I'm sitting here in my bedroom/office with the radio playing college basketball, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and the Wofford Terriers playing for the Southern Conference championship. Rags is sitting here beside me, occasionally editing and sometimes interrupting to get pets. Tortoiseshell cats are demanding assistants.
Just about finished reading a collection of sports journalism, an unpleasantly battered ARC copy from Thriftbooks' sale last week. There's some good stuff in there, though overall it was disappointing. Among them a 2002 Bill Plaschke column from the Los Angeles Times titled "Her Blue Haven." It's about a semi-paralyzed woman with cerebral palsy who can't talk and lives in the sticks of central Texas, yet who obsessively kept a Dodgers team blog that had only a handful of readers. One of those well-written features that leaves you staring into space for a while afterwards.
Only watched two movies so far this year, one a documentary about the Oklahoma City bombing (very informative and complicated), the other a dreadfully dull Harrison Ford spy movie called Patriot Games. Finally canceled my Netflix this morning - didn't seem like it was worthwhile any longer.
I might reactivate it for a bit when the second half of the final season of Fuller House drops, or maybe just borrow someone else's. It's been really nice to go through Full House from beginning to end - the Tanner household is a calming one well worth visiting more often.
The final trailer for Black Widow dropped this morning, and it looks fantastic. Mentally prepping a reaction piece for Bam Smack Pow.at the moment while procrastinating. (I needed to get back into blogging anyway.)
I'm not quite sure where it will go, but it definitely has to do with the concept of improvised family. Natasha Romanoff needs that more than anyone else in the MCU not named the Guardians of the Galaxy. And doesn't everyone, when you stop and think about it?
Without Jessica and Amanda I'm not sure I'd have been able to get through college. They say the same for me about high school and college. They're pretty great adopted sisters, and I'm lucky I met them.
Heard from Ashland the other day, it was great to catch up. Still trying to figure out a way to get up to Springfield for her graduation.
This keyboard doesn't quite work as well as the previous one, and the laptop is on its last legs, but for now it's still working, which is a very good thing.
Thinking of getting a Nintendo Switch Lite, which is about four generations more advanced than the Game Boy Advance. I've heard good things about the Animal Crossing series, the newest of which drops next week or so. Supposed to be kind of like Webkinz, which is a very important role that needs to be filled. Another game I've heard good things about is Rocket League, which is soccer played by cars. That sounds just ridiculous enough to be amazing. And there's Mario Kart, of course.
The Terriers Wofford is nicknamed after are Boston Terriers, the guy who founded the small private school in the western part of South Carolina used to breed them or something.
Things are going well right now in the world of dog writing - decided to leap into covering Crufts, England's premiere dog event of the year, and that's gone well so far with pageviews. Several in-depth stories in the works for later this week at Dog O'Day, and a few days ago we broke the airdate times of the Beverly Hills Dog Show telecast in early April.
Will it matter next November which of these teams won this game? For almost everyone, no. I'll forget who won the NCAA Tournament by June. But for some of those students at ETSU and Wofford, this season will always have a special place in their memories. because of the personal associations, and there's probably some fans with special needs out there that keep up with the teams because it inspires them to keep going through the day.
That's why sports can be so important sometimes, their cathedrals of play so magical. It's easy to forget that. On the other hand, it can also be easy to get sucked in and assume that they're everything, which is why I could never make a living writing about them all the time - I don't care enough. Yeah, I have the knowledge to be decent at it, but burnout hits hard when you're working on empty.
The 2020 NASCAR season is about a month old, and my mental health has been a lot better not covering it. Sure, I miss working with everyone at Frontstretch, but it's been nice to step away for a while.
Ryan Newman's wreck in the Daytona 500 was terrifying. I thought I was watching the first fatality since Dale Earnhardt hit the wall in 2001. (I was watching in Grandpa's living room, and in the same place five months later on 9/11.)
It's unbelievable that Newman is still alive and left the hospital 48 hours later, and further proof that racers are insane.
Caleb's still in Mexico, things have been awfully quiet around the house without him. Courtney's really busy with clinicals. Trevor's prepping for his competitions this summer, and Amy's learning how to read and write some. Thus ends the sibling update.
East Tennessee State won the game. Peaceful nights are welcome.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2020
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Today's Events
According to Facebook, six years ago on this day I X-rayed Robbie's elderly cat Tigger after the dogs roughed her up. That was a strange night.
Two years ago on this day in Pop Market we wrote inclass flashfiction plays and cold-read our way through them. In mine, a couple finally had to put down their sick dog. In another, I played a grandmother with dementia. (That was kinda fun.)
Last year on this day, my play Texaco Mornings was being performed by RSU Theater, and Ashland came down to see it. That was a good weekend.
Today Mom and I went to go see Captain Marvel, which was very good. Maybe the best origin story the MCU has had, Carol Danvers is now one of my favorite MCU characters.
Two years ago on this day in Pop Market we wrote inclass flashfiction plays and cold-read our way through them. In mine, a couple finally had to put down their sick dog. In another, I played a grandmother with dementia. (That was kinda fun.)
Last year on this day, my play Texaco Mornings was being performed by RSU Theater, and Ashland came down to see it. That was a good weekend.
Today Mom and I went to go see Captain Marvel, which was very good. Maybe the best origin story the MCU has had, Carol Danvers is now one of my favorite MCU characters.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
An Appreciation of Friends Post
Over the last couple days it's struck me again that friendships are something to be treasured. Part of that is probably because Courtney was home for Thanksgiving, and your siblings can be friends, too, right?
Also Caleb just got back from Mexico, seeing people he knows down there, and then Mattie shot his senior pictures this afternoon, which turned out really well.
Daniel's daughter Grace arrived safely yesterday morning, really happy for him and Chrissy, they'll be fantastic parents. His sister Emily also just announced that she's pregnant, which is also cool. And Amanda's son Hayden was born last month, meaning that I now have a nephew.
According to Facebook, it was nine years ago today that Ashland and I became FB friends, so it was neat to see the video that they compiled for the "friendaversary" (which is a stupid made-up non-word). "It feels like we've known each other for forever," she said, and it really does.
It was a little over ten years ago that I met them at camp the first time.
Mini Parks and Rec marathon tonight with Caleb and Courtney, which was sort of like visiting friends again; not sure how I would've gotten through that first semester at RSU without the folks from Pawnee. Also, it was a way to keep in touch with NSU BCM friends.
The first teaser trailers for Toy Story 4 released earlier this week/late last week, and of course Woody, Buzz and the rest were movie-friends I've known basically my entire life. I'm not sure whether I like the idea of a fourth movie, the trilogy wrapped things up so nicely, but I'll watch it. Anyway, "You've Got a Friend in Me" has been stuck in my head all day today, which is always pleasant.
The sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, opened a few days ago, it looks really good. Ralph and Vanellope make a great team.
Also Caleb just got back from Mexico, seeing people he knows down there, and then Mattie shot his senior pictures this afternoon, which turned out really well.
Daniel's daughter Grace arrived safely yesterday morning, really happy for him and Chrissy, they'll be fantastic parents. His sister Emily also just announced that she's pregnant, which is also cool. And Amanda's son Hayden was born last month, meaning that I now have a nephew.
According to Facebook, it was nine years ago today that Ashland and I became FB friends, so it was neat to see the video that they compiled for the "friendaversary" (which is a stupid made-up non-word). "It feels like we've known each other for forever," she said, and it really does.
It was a little over ten years ago that I met them at camp the first time.
Mini Parks and Rec marathon tonight with Caleb and Courtney, which was sort of like visiting friends again; not sure how I would've gotten through that first semester at RSU without the folks from Pawnee. Also, it was a way to keep in touch with NSU BCM friends.
The sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, opened a few days ago, it looks really good. Ralph and Vanellope make a great team.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Blog Post No. 500
Wow. This is going to be the five hundredth post on here.
A couple years ago I wrote a post about social media and honesty. Most of the time we only see the "good parts" version of the story, with all the other stuff taken out. Most of these posts on here have been the "good parts" version, because college was rough. And because since graduating, nothing has happened.
