This blog is not a sexy blog nor a particularly funny blog. Think of it like your local water cooler where people meet to exchange stories. I will share what is going through my head at the time. Feel free to do the same.
Welcome to my little corner of the Internet.
You receive the pass but can’t pass to your superstar
You take the impossible three quarter court shot
AND FALL 20 FEET SHORT.
Ever have one of those days. You know it will be darn near impossible to do something but everyone is counting on you. Then you can not deliver no matter how hard you try. Sometimes life is great but other times it just does not go the way you want it to. Oh well, you just need to make the best of what you have.
Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Work has been crazy lately but this week it has been twice as insane as usual. I will get caught up this weekend on what everyone is up to. GAB I Have not forgot you. Jillie, hope your operation goes well... everyone else best wishes for a wonderful weekend.
By the way, the above is a 55Flash Fiction Friday. If you would like to try you had at it, please do. Click the badge on my right to learn more about them. They are not that hard to do and I find them fun. Others do even better with their 55's. Go visit Susie and GMan (I believe they are both on the links on the left) to find others that have participated so you can read what they have contributed. There really are some wonderful writers out there with wonderful imaginations.
Over the Thanksgiving long weekend my niece had a basketball game she cheered at. Wow, what a change from last year. I only saw a few familiar faces. They were only cheering, no stunting yet. It turns out the person that was leading up the cheerleaders last year left the state. Several of the cheerleaders said they would only cheer for her. Still others left lemming style. That left only four returning girls out of a squad of 12 to 14. Enter the new person running the cheerleaders.
This new person looked young to me (but everyone looks young to me) and I was right. It turns out she is a high school student at a different school in the area. She has plenty of drive. Not only does she have her own school to keep up with and basketball and cheerleading but now she is heading up cheerleading at my nieces school. She has already formed a 14 member squad in the 5th through 8th grades. Now she wants to continue growing that and form a 1st through 4th grade squad too. My question, does she ever sleep? My other question... 1st graders cheerleading? Anyway, moving on.
Now the whole point of this. So how do you command a little respect? I mean here you have a 15 or 16 year old that is trying to do something pretty lofty, set up a mini cheerleading dynasty. That is plenty enough work in itself. But now she has to command the respect of both the adults and the kids to accomplish her goal.
You would think the kids would be the easy part, it would just be the adults she has to win over (dream on), but no. Three of the worst people on her squad, ones that have no respect for her, are fifth graders. Boy things have changed since I was growing up. I would have had more than a little talking to if I was being disrespectful to someone. Of course I suspect the parents have taught their kids to disrespect them and it then in turn is passed on to others. Not good.
Well I guess the answer to my own question, you need to earn respect. Once she is able to get the squad back to somewhat the same level they were at before and she is able to improve upon that then she will earn the respect of some if not all the people. In a perfect world at least that is how it should work. I wish her well.
I am afraid I have had my nose buried in my computer for the last three days trying to put together my 4 movies that covers Silver Bells. They are all up on YouTube it you would like to peek. Look here for the movies. Since you did not make the movies I am sure they will all look the same to you so here is a hint. If you would like to see only one of them, check out the 4th movie. It has a little more variety is also the shortest movie.
I am finding this making movies to be a lot of work using only pictures but I am also enjoying it. That is I was enjoying it until my program kept crashing time and again when I was trying to create the second movie. That was most of what I did yesterday. Today I had much better luck and was able to get the last 2 built. I think I was way to tired and that is what killed me the most.
Since I have spent so much time on the computer over the last few days I am not taking my computer with me when I go away for Thanksgiving so I will not be back until Monday most likely. Time to go home for the holidays as I hope everyone out there has a chance to do. Then I get to watch my niece cheer and play basketball in a tournament over the weekend. I know I am going to have a great time with family and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful time to.
Here is the first video/slide show I have made. It lost a little quality the way it was produced.
I am afraid it is nothing to fancy as I had over 500 pictures to weed through to come up with 250 acceptable ones and also the work needed to produce the slide show...
