Super Friends

I watching Super Friends with the kids--the old one from when I was a child.  They have the most stupid safety messages, such as "Don't take joyrides in airplanes" or "Be careful of seaweed when swimming."  I have a pretty good visual of the writers of the show talking to each other:
Bill:  Hey Jim, it's your turn to do the safety message.
Jim: Come on! I did it for last week's episode.
Bill:  It's your week, buddy
Jim: Shit.  Uber-shit.
Bill:  Here.  Let me make it easier for you.  How about the dangers of crowded restrooms? Lots of kids have to deal with that.
Jim: Now you're talking!

Happiness

I don't think of myself as an unhappy person, but happiness is far from my primary emotion.  I'd say that I experience happiness anywhere from two to fifteen times a week, and I notice it precisely because it is unusual.  What I don't understand is why our culture promotes happiness so heavily.  It's great to feel happy, but part of happiness comes from the fact that we also experience apathy and sadness and anger.  To focus on only one of our emotions is to deny the nature of our humanity.  Instead of becoming whole, we become saccharin, diet soda.

My Funeral

A last statement, to be read at my funeral:  "In order to ensure that you remember me, I have arranged for my ashes to be mixed with the coffee at the reception."

Riddle

Here's a great riddle that took me a long time to figure out:   What is bought by the yard and sold by the foot?

Unusual People

While sitting in my car waiting for Caleb to finish his nap, (We were going to a party at a friend's house) I noticed a 15 year old boy ride up on a women's mountain bike, wearing a small helmet and carrying a bottle of Gatorade and steering with his left hand.  He stopped at a house next to our friends, slowly got off the bike, kicked the kickstand three times to get it down, then slowly took off his helmet and placed it on the handlebar.  He unscrewed the cap of his Gatorade bottle and sipped three deliberate sips.  Then he put the cap back on the bottle and placed it on the seat of his bicycle.  In no hurry, he walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. 

"Can you play?" he asked when his friend opened the door.

"No," his friend replied.  "We're getting new carpet and have to move everything off of the old carpet."

After a long pause, the boy said, "Oh.  Okay.  Well, I guess I'll see you later." 


Then he plodded back to his bicycle, took the Gatorade off the seat and unscrewed the cap.   He looked around for a bit, then took two sips, put the cap back on, and began to adjust his helmet, which took about two minutes.  Then he slowly got back on his bike, kicked the kickstand twice to get it up and puttered off.

Overall, I would call it a very surreal experience.

Change

As people we can only change ourselves so much. I think that there are certain irreducible parts of us that no Tony Robbins can fix--personality quirks that are unavoidable.

Raising Children

I do my best to raise healthy, well-adjusted children, but they aren't likely to be history makers.  Well-raised children don't have personal demons, which seems to be a requirement for success .

Dude

I am enamored with the word "dude."  I feel that it makes me appear less pompous and uppity and not like someone who uses words like "enamored" and "pompous."  "Man" also fits in this category.