Random Access

This afternoon, I went to the local Toys ‘R’ Us and picked up a new Disney Infinity Play Set. Since Sara! Got me a Nick Fury figure for Christmas, I decided to get the Avengers set…

…only to discover that I can’t the figure in this set. (He’s part of the Spider-Man set, apparently.) Oh, well. So I started out with Iron Man and then Thor and finally Captain America.

And I’ve been having a blast. Possibly even more fun than I should. And that’s just fine with me.

Namaste.

Saturday – 24 January 2015
Yes, I skipped the Day 21-23 entries from the blogging challenge. Perhaps I’ll come back to them; perhaps not. After starting the challenge, I realized something: It’s not so much that I need an external source to inspire me to write, I just need to sit down and write. While I’ve enjoyed using their jumping off points, I no longer feel constrained to just writing about them.

Ironically, this post uses the “Day 23” and “Day 24” entries, as they dovetail nicely into each other. Go figure.

Day 23: Make a list of things that distract you. Every man deals with distractions, whether at work or at home. It could be the internet in general, it could be a specific website, it could even be something that’s actually beneficial, and yet distracts to some degree from something that’s important to you. Making a list creates awareness, and you can better slay those distraction dragons.

My distractions include, but are not limited to:

• Books
• Comic books
• Gaming (board games, console/PC, miniatures, online)
• Model railroading
• Surfing the Internet
• Watching television

Day 24: In modern times, men have become more spectators than doers; more consumers than creators. Yet one of the marks of a mature man is being someone who doesn’t just consume the culture around him, but actually helps create it. Think about all the ways you consume the world around you, and the time you spend doing it. Next, think about the ways you can reverse that, and start to actually be a creator. That’s an intimidating word to some, so come up with ways that you can get off the couch and do something productive instead of just mindlessly intaking.

Looking at the above list of distractions, I can immediately identify two items that can be turned into creative output:

• Books (i.e.: “Reading”)
• Surfing the Internet

I’ve been musing over my children’s book idea lately, trying to determine how best to make its story coherent and what age range I want to target.

As far as Internet surfing goes, I’ve made an effort – yes, it’s been slow and sporadic… but an effort, nonetheless – to get articles on the Pinstripes and Polos website and Pinterest boards. Who knows, I might even get a few things on Four-Color Coverage before it’s all said and done!

Namaste.

Thursday/Friday – 22/23 January 2015
(This was supposed to be posted last night/this morning, but it was about 3 AM and I apparently neglected to hit “Publish.” Oops.)

I didn’t forget to post on Wednesday night or Thursday night. Things came up that precluded me doing so.

And, technically, this is still my Thursday night.
(It’s been a long day… and an even longer one for some of my coworkers.)

And this is a post.

So, there’s that.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 20 January 2015
Day 20: Think about the period of your life in which you have the greatest nostalgia for. For me, it’s definitely college. Staying up late with friends, being forced to be creative with date ideas because I didn’t have any money, doing nothing but learning all day long…it was fantastic. Once you identify that time period, think of why you’re so nostalgic about it. There’s a good chance that there’s something from that time that you’d like to regain or recapture. Maybe you realize the importance of having close friends, or perhaps you’ll come to understand your desire to be a lifelong learner. Nostalgia can be healthy if reflected on and not obsessed over. You may not be able to recapture the past exactly (see Jay Gatsby), but there are elements of it that may make you a happier fellow.

Alright, we’ve hit something that’s given me a bit of pause. I don’t know that I really have an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for any ONE particular part of my life.

College? Sure. There are a lot of things I miss from those days, most of them spinning around the circle of friends I found and our nominal adventures.

But, I also miss some things about being a kid and playing on my aunt and uncle’s… property (because “farm,” isn’t quite right) with my friends. And racing through the halls of schools where my mother taught with other friends. And the freedom from school that summertime brought. And the (mis)adventures my friends and I got into. And traveling around the country – mostly the eastern seaboard at that point. And… and… and… so many other things.

