Winds of Change

There are some songs that are instantly recognizable after only a few bars of music. One of these songs for me is Scorpions Winds of Change. The song was released in 1990, my high school days, and it is the only song I remember Scorpion releasing. The song starts with the music being whistled, and then it goes into a ballad. The song invokes a general memory of high school, no particular event, just the fun times we had in High School

For me there are many songs that invoke some memory. For example, Soul Asylum's Runaway Train, takes me back to a camping trip I took with Terry, Steven, and Cory to Cimarron Canyon, New Mexico. We camped in the Pondersoa camp ground for 6 days, then drove over to Red River and spent one night in a hotel before heading back. The camping trip was the first one that we had taken without any parents. We did not get into any trouble, and we did have a raccoon stalker at the camp site.

Two songs, Hammer Time (MC Hammer) and Vogue (Madonna), and to a lesser extend Barbra Ann, remind me of the first time I went to the state competition for drafting. While not quite as manly as the state football playoffs, it was a lot of fun, almost like a 4 day school paid for vacation. Those two songs were on MTV when we were staying at the "Value Inn" just off of I-35 on the north end of Waco, Texas. It was also the first time I saw a Piggly Wiggly. I managed to go to state 4 straight years, and had a lot of fun. Fortunately my Senior year, we upgraded to a better hotel, in a safer part of town.

Pretty Good Skier

After dinner Ella and I were playing around with the soccer ball in the back yard. I would gently kick it to her, and she would throw it back. Then she change to where she was going to hike it back to me like a football. So I took up the ch allege of kicking it between her legs. Which got me to thinking about snow skiing. (I know that is the same as going from dot #1 to dot #35 on connect the dots.) I managed to get pretty good at it as long as I was close. My memory flashed back to lining up behind a skier in front of me, and sitting down, laying back on my skies, then shooting the moon. This moment of reflect drove me to come to grips with the fact that I was a pretty good skier at one point in my life. It was nothing for us to shoot down the face at Wolf Creek, hit the waterfall area, or take a chute that was no wider than our skies were long. We managed to survive all of it. Of the new inventions in the world, the one I would have enjoyed the most was an iPod. It was really tiresome carrying a couple of tapes, and extra batteries along with everything else we carted on the mountain.

Editor

Tnoght I glanced through several old posts, some from 2006, and some from 2010. After reading those, I decided I needed an Editor to proofread my writing. Any volunteers... ...no, I did not think so.

Square Sink - Round Tile

Sinks, a device or fixture that is in almost every bathroom, and kitchen I have ever been in. I have always associated sinks as a round object. This is despite the fact that most sinks are not a circle, rather they are an oval, or even a square with rounded corners.

Tiles, are yet another item that are found in abundance in bathrooms and kitchens. In my house they are also found in the entry, laundry room, and living room. As a general rule all the tiles that I have seen have been square. Some are big, and some are small.

This evening my "norm" was challenged by a restroom that had a square (straight corners and everything) sink, and round tiles. Which brings up the age old question, "Why do we readily accept the 'norm' and are or can be put mentally off balance by the 'exceptions'?" Our fast acceptance the norm will stifle creativity. On occasion, my kids seem to drift off to a land that they have created in their head. They will sit there and happily play with this or that toy imagining it is part of a family, or a pirate, on a great adventure.

Lately, I have felt like I have lost my creativity, or at least not had much to write about. I was listening to a podcast about The Onion, driving back from Beeville the other day. One statement was made about their desire not to get stuck in the repetitive creativity loop. A cycle that has the same set of jokes, or headlines. The last several post I have made, seemed to be stuck in this "creativity loop". A much deeper question: Am I creative at all? I think I have some degree of creativity, I am no Monet, Picasso, or Shake sphere. The is mainly because I cannot really paint, nor write sonnets in old English.

Dr. Pepper on Fat Tuesday

As the season of Lent is upon us, it is time to reflect upon our lives. This year I will be giving up Dr. Pepper, so I celebrated today with the equivalent of the old "Big Gulp.". Which in todays over the counter soft drink standard is more like a medium.

Obama Foodorama

I read an article once upon a time in Newsweek about a "Weblog" or blog for short. I found the entire concept interesting, and that is probably one of the reasons I started keeping a blog. We have many different outlets for getting information delivered to other people, the blog, a tweet (I do not do this), facebook, a newspaper (which still exists today), and the favorite Television.

