All in Other Stuff

Oh the weather outside is weather

Weather is such a wonderful thing. Just try and imagine going go your second cousin's wedding, sitting at the "we invited you but didn't expect you to say yes" table, and trying to have a conversation with the elementary school best friend that lost touch when she moved away at age ten but reconnected on Facebook a few months ago so we had to invite her, without weather. It would go a little something like this:

The Writing on the Wall

How many of you have a favorite book? You all do, I'm sure. Fine, some of you don't have a favorite book because you could never narrow down the endless literature that has accumulated over the course of human history to one volume that you could single out as your favorite. I mean, how could you possibly choose between The Iliad, Catcher in the Rye, and Everybody Poops?

Take a moment to think of your favorite book. What do you think about? Do any of you think about the author and the process to write such an inspiring, exciting, educational, or thought-provoking piece of prose or poetry?

Lupus

In late December 2015, I started having bouts of dizziness. It wasn't terrible. From time to time my head would spin a bit. I just figured it was stress or being overtired so I brushed it off and went about my day. I didn't even pay attention to it until one morning while eating breakfast with Rizzo and Cece I stood up to take my empty bowl back to the kitchen and I staggered just the slightest bit. It was at that point that Rizzo forced me to get an appointment with my doctor.

Money for Nothing

Managing money is something that came naturally to me. I don't have a specific memory of learning about money growing up but I also don't remember any fights or stress about money in my childhood home. I have subtle memories of Mom sitting at the dining room table paying bills but this never seemed like a stressful time for her. It was just part of the regular duties of running a home.

Radio Shack

Your local electronics store has just started selling time machines, anywhere doors, and invisibility helmets. You can only afford one. Which of these do you buy, and why?

Sometimes the emails from my blogging group can get pretty weird. There are lots of days I simply click the delete button. There are other days I hit the delete button as fast as I possibly can because I can't believe that someone would offer up that topic as an idea to write about and I wish that I could somehow remove the part of the brain that remembers that email because it is so incredibly stupid. The topic above was one of those days but someone it squeaked through and made it on my "to write" list. 

Just picture it...you are slowly trudging through your local mall. You have just finished the Auntie Anne's pretzel that was slightly smaller than a new born baby and are desperately trying to wash down the salt with your 89oz Smoothie King Strawberry-Kiwi Breeze. It is important to stay fueled and hydrated when you are on these day-long mall excursions. Your eye is suddenly drawn to the left towards the shining red lights of the Radio Shack.

5 Things I Love

I have written previously on this blog about podcasts and how much I enjoy them. You can read about that in Video Killed the Radio Star. One of my more recently discovered podcasts that I really enjoy is called Chewin' It with Kevin and Steve. This podcast is hosted by two friends, Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, who just chew the fat and have a few laughs. For those of you who don't k now, these two gentlemen are part of the group that created movie classics like Super Troopers and Beerfest.

One of the topics that the guys discuss is just called "10 Things I love" where the guys literally go through a list of ten things they love. It isn't complicated but just a list of things that the guys really enjoy in life. Some examples from their podcast include Fantasy Football, Drinking on Thanksgiving, and long poops while reading the newspaper. This podcast list inspired me to create my on list of things I love. I cut it down to five so not to bore you with too many things. This is by no means an all inclusive list so I'm sure there are things that I have left out. You should also know that I have excluded my wife, my kid, my cat and my dog from the list because that is just too simple. These loves also take away from the possible humor of the list. Let's get started.

Make your bed.

"Make your bed." A mantra that parents have been drilling into the heads of children since sheets were invented by the Egyptians in 1437 BCE. "Why?" The response given by children since sheets were invented by the Egyptians in 1437 BCE. "Because I said so." The answer given by parents when they don't have a good reason for the child to do what they are being asked.

Seven Words

Warning: This blog is full of vulgar language. Reader discretion is advised.

Through my email I received the following message from my blog idea group:  “Khalil Gibran once said that people will never understand one another unless language is reduced to seven words. What would your seven words be?” I don’t know about you but after reading that there were only seven words that came to my mind:

Put Me In Coach

The designated hitter. The difference between playing in the American League and the National League of Major League Baseball. A position created out of the fans desire to watch massive home runs. A position created out of fear of pitchers being injured while batting. A position that isn't a position at all. A rouse. A cheat. A scam.