Thursday, November 20, 2014
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
THE 2012 MOVIE TRAILER REVIEWS
Isn’t it about time I started yacking on my blog again? Hopefully this is still set up the way I left it so that whatever I type here shows up on Facebook in My Notes area. In any event…HOW Y’ALL DOIN’? Just wanted to do my annual Review of the Nerd Film Trailers for 2012. I last did this in April of—hey will you look at that—LAST YEAR. So, I’m keeping with tradition. That being said, I will be listing each of the sci-fi/fantasy movies that are slated to come out (or have already come out as in one case), and giving a brief commentary on the TRAILER for said movie and a rating on the patented, copyrighted, “no you can’t use it” Turner Anticimeter, using the normal 1 to 10 scale, meaning 1 for I would rather watch a flea suck blood out of a dog then go see this movie, to 10, meaning God Himself would have to smote the earth with an asteroid to keep me from seeing this movie. All in all, it’s just another futile attempt to practice my pee-poor writing abilities. If anything, you can point at your screen after reading this and say, “HEY, I’m SMARTER than this idiot.” You’ll have THAT going for ya! Here we go! In NO particular order:
TOTAL RECALL—Based on the sci-fi short story by Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, this is the classic “reboot” of the movie that starred AHHHHHHHNULD and a young butt kickin’ Sharon Stone. The premise is all futuristic and pure sci-fi craziness, which I sort of dig. And I REALLY did like the AHHHHHHNULD version very much, hokey as it was at times (a three breasted mutant woman on Mars…REALLY???). This trailer makes the movie look edgier, and certainly with the technology of today, just CHOCK FULL OF EFFECTS. Starring Colin Farrell, who I am NOT a big fan of, this movie actually looks pretty dang good. Actually…this is my first 10 rating. It’s a weak 10 because of Farrell, BUT, he looks great in this. Can’t wait.
BATTLESHIP—I will admit that the VERY first teaser trailer totally turned me off. If I were to have written this back then when that teaser came out, I would have given it a 2 or a 3. Seriously. It screamed “I WANNA BE JUST LIKE MICHAEL BAY AND BLOW ALL KINDS OF CRAP UP”—and hey look at that, with things that sort of look Transformer-ish. HEY WAIT!! It’s even BROUGHT TO US BY the SAME dang TOY COMPANY…Hasbro! REALLY!!???? Yeah—this was nothing more than Transformers Light—tastes great, less filling. Whatever. Not even the omnipresence of the gravelly stoic voice of Liam Neeson, who everyone FAWNS over as being the actors actor ((rolling my eyes and smacking my forehead)), could make this movie any better. “But Turner, RHIANNA is in it.” ((blinking)) Who’s that?? ANYWAY—MY POINT…if I could ever freakin’ get to it, is that a few more trailers came out. And you know what—by golly, this stupid movie started to grow on me. Even Liam himself wasn’t irritating me to the core. The movie looks nothing more like popcorn fun, and I think my expectations will stay RIGHT at that level. So for taking it for what it is—aliens, invasions, explosions—I’m giving this an 8!
THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN—((thunk!!!!!!)) That was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. Are you FREAKIN’ kidding me? You know, after the absolute TRAVESTY of how Spiderman was UTTERLY destroyed by the schlock-fest known as Spiderman 3, I thought for sure we would NEVER see Spiderman on the silver screen again. But no, someone at Columbia thought, “You know, I think because Spiderman 3 was such a schlock fest according to that Turner fellow, we should just reboot the whole damn franchise to rid ourselves of the taste of Toby Macquire and him CRYING…and DANCING…and acting the fool!” RIGHT ON BROTHER! Go fight the good fight ((rolling my eyes)). What is there out there in the Spiderman universe that didn’t get covered in the three previous movies? SERIOUSLY! What? And this trailer does NOTHING to entice me to come back and see it, except maybe for the morbid curiosity of how some OTHER no-name 20-something is going to flesh out the Peter Parker character. I’d rather pop a zit to be honest, but, since I’m zit free, I guess I’ll go see this. Grudgingly. I give it a barely believable 5. And I’m being REALLY generous.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMEN--now THIS looks interesting. And it sort of splits me in half. One side of me is really intrigued by the story line (which we ALL know, but there’s a twist), the beautiful “look” to the movie, and the acting GODLINESS of Charlize Theron, who could read the ingredients from a tube of toothpaste standing on her head in a pink tutu, and I’d give her a freakin’ Academy Award. Then there’s the other side of me that dry heaves everytime I see her on screen, and that of course is the ACTING DYNAMO Kirsten Stewart. Yawwwwwwwn…oh sorry. Just saying her name bores me. In any event, I’ll just have to make do and keep a barf bag handy, because I REALLY DO want to see this movie. “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s that crappy actress that bores us all.” It’s ok…I’m sorry all you Twilight fans. There’s no love for Miss Mopey. I give this trailer a 7.
JOHN CARTER—from what I have read, this was the most oddly titled, mismarketed HUGELY expensive movie ever—well, behind the crapfest that we call “Waterworld”, but unlike Waterworld, this is actually a good movie—or so I hear. But the TRAILER is great. AWESOME. I love it. And it really whetted my appetite for fantastical science fiction movie with what appeared to be GREAT imagery and effects. So, without knowing anything about the movie, I had already given it an 8. I’ll keep it there now that the movie is out, and hopefully I’ll have some time to be able to actually go see it. But really Disney…JOHN CARTER? In all of your movie-making experience, there was not ONE better idea then JOHN CARTER as a working title. KICKING MARTIAN BUTT would have been a better title. I’M PICKING MY GREEN MARTIAN BUGGERS is better. John CARTER?!?!? Really Disney. Fire THAT person.
MEN IN BLACK 3—Oh my goodness. Can the all-powerful, all-funny, everyone-likes-him, can-do-no-wrong Will Smith hit it out of the park for this third time around battling aliens and saving the planet? Can we still find the humor in Tommy Lee Jones and his sardonic and dead pan ways? Do we still CARE? Using a time-travel plot device (gee, we’ve NEVER seen that before!!), the producers think they can squeeze more life out of the franchise. I thought MIB2 was BARELY passable, so MUCH is going to have to happen in this movie to sell me on the idea that it was actually a good idea to do a third movie. But, looking at the trailer, I’m sorry to say, even with Josh Brolin’s DEAD ON impression of what a young Tommy Lee Jones would look like—I don’t think there’s much hope. Think this is going to be a stinker of a movie. BEWARE! I give it a 5.
WRATH OF THE TITANS—I love Sam Worthington. I think he’s awesome. And he returns to play Zeus’ half human/half god son, because apparently Zeus needed some human woman on the side—because, you know, human women are sooooooooo much more fun then those boring goddesses ((rolling my eyes))—whatever. STUPID. BUT…wow wow wow wow!!! I thought the first move, Clash of the Titans, was just ok. But this looks SOLID. And yeah yeah yeah, lookee there…Liam Neeson to play Zeus. Great. Thanks. I’ll get past that. There is some GREAT effects and cinematography by what I could see in the trailer, and I’m actually looking forward to it. ESPECIALLY to see the creature designs…ESPECIALLY the Chimera. Anyway—I’m hyped. But not quite a 10. I’ll give it a STRONG 8. (Editor’s note—this movie has been released…and I’m a gonna go see it…SOLO!! No interest from The Wife. Even with Sam Worthington in the movie.)
