New Show—Growing Up Fisher

 

Immediately after celebrating the end of the Olympics, I tuned in for the pilot of the new NBC show, Growing Up Fisher.  (Okay, to be perfectly honest, I started watching the premiere, but I fell asleep before it even really got going.  Thank goodness for DVRs.)

At any rate, as I have mentioned on more than one occasion, comedies aren’t really the high point of my television viewing, but I thought the previews looked entertaining.  Besides, I saw Daniel Hugh Kelly for a split second in one of the commercials, and I have to support the Hardcastle and McCormick alums.  Though, I fear I may have actually missed DHK’s grand moment.  Somehow, even though I set up the DVR for tonight’s second ep, it is not on my list of programs.  I’m hoping NBC has them online.

But, as you might have guessed since I’m hoping to track down the second episode, I enjoyed the first one.  Intellectually, I’m not convinced that a man could go through his entire life hiding the fact that he was blind, and I’m absolutely certain that a blind man couldn’t really parallel park a car, but I thought it was amusing just the same.

Even if the credulity is stretched a bit, though, I still enjoyed it, and I’m chalking that up mostly to some successful casting.  Primarily, the young boy in the main role really pulled it off.  I thought he did an excellent job at being simultaneously an innocent eleven year old and and a more worldly child who grew up wanting to help his dad as much as possible.  And not only that, but Eli Baker, the young man who portrays Henry Fisher, is just a cutie pie. 

Anyway, it’s a pretty typical family comedy, with long-married middle-aged folks deciding to divorce, and the way their kids cope with that.  The hook that makes this one different is that dad is not only a level-headed, friendly  and caring guy, but he’s also been blind since childhood.  Yet, Dad made it through not only childhood and puberty, but also found a wife, became an attorney, and raised a family, all while keeping the secret of his blindness.  Like I said, I’m not convinced that’s actually possible, but I think it makes a fun setup, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

At the Office

 

So, I ran across this prompt recently that said, “Write about your company”, and instructed that it be done in 100 words or less.  hmm.  I can probably make that work, even though I had sort of a crappy day today courtesy of my company.  I’m not sure if that makes the assignment harder or easier, but we’ll see . . .

My office is a downtown law firm, but don’t think of fancy offices in skyscrapers, filled with dozens of important people in power suits going about their important tasks. 

We’re a small firm—less than fifteen people total—in a a non-descript, one-story building.  And power suits?  Only on rare court days; you’re more likely to find us in jeans and sneakers.

We work hard, we get along (mostly), and we do our best for our clients.  We’re not like the fancy law firms you see on TV, but I think we are doing exactly what legal folks should be doing.

Sunday Closings

 

We’re sitting here watching the closing ceremonies (I thought this day would never come!) and my mind was wandering over various sorts of things, when I realized that I missed posting here on Friday.  I’m not sure if I’m most upset that I missed the day, or that I didn’t even realize it for forty-eight hours.  Of course, there was a reason—mostly that I was simply worn out.  There had been family drama for a couple of days before that, which was not only emotionally draining as drama always is, but also kept me from sleeping well, meaning I was also physically drained.  So, by the time it seemed to resolve itself Friday afternoon, I was beat.  I came home, ate a sandwich, and did some homework, and then I was crashed on the couch by about eight o’clock.  The only problem I recognized at the time was that I also had to study for a mid-term I would be taking Saturday morning, so when I woke up a few hours later, the only thought on my mind was cramming a bit of extra bankruptcy information into my brain so I wouldn’t totally bomb the test.  It sort of bothers me that it didn’t even cross my mind that I hadn’t yet written my daily post.

Of course, it’s not the end of the world.  One of these days, I will manage a true streak of daily posting; I’m hoping to one day hit a full year.  The important thing is that the drama does actually seem to have been resolved, and other than a few nights of lost sleep, nobody seems too much worse for the wear.  And I think I even did mostly okay on the exam yesterday.  All in all, while my mind wanders erratically over any number of things, I think I’ll choose to focus on the positive, and I’m going to close out this weekend and consider the week a win.

Six Word Treat

 

I love breakfast food for dinner.

A Mother’s Worry

 

“A mother who is really a mother is never free.” ~ Honoré de Balzac

 

My guess is that there aren’t too many parents out there who haven’t spent at least a few passing moments fearing that they just aren’t up to the job.  I know I’ve certainly done my share of wondering where I messed up and how I could’ve done things better.  Most times I simply have to remind myself that there was never a moment that I didn’t do the best I knew how to do at the time, and accept that there really isn’t much more than that to do.

