a coin laundry-mat... recently closed. Before it closed all day and all night (24 coin operated) there was constant activity. Other than people washing their clothes a lot of other activity was also in play.
There were young girls constantly offering their services to men who came in to do their wash and guys selling drugs. I talked to the transient the laundry manager hired to mow the ditch that runs beside that property and he told me the needle count he had picked up the last time he mowed... it was a double digit number.
If you read this and you don't know me or where I live you might get the idea that we live in an inner city ghetto of a large city? We don't, we actually live on a quiet side street in a small mid-western town. I guess that drugs and sex for sale are everywhere regardless where you live. I suppose it's just that I happen to be in a place where I can sit and watch other people's misery unfold... good times :)
22,019
Wednesday February 24, 2016 10:37 am
From the Emerald Isle comes an old Irish children's song that seems appropriate to me this morning. Before I name the song I have a question for any who reads this blog today. Isn't there... or at least 'shouldn't there be' an age where life's important lessons have been learned, and learned to the point of being heeded?
If there is supposed to be... then I'm either educable slow, else I've not yet reached that age regardless my 22,019 days. In the old song Michael Finnegan there (in the longer version) is a two word phrase that often follows the separate stanzas: I find that two-word phrase seems to be me, as I often do that.
If one word could explain "why" I think it would be attrition. I like that word because it has at least two well defined and accepted meanings and both works!
Well, on this rainy, yet, balmy morning... I hope all who reads this has a very nice day. As for me I'm getting ready to shower and then head out to run some errands.
I'm off work today... WOO-HOO!!!
I DON'T BELIEVE I EVER HAVE...
Friday February 19, 2016 9:50 pm
I have tried to stay above the fray, I really have. But, Clinton... both of them are smarmy, oleaginous, sleezy, slimy, liars!!! Honestly, whenever I think of Obama or the Clintons' I feel like I need to take another shower!
From Bill saying, "I never had sex with that woman..." to admitting smoking pot, but never inhaling, to now Hillary in a recent interview saying about lying, "I don't believe I ever have!" I DON'T BELIEVE I EVER HAVE!!!
She is either delusional (very possible) or a pathological and habitual liar and she does not even know the truth! Can you imagine a person so arrogant and foolish as to say, not once but three times when asked about lying that she NEVER HAS!!! NEVER has!
And apparently we have an electorate so dense and bereft of logical thinking that they could (twice) elect a liberal Socialist (Obama) to office and now this same electorate has a known liar (Hillary) as their front runner! Amazing, absolutely amazing!
Maistre wrote, "In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." Here is the thing, I am a fallen man: however, even though that is true, personally I deserve better than an Obama or a Clinton. If anyone reading this is so stupid and so sycophantic to vote for anyone like that... then, Maistre's quote is true for you... you deserve them!
IT'S GOOD TO BE OFF
Friday February 19, 2016 9:33 am
It's my normal rotation and today is my Friday off. More and more I look forward to my days off from work and my thoughts are always the same... just quit already and retire for good!
Hopefully one day and soon, rather than later I will begin with a blog... I quit today :)
I hope all who reads this has a good day today.
As for me I plan to enjoy this great weather (55 now and on its way to 61) and mow my back lawn and clean out my tool shed. One of my older grandsons (Ethan) is spending the day with me and wants to help in what I'm doing.
HAHAHAHAHA
Wednesday February 17, 2016 9:47 am
I wish I could write in such a way as to convey a hilarious moment I saw last night. Yet, I already know this is going to fall flat and might not even seem funny? I think it's because I have no true way of painting a mental image of the slumped shoulders, the small voice, tilted head, and downcast eyes as she extended her small hand clutching a crumpled dollar and said, "Here." LOL!!!
Apparently in this one act it was both her peace offering and perhaps even payment for having a dirty diaper changed. Trinity, who is four, came flying down the stairs to me last night and said she didn't want a "whuppin", and that IS how she pronounces it. I assured her that no one was going to whip her but what was wrong?
She is being trained to go to the toilet but at times when she gets too busy playing she will not go to the bathroom until it's too late. I can only imagine she has heard threats of a spanking if she waits too long: even though such pronouncements are apparently made, they are just that... threats only as a whuppin doesn't materialize.
