#109 No One Likes Youth

My last post focused on a few negatives of aging.  This time, I would like to talk a little about youth.  Last week at lunch I talked with coworkers about movies.  I made a comment about how comedies coming out today seem to gravitate toward raunchiness, not like in the old days when Steve Martin and Tom Hanks made thoughtful, wholesome comedies.  A young person at the table scoffed and said, "Tom Hanks doesn't make comedies.  He only makes serious movies."  Got me thinking about the things young people do that annoy me...making me feel very happy to be aging!

• Movies:  I think this one is and always will be tough for me.  I work with several young people who have not seen any movies.  And I cannot wrap my head around it.  I have noticed that it is mainly girls who have this problem but I am not sure if this is because girls have this issue more often than boys, or if I only work with girls, so I am only seeing the young girls who have not seen any movies.  But, how can someone in this world grow up not having seen or even heard of movies such as: Bill & Teds (both their excellent adventure and their bogus journey), SpaceBalls, Dances With Wolves, Big, Harry and the Hendersons, Scrooged, Good Will Hunting, Robin Hood (Disney Animated Version), Lonseome Dove, The Goonies, Bull Durham, Spies Like Us, Weird Science, The Neverending Story
• Vocabulary.  Young people shorten every word for some reason: Totes, Obvi, Bullsh, Bougiee
• No attention span: I listen to stories all day long that completely change course mid story and no one has trouble following along except for me.  For instance, a young girl walked into the kitchen and started a story with the phrase "I can't believe I wore a white shirt the same day I brought pasta and red sauce...and ended the story with I almost went to LSU but New Orleans is too dirty" (Even though LSU is in Baton Rouge).  Without pausing she said she couldn't believe she wore a white shirt the same day she brought pasta and red sauce because she she is a messy eater, especially with pasta red sauce because she likes extra sauce because that is where the flavor is, and when she made this one last night she used paprika which she normally doesn't use but she went to Cafe Brazil recently who used Paprika on something but she can't remember what it was, and she often likes to get Brazilian food, even though Cafe Brazil has no Brazilian food and she tires of Fogo De Ciao, but there is a surprisingly good steakhouse in Lubbock even though there were no Brazilian food restaurants in Lubbock, because it is a college town and she liked college even though she applied to OU and Tech, but they are essentially the same type of school with lots of country boys, but she almost went to LSU but New Orleans is too dirty.  I seriously can't keep up.
• Using too many letters at the end of words when typing emails or facebook: wayyyyyyyy cool, love themm, heyyy, have funnn, move arounddd, moving todayyy - all examples taken from facebook
• Many young people I talk to have never heard of music from any other time period.  This includes 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.  I ask if they like music and they say yes, very much.  I then ask what they listen to and they cannot give me a straight answer.  A girl sitting close to me said she listens to everything and different stuff.  I asked for her favorite artists and she could not give me one.  Instead she told me a handful of songs she likes.  Its like once the internet happened, people cannot waste time listening to an actual album.  
• Complete disregard for sensibility, followed by complaining:  This one is complex and I see it in many forms.  I see it most with food.  The girls I have worked with will skip lunch because they are "too busy" and then be completely starving at 2p, so much so that they have to get something fast, so they walk to a nearby restaurant where they order a sandwich and cookie and bring it back to the office.  They will sit the sandwich down near their computer because they have so much work and they won't eat it.  The sandwich gets too soggy for them to eat (after 15 minutes it is too soggy) and so they throw it away, eat the cookie and then at 3:30 they are starving again.  At this point they go to starbucks for marble cake and a latte, or they go to the basement and get a candy bar.  Throughout the day they complain about always being hungry and about how they always seem to gain weight.  
• The higher pitched trailing off of syllables often attributed to Valley Girl style speaking.  This has been happening for decades, and is usually attributed to high schoo/college age girls.  However, I would like to say that I hear this in the work place from boys and girls over the age of 25.  Also, I watch a show on HBO called Vice, which is a documentary style show.  The young guy interviewing a Korean National trying to escape the oppression of her country (which for her was being sold as a sex slave) spoke just like a high school valley girl.  I don't understand this.    