While doing the farm chores this summer while Mom and Trevor were competitions I realized I have no farming talent or skills to speak of. Instead, I'm very experienced at keeping the laundry and dishes running, making sure the trash is taken out and the litter boxes are clean, that sort of thing.
Spraying chicken manure off the back porch daily gets old pretty quick, but someone needs to do it.
Furniture Row Racing is shutting down after this season due to lack of sponsorship, which isn't surprising, but it's still pretty sad. Makes me wonder a little bit how much longer NASCAR will be able to keep going, and if it's worth tagging along for the demise.
When I looked at the Frontstretch staff page last week, I noticed my name was bumped up to "Staff Writer" from "Contributor" sometime recently. That's nice. They're a great group of people to work with, but would the effort expended be better spent elsewhere?
I've made $7.33 so far in earnings this year, from contributing to Bam Smack Pow. I forgot to cash the check for my 2017 Fronstretch contributions before it went bad, and I've never been paid by RSU for producing the play in March. (Not a great way to inspire your alumni, that isn't.) Around October I should start getting payments from editing Dog O'Day, so that's a little bit more coming in.
I've sent out what feels like a lot of job applications this week, feeling kind of brave, though still mostly hopeless.
All four cars are pretty much undrivable, with only the car we're borrowing from Melody's dad running reliably. This wouldn't matter all that much, since I can't drive, except that we live in the middle of nowhere, so I'm kind of stranded. That's really difficult. You aren't supposed to move back in with your parents after college.
Severe cabin fever has settled into a permanent state. As part of a large-ish family, you're considered most of the time as a part of that unit, not as an individual.
People at church mean well, but every week there's several questions of "Have you found a job yet?" And I'm like, "Not yet, but eventually something will come up." And there's too many memories to be able to focus - would you want to return weekly to your middle school, to your high school?
My introverted brain is dying on the way back from having to try to make small talk, and not go into overdrive wondering how everyone is doing now, of those who used to be here.
I still believe, it's just...Idk. Mostly I've been going just because it gets me away from Dad for a couple hours.
I simply cannot function whenever he's around. It's bad. All my energy goes into survival - I've written a grand total of one poem since graduation, and then with the play, that's been my total creative output since graduation.
Haven't posted on Instagram since May, because I haven't done or seen anything worth capturing.
Lots of people getting married this September, seems like. Is that normal?
Susan's dog died last week, and the Coxes' dog was put to sleep this afternoon. They were both old and sick, but still...it's so hard.
A couple years ago I wrote a post about social media and honesty. Most of the time we only see the "good parts" version of the story, with all the other stuff taken out. Most of these posts on here have been the "good parts" version, because college was rough. And because since graduating, nothing has happened.
While doing the farm chores this summer while Mom and Trevor were competitions I realized I have no farming talent or skills to speak of. Instead, I'm very experienced at keeping the laundry and dishes running, making sure the trash is taken out and the litter boxes are clean, that sort of thing.
Spraying chicken manure off the back porch daily gets old pretty quick, but someone needs to do it.
Furniture Row Racing is shutting down after this season due to lack of sponsorship, which isn't surprising, but it's still pretty sad. Makes me wonder a little bit how much longer NASCAR will be able to keep going, and if it's worth tagging along for the demise.
When I looked at the Frontstretch staff page last week, I noticed my name was bumped up to "Staff Writer" from "Contributor" sometime recently. That's nice. They're a great group of people to work with, but would the effort expended be better spent elsewhere?
I've made $7.33 so far in earnings this year, from contributing to Bam Smack Pow. I forgot to cash the check for my 2017 Fronstretch contributions before it went bad, and I've never been paid by RSU for producing the play in March. (Not a great way to inspire your alumni, that isn't.) Around October I should start getting payments from editing Dog O'Day, so that's a little bit more coming in.
I've sent out what feels like a lot of job applications this week, feeling kind of brave, though still mostly hopeless.
All four cars are pretty much undrivable, with only the car we're borrowing from Melody's dad running reliably. This wouldn't matter all that much, since I can't drive, except that we live in the middle of nowhere, so I'm kind of stranded. That's really difficult. You aren't supposed to move back in with your parents after college.
Severe cabin fever has settled into a permanent state. As part of a large-ish family, you're considered most of the time as a part of that unit, not as an individual.
People at church mean well, but every week there's several questions of "Have you found a job yet?" And I'm like, "Not yet, but eventually something will come up." And there's too many memories to be able to focus - would you want to return weekly to your middle school, to your high school?
My introverted brain is dying on the way back from having to try to make small talk, and not go into overdrive wondering how everyone is doing now, of those who used to be here.
I still believe, it's just...Idk. Mostly I've been going just because it gets me away from Dad for a couple hours.
I simply cannot function whenever he's around. It's bad. All my energy goes into survival - I've written a grand total of one poem since graduation, and then with the play, that's been my total creative output since graduation.
Haven't posted on Instagram since May, because I haven't done or seen anything worth capturing.
Lots of people getting married this September, seems like. Is that normal?
Susan's dog died last week, and the Coxes' dog was put to sleep this afternoon. They were both old and sick, but still...it's so hard.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
August Update
Courtney is visiting for a bit soon before the new semester, it'll be good to see her. Hopefully she can get some rest.
Added a bit more to my freelance writing - Bam Smack Pow is part of a much larger company called FanSided, and they needed a co-editor for their dog website Dog O'Day, which has been near the bottom of all the rankings in the entertainment division, and the site itself was basically nonexistent in terms of traffic and posts published.
Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person who applied. But anyway, it's something. And dogs are cool. Been doing that for about two weeks now. Hoping to find some new writers so I don't have to write everything myself.
Have now written or been part of slightly more than 100 posts on Frontstretch since late October.
High school and college football season will be here soon. That's strange.
Jessica's wedding is in a couple weeks, and so is Elizabeth's. Happy for them.
Added a bit more to my freelance writing - Bam Smack Pow is part of a much larger company called FanSided, and they needed a co-editor for their dog website Dog O'Day, which has been near the bottom of all the rankings in the entertainment division, and the site itself was basically nonexistent in terms of traffic and posts published.
Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person who applied. But anyway, it's something. And dogs are cool. Been doing that for about two weeks now. Hoping to find some new writers so I don't have to write everything myself.
Have now written or been part of slightly more than 100 posts on Frontstretch since late October.
High school and college football season will be here soon. That's strange.
Jessica's wedding is in a couple weeks, and so is Elizabeth's. Happy for them.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Missing Sunny and Missouri
My dog Sunny died five years ago today. It's been a hard day. I miss her. Would've mentioned it to Mrs. Pickard at church tonight, because she would understand, but didn't see her.
SGYC '18 will be next week, and I won't be there, because again, I couldn't figure out a way to get there.
But Trevor will have a good time in Indiana at Nationals, and Caleb will have fun in New Mexico. I'm glad for them, and someone needs to make sure the laundry's done and the animals fed, but sometimes you get tired of being George Bailey.
SGYC '18 will be next week, and I won't be there, because again, I couldn't figure out a way to get there.
But Trevor will have a good time in Indiana at Nationals, and Caleb will have fun in New Mexico. I'm glad for them, and someone needs to make sure the laundry's done and the animals fed, but sometimes you get tired of being George Bailey.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Of June
Yep, that's an Owl City reference in the title.
My birthday was quiet, but it was nice to see all the texts and Facebook posts from friends.
Not much has been happening. Tried to call Courtney the other day, but the reception was so bad it was impossible to talk.
The Washington Capitals captured the Stanley Cup after toppling the defenses of the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals over the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time in the past four years. The Preakness was won by Justify, who became the 13th horse ever to win the Triple Crown.
Caleb's getting back from Youth Tour tomorrow, can't wait to hear all the stories. Trevor loved the Endeavor Games last weekend.
Been getting into Arrow and The Flash over the past week or so, Cisco Ramon and Felicity Smoak are my favorite characters so far.
My birthday was quiet, but it was nice to see all the texts and Facebook posts from friends.
Not much has been happening. Tried to call Courtney the other day, but the reception was so bad it was impossible to talk.