So, last night I called out for her grandma to come in and change her. After she came in I explained the situation and with hands on hips Deb stared down at her... Trin had been standing quietly and taking the whole situation in with a concerned look on her face. Her small shoulders slumped as she looked down with her head slightly twisted away... her arm shot out with her hand clutching her dollar and she said, "Here." Deb and I started laughing at the same time!!!
HAHAHAHAHA
A QUESTION FOR YOU
Monday February 15, 2016 7:20 pm
I am watching an old movie on tv as I type this... Hollow Man, with Kevin Bacon and it caused me to think about something. If I could choose a super power or unusual ability, what would it be? And, if I had such power or ability would I use it for good... or for bad?
Anyway, after giving it little thought... I came up with what I would choose. Keep in mind I did say "little" thought, but I think I would choose to be able to talk with animals and have them understand me and I them.
I mean, as a believer that thought is not so far-fetched as there are examples in the Scripture where man and animal did speak and understand each other. So, that would be mine, but what about you? What would you choose? And would you use your power for the general good, or only for your own enjoyment.
On the other hand, being invisible would be fun and the possibilities seem endless :)
IN A PERSON'S LIFETIME...
Wednesday February 10, 2016 12:39 pm
"In a person's lifetime there may be not more than half a dozen occasions that he can look back to in the certain knowledge that right then, at that moment, there was room for nothing but happiness in his heart." ~ Ernestine Carey
I know in looking backward that I can recall those fleeting moments when it was also true for me that...
right then, at that moment, there was room for nothing but happiness... in my heart, I also now understand that I never realized back then just how brief and far apart such moments as those are.
Everyone knows about the "big" room for nothing else but happiness moments in their hearts: first true love, marriage, babies, grandchildren, etc. but as I grow older I better understand there are other, though less obvious, happy moments as well.
I suppose I was thinking these thoughts because a few minutes ago I was watching three little ones on the couch across from me who were oblivious to me even being in the room because they were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tv.
As I was busily watching them and smiling as they "talk" to the tv and cry out "Oh Toodles" and sing "Hot dog... hot diggity dog" and count along with the characters they watch, I paused in my enjoyment to wonder if this is one of those moments in time for me?
Because if it was I was wanting to see if there was a way to try and make it last somehow? I mean, had I known that those brief moments of pure happiness I was experiencing back then... might have they meant even more had I known just how quickly they would pass???
Alas he thought, as he sighed heavily and prepared to bring another inane blog to a close: whether it be three babies on a couch enjoying cartoons or just watching someone pay for gas and walk back to their car... moments, even great ones, pass so very quickly!
(NOTE TO READER... all that follows is a bonus???)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA This 'bonus' is a funny story I'm telling on myself :)
I had finished my blog and I quickly read through it to try and catch any spelling errors then the last thing I always do is go back to the top and type in the time and then I hit 'publish.'
Thankfully though as I was ready to publish it something resonated in my mind so I moved back to the last paragraph, and I read it again, and, HAHAHAHAHA
I had definitely referred to myself in the third person! lol So, sitting here at my small desk I started laughing. I thought of
Jimmy in an old Seinfeld episode. HAHAHA
From past reading I know that most psychologists believe there are three basic reasons why people do this: they are either self obsessed, narcissistic, or detached from reality. I think if any of those apply to me it could be the last one... but I'm not sure?
Anyway, I found it quite amusing I did that. I'm thinking now that for my next blog I might say something like, "Rob likes Reece peanut butter cups, Rob hates ties, Rob really loves ...... etc. etc. etc. lol
Hahahaha, I really can't stop smiling thinking about having done that :)
Well, I hope that Robin... and anyone else who reads this has a good day today :)
NOSTALGIA
Thursday February 4, 2016 8:01 pm
A couple of hours ago I was scrolling through channels and as I passed FX I saw where a movie was getting ready to play. I think I smiled, but I kept scrolling, yet not for long.
I got up and got a cold drink from the refrigerator and returned to the previous channel and began watching. This was now the third time for me to see it. (Well, to be fair the first time I saw almost none of it, and the second time it was hard to sit through.)
But, this time it was almost nice :)
Early on there was a scene and a line where the star is lamenting that they no longer have their ride home, and he describes this man's face in rather strong language. I sat there watching and could still hear in a teasing voice that sentiment and line being repeated over and over. The memory was now, and I suppose always will be bittersweet... but at times throughout the movie tonight I could actually hear that voice, and I would smile and sometimes even laugh out loud.
