Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

Mean, Mean Fries…

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Thursday – 01 February 2024
Yesterday, a friend posted the following image and I incorrectly assumed that it was a misspelling of a lyric from “The Spirit of Radio.”

Because, let’s be honest: My baseline default for many things is Rush lyrics.

Said friend corrected me with lyrics from “The Sound of Silence,” which NEVER even crossed my mind because “The Sound of Silence” is WAAAAAY down on my Pop Culture Meter. Almost to the point of not even being ON the meter.

Another friend deftly swept in with this picture, one I’ve seen before, but never fails to make me laugh:

My immediate response to which was: “Well, his fries are not for rent…”

But, given the way I’m wired, I couldn’t just leave well enough alone with just that one line…. and three minutes later, I’d come up with the following:

No, his fries are not for rent
But his poutine is heaven-sent
Maple syrup’s a worthy expense
For his pancake excellence!

Chopped liver!

::: guitar riff :::

I regret nothing, but do apologize to the late Neil Peart for my impertinence (imPeartinence?).

Exit: Stage Right

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Monday – 25 September 2023
My mother, Gwendelyn Bell, left the stage for the final time last night (Sunday, 24 September 2023).

She passed barely 24 hours after I last saw her. I was fortunately able to go home and spend time with her last week. We often think of things in terms of “The first time I…” With this, a portion of my life shifted to “The last time I…”

  • …heard her voice.
  • …watched and heard her play the piano.
  • …got a hug from her.

Looking back, I am thankful for all of those moments.

Gwen Bell was many things to SO VERY MANY people: Sister. Cousin. Wife. Grandmother. Aunt. Friend. Teacher. Mentor. Inspiration. And, surprising no one: She excelled at all of them. Her presence commanded attention when she entered a room. The respect she held from those around her was well earned.

But, there was one role that only my sister, Kristen, and I were blessed and fortunate enough to have her fill: Mother. And, in this too, she excelled. She nurtured us, pushed us to be our best, and above all, she loved us unconditionally. This isn’t to say that we always agreed – far from it – but even in our worse differences of opinions, at no time did I ever question whether she loved me.

She was a talented pianist whose style was definitive and distinctive. She never bragged about her talent, choosing instead to let her ability speak for itself. I noticed that certain flourishes in her playing were reminiscent of those of Nina Simone, one of her favorite artists. I also relatively recently learned that she once performed for then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

She also set an exemplary standard of selflessness and compassion. She never wanted anyone to ever feel left out or not good enough. She gave of herself without a second thought. This was readily apparent in her work as a teacher. For over forty years, she did not just teach students; she brought them together as extended family. If they needed something, the time of day or day of the week didn’t matter. They were her kids. She was not going to let them go without. No matter where life took them, whenever former students were in town, they came to see and spend time with her. If she had a concert and put out a call for alumni, they were there. Every. Time.

To say that her passing has left a void in many lives is a gross understatement. But, I am sure that if you were to ask anyone with whom she came into contact if the sadness we feel now is worth the time we got to spend with her, the answer would be an unequivocal, resounding “Yes.”

I am proud that I could call her my mother.

I hope that I can live up to her example.

I will always love and miss her.

Free Comic Book Day 2023

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Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, 06 May 2023! You may be asking: “What is Free Comic Book Day?”

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is the biggest event in the comic book industry—a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops! Founded on the belief that for every person out there, there’s a comic book they’ll love, the annual event offers a huge selection of free titles designed to appeal to a broad range of age levels and their tastes.

Most comic shops will allow you to take up to five (5) of the free books, others may allow you to take more. Please be sure to ask the employees of the shop you visit for their particular rules.

In the Salt Lake City area, participating shops include:

Diana and Vanessa will be going to our favorite local shop, Dr. Volt’s. Doors open at 11:00 am, but we will be getting there a little before 10:00, as there will be a line. And costumes are welcome! In fact, Dr. Volt’s will have members of Heroic, a local charity cosplay group, and members of SLC’s own Velleity Studios, publishers of comics like Salt City Strangers, The Gull, and Ruthless. (Check other stores to see who they will have as guests!)