THE AVENGERS—I give it a 20!!!! ‘Nuff said. I should just cut to the chase and give it a 20. This looks really awesome. And the newest mini trailer came out that had Captain America tell Hulk to go smash. Hulk SMILED! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! This looks awesome. Easy and strong 10 on the Anticimeter!
LOCKOUT—When I first heard of this movie, the premise being the President’s daughter was caught on a maximum security prison overtaken by the inmates, I was transported back to the great sci-fi flick “Escape From New York”. Difference with this movie is that the prison is in space, and this is set way in the future. But beyond that, I wasn’t initially to impressed. Starring yet ANOTHER male actor that I am not very fond of, Guy Pearce, I wasn’t thinking I would actually see this. But much like “Battleship”, I kept my eyes on the trailers and clips. This looks ok. I actually watched the first five minutes of the movie on line, and I actually liked it even more. And Guy Pearce…he’s alright. So I’m giving the movie a tentative 7.
PROMETHEUS—What can get much better than Ridley Scott directing a prequel of sorts to the Alien franchise? Not much. BUT…seeing as the Alien franchise/”universe” was nearly destroyed by two REALLY crappy movies (“Aliens 3” and “Alien VS Predator”), I reserve getting over-the-top enthusiastic about this. It DOES look VERY VERY good. And I hope the movie answers some “questions” about the Alien race itself. But we shall see. By the look of the trailer, the cinematics look absolutely mind boggling incredible. There is MUCH enthusiasm in me about this. I can’t wait! A 10…with a nod to the SLIGHT tingle of reservation I have about it being a let down as the last two Alien movies were. But…it IS Ridley Scott! Back and forth I go…LOL!
THE HOST—I don’t know how many more movies can be released that follows the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” formula, but apparently Twilight author Stephanie Meyer is taking a stab at it. I actually read the book, and it is a bit of a twist on the formula. The trailer was just a teaser, but if they stick to that stylistic approach, it has some promise. And I refuse to say look at it through my Twilight-damaged eyes. I will remain open. I think the Twilight movies sucked but actually the books were sort of enjoyable. The Host was also pretty good from a book standpoint. Let’s see if they can make a better movie than the Twilight schlock.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER—I watched the trailer hoping for something better, and I was severely disappointed. If a trailer can irritate me, I think the movie probably could turn me into a rampaging Hulk. I’m not going to be seeing this unless some miracle happens, it just kicks butt. I highly doubt it will. I give this trailer a 2.
IRON SKY, NAZIS FROM THE MOON—Hey…Nazi’s from the moon! It could happen! RIGHT? I know there are some that think that there is nothing that can be funny about the Nazi’s. I disagree. I think they’re perfect for lampooning, which I think this movie is all about. It’s got that “Mars Attacks” over-the-top vibe to it. Don’t think it has the HIGHEST production value ever, but it does look intriguing. I might wait for it on DVD. Trailer is a solid 6.
LOOPER—I JUST got word of this movie today, and saw a pre-teaser interview with Joseph Gordon Levitt and the director/writer something or other. It’s a time travel movie, again, with a twist, where the future self of Levitt, played by THE MAN Bruce Willis, comes back in time to kill himself. ((double take at my monitor)) Yeah, I know—a huge violation of the Time Travel Paradox…but LOOK BEYOND THAT. I don’t have a trailer to rate, but I am looking forward to the movie. Very much. I love time travel stuff, be it “Back to the Future” to “Butterfly Effect” to “Star Trek”.
G.I. JOE-RETALIATION—I absolutely HATED the first G.I. Joe movie. It was sooooooo ridiculously bad. And it soured me greatly on any other movie that would come along with a continuation of the franchise. But, there are a couple of things going for this movie, based on the trailer. First, my idol, The Rock, stars. Can’t go wrong there. Second, Jonathan Pryce plays a VERY evil looking American President. And third…BRUCE WILLIS!! Come ON!! It’s GOT to be good. Annnnnnnnnnd…if I read the correct chatter…they kill off Channing Tatum in the beginning of the movie! YEAH!!!!!! Thank GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand that guy. UGH!! Anyway, I’m looking at this with a strong 7.
And there you go...a lot of great movies, and I think there are some other good non-sci-fi/fantasy movies coming out this summer and fall. Looking forward to The Expendables 2, because you just can't get enough EXPLOSIONS!!!!!! LOL!!
Happy Movie Watching!!
Isn’t it about time I started yacking on my blog again? Hopefully this is still set up the way I left it so that whatever I type here shows up on Facebook in My Notes area. In any event…HOW Y’ALL DOIN’? Just wanted to do my annual Review of the Nerd Film Trailers for 2012. I last did this in April of—hey will you look at that—LAST YEAR. So, I’m keeping with tradition. That being said, I will be listing each of the sci-fi/fantasy movies that are slated to come out (or have already come out as in one case), and giving a brief commentary on the TRAILER for said movie and a rating on the patented, copyrighted, “no you can’t use it” Turner Anticimeter, using the normal 1 to 10 scale, meaning 1 for I would rather watch a flea suck blood out of a dog then go see this movie, to 10, meaning God Himself would have to smote the earth with an asteroid to keep me from seeing this movie. All in all, it’s just another futile attempt to practice my pee-poor writing abilities. If anything, you can point at your screen after reading this and say, “HEY, I’m SMARTER than this idiot.” You’ll have THAT going for ya! Here we go! In NO particular order:
TOTAL RECALL—Based on the sci-fi short story by Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, this is the classic “reboot” of the movie that starred AHHHHHHHNULD and a young butt kickin’ Sharon Stone. The premise is all futuristic and pure sci-fi craziness, which I sort of dig. And I REALLY did like the AHHHHHHNULD version very much, hokey as it was at times (a three breasted mutant woman on Mars…REALLY???). This trailer makes the movie look edgier, and certainly with the technology of today, just CHOCK FULL OF EFFECTS. Starring Colin Farrell, who I am NOT a big fan of, this movie actually looks pretty dang good. Actually…this is my first 10 rating. It’s a weak 10 because of Farrell, BUT, he looks great in this. Can’t wait.
BATTLESHIP—I will admit that the VERY first teaser trailer totally turned me off. If I were to have written this back then when that teaser came out, I would have given it a 2 or a 3. Seriously. It screamed “I WANNA BE JUST LIKE MICHAEL BAY AND BLOW ALL KINDS OF CRAP UP”—and hey look at that, with things that sort of look Transformer-ish. HEY WAIT!! It’s even BROUGHT TO US BY the SAME dang TOY COMPANY…Hasbro! REALLY!!???? Yeah—this was nothing more than Transformers Light—tastes great, less filling. Whatever. Not even the omnipresence of the gravelly stoic voice of Liam Neeson, who everyone FAWNS over as being the actors actor ((rolling my eyes and smacking my forehead)), could make this movie any better. “But Turner, RHIANNA is in it.” ((blinking)) Who’s that?? ANYWAY—MY POINT…if I could ever freakin’ get to it, is that a few more trailers came out. And you know what—by golly, this stupid movie started to grow on me. Even Liam himself wasn’t irritating me to the core. The movie looks nothing more like popcorn fun, and I think my expectations will stay RIGHT at that level. So for taking it for what it is—aliens, invasions, explosions—I’m giving this an 8!
THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN—((thunk!!!!!!)) That was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. Are you FREAKIN’ kidding me? You know, after the absolute TRAVESTY of how Spiderman was UTTERLY destroyed by the schlock-fest known as Spiderman 3, I thought for sure we would NEVER see Spiderman on the silver screen again. But no, someone at Columbia thought, “You know, I think because Spiderman 3 was such a schlock fest according to that Turner fellow, we should just reboot the whole damn franchise to rid ourselves of the taste of Toby Macquire and him CRYING…and DANCING…and acting the fool!” RIGHT ON BROTHER! Go fight the good fight ((rolling my eyes)). What is there out there in the Spiderman universe that didn’t get covered in the three previous movies? SERIOUSLY! What? And this trailer does NOTHING to entice me to come back and see it, except maybe for the morbid curiosity of how some OTHER no-name 20-something is going to flesh out the Peter Parker character. I’d rather pop a zit to be honest, but, since I’m zit free, I guess I’ll go see this. Grudgingly. I give it a barely believable 5. And I’m being REALLY generous.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMEN--now THIS looks interesting. And it sort of splits me in half. One side of me is really intrigued by the story line (which we ALL know, but there’s a twist), the beautiful “look” to the movie, and the acting GODLINESS of Charlize Theron, who could read the ingredients from a tube of toothpaste standing on her head in a pink tutu, and I’d give her a freakin’ Academy Award. Then there’s the other side of me that dry heaves everytime I see her on screen, and that of course is the ACTING DYNAMO Kirsten Stewart. Yawwwwwwwn…oh sorry. Just saying her name bores me. In any event, I’ll just have to make do and keep a barf bag handy, because I REALLY DO want to see this movie. “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s that crappy actress that bores us all.” It’s ok…I’m sorry all you Twilight fans. There’s no love for Miss Mopey. I give this trailer a 7.
JOHN CARTER—from what I have read, this was the most oddly titled, mismarketed HUGELY expensive movie ever—well, behind the crapfest that we call “Waterworld”, but unlike Waterworld, this is actually a good movie—or so I hear. But the TRAILER is great. AWESOME. I love it. And it really whetted my appetite for fantastical science fiction movie with what appeared to be GREAT imagery and effects. So, without knowing anything about the movie, I had already given it an 8. I’ll keep it there now that the movie is out, and hopefully I’ll have some time to be able to actually go see it. But really Disney…JOHN CARTER? In all of your movie-making experience, there was not ONE better idea then JOHN CARTER as a working title. KICKING MARTIAN BUTT would have been a better title. I’M PICKING MY GREEN MARTIAN BUGGERS is better. John CARTER?!?!? Really Disney. Fire THAT person.
MEN IN BLACK 3—Oh my goodness. Can the all-powerful, all-funny, everyone-likes-him, can-do-no-wrong Will Smith hit it out of the park for this third time around battling aliens and saving the planet? Can we still find the humor in Tommy Lee Jones and his sardonic and dead pan ways? Do we still CARE? Using a time-travel plot device (gee, we’ve NEVER seen that before!!), the producers think they can squeeze more life out of the franchise. I thought MIB2 was BARELY passable, so MUCH is going to have to happen in this movie to sell me on the idea that it was actually a good idea to do a third movie. But, looking at the trailer, I’m sorry to say, even with Josh Brolin’s DEAD ON impression of what a young Tommy Lee Jones would look like—I don’t think there’s much hope. Think this is going to be a stinker of a movie. BEWARE! I give it a 5.
WRATH OF THE TITANS—I love Sam Worthington. I think he’s awesome. And he returns to play Zeus’ half human/half god son, because apparently Zeus needed some human woman on the side—because, you know, human women are sooooooooo much more fun then those boring goddesses ((rolling my eyes))—whatever. STUPID. BUT…wow wow wow wow!!! I thought the first move, Clash of the Titans, was just ok. But this looks SOLID. And yeah yeah yeah, lookee there…Liam Neeson to play Zeus. Great. Thanks. I’ll get past that. There is some GREAT effects and cinematography by what I could see in the trailer, and I’m actually looking forward to it. ESPECIALLY to see the creature designs…ESPECIALLY the Chimera. Anyway—I’m hyped. But not quite a 10. I’ll give it a STRONG 8. (Editor’s note—this movie has been released…and I’m a gonna go see it…SOLO!! No interest from The Wife. Even with Sam Worthington in the movie.)
THE AVENGERS—I give it a 20!!!! ‘Nuff said. I should just cut to the chase and give it a 20. This looks really awesome. And the newest mini trailer came out that had Captain America tell Hulk to go smash. Hulk SMILED! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! This looks awesome. Easy and strong 10 on the Anticimeter!
LOCKOUT—When I first heard of this movie, the premise being the President’s daughter was caught on a maximum security prison overtaken by the inmates, I was transported back to the great sci-fi flick “Escape From New York”. Difference with this movie is that the prison is in space, and this is set way in the future. But beyond that, I wasn’t initially to impressed. Starring yet ANOTHER male actor that I am not very fond of, Guy Pearce, I wasn’t thinking I would actually see this. But much like “Battleship”, I kept my eyes on the trailers and clips. This looks ok. I actually watched the first five minutes of the movie on line, and I actually liked it even more. And Guy Pearce…he’s alright. So I’m giving the movie a tentative 7.
PROMETHEUS—What can get much better than Ridley Scott directing a prequel of sorts to the Alien franchise? Not much. BUT…seeing as the Alien franchise/”universe” was nearly destroyed by two REALLY crappy movies (“Aliens 3” and “Alien VS Predator”), I reserve getting over-the-top enthusiastic about this. It DOES look VERY VERY good. And I hope the movie answers some “questions” about the Alien race itself. But we shall see. By the look of the trailer, the cinematics look absolutely mind boggling incredible. There is MUCH enthusiasm in me about this. I can’t wait! A 10…with a nod to the SLIGHT tingle of reservation I have about it being a let down as the last two Alien movies were. But…it IS Ridley Scott! Back and forth I go…LOL!
THE HOST—I don’t know how many more movies can be released that follows the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” formula, but apparently Twilight author Stephanie Meyer is taking a stab at it. I actually read the book, and it is a bit of a twist on the formula. The trailer was just a teaser, but if they stick to that stylistic approach, it has some promise. And I refuse to say look at it through my Twilight-damaged eyes. I will remain open. I think the Twilight movies sucked but actually the books were sort of enjoyable. The Host was also pretty good from a book standpoint. Let’s see if they can make a better movie than the Twilight schlock.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER—I watched the trailer hoping for something better, and I was severely disappointed. If a trailer can irritate me, I think the movie probably could turn me into a rampaging Hulk. I’m not going to be seeing this unless some miracle happens, it just kicks butt. I highly doubt it will. I give this trailer a 2.
IRON SKY, NAZIS FROM THE MOON—Hey…Nazi’s from the moon! It could happen! RIGHT? I know there are some that think that there is nothing that can be funny about the Nazi’s. I disagree. I think they’re perfect for lampooning, which I think this movie is all about. It’s got that “Mars Attacks” over-the-top vibe to it. Don’t think it has the HIGHEST production value ever, but it does look intriguing. I might wait for it on DVD. Trailer is a solid 6.
LOOPER—I JUST got word of this movie today, and saw a pre-teaser interview with Joseph Gordon Levitt and the director/writer something or other. It’s a time travel movie, again, with a twist, where the future self of Levitt, played by THE MAN Bruce Willis, comes back in time to kill himself. ((double take at my monitor)) Yeah, I know—a huge violation of the Time Travel Paradox…but LOOK BEYOND THAT. I don’t have a trailer to rate, but I am looking forward to the movie. Very much. I love time travel stuff, be it “Back to the Future” to “Butterfly Effect” to “Star Trek”.