Of course, I really have these moments of self-doubt at times when my son is facing any sort of difficulty in his life, particularly if it’s difficulty that he has either brought on himself or is somehow exacerbating.  Those are the times when I think perhaps I somehow didn’t prepare him adequately, or led him astray in some way.  But the truth is, it’s only my opinion that he might have caused or exacerbated his own problems, and I naturally have advice on ways to resolve difficult situations.  He frequently doesn’t agree with me, or at least doesn’t take my advice on how to fix things.  There are many times when it becomes painfully clear that we share a different world view on some key issues.  And even though that hurts sometimes, and even though I may remain convinced he’s not making good decisions, I have to recognize that he knows how to disagree with me because I spent his whole life trying to make sure he understood the importance of thinking for himself.  There are times I wish he hadn’t learned that lesson quite so well, and that I could simply tell him what to do and he’d blindly obey, but I know that would be doing him a disservice.  So I will continue to worry that perhaps I haven’t done as well as I might have hoped in the parenting department, and I will worry that my son may not always be taking the best path for his life, but I will try to cling to the idea that at least he’s following a path that he had the strength to choose for himself.

Weight Loss Wednesday, February 19

 

No weight loss this week, maybe even a gain, though I’ve honestly forgotten where I was last week.  But, I’m only at 5.5 lost since starting my food plan, and I think that’s less than what it was before.  I’d go pull up last week’s post, but I’m tired and have to go to work early again, so I need to head off to bed.  Anyway, that’s been five weeks, so it’s still averaging a pound a week, which isn’t horrible, but certainly not great.  Though I suppose I should be glad it’s not worse, considering how horribly I ate last week while I was sick, and then this past weekend was my “off” weekend, so at least I’m hanging on.

On the upside, I did finally make it to the gym Tuesday, and I’ll go again tomorrow.  Maybe adding in some activity will kick start something.  Fingers crossed.  Let’s see what this coming week brings.

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	3,873
Thursday	4,518
Friday	5,539
Saturday	2,777
Sunday	2,080
Monday	4,896
Tuesday	9,488	30 min treadmill; 2.17 miles

Psych, Out

 

I spent the long weekend under my Snuggie, recuperating from my recent respiratory infection, and working my way through the seemingly endless backlog on the DVR.

It hasn’t been all that long ago—maybe a few weeks—that I finally watched the final three episodes of Leverage.  That show ended on Christmas day of 2012, so I wasn’t too far behind.

The stuff from this weekend wasn’t quite that old; I got caught up on all the Psych episodes that had piled up last season, and the first part of this current (and final) season.  That includes “Psych the Musical”, which, if you’ve followed the show at all, you knew had to happen eventually.  It was fairly amusing, but I was okay with the fact that not everybody felt the need to burst into song.  Besides a few peppy songs, the episode also brought (SPOILER) the death of a recurring guest criminal, and I was surprised to find myself a little saddened by that.  But I guess they’re beginning a wrap-up.

As I mentioned, it’s been announced that Psych will leave the air this year; there are only five episodes remaining, which will begin airing late this month.  I’ll admit that I’ve had ups and downs with Psych; there have been times I’ve found it immensely entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, and times that I’ve found it shallow and seriously over-the-top.  On balance, though, I enjoy the show; it’s light-hearted, and fun-loving, and it makes me smile.  The world is kind of a crazy place these days, and I think there’s a place for things that can make you smile.  In a couple of months, I’ll have one less smile-maker, and I think I’m going to miss it.

 

Monday Daydreams

 

It occurs to me that Mondays are much more manageable—enjoyable, even—when I don’t have to work.  Though I have to go in really early tomorrow, and probably stay a bit late, making this short work week a little less short.  I really need to win the lottery so I can have a lot more non-working Mondays.

Actually, Brian has this thought in his head that he would like to retire from his job and start an independent consulting/training business, and I’d be all for helping him make that happen, serving in some sort of administrative capacity.  We just need to do some serious research and planning to determine if that’s even a real possibility.  And, of course, some closer examination of finances to determine exactly what it would take to survive.

Really, that’s all the more reason to keep fingers crossed for the lottery, and I’m not giving up on that idea.