January

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Tuesday – 10 January 2023
Starting up again.

A new year has started. It has been good thus far. And really, that’s all one can ask for.

Stray Toasters

And, that’s a wrap.
(Which was almost “warp,” which would have been a totally different thing.)

The New 52

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Sunday – 30 October 2022
Fifty-two trips around the sun, while simultaneously avoiding The Dark Lady’s embrace.

When it’s your 52nd birthday and you have a Ray Lewis #52 jersey, you wear the jersey!

I’d like to start off by thanking everyone who took time to wish me well on my birthday. It may seem like a small gesture, but I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness.

Oh… and let’s take care of the comic elephant in the room: DC used “The New 52” as their banner for their umpteenth reboot universe. And… it wasn’t… great. Different? Sure. Were there some decent things that came out of it? I’ll grant that, too. But, on the whole? Meh. But, using “The New 52” as a starting point for the next year? Brilliant. So, I’m liberating it in the name of the people! Sorry, Jim Lee. #sorrynotsorry

It’s been a good birthday extended weekend; I took Wednesday through Friday off. I mean, it’s one thing to take your middle-of-the-week birthday off, but who wants to turn right back around to go to work for two days and then get a weekend? Besides, that’s what vacation days are for, right? I also received two of THE BEST gifts ever from Team Diva: Vanessa painted a Green Lantern and Diana made a piece of embroidery

The most productive thing I did with most of the time was get back into something of a gym routine.

Three straight days in – and my usual Saturday morning two mile walk with Evie. It was good. And painful. And a little humbling – I can see what I used to be able to do in the gym; it’s going to take some work to get back there. The biggest hurdle is going to be figuring out how to fit gym time into the rest of my day. The nominally “best” thing I’ve come up with so far is to start my days about an hour earlier and hit the gym first thing in the morning. We’ll see how that shakes out.

Friday, Sara and I had 1-on-1 night with the ladies. This week was my time with Vanessa. She wanted to go bowling. So, I broke out my bowling bag and off we went. We bowled 2.8 games before our time was up. More importantly: We both had fun.

Saturday saw us getting a jump on weekend chores, errands, and other housework things. We also had friends and family over for cake, ice cream, and conversation. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Sunday, we headed to The Kinlands to pick pumpkins. Despite being the day before Hallowe’en, they had a great assortment of pumpkins and gourds from which we were able to select.

Back home for football… and installing a new porch light… and then, off to the in-laws’ for dinner and cookie decorating! And, next, home again, home again, jiggety-jig for pumpkin-carving and setting up a few decorations in the yard.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the grind… but I had a fantastic weekend, with just the right kind and amount of recharge to power through the next few weeks.

I look forward to seeing what the coming year brings.

Unexpected

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Saturday – 18 June 2022

I am riding on FrontRunner (northern Utah’s commuter rail line), on my way to a toy show in Ogden.

A stop or two after I boarded, an older Black gentleman boarded the train. We exchanged pleasantries and then resumed quietly enjoying our ride.

He exited the train one stop before me and, as he departed, we again exchanged pleasantries. He wished me a good weekend and, if it applied, a happy Father’s Day.

Lastly, he wished me a “Happy Juneteenth;” and I returned the wish.

That warmed my heart in a way that I never expected.

Neal Adams: 1941-2022

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News spread yesterday of the passing of Neal Adams, at the age of 80.

For those who don’t know, he was a legendarily famous artist and writer for both Marvel and DC, as well as his own studio. He championed creator rights and diversity in the field of comics. You may have seen some of his iconic work on such titles/characters as:

  • The X-Men;
  • Batman;
  • Superman, including:
    • Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, and
    • “Kryptonite Nevermore;”
  • Green Lantern/Green Arrow, including:
    • The controversial “My Ward Is a Junkie” comic (Issue 85), and
    • The creation and introduction of GL John Stewart (Issue 87);
  • The Avengers;
  • and dozens of others.