G.I. JOE-RETALIATION—I absolutely HATED the first G.I. Joe movie. It was sooooooo ridiculously bad. And it soured me greatly on any other movie that would come along with a continuation of the franchise. But, there are a couple of things going for this movie, based on the trailer. First, my idol, The Rock, stars. Can’t go wrong there. Second, Jonathan Pryce plays a VERY evil looking American President. And third…BRUCE WILLIS!! Come ON!! It’s GOT to be good. Annnnnnnnnnd…if I read the correct chatter…they kill off Channing Tatum in the beginning of the movie! YEAH!!!!!! Thank GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand that guy. UGH!! Anyway, I’m looking at this with a strong 7.
And there you go...a lot of great movies, and I think there are some other good non-sci-fi/fantasy movies coming out this summer and fall. Looking forward to The Expendables 2, because you just can't get enough EXPLOSIONS!!!!!! LOL!!
Happy Movie Watching!!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
My Hikes...My Half-Mary....MY LEGS!!!!!!!!
For those that don't know or can't quite get what exactly is happening in my life, let me be candid for a moment. I went to see the doctor in January for a respiratory bug I had. The assistant dude--nice kid--always weighs me. I find it INFURIATING, but whatever. And it's one of those doctor weight things. The kind with the sliding weights--you know what I mean? Sheeeeeeesh. Well, in January, I weighed in a paltry 292 pounds. WITHOUT my shoes on. 292. I was 8 pounds from 300. This, the guy who regularly goes out and teaches, announces, and makes other public appearances. 292. I stood there looking at the scale for a second with the P.A. walked away and thought, "What have I done?" The answer was simple.
Not a dang thing.
I've made some half-hearted attempts over the years to lose weight here and there. But the bottom line was that as of January, my 44 inch pants were TIGHT, and I had already "moved up" to XXL for my shirts long ago. Another minor eyeopener was for Christmas, my mother in law (The Mudda!!) gave me a VERY expensive dress shirt. One of those dress shirts made by two dudes with different names. Like...PEP...and BOYS. Something like that. She gave me a shirt with an 18 1/2 neck! And it FIT NICE. I was a lazy and sedentary oaf, I wasn't doing ANYTHING for me, and I decided...I had had it.
With the support of my wife with the disclaimer of "You've done this before" (insert--rolled eyes! LOL!!!) and not really believing I was going to do anything long term, and coupled with the threat of taking away my 24HR Fitness Card, I started my journey. You can read back on my Facebook status updates of how I was pretty religious about posting what I was doing when I was doing it. It was my game plan--and Facebook was part of it.
You see, I am ALWAYS being made fun of. That's because my personality is such that I'm usually at the receiving ends of jokes and jabs, and that's cool. Always been that way. But I do hate the pain of being "called on the carpet" for something. And in this weird reverse psychology "plan" I had, I figured if I just started posting a TON of physical fitness updates and results, that I would show that I was in fact SERIOUS, people would notice, and then....THEN...if I got LAZY which is TOTALLY my M.O. (modus operandi for you non-Latin types), I would start getting CRAP from my friends. I was strangely motivated to NOT get crap from people because getting serious crap is embarrassing, and it ticks me off.
Then, using technology, I thought to myself, "Self, you should take pictures to PROVE you are actually doing what you say you are doing." So, I would take pictures of displays of various cardio-machines I was using over the last several months and started talking about my weight going down.
Then, two VERY unexpected things occurred.
The first and most important was HOW FREAKIN' GOOD I FELT!!! My attitude got better. My confidence got better. I stopped WORRYING and started DOING SOMETHING. I was being proactive about me. PERIOD. No one else "mattered" in the sense that I was doing this for anyone. I guess to some extent I could extrapolate I was doing this for my family (by living longer I hope), but it was not a motivator. I was doing this FOR ME.
Secondly, and almost as importantly, I started getting some very very interesting messages either on FB or in my email. They were from people that were telling me that they were being motivated by me and my example. I had no idea, no plan, no intention of doing that. Seriously. I was so motivated by MY failure and to change me and to be accountable to that, that I simply didn't even think of what others would think and DO SOMETHING like I was doing BECAUSE I was doing it.
You want to talk about motivation. When I have some pretty big names privately telling me good job and they were doing something themselves, I realized the power of example, and of course the power of FB for GOOD. But more importantly, because I was kicking my OWN butt on a regular basis, others were thinking, and rightly so, "if that fat butt can do it, SO CAN I!" I was PUMPED UP!!! It MATTERED what I was doing beyond my paltry self. It was not a prideful thing. It was a moment where I thought that I was really helping and really making some kind of difference in my own, "H"-powered way.
But then it became a moment of asking myself "What else can I do???"
About the time I started asking that question, and I was starting to feel the Demon of Laziness coming back into my body after a great first four months of being dedicated to working out, an old former drill designer/drum corps brother contacted me via FB seemingly out of the blue-Dave Tuttle. I had seen his status updates where he was out running and logging his mileage electronically with a Garmin GPS device. Thought it was cool. And so we started chatting online, trading compliments back and forth for working out, and insults against each other's drum corps we marched in (he the Blue Devils, me the ever-powerful Velvet Knights). And in what I call a moment of "put up or shut up", he did what any good drum corps brother would do. He challenged me....to be BETTER. He said I was probably ready to do a half marathon.
Now I had other people tell me the same thing "in passing"...like my former horn instructor with VK--a great guy by the name of Dave Elder. He's a runner, and said I should join him on a half-mary. A fellow dispatcher from Ventura County Fire I worked with last summer on assignment in Riverside said the same thing to me, and I ignored her statement as that of someone who totally overestimated my abilites. But Tuttle's challenge to me was different.
Of course, I denied my ability. Thought of a thousand reasons why I couldn't. Figured I could get a doctor's note saying that I was in fact out of mind, simply too fat, and directing to Tuttle to stop playing mind games with me. But he persisted. And then, in TRUE drum corps-level competitive spirit, he said two things that motivated me.
First, he said, "Yeah, that's ok. I'd still beat you in the race anyway--just like the Blue Devils should beat the Velvet Knights." I bleed red and gold, and them is fighting words. But then...he invoked the "Back to the Future" weapon.
He asked, "What....are ya chicken???"
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly I became. And I said, "Great timing. This will put more wind into my sails, get my goals reset, and provide me the motivation to get OUT of my comfort zone." Ummmm...yeah Turner. 13.1 miles is WAY THE HECK out of my comfort zone. You should have seen my wife's face when I proudly announced I was running the Fontana Half Marathon. She grabbed the White Pages and started to furiously thumb through, frantically looking for a listing. "What are you doing!?" She said something about "I need those men in the white coats for you, 'cuz you done lost your mind!!"
So last weekend, with nerves jangling, knees knocking, stomach churning, and my brain screaming at me to "STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS--FIND A DONUT STORE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!", I embarked on a personal voyage that took me out of the mountains of the Lytle Creek area, and down to the Fontana City Hall, 13.1 miles and 2hrs 43mins and 59 seconds later.