Snapshot Sunday, February 16

Well, we finally got to have our Valentine's movie night. The problem, though, with wanting to go to a particular theatre on a particular weekend, is that you don't get much selection of what to see. This weekend, we had our choice of Endless Love or Winter's Tale. The first wasn't all that great the first time around, so we opted for the latter. Now, I hadn't been all that interested in it, so I hadn't paid much attention to the commercials, and I was unclear if it was about reincarnation or time travel. Turns out it was neither one, but, rather, miracles and demons. Who knew? Oh, and who knew Will Smith had a role as the devil? Not me. Or that Matt Bomer showed up for about 45 seconds of screen time? Again, not me, but none of that was enough to save the film.

But, it was still fun to sit in heated reclining seats and have an order of cheesy fries served to our fancy seats in an adults only theatre. Oh, and take a shot at a silly selfie, though my aim was bad, and Brian wouldn't let me try again because the flash blinded him.

But memories are made of bad movies and bad pictures, right?




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Six Word Monotony

 

Could the Olympics be over already?

Feel Good Friday, February 14

 

Three-day weekend, baby!  Need I say more?

Valentine’s Day was a simple affair of after-work dinner and long conversation at Chili’s; it was nice.  And, this weekend, we’ll see Winter’s Tale in the fancy-schmancy seats at our favorite theater, though we had to wait until 9:00 Sunday to find a showing that still had any seats.

And, I’m actually feeling much better on this Feel Good Friday.  Still not 100%, but it’s an amazing difference even since yesterday.  Yay.

And that’s it.  Enjoy your weekend, and your extra day, if you get it.

 

Bigger Not Always Better

 

I had a brief thought today about the difference in working for a small company rather than a large corporation.  It crossed my mind because I needed to do just a bit of work from home, and though I had a hard copy of the necessary document, I decided electronic was really the way to go.  So, I logged in to my work computer via LogMeIn and did what I needed to do.  But slowly.  It’s so mind-numbingly painstakingly slow to do anything through that connection.  It made me wish for the technology of my last job, and its true remote server access, and how you might even have a dedicated laptop already loaded with company software.  The only thing slowing you down then was whatever ISP you happened to be using at the time.  Oh, those were the days.

But then I remembered all the bad things that came along with access to that technology.  Starting with the idea that that sort of access was necessary because people needed to do work from home a lot.  Now, I stay late at my current job pretty frequently, and sometimes I even go in early, but it’s pretty darn rare that I still end up with carry-home work.  My last job I also stayed late and went in early, but it wasn’t at all unusual to still have work at least on my days off, and sometimes even just in between leaving one shift and going back the next day.  I don’t miss that part of it.

And then there was the stress.  I think I might’ve said before that our senior partner is very firmly planted in the “A Type” column, so he can be demanding—and sometimes downright cranky—more often than he probably needs to be.  I’ve seen him make more than one employee cry on more than one occasion, and people walk on egg shells hoping they’re not the ones who’ll have to give him bad news on any given day (Last week I had to break the news that we lost a summary judgment; yuck.).  And then there are the clients with crazy questions and sometimes crying of their own.  And all the rules—who ever knew there were so many rules to follow when you’re suing someone?  I mean, even the font type and size?  Please, how much can it possibly matter?  But it’s all critically important if you want to do your very best for your client.  So, in a nutshell, there’s a lot going on on an given day.  But I still say that when it comes to stress, the worst day I’ve had here is better than the best day at my old job.  That might not all be because of big employers vs. small, but I think it has a lot to do with it.

And why does that matter?  I think it’s because I always feel like a person at my small firm.  With my larger employer, I mostly felt like a number, and, honestly, that’s not such a good feeling.

Truly, the only place the big company wins is money.  There’s no denying that larger companies, by and large, have a greater ability to pay a decent wage.  I’m currently working for not quite half of what I made at the larger company, and you gotta admit, that’s a pretty hefty percentage to give up.

But, you know what?  It’s worth it.

Weight Loss Wednesday, February 12

 

Well, I’m only down half a pound since last week, which, if you’re keeping track, means only six pounds total.  I’d be depressed about that, but the truth is, since I’ve been sick since Saturday and not sticking to my food plan, I’m glad to still be down.  It’s a bad thing when you’re feeling achy and miserable and have a really sore throat so that the only thing that really sounds good to eat is a chocolate chip milkshake.  Not that that’s all I’ve eaten, mind you; I’ve tried to work in some fruits, veggies, and protein along the way, too.  But I have included a milkshake into my meal every day this week.  Not a great recipe for success, but a spectacular recipe for dealing with the crud.  I figure I’ll be ready to get back on the food wagon again just about the time the weekend rolls around and it’s my cheat days.  I’ll have to be a little more conservative this time around.