I had the fortune and privilege to meet him, while he was in town for that winter’s Salt Lake FanX. He did a signing even at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. I had a couple of comics signed and bought three prints of his work. The whole story can be read here.

The comics world has lost one of its great ambassadors and advocates. And, the world at large has lost a good man.

Easter 2022

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Sunday – 17 April 2022

Happy Easter / Resurrection Sunday to those who celebrated it today. Wishing you all the peace, joy, love and hope that the day promises.

Today was the first holiday without my uncle.

Which means that it was also the first holiday on which he did not call to wish us well. There was a little bit of melancholy attached to that fact. But, that did not mean that it was a bad day. Far from it, in fact…

I spoke with my parents and two of my siblings.

There was an Easter egg hunt for the ladies.

We had a lovely late lunch/early dinner with Sara’s side of the family.

And Mario Kart. Because, with the advent of the newly-released – or, at least, recently-released – tracks, there’s a renewed enjoyment of the game for Team DiVa.


For those who are interested, below is the tribute I wrote for my uncle’s memorial.

I meant to post this a week ago, when I got back from North Carolina, but Life, the Universe, and Everything (along with a heaping helping of “I just forgot”) conspired to keep me from doing so.

Good day and, on behalf of our family, thank you for your thoughts, your prayers, and most importantly: your time. We appreciate that you have come to share with us as we celebrate the life of Dr. Ronald Joseph Smith. 

Many tributes will tell you of the accolades of the recently departed. This is not that tribute. 

Instead, I am here to tell you about the MAN behind the DOCTOR. 

Ron Smith was my uncle. 
My Godfather. 

But, more than that: He was my friend. 

He had a magnetic personality and knew no strangers. And, if you knew him, you also know that his laughter filled rooms. 

He was a man of faith. He served many roles in and was beloved by the congregation and clergy in his home church. This was no more evident than when word of his passing reached a former priest – now a bishop – he said that he would clear his calendar to attend his memorial in New York…. coming from his current post in Africa. 

He believed in and strove for excellence. In his life. In his work. He also sought it in, from, and for the people around him. 

He loved the works of Beethoven, finding perfection in the structures of his music. 

He is the man the one who suggested – in the middle of the eye of a hurricane – that we go out to pick up a pizza. 

He’s a man who faced and embraced his fears. He called me after completing a drive down California’s Route 1. He was audibly shaken. He set aside any pretense of ego and asked me to meet him in California and help him drive across country. I don’t recall “why,” but I didn’t. And he also enjoyed never letting me live that down. 

He would call me and my family every couple of weeks, to make sure that we never lost touch with each other and that our family bonds remained strong. And, depending on when he called, he might also rub in a Steelers’ win over the Ravens. 

He may be gone from us, but I also know that he is still here.  

There is a saying that my Jewish friends use upon the passing of a loved one: “May his/her memory be a blessing.” 

There are many phrases in the Jewish tradition that address death in different manners, but they also focus only on the dead or only on the living. 

“May their memory be a blessing” speaks to both. It comforts the mourners and honors the memory of those they mourn. It is an active statement that people offer to one another, wishing something for the dead while at the same time acknowledging and maybe easing the pain of the living. It’s not a descriptor. It’s not a sharing of information. It is, itself, a kind of blessing. It’s a kind of injunction. It wishes not only that when the living think about those who have died, they do so with warmth and joy. It also offers the possibility that the lives of the dead serve as a blessing, marking the ways those lives have mattered and continue to matter in this world, even if they are no longer in it. 

In closing, I challenge you to embrace your fears. Laugh and bring laughter to others. Keep your faith. Strive for excellence. Keep and be strong in your faith. Love your family. 

May the memory of Ron Smith be a blessing.  

Happy New Year 2022

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Saturday – 01 January 2022
A new year begins.

For whatever 2021 may have brought you, I hope that 2022 brings you and your loved ones, peace, happiness and prosperity.

Be well and be good to each other.

Namaste.

Merry Christmas 2021

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Saturday – 25 December 2021

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Wishing you all the best in the year to come!

On a Sunday evening…

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Sunday – 19 December 2021
Hello.
Hello again.

