Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

Cut… and….. print!

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Wednesday – 22 April 2015
Today is Earth Day.

It is also No Bad News Thursday Eve.

But, possibly the most important news of the day is that my coworker, Brad, and I have come up with what could possibly be the best movie concept in the history of concepts that became movies.

We were deciding where to have lunch, when we settled on Five Guys. Then we started mutilating the name in Spanish: Cinco Hombres…

…which then became Cinco Muertes, “Five Deaths,”to our amusement.

At that point, Brad suggested that the Wu Tang Clan should portray the Five Deaths. This was, in my opinion, a great idea. But, I took it one step further:

 Cinco Muertes Silenciosas: The Five Silent Deaths.

In the tradition of only the best kung-fu movies, The Five Silent Deaths set out to avenge the untimely death of their master from a rival clan… each of them taking a vow of silence until their rivals had been destroyed. Brad questioned how well this would work, as it seemed to be counterintuitive to have Wu Tang Clan unable to rap. This was a good point. I posited that they would only communicate by beat-boxing. (There could even be a cameo from Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. Or even The Fat Boys.)

We let it go for a while and continued our drive to Five Guys.

Over lunch, we were talking about Nic Cage, King of the B Movies. It wasn’t long until our conversation turned towards The Rock – the best Michael Bay movie not to star Will Smith and not The Actor Also Known as Dwayne Johnson. For some reason, I then came to the conclusion that Nic Cage needed to star in a movie with Christopher Lloyd… and just let the crazy happen. Brad thought about this for a few moments and then noted that Crispin Glover should be added to the cast, along with Christopher Walken. I asked why not include Christian Bale, for some added intensity. Brad didn’t disagree.

Then, came the revelation: These five actors should be The Five Silent Deaths and that Wu Tang Clan could provide the soundtrack.

Somebody get me an agent, I have a movie to make.

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1 – Apologies for any horrible bastardization of the Spanish language in this post. I took Latin in high school, so Spanish isn’t exactly my strong suit.

Thoughts for a Tuesday

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Tuesday – 21 April 2015
I knew that I wanted to post something this evening, but i wasn’t quite sure “what.”

I was helped in my decision by three things:

  1. A mental conversation that I had with myself on the way home,
  2. A friend’s announcement that her cancer is out of remission, and
  3. An off-hand comment that someone made to me in response to noting Item Number 2 that caught me sideways.

Let’s take these in order.

  • Item One
    On the way home, I asked myself: What is it that you cherish? 

    What I should have asked, while only a slightly different question, was: What do you cherish most? 

    To be honest, the first few things that came to mind when answering the first question were “things.” When I went back and prioritized my list to align properly with the second question, the “things” slipped a few notches.What I cherish the most are my family and friends. Period. Full stop.

    I have a small-ish family, by blood. I have a rather extensive extended family. Looking at it, I cast a rather large net when I define “my family.” They include the blood and by-marriage relations, but also a number of people who have become as close to me in spirit as those with whom I share biology.

    And, despite the miles apart or even the weeks or months between conversations, I’m glad to have them as part of my family. All of them.

  • Item Two
    I have a friend who fought – and beat – breast cancer five years ago. She’s a pretty amazing person, even without having beat cancer. Earlier today, she revealed that it was back. (I had a bit of a prelude of what was to come, from a conversation that we had last night.) She had the most amazing and positive attitude about beating cancer the last time, I expect nothing less than that same dogged determination in the way she faces it this time.After she made her announcement today, I realized that the two of us (among others) lost another friend – from the same circle of to friends – cancer… four years ago, I believe. I’m really hoping that it’s not something in the water, at this point.
  • Item Three
    I can be a rather flippant, at times. Cavalier, even. I admit that freely. But, I do know how – if not always when – to bite my tongue.Long story, greatly abridged version: This afternoon, I basically mentioned something related to my friend’s cancer returning. This evening, and rather out of the blue, I received a comment about what I had said. If I had to guess, it was a quick response to what I had said earlier – no true malice intended, but it came without context or understanding why I had commented the way I did. Reading it, I wasn’t mad. I was more annoyed at the way that it had come out of left field. I replied in a simple but very direct manner. Again, there was no malice, but I wanted to address it quickly and make it known that the comment was not appreciated.