I admit it. I cried when I crossed that finish line. Because no matter the pain I had, the drenched clothes I was wearing, and the lack of experience that was mine, I DID IT!! It was an amazing thing. And there was Tuttle, who I paced for 10 miles and eventually did pull ahead, and as a Blue Devil should, beat this Velvet Knight, but who as a true drum corps brother and friend, was RIGHT THERE at the finish line giving me a high five.
For those that haven't marched drum corps, you may not understand the connection us "band geeks" have. But that was a moment that's seered into my memory...me crossing the finish line, and having a drum corps brother there to make sure he saw it. Next time Tuttle....VK BEATS THE BLUE DEVILS!! :-)
This hike today, and the other hikes I've documented have been part of my seemingly never ending desire to continue to challenge myself on MY terms. When I hiked the Henninger Flats a few weeks ago, I hadn't done that in 20 years! I knew it was going to be challenging but I knew I HAD to do it. And I did!!
Today, after reading about it on line, and knowing about it all of my life, I finally decided to try the Mt. Wilson Trail above Sierra Madre. It's regarded by many as a difficult hike. I SHOULD THINK FREAKIN' SO!!!!!! There are three "stops" on the way...First Water, Orchard Camp, and Second Water. The LAST stop is 7 miles up, at an elevation of about 4000'. Give or take a few. Hundred. My goal this morning--at least what I told my wife--was to go "4 up and 4 back." Heeeeee heeeee...silly boy. I forgot about that OTHER demon that got into me recently that won't let me look at signs on a trail without having the unquenchable need to be say, "ohhhhhhh I can do THAT!" At First Water, the sign beckoned me. Only 2 more miles to Orchard Camp. "Ohhhhhhhhhh I can do THAT!!!" Then the stupid sign at Orchard Camp...only 1.5 more miles to Second Water. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh I can do THAT!" Before I knew it, I was sitting on a bench at a place called Manzanita Ridge, looking up at Mt. Harvard and Mt. Wilson, and LITERALLY saying out loud, "I should go home now..." and my brain yelling back, "But YOU CAN DO THAT!!!!!!!"
My mileage may not be exact, but I made it to place that I visited back when I was in my early 20's. I LOVE Mt. Wilson. There's an observatory up there, and all those TV towers, and other weird things. And I would regularly drive up there and hike around by myself--nothing major. Just exploring. And where I eventually hiked to was at the bottom of the old "toll road" that zig zags down from Mt. Wilson to where I was standing at the base of Mt. Harvard. I remembered 20 some odd years ago standing at that spot, and then, in typical "H" fashion, ignoring the signs saying STAY OUT and walked to the top of Mt. Harvard to see the super secret construction on some transmission station. Well?!?!? They should have locked the stupid gate. But it was cool standing there.
Anyway...this is REALLY long and I sort of don't know why I'm babbling on. But the mileage wasn't important. What WAS important was that I kept challenging myself today, and even though I'm injured minorly--left knee is a little "inflamed"--I pushed myself and I "won".
Just a side note--if you want to have a TRUE physical work out....do the Mt. Wilson trail from bottom to top. And then, realize, that those steep switchbacks you went UP....you're going to have to COME DOWN. And in true irony, it was HARDER for me to come DOWN the stupid trail then it was to go up. Hence....my left knee.
Hope you enjoyed reading....
Not a dang thing.
I've made some half-hearted attempts over the years to lose weight here and there. But the bottom line was that as of January, my 44 inch pants were TIGHT, and I had already "moved up" to XXL for my shirts long ago. Another minor eyeopener was for Christmas, my mother in law (The Mudda!!) gave me a VERY expensive dress shirt. One of those dress shirts made by two dudes with different names. Like...PEP...and BOYS. Something like that. She gave me a shirt with an 18 1/2 neck! And it FIT NICE. I was a lazy and sedentary oaf, I wasn't doing ANYTHING for me, and I decided...I had had it.
With the support of my wife with the disclaimer of "You've done this before" (insert--rolled eyes! LOL!!!) and not really believing I was going to do anything long term, and coupled with the threat of taking away my 24HR Fitness Card, I started my journey. You can read back on my Facebook status updates of how I was pretty religious about posting what I was doing when I was doing it. It was my game plan--and Facebook was part of it.
You see, I am ALWAYS being made fun of. That's because my personality is such that I'm usually at the receiving ends of jokes and jabs, and that's cool. Always been that way. But I do hate the pain of being "called on the carpet" for something. And in this weird reverse psychology "plan" I had, I figured if I just started posting a TON of physical fitness updates and results, that I would show that I was in fact SERIOUS, people would notice, and then....THEN...if I got LAZY which is TOTALLY my M.O. (modus operandi for you non-Latin types), I would start getting CRAP from my friends. I was strangely motivated to NOT get crap from people because getting serious crap is embarrassing, and it ticks me off.
Then, using technology, I thought to myself, "Self, you should take pictures to PROVE you are actually doing what you say you are doing." So, I would take pictures of displays of various cardio-machines I was using over the last several months and started talking about my weight going down.
Then, two VERY unexpected things occurred.
The first and most important was HOW FREAKIN' GOOD I FELT!!! My attitude got better. My confidence got better. I stopped WORRYING and started DOING SOMETHING. I was being proactive about me. PERIOD. No one else "mattered" in the sense that I was doing this for anyone. I guess to some extent I could extrapolate I was doing this for my family (by living longer I hope), but it was not a motivator. I was doing this FOR ME.
Secondly, and almost as importantly, I started getting some very very interesting messages either on FB or in my email. They were from people that were telling me that they were being motivated by me and my example. I had no idea, no plan, no intention of doing that. Seriously. I was so motivated by MY failure and to change me and to be accountable to that, that I simply didn't even think of what others would think and DO SOMETHING like I was doing BECAUSE I was doing it.
You want to talk about motivation. When I have some pretty big names privately telling me good job and they were doing something themselves, I realized the power of example, and of course the power of FB for GOOD. But more importantly, because I was kicking my OWN butt on a regular basis, others were thinking, and rightly so, "if that fat butt can do it, SO CAN I!" I was PUMPED UP!!! It MATTERED what I was doing beyond my paltry self. It was not a prideful thing. It was a moment where I thought that I was really helping and really making some kind of difference in my own, "H"-powered way.
But then it became a moment of asking myself "What else can I do???"
About the time I started asking that question, and I was starting to feel the Demon of Laziness coming back into my body after a great first four months of being dedicated to working out, an old former drill designer/drum corps brother contacted me via FB seemingly out of the blue-Dave Tuttle. I had seen his status updates where he was out running and logging his mileage electronically with a Garmin GPS device. Thought it was cool. And so we started chatting online, trading compliments back and forth for working out, and insults against each other's drum corps we marched in (he the Blue Devils, me the ever-powerful Velvet Knights). And in what I call a moment of "put up or shut up", he did what any good drum corps brother would do. He challenged me....to be BETTER. He said I was probably ready to do a half marathon.
Now I had other people tell me the same thing "in passing"...like my former horn instructor with VK--a great guy by the name of Dave Elder. He's a runner, and said I should join him on a half-mary. A fellow dispatcher from Ventura County Fire I worked with last summer on assignment in Riverside said the same thing to me, and I ignored her statement as that of someone who totally overestimated my abilites. But Tuttle's challenge to me was different.
Of course, I denied my ability. Thought of a thousand reasons why I couldn't. Figured I could get a doctor's note saying that I was in fact out of mind, simply too fat, and directing to Tuttle to stop playing mind games with me. But he persisted. And then, in TRUE drum corps-level competitive spirit, he said two things that motivated me.