Also, I have worked out in my head when I’m going to get back to working out:  Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday.  Now, the bad part of that, of course, is that there will be no working out for me tomorrow, of that I’m quite certain.  Yesterday I slept until about 3:00pm, and today I could barely drag myself to work still.  I’m definitely on the mend, but just as definitely not mended yet.  Maybe by Saturday, though I can barely breathe enough to walk from one end of our office to another, so I’m not entirely counting on it.  But, if not Saturday, next Tuesday, for sure.  I’m hoping I’ll actually go to the gym each of those days, but, if not, I’ll break out the Leslie Sansone or something, but I’ve got to get committed to getting some activity in.  (By the way, Tanya, are you reading this?  Want to go with me to the gym on Tues/Thurs/Sat?)

Anyway, let’s take a look at the ridiculously low steps for this week, and then I’m going back to my favorite place lately, my nice warm bed.

Steps	Activities
Wednesday	7,246
Thursday	3,757
Friday	4,549
Saturday	3,851
Sunday	1,267
Monday	4,084
Tuesday	1,042

Late to the Party

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  I don’t really like the Olympics.  First, I don’t care for them because I’m not really all that much of a sports fan, so just to watch hour after hour of various sporting events is never going to make my to-do list.  Perhaps more important, though, I don’t like the way they take over the entire network broadcast time slots.  Of course, you’ve got full-on coverage on NBC, which I could live with if I had other viewing options.  But the other networks don’t like to risk their ratings competing against all that bottled up patriotism, so they show nothing but reruns for a fortnight.  It’s truly annoying.  (I will say FOX may be trying to break that cycle.  Of their programming, I only watch Almost Human, but Brian watches The Following, and both had new episodes yesterday.  Good for them.)

Anyway, because I firmly believe there is only so long you can watch people find new ways to slide along ice, I opted for DVR viewing this weekend, and finally got around to watching a new show that’s been waiting for me since September: The Blacklist. 

In a nutshell, it was worth the wait.  Their commercials say it’s “the number one new drama”, and I can see why, because it’s, well, dramatic.  It’s got an interesting foundation, interesting weekly criminals, and an absolutely riveting main character.  I’ll admit, even though it caught my attention from it’s very earliest ads, and even though I immediately put the DVR on series record, I was just a little bit worried it was going to be all Hannibal and Clarice, and I really didn’t want that.  I’m glad to say that Raymond Reddington is not quite as creepy as Hannibal Lecter, though he seems to be just as dangerous.  He’s brought to life by James Spader, whom I’ve adored since his days on The Practice, which then morphed so beautifully into Boston Legal.  He was also my favorite character in Stargate, but it was really Alan Shore that endeared him to me. 

On the other hand, I’m not sure that Elizabeth Keen is quite as strong a character as Clarice Starling, but she’s gaining some legs.  Agent Keen is portrayed by Megan Boone, who’s done a few things, according to her IMDB page, but I don’t know her.  Like I said, I think her character is a bit weak, but getting stronger.  But I do really like her relationship with Reddington, and that’s critical, since it’s the very premise of the program.

Basically, the show goes like this:  Reddington has been on the FBI Most Wanted list for a couple of decades, ever since he suddenly stopped being an American hero and started being a traitor.  But one day, he walked into the Bureau headquarters and turned himself in.  He had information he was willing to share to help bring in another wanted fugitive, but he had a condition:  he would talk to one person and one person only.  Enter Agent Keen, running late for duty on her very first day of work as an FBI profiler.  No one, including Keen, knows why Reddington chose her, but she’s whisked away to the heavily guarded “black site” where he’s being held, and a partnership begins.  By the end of the hour, they’ve caught one terrorist and struck a deal to go after a whole lot more—as long as Keen stays in the picture.

As things roll along, you find out very quickly that not only did Reddington abandon his family—including a young daughter—to go off on his traitorous spree, but Keen lost her father as a young girl, in as yet unnamed circumstances, though we know he had a criminal past.  So is Red her dad, showing up now to help her make a good name in her new career?  Who knows.  That’s clearly the implication, but things are not always what they seem.  My first thought was that he was not old enough to be her father, but, if you can go by the actors’ ages, I suppose he actually is.  Still, I’m waiting to see how it all plays out.