The Washington Capitals captured the Stanley Cup after toppling the defenses of the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals over the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time in the past four years. The Preakness was won by Justify, who became the 13th horse ever to win the Triple Crown.
Caleb's getting back from Youth Tour tomorrow, can't wait to hear all the stories. Trevor loved the Endeavor Games last weekend.
Been getting into Arrow and The Flash over the past week or so, Cisco Ramon and Felicity Smoak are my favorite characters so far.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
May Musings
The Jets and Knights are playing each other in the Western Conference semifinals on TV, my laptop's tracking the NASCAR race right now. Courtney comes home for a visit tonight, it'll be good to see her. Most of today I've been thoroughly cleaning the garage, which is useful.
Graduated from high school six years ago today, and from college a year ago tomorrow. That's odd.
Trevor was in San Antonio last week for a competition, which he enjoyed a ton. Caleb's all set to go to Mexico soonish, and I had lunch with Susan last week, it was really good to catch up.
Infinity War was gigantic and epic.
Heard from Ashland, Daniel, and Amanda recently, which is good.
Graduated from high school six years ago today, and from college a year ago tomorrow. That's odd.
Trevor was in San Antonio last week for a competition, which he enjoyed a ton. Caleb's all set to go to Mexico soonish, and I had lunch with Susan last week, it was really good to catch up.
Infinity War was gigantic and epic.
Heard from Ashland, Daniel, and Amanda recently, which is good.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Misc
I took one of those BuzzFeed quizzes today, "Which 2000s Disney/Nickelodeon Character Mashup Fits You?" The answer I got was "You’re a combination of Ron Stoppable and Eliza Thornberry. Like Ron, you will do anything for your family and friends, even if that means putting yourself in danger. And like Eliza, you have a massive sense of adventure. You are strong, courageous, and passionate."
From reruns that I've seen of Kim Possible, I can live with being Ron. That seems kind of accurate, actually. I've never seen The Wild Thornberrys, but Wikipedia says that Eliza gets along with animals very well, which also sounds accurate.
Four years ago I posted the following Facebook statuses:
"How to find Ross Hall: It's pretty easy. Go all the way east on campus, and then it's the only dorm with a bathroom stall parked in front of the building."
This was part of some prank in a war two of the fraternities were having at the time. (GREEKS ARE STUPID.) But it fit life in Ross very well. Which is why I mentioned it.
"Can I write like some combination of Agatha Christie, Brad Paisley, Mark Twain, Philip Gulley, Keith Urban, Jan Karon, Harper Lee, Miranda Lambert, Leonard Kessler, Taylor Swift, William Goldman, Edgar Guest and Lucy Maud Montgomery, please?"
I think my style has incorporated a lot of these writers since, along with Wendell Berry, G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor and others I can't think of right now.
The CVS Scotch Tape Incident occurred six years ago today. It's really weird how often that night pops up in my memories. "The porch swing silence was my favorite part," Sam commented on the original Facebook link. That was a good part of the night. "'Dylan blandly buys the tape, likely wishing he didn't know any of us' is my favorite part. That's him all over!" Paige commented right below Sam's comment. What can I say? I know my friends.
Marie's arm was fine after the Red Rover mishap, just really bruised. Last anyone heard she got married a couple years ago, has a 2-year-old son and is currently pregnant with a daughter. Last anyone heard of Sam she was about to get married.
Courtney's visiting this weekend after working most of spring break, it's been nice to see her. We saw Black Panther again last night with Caleb, and I still didn't like it. I mean, it was fine, but 12th-15th in the MCU rankings. Courtney liked it a lot, which we figured she would. We went to the AMC theater in Tulsa Hills, first time I'd ever been there. It's really nice.
Caleb and I have been playing a lot of basketball in the driveway recently. In sports, Loyola-Chicago somehow made it into the Final Four, and the NASCAR Truck race at Martinsville this afternoon was postponed due to a blizzard.
We were just talking about how much Grandpa would've loved Courtney going to C of O, how he'd always be running up to Branson to see her. He always said one summer he was going to find work up there instead of at the river, live in the RV. She'll be working over the summer, which is good. He would've enjoyed the play, too, I think, and he would've been proud that I wrote it, anyway.
While they aren't as entertaining as Keith and Nicki's hijinks, Luke and Katy work well together on Idol. On Agents, FitzSimmons' wedding was spectacular, and the episode overall was incredibly emotional in the best way possible. Recorded a cover last week of Rascal Flatts' "Stand" because Amanda asked me to; mostly I've been playing a lot of ukulele recently.
Yesterday was National Puppy Day; which the dogs didn't really care about, but Rags and Timmy have been especially needing lots of attention this week. That can be kind of nice.
From reruns that I've seen of Kim Possible, I can live with being Ron. That seems kind of accurate, actually. I've never seen The Wild Thornberrys, but Wikipedia says that Eliza gets along with animals very well, which also sounds accurate.
Four years ago I posted the following Facebook statuses:
"How to find Ross Hall: It's pretty easy. Go all the way east on campus, and then it's the only dorm with a bathroom stall parked in front of the building."
This was part of some prank in a war two of the fraternities were having at the time. (GREEKS ARE STUPID.) But it fit life in Ross very well. Which is why I mentioned it.
"Can I write like some combination of Agatha Christie, Brad Paisley, Mark Twain, Philip Gulley, Keith Urban, Jan Karon, Harper Lee, Miranda Lambert, Leonard Kessler, Taylor Swift, William Goldman, Edgar Guest and Lucy Maud Montgomery, please?"
I think my style has incorporated a lot of these writers since, along with Wendell Berry, G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor and others I can't think of right now.
The CVS Scotch Tape Incident occurred six years ago today. It's really weird how often that night pops up in my memories. "The porch swing silence was my favorite part," Sam commented on the original Facebook link. That was a good part of the night. "'Dylan blandly buys the tape, likely wishing he didn't know any of us' is my favorite part. That's him all over!" Paige commented right below Sam's comment. What can I say? I know my friends.
Marie's arm was fine after the Red Rover mishap, just really bruised. Last anyone heard she got married a couple years ago, has a 2-year-old son and is currently pregnant with a daughter. Last anyone heard of Sam she was about to get married.
Courtney's visiting this weekend after working most of spring break, it's been nice to see her. We saw Black Panther again last night with Caleb, and I still didn't like it. I mean, it was fine, but 12th-15th in the MCU rankings. Courtney liked it a lot, which we figured she would. We went to the AMC theater in Tulsa Hills, first time I'd ever been there. It's really nice.
Caleb and I have been playing a lot of basketball in the driveway recently. In sports, Loyola-Chicago somehow made it into the Final Four, and the NASCAR Truck race at Martinsville this afternoon was postponed due to a blizzard.
We were just talking about how much Grandpa would've loved Courtney going to C of O, how he'd always be running up to Branson to see her. He always said one summer he was going to find work up there instead of at the river, live in the RV. She'll be working over the summer, which is good. He would've enjoyed the play, too, I think, and he would've been proud that I wrote it, anyway.
While they aren't as entertaining as Keith and Nicki's hijinks, Luke and Katy work well together on Idol. On Agents, FitzSimmons' wedding was spectacular, and the episode overall was incredibly emotional in the best way possible. Recorded a cover last week of Rascal Flatts' "Stand" because Amanda asked me to; mostly I've been playing a lot of ukulele recently.
Yesterday was National Puppy Day; which the dogs didn't really care about, but Rags and Timmy have been especially needing lots of attention this week. That can be kind of nice.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
A Good Weekend
This week started out with the tension of anticipating the RSU Theatre Program's production of Texaco Mornings, to go along with the nervousness of phantom midterms. So there was a lot of anxious cleaning.
And then Tuesday morning I heard back from a job-application email the week before, which is rare and stressful, because A: you're talking to a stranger, B: on the phone, C: about yourself, and D: trying to make a good impression. I was basically hung up on, which is how that usually ends, but at least I heard back.
"Hey, I think I can actually make it! Like maybe Friday night." Ashland texts me somewhere early in the week.