First, he said, "Yeah, that's ok. I'd still beat you in the race anyway--just like the Blue Devils should beat the Velvet Knights." I bleed red and gold, and them is fighting words. But then...he invoked the "Back to the Future" weapon.
He asked, "What....are ya chicken???"
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly I became. And I said, "Great timing. This will put more wind into my sails, get my goals reset, and provide me the motivation to get OUT of my comfort zone." Ummmm...yeah Turner. 13.1 miles is WAY THE HECK out of my comfort zone. You should have seen my wife's face when I proudly announced I was running the Fontana Half Marathon. She grabbed the White Pages and started to furiously thumb through, frantically looking for a listing. "What are you doing!?" She said something about "I need those men in the white coats for you, 'cuz you done lost your mind!!"
So last weekend, with nerves jangling, knees knocking, stomach churning, and my brain screaming at me to "STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS--FIND A DONUT STORE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!", I embarked on a personal voyage that took me out of the mountains of the Lytle Creek area, and down to the Fontana City Hall, 13.1 miles and 2hrs 43mins and 59 seconds later.
I admit it. I cried when I crossed that finish line. Because no matter the pain I had, the drenched clothes I was wearing, and the lack of experience that was mine, I DID IT!! It was an amazing thing. And there was Tuttle, who I paced for 10 miles and eventually did pull ahead, and as a Blue Devil should, beat this Velvet Knight, but who as a true drum corps brother and friend, was RIGHT THERE at the finish line giving me a high five.
For those that haven't marched drum corps, you may not understand the connection us "band geeks" have. But that was a moment that's seered into my memory...me crossing the finish line, and having a drum corps brother there to make sure he saw it. Next time Tuttle....VK BEATS THE BLUE DEVILS!! :-)
This hike today, and the other hikes I've documented have been part of my seemingly never ending desire to continue to challenge myself on MY terms. When I hiked the Henninger Flats a few weeks ago, I hadn't done that in 20 years! I knew it was going to be challenging but I knew I HAD to do it. And I did!!
Today, after reading about it on line, and knowing about it all of my life, I finally decided to try the Mt. Wilson Trail above Sierra Madre. It's regarded by many as a difficult hike. I SHOULD THINK FREAKIN' SO!!!!!! There are three "stops" on the way...First Water, Orchard Camp, and Second Water. The LAST stop is 7 miles up, at an elevation of about 4000'. Give or take a few. Hundred. My goal this morning--at least what I told my wife--was to go "4 up and 4 back." Heeeeee heeeee...silly boy. I forgot about that OTHER demon that got into me recently that won't let me look at signs on a trail without having the unquenchable need to be say, "ohhhhhhh I can do THAT!" At First Water, the sign beckoned me. Only 2 more miles to Orchard Camp. "Ohhhhhhhhhh I can do THAT!!!" Then the stupid sign at Orchard Camp...only 1.5 more miles to Second Water. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh I can do THAT!" Before I knew it, I was sitting on a bench at a place called Manzanita Ridge, looking up at Mt. Harvard and Mt. Wilson, and LITERALLY saying out loud, "I should go home now..." and my brain yelling back, "But YOU CAN DO THAT!!!!!!!"
My mileage may not be exact, but I made it to place that I visited back when I was in my early 20's. I LOVE Mt. Wilson. There's an observatory up there, and all those TV towers, and other weird things. And I would regularly drive up there and hike around by myself--nothing major. Just exploring. And where I eventually hiked to was at the bottom of the old "toll road" that zig zags down from Mt. Wilson to where I was standing at the base of Mt. Harvard. I remembered 20 some odd years ago standing at that spot, and then, in typical "H" fashion, ignoring the signs saying STAY OUT and walked to the top of Mt. Harvard to see the super secret construction on some transmission station. Well?!?!? They should have locked the stupid gate. But it was cool standing there.
Anyway...this is REALLY long and I sort of don't know why I'm babbling on. But the mileage wasn't important. What WAS important was that I kept challenging myself today, and even though I'm injured minorly--left knee is a little "inflamed"--I pushed myself and I "won".
Just a side note--if you want to have a TRUE physical work out....do the Mt. Wilson trail from bottom to top. And then, realize, that those steep switchbacks you went UP....you're going to have to COME DOWN. And in true irony, it was HARDER for me to come DOWN the stupid trail then it was to go up. Hence....my left knee.
Hope you enjoyed reading....
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Weather Is A-Comin' In....
It's sort of with a mixed bag of emotions that I type this. A few days ago, I received via email a pretty strongly worded weather warning from a prominent weather forecaster. This was sent out to fire agencies across the state. It was one of the most "doom and gloom" warnings I had read....ever. And I read these all the time. Well, the media picked up on it, and the public consumption type forecasts have been sounding pretty ominous as well.
Since I'm a weather geek, I love weather. It's exciting. But I'm also in public safety (and I'm a nice guy too), and I don't wish death and destruction on my fellow man (except for Muslim terrorists. Anyway, I'm going to be watching with GREAT interest the weather as it transpires over the next few days.
The OFFICIAL forecast is that Sunday night, around 1900hrs, The O.C. should start getting the first official storm system. It's not forecast to be the end of the world. It's the next two storms that will. There is a possibility that where I live in Carbon Canyon above Brea that we have the potential to get 20 inches in a week. I know I have lots of friends across the country that scoff at 20 inches in a week, and say that's just an inconvenience. But for us, where our flood control channels are old, our river system not very well designed, a lot of flat lands, and houses built into hills that have been burned away, we have quite a lot of potential for things to go ca-ca pretty quickly.
Rain should be lasting through the week well into Friday. A very cold and "unstable" air mass will move in which keeps the chance of rain, and for a lot of snow. HOWEVER, if the "Pineapple Express" sets up (which basically means tropical "warmer" moisture moving in from Hawaii into So Cal) and all that water falls on snow packs, we could see some major flooding. Big chances of embedded thunderstorms and very high winds as well.
See? It IS exciting. Until you lose power or are stranded in some canyon with no way out. All my updates from now on based on what's happening real time will be done by status updates on Facebook. There you go....
Be safe...check your batteries and flashlights and candles....and let's see what happens. I will tell you after following weather as I have pretty much all my life, I have been disappointed--bitterly so--when "end of the world" forecasts have failed to materialize. I've also been surprised when a benign forecast has been off and we've been smacked (the thunderstorms from hell in 2003 that dropped several inches of HAIL on south Los Angeles in April if I remember correctly).
See you on Facebook....
Since I'm a weather geek, I love weather. It's exciting. But I'm also in public safety (and I'm a nice guy too), and I don't wish death and destruction on my fellow man (except for Muslim terrorists. Anyway, I'm going to be watching with GREAT interest the weather as it transpires over the next few days.
The OFFICIAL forecast is that Sunday night, around 1900hrs, The O.C. should start getting the first official storm system. It's not forecast to be the end of the world. It's the next two storms that will. There is a possibility that where I live in Carbon Canyon above Brea that we have the potential to get 20 inches in a week. I know I have lots of friends across the country that scoff at 20 inches in a week, and say that's just an inconvenience. But for us, where our flood control channels are old, our river system not very well designed, a lot of flat lands, and houses built into hills that have been burned away, we have quite a lot of potential for things to go ca-ca pretty quickly.
