Thoughts From Park Benches

Every day I leave the office; every day I take some work task(s) to do. This is because I do have that much work to do now (& upcoming) that continuing it at home is a good idea. I also take it home as a backup, in case there is an unexpected sick child, a doctor's appointment, or something else that might demand I have productive options available.
Still, I don't usually do it. Either because I don't want to, or because I'm otherwise occupied with chaperoning kid activities after school. (Lots of softball happening in the next five weeks.)
But I always feel a little bad about the lack of extra effort. (Though I know I'm staying on task at work. There's just lots to do.)
Truthfully, my perspective has broadened as I've aged into this job. I know that all the hard work in the world won't always translate into completely smooth project. There are just so many other things out of my influence that I just have to roll with the daily ins-and-outs.
There is comfort in knowing--even if it also serves as justification.

Shuckin' Corn

Credit: me

  I was preparing tonight's dinner of meatloaf, (sorta-homemade mac & cheese, corn on the cob). Standing over the sink, shucking the corn, I remember my childhood summers shucking wheelbarrows full of Dad's sweet corn, freshly picked.

What brought it back was the flash of anxiety as I prepared to pull down the husks of the first grocery-store-bought ear . . . "What if there is a worm?" I thought to myself.

As a kid, I hated encountering the worms in the tips of occasional ears of corn, tiny little wriggles that had bored into the small, sweet kernels, to the fructose inside. The ate little tunnels on the ears and turned the affected areas of cob into mush that got on your fingers and made you think of death, corruptability, the impermanence of things . . . you know . . .

I found no worms in tonight's corn. But I did find myself reminiscensing about those childhood days. I disliked sitting in the humid summer mornings, shucking (what seemed to be) hundreds of ears of corn, getting my fingers sticky with the sugary sap that oozed out of busted kernels. Using a bristle brush to tease out the silks. Again and again and again.

It seemed tedious, and hot, and something I'd rather not be doing when I wanted to watch TV inside with the air conditioner on.

Now, I'd really enjoy sitting down with mom and my sister to whittle down a barrow full of corn. It would be full, familial, and familiar.

Leaving

There was a sense of desperation as everyone left the office today. I'm sure it was because of the fact that, for once in what feels like a month, we had a nice sunny day. The sky is blue. There are no clouds in the sky, and you can see the green of the grass and leaves and you can feel the heat of the visible sun. There's no wind blowing and there is no rain coming down.

I mean everybody probably fled home to mow the grass, but still . . .

I am leaving the office so that I can meet up with the family. We are going to eat a picnic dinner while preparing for Sarah's softball practice tonight.


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Friday night

For the first time in weeks, the weekend comes and I don't feel completely overwhelmed with the needs and demands of the 9 to 5 workload. That is not to say that I don't have work with me this weekend, but it isn't a depressing amount. Not at all as bad as last weekend.

Now, I usually take Friday nights off anyway, so I expect tonight to involve relaxing and watching Fringe, plus other shows from the past week. (Too bad I don't have any beer to relax with.)

So far we've had our dinner and are waiting out the time before Hannah goes to bed. Then the older girls will watch a movie of their own. And I'll just have to keep waiting to do any relaxing of my own.

Lynda isn't feeling great, so she'll fall asleep as soon as she can. So it looks like a solitary, quiet night ahead for me.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Today's Business Truth

In my experience, whenever my projects shift from Phase A to Phase B (or between B and C . . . whenever, really) the first day is full of Panic because:

i.) there aren't enough people to take on the additional workload.

ii.) we're still behind on the previous Phase's work (and see also item i above).

But usually by the next day, the expected hopelessness kicks in and you become numb to the predicament. (Because i and ii aren't going anywhere anyway).


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 29: Up & Down

Have you ever had a day where you were alternating between wakefulness and sleep? As I tweeted earlier today, I want coffee and a nap at the same time.

And it won't get better tonight because (as usual) I've avoided doing any office work throughout the whole weekend. So, if I want to approach the goals I had on Friday, it'll have to start tonight. We'll see.

But I've accomplished two bike rides with the kids and started a new book. So, other good things have definitely been going on. And the work won't be going anywhere. And what else am I going to do during the weekdays, (See? I've practically talked myself out of it while you're reading this. I'm so predictable!)

In other news, we took the plunge and started the underwear route for Hannah this weekend. A few minor mistakes so far but one of the rites of passage are underway.

I guess that's it for now.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)n

BEDAu Day 26: Round and Round

The weather has improved mightily the last few days, so the family is working harder to get out after dinner and walk. We don't go far, just up or down the street, or down around the corner. Tonight we walked over to the middle school to walk on the track for a change.

As we walked round and round, the Pee Wee football teams were out on the grass working on their formations and such. I didn't pay lots of attention, but did find it interesting to some degree. I never played football at any point in my youth and with three girls, I don't expect to see much of it soon.

