http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxIJ8ONGeQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxIJ8ONGeQ
There was a brief … very brief … moment in high school, or maybe middle school, when I considered playing basketball … until I realized that just being six feet tall and having played a lot in my driveway when I was younger didn’t exactly qualify me…
And so this quick dream had me doing exactly that – trying to play basketball in high school, although I never actually made it onto the court, much less actually held the ball in my hands … so admittedly it was probably a pretty realistic vision of what my high school basketball career would’ve looked like anyways!
At first I wasn’t sure if it was for a basketball game or simply for gym class, but I walked in and almost immediately got yelled at by some guy with a whistle around his neck that I had to get changed before I could come on the court. In the distance I saw a couple of random friends in line for free throws or whatever, so I wandered off to find the locker room to get changed…
And that’s when it got weird because suddenly my little school gymnasium was transformed into this massive sports arena, with large, concrete hallways all over the place and tons of concessions stands! I’m not talking about a little cart here or there selling hotdogs and popcorn … I’m talking about full-size stands and even a couple of restaurants like you would find at a regular stadium! Lots of flashing lights and colors and smells kept me disoriented for quite a while, but eventually I finally managed to wander past it all back to the comparatively nondescript and boring locker rooms where I was supposed to go change.
I woke up as I was leaving all of that excitement behind me – no idea if I actually got to play or if I was just a bench-warmer on the team, but the concessions looked yummy… 😛
An interesting video about what 200 calories actually looks like…
And actually a really great idea on how to prevent yourself from overeating! I could use about 20 of these things…
Kickstarter: The Kitchen Safe
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thekitchensafe/the-kitchen-safe-the-time-lock-safe-that-puts-you
(I had an idea kinda like this in a humor column last year – great minds think alike!)
This was good news to read, although I dare say that the damage has no doubt already been done and we probably won’t see Kevin and Elmo reunited again anytime soon.
Sex suits against former ‘Elmo’ voice actor Kevin Clash thrown out over missed filing deadlines
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sex-suits-voice-elmo-kevin-clash-thrown-missed-filing-deadlines-article-1.1387031
Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Issues Statement on Sex Abuse Lawsuit Dismissals
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/elmo-puppeteer-kevin-clash-issues-578590
I did find it curious that Kevin’s statement mentions “a time in the near future when he can tell his story free of innuendo and false claims,” though it’s hard to say whether that means this story or simply a memoir or something now that he can’t really perform or produce anymore. 😥
So I finished watching the whole filibuster thing a while ago, which is kind of crazy and says a lot about the current state of our politics because despite tonight’s seeming victory, we know that it’ll only be a matter of minutes before the same exact bill is up for vote again, this time with even more pressure by Gov. Perry to make sure that it goes through without any further unforeseen circumstances. 🙁
Nonetheless, I was bouncing around to a few different news sites to see how they were covering it … and then simply to see who was covering it (also disappointing), when I came across one site in particular which accidentally caught my attention for far longer than it should’ve!
The site has a simple advertising-based poll in the sidebar with the unique feature that after answering the questions, it spit back the results so far for each question, and I don’t know why but I found myself answering one question, and then another, and then another because I was slowly becoming kind of fascinated by the results that were coming back at me. Overall it was very clear that the majority of those polled would align themselves with being conservative, and some even ultra-conservative … in a way, I was seeing a picture painted before my eyes of someone who is pretty much the polar opposite of my own political views … although there were a couple of questions that caught me off guard because their responses didn’t really seem in line with the typical agenda.
After a short while I started capturing the most indicative questions just because they kind of amused me… 🙄
Do you support efforts by the U.S. Government to intervene in the ongoing Civil War in Syria?
74% NoWould you be willing to have your Social Security coverage reduced to cut the deficit?
66% – NoDo you feel very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable towards Planned Parenthood?
44% – NoDo you believe that global warming is a hoax?
63% YesHow concerned are you right now about border security and criminal gangs?
59% Very ConcernedDo you support or oppose development of the Keystone XL Pipeline?
62% Strongly SupportHow concerned are you right now about accelerated government spending?
68% Very ConcernedWhich outcome in the trial of George Zimmerman for the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin do you believe is just?
56% Not guiltyIn general, do you think things in the United States are moving in the right direction or are they moving in the wrong direction?
64% Wrong DirectionHave you ever played an Angry Birds game?
72% NoDo you believe that state government does enough to support poor and at-risk populations?
34% Yes we do enoughHow concerned are you right now about the state of health care in the United States?
71% Very concernedHow concerned are you right now about climate change and the environment?
54% Not concerned at allWhich of the following comments regarding gun control do you agree with more?
62% I think gun control laws in America should be less strictHow concerned are you right now about income inequality in the United States?
43% Very concerned / 40% Not at all concernedDo you believe that state government does enough to support struggling working families?
35% Yes we do enoughDo you support or oppose increased offshore drilling in the US?
61% Strongly supportHow would you describe the current state of the Democratic party?
68% Too LiberalDo you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of school vouchers?
42% Very favorableHow do you feel about the amount of money the federal government is spending for national defense and military purposes?
38% Too much / 35% Too littleDo you have an overall positive or negative opinion of the banking industry?
45% Very negativeDo you believe that the economic benefits of coal energy outweigh its environmental impact?
45% Yes, the economic benefits strongly outweigh the environmental impact
Needless to say, I probably was a bit of a lone wolf in the mix of the data that they were collecting from these things, but it’s still interesting to see actual data of #s of people sharing their opinions as opposed to random anecdotal commentary – even without knowing the total # polled behind the surveys or anything. Granted, I’m not so sure how much I trust someone’s opinion who’s never even played Angry Birds… 😆
So now that I’m safe and sound back on the ground again, I wanted to take a bit here to expand on some thoughts that dominated my brain for at least 2.5-3 hours on two occasions over the last weekend…
I’m starting to get really afraid of flying, and it shows! 😯
Admittedly our flight back home from Michigan wasn’t nearly as bad as going up – we had a row all to ourselves, we weren’t stuck in the very back, and I was able to last the majority of the flight without constantly worrying about whether or not the plane might just randomly fall out of the sky somewhere in between Flint and Tampa.
Seriously – they do that sometimes…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUFntnLky_4
It’s to the point where pretty much anything that happens on an airplane makes a scene like that appear in my mind, and I have to actively fight not thinking about those kinds of tragedies while we’re taking off or going through turbulence. And I know that flying in a plane is still technically safer than driving on the highway, and I know that I’m probably more likely to get hit by lightning while driving on the highway than I am to have anything happen to me up in the air … but at some point I always find myself taken aback and just sort of defeating that very logic with the incredible feat that it really is to get an 85,000 ton steel bird off the ground in the first place … I guess it just makes me wonder, are we really supposed to be up there in the first place?!
Of course, the crux of it is that with having both of our families more than a day’s car ride away, flying is really the only reasonable way for us to visit unless we’re staying for an extended length of time. Like last fall, it made sense for us to drive up to Michigan because we were going to be there for two full weeks and it was nice having our own transportation so that we didn’t have to inconvenience family all of the time, but for a trip like the one we just made where we literally had to fly up Thursday morning and back home on Sunday morning, there’s just no way that would’ve ever been possible if we had to spend 20 hours driving each way in order to make it happen.
So I get that it’s a necessity for me to travel via air for certain trips, and I’ll even admit that there are some that I’d like to go on in the future like visiting Hawaii and Europe and even Australia that there’s pretty much no other way to get there save for via plane!
…but I don’t like it, and short of talking to my doctor about giving me a handful of drugs to just make it all go away for those 3 hours while we’re dancing with death at 35,000 feet, I’m really not sure what else I can do. I try to distract myself the best that I can … writing, or playing games on my phone, or even blogging in my latest trip … but the whole experience still makes me feel really uneasy and I certainly couldn’t imagine being in the type of job that requires it on a regular basis.
…
Hmmmm … so I guess that’s about it for now. Thankfully, I don’t really see us having to fly anywhere really for at least the rest of the year, if not even longer, so at least there’s that.
At this point I don’t know if this is something that I need to learn how to conquer one way or another, or if I should just be grateful that I really don’t find myself flying more than once every couple of years and leave it at that. 😕
It seemed like I should probably post at least a couple of non-Madelyn, non-cake-pop-related photos from this weekend’s trip, considering that the entire point of venturing up north was in celebration of my Grandpa’s 90th birthday in the first place!
Lunch was at Stafford’s – I’d never been, but the food was pretty good and the building was all historic and it had some nice views of Little Traverse Bay (Lake Michigan) in the background.
I think I enjoyed just lounging around on the porch afterwards the most … it was one of those relaxed afternoons that made me miss the part of living up north that I actually miss, having no particular place to go and nothing to do but enjoy the scenery and occasionally engage with people who are one way or another related to you!
In short, isolated bursts, it can actually be quite tolerable… 😛
Anywho, here’s a small collection of mementos to remember that afternoon by when I turn 90 myself.
I hope as many people will come to my birthday party as did for Grandpa… 😉

