Six Word Bedlam

 

 

The underdogs pull off a win!

Feel Good Friday, December 6

 

I’m glad people share things on Facebook; it exposes me to things I might not ordinarily see or know about.  But, just as often, clicking on a link from Facebook causes me to click on another link, then another, and another.  The Internet really can be a time suck, but more times than not, I run across things that make it worthwhile.

Such was the case a day or so ago when I wandered through one of my favorite spots, Upworthy.  I don’t remember now what originally led me there, but I do remember the story of Mushy, a high school student in England struggling to overcome a stammer.  This is the original video I saw:

But this video had a link to Mushy’s “full story”, and after seeing these few minutes, I knew I wanted to see more.  It turns out that he was featured on a reality TV show called Educating Yorkshire.  Typically I’m not much of a fan of reality television, but if all eight episodes of this show were as good as Mushy’s episode, I might be persuaded to reconsider my view of the genre.  Oh, and I love that Mushy’s teacher was willing to try something he saw in a movie; that’s a man after my own heart!

If you enjoyed the five minute condensed version, and if you’ve got half an hour to spare, you can see more of Mushy here:

A Great Man Lost

 

I’m sure that I won’t be the only person who feels compelled to write a few words about the passing of Nelson Mandela, and others will likely have much more profound words than mine.  And, really, the main thing I am thinking is that I was truly saddened to learn of his passing, and that I think the world was probably better with him than without. 

Beyond that, I thought rather than try to say something about who the man was, I would let a few of his own words do the talking for me: 

“I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days."

"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."

"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."

"A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of."

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

I think the best thing that could be done to honor him is to try and live these words.  Rest in Peace.

Weight Loss Wednesday, December 4

 

Wow, a day with less than a thousand steps!  I’m hanging my head in shame, though the truth is I napped an awful lot of Friday.  But isn’t that what long weekends are for? 

Anyway, believe it or not, even with so little activity, and even over the Thanksgiving break, I managed to lose two pounds last week.  I’m hoping I can keep it off and even add to it, even though my best laid plans have not gotten me to the gym in weeks.

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	9,446
Thursday	5,520
Friday	577
Saturday	3,258
Sunday	10,556
Monday	9,602
Tuesday	7,240

No TV Tuesday

 

 

On this Tube Day Tuesday, I have two things to say.  The first is that I heard on the radio this morning that today was the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  This really annoyed me, because I thought if only TPTB had waited one measly week longer, they could have aired this wonderful classic with a great build up of the awesome anniversary, plus had the added benefit of being appropriately shown after Thanksgiving.  Well, a quick check of sources say that the radio DJ was incorrect; Rudolph seems to have premiered on December 6, 1964, which not only makes today the wrong date, but also only 49 years ago.  But I’m still annoyed the network didn’t wait to air it. 

The second thing is that I have made the conscious decision not to watch any TV today.  And probably not tomorrow, either.  Why?  Because I’m tired.  It’s almost 10:30 as I sit here writing this; I’ve been home less than an hour, scarfed down some dinner, and still need to do a little homework.  And tonight isn’t really unusual; this is pretty close to my normal schedule.  So, even if I only watch one program every night, that still pushes things out at least another 45 minutes to an hour before I’m in bed, and usually I try to watch at least one program plus the news, so that’s closer to an hour and a half. You can see why I’m rarely in bed before midnight.  And if there’s more homework than normal, or more than one show that I really want to see right away, it can be as late as 1:00 or even 2:00 before I call it a night.

But tonight, I’m not going to give into that repeating cycle, even as much as I might enjoy the television viewing aspect of it.  I’m tired, and I want to go to bed soon, so no TV for me tonight.  And, as I say, probably not tomorrow, either, to give myself a chance to try and catch up on rest.  But we are expecting a winter storm to move in Thursday, so the Wednesday nightly weather report could be helpful, but I’ll just check it on the computer quickly, or have Brian watch and let me know what to expect. 

So, for two days, no TV and extra rest; I think that sounds like a really good plan.  But if you’re wondering why only two days off, when I could probably get really caught up on my rest (not to mention studying for finals) if I pushed my boycott just a few days longer, well, that’s an easy answer:  Thursday will bring with it a new episode of White Collar, and we all know Peter and Neal come first, right?

So from my strangely quiet living room, I will bid you good night.

Confessions of a Non-Shopper

 

   I’ll confess:  I went Black Friday shopping once, many, many years ago, and I can’t say I have any desire to ever do it again.

  And, though I will almost surely do the vast majority of my shopping online, the only thing I purchased today was a pair of exercise pants for myself.  (Don’t judge; these things are expensive, and they were 40% off!)

  I think maybe it’s another of those sneaky little signs of growing old, that I no longer have any sense of fun and excitement when it comes to the actual execution of the holiday shopping.  I just want to find nice gifts, and do it without a bunch hassles—no crowds, no slow page loads.  That might make me something of an old grouch, but I think maybe I can live with that. 

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Snapshot Sunday, December 1

 

What?  Snapshot Sunday?  Did you think maybe you’d stepped into some sort of time warp when you saw that?  I sort of did when I wrote it.  But, it’s almost the end of the year, time to move into other things as the new year rolls around, and since it’s been many months since I’d played along with Chantelle’s Photo a Day Challenge, I thought I’d try and end the year getting back into some of the fun.

Of course, the end of the year is a busy time of year, not to mention I’ve got finals in a couple of weeks and still a bit of homework to do before buckling down to study for them, so even though finding a daily picture will be just one more thing to do, I’m hoping it will also serve as a bit of a distraction from some of the hectic bits.

So, first, a look at this month’s prompt list: 

Looks like some fun things, appropriately heavy on the holiday focus, though maybe it’ll be more fun to diverge from that just a little bit now and then.  We’ll see. 

So, let’s get this party started with the first picture of the month, with a prompt of RED.

   

  Nope, no holiday theme to start the month for me, just some juicy red fruit sitting on my countertop.

 

   And, that’s it for this week’s return to Snapshot Sunday.  We’ll see what the camera finds in the coming days.