A television news show can take an 8 hour intellectually stimulating debate and boil it down, like a distillery, into two 30 second sound bites. Neither of which, is much like the overall tone of the debate or argument. These news bits seem to feed the American Public, as opposed to going out and reading information on your own. We allow others to help us formulate our opinions. If you do not believe that, look at all of the news shows, in which the reports give their commentary, or thoughts on a situation.

So I was reading the news last night, looking for information on the proposal to cut public radio funding. I came across a blog about the presidents food, and dinning experiences. Which is interesting on several fronts. First, the fact that people are interested in what the president is eating, or his latest dinning experience. While his may be a little more extravagant, a Bourbon marinated pork chop cooked in my kitchen, is similar to a Bourbon marinated pork chop cooked in the presidents kitchen. Well there is one small difference, my pork chop, did not have to go through security. I am thinking about starting J's food blog, how is this for a title.

The Big J and His Food
A Look at the Cooking and Eating Habits of an Aspiring Home Chief

The Presidents blog is put together, by a paid staffer, with more abundant resources and time to complete the assignment. Big J's has limited time resources, and will not be as "professional" in its appearance.

See the Obama Food Blog
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Fritos

I am currently having a bit of a crisis. I cannot find the Sony Reader, which I have managed to misplace. It is a great little device, that I need to find, so that I can finish the book that I was reading. The other crisis, is that I do not have any chips to eat. (Perhaps the term crisis is a bit strong.) It is still an issue, as I like to eat my chips and hot sauce about this time in the evening, and since it is a Friday, one of my 7 favorite days of the week, I was going to have a tasty beverage with my chips. They complement each other.

Lent is coming up and I have not decided quite what I will be giving up. I think this year I might fall back on the Dr. Pepper, as I have gotten in the habit of drinking more of them that I used to. This has help the Levis Strauss company, as I have expanded my wardrobe, not just in number, but in size. Besides Dr. Pepper, I might give up the stinky chips aka Chile Cheese Frito's. I have not decided.

My air conditioner is running, it is 9:48 pm, in the first week of march and it is running. The heat is coming and will be here before I know it.

Fog

Driving through the fog is always fun. I did it for about 1 1/4 hour this morning. Driving though the fog, is like driving through an new universe. Much like the first time you drive some where in the dark, but with the fog, it could be the 345 time, and still, it is like a new universe. The fog shrouds the world around the car as we are driving. There is a difference between walking in the fog and driving in the fog. Most fog is not super dense, and difficult to walk in. When one takes the same density fog, and you are now going 60 mph, it seems much denser.

Living life is sometimes, like driving in the fog. One can never be quite sure the direction they are going. As the fog shrouds the surroundings, so does the hectic life we lead. Busy doing this, that, or the other, and we miss our turn. So busy that we do not see the beauty in the people around us, or we are to concerned with our own destination, that we miss a yield sign at life. When we do those things, we allow the beautiful things of life, pass before us. Life is Beautiful, if you ever take time to stop and gaze at the beauty. You will also miss the miracles of life, and by miracle, I do not mean the 1980 USA Hockey team, or the fact that the Red Soxs have actually won a few world series;s. The miracle of life, is that God can take us, create us, and love us, for who we are. He does not love us for what we have done, what we are going to do, or what we plan on doing. He just LOvES us!

Go Fish -

When I arrived at the Castle (chateau, manor, abode, or whatever you chose to call you home) A,C,E, AKA ace, were sitting down to play go fish. I joined them, and using my super powers learned while playing 42, and paying attention to who was asking for what I pulled down 8 pairs. I was pretty excited by this, last time I played, I manged to squeak out 5 pairs. I am thinking, "I bet them!!!". (This is an illustration of my competitive streak, playing my wife, and kids who are in K and Pre School.) So we count up the number of pairs, and I am tied with C, who also has 8. My bubble was burst, I though, we could squeeze in one more game. In the second game it was a 4 way tie, because everyone got 6 pairs.

In the end, I have decided that I might not be the mastermind of Go Fish. The blackberry has taught me I am not the mastermind of "Texas hold'em". I went all in on a Q high straight, the guy sitting next to me had an A high straight. Down the drain when my play money. As night falls here I realize that I will have to practice more with the cards, and the poker. There is nothing like family fun night with Go Fish, Trouble, or even Chutes and Ladders.