#108 No One Likes Aging!

When thinking about aging, I  have typically confined my perspectives to behavior.  I recognized that I preferred staying in on the weekends or that I worried about how manicured my lawn looked.  Or I saw the crap on TV and wondered how anyone could receive any enjoyment watching shows that have the Kardashians, or a bunch of hillbillies searching for bigfoot by cooking bacon in the woods.  These minor shifts in behavior made me feel older.  However, recently I have begun thinking about the physical manifestation of aging.  Following is a short list of things things I do differently because of aging.  Forces me to wonder what I am missing:

• Try to put moisturizer directly on my crow's feet, which have become ferociously out of hand as I have gotten older
• I now take vitamins.  I play soccer with an older guy (together we are easily the two oldest on the field at any given time.  We sometimes joke about playing with the kids out there and he told me that he is able to keep up because of vitamins.  Sounds good to me...
• I try to drink milk now on a regular basis.  Similar to the above, I noticed after soccer games that my foot hurt and would not heal.  For awhile I thought it was a bruised bone that was not healing fast enough.  My goal was to get more Vitamin D because I remember mom telling me to drink milk because it was good for my bones.  Not sure if this holds true for the aging as well as the growing, but it certainly couldn't hurt.
• I have to get up at least once, sometimes twice, each night to go to the bathroom.  Not sure why this is happening, but I suppose it is better than peeing in bed.
• I have to stretch for about half an hour before I do anything athletic.  Otherwise, I can't move the next day.  It is the most boring half hour of my life, as I do not like stretching.  
• I eat oatmeal every morning because a doctor once told me that eating oatmeal helps lower cholesterol.  And I know that japanese are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol.
• My hair is definitely starting to thin.  I do not do anything specific for this, as I am not sure there is anything to do.  I keep my hair short and just don't worry about it.
• Ridiculous amounts of hair on my ears.  I feel like Yoda.  Amazes me, as I do not understand why this is happening.  Why is it necessary for me to have 24 really long hairs on the outside of my ears?  They do not keep me warm, they do not detect anything as I move about.  They certainly don't make me any more attractive.  And it hurts when I have to pull them out!

#107 Addictive Personality

I have an addictive personality that causes me to fall in love with so many things, to think about them, to crave them,  and ultimately include them in my every day life.  Growing up, this had the very real potential of causing me serious harm.  Luckily, I had Chris there to keep my addictive behavior in check as it pertained to the more dangerous of substances.  Following is a quick catalog of past addictions.  I am sure I am leaving many things out, but this is what I can remember off the top of my head.