Wednesday Caleb was supposed to start his first day working for Justin, except he couldn't get there because the truck broke down. (It's since been sort-of-fixed, I think.)
Crashed the youth group because I hadn't heard the end of David Platt's sermon series on "Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare" because my freshman year at NSU had already started. The sermon was interesting. And also, it was DC Talk Night in the Throwback Christian Music series, and I'm like the resident DC Talk expert.
Thursday night Caleb had a MEND fundraiser he was volunteering for, along with Hope, Mattie, Seth and Laura. That seemed to go well. Trevor and Amy had swimming, so everybody was happily busy. Wasn't able to make it to the opening night, but it's one of those things that couldn't be helped. The quiet house was nice;; read through a book of Billy Collins poetry from the OKC book sale.
Andrew said there was a great crowd; I know Debra and Cody both made it. "Proud of you, man!" Cody said. Dr. Dial-Driver wasn't able to make it, but she sent me a nice message, and she had everyone give her a report. ("I told her that even if you didn't know Wes wrote it, you'd know Wes wrote it," Dr. Mackie said).
Friday morning was a good day for blasting Jars of Clay while cleaning.
I missed the landmark 100th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that night, but it was totally worth it. Not every day your play is produced. (But IT SHOWED FITZSIMMONS' WEDDING, which I would have loved almost as much as Andy and April's or Ben and Leslie's. Maybe I'm okay with weddings as long as they're fictional?)
"Looks like I'll be seeing you tonight," Ashland texts me. She tackle-hugged me as soon as I'd gotten both feet into Baird Hall, pretty much. "I told people I knew you, and it was like, I knew a celebrity or something!"
About eighteen to twenty people were in the audience, which was a decent size. It was great to see Andrew, David and Dr. Mackie again. I also recognized a couple classmates I knew by sight. The Ruscos came, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird seeing the script performed, but the audience seemed to like it. The acting wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful, either. The actors missed or mangled about twenty percent of the lines, mostly skipping the dramatic parts. "This is a lot funnier than it should be," was all my brain registered in the moment.
We stopped by Taco Bueno afterward, and were quickly reminded neither of us liked it. But late-night conversations are always good, even if the food isn't great. Mostly the topic was INFJ-ism in the workplace, and commiserating the general difficulties of college and young adulthood "I was like, 'You okay?' You were really tense," she grinned once we'd gotten into dissecting the performance. (This didn't register at all.) We both graded it a high C, mostly because the actors who played siblings were obviously strangers, which was a little awkward.
Since it was going to be rainy, and because it was cheap and indoors, we decided to go to the Gilcrease Art Museum Saturday morning. It was fun. We rummaged through Indian artifacts all National Treasure-y, roamed through pretty much everywhere, and wished our photography skills were better. Since the temporary Norman Rockwell exhibit was still there, of course we had to see that - I kept a lookout for security guards while she illegally snapped photos to show her grandma. We didn't get caught.
Since it was beautiful weather, we prowled around the grounds outside taking pictures of the flowers and tree buds. We got some good pictures, and we also got chased by wasps for our troubles. Ignoring tradition, we actually got a couple good selfies this time.
We only got minorly lost on the way home, Taylor Swift blasting on Pandora, and we had lunch at Whataburger since she wanted to try it. The food was greasy and delicious, the convo was good.
A huge crowd showed up for Saturday night's closing performance; probably thirty-five to forty people. Talked to Brandon, saw Brittany on the other side of the room. Only about five percent of the lines were missing, and different moments were seen as humorous. Andrew did a great job directing. It got a high B grade.
The premiere of the sixteenth season of American Idol was tonight on ABC; the editing was unfocused, but it has potential. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie seem like they'll work well together.
And then Tuesday morning I heard back from a job-application email the week before, which is rare and stressful, because A: you're talking to a stranger, B: on the phone, C: about yourself, and D: trying to make a good impression. I was basically hung up on, which is how that usually ends, but at least I heard back.
"Hey, I think I can actually make it! Like maybe Friday night." Ashland texts me somewhere early in the week.
Wednesday Caleb was supposed to start his first day working for Justin, except he couldn't get there because the truck broke down. (It's since been sort-of-fixed, I think.)
Crashed the youth group because I hadn't heard the end of David Platt's sermon series on "Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare" because my freshman year at NSU had already started. The sermon was interesting. And also, it was DC Talk Night in the Throwback Christian Music series, and I'm like the resident DC Talk expert.
Thursday night Caleb had a MEND fundraiser he was volunteering for, along with Hope, Mattie, Seth and Laura. That seemed to go well. Trevor and Amy had swimming, so everybody was happily busy. Wasn't able to make it to the opening night, but it's one of those things that couldn't be helped. The quiet house was nice;; read through a book of Billy Collins poetry from the OKC book sale.
Andrew said there was a great crowd; I know Debra and Cody both made it. "Proud of you, man!" Cody said. Dr. Dial-Driver wasn't able to make it, but she sent me a nice message, and she had everyone give her a report. ("I told her that even if you didn't know Wes wrote it, you'd know Wes wrote it," Dr. Mackie said).
Friday morning was a good day for blasting Jars of Clay while cleaning.
I missed the landmark 100th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that night, but it was totally worth it. Not every day your play is produced. (But IT SHOWED FITZSIMMONS' WEDDING, which I would have loved almost as much as Andy and April's or Ben and Leslie's. Maybe I'm okay with weddings as long as they're fictional?)
"Looks like I'll be seeing you tonight," Ashland texts me. She tackle-hugged me as soon as I'd gotten both feet into Baird Hall, pretty much. "I told people I knew you, and it was like, I knew a celebrity or something!"
About eighteen to twenty people were in the audience, which was a decent size. It was great to see Andrew, David and Dr. Mackie again. I also recognized a couple classmates I knew by sight. The Ruscos came, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird seeing the script performed, but the audience seemed to like it. The acting wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful, either. The actors missed or mangled about twenty percent of the lines, mostly skipping the dramatic parts. "This is a lot funnier than it should be," was all my brain registered in the moment.
We stopped by Taco Bueno afterward, and were quickly reminded neither of us liked it. But late-night conversations are always good, even if the food isn't great. Mostly the topic was INFJ-ism in the workplace, and commiserating the general difficulties of college and young adulthood "I was like, 'You okay?' You were really tense," she grinned once we'd gotten into dissecting the performance. (This didn't register at all.) We both graded it a high C, mostly because the actors who played siblings were obviously strangers, which was a little awkward.
Since it was going to be rainy, and because it was cheap and indoors, we decided to go to the Gilcrease Art Museum Saturday morning. It was fun. We rummaged through Indian artifacts all National Treasure-y, roamed through pretty much everywhere, and wished our photography skills were better. Since the temporary Norman Rockwell exhibit was still there, of course we had to see that - I kept a lookout for security guards while she illegally snapped photos to show her grandma. We didn't get caught.Since it was beautiful weather, we prowled around the grounds outside taking pictures of the flowers and tree buds. We got some good pictures, and we also got chased by wasps for our troubles. Ignoring tradition, we actually got a couple good selfies this time.
A huge crowd showed up for Saturday night's closing performance; probably thirty-five to forty people. Talked to Brandon, saw Brittany on the other side of the room. Only about five percent of the lines were missing, and different moments were seen as humorous. Andrew did a great job directing. It got a high B grade.
The premiere of the sixteenth season of American Idol was tonight on ABC; the editing was unfocused, but it has potential. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie seem like they'll work well together.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Happy Birthday, Blog
I created this blog on this day in 2012. I'd been thinking about it for a year or two, and it was the middle of a boring day in February with nothing else much to do. (Also, Facebook was going through one of its redesigns, and there was a rumor that the then-popular Notes section would be deleted, so I wanted to keep my favorites.) Mom was visiting with Trinnica, and everybody else was playing some kind of war game in the backyard with Jonathan.
Sometimes people wonder about how it got titled this way; so I put out an explanation of the title right up front. It's a Princess Bride quote, from the novel, not the movie.