December is two-thirds over. It’s almost time for a visit from a certain figure who has been called “jolly” and classified as an “Elf,” although almost all of the Frost Elves I’ve ever seen have a slightly more pale – almost bluish – complexion.

But, let’s face it: All racial types have outliers. So, I guess it isn’t really “a thing.”

Speaking of which: If you’re not familiar with Neil Gaiman’s short story “Nicholas Was,” go find and read it.

Today started with brunch with some of the Clitorati. We were originally going to go to Prohibition, but as we didn’t have a reservation – and didn’t want to wait for 60-ish minutes for a table, we wound up at the Factory of Cheesecakes. And there was coffee. And mimosas. And coffee.

Our conversation covered many topics, including (but not limited to):

  • Movies.
  • Television.
  • Alcohol.
  • Politics.
  • The Politics of Alcohol in Utah.
  • Parenthood.

I’ve missed these conversations – even when we disagree on points – because we tend to have our perspectives broadened by entertaining different viewpoints.

After that, I tried to track down a battery to replace the one in our garage door opener. It was a failed attempt, despite the all-knowing Google telling me that a vendor near home had one. BAH. Fortunately, I found another vendor that carried it and Sara was able to pick it up while running an errand.

The afternoon wrapped up with me watching an NFL battle between the Green Bay Packers and the Ravens. The Packers won… by one point… marking the second time in three weeks that the Ravens have lost by trying to win on a last-ditch two-point conversion. Not the call I would have made, but there’s probably a good reason (or dozens of them) that I’m not coaching in the NFL. And it is surprisingly easy to coach from the safety and comfort of an armchair.

Stray Toasters

  • I’ve been watching Arcane: League of Legends over the past couple of weeks. I have not played LoL, so this was an introduction to the world of the game. I was taken by the animation style and the world-building they did over the course of the nine episodes of the first season.
  • I also recently finished Masters of the Universe: Revelation. I watched episodes of the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe growing up, but it was more “something to have on” than “I LOVE THIS SHOW!” And, the old cartoon was also part of the “Every show has to have a poignant lesson for kids” cavalcade of shows.

    Revelation, however, was a solid, well-written and well-cast show. That didn’t pull punches. Nor did it try to be the original show… much to the obvious chagrin to many old-school die-hards. (What I really wanted to say there was “People who can’t get out of their own way and past their own head-canon to enjoy something new.” But that would have been a little harsh. Not as harsh as “Whiny people – mostly guys – who are mad that it isn’t exactly the same as their power-fantasy childhood nostalgic favorite cartoon,” but you get the gist.)
  • A commercial for the new Matrix movie just came on, and I’m wondering why it wasn’t just called Matrix: Rebooted.
  • I guess that I should also mention that I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home last week. There was A LOT to take in. Yes, there is something that I wasn’t 100% happy with – and have found that a friend agreed with me on that point – but I really liked the movie. It hit all the right beats and lived up to its hype. And more importantly, it surprised me in places. Well done, Sony and Marvel. Well done.

Junior Achievement City – BizTown

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Tuesday – 09 November 2021
Today, I had the opportunity to volunteer/chaperone for Team DiVa’s class, as they participated in the Junior Achievement City “BizTown.”

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular program allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. The program helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.

There was an additional bonus: The girls had NO IDEA that I’d be there.

That was a definite #win.

Both ladies were the CEOs of their respective businesses:

I didn’t work with either of the ladies. I was assigned as a volunteer in City Hall. I worked with the Mayor (CEO), Town Treasurer (CFO), Attorney, Two Account Executives, and a DJ.

Twenty businesses were represented, ranging from retail, food services, utilities, a school district, news and television outlets, and even sports. Each business started the day by taking out a loan from one of the two banks; kids were then responsible for making sure that their businesses made money, paid payroll, created and/or paid invoices, and more. Businesses could also create ads to run on the radio or television – which created revenue for the media outlets and hopefully turned into awareness – and sales – for the business featured in the ad.

The morning opened with an opening meeting and remarks from the Mayor, along with speeches from a few of the business’ CEOs. Diana, gave one of the opening speeches.