• The first addiction I can remember was the Drumstick ice cream cone.  In elementary school you could buy a drumstick by bringing a quarter to your teacher at the beginning of the day.  For the most part, I remembered my quarter.  Occasionally my mom and I would forget, and these truly were the worst days of all.
• Around the same time my mom introduced Little Debbie Snacks.  I enjoyed many Little Debbie Addictions, including but not limited to:  Nutter Bars, Swiss Cake Rolls, Star Crunches, Oatmeal Cream Pies, Ding Dongs
• Baseball cards.  The first two baseball cards I ever got were from The Market Place in Houston.  Chris's mother took a group of us up there and because I did not have any money she bought me a Bo Jackson rookie (donruss) and a Mark McGuire rookie (tops).  I think I still have them.  That started a 2 year craze where I bought and traded thousands of baseball cards.  Most of them have been stolen by family members or friends of family members. 
• In junior high I would see my dad over weekends, and for the first couple of years he lived in a 1 room efficiency apartment (because it was the cheapest possible rent out there).  For lunch we went to Burger King where I ordered a double cheeseburger.  It was the perfect sandwich because it only came with mustard, ketchup and pickles...the three things I liked on a burger.  And it came with 2 patties.  It was glorious. 
• To stay within the fast food genre for a second longer, in high school Taco Bell came out with the Double Decker Taco.  The commercials had Hakeem and Shaq.  I still crave Double Decker Tacos sometimes, though I rarely eat fast food.
• In high school Chris introduced me to Symphony Chocolate with Toffee.  On weekends we would rent movies and buy a gigantic bar and eat it until we felt sick.  Recently, I have been craving dark chocolate again.  Every day, in fact, over the last 2 years.  L. and I have been exploring different dark chocolates.  My favorites so far include an Espresso Dark Chocolate, A Dark Chocolate with Peppers and Pop Rocks senstation (can't remember the name), and a sea salt dark chocolate with ginger wasabi.  
• In college, I learned of 3 margarita recipes.  1 came from Craig's waiting experience at Don Julios (or some other such restaurant), 1 came from Craig's step-mom, and 1 came from the ninfarita.  I morphed them all into what became known as The Dirty Margarita.  For awhile I craved margaritas all the time, and I definitely loved Dirty Margarita nights!
• Jackie Ala Berry.  I ate so much ala berry fajitas in my 3 years of working at Ninfa's.  Not a healthy way to live at all.  Best fajitas I've ever had and I will  go out of my way to head back to Ninfa's in Waco to get eat them.
• Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's.  I went through a period of time where I ate at least 4 of these per week.  One might think I would tire of this sandwich after a couple of weeks.  I did not.  And will not.  I could go for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich right now!
• About 3 years ago Beverly introduced me to Rosemary Balsamic Vinegarette (Drew's) by providing it in my annual Christmas Basket.  I have poured this dressing on my daily salad ever since.
• Never been much of a beer drinker.  That is until I was introduced to Ten Fidy, which is an Imperial Stout from Oscar Blues Brewery.  So delicious that I often find myself thinking about stouts.  And when that happens I go home and drink one.  This happens often.
• I am addictive to guitar shopping.  The strange thing is, I am not addicted to guitar buying.  Only guitar shopping.  I own a Fender Telecaster Deluxe 72 series and am not interested in owning another guitar.  First of all, I do not get enough guitar time to warrant a second guitar.  Second of all, I still love the sound of the one I have.  However, I enjoy looking through the catalogs that come to my house, and I often find myself online researching and looking for deals on different guitars, amplifiers and effects pedals.  Again, I am not interested in buying anything...just addicted to the shopping.
• I cannot stop thinking of Game of Thrones.  Not sure if this really counts as an addiction, or if it is simply pure love.  But I watch the shows (usually more than once), I am reading the books, and now I get to watch some dudes weird cartoon version they post on the internet.  And I cannot seem to get enough!
• Most recently I have become addictive to listening to and searching for old Vinyl records.  I realize this is a senseless addiction.  But I cannot help it.  I like the idea of finding an old record (I know a guy who spends most of his time going to different garage sells searching for Vinyls.  I check in with him every so often to see what new records he's stumbled upon).  I like thinking of some kid in the 70s who bought listened to a Styx album while dreaming to be a rock star (or broadway musical star, if he was listening to Styx).  It is very strange, but I have become addicted.  

#106 Elevator Fall

I could probably sue someone and make some money!  In the morning I must ride a series of elevators to make it to my floor.  It is a confusing process, but one that I have perfected without even having to look up from my phone, where I spend my normal elevator time playing Chess With Friends.  This morning, however, I learned a valuable lesson.  I learned that I cannot take elevator rides for granted anymore.

Like most people who ride the elevator, I expect it to stop at the correct floor when I push the desired button.  And like most people, I expect the elevator to align perfectly with the floor I am arriving to.  This morning, I was on my phone contemplating a killer move when the elevator door opened for my floor.  Without looking I stepped off of the elevator and felt the unexpected 1 foot free fall that happens when the elevator stops 1 foot higher than the actual floor.  Miraculously I did not throw my phone.  But I did, however, fall to the ground completely discombobulated (is that a word?) by the craziness of the unexpected drop.