There’s more intrigue, too, with a shady character named Fitch, who’s maybe a politician of some sort, or maybe just a power mogul.  Whatever he is, he’s played by Alan Alda, and seeing him on screen is always a plus.  I will admit, though, that shows often lose me when they get too mired in their own mythology and backstory, wanting everything to be shadowy and open to interpretation.  When you’re left guessing too long, it can get really annoying, so I hope they don’t go that way.

But, for right now, I am definitely hooked.  And I’m obviously not the only one, since NBC gave it a renewal after only a few months on the air.  It will be back after the Olympics conclude to finish out season one, and there are twenty-two more episodes planned for season two.  The show’s definitely got a lot of promise, and I’m ready to see how well it lives up to its potential.  I’m only sorry I waited four months to watch.

Monday Malady

 

We’ve discussed my feelings about Mondays before.  And, try as I might to put a positive spin on them and consciously force myself to believe that they’re just another day, they still seem to wear me down.  Actually, though, for an office Monday, today wasn’t too bad.  Just normal work and keeping busy all day long, which is really my preference.

No, that bad part about today is that this crud I’ve been fighting finally reared its ugly head yesterday, then really kicked it into high gear today.  I went through just about an entire box of Kleenex, and only have a clown nose to show for it.  Can’t breathe, and can’t stop my head from feeling like it’s going to explode.  After being stuck in traffic for over forty-five minutes on my way home and then feeling more exhausted than seemed normal, I decided I should go ahead and stop by the after-hours clinic.

The good news is there’s no flu or strep; the bad news is it’s a random upper respiratory infection—thus the extreme difficulty breathing.  Doc said I’d be doing folks a favor to stay away from them tomorrow and give the antibiotics a chance to render me harmless, so the best thing to come out of today is that I’ve already notified the office I won’t be in tomorrow.  A sick day isn’t exactly a ton of fun, but I’m here to tell you that right about now, staying in bed for at least twelve or fifteen hours straight sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

I think I’ll go start working on getting that particular prescription filled right now, and go ahead and put this Monday to bed.

Snapshot Sunday, February 9

 

I’m not sharing any of my photos this week, and I started to tell you that it’s because I haven’t taken any pictures this week, though now that I think about it, that’s not entirely true.  I did stop at a spot on the lake this week, to snap a few photos of the frozen water in the morning.  It looked cool as I was driving by, though as I was taking the pictures, I didn’t have the feeling they were capturing the mood very well.  In fact, I haven’t even looked at them on anything bigger than the view screen yet.

But, I was browsing around the web recently, and came across a couple of sites about taking pictures with the ever-present cell phone.  I was pleased to discover that some professional photographers are starting to recognize the art behind taking pics with your phone, and giving some ideas about how to do it.

For instance, this photo came from a National Geographic photographer, captured with his iPhone.  You can read his thoughts and tips here.

And this one from a photojournalist who’s covered the Middle East extensively; you can watch a presentation about how he transitioned into using his phone here. (Though a bit of a warning that he’s a better photographer than presenter; can’t have it all.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, while I have no delusions that any of my photos will ever be gracing national publications—regardless of the camera I use—I do like to see cell phone photography coming out of the shadows of being known only for selfies and whatever entrée someone is having for lunch.

Six Word Sick Day

 

 

Class, lunch with family, now bed.

Feel Good Friday, February 7

 

Man, I’m glad this week is drawing to a close.  I have class tomorrow, so I can’t say it’s officially over yet, but I know I’m officially over it. 

But, even after an incredibly hectic and stressful day at the office today, I had a feel good moment for myself, in the form of a nice piece of mail waiting for me at home.

I know I officially graduated almost two moths ago, and there was definitely a strong sense of relief then.  But, it’s still nice to finally have the hard-copy representation of the work.  I think I’ll have to take it—and my other one—and have them framed somewhere and hang in my office.  That will be another feel good moment.

Then, on a less personal note, I want to share with you a video that will surely bring a smile.  It’s two life-long friends—they’re a hundred years old, so “life-long” for them is a really long time. 

Anyway, they’re cute, and funny, and they either make you glad you’ve got a friend like this one or wish that you did.  Enjoy.

 

Creeping Up

 

My long day started when I woke up to more snow that I had anticipated, leading to more traffic problems than I was prepared for.  My normal 45ish minute commute took twice that.