The series finale of Parks and Rec, "One Last Ride," aired on this day in 2015. It's one of the most perfect series finales ever. I watched season 7 live, even though I hadn't really met anyone in Pawnee yet, because it was a way to stay connected with everybody at the NSU BCM. (Stephen, Elizabeth, Susan, Bucky and Daniel were especially fans of the show.) I'd just moved to Claremore and RSU, and the humor was a welcome distraction from the roughness of that semester. (There's good people there, but I'm not really a fan of the city of Claremore.) And it was good homework in studying camera angles and shot placement.
Speaking of NSU ministries, Tom Tucker finally completely retired from leading CCF a couple months ago. And Ryan Galdemez became the pastor of Grace Baptist after Geoff Brown left.
It's been raining and raining and raining some more all week - cold and gray and drenching weather is hard to be productive in. But at least there wasn't an ice storm, like it seemed there would be earlier in the week.
Mom, Amy, Trevor and I went to the Gilcrease Art Museum in Tulsa Friday night because there was a traveling exhibit of Norman Rockwell original art, behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, and the actual Saturday Evening Post covers themselves. It was amazing.
The afternoon was spent running errands in Okmulgee, which was useful.
Being book hunters, once we heard about the Oklahoma City Library System's annual book sale at the state fairgrounds, Mom and I decided we needed to go. It was spectacular. I found some Faulkner, and a history of Broadway for Susan, and a handful of Shakespeare that matched good copies we already had. Mom found Peterson field guides and I don't know what all else. I found a lot of guides for writing different genres in the Fine Arts section; hopefully some of them will be helpful.
It was awesome. People were very polite; always apologizing after running into each other due to the intense focus of finding good titles. Going to Oklahoma City always feels a very long way away, when it's only about two hours west. Probably feels that way because the landscape changes a lot.
Caleb accidentally locked himself out of the truck while at a photoshoot with a friend, so we drove back home through Henryetta so he could get himself unstuck. That's the usual way to get to OKC, it seems like. Nice to drive through Henryetta again; felt like we should be driving back from a Knights ballgame. High school basketball playoffs started last week; it's a little weird to not be actively covering them.
Songs of the Day this week include Bowling for Soup's "1985" and Dustin Lynch's "Cowboys and Angels."
It's the final day of competition for the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympics. NBC's overage seemed a little lacking, mostly because there wasn't many of the inspirational stories shown, and because Bob Costas retired. Mike Tirico did better than I expected, but it still felt wrong. The Russian figure skaters had an epic battle in the ladies' event, and the Americans were all entirely without personality or talent. Snowboard cross was awesome, as usual, and snowboard halfpipe and the speed skating events. The commercials were amazingly inspirational. And the U.S. women's hockey team beat Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game, which is great.
The production of Texaco Mornings will be in two weeks. That's exciting, but also completely terrifying. It felt a little strange to write your own press release talking about your own play, though. But the Okmulgee Times people were happy to run it, and hopefully it will draw some more people to come see it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back from the Olympic break this Friday, and it will air their 100th episode March 9. It's been fun to follow their Instagram and Twitter for memories. American Idol returns for its 16th season March 11; I'm predicting Luke Bryan will be my favorite judge this season.
Sometimes people wonder about how it got titled this way; so I put out an explanation of the title right up front. It's a Princess Bride quote, from the novel, not the movie.
The series finale of Parks and Rec, "One Last Ride," aired on this day in 2015. It's one of the most perfect series finales ever. I watched season 7 live, even though I hadn't really met anyone in Pawnee yet, because it was a way to stay connected with everybody at the NSU BCM. (Stephen, Elizabeth, Susan, Bucky and Daniel were especially fans of the show.) I'd just moved to Claremore and RSU, and the humor was a welcome distraction from the roughness of that semester. (There's good people there, but I'm not really a fan of the city of Claremore.) And it was good homework in studying camera angles and shot placement.
Speaking of NSU ministries, Tom Tucker finally completely retired from leading CCF a couple months ago. And Ryan Galdemez became the pastor of Grace Baptist after Geoff Brown left.
It's been raining and raining and raining some more all week - cold and gray and drenching weather is hard to be productive in. But at least there wasn't an ice storm, like it seemed there would be earlier in the week.
Mom, Amy, Trevor and I went to the Gilcrease Art Museum in Tulsa Friday night because there was a traveling exhibit of Norman Rockwell original art, behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, and the actual Saturday Evening Post covers themselves. It was amazing.
The afternoon was spent running errands in Okmulgee, which was useful.
Being book hunters, once we heard about the Oklahoma City Library System's annual book sale at the state fairgrounds, Mom and I decided we needed to go. It was spectacular. I found some Faulkner, and a history of Broadway for Susan, and a handful of Shakespeare that matched good copies we already had. Mom found Peterson field guides and I don't know what all else. I found a lot of guides for writing different genres in the Fine Arts section; hopefully some of them will be helpful.
It was awesome. People were very polite; always apologizing after running into each other due to the intense focus of finding good titles. Going to Oklahoma City always feels a very long way away, when it's only about two hours west. Probably feels that way because the landscape changes a lot.
Caleb accidentally locked himself out of the truck while at a photoshoot with a friend, so we drove back home through Henryetta so he could get himself unstuck. That's the usual way to get to OKC, it seems like. Nice to drive through Henryetta again; felt like we should be driving back from a Knights ballgame. High school basketball playoffs started last week; it's a little weird to not be actively covering them.
Songs of the Day this week include Bowling for Soup's "1985" and Dustin Lynch's "Cowboys and Angels."
It's the final day of competition for the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympics. NBC's overage seemed a little lacking, mostly because there wasn't many of the inspirational stories shown, and because Bob Costas retired. Mike Tirico did better than I expected, but it still felt wrong. The Russian figure skaters had an epic battle in the ladies' event, and the Americans were all entirely without personality or talent. Snowboard cross was awesome, as usual, and snowboard halfpipe and the speed skating events. The commercials were amazingly inspirational. And the U.S. women's hockey team beat Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game, which is great.
The production of Texaco Mornings will be in two weeks. That's exciting, but also completely terrifying. It felt a little strange to write your own press release talking about your own play, though. But the Okmulgee Times people were happy to run it, and hopefully it will draw some more people to come see it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back from the Olympic break this Friday, and it will air their 100th episode March 9. It's been fun to follow their Instagram and Twitter for memories. American Idol returns for its 16th season March 11; I'm predicting Luke Bryan will be my favorite judge this season.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Standby
We have these two types of muscle fibers: slow-twitch for endurance, and quick-twitch for explosive movements. Swimming and cross-country running use mainly slow-twitch, tennis and volleyball quick-twitch. Some of us naturally have more of one type or the other. I have more quick-twitch muscles, so I enjoy more explosive sports, like tennis or volleyball.
But if your muscles are tensed up for an explosion that never comes, that can be extremely tiring. It's like when Skye was trying to understand her new abilities after becoming an Inhuman in season two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - when she tried to force her powers inward, she wound up breaking her own arm. Not anywhere near that dramatic, but that sense of "standby" is kind of where it feels like everything is right now.
Not much is happening in Okmulgee County, so there's not really anything to cover for the ONN. Most of the Frontstretch staff is at Daytona for the opening weekend of the NASCAR season, which meant my news day - Thursday - I was on standby for if they needed backup. They didn't, which was fine, but it's hard to be that tensed and ready to spring if there's nothing to pounce. (I spend too much of the day watching our cats.) Macklin and Smudge have had upset stomachs for the last two weeks, so I've been cleaning up their diarrhea way too often - they've been exiled to the garage until they feel better.
It's hard work waiting for things to happen. For the last six months or so it's felt like things - work, life, church, personal - were just about to fall into place once something happened, like a domino chain. Just hasn't quite started yet.
Another awful school shooting happened the other day in south Florida. Facebook and Twitter have been filled with people arguing over whether gun laws or mental health systems need to be overhauled. My uneducated opinion is that both sides are probably right. .
Finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower recently, didn't like it. Novels about stoners make me really mad, because their lack of ambition drives me crazy - in Children's/YA Lit everyone in class wanted to kill the narrator of The Spectacular Now. And they're unbearably depressing. I still might see the movies of both of those books, though.