As we walked around the track, the kids sometimes walked with us and sometimes they played in the sand pit of the long jump. One time, as we were all walking around, I looked down at the lane number painted on the rubberized asphalt: 6.

It got me to thinking. Suddenly and randomly, I called out to Grace--what is your favorite number?

She hesitated for a minute and then said 8. When I asked her why, she hesitated again and then changed her answer to 1. I asked her why again and she told me "When there is only 1, you can do whatever you want." I thought that was an apt answer that probably spoke to something deep in Grace's personality.

So I posed the same question to Sarah. Her immediate answer was 11. I was puzzled, so I asked her the same follow up question . . . why?

Again, with no hesitation, she said: "Because when you turn eleven, you can go to Hogwarts."

Of course . . . I should have realized. And, again, apt.

Not to leave anyone out (except for Hannah, who is a bit young to play the game) I asked Lynda. Her answer was the same as mine--6. But we have different reasons.

Lynda's favorite number has always been 6 because she has always liked something about its shape, some vague appreciation of the curve of it.

I have always liked 6 because I grew up in a family of six, of which I was the sixth member. And, whenever we played Yahtzee, I always wanted to roll sixes. It probably has something to do with the pattern of six dots on the die face that also appeals to me.

So, here is my unsolicited question to you. What is YOUR favorite number and can you give a reason why? Please leave your answers in the comments.


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 15: Do I have to?

Well, do I?

Since I already let yesterday go without a post, this might give me permission to just move on. But only missing one day does not equal failure. We may fall short of the goal, but the effort remains.

We returned from our brief visit to Louisville today. We saw cousin T. marry L. with much rejoicing from the H. extended family. There was no time to do much else and see things in Louisville that I've not seen before (such as the campus where my mom went to college, just down the road from where Cousin T. is now attending seminary and where Lynda's dad also attended seminary.

It is interesting how all of our connections may possibly entertained if we stretch them far enough and look within them deeply enough. And yet three (or four . . . or more) lives intertwined this weekend--two by choice and more by circumstance.

It can be a good lesson to remember as we work and play and live together all the time. We don't always agree and we sometimes rub each other the wrong way. But we are sometimes more connected than we realize. Understanding that can make our problems end more quickly.

And that's all I've got to say tonight.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 13: Happy anniversary & travel mercies

Today marks the start of my sixth blogging year. Never has so little been said with such effort for so few, right?

I'll be in a meeting most of the morning and then on the road, so this may be it for today. If I see something amazing on the road, I guess I can pull over and describe it.

Year SIX!

Onwards and upwards, y'all!


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 4: Tired

I've got nothing worth saying tonight everyone. Sorry. I guess I should keep this short to avoid wasting more of your time. I had an idea of what to write on tonight, but after going to Hilliard and back this evening, I just have no energy left to try and spin something out of a half-baked set of ideas. I am also too tired to do any office work. So I guess I'll fall asleep on the couch before going upstairs to sleep some more.

And that is what my life is truly like.

Jealous?


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 2: Mini cokes

We recently started buying the 8 oz. cans of Coke. There are several reasons for this.

1. We reduce the overall consumption of sugared water we purchase and consume.

2. Maybe it is a minuscule contribution to less waste? (Obviously I've done no research on this.)

3. It reduces the number of chemicals and artificial sweeteners we drink.

4. It makes us feel like giants! (Neither Lynda or I are very tall.)

5. It makes me feel extra manly when I easily crush it by pounding it against my forehead. (Because it's SO tiny!)

(Hey . . . I've gotta get stress relief somehow if I'm not smoking or drinking.)

6. It makes me think we live in a bigger house with bigger kids, ready to move out and move on!

(This last one just seemed like a good joke opportunity . I'm not totally ready for that yet.)


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

I know how you feel, Bella

"Time had not made me immune to its perfection, and I was sure I would never take any aspect of them for granted. My eyes traced over its baked, brown features: the crispness of its edge, the undulations of its middle (promising the treasure within) . . .

I saved its chips for last, knowing that when I looked at them I was likely to lose my train of thought. They were warm, slightly gooey, and shiny with the oven's recent heat. Staring at them (and even more . . . biting into them) made me feel extraordinary--sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also a little lightheaded, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Again."

[With (slight) apologies to Stephenie Meyers, "Eclipse" p. 17]



-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Saturday's Dream

As I mentioned on Twitter Saturday morning, I had a particularly odd dream Friday night. It was influenced by many things that I will try to tease out as I describe the events.

First, I was locked in a life and death struggle with a dragon. I was wearing a very fancy suit of protective armor and I weilded a blade (more on that odd bit of detail later) and had a shield.