So what did I learn?  Probably nothing.  I just hope next time I do not break my leg.

#105 I'm The Stair Master

Things at work have not been great over the past year.  Things degraded to such a degree that I began looking for other opportunities a couple of weeks ago.  Luck and timing worked in my favor, and I discovered an open position for a well-known agency within the same building I currently work in.  They received my resume and a few short hours later called me for an interview.  

They scheduled my first interview for 10am.  I called in sick to my current employer and did not worry too much they were in the same building.  That is until I learned I must use the same elevator bank to reach the interview as the agency I currently work for.  I walked cautiously to the elevators and was happy to see no one waiting.  I pushed the button and got on without running into a single person.  I reached the floor without incident and proceeded to have a strong interview.

The interview lasted more than 3 hours, getting done just after 1:30.  As I waited for the elevator to take me down, I realized that it was lunchtime, and that 90% of the agency eats between 12:30 and 1:30, meaning there was a good chance I would run into someone if I stepped on the elevator.  I would be a sitting duck with no way to hide.  The elevator door opened and I stood on the edge wondering what I should do.  The doors closed and I decided that the only way to be 100% sure was to take the stairs.  

So that is what I did.  I took the stairs.  All 26 flights of them!  The next day I could barely walk for the pains in both of my calves.  I sort of hobbled around and when people asked me what was wrong I told them I played in a rough soccer game.  Part of me feels like I did the right thing, since I guaranteed not to run into someone who could potentially catch me interviewing for another job.  Part of me, however, feels I am too paranoid and should have simply done my thing.  Confidence and common sense are strange things that wax and wane due to various factors.  The factors that led to my interview led me to walk down 26 flights of stairs... and one week later to accepting a new job! 

#104 2012 Year In Review

Another year down, another year in review to be completed.  Don't need to get too fancy with this, as I am pretty sure all of these things also appear in pics on facebook.  However, I like to do this every year so I am going to continue...

* Of course, Stephen and Erin getting engaged!  The only negative about this was the number of times I had to hear people in our family fawn over how beautiful and awesome Erin is, and how lucky Stephen is, and how lucky the family is!!!  What about me?  Aren't I beautiful, awesome and lucky?

* Having a turban tied around my head by an Indian on a cell phone.  The man showed up late and had less than 3 minutes to tie 5 turbans before the Indian wedding began.  He made it, but mine was so tight that I got dizzy.

* Recording good music in the spare bedroom.  My recording process and skill took steps forward this year, and L. sang to one of the songs.  Sounded so good.

* Seeing Justin get married in California.  I always knew he would marry someone special, and I was right.

* Seeing the Taj Mahal in person.  It was amazing!  And really crowded.  And the bathrooms weren't all that nice.  But the thing was so awe-inspiring it was difficult to look away.

* Meeting the drummer for Better Than Ezra.  I wouldn't stop talking about how he was the best musician on the stage, and then when we got to meet him I was ecstatic.

* Hanging out with Haddiebug.  She is a cutie with the biggest cheeks ever.

* Winning an Ipad at the Christmas party.

* Seeing Eddie Vedder with Stephen.  I wanted to buy a poster, but they cost $70 and I did not want to pay that much.  So I didn't.  But they were really cool... The next day after the concert I had the worst hangover of the year.  Or at least the worst hangover that I had to deal with at work.

* Riding on an elephant and camel within the same week.  I asked the guy our camel's name but cannot remember it.  All I know is it looked a little like L.

* Going to India for Lindsy and Abhijit's wedding.  An amazing experience that was definitely once in a lifetime.

* Buying more than 70 vinyl's at a garage sale at 7a in the morning when I didn't even have a record player.

* Midnight swimming after a wedding in San Antonio.

* Officially adopting my first English Premier League team.  With Stephen's help, I am now an Arsenal fan.  It's official because I bought a poster.

* Joining the Dallas Area Writer's Group and at my first meeting realizing that I was the youngest member by 25 years, at least.  I still plan to finish my novel this year, which ought to be a fun challenge.