    My message was received and acknowledged.

So, how do I tie all of these together in a big bow? Like this…

The person who made the comment is part of my family. My friend with cancer is part of “my family.” I love them both.

Do I have a problem reconciling this? Not really. Yes, there’s a part of me that is annoyed with the situations – the cancer and the comment – but at the end of the day, we’re still talking about two people for whom I care dearly.

That said, I ask those of you reading this to think about what it is that you cherish. Is it a thing or is it your relationships with your “family,” no matter how big or small it may be?

I’m not judging, either way. It’s not my place to give weight to what it is that other people value.

What I do ask is that you honestly assess what has such weight and meaning to you and show that care.

Be good to yourself. And to each other. And to those people, places, and things (hey, nouns!) that have meaning to and for you.

Namaste.

Happy Easter

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Sunday – 05 April 2015
Happy Easter! May the joy and peace of the day be with you and your loved ones.

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Namaste.

“Carve away the stone, Sisyphus…”

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Thursday – 02 April 2015
Another No Bad News Thursday draws to a close and I realize that it’s been a little while since I’ve blown the cobwebs off of here.

Life is good. I really can’t complain. Oh, sure, getting Team DiVa to actually go to sleep when we put them to bed can be… trying, but they’re kids. It’s normal. I just hope that this phase passes relatively quickly. (That’s normal, too, right? I mean, to hope for that as a parent…)

Last weekend, we took the girls up to Antelope Island. (On which, I have never seen antelope…) We did see bison, however. We also flew a kite and the girls threw rocks in the water. What can I say? It’s one of their favorite pastimes. They also touched the Great Salt Lake… and got a little muddy and sandy, which caused a little consternation on their parts/amusement on ours.

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I also stopped at a train store not far from the island, Almosta Junction. Although, compared to the last time I was there, it could just as easily be called “Almost a train shop.” It was a bit sad to see how little inventory they had. That store is definitely a labor of love.

Later that evening, I went to hear Jonni Lightfoot and W. James Woods play at a local restaurant.

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It was a good evening, until the waitress – not 10 minutes after I had paid – came back to tell me that they had no record of me having done so.

*grblsnrkx*

Fortunately, my bank and its app, had my back. Right there on the screen, big as day and twice as bright, was the charge against my account. Idiotsticks.

Stray Toasters

  • We “cut the cord” last week. We bought an HD over-the-air antenna (which has been great) and are just using our Roku (with Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sling). It’s been good. I do miss the flexibility of having a DVR to catch the things we miss, but I’ve been able to stream those shows, so no major loss.
  • This past Sunday was Palm Sunday. Every year, I recall the song Palm Sunday Downpour, as done by a trio of guys I know who used to go by the band name: Hat. On a lark, I decided to see if I could find a copy of the song on the ‘tubes. Lo and behold, I did. Not only that, It’s been updated and redone by one of the original band members, Christian Scott Martin. It’s not quite the version I remember, but it’s pretty damned close.
  • I’ve been playing – and enjoying the crap out of – Disney Infinity. I just finished the Avengers Play Set a few days ago. The final boss, a Frost Giant monster, took out my entire Avengers lineup. I wound up having to finish it off with Rocket Raccoon, which made me grin like a fiend. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I’ll probably get started on the Guardians of the Galaxy set this weekend.
  • Boom de yada
    Boom de yada
    Boom de yada
    Boom de yada
  • Words that I never thought I’d string together: “Read this insurance company fan-fic.

That’s good for now. And, I can still get it in under the wire and still call it “today.” Nice.

Namaste.