My armor was more of the decorated leather variety--not the fancy, ceremonial plated suit stuff that jousters wear at medieval faires. It looked brownish and definitely had metal decorations on the shield. It was the shield that I remember moat, because I was frequently using it to shield myself from the dragon's flames.

I called the armor "mithril" in my tweet, referring to Tolkien's elvish armor. But it wasn't fine silver. I guess I used that word because the metal decorations stood out during the dream and it seemed lightweight.

The location of the battle was also noteworthy . . . my girl's bathroom. It was definitely a very confinded space, which is partly why I referenced Jason Bourne. In his movies, he's often engaged in confined hand-to-hand combat with an adversary. And that is what this dragon battle was like: me and it in very close proximity, with constant use of the shield to avoid flames.

All of this is pulling scenarios from my media explorations. And the feeling that it was a competition of sorts related to "The Hunger Games" book that I read the last two days. I'll speak about it mire in a separate post, but the book centers around a battle to the death set in a dystopic future. So I guess that somehow transformed into a Bourne-style dragon battle?

All of this might be odd enough, but what if I told you that the dragon didn't look like a dragon at all? What if the only thing that made me sense it as a dragon was a) the fire breathing and b) that peculiar bit of dream (il)logic that tells you things that seem contradictory? And finally, what if I told you that the (non)dragon looked just like . . . ME?!

So, here I am in the kids bathroom struggling to survive a battle with a dragonish David doppelgänger.

How did I survive?

In perhaps the most bizarre way possible. I used the only weapon I had with me. A small dagger-like knife. But it wasn't just any old knife. It was pink . . . and the pink handle had a Mattel Barbie logo emblazoned on it. But it was sharp and in such close quarters, the only way that I could slay the beast was to plunge the Barbie dagger into the wide open eyeball of the doppelganger. In doing this I confirmed the Barbie-ness of the blade, since I got (rather the victorious me) . . . got a very good look at the logo as it slid into the opponents eye.

Mercifully, that is when I woke up. It was a bit freaky, to be sure.

But . . . what can it mean? Why was the dragon me? Why the familiar location? Why the distinctly odd weapon of choice?

Was it some way of my subconscious worrying about me being surrounded by women, and somehow trying to keep hold of whatever is my particular brand of masculinity? Or was it simply too much pizza for dinner and the pressures of hosting a sleepover?

What do you think, friend? Chime in with your interpretations and suggested therapies.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

I'm no Jimmy Stewart

I went to the doctor this afternoon in the hopes of beginning to understand what has been causing my dizziness, weird balance problems, and intermittent leg muscle stiffness.

Though I felt kind of silly trying to explain all of my weird (maybe completely unrelated?) symptoms in the vain hope that someone can piece it all together--like an episode of "House"!--but I just had to try and figure this out.

I thought it was inner ear related, which would tie my post airplane cloggedness with the dizziness. But a trip to Urgent Care last Sunday left me with some nasal spray to unclog the ear and remaining dizzy spells. And nothing seems to account for the muscle spasm/stiffness that nearly made me drop my tray of food in the cafeteria yesterday as I walked to the cash register. I was concerned enough to get a friend to come get my tray from the register to the table.

It's just strange and I don't have a good answer for it. In my worst moments of fear I imagine that my CP is slowly growing worse . . . but can it do that? And that doesn't seem likely. It's just as likely that I've gotten some sort of psychological block on holding "droppable/breakable" things. (A variation on a golfer's "case of the 'yips'" as Shirtless noted yesterday. ) but from what did it start? Why now?

But at least I've started the investigatins now. Blood has been drawn and some tests will be done on it. I'm going back in two weeks to see what has been learned.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Random Stories

You can be forgiven if you think this post title is a reference to WWYG?! generally, but that is not the case.

In fact, random stories is what Sarah and Grace request of me while we drive here and there during errands to pass the time. In form, these are impromptu tales (often--by specific request--with no teaching moral) that I am expected to construct on the fly with no preparation.

In recent weeks I have told short stories about:

1.) a brick that once lived in a wall, was knocked out of said wall, carried across town in a dog's mouth, then eventually ended up in a decorative path in front of a house.

2.) a dog named Woofy who was descended from Blackbeard's Pirate Dog, tasked with guarding the treasure chest in a Florida cave.

3.) Joe the college student who spiced up his humdrum job of advertising a barber shop with a roadside sign by dressing up in a different costume every day. He got catcalls and car honks, but his growing notariety led to a local news story and a college scholarship in the theatre department.

4.) the strange tale of a sentient bologna sandwich that led a revolt of foods against their human oppressors.

Ultimately, you had to be there, I'm sure. But I like the challenge.

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Hannah

She's very "demanding" these days. When she isn't happy with what you have decided to do (a not infrequent occurrance, let me assure you), she immediately responds with a boisterous NO! and a quick whine.