Diana’s Opening CEO Speech

One of the things that I wasn’t aware of until the day was over: She didn’t have a script for her speech. (There WAS a script for her speech, but her volunteers didn’t tell her to bring it. *facepalm*) She ad-libbed her entire opening, based on things she heard from some of the CEOs who spoke before her! She was so calm and cool about it that I – and I’m sure no one else, aside from possibly the JA staff – had no idea that she was going completely off-the-cuff with her remarks.

After the speeches, it was off to the proverbial races!

At first, it was a little like herding cats – this was largely due to the amped-up energy of the kids, trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. (As volunteers, we were there to support and guide, not to do the jobs for them.) Some things were done “a little” out of order. Some things got overlooked, until someone realized that something was missing. But, after a while, they got the hang of things and the day, while hectic and a bit frenetic, moved along nicely.

The day ended with a closing meeting, during which Vanessa gave one of the CEO speeches.

Vanessa’s CEO Closing Speech

In all, it was a great event and I was glad to have been part of it. I was also incredibly proud of not only the ladies, but also of the City Hall employees and how well they did.

Review: Batman vs. Superman – Dawn of Justice

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Tuesday – 12 April 2016 Monday – 18 April 2016 Monday – 27 April 2016
I finally saw Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this last week two weeks ago. I’ve been trying to write this summation of my thoughts since then. More or less. At times, it just felt like too much drudgery to finish. But, here it is.

I managed to avoid most spoilers, either in conversation or in the media, before seeing the movie. There was one nominally big one that slipped through the cracks, but I thought it might have been a misinterpretation. (It wasn’t.) I will most likely pick up that thread later in this post.

Like my Man of Steel review, this is going to be a two-part review:
The first part will be more of a synopsis and spoiler-free.
The second part will be more in-depth.
Consider yourselves duly warned.

Part One: Synopsis
I mostly enjoyed this movie.

With the passage of time, ive come to realize how little about the movie I truly enjoyed.

It appeared to draw from the following sources, among others:

Some would contend that there were too many moving pieces in this film and that never works. I’d counter with a look at X2: X-Men United. That story took four storylines from over 20 years of X-Men lore and wove them into a compelling story. This, however, threw a lot at the audience in its two-and-a-half hour runtime… and there’s still (at least) thirty minutes of footage that will be seen on the DVD/Blu-Ray release.

And, seventy-five years after her introduction, we finally got Wonder Woman on the big screen. She was introduced with an air of mystery that I hope will be expanded upon in her feature film, due out next year. For the in-costume screen time that she did have, I was pleased with how she was presented: She was a warrior and one, it seemed, who enjoyed a good fight.

I give this movie five SuperBats… possibly six, with Diana’s brief appearances adding three of those stars:

Superman Batman
SuperBat!
SuperBat!
SuperBat!
SuperBat!
SuperBat!

   ( )

Part Two: In-Depth Observations
Now that the niceties are out of the way, let’s get to the heart of the matter.

This was a dark movie. Granted, Batman is in it, but I expected a Superman with a much lighter tone to juxtapose against the Dark Knight’s… darkness. That was not what audiences got.

This Superman was still rather aloof and somewhat removed from the people. Yes, there have been stories around that concept, but for the most part, Superman has seemed to enjoy not only being a role model, but also just being with and around people. Well, more people than just Lois Lane and Martha Kent. There was talk of – and a little lip-service towards – him being a symbol of hope for people… but it seemed more like they were just trying to convince the audience of that than anything else.

The Batman we saw could have been lifted directly out of The Dark Knight Returns: Older, world-weary, hardened. He perceived Superman as a threat to be negated and he also gave action to the growing sentiment of wariness and fear… even if he was pushed into this action through Lex Luthor’s machinations. That point, I’ll come back to in a few paragraphs. While I can understand Bruce’s rage-filled dream about Superman taking over the world, what I cannot fathom is why he would have any notion of parademons, the firepits of Apokolips, or Darkseid at this stage of the game. Hell, he shouldn’t even really have an inkling until Lex started ranting at the end of the movie… if even then.