These were taken on November 16, 2007 in downtown Lansing, Michigan at it's annual Silver Bells in the City. It has been growing every year. The first one I saw about 19 years ago had very few people attend. Now they regularly have over 80,000 to 100,000 people show up and everyone loves it. Should you ever find yourself in the mid Michigan area the Friday before Thanksgiving, head downtown and join in the celebration.
This is just a little sneak peek at Silver Bells, a local celebration for Christmas season that happens just before Thanksgiving. I will post a little more if I can figure out how to turn the slides into a movie. Hey I am part way there, I installed the new hard drive and even get it working.
Anyway Silver Bells consists of lots of entertainment from carolers to bell ringers to museums to a little bit of everything. That and a huge electric light parade which lasted just about 1 hour this year. Follow that by the lighting of the State tree and a nice fireworks display.
Last year I got so so picture of the fireworks. This year I was determined to do better and I did somewhat. I am so ready for next year! Note for self: after you have take thousands of pictures of the parade (well at least 400) make sure you put in a fresh memory card so you are not changing in the middle of the fireworks. I missed so much of the fireworks this year.
Here are two pictures with the Capitol, the fireworks and the tree all in the picture. You have to zoom the first picture in order to see any of the fireworks.
UPDATE: First I have deleted and re-added the pictures. Hopefully that will fix the problems.
Secondly, that game is over. Ohio played a good game and bested Michigan 14 to 3.
Third it would appear Michigan's coach, LLoyd Carr will be leaving. This is just because it is time to leave not because of losing this game. There is a press conference at 10:00 on Monday and we will see if the rumors are true.
Other than that I am looking to get me one of those commemorative coins they tossed to start the game. It turns out they have not went on sale yet. There are 25,000 of them and will be $20 when they do go on sale. I am so getting me one of those that commemorate both great men, Woody and Bo.
Tomorrow’s the big day. No matter what, half the people will hate me. Everyone will say I’m blind.
The fierce rivalry, Hard hits, Late hits, Long bombs, Holding, Out of bounds, Pass interference, Penalties, Close score, It’s always the same. Ohio vs Michigan football The Big House or the Horseshoe, Nothing better to officiate over.
Sorry no fun ending or strange twists. But this just needed to be done for me at least.
Since I have been a wee little boy growing up in south eastern Michigan I have always been a huge fan of University of Michigan football. The rivalry with Ohio has always been big but it grew so much back in the 70s with the Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes era. I would pull for Michigan to win all their games before the big game but secretly, I would also pull for Ohio to do the same. You see, I wanted Michigan to win the big game but I also wanted it to be the deciding factor for who went to the Rose Bowl. And I wanted a good game.
Well tomorrow the game is on at the Big House, U of M stadium. No matter who wins it promises to be a good game. I can not wait.
Well lets end with a few pictures. First the Big House.
And now the bobble heads, Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes. Both of these are a new addition from last year. Woody is courtesy of Crabby and Bo came my way via eBay. Even though both these fine coaches have since passed on, it seemed appropriate to remember them on game day between these fine schools wand what better way then these bobble heads.
I just read this articleabout Santa's from Sydney Australia. It would seem that Santa is being advised to no long use the "ho ho ho" greeting but instead say "ha ha ha". Give me a frickin' break. Leave poor old Santa alone, would you?
I really do not like all this political correctness these days. A Christmas tree is a Christmas tree, not a Holiday tree. I know at least in theory what people object to about that but then put up a menorah, and a symbol of Kwanzaa and what ever else is appropriate. Sorry, I just could not believe what I was reading.
Apparently the ladies should stay away from Santa. I mean with him always yelling out ho ho ho, he must be some sort of sex fiend or something.
That is it, I am not reading the news any more. Now I see that London Santa's will be slim this year to help fight Childhood obesity. No doubt a worthy cause but... I think I am going to go over and watch Sponge Bob Square Pants with Lime!
This song was just perfect. As I sit wondering what to write about in the blog. So here you have my all time favorite band playing one of my favorite songs. Happy hump day everyone.