Grandpa with his grandkids (featuring me!)

Grandpa with my Aunt, Uncles, and Dad … you have no idea how hard it was to get them to all look up at the same time…

Grandpa with his great grandkids … I’m honestly not even sure if this photo ever fully happened because, well, kids…

Eventually we snuck down to the lakeshore to enjoy a bit of that majestic Lake Michigan charm that you’re always hearing so much about…

…giant, majestic rock pile and all…

There was also a pretty, little memorial garden nearby that we walked through…

Proof that we got to see the rock pile … sorry, but I’ve honestly never tried to take “a selfie” with my iPhone before and the other two turned out even worse than this! At least Sara looks pretty…
Today was fun!
Hung out and did family stuff up here in Michigan all day, the highlight of which was making cake pops which ended up being extraordinarily messy and yummy and fun, as you can clearly see in the picture above from my niece, Madelyn. (click through for more pics!)
My only complaint was that the glaze didn’t work out quite well and the cake wouldn’t stick to the sticks … not sure if the cake wasn’t dense enough or the glaze thin enough or what, but it make decorating them afterwards quite the ordeal. Eventually we all just sort of gave up and dug in with our hands, following Madelyn’s lead, and there was much rejoicing.
Also, apparently kids get super hyper when you let them eat half a dozen cake pops in a row and god knows how much icing and “beans” (sprinkles) off of the rest… 🙄
Well, as much as one can “blog” when they’ve got their laptop wedged between their gut and the reclined seat in front of them, anyways.
Yeah, lady – I’m talking about YOU!!!
…she’ll probably never read this… 😛
So we’re en route from Tampa to Michigan to celebrate my grandpa’s 90th birthday this weekend. I’m actually blogging from the plane, which I know isn’ t really anything new anymore, but I’ve never done it so it’s new to me. And I can kinda see why I’ve never done it – the amount of space between these seats even without throwing a laptop into the mix is enough to push my claustrophobia into hyperdrive!
It doesn’t help that we’re literally in the last row on the plane, so our seats don’t recline … PLUS the lady in front of me still insists on reclining hers.
I definitely need to remember to do the online check-in earlier for our return flight! 😕