* Surfing off the coast of Costa Rica with 3 of my favorite people, 2 of which got hurt by their surf boards.

* Rappelling down a Costa Rican waterfall.  Once I got to the bottom L. ran over to me and asked if there were waterfalls in Texas.

* White water rafting and L. losing her oar on the first set of rapids we encountered.  Later that day I ate the tastiest piece of pineapple the planet had ever seen.

* The previous 3 reminded me of Begotes!  Must include Begotes, even though he did not smell very good.

* Spent a week trying to paint, stain and distress a baker's cart to make it look cool.  I was mildly successful.

* Watching MIB3 on the plane and L. laughing so loudly that the woman next to her jumped and spilled her drink all over herself.

* On the same flight L. told me she could not sleep because of the constant mumbling of the man two seats over.  She did an impersonation.  A couple of hours later while waiting in line for the bathroom I heard the guy mumbling.  L. was so right on with her impersonation, it was scary.  Makes me worried that her impersonation of me is that spot on.  If so, I sound like a freakin' idiot.

* Playing music with Mike, Nathan and Deseree.  We played in a mosquito garage, but the music was good!

* Mowing over the outdoor faucet and causing water to gush all over the front yard like a geyser.

* Stephen joining our soccer team, and on one of the last games of the season he attacked the goal and threw it to the ground.  Everyone on the team thought he was mad at them.  I had to assure them he was mad at himself.  Later that night he texted me, "Remember when I threw the goal upside down?"  Also, together we scored the most beautiful goal.  It was a set piece where Stephen chipped the ball in front of the goal.  The ball met me in stride as I attacked the back post where I headed it into the back of the net.  Truly a beautiful play that must be remembered.

#103 2013 New Year's Resolutions

The following includes how I hope to be a better husband, son, brother, friend, employee, musician, writer, and father for 2013!

* I will limit the number of boring movies I make my wife watch.  This includes music/sports documentaries, even though they are NOT boring at all.

* I will NOT limit the number of sporting events I watch with my puppy.  She loves sports and I vow to make sure she gets to watch more games on the big screen this year.

* I hope to get the mail more often this year and not misplace it where my wife cannot find it.

* I will not lose my sunglasses!

* I will take Polly to the dog park twice as much this year.  So, I guess that means we will have to go at least 4 times.  But I'd like to go more than that.

* I will not occupy as many photo booths in 2013.  Not sure what the wife will think of this.

* I will try and not play Chess With Friends while we are watching girly movies or driving somewhere in the car.

* I will not spend more than $70 this year on Vinyls that I do not need and probably will not listen to.

* I will pick up each cat at least once per week.  For some reason they love when I pick them up.

* I hope to lessen the number of times I try and unsuccessfully sneak a fart while in the living room.  Not sure if this means I am only lessening the number of unsuccessful times, or if I am lessening the number of times I try, but either way I will do my best.

* I will not ignore the calls I receive from Tomoko Komori, even though we do not speak the same language and the calls last longer than 20 minutes of her repeating Japanese and me repeatedly saying, "Sorry, I don't know what you are saying to me..."

* I will try and not purposefully annoy my wife.  That is so hard because I enjoy annoying her so much...

* I will not hurt my foot playing soccer.  I just won't this year!

* I'm going to take Cody to at least 1 movie this year.

* When I cook dinner I will try and not resort to the 1 of 3 things I know how to make comfortably.

* I will try and only have 1 night in 2013 dedicated to showing my wife how great the band Rush is!  I repeat, I will TRY.

* I will try and limit the number of chocolates I eat from the candy bowl in our lobby.  It is hard because Ruthie buys the good candy.

* I will limit the number of raunchy bathroom posts I write on my blog.

* I will not throw a hissy fit when one of my sprinkler heads breaks.  I will simply dig up the broken sprinkler and replace it.

#102 Vedder

Erin bought Stephen and I tickets to the Eddie Vedder concert (Stephen's Valentine's Day present) that took place in Dallas last Thursday.  The concert was originally scheduled for April, but Eddie suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and he was unable to play.  Eddie Vedder is a personal hero of mine, so needless to say I was extremely excited about the show.