I am a day late and a dollar short but when I came across this I thought I would share it. It is a little story and a nice gentle song that was composed by Terry Kelly... A Pittance of Time. In honor of the Veterans of wars gone by and all those who were touched I thought it was a nice little thing to share.
You took on the job as bouncer because you really needed the money. But you hate your job.
The things you witness would make anyone blush.
How can you tell people what you do for a living? You long for the day when you can quit.
The senior citizens take their Bingo way to seriously.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am off to help my brother-in-law celebrate turning 50, poor sucker.
The above is a 55Flash Fiction Friday. If you want to find out more click the badge in my side bar and come join us. If you are not a writer it seems like a hard task but you get to where you really look forward to Fridays, trust me. Just come up with an idea (the hard part) and the writing will be a piece of cake.
P.S. Sorry, I had this done earlier but was looking for a picture or two to add to it. Then I got lost in the Internet... So here, without pictures, is my 55 for this week.
Yesterday I did shots with a Nurse Ratched. Well, not really...
By the way, the above picture is from a catalog of costumes available here. Just in case someone *cough* Tony *cough* was wondering...
I did shots with an MSU Nurse in training. Well one shot. I got my flu shot yesterday. Boy was she cute ... I mean she was so professional and did a great job (and yes she was cute). Not buying it are you?
All and all uneventful. To make sure my partner in crime at work (counterpart) and I could both get our shots in I snuck over a little early and they were already doing the shots. I was a bit of a problem as I could not get my shirt up high enough up my arm since I had a dress short on. Luckily an observer/adviser was right there and told her that as log as she can get a hold of the muscle (or something t0 that affect) that it would be OK. She proceeded and boy I hardly felt it. The shot area hurts more than the actual shot which is normal for me for a day or two. So as I was headed back to the building I work at I could be heard to proclaim “NEXT” as I let my partner in crime know that there was no line.
Sorry for more or less reusing my subject line but I was not feeling to creative.
I forgot something from the last post. I know the ladies will like this. At the bar we were at there was a line for the restroom. The line was for the guys. There was probably 20 guys in line. Now get this. The gals just walked right in, no line what so ever. I have never seen this before ever. Amazing.
WARNING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 REFERENCES. YOU MAY WISH TO SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH.
I watched a movie on TV yesterday more or less by accident. I will not go into a lot of detail because I know this will still be hard for some (myself included) and others just will not want to hear it. The movies was Flight 93. If you recall that was the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field when the passengers attempted to take control of the hijacked airliner on September 11, 2001. I was fascinated to see and hear all the Air Traffic Control drama of what happened although you know they over dramatized it for the movie. What I did not like was they showed the hijacking to a certain extent. They made them seem kind of almost dumb. They also did not make them seem as violent as I assume they were. Still I was not thrilled about that. They also showed the Trade Center Tower on fire and showed the second plane come in but did not show it actually hit. Still, this is something I could do without. All and all it was a movie I had avoided but I guess I am mostly happy I saw it.
YOU CAN COME BACK. IT IS ALL OVER.
Now for something a little different. A few days ago I started playing a game online. It is called Snake. Now I have seen that type of game before but never played it. This one is an adult game in that it has a lady stripping on it every time you eat a green dot but to be honest, I am way to busy with the game to really even notice what the cartoon is doing off to the side. Anyway I did not understand the rules and had much to learn. Eventually I learned the rules and the tricks and have gotten pretty good at the game as now I almost play it on auto pilot, but oh my aching wrists. In three days I would say I played over 10 hours of it. I am so addicted. So much so that I think I may need to give it up. I have even found myself looking at things like a list of specials at the Chinese restaurant and thinking how I would attack it with the snake getting rid of all the words. I also find myself thinking about quick turns which I think is key to being successful at Snake. Yep I need a 12 step program for Snake so bad right now. I wonder if they have a self help group?