Rain should be lasting through the week well into Friday. A very cold and "unstable" air mass will move in which keeps the chance of rain, and for a lot of snow. HOWEVER, if the "Pineapple Express" sets up (which basically means tropical "warmer" moisture moving in from Hawaii into So Cal) and all that water falls on snow packs, we could see some major flooding. Big chances of embedded thunderstorms and very high winds as well.
See? It IS exciting. Until you lose power or are stranded in some canyon with no way out. All my updates from now on based on what's happening real time will be done by status updates on Facebook. There you go....
Be safe...check your batteries and flashlights and candles....and let's see what happens. I will tell you after following weather as I have pretty much all my life, I have been disappointed--bitterly so--when "end of the world" forecasts have failed to materialize. I've also been surprised when a benign forecast has been off and we've been smacked (the thunderstorms from hell in 2003 that dropped several inches of HAIL on south Los Angeles in April if I remember correctly).
See you on Facebook....
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
It's been almost a year....
Well...if you're reading these words right now in my "notes" section of my Facebook page, just know that I'm actually typing this in my blog, The Observations of "The H", located at Blogspot. Interesting little turn of events that caused me to come up here to type a quick diddy.
I was doing a project for my boss at work today, and putting together a rather basic but very "H"-like PowerPoint presentation. I was looking for images of Carbon Canyon on line, and came across a great blog that I had no idea existed...it's called the Carbon Canyon Chronicle located at http://carboncanyonchronicle.blogspot.com
COOL!! Because I too reside in the famous canyon, I thought it was rather cool that someone took the time to create a blog...and it's actually VERY WELL DONE. Dude knows how to write well...has some historical info about the area (which absolutely gets me all warm and fuzzy because I love history, and gives an insight into some current events regarding the canyon. AND...the dude takes some pretty good pictures.
Anyway...I was reading his blog and then I got to thinking that I sort of missed The Observations of "The H" and got to thinking WHY I originally set it up (again--big thanks for the inspiration to the hard-working man on the west coast, Lee Rudnicki), and how much fun it was to hear from people both on-line and in the "meat world" who would say they actually READ THIS DRIVEL...a mismash of commentary on life, politics, drum corps, marching band, the fuzz in my naval, movie reviews...the same crap I do on the notes section in Facebook...see that's just the thing.
I'M TORN between Facebook and this blog...that's the issue.
Anyway...there you go...and here I am...and away I go...
Until next time, don't forget to visit me on Facebook if you're one of the few last hold outs that exist on this planet that haven't become a part of that cult. Come on in...the water's fine!! :-))))
I was doing a project for my boss at work today, and putting together a rather basic but very "H"-like PowerPoint presentation. I was looking for images of Carbon Canyon on line, and came across a great blog that I had no idea existed...it's called the Carbon Canyon Chronicle located at http://carboncanyonchronicle.blogspot.com
COOL!! Because I too reside in the famous canyon, I thought it was rather cool that someone took the time to create a blog...and it's actually VERY WELL DONE. Dude knows how to write well...has some historical info about the area (which absolutely gets me all warm and fuzzy because I love history, and gives an insight into some current events regarding the canyon. AND...the dude takes some pretty good pictures.
Anyway...I was reading his blog and then I got to thinking that I sort of missed The Observations of "The H" and got to thinking WHY I originally set it up (again--big thanks for the inspiration to the hard-working man on the west coast, Lee Rudnicki), and how much fun it was to hear from people both on-line and in the "meat world" who would say they actually READ THIS DRIVEL...a mismash of commentary on life, politics, drum corps, marching band, the fuzz in my naval, movie reviews...the same crap I do on the notes section in Facebook...see that's just the thing.
I'M TORN between Facebook and this blog...that's the issue.
Anyway...there you go...and here I am...and away I go...
Until next time, don't forget to visit me on Facebook if you're one of the few last hold outs that exist on this planet that haven't become a part of that cult. Come on in...the water's fine!! :-))))
Monday, October 20, 2008
Another milestone day...
These the days that are tough for dads. When your babies start to grow up. And start to shine in ways that you don't expect. There's a really really long story that centers around the apple of my eye, my 7-year old daughter Sarah...or Sarah Bearah as I affectionately started calling her. The story starts when she was born 2 months premature and only weighed just under 3 pounds, and spent the first month of her life in the NICU at St. Jude's in Fullerton. And how I wasn't even allowed to touch her for the first 2 weeks of her life unless I had gloves on. And how she had a brain bleed during her first week of life that almost necessitated brain surgery. And how instead of learning how to change her diapers and enjoy her at home, I had to do it everyday visiting a hospital. It was very very trying time. To say the least. Watching my 3 pound premature baby girl was enough to turn this big louse of a man into a complete and utter mass of whimpering.
Fast forward to today...she's 7 years old...she's in 2nd grade. She plays piano, sometimes scaring the crap out of me because she'll say "Hey daddy, does this sound ok?" and I look up, and she's playing 2 hand piano stuff LOOKING AT ME AND NOT THE KEYBOARD!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! You're 7!!! Knock off this Liberace showing off crap!! LOL!!! She's bright, she's intelligent, she's a sarcastic sass at times (which really chaps my hide because she's JUST like her mom!! Grrrrrr!!), she's unbelievably beautiful, and she's been through a ringer to start her life.
I got a call this morning from The Warden, telling me that today was the first time she was going to take the bus to school instead of mom schlepping her around. The Brea Unified School District finally decided to add a bus stop for us canyon dwellers, and today was the first day of service. As The Warden put it--"Sarah was so excited today. She ate breakfast with great speed, and got ready. And then, from the dining room she yelled, 'They're here, they're coming!!' And I told her go outside and wait for them!" Them being the neighborhood kids traveling in a "pack" to go to the bus stop.
We're really protective of Sarah. Not obnoxiously--we don't hover. But we are pretty careful about keeping an eye on her, keeping her safe, setting rules pretty clearly, having expectations, blah blah blah. So, this was a MAJOR step towards one, letting her have a more freedom, and two, LETTING GO A BIT. As my friend back in Illinois says, "TIME TO CUT THE UMBILICAL CORD!!" What he means is that sometimes as parents you just have to let go, and let life happen. Today--because I'm HERE at the OCFA, I missed this little milestone of letting her go. Bittersweet to say the least, but ultimately, happy for my "little girl". Apparently The Pack showed up, and she ran outside with her bookbag and lunch, and "got in line" with everyone and took off up the street to the bus stop. The Warden had to choke up back a tear (and so did I as she was telling me about this) and stifle the need to "supervise" the kids as they walked down the street. And the part that really hits me--where if you're not a dad you may not "get it"--but the part that really hit me was when my wife said, "And you should have seen her face. She was soooo proud of herself. She had that 'lips clamped smile' and she was looking out of the side of her eyes at me as she walked away." I know that sounds weird, but I know my daughter. And I know inside, she was a mix of elation that she was with "her people", and being a "grown up" by taking off to go catch a bus, but at the same time, it's hard not to think that maybe she was a tad bit scared. And that she was just glancing to make sure mom was still there.
Damn kids. They make my eyes leak.
Well done daughter.
Well done.
Fast forward to today...she's 7 years old...she's in 2nd grade. She plays piano, sometimes scaring the crap out of me because she'll say "Hey daddy, does this sound ok?" and I look up, and she's playing 2 hand piano stuff LOOKING AT ME AND NOT THE KEYBOARD!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! You're 7!!! Knock off this Liberace showing off crap!! LOL!!! She's bright, she's intelligent, she's a sarcastic sass at times (which really chaps my hide because she's JUST like her mom!! Grrrrrr!!), she's unbelievably beautiful, and she's been through a ringer to start her life.