To borrow a few lines from Rush’s Headlong Flight:

All the journeys
Of this great adventure
It didn’t always feel that way
I wouldn’t trade them
Because I made them
The best I could
And that’s enough to say

Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again

That sums it up pretty well.

Monday – 19 January 2015
Day 19: Reflect on your romantic relationship(s), and identify one area in which you’d like to improve. Be it your wife, fiance, or new girlfriend, there’s sure to be something you can do to make the relationship even better. If you don’t have a romantic partner in your life, perhaps you can identify past failures that you’d like to improve in your future relationships. You can choose to talk about this with your partner, or not. Either way, you’ve now put your relationship top-of-mind and will be more attuned to being intentional about keeping it healthy.

This is another easy one.

Something that I can do – and that I’ve actually been working on is: Being better at communication. I’m trying to be more aware of what I say and how I say it. I am also trying to be more aware of what’s being said to me.

Namaste.

Monday – 19 January 2015
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (1, 2).

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

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I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

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Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

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An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

This morning, I learned that the place I normally go to volunteer on this day is closed. So, my “service” will be spending time with Sara! and Team DiVa. That’s fine with me. I’ll find a free Saturday and go back. I’d also like to do a little more volunteering through the year.

Please take some time to reflect on what today means beyond a few sales and a day off.

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 January 2015
Yes, it’s officially Monday, but I started on Sunday and I haven’t been to sleep yet, so there we go.

Day 18: Identify one project you’d like to complete with your hands. There’s something special about a man doing work with his bare hands, and most men today have lost that. Maybe you want to start a garden, or build a workbench in your garage. Maybe you’ve been meaning to upgrade your bathroom on your own volition. Once you identify that one project, write about what you have to do in order to complete it. Detail the steps, the resources, the help you’ll need, etc. Then, set about doing it. Come back to this entry as motivation when you see yourself wavering.

My first big thing was getting my Train Room completed. That was a great feeling. But there are still a few projects that I want to take care of, but top of the list would be:

• Installing a new bathroom in the basement.

We’ve talked about this for a while and I think that this year is when we should hopefully be able to start tackling it.

To do so, we need to clear out the space (it’s become secondary storage), frame up the room and the utility room that will share the space, cut some concrete, put in a floor and the walls, and install a tub, sink, toilet and cabinets. You know… like you do. Of course, this means that I’ll be making more trips to Home-Away-From-Home Depot.

Help? I’m calling in my go-to construction guru: My father-in-law. As well as anyone else foolish enough to throw in with us.

It’s just a matter of time.

Namaste.

Saturday – 17 January 2015
Okay, three-for-one time…

Day 15: Come up with your own Cabinet of Invisible Counselors. There are innumerable great men from history who we can learn from today. When thinking about your life or pondering some question or problem, yes, go to actual mentors and friends, but also take in the advice of men of yore. Write out who you would have on your list and what you admire about them. Having trouble coming up with a list? The comments in the post should offer plenty of ideas.

I wasn’t sure how literally to take the “take in the advice of men of yore” when I first read this. I decided to take a more “interpretive” stand with it, and thus my list will include men and women.

My list would include:

• My grandfathers – One died before I was born, the other before I was really old enough to go to him for advice.
• Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart – It would be fascinating to talk with them about being pioneers, despite the cultural and societal changes they faced.
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X – I would like to discuss the more mundane/day-to-day struggles they faced that we never hear about.
• Sun-Tzu – The Art of War is one of my favorite books. I would want to talk with him about how he devised the strategies in the book and whether he ever considered them as having viable applications beyond the battlefield.
• Neil Armstrong – C’mon, who doesn’t want to know not only what was it like to walk on the moon!? And he’s the second Boilermaker (Ms. Earhart was the other) list. Win-Win. Also, the challenges of shooting a tin can into space, get it to orbit another astronomical body, LAND on said body, take off from said AND return to Earth have to be many and varied. That’s knowledge and background to which I’d love to have access.