Then, it was just weird at the office. Not weird bad, just strange.  First, everyone was late.  No surprise there.  Then, no attorneys in due to various engagements, a couple of people out because of the weather, and a couple then left early.  It was quiet, which is nice, but had a weird feel to it.

The plans I had for the evening—one of those social painting classes that I intended to attend with my sister—fell through.  Cancelled because of the weather.  Are you starting to see a pattern?  We’re not exactly equipped for true winter weather, and we’re having too much of it this year.

What this all boils down to is that I’m exhausted.  It hasn’t been a day that seems like it should have worn me out, but it did. (hmm. Maybe that cancelled class was a blessing in disguise?)   I was planning to turn in early, but then I heard Patrick Stewart was going to be on the Letterman show, so I wanted to stay up to watch that.  Unfortunately, I could tell during Elementary that I wasn’t going to get anywhere close to that happening.  My subtle clue?  I was already falling asleep.  I’m good at picking up on things like that.  Sherlock has nothing on me.

Anyway, I turned on the DVR and off the TV; Sir Patrick will have to wait for another night.

But, what this all got me to thinking—both before I drifted off with about two lines of this post written, and now, when I’m slightly more awake—is that I’m getting old.  I’m pretty sure that sort of thing doesn’t happen to young people.  I don’t know when it happened, this aging thing, because I certainly don’t feel like an old woman.  Well, you know, except for when I can’t keep my eyes open and it’s not even ten o’clock yet.  I’m wondering if it feels the same for everyone.? One minute you’re just your normal, happy self, and the next you feel old and drained, with seemingly no in-between time.  There was no lead up to old age, at least not that I noticed.   One day I was, like, 25, and the next day . . . well, let’s just say I wasn’t.  I guess age is some sort of stealthy creeper, always following you, waiting for the right moment to pounce. 

Still, as they say, growing old may suck, but it’s better than the alternative, and that’s true even on really long days like today.

 

Weight Loss Wednesday, February 5

 

Well, when I started my “cheat” weekend on Friday, I had lost 5 pounds on the food plan.  By Monday morning, I had found two and a half of them again.  So, a little bit more of a backslide over the weekend than I had hoped, though it’s certainly not the end of the world.  When I got on the scale this morning for weigh-in, those 2.5 pounds were gone, plus another half pound, so things are definitely still moving in the right direction.  At some point I have got to get back to squeezing in a few workouts each week, but between busy days at work and sub-freezing temperatures every day, I’ve just not been able to make myself do it.  I’m going to keep working on changing my mind, though.

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	4,379
Thursday	4,726
Friday	5,485
Saturday	3,855
Sunday	2,694
Monday	4,991
Tuesday	5,237

Super Dud

 

For me, the Super Bowl is never about the game.  Oh, sure, I usually have a preference of winners, but it doesn’t really matter to me. (And it’s a good thing, since this year, my preferred team took a beating.)  And, it’s not particularly a social event, like it is for some.  No, none of that; for me, it’s all about the commercials. 

But this year, the big game was pretty disappointing on all fronts.  The game itself was a boring blowout, but the ads were just about as bad.  They weren’t particularly funny, or dramatic, inspired or inspiring.  For the most part, they were just your everyday, run-of-the-mill commercials.  What fun is that?

But they weren’t all bad.  Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed.

I liked the Doritos time machine, though I’d already voted for it online, and part of the fun of the Super Bowl is being surprised by the newness of the ads.  (Though it was nice to have cast my vote for the winner.)

I liked the Volkswagen angel wings, though I thought it could’ve benefitted from just a bit more brevity.

I enjoyed the Coca Cola “America the Beautiful” spot, though I’m not surprised it stirred up some controversy.  You could tell when it was playing that it was the sort of thing that would fire up some folks.  Narrow-minded folks, IMO, but it was pretty clear it would create some talk.  More important, I usually love Coke commercials, but this one falls firmly in the “like” category.  It was nice enough, but didn’t give me that feel good feeling their ads so often do.

Budweiser, on the other hand, knows how to make people feel good.  Their welcome home ad definitely hit the right spot.

And, not surprisingly, Bud also had my absolute favorite commercial of the night—and it came so late.  Definitely a case of saving the best for last.  I always enjoy their Clydesdale ads, and this one was no exception.  The horse and the puppy bit was just adorable, and I hope it’ll get lots of air time.