Saw Black Panther last night. Trevor was chomping at the bit to see it, and Dad dragged Caleb and I along. The Orpheum was about 80 percent full, which was incredibly impressive (though the offerings were the newest MCU movie and the final movie of the Fifty Shades trilogy, and it's Okmulgee, so...maybe not so impressive).
It had to do a lot - the royal intrigue of a Shakespeare history, with the plot of The Lion King, with the amount of worldbuilding of Iron Man 2, Thor,, Guardians or Doctor Strange. Subtitles would have been helpful - some of the accents were so thick the dialogue was kind of lost. It was all right, but I'd rank it in the 12th-15th range out of all MCU movies so far. Caleb and Mom were both astounded I could rank it within two hours of watching..Some of the most interesting characters were killed, which seems like a waste of good acting talent.
Also, Dad's elbow was jamming into my side and his foot was in my lap, because personal space isn't something he doesn't do very well. That was uncomfortable.
On the way home he was constantly berating Caleb's driving, which was also uncomfortable. Caleb's a really good driver. It was raining, and somebody was tailgating a little bit on the way home. Dad wanted Caleb to either pull over or stop so they would run into us and it would be their fault. In his best impression of Jack Lankford, Caleb calmly stated that he was driving the speed limit and wasn't going to break any driving laws just because Dad told him to. Dad threw a tantrum, saying that it was his truck and that Caleb couldn't drive it tomorrow for disobeying his orders (we were thinking of going to the Oilers game tonight).
They both argued their case to Mom once we got home, while Trevor and I hid in the family room and pretended to care about men's Olympic figure skating.
I have Relient K stuck in my head this morning, and I slept horribly.
But if your muscles are tensed up for an explosion that never comes, that can be extremely tiring. It's like when Skye was trying to understand her new abilities after becoming an Inhuman in season two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - when she tried to force her powers inward, she wound up breaking her own arm. Not anywhere near that dramatic, but that sense of "standby" is kind of where it feels like everything is right now.
Not much is happening in Okmulgee County, so there's not really anything to cover for the ONN. Most of the Frontstretch staff is at Daytona for the opening weekend of the NASCAR season, which meant my news day - Thursday - I was on standby for if they needed backup. They didn't, which was fine, but it's hard to be that tensed and ready to spring if there's nothing to pounce. (I spend too much of the day watching our cats.) Macklin and Smudge have had upset stomachs for the last two weeks, so I've been cleaning up their diarrhea way too often - they've been exiled to the garage until they feel better.
It's hard work waiting for things to happen. For the last six months or so it's felt like things - work, life, church, personal - were just about to fall into place once something happened, like a domino chain. Just hasn't quite started yet.
Another awful school shooting happened the other day in south Florida. Facebook and Twitter have been filled with people arguing over whether gun laws or mental health systems need to be overhauled. My uneducated opinion is that both sides are probably right. .
Finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower recently, didn't like it. Novels about stoners make me really mad, because their lack of ambition drives me crazy - in Children's/YA Lit everyone in class wanted to kill the narrator of The Spectacular Now. And they're unbearably depressing. I still might see the movies of both of those books, though.
Saw Black Panther last night. Trevor was chomping at the bit to see it, and Dad dragged Caleb and I along. The Orpheum was about 80 percent full, which was incredibly impressive (though the offerings were the newest MCU movie and the final movie of the Fifty Shades trilogy, and it's Okmulgee, so...maybe not so impressive).
It had to do a lot - the royal intrigue of a Shakespeare history, with the plot of The Lion King, with the amount of worldbuilding of Iron Man 2, Thor,, Guardians or Doctor Strange. Subtitles would have been helpful - some of the accents were so thick the dialogue was kind of lost. It was all right, but I'd rank it in the 12th-15th range out of all MCU movies so far. Caleb and Mom were both astounded I could rank it within two hours of watching..Some of the most interesting characters were killed, which seems like a waste of good acting talent.
Also, Dad's elbow was jamming into my side and his foot was in my lap, because personal space isn't something he doesn't do very well. That was uncomfortable.
On the way home he was constantly berating Caleb's driving, which was also uncomfortable. Caleb's a really good driver. It was raining, and somebody was tailgating a little bit on the way home. Dad wanted Caleb to either pull over or stop so they would run into us and it would be their fault. In his best impression of Jack Lankford, Caleb calmly stated that he was driving the speed limit and wasn't going to break any driving laws just because Dad told him to. Dad threw a tantrum, saying that it was his truck and that Caleb couldn't drive it tomorrow for disobeying his orders (we were thinking of going to the Oilers game tonight).
They both argued their case to Mom once we got home, while Trevor and I hid in the family room and pretended to care about men's Olympic figure skating.
I have Relient K stuck in my head this morning, and I slept horribly.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Olympics and Life
The Winter Olympics begin tonight, which I'm thrilled about. Last time that happened I was in the middle of my sophomore year at NSU. Olympics, because they happen roughly every two years, are a good time to stop and reflect on life.
For my speech class that semester, I recounted a history of the Winter Olympics, because it sprang easily to mind. And also I could watch Cool Runnings as research. And the Arctic feel of Ross Hall made watching the events much more authentic.
The other day Jessica asked for help on picking a wedding dress. (I knew watching Say Yes to the Dress reruns would eventually pay off...not that I did that or anything. It's an unexpectedly enthralling show.) Sure, it felt like she was asking basically everyone she knew for advice, too, but still, that meant that she trusts me. And that means a lot.
Skyped with Courtney today, school's keeping her busy, but it's going all right.
Super Bowl LII was Sunday, and it was an amazing game. Philadelphia beat New England 41-33, and I think it was the first time I'd watched the entire game in ten years.
Budweiser won the commercials this year, which were especially lame. Bud's ad was, when you think about it, classy and yet self-aggrandizing at the same time, highlighting their water-donation efforts during the hurricanes last year. Also, for an NFL ad, Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr reenacted Dirty Dancing, which was pretty hysterical.
For my speech class that semester, I recounted a history of the Winter Olympics, because it sprang easily to mind. And also I could watch Cool Runnings as research. And the Arctic feel of Ross Hall made watching the events much more authentic.
The other day Jessica asked for help on picking a wedding dress. (I knew watching Say Yes to the Dress reruns would eventually pay off...not that I did that or anything. It's an unexpectedly enthralling show.) Sure, it felt like she was asking basically everyone she knew for advice, too, but still, that meant that she trusts me. And that means a lot.
Skyped with Courtney today, school's keeping her busy, but it's going all right.
Super Bowl LII was Sunday, and it was an amazing game. Philadelphia beat New England 41-33, and I think it was the first time I'd watched the entire game in ten years.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Good News
Last Friday was Amy's cheerleading night with a local Down Syndrome group at a Catholic high school nearby; which is one of the high points of her year. She did great, and had a fantastic time. The Comets were trounced in both games, though.
Yesterday I got an unexpected encouraging note from the editor-in-chief of Frontstretch.com, thanking me for merging smoothly into accelerated traffic late last season and drafting along well with the rest of the staff. And this morning I was promoted to doing a column for the upcoming season.
Caleb was raising money for a Special Olympics fundraiser tomorrow morning, and he reached the goal he was hoping for.
The folk music group the Spencer Family were visiting GBC Sunday night, so Mom and Amy have been listening to their songs all this week. And Mom got to visit with the Guenthers since they dropped by.
Ashland adopted a hedgehog earlier this week, which was worth celebrating. "Lol, I'm a mom!" she texted me excitedly. "By adoption, of course." Hedgehogs are maybe even cuter than coatimundis.
Yesterday I got an unexpected encouraging note from the editor-in-chief of Frontstretch.com, thanking me for merging smoothly into accelerated traffic late last season and drafting along well with the rest of the staff. And this morning I was promoted to doing a column for the upcoming season.
Caleb was raising money for a Special Olympics fundraiser tomorrow morning, and he reached the goal he was hoping for.