Something funny to note:  Originally, the concert was set for April, and Stephen received the tickets in February.  A couple of months passed and one night I was watching TV with L.  and I noticed that it was already May.  I yelled, "SHIT!!!  I missed Eddie Vedder!  What the F... was I thinking!!!"
 
I called Stephen to tell him the horrible news and he calmly said, "We didn't miss the show.  It got postponed for November."

Obviously, I was relieved to hear this.  Seven months went by and L. and I were once again watching TV.  Out of nowhere she suddenly yelled, "OH MY GOD, when is the Vedder concert!?"  I looked at my phone and realized it was already November.  I yelled, "SHIT!  Who misses the Eddie Vedder concert TWICE!!!"

This time L. looked online and discovered that the show was four days away.  I decided to set four alarms, 1 for each day, so that I would not miss the concert a third time.

The day of the concert arrived.  I brought to work a compilation CD of music I thought Vedder might play so that I could get familiar with his acoustic/ukelele songs I did not know so well.  In my morning status meeting I informed the people I work with that I was leaving promptly at 5p to see Eddie Vedder at Fair Park.  I work will all girls, and 5 out of the 6 of these girls looked at me quizzically and said, "Who is Eddie Vedder?" I wasn't sure if this was a joke or not.  The girls I work with range in age from early twenties to early thirties.  I am thirty five years old and am definitely older than the people I work with.  However, I did not think me so old that the dominate American cultural influence in my life could be completely unknown to an entire team of young workers.

I was wrong.

I feel like I am an old man holding on to the important things from my youth.  I feel crotchety.  I feel like the kids of today have no idea.  I feel like the people I work with are unaware of something seriously significant. And I feel like there is little I can do!

I went to the show and was impressed with the performance.  Vedder still has it, and I felt privileged to be in the same room as him.  I drank a lot of scotch.  And when the show ended I spent 3 hours burning every relevant Pearl Jam song for the 7 coworkers who had no idea who Vedder or Pearl Jam was!

Thank you so much, Erin!  It was truly a special night.  

#101 A Problem

I teach a college level class each semester at a community college here in Dallas.  I arrived to the classroom early this past Saturday in order to set up and I discovered the following poster on the wall:

This is a "Student Participation Chart" that is lower budget looking than what I remember seeing in elementary school.  I do not like criticizing a fellow professor, but any student seeing this on the wall will fail to take this class or professor seriously.  Engaging your class is at the heart of what it means to be a teacher.  This simply is not going to cut it.  

And we wonder why we as a society have unemployment issues. 

After reading through this, I feel sort of bad for calling this out.  Is this because I am too nice of a person?  Because I feel like this should make everyone mad.  

#100 Political Time 2

The Republican and Democratic National Conventions are over, and I must admit that I did not watch them.  But I have heard references to the 2 keynote speakers (besides the candidates themselves) in the media recently and decided to check them out for myself.  What I watched was interesting and entertaining enough for me to dedicate my second non-partisan exploration of politics blog post to linking you to these two speeches.  

Clint Eastwood speaks for the Republicans and his speech is just over 11 minutes.  Bill Clinton speaks for the Democrats and his speech is just over 49 minutes.  I do not wish for you to watch all of Clinton's, but watch 11 minutes of both so that you can get a feel for what the different parties (not necessarily the candidates) stand for in the upcoming election.  

Clint Eastwood at the 2012 Republican Convention:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=933hKyKNPFQ

Bill Clinton at the 2012 Democratic Convention:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5knEXDsrL4

CubeJoy 3

#99 Political Time 1

The last few elections I have taken more of an active interest in educating myself so that I could at least on some level feel like an informed voter. And while there are a number of things that annoy me as it pertains to politics, I think the most annoying is when uninformed people push their thoughts/beliefs onto other people, and then get angry when you disagree or present evidence that disproves their thoughts/beliefs. So, heading into the upcoming election my mission is one of learning to inform myself.