So, those are the few Super Bowl ads that I enjoyed Sunday.  Sadly, there were far more that I’m hoping I don’t have to see making the rotation into my regular viewing.  And, I hope the ad agencies are already working on making next year better.

The Day

 

It’s been fifty-five years since the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” Richardson, which was four years before I was born.  I always think it’s just a little bit strange, the way the pop culture icon types live on forever.  I grew up listening to the music of my mom’s generation, so I knew the giants hits of these men.  Plus, back then, you could still find them on the radio.  Not that you can’t still, but these days it’s only on the oldies channels.

But then, within my lifetime, Dan McLean went and wrote himself an anthem abut these people who died years before I was even born.  I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible that I didn’t even really know they has passed until the song—and until I bothered to figure out what it was about, of course.

Anyway, I think it’s cool the way celebrities achieve that sort of immortality, leaving behind a piece of themselves in the thing that they loved to do, but I do still think it’s sort of strange, the way subsequent generations might know their work and still assign life to them. 

And, I wonder how it is for the family.  Do they enjoy surfing the radio dial and hearing their husband/son/father suddenly booming from the speakers?  Or is it a sudden onslaught of pain all over again?  Or, as I suspect, is it really a combination of the two, never knowing how the memory might make them feel on any given day?  I know for myself, when unexpected thoughts of those I’ve lost come crashing into my consciousness, sometimes it brings a smile, and sometimes I am brought to totally unexpected tears.  I’d assume it’s the same for the family of celebrity, only for them, that unexpected thought might be triggered at any time when faced with the work of their loved one. 

And the other thing family and friends of the rich and famous have to deal with is the very public recognition of each anniversary of their loss.  As I’ve mentioned before, those anniversaries are difficult for me, and that’s without having my own loved ones’ date of death plastered all over Google and listings of significant dates in history.  I really can’t imagine how that must feel. 

So, today, while I can recognize the talent lost so quickly all those years ago, and while I can mourn that loss of potential, it’s really the surviving family and friends who are most on my mind.  I thank them for being willing to share their loved ones with the rest of us, and I hope that they find more joy than pain in their memories.

 

  And speaking of that anthem, here’s a live version.  I’m something of a purist, so I’d generally prefer to hear the recorded version I’ve known forever, but it’s good to mix things up now and again.  And, besides, I really do love this song.

Snapshot Sunday, February 2

 

I don’t pretend to understand everything (or much of anything, really) about global warming.  Honestly, it’s over my head in a lot of ways.  But I will say this:  I think we’ve had more snow in the past five years or so than we’ve had in my entire life.  Cumulatively.  Maybe it’s coincidence.  Maybe it’s a faulty memory.  Or maybe it’s any number of things other than climate change.  But we’ve still been getting a lot of snow.  Not compared to a lot of other places, mind you, only compared to ourselves.  But I do like to snap some photos when it happens.

 

And, this is the first of three winter storms we’re expecting this week, and maybe a fourth when next weekend rolls around.  We’re not alone, of course and actually are in much better shape than a lot of the country.  So, everyone do your best to stay warm in this weather, and always stay safe.

Six Word Reconsideration

 

 

Saturday class—what was I thinking?

Feel Good Facebook Friday

 

I probably should be embarrassed by the fact that a fifty year old woman such as myself plays some of those silly games over on Facebook.  Or maybe I should just be embarrassed to admit that a woman of my age actually gets on Facebook regularly.  But, truth is truth, so I’ll just own the fact that I waste more time on that particular social media site than any grown woman probably should.

In addition to browsing through my newsfeed and looking at people’s photos, sometimes I like to take those personality quizzes everyone’s always posting.  Of course, they’re pretty simplistic, hardly deep, scientific tools.  And sometimes, you have to wonder about the accuracy of the results when you can tell from each individual answer what the final selection will be.  For example: “Which Big Bang Theory Character Are You?”  I try not to let the fact that I can recognize each character in their particular answer, but who knows what really influences an answer choice? 

But sometimes the final choice has a broader range of options, so you don’t even really know what all is up for grabs, much less what your final answer will be.  Those kind are a little more fun, even though you really still can’t put too much stock in them.  

Still, regardless of how accurate they may or may not be, they’re still kind of fun, and it was precisely one such quiz that led to today’s post, because it did make me feel good.  Because you see, today I took a quiz for “What Career Should You Actually Have?”  And, scientific or not, here was my result:

Here’s hoping this is one Fecebook quiz that gets it right!