I got a call this morning from The Warden, telling me that today was the first time she was going to take the bus to school instead of mom schlepping her around. The Brea Unified School District finally decided to add a bus stop for us canyon dwellers, and today was the first day of service. As The Warden put it--"Sarah was so excited today. She ate breakfast with great speed, and got ready. And then, from the dining room she yelled, 'They're here, they're coming!!' And I told her go outside and wait for them!" Them being the neighborhood kids traveling in a "pack" to go to the bus stop.
We're really protective of Sarah. Not obnoxiously--we don't hover. But we are pretty careful about keeping an eye on her, keeping her safe, setting rules pretty clearly, having expectations, blah blah blah. So, this was a MAJOR step towards one, letting her have a more freedom, and two, LETTING GO A BIT. As my friend back in Illinois says, "TIME TO CUT THE UMBILICAL CORD!!" What he means is that sometimes as parents you just have to let go, and let life happen. Today--because I'm HERE at the OCFA, I missed this little milestone of letting her go. Bittersweet to say the least, but ultimately, happy for my "little girl". Apparently The Pack showed up, and she ran outside with her bookbag and lunch, and "got in line" with everyone and took off up the street to the bus stop. The Warden had to choke up back a tear (and so did I as she was telling me about this) and stifle the need to "supervise" the kids as they walked down the street. And the part that really hits me--where if you're not a dad you may not "get it"--but the part that really hit me was when my wife said, "And you should have seen her face. She was soooo proud of herself. She had that 'lips clamped smile' and she was looking out of the side of her eyes at me as she walked away." I know that sounds weird, but I know my daughter. And I know inside, she was a mix of elation that she was with "her people", and being a "grown up" by taking off to go catch a bus, but at the same time, it's hard not to think that maybe she was a tad bit scared. And that she was just glancing to make sure mom was still there.
Damn kids. They make my eyes leak.
Well done daughter.
Well done.
Friday, October 17, 2008
I HAVE THE KONK!!!!!!!!!!
Recently, it was related to me by a good friend at work that his wife was "worried" about me, and how I've recently become "all political". Hardly ALL political, but yes, I've reached a point of frustration with our government SERVANTS that has pretty much bordered on nuclear meltdown. If you look on my Facebook page, I'm a tried and true Libertarian, something I've joked about on this very blog as something I didn't even KNOW until I "took the political party test". I wasn't slightly, or to the right or left, of Libertarian. Oh no...I was pretty much living in the lower colon of Ron Paul-level of libertarian. And I really think it comes down to my ever-increasing lack of confidence (to say the least) on anyone within politics (no offense to my good friend Jon) being "honest". It simply doesn't exist. Yet...we as a society JOKE about it. Cartoons, and editorials, and blogs, and "shruggin' the shoulders whaddya gonna do" attitudes abound with this "acceptance" of really, what I refer to as, on the VERY basic level of human interaction....DISHONESTY.
This recent "rescue plan" for the economy, this 750 BILLION dollar exercise of throwing a Big Gulp full of water on a raging forest fire, is a joke? WHY!?!?!? Because what we DON'T know about it--and that's the "earmarks" that are part of it. Not even about the fruitlessness of this "rescue", it's about people in politics getting what they WANT for THEM. Really. That's the BOTTOM line. So I'm sick of it. Really. Sick of it.
Not to mention this campaign. There was about 5 minutes of the presidential debate that I listened to before I seriously got nauseaous. There was NOTHING said--it was finger pointing. It was worthless. It meant NOTHING. Empty words. Empty promises. BY BOTH of these guys. And it's in a long line of previous empty promises.
We don't...oh sorry...I DON'T trust my government anymore. I simply don't. We as a people have let things slip away from black and white, right and wrong, into moral ambiguity, relative ethics, lies, corruption...oh the list goes on. But that's human nature, Turner...it's too be expected. I say it's NOT to be expected. I EXPECT leaders to hold themselves to a higher standard. I EXPECT that the good of the citizens of this country are FIRST AND FOREMOST in the minds of those that we pay OUT OF OUR ASSES IN TAXES FOR IN GOVERNMENT. But it's just not so.
So...that's why I've become "political". I'm not jumping on any bandwagon and saying "Vote for (insert name)" because no one is worthy. True, I've dug a little deeper and apparently Obama has some good ideas that if I were to be completely honest, I tend to think he may have an edge over McCain in (and I'm speaking directly about his tax plan). But I stop myself RIGHT THERE--because it's probably NOT going to happen. Maybe it's because it's a lie from Obama, or maybe "something will happen" and the 95% of us that are supposed to get a tax break under him won't enjoy it. So I say vote for no one. What does it matter?
But you wanna know something?? Here's where I think I have found, at least in this clip, my voice. I love Jon Stewart. I think he's a great talent, and he says it like it is. Watch this clip, and just feel behind the comedy the frustration that he speaks to...and of. That's me. You can put my face on Stewart's body, and I'd say the same damn thing.
But I'm louder. :-) Enjoy...and then I'll see you later...as our country continues to sink to new lows...
This recent "rescue plan" for the economy, this 750 BILLION dollar exercise of throwing a Big Gulp full of water on a raging forest fire, is a joke? WHY!?!?!? Because what we DON'T know about it--and that's the "earmarks" that are part of it. Not even about the fruitlessness of this "rescue", it's about people in politics getting what they WANT for THEM. Really. That's the BOTTOM line. So I'm sick of it. Really. Sick of it.
Not to mention this campaign. There was about 5 minutes of the presidential debate that I listened to before I seriously got nauseaous. There was NOTHING said--it was finger pointing. It was worthless. It meant NOTHING. Empty words. Empty promises. BY BOTH of these guys. And it's in a long line of previous empty promises.
We don't...oh sorry...I DON'T trust my government anymore. I simply don't. We as a people have let things slip away from black and white, right and wrong, into moral ambiguity, relative ethics, lies, corruption...oh the list goes on. But that's human nature, Turner...it's too be expected. I say it's NOT to be expected. I EXPECT leaders to hold themselves to a higher standard. I EXPECT that the good of the citizens of this country are FIRST AND FOREMOST in the minds of those that we pay OUT OF OUR ASSES IN TAXES FOR IN GOVERNMENT. But it's just not so.
So...that's why I've become "political". I'm not jumping on any bandwagon and saying "Vote for (insert name)" because no one is worthy. True, I've dug a little deeper and apparently Obama has some good ideas that if I were to be completely honest, I tend to think he may have an edge over McCain in (and I'm speaking directly about his tax plan). But I stop myself RIGHT THERE--because it's probably NOT going to happen. Maybe it's because it's a lie from Obama, or maybe "something will happen" and the 95% of us that are supposed to get a tax break under him won't enjoy it. So I say vote for no one. What does it matter?
But you wanna know something?? Here's where I think I have found, at least in this clip, my voice. I love Jon Stewart. I think he's a great talent, and he says it like it is. Watch this clip, and just feel behind the comedy the frustration that he speaks to...and of. That's me. You can put my face on Stewart's body, and I'd say the same damn thing.
But I'm louder. :-) Enjoy...and then I'll see you later...as our country continues to sink to new lows...
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