A few caveats:

* Doing this is difficult. It is hard to find information on really what is at stake by voting one way or the other.

* My goal is to uncover facts, or help lead others to uncover facts. My goal is not to project my opinions onto anyone.

* I admit at the beginning that my knowledge and resources are limited, so any guidance by fellow readers is encouraged.

To begin, I found a website that allows you to score your stance on major issues. Once you submit, the website shows you how major political figures feel about the same issues. The most helpful aspect of this site is the descriptions of the issues. If you click on the statement you are asked to either support or oppose, there is a detailed description of that each answer represents. This helps in actually determining how you feel about a particular issue. Having one place to see the major issues will help individuals understand that a president should not be chosen on how he/she feels about one issue. Going through this quiz is the first step to understanding how you really feel, and how you should cast your vote.

More to come...

http://www.ontheissues.org/Quiz/Quiz2010.asp#sec1

CubeJoy 2

#98 Wednesday Morning Story

A quick story for a Wednesday morning. A year ago Liz and I went to California to visit friends and family for a long weekend. Our friend works on the set of Hell's Kitchen and was able to get us in for one of the tapings of Season 11. We've been watching this year in order to see ourselves on TV. The pictures below were taken from this week's episode. You can see Gordon Ramsey clearly in the first picture. If you look just above his sous chef you may see in the background a blurry couple eating dinner and watching the chefs. That blurry couple is me and Liz. I know it isn't much, but it is our moment in the spotlight.

#97 XXX Olympics

Every four years we get to watch the Olympics. Honestly I have not paid much attention the last 30 years, but this year was different. Maybe it was the extensive coverage that caused me to watch more than I have before, or maybe it was because outside it was 100+ degrees every day over the last few weeks. Following are snippets I remember from all Olympics I've watched over the years: * I remember watching the 1984 Olympics with my mom in the game room. She introduced me to BBQ flavored Ruffles dipped in sour cream. Sounds like a strange combination, but we ate almost a bag of chips and 1 container of sour cream per night. Specifically, I remember watching men's volleyball. * In college, I guess maybe 2002, I discovered Curling. I thought it was the most ridiculous sport ever. And then I watched it for almost 2 hours, really impressed with Canada's overall broom speed and precision. * I remember watching the Winter Olympics in 2006 at Tiffany's house during band practice. Any time Apollo Ono competed we had to shut everything down and watch. We would watch his events, his interviews, his stretching, his walking around the arena multiple times because Tiffany had the biggest crush on the guy. * In elementary school our history teacher showed us the long jump during class. When they announced the distance of the gold medal jump he took us outside and put tape on the concrete of exactly how long that was. I remember seeing how many jumps it took me to make it from 1 piece of tape to the next. I don't remember how many jumps it took. * This year I watched Water Polo with Stephen, Nick and Haddiebug. I have decided that I do not care for Water Polo. It is too much of the same thing and lasts too long. I respect their athleticism, just can't get into the competition. * Watching Water Polo with L. and Dee. Same as previous bullet, except it was more fun listening to L. and Dee trying to understand the sport. * Anytime I turned the TV on and looked through the guide I saw several channels airing XXX Olympics. And for a quick second I wondered/hoped they were airing several channels of porn Olympics. * We watched the dancing with a bouncy ball event. Not sure what this is called, or why it is an event, but we watched it. I must admit, the women could do some cool things with the bouncy ball, but I feel that this is more of a circus routine and not an olympic event. It isn't fair to jugglers that they allow this event in, but not juggling. * We also watched the dancing with a hula hoop event. Same as previous event. * Usain Bolt is a freak of nature. We watched him sprint in the 100m and 200m, but missed the 4X 100m relay. That sounded like the best event of 2012. * I watched at least 30 minutes of the Women's US Soccer gold medal game. We have an awesome team, and they are fun to watch. * I feel like the story trying to come out of these Olympics was USA verse China. And throughout the games, the top two medal winning countries were USA and China. I don't think it matters much to me if we are the most medal winning country in the competition. I like all of the athletes and I want them all to do well. I like good, wholesome competition, and I feel like the Olympics take out Fandom from the equation for me more so than other sports, which makes it less stressful to watch. That being said, the US won the most medals and we took home the most gold. While watching, I felt like US Women dominated everything, and so I found the following graphics which illustrate how the medals are broken out. Sure enough, US Women dominated the games, and that gave me a great sense of pride. In this time in human history I have the good fortune to live in the country with the greatest women in the world. It doesn't get any better than that!