Never has the following truth been more true than now... as I sit here and type: "We do not remember days, we remember moments." ~ Pavese
GROUNDHOG DAY (PART TWO)
Tuesday February 2, 2016 8:02 pm
(After this is written by me, and then read by anyone else no one will ever be able to say I wasted any of my time on this Earth.) Because I was thinking about Groundhog Day and because Comedy Central is playing the movie all day long on a continuous loop, I decided to watch it again. But this time with pen and paper in hand.
Here are some things I learned. (Before that though... in the background as I type this the tv is playing and an old episode of The Big Bang Theory is on and I just laughed out loud at something Penny said. Although what she said was not that bad in and of itself the double entendre makes it that I probably should not type it out on this page... but it was funny.)
Anyway, here are some things I learned about the movie. At least 37 times there is a definite day starting over. Although it is understood there are thousands of more days beyond that... the number 37 is the very least that is shown and there are probably more, for at least two reasons.
First, the scenes are such that I think it is virtually impossible to be able to say with certainty if some of the scenes are supposed to be all within the same day. Secondly, we have Dish Network and at one point during the movie we had a hard driving rain and I temporarily lost power to the Dish and for a several minutes I had no signal.
That fact aside, and in the parts I did not miss I also know he killed himself at least eight different ways: driving off of a rock quarry, electrocution, hit by a bus, jumping from a building, stabbed, shot, poisoned, and frozen.
He also took six months (4 to 5 hours a day) to learn how to flip playing cards into a hat. He learned to speak French fluently, ice sculpting, dancing, and became an expert on a piano and keyboard.
He did a little marriage counseling, helped a man with a bad back, and saved a diner from choking on steak. This was after he kept catching a boy slipping from a tree, changing the tire of elderly spinsters and tried several different times to save an old homeless man's life. All around... it was a busy day. In fact the only negative on his resume it seems to me is that he heartlessly killed Phil (the groundhog) at one point.
But, I think the very best thing he accomplished was he won the girl of his dreams... lucky guy :)
One more thing: after I wrote my blog earlier this morning I read where Harold Ramis (who wrote the screenplay) said he thought the time Phil spent repeating the same day was probably 10,000 years. So, 33 + years or 10,000??? Either way it's no wonder he became accomplished at all things :)
GROUNDHOG DAY + ONE YEAR
Tuesday February 2, 2016 11:23 am
I read something the other day that I found intriguing, for at least two reasons. First (I suppose) I liked it because I couldn't imagine anyone caring enough to take the time to try and figure this out... and secondly I liked the time line that was given.
Have you ever considered in the movie Groundhog Day as Phil begins repeating the same day over and over and over... how many days did Phil live again? Someone with apparently more free time on their hands than I have actually figured it out. Drum roll please: 33 years and 350 days!
They based it on the number of hours it takes to master any given subject, such as ice sculpting, learning to play the piano, speaking foreign languages... etc. etc. etc. Keep in mind also that he was only able to master these various crafts one day at a time.
One year ago today we were at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA to watch the festivities and hear one of the Top Hat guys make Phil's prognostication that revealed six more weeks of winter... boy, was he right!!! Last year winter did not seem like it would ever end!
Anyway, apparently this year Phil did not see his shadow so we are to have an early springtime. Since, I sit this morning typing this blog from a Midwestern state where we are expected to set a record for high temp today for this area of nearly 70 degrees... I would imagine Phil will probably be right again.
Anyway, thinking about this day, that movie, last year, and now my life in general... I have reached a certain conclusion. Here it is: I have been living my own Groundhog Day for the last 26+ years! I mean, really, has one day been so very much different than the one before?
Of course, in the movie Phil finally wins Rita just by being himself and not trying to manipulate a particular outcome. Once he does this the calendar finally rolls over to February third and he has a new start. I wonder, if I awake tomorrow will it be February third for me... or more of the same and a long continuation of repetition and repeating the same day over and over and over?
Anyway, Happy Groundhog Day to all of you! Or more accurately for those of us in the know: Happy SSDD to all of you who reads this. You know: Same Stuff... Different Day :)