Lex Luthor. There are many ways to get him wrong. Richard Donner didn’t do it. Bryan Singer didn’t do it. Hell, even the writers on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman didn’t do it. But, this Lex… I don’t know. The genius was there, but there was something missing. Perhaps it was in the way that he came off as a bit manic in some/many scenes. Perhaps it was an attempt to show the smartest man in the room, whose mouth literally couldn’t keep up with all of the lines of thought going on in his mind. I don’t know. I think that he did morph a bit from a less manic Lex and more of the cold, calculating Luthor that I was used to seeing in scene on top of the LexCorp tower with Superman.

Once again, I found that I enjoyed Amy Adams’ Lois Lane. She was tenacious and willing to fight for the stories that she felt needed to be told. You could see that she truly cared for Clark, with his best interests at heart, but also saw the dangers in the shadows that he didn’t – or wasn’t willing to – see.

The brightest spot, in terms of characterization, was Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. To be honest, I was worried about what we would get. This, they got right. We didn’t get a lot of backstory – that’s being left to next year’s movie. While I would have liked to have known a little more about what she does for a living – she’s an antiquities expert/dealer, a fact I discovered from the packaging of a Wonder Woman figure for the movie – I was happy that Snyder got the “warrior princess” part right. And that was done very well. I loved the fact that, once she got into the thick of the fight, you could see that she was enjoying it, almost reveling in the ability to cut loose.

A friend pointed out something that I hadn’t considered: Snyder used Diana to effectively stop the plot (or at least put it on “Pause) while she “…watched trailers for the next movies.”  True. For those who aren’t following: After Bruce Wayne decrypted Luthor’s file on metahumans and sent it to her, the story got derailed to show clips of the three unknown metas.

I mentioned Bruce Wayne’s buttons getting pushed by Lex Luthor above. Here’s where I come back to that point. I’ll grant you that Lex is traditionally considered one of the most intelligent characters in the DCU. What I would love to know is how did he figure out the identities of two of the most guarded figures in the DCEU?! Granted, if you watch Lois Lane’s movements enough, pick up on the fact that “where goes Lois, so too goes Superman.” Put that together with the fact that she started dating a guy – roughly Superman’s size and build – about the same time he showed up on the scene and it’s arguable that you could deduce that Clark is Superman, given enough time. In fact, Lex figured that out in comics in the second issue of Superman (1987), but rationalized it away, thinking that no one with Superman’s powers would waste his time pretending to be… just human. But, figuring out that Bruce Wayne is Batman? Nope. Can’t see it. And, being able to lead “the world’s greatest detective” on a snipe hunt for a man who not only doesn’t exist, but there’s a ship in the harbor that he’s been staking out with the exact same name and he can’t figure it out?! Nah, man. You lost me there.

Then there’s Zod Doomsday. I’m amazed at how quickly Lex not only wrapped his not-yet-bald head xenotechnology and took control of the ark/Fortress of Solitude, but let’s also give him a hand for mastering xenobiology in about 10 minutes. “Lex E. Coyote, super genius…

And the death of Clark Kent was handled even more ham-fistedly than in the comics. And that’s saying something.

I was struck by something that Christopher Tapley wrote in his review of the movie for Variety:

… given that Snyder is obsessed with iconography, a visualist more than a storyteller. “

That phrase triggered something for me. After reading it, I considered some of the movies that Snyder has directed: 300, Man of Steel, Sucker Punch, and Watchmen. While I enjoyed all of those films – and even purchased three of the four – I realized that Mr. Tapley was right. Snyder has a keen ability to make something look visually stunning… but, unless he is (more or less) directly adapting something – 300 or Watchmen, for example – the story is kind of thin. And this movie was no exception to that rule.

As much as I enjoyed Man of Steel for the things that it did differently with the character, I just couldn’t muster that same satisfaction out of this movie. Wonder Woman pulled a lot of this movie’s fat out of the fire for me. I am not disappointed that I paid to see it (in IMAX, even) for the spectacle, but I’m on the fence whether I’ll be putting down money to buy the DVD/Blu-ray… unless the extra footage seriously helps the story. And that’s a pretty strong statement, coming from the guy who saw Green Lantern in the theatre twice(!) and bought the movie on Blu-ray.