The folk music group the Spencer Family were visiting GBC Sunday night, so Mom and Amy have been listening to their songs all this week. And Mom got to visit with the Guenthers since they dropped by.
Ashland adopted a hedgehog earlier this week, which was worth celebrating. "Lol, I'm a mom!" she texted me excitedly. "By adoption, of course." Hedgehogs are maybe even cuter than coatimundis.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Mid-January Happenings
The Okmulgee County Tournament was last week, which meant I covered 22 basketball games in six days through radio broadcasts. Wrote up five articles today for ONN. Wrote two Fronstretch articles last week, too.
There was a potluck lunch at church yesterday, which I wasn't exactly thrilled about, because it's awkward to eat around other people. Like Frank Gilbreth, I tend to see eating as unavoidable delay. And the fact that four couples have gotten married within the last year, and another two couples engaged, makes it awkward at GBC. I kept an eye on the Selby boys to give Justin and Melody a break, which meant a lot of sprint races from one end of the hallway to the other.
Caleb got his driver's license on Friday afternoon, which he's thrilled about.
The Patriots and Eagles will play in Super Bowl LII, they seemingly just played each other in Super Bowl XXXIX, in February 2005 - I remember the year because Mimi was incredibly sick. She died six weeks later.
I was hoping to borrow Dr. Mackie's habit of writing a poem a day this year, but that hasn't gone very well so far.
There was a potluck lunch at church yesterday, which I wasn't exactly thrilled about, because it's awkward to eat around other people. Like Frank Gilbreth, I tend to see eating as unavoidable delay. And the fact that four couples have gotten married within the last year, and another two couples engaged, makes it awkward at GBC. I kept an eye on the Selby boys to give Justin and Melody a break, which meant a lot of sprint races from one end of the hallway to the other.
Caleb got his driver's license on Friday afternoon, which he's thrilled about.
The Patriots and Eagles will play in Super Bowl LII, they seemingly just played each other in Super Bowl XXXIX, in February 2005 - I remember the year because Mimi was incredibly sick. She died six weeks later.
I was hoping to borrow Dr. Mackie's habit of writing a poem a day this year, but that hasn't gone very well so far.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Welcome, 2018
2018's looking kind of familiar so far.
Morning of January 1 - The dishwasher breaks down. Again.
Morning of January 2 - The freezer in the garage breaks down. Again.
Evening of January 7 - I thought I broke my toe running into one of the weights Trevor left in the middle of the floor. (I didn't actually, though, which is good.)
Also, we've all been somewhat sick.
On a happier note, Courtney left for C of O yesterday morning and she's loving it so far.
Jon and Delaney eloped over the holidays, which fits them. And I'm happy for them.
Lots of people have gotten engaged over the last month, too - Elizabeth, Jessica, Suzanna, Lisbeth from YT, and Matt from NSU MassComm classes. That's a little harder to pin down my reaction to all these things like engagements and weddings.
The Winter Classic was watched, since it's hockey. Though I took a nap near the end of the second period and missed an overtime finish; stupid sickness. Alabama beat Georgia in the college football national championship, I guess.
Counting down to the Winter Olympics.
On my "On This Day" feed on Facebook six years ago today Samara and I were having a conversation about Collin Raye's ballad "Love, Me," which is a really good one. I think the context was about learning to play it on our guitars. It's a good one for fingerpicking - which I learned from her.
And eight years ago yesterday was the Brad Paisley concert in Oklahoma City. Mom mentioned that it felt like a long time ago, and it does. That's like a third of my life. It was a great concert. (I really should finish reviewing his CD's, I stopped at 5th Gear.)
Mom, Caleb, me and Amy went on errands to Okmulgee this afternoon; Caleb's helping out with the state Special Olympics swim meet in Oklahoma City tomorrow.
Morning of January 1 - The dishwasher breaks down. Again.
Morning of January 2 - The freezer in the garage breaks down. Again.
Evening of January 7 - I thought I broke my toe running into one of the weights Trevor left in the middle of the floor. (I didn't actually, though, which is good.)
Also, we've all been somewhat sick.
On a happier note, Courtney left for C of O yesterday morning and she's loving it so far.
Jon and Delaney eloped over the holidays, which fits them. And I'm happy for them.
Lots of people have gotten engaged over the last month, too - Elizabeth, Jessica, Suzanna, Lisbeth from YT, and Matt from NSU MassComm classes. That's a little harder to pin down my reaction to all these things like engagements and weddings.
The Winter Classic was watched, since it's hockey. Though I took a nap near the end of the second period and missed an overtime finish; stupid sickness. Alabama beat Georgia in the college football national championship, I guess.
Counting down to the Winter Olympics.
On my "On This Day" feed on Facebook six years ago today Samara and I were having a conversation about Collin Raye's ballad "Love, Me," which is a really good one. I think the context was about learning to play it on our guitars. It's a good one for fingerpicking - which I learned from her.
And eight years ago yesterday was the Brad Paisley concert in Oklahoma City. Mom mentioned that it felt like a long time ago, and it does. That's like a third of my life. It was a great concert. (I really should finish reviewing his CD's, I stopped at 5th Gear.)
Mom, Caleb, me and Amy went on errands to Okmulgee this afternoon; Caleb's helping out with the state Special Olympics swim meet in Oklahoma City tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
2017 in Review
Some of the topics I studied in my final semester included Gothic lit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, country music and serial killers. Bored one night, I assembled a list of my favorite TV couples. Consumed a lot of caffeine through pop, energy drinks and coffee. Studied sketch comedy through reruns of Saturday Night Live and premature endings through reruns of Law & Order. Decided that if I had time to get into them, I would really enjoy ER and Castle. Practiced cartooning for Pop Market. I completed a 5K, went on a couple dates, and met a coatimundi. I was successfully murdered (in a play) and watched a lot of hockey. Survived the capstone presentation and graduation. Interned at the Okmulgee News Network for Valerie. Started writing about NASCAR for a racing-news website called Frontstretch in October. Spent more time around the Creek Nation than I would've wished, and sent out far too many job-application emails. .
I got Caleb hooked on Parks and Recreation, which I'm kind of proud of, and taught him how to use Spotify. Joined Instagram in late May. Missed camp, but spent some time with a camp friend. Went hiking in Arkansas, and unsuccessfully tried to line dance on Black Friday. Read roughly the same amount of fiction and nonfiction, and watched more movies than usual. Followed the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. through the Framework and into space.
Read through the letters of E.B. White and the complete short stories of Flannery O'Connor. Read about 160 books this year, distributed pretty evenly across fiction and nonfiction. These ranged from graphic novels to philosophy, memoirs to horror, theology to business.
Made progress on a couple nonfiction projects, and did a lot of editing to fiction and poetry. Wrote a handful of short stories (which can be found on the writing blog), adapted a flashfiction project into a one-act play, and taught myself how to navigate a crime map.
According to Spotify, I listened to 6,196 minutes of music, in 756 songs from 391 different artists and 18 genres. The song count sounds a little low. The top five artists/bands were Owl City, Brad Paisley, Relient K, Bon Jovi and DC Talk. The top six songs were Collin Raye's "One Boy, One Girl" and "I Can Still Feel You," Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On," Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer,"Relient K's "For the Moments I Feel Faint," and eLi's "The Lumber Song."
The Collin Raye songs were mostly for my capstone project, but the others are a good summary of how the year went.
President Donald Trump caused mayhem and controversy on what seemed a weekly basis, many elite Hollywood and national-news-media people were fired for being Bill Dexhart. The public further lost interest in the NFL after numerous players protested the National Anthem.
Saturday Night Live had trouble adjusting to how to react to Trump, and decided to fire most of their best (in my opinion) cast members.
The Penguins won the Stanley Cup (over the Predators), the Warriors won the NBA Finals (over the Cavaliers), the Patriots won the Super Bowl (over the Falcons), and the Astros won the World Series (over the Dodgers). Martin Truex Jr. dominated the NASCAR Cup Series season and won the championship.
New installments of Star Wars and the DC Extended Universe were released. The MCU rolled on with two "good but not great" films and a mostly-fantastic introduction to Spider-Man.