Yesterday was a bitter sweet day for me. For one thing my sinus headache finally went away. And the aches I was worried were actually the flu just kind of disappeared over night as quickly as they came. I am not really sure where they came from but am happy it did not amount to anything. See I am planning on getting my flu shot on Tuesday. Anyway moving on.
I played hooky on Saturday. I had scheduled to give blood. What was I thinking. It was the Michigan vs Michigan State football game and I planned on watching the game at a bar. Now I have drank before after giving blood. It was a long time ago and was by accident. The 16 ounce Coors Light beer I had about floored me and personally I think Coors Light is pretty light weight beer to begin with. I decided that giving blood and drinking was not a good idea. Well that and I already was not feeling real well earlier in the week and I had those flu shots coming... So I blew off the blood donation. What makes it worse is I do not give blood during the winter so I am probably done for the year.
Now for the bitter sweet. The good news, my team was going to win that game. The bad news, my team was also going to lose. My home team is Michigan State. I really wanted them to win. I wore a Michigan State sweat shirt and all. But at the same time I grew up a University of Michigan fan and will always be a fan. For Michigan State to win that would mean U of M would need to lose. I wait all year for college football season to being and then I root on U of M and Ohio. You see I want both of them to have a great year and then comes THE GAME. Ohio vs Michigan. And if Michigan were to lose against Michigan State that would just ruin the big game.
So yesterday was very strange. I would have an occasional outburst when either team did well but for the most part I was pretty quiet. I am just so torn for that game. In the end Michigan State lost (bummer) and Michigan won (yea) but I really did not feel like celebrating. The only way I would be happy would be with a tie.
Oh I did have a smile at one point. This one lady, rather nice looking I must admit, had on a fun shirt. It said “WILL FLASH FOR BEER.” Wouldn’t you know all I had was a half pitcher of beer in front of me and no glasses. That was not good enough. Oh man. Should I end up back at that same bar in two weeks for THE GAME I will be sure to have an extra beer on hand.
Yesterday the bar lost my food order and I waited for over an hour before they said did you get your food? The waitress was kind of stupid about it if you ask me. She asked if we wanted to order again but she said they can’t cook any faster as the kitchen is all backed up. She should have offered to get them pushed to the next thing the kitchen does, they screwed up, they should have fixed it. To her offer I said no thank you I was not waiting another half hour to an hour for my food. Eventually a manager came out and offered to push it but no thank you. Now I have this taste for wings. Anyway I think I am off to find some wings somewhere.
I have a stalker It has been with me for two days. I would imagine it will be there again tomorrow.
There in the morning, all day and then again in the evening. I just wish my stalker would go away. I know others have much worse stalkers but this sinus headache is KILLING ME!
The above is a 55 flash fiction Friday. There are a group of us that do this on Fridays. To learn a little more about it click on my badge in my sidebar. I hope you come join us.
Sorry I did not post sooner. My sinus headache is killing me. It is not real bad but it just will not go away. It has wore me down. I wanted to post this morning but it was all I could do just to get myself into work today. I can not imagine what I would do if I ever had a migraine.
I am working on a post for tomorrow and then I am going to enjoy the weekend. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy it while it lasts. Form some this is fall easing us into winter. For those in the southern hemisphere I hope you are having a very nice spring.
I have a stalker It has been with me for two days. I would imagine it will be there again tomorrow.
There in the morning, all day and then again in the evening. I just wish my stalker would go away. I know others have much worse stalkers but this sinus headache is KILLING ME!
The above is a 55 flash fiction Friday. There are a group of us that do this on Fridays. To learn a little more about it click on my badge in my sidebar. I hope you come join us.
Sorry I did not post sooner. My sinus headache is killing me. It is not real bad but it just will not go away. It has wore me down. I wanted to post this morning but it was all I could do just to get myself into work today. I can not imagine what I would do if I ever had a migraine.
I am working on a post for tomorrow and then I am going to enjoy the weekend. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy it while it lasts. Form some this is fall easing us into winter. For those in the southern hemisphere I hope you are having a very nice spring.