Well, that just happened.

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Thursday – 29 July 2021
On tonight’s installment of How Interesting Can Your Evening Get…?

MAILBOX HIT AND RUN!

We were getting ready for dinner when we heard a loud crash. As we were in different rooms, Sara asked if I was alright; I told her that whatever caused the noise, it wasn’t me.

I went outside to investigate (or let’s face it: “be nosy) but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary… until I got to the corner of the garage and noticed a mailbox in the driveway!

Oddly, our mailbox wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

I looked at the car and thought that it belonged to one of our next-door neighbors, but couldn’t figure out “how” or “why” it had happened. Fortunately, a neighbor was out and was informed that…

  • A woman under the influence of “something*” jumped the curb,
  • Scraped the fire hydrant,
  • Ran over a park strip shrubbery,
  • Ran over our – and our neighbors’ – mailbox…
  • …and then fled the scene ON FOOT!
  • ADDED BONUS: One of our neighbors chased after her, also on foot.

Looking at the scene of the crime, I found our mailbox:

The police came. Reports were filed. The car was impounded. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera… But, to my knowledge, they still have not caught the culprit.

And, it looks like “Install New Mailboxes” will be on the weekend agenda.

How’s YOUR Thursday night?!

* – The “what” of the aforementioned “something” has not been determined, but the attending officer found multiple needles in the car.

Tuesday…? Sure, why not? (or “A Day in the Life”)

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Tuesday – 13 July 2021
This has been an interesting day.

I woke up this morning to the sound of the coffee maker making coffee. However, the thought process that accompanied hearing that went more like this:

Why is the coffee pot on so early… on a Saturday?!

I decided to let it go, rather than to get up and stop it and restart it later. We’d just have to deal with twice-baked coffee.

Reality settled in a few moments later, a little sadly. I got up and started the day.

Fast forward to noon: We’re having a Teams-based training session, that I had to support. #LifeInIT About thirty minutes before the meeting, I went to Crown Burger (local, family-owned chain) to pick up lunch. Since it was National French Fry Day, potato-y goodness was in the forefront of my mind. And a pastrami burger seemed like a good counterpart for it.

I got back to the office, joined the meeting, muted my mic, and made sure that my camera was off. And then began to eat.

In order to make things easier to organize on my computer’s desktop, I lifted my laptop lid to rearrange screens. Almost immediately, I received three (3) messages, all basically saying the same thing: I want french fries, too!

Nine Hells…

I’d neglected to check to see if opening my laptop screen would cause the camera to automatically activate. (It did.) And, thus roughly two-hundred people had the opportunity to watch me shoveling french fries into my mouth. (It wasn’t quite that gluttonous an event, but you get the gist.)

Once I realized what happened, I ran through a short and semi-panicked checklist to see if I’d done anything untoward after opening my laptop (I hadn’t) and shut down the camera. Mischief managed, I resumed eating. And quietly thanked God and the rest of the Heavenly Host that I hadn’t leaned in for a bite of my burger. My big thought – after realizing that I hadn’t done anything truly embarrassing – was: If people watching me stuff fries in my face was the worst thing that happens to me today, I’m fine with that. And, let’s be honest: All things considered, it was a fairly innocuous thing to have caught on camera. And it actually makes me laugh, when I think about how it must have looked to everyone.

Fast foward again to this evening…
We’ve extended Team DiVa’s bedtime to 9:00 PM in the past couple of months, with a caveat: They can stay up until nine, but they have to be in their room and can read in bed. Typically, one of them will ask Sara to join them. Tonight, I got called up to the big leagues! Vanessa asked me if I’d read with her. I was delighted to do so. It also gave me the opportunity to finally start in on a book that I’ve had for months: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer. I’m about twenty pages in, but I’m liking it.

Hopefully, Sunday Wednesday won’t be quite as eventful.