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the Gulf Coast and most of Florida, there was a solar eclipse in August and a mass shooting in Las Vegas at a Jason Aldean concert. Someone shot up a church in Texas.
It was another difficult year. Maybe next year will be better.
I got Caleb hooked on Parks and Recreation, which I'm kind of proud of, and taught him how to use Spotify. Joined Instagram in late May. Missed camp, but spent some time with a camp friend. Went hiking in Arkansas, and unsuccessfully tried to line dance on Black Friday. Read roughly the same amount of fiction and nonfiction, and watched more movies than usual. Followed the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. through the Framework and into space.
Read through the letters of E.B. White and the complete short stories of Flannery O'Connor. Read about 160 books this year, distributed pretty evenly across fiction and nonfiction. These ranged from graphic novels to philosophy, memoirs to horror, theology to business.
Made progress on a couple nonfiction projects, and did a lot of editing to fiction and poetry. Wrote a handful of short stories (which can be found on the writing blog), adapted a flashfiction project into a one-act play, and taught myself how to navigate a crime map.
According to Spotify, I listened to 6,196 minutes of music, in 756 songs from 391 different artists and 18 genres. The song count sounds a little low. The top five artists/bands were Owl City, Brad Paisley, Relient K, Bon Jovi and DC Talk. The top six songs were Collin Raye's "One Boy, One Girl" and "I Can Still Feel You," Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On," Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer,"Relient K's "For the Moments I Feel Faint," and eLi's "The Lumber Song."
The Collin Raye songs were mostly for my capstone project, but the others are a good summary of how the year went.
President Donald Trump caused mayhem and controversy on what seemed a weekly basis, many elite Hollywood and national-news-media people were fired for being Bill Dexhart. The public further lost interest in the NFL after numerous players protested the National Anthem.
Saturday Night Live had trouble adjusting to how to react to Trump, and decided to fire most of their best (in my opinion) cast members.
The Penguins won the Stanley Cup (over the Predators), the Warriors won the NBA Finals (over the Cavaliers), the Patriots won the Super Bowl (over the Falcons), and the Astros won the World Series (over the Dodgers). Martin Truex Jr. dominated the NASCAR Cup Series season and won the championship.
New installments of Star Wars and the DC Extended Universe were released. The MCU rolled on with two "good but not great" films and a mostly-fantastic introduction to Spider-Man.
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the Gulf Coast and most of Florida, there was a solar eclipse in August and a mass shooting in Las Vegas at a Jason Aldean concert. Someone shot up a church in Texas.
It was another difficult year. Maybe next year will be better.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Thanksgiving 2017
It felt a little more like Thanksgiving this year than the last two years. Last year the Foxes came over here, and the year before we didn't do anything (one of my poems written for classes that week was titled "Just Another Thursday".) Amy watched the parade on TV, then the National Dog Show was commented upon while lunch was being eaten.
Ham, pecan pie and peach tea were consumed, as were cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.
We went to Tahlequah to see Lankfords at Louise and Harry's; they're getting ready to move into town, so there was a tinge of sadness to the happy socializing. Still, it was a good time. Damon played his accordion and Courtney played mandolin. Played basketball with Lillyanne. Talked with everybody while the Cowboys game ended on TV. And it was just good to be in Tquah again, even for such a short time.
The Ruscos hosted their annual Black Friday Hoedown, which was nice. About thirty people from GBC were there, and line dancing is as impossible as ever. Unlike square dancing, there's not a partner to work with, which makes it much harder. Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn and Billy Ray Cyrus are all good to listen to, though ("Ticks," "Boot-Scoot Boogie" and "Achy Breaky Heart"). Also, the caller was calling at half-speed, that might have had something to do with it, too.
Amazon had a sale on books, so I bought a copy of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy and a book of essays about Friday Night Lights (the TV show). And Jan Karon's new Mitford book.
In high school football, Beggs beat Oklahoma Christian in Edmond in a 3A quarterfinal matdchup (Demons vs Saints, lol), so they'll play the Sulphur Bulldogs in the state semifinals next Friday night at Edmond Santa Fe High School.
Ham, pecan pie and peach tea were consumed, as were cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.
We went to Tahlequah to see Lankfords at Louise and Harry's; they're getting ready to move into town, so there was a tinge of sadness to the happy socializing. Still, it was a good time. Damon played his accordion and Courtney played mandolin. Played basketball with Lillyanne. Talked with everybody while the Cowboys game ended on TV. And it was just good to be in Tquah again, even for such a short time.
The Ruscos hosted their annual Black Friday Hoedown, which was nice. About thirty people from GBC were there, and line dancing is as impossible as ever. Unlike square dancing, there's not a partner to work with, which makes it much harder. Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn and Billy Ray Cyrus are all good to listen to, though ("Ticks," "Boot-Scoot Boogie" and "Achy Breaky Heart"). Also, the caller was calling at half-speed, that might have had something to do with it, too.
Amazon had a sale on books, so I bought a copy of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy and a book of essays about Friday Night Lights (the TV show). And Jan Karon's new Mitford book.
In high school football, Beggs beat Oklahoma Christian in Edmond in a 3A quarterfinal matdchup (Demons vs Saints, lol), so they'll play the Sulphur Bulldogs in the state semifinals next Friday night at Edmond Santa Fe High School.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Early August
My internship ends this week. I have to give a presentation on the experience/what I did at a fancy banquet in Tulsa on Friday. I'm not good at talking about myself, at all, in social situations. That's something I've learned this year, and I'm not sure how to fix. I'm also not sure how I'm going to get ten minutes' worth of material out of "I wake up, clean the cats' litter boxes, then actively scavenge for news by scrolling through Facebook most of the day. When I find news, I write about it." That was pretty much my routine...
Trevor and I have been watching a lot of suspense/thriller/mystery/action movies this week while Courtney and Caleb are housesitting for the Buckmasters. He loved Maze Runner, just like I thought he would. (Courtney and Caleb thought it was a waste of time.) He also loved The Giver, and he liked Mission: Impossible. I'd had the MI theme song and the Buffy theme song stuck in my head all week. Also stuck in my head over the weekend: Little Texas' "What Might Have Been" and a couple lines from Rascal Flatts' "Here."
Trevor and I have been watching a lot of suspense/thriller/mystery/action movies this week while Courtney and Caleb are housesitting for the Buckmasters. He loved Maze Runner, just like I thought he would. (Courtney and Caleb thought it was a waste of time.) He also loved The Giver, and he liked Mission: Impossible. I'd had the MI theme song and the Buffy theme song stuck in my head all week. Also stuck in my head over the weekend: Little Texas' "What Might Have Been" and a couple lines from Rascal Flatts' "Here."
Monday, July 17, 2017
CAMP: Part XI
This year, I don't really know what is happening at SGYC. I know there are about 52 campers, and I know that Steve Long is the pastor (which should be great), but beyond that, I'm not sure.
Why am I not sure? Because all the GBC youth bailed (though I can understand why), and so I didn't have a way to get up there. Which is frustrating, because Ashland and I had worked out that I would visit on the way back.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has been stuck in my head recently.
So this week is much the same as any other this summer. Today's been filled with work, and the family went to visit the DeSpains. Today's articles are high school orientations and city fundraisers, and making PDF files of last week's stories. I Skyped with Amanda, Maya and Ellie for a bit this morning. They were "talking" to Uncle Wesley all the rest of the day, Manda said.
UPDATE 7-27:
From pictures and Facebook posts, it sounded like it went well.
Why am I not sure? Because all the GBC youth bailed (though I can understand why), and so I didn't have a way to get up there. Which is frustrating, because Ashland and I had worked out that I would visit on the way back.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has been stuck in my head recently.
So this week is much the same as any other this summer. Today's been filled with work, and the family went to visit the DeSpains. Today's articles are high school orientations and city fundraisers, and making PDF files of last week's stories. I Skyped with Amanda, Maya and Ellie for a bit this morning. They were "talking" to Uncle Wesley all the rest of the day, Manda said.
UPDATE 7-27:
From pictures and Facebook posts, it sounded like it went well.
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