Day 16: Imagine that someone has decided to write a book about your life, just up to this point. What would the cover blurb say? Be honest here. Is it kind of boring? Are you happy with it? Now imagine what you’d like that blurb to say at the end of your life. What changes need to made for that to happen?

Yeah. I’ve been pondering this one and I’m just not sure. I don’t think that it would necessarily be anything out of the ordinary. Would it be boring? Dunno. I think that I live a kind of mundane life, but to someone else, it might be kind of out there. Am I happy with my life? Yep. No matter what I’ve been through, it’s helped to get me where I am.

Day 17: Hop on the internet and search for the biggest news stories in the year you were born. Infoplease is a great resource for this. Think about how these news stories, or even statistics, may have shaped your childhood or who you are today. For example, the year I was born, it was discovered that 98% of American households had at least one television set. I could write about how television influenced my generation, and continues to do so today, either positively or negatively.

• Prime time football – ABC begins it’s long running Monday Night Football
  I came into watching football kind of late: In my early 20s. A friend of mine introduced me to John Madden on the Sega Genesis and fan of the Miami Dolphins. I kind of latched on to the Dolphins as my first football team, despite the fact that I had grown up in and around Baltimore. (This was after the Indianapolis Professional Football Club left Maryland…) It was around this point that I started watching Monday Night Football and started paying attention to games on Sunday.Fast forward twenty years, I’m a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and the Carolina Panthers)… and the Dolphins still hold a special place in my heart. I watch Sunday games – and Monday Night Football – when I can (and when the Ravens’ games are on).
• World Trade Center is completed
  
  This picture was taken in 1999. And two years later, the towers were gone. This is what I had to say on that day. I haven’t been to New York for more than a layover since then, but I would love to visit the site on my next visit.
  
  
• First F-14 Tomcat Tested – Dec. 21, 1970: The first ever F-14 Tomcat was tested; This led to use by the NAVY for about 30 years.This was one of my favorite aircraft in my early model-building years. Top Gun didn’t hurt my love for it either. While my favorite planes today are the SR-71 and the P-51 Mustang, I still appreciate the Tomcat.

Namaste.

Friday – 16 January 2015
I know that there was supposed to be a Day Fifteen post yesterday and a Day Sixteen post today, but they’re getting back-burnered until tomorrow. (To be fair, I started the Day Fifteen post yesterday afternoon…)

…but taking care of a work-related issue ate up my free time last night and a good portion of the wee hours of this morning. And today at work was a haul to get a couple of major things accomplished. All that, on top of a week that was trying, at best.

So, I’m taking the evening off to spend with my family and a few friends. I need the mental recharge.

We’ll pick up tomorrow with three posts. But, hey, if nothing else: This serves as a decent placeholder.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 14 January 2015
Day 14: Write a review of some form of entertainment you recently took in. Whether book or movie or TV show or Broadway play, write out what you liked and didn’t like about it. Was the acting/writing good? Could you follow the story? Is there anything you can take from it about life, or was it purely entertainment? This is often one of the most enjoyable entries to write, as it’s especially fun (and quite nostalgic) to go back and read these in the future. I can imagine that 10 years from now I will thoroughly appreciate my thoughts from this week on Roy Baumeister’s Is There Anything Good About Men?.

I’m going to try this again, since I just. wrote. this. post. and WordPress apparently decided to eat it… and not save a draft. (I may have accidentally moved it to the trash – which is more like “the incinerator.”) Either way: Take Two…

Lullaby by Ace Atkins

Spenser is back. This time he’s been hired by fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan to solve her mother’s murder. The only problems are: The case has already been solved and it happened four years ago.

The story returns readers to Spenser’s Boston and reintroduces a few familiar faces. It also introduces new characters, like Mattie, who at first seems as though she will fulfill the same role as Paul Giacommin in Early Autumn. Readers soon discover that Mattie is more self-aware and self-sufficient than Paul at that age.

This book is the first Spenser novel not written by Robert B. Parker. I was initially a bit leery about reading it, concerned with how much the tone of the Spenser series might change under someone else’s pen. I was pleasantly surprised. As I’ve described it:

It was a little fuzzy around the edges, but not totally out-of-focus.