CubeJoy 1

I have decided to document the strange things I hear while sitting within my cube. I will call it CubeJoy...

#96 Dorkiest Team Ever

Stephen moved to Dallas recently and we formed a soccer team. We play in a local coed rec league where so far this season we have not won a game. This is the first time our team has played together, and that certainly shows. And of course, winning is not the most important aspect to this league. But I must say, there is no doubt we win "The Dorkiest Team Ever" Award! Just check out our uniforms...

Yes, that is a T-Shirt with a blue print of the Millennium Falcon.

#95 Confusing Morning

I had a confusing morning and am not sure exactly how it happened. I woke up and went through my routine as I do every morning. I brushed my teeth, put my contacts in, got dressed. As I washed my face and messed with my hair I noticed that my right eye was a little blurry. I adjusted the contact several times, but the blur never cleared up. I took the contact out and looked at it closely, thinking that I must have put it in backward or something. The contact looked strange, almost like it had split and had two flaps going in different directions. I was not quite awake and could not see so good, but I played with the thing until I realized it was actually 2 contacts stuck together. I looked at my contact case and realized that I just came home from vacation and opened a new package of contacts the day before. My thought was, I must have left the old contact in the case, and then last night put my new contact in the same case. So I pulled the two contacts apart and tried to determine which was the old and which was the new. I could not tell them apart so I blindly chose one and decided to keep the other one in case I learned today that I was wearing the old one. I continued getting ready, made my lunch and then went to find Liz to say goodbye for the morning. While talking with her I felt like my left eye was blurry and immediately assumed that I was wearing 2 contacts in my left eye. By this point I was running a little late, so I hurried to the bathroom to dig out the 2 contacts and see which was the older. I peeled my eye lid back and could not see a contact. I felt around in there and discovered that I did not have a contact in my eye. So, I went to my case and took the other contact out, the one I thought was older, and put it in my left eye. I guess this morning I put both of my contacts in the same eye. This is the first time I have done anything like this. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

#94 Destination Wishlist

Following is a small list of places I would like to visit. I know I am leaving many off, but this is as far as I was able to get over lunch:
















Pyramids: I have always been intrigued by the pyramids. I like ancient stuff, and these simple and magnificent structures stand for no reason in the middle of the dessert. For that reason, I would like to touch them.

















Grand Canyon: I would like to go river rafting through the grand canyon, making sure to spend at least one night deep in the middle of the thing.



















Wurtzburg, Germany: I would like to visit Dirk Nowitzki's home town of Wurtzburg, Germany. I want a picture of me standing at the city limit wearing my Dirk jersey. Ok, maybe I do not need that picture, but I would like to see where my favorite athlete was born.




























Wallace Monument: Since Braveheart came out (saw it 5 times in the theater) I have been obsessed with William Wallace. In Stirling, the location of one of his finest victories, stands a monument just for him. I must see it.






















Taj Mahal: Supposedly this amazing structure is a mausoleum built in memory of an ancient shah's wife. She must have been an amazing woman.

















Old Trafford: I would like to visit Manchester, England to watch Manchester United play a game at Old Trafford. Not sure I want to do this to see the awesome display of skill, or if I will be more interested in watching the drunk, English fans getting worked up. Probably both.

#93 Fun Concert

Here is the video of the fun concert I wrote about earlier. Hope the video is worth your time, and the possibility that I may have to defend myself to the copyright lawyers...