Some days it seems that I get 7 or 8 of those reactions each morning.

But, she loves to go on walks--more than I can say for the older two. Sure, they may be meandering walks that don't get you very far. But you'll learn the location of every barking dog and are guaranteed to stop to get a better look at any ant that crosses the sidewalk. (And she'll even step on them. Where does that dominance over ants thing cms from?) But she also tries to converse with the ants. Usually by saying HEY ANT!


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Before I Go to Bed . . .

. . . I'll say a few things.

1. I hope you are enjoying the FAQ posts. I know that I've been leaning on them for WWYG material lately, but it helps give me ideas and avenues for writing that I might not think of on my own. So, please keep sending in questions and let me know what you think of it all.

2. Grace goes to bed every night with her light on. And I usually am the one to turn it off as I head to my own bed. Tonight I wondered if her habit of falling asleep with the light on will later be detrimental, but then I realized she is also sleeping with a plastic Barbie horse head. So, the light is the least of her future worries.

3. Opinions or comments on the new WWYG design? I really like the new variety of looks and styles. And that means I'll probably inflict you with new stuff now and then. (But I'll try to tie it to some kind of arbitrary anniversary date of remembrance. If you have a favorite date to suggest, put it in the comments.)


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Ted Olsen gets it right

Image via Wikipedia

If you haven't read former Solicitor General Theodore Olsen's explaination for why California's Proposition 8 should be invalidated, and why--by extension--the right of gay couples to be married should be recognized at the federal (really, at all) level(s), I encourage you to sit down for ten minutes and read this article.

I know I'm late to the party here, given that this article has been in print for over a week. But the case is being argued right now and its ruling, now and at the higher appeals courts cases to come, will dictate the quality of life for many, many Americans.

Be honest and rational in your evaluation of the arguments presented within. Set aside whatever religious stance you may have on the issue of homosexuality and consider the legal, civil, fundamental issues of equality that are being presented here.

(I do wish, however, that the six-page article had the same amount of pages as the seven-page ad for antidepressant drug Seroquel. Sigh)


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

"The cause of . . . and solution to all of life's problems."

We recently got a DVR at our house. (It was good timing, since our old DVD/VCR combo machine went belly up right before the Christmas holidays.)

Not only did we get a DVR, we also upgraded our cable with a few new channels that weren't in the last subscription. This combination of new options and effortless recording has proven to be pretty seductive. I've set up series recordings of the shows I habitually watch. But that doesn't really alter what came before. (Though it has shifted the hours at which we watch. Truly, I am become the Destroyer of Neilsen Ratings!)

What's REALLY dangerous to a TV fan such as I is the ease with which I can record 30Rock--a show I've admired but had only watched sporadically. Now I feel more compelled to record and watch as watch can. The complete ease of picking and choosing the specific shows I want and catching them when I want them just increases the commitment to televised entertainment. And when you consider that now I can record Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns on the newly acquired Logo channel . . . well, there aren't enough hours available. Shows I just couldn't get anymore and suddenly back into a passable rotation. And if I want to watch upstairs in the bedroom while falling asleep . . . why not?

Basically, I'm the master of my own network. And I choose to never let Jay Leno onto that network.

I'll admit that I didn't watch tons of late night TV (and still don't) and I have NEVER watched much of any incarnation of The Tonight Show. But I just don't like Leno, have never found him funny, and think the monkeys running NBC shot themselves in the foot by giving up so much of their time to Leno (cheapness be damned) and then never giving Conan enough time.

Sure, some argue that Conan has been prepping for fifteen years, so why give him more time. But being outside of the Tonight Show mystique (so called anyway) and having it focused on you is something else. And I just think Conan is funnier. And I don't like Leno. And NBC is run by idiots. And I'll take the chance here to say that while I didn't exactly (or at all, really) predict this would happen . . . I think you may agree that I wasn't supportive of the experiment in my NBC Fall Preview column.

Well, I think that is all I'm going to write about tonight. I've got lots of TV to watch after all. Sorry things have been pretty hit-and-miss lately. I'll try to find some other stuff to say soon. But I just haven't felt clearly motivated to craft anything. That's a pretty poor admission for someone who is blogging and then hoping people read it.

(Yeah, just quit while you are already behind, David.)

-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Twitter traveling

Many other members of the digirati go Web silent during their holiday travels. But not this guy.

If you follow me on Twitter (www.Twitter.com\dtm1971) you see many travel posts. I'll also cross-post these on Facebook if you frequent there (www. facebook.com\david.t.martin I think--or the picture of yours truly to the right.) And I may add ideas here on WWYG?! as timing allows.

So, stay informed as we go South. Happy Christmas to all.


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)