Meaning: Ace Atkins’ writing style emulated Parker’s well, but there were a few places where it felt a little “off.” This didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the story. (For refernce: I am currently reading Wonderland, the next book in the series, and it feels a little closer to what I’ve come to expect in a Spenser book.)

As a fan of the Spenser character and series, I would happily recommend this book.

Namaste.

Tuesday (with a little Wednesday thrown in…) – 13 January 2014
Day 13: Perform a mind dump of everything you’re worried about. From the leaky dishwasher to your family member’s poor health — get it all out. Dwight D. Eisenhower did it, and it significantly helped him manage his stress. Just as your body needs to…cleanse itself of waste, so does your mind every once in a while. Getting all your stressors on paper may alleviate some of that pressure. Use David Allen’s GTD trigger list to help you out.

With apologies to Monty Python, “I’m so worried about…”

• Being a good husband and dad.
• Keeping in touch with my family – here and “back home.”
• Making time for friends.
• Making time for me.
• Staying on top of my health.
• Whether or not I’ll be able to fit some travel in this year.
• Projects around the house, now that I don’t have the Train Room as an excuse.
• Becoming more aware of and informed about issues in the community.
• What the Hell is still “not as right as it could be” with my car?!
• Keeping all of the balls that I’m juggling for work in the air.
  • This one isn’t horrible, but there’s just been a lot going on over the past two weeks.
• A proposed project (that’s actually kind of up my alley) – I just want it to go well.
• Cleaning up my queue of work requests.
• Managing to get – and do well in – upcoming training.
• “…the baggage retrieval system they’ve got at Heathrow.”

Namaste.

Monday – 12 January 2014
Day 12: Give stream-of-consciousness writing a try. This is where you basically just write out whatever comes into your head at the moment it comes into your head. It can feel bizarre, and it’s certainly not structured, but it can lead to some valuable insights into what’s going on in your mind. I’ll give you a 10-second example from right now, while looking out my window: “Boy, I have a nice-looking grill outside and the weather is beautiful…just what we need after all this cold and snow. That cloud looks like a ship from Star Wars… it makes me want to be outside.. maybe I need to spend more time outside and appreciate the fresh air. Perhaps I’ll open a window!” Random? Absolutely. Offering some helpful insight about my desire/need for fresh air? Affirmative. Try this out for 10-15 minutes. You may uncover something — no matter how small — you hadn’t previously realized.

And… go!

I really want to get the trim up in the Train Room so I can clean the room and actually use it… Age of Ultron trailer was good; I wonder if that was the Black Panther in that quick shot… I want to get the guys together for a Clix game… I should play Destiny soon…. I hope the girls allow us to have a better night’s sleep than last night… Wonderland isn’t going to read itself… Rocksmith… We need to do something about the storage room… Snow. Rain. Whatever is going on out there now… I need to figure out what I’m going to do about going to Bret’s wedding… Cutting the cord will be good for us… WHERE IN THE HELL DID THIS SCALLOPS CRAVING COME FROM?!… Need to remember to iron my pants before I head upstairs for the night… I should probably cull some sweaters… Scotty Doesn’t Know… I need to get magnetic tape for this window… 2x4s… need to call the ‘rents… SPAAAACE WHAAAAALES!… Figure out what other cartoon themes might catch the girls’ eyes/ears… Ease On Down The Road… Sorry, Sara… Keep an eye on Rush ticket dates… Look for BBVD dates… I’m surprised I’m not more tired…

That was just shy of ten minutes. I guess my subconscious wants me to do some more fun/relaxing things. I’m not going to argue with it.

Namaste.

Sunday – 11 January 2015
Day 11: Memento mori. “Remember that you will die.” Admittedly, this isn’t the most pleasant topic. There is, however, great benefit in meditating on the reality that at some point, you will in fact die. It motivates you to live the life right now that you want to be living. Meditate on this, and write out your thoughts. Does death scare you? Does it motivate you? It’s okay to be honest.

I’ve pondered this at various points in life. My thoughts have kind have been all over the place on it: I’ve thought about it as “the next phase.” I’ve worried. I’ve found solace in my faith. I’ve feared. I’ve tried not to think about it.

At this point, I think that it’s reasonably safe to say that while I don’t necessarily fear dying, I don’t have any intention of meeting The Lady Death anytime soon. Even if she looks like this:

Of The Endless…

That said, I hope to live a long, full life. My prime reason? are these three:

I want to be around for them.

One day, I won’t be here. I hope that when that time comes, those I leave behind can say that I was a good son, brother, husband, and friend. That’s my motivation and the legacy that I want to leave behind. What more can I ask for?

Namaste.

Saturday – 10 January 2015
Day 10: Take a look at the hero’s journey, and identify where you are in that journey. Doing so can help you better understand where you are in life, and help you figure out where to go next. You can take it in the context of your entire life, or you can take it in the context of a certain phase of your life. Either way, you can be sure that you’re part of a greater journey, and knowing what comes next can help guide you along.

If I go with the “entire life” context, then I’d say that I’m somewhere in the Apotheosis and Resurrection phase:

Often, the Hero needs for all of his growth to come to a head and manifest itself all at once in a moment of enlightenment called apotheosis; this realization is the death blow to the old self and beliefs, and the embracing of the new; this is punctuated by a symbolic (sometimes literal) death and resurrection

My moment of enlightenment was learning and accepting that I was ready to get married and possibly start a family. (Fortunately, Sara! was amenable to both of these.) Becoming a husband and father was most definitely the “death” of my being single and whatever manner of “footloose and fancy-free” I may have been. My “resurrection” was becoming part of a greater whole and, later, a father.

It’s been an interesting part of the journey and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Namaste.

Friday – 09 January 2015
Day 9: On this day, simply write about your day. This may seem especially boring, but write out the events of your day. What time you woke up, what you had for breakfast, what your commute was like, what you did during at work, how you spent your evening. If you’re journaling in the mornings, write about the previous day. The beauty of this exercise is that you may discover something that you hadn’t realized. Maybe you weren’t very productive at work, and reflecting on it can allow you to analyze why. Perhaps you finished a big project on the house when you got home; you can think about what motivated you, how it made you feel to finish something big, etc. Don’t discount the seemingly simple task of writing about your day.

Let’s see…

This morning, I woke up at 7:15, when my alarm went off. I promptly set it to “snooze” and caught a few more minutes’ shut-eye. I actually got out of bed a little before 7:30. I showered, shaved and got partially ready for the day – my morning prep was interrupted by getting little girls out of bed and started on their day. I skipped breakfast… no, not entirely true: I delayed breakfast until I got to work (leftover doughnuts from last night’s Dunkin Donuts trip). I saw Sara and Team DiVa off and then headed to work myself.

The commute wasn’t bad. Traffic moved at a brisk pace from the freeway to the interchange I take to the other freeway that takes me to work.

Work was. There’s a project that I’ve been helping with that has hit a lot of snags along way. Yes, it’s sometimes the nature of the beast, but it’s made for a trying week. Coupled with the server issues that started last Friday, I was already at 40 hours on the week by this morning. I was in the office until nearly 6:30 tonight; I was beyond ready to put the office in the rear view mirror at that point. And I did. Quickly.

Home for dinner with Sara! and the ladies. We’ve been doing three meals a week from Blue Apron; tonight’s fare was: Spicy chicken tacos, avacado and jicama salad, and rice. It was a good dinner.

The girls are watching their pre-bedtime show now. I should be washing dishes, but I couldn’t find the motivation to do them just yet.

Maybe in a few minutes.

Besides, it’s afforded me the time to write this post.

I was tentatively supposed to play dolls ‘Clix with the guys, but no one turned out to be up for it tonight. Oh, well. I still have Destiny or Disney Infinity or Titanfall to get me through the night.

Namaste.