Six Word Break

 

Lazy day doing nothing, guilt free.

Five Questions for the New Month

 

I’m going to agree with Mama M and say that I simply cannot believe it’s August already.  This year is flying by.  On the upside, that means it’ll be like tomorrow when I finish my paralegal degree, even though it won’t really happen until the end of the year.  But while I might be ready to have my degree, I’m not ready for all the other stuff that comes along at the end of the year, so let’s not rush things too much, shall we?

But let’s do rush right into this week’s questions.

1. What is on your Summer 2013 bucket list?

Well, “bucket list” might be too strong a word, but I did recently get it in my head that we should visit a local peach orchard and pick ourselves some fruit.  I was hoping we might do that tomorrow, but apparently Tiger Woods is having an awesome tournament, and Brian wants to see what’s next.  I’ve got nothing in particular against watching golf (understanding that “watching golf” is a euphemism for “afternoon nap”), but considering I’ve only got three weekends without school commitments, I was hoping to get out of the house a bit. 

On the other hand, we have already made plans to take a short weekend away for my birthday, which is also the last weekend before school resumes.  There’s an Amtrak route that runs from here down to Ft. Worth, TX, and I’ve wanted to ride it since it set up shop here years ago, so we’re finally going to do it.  So that’ll be summer fun for sure.

2. What is the most useless item on your child's back to school list?

Well, my son has decided to go back to school this fall, but I really have no idea what’s on his list, even though I’m paying for it.  But I’ll tell you the most useless item on my list:  a set of the Oklahoma Court Rules, a two volume set of large paperback books which cost approximately $240.  As you might guess, they detail the ins and outs of the regulations you need to know for using the court system here.  So why is such valuable information useless?  Because it’s all accessible online, for free.  And, these books are published every year, which means my two hundred and forty bucks is No good for less than six months.  And I know exactly how useless this is, because I bought the 2012 set just prior to the spring semester, and opened one of the books a total of one time, and that was only because I was having some trouble with my internet connection.  Useless, I say.

3. What is the one reality TV show that makes no sense to you? 

The one?  Uh, none of them make sense.  You can visit my first Tube Day Tuesday post for a quick look at how I feel about reality television.

4. What is one movie you can watch over and over again? Why?

There are actually a lot of movies I can watch repeatedly; I’m not one of those folks who thinks it’s ruined after the first time around.  Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tango and Cash, The Negotiator, Die Hard, ET . . . the list goes on and on.  And why?  Because interesting characters and interesting story lines are always a good time.

5. What's your favorite back to school tradition?

No tradition, really, but I do love looking through my stack of text books (except those that are useless, as I just mentioned) and getting new notebooks and pens.  I’m sort of a nerd.

And that brings us to the end of another five questions, and me to the end of another day.  These first few days out of school I’ve been up almost as late as normal, so still not getting nearly enough sleep.  But the only good thing about not picking peaches tomorrow is that I can sleep in.  And I intend to.  Good night.

I Want My MTV

 

So, where were you thirty-two years ago?  Me, I was a new high school graduate, still living at home, working, and trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life.  I’m sure I thought I was going to save the world from some calamity or another.

But, what I wasn’t particularly taking in back on that August day in 1981, was the brand new “video” channel MTV.

Yes, this is indeed the anniversary of the launch of the Music Television channel.  Memory is strange sometimes, especially when trying to place events within the timeline of your life, but if I’d had to venture a guess, I would’ve sworn I was still in school during the heyday of the channel, but apparently I would’ve been wrong. 

But I do remember how popular it was among folks of roughly my age (and my younger sister), and I remember I just wasn’t completely sold.  Mostly, I wasn’t overly fond of a lot of the music they played, with or without videos.  But I did like the first song they played . . .

As I got a little older, I developed a bit more appreciation for the network and spent a little more time watching it.  But as time continued to roll along, the strangest thing began to happen:  MTV played less and less music.  This was especially disheartening when I really started getting nostalgic for some videos from my youth and they were no where to be found.  Every once in a while, I still get a little hankering to watch some video or another, but these days, YouTube is the much better alternative over MTV.   And the thing that’s most surprising to me is that even though I was never a huge fan of MTV, I still sort of wish it was just the simple music video channel it started out to be.  I think I’d appreciate it more now than I ever did before. 

Coincidentally, another new television channel launched today:  Pivot, which is some sort of new premium channel.  Pivot isn’t a music channel, and apparently it really was coincidence that they launche on the MTV anniversary, but that didn’t stop them from paying a bit of homage to the network with a more up-to-date version of “Video Killed the Radio Star”.  I like this version, too.

So, where were you thirty-one years ago?  Catching the video train early, or waiting for it to come back around?

Weight Loss Wednesday, July 31

 

Okay, first a small tangent.  What the heck has happened to the formatting on my blog?  Most of the page seems to look okay, but random entries have incorrect spacing and strange formatting, and the sidebar of past posts has turned gigantic.  And all of this has happened without me understanding one little bit about how or why.  It’s really quite annoying.  I only just noticed it yesterday, though it’s possible—probably even likely—that it’s been that way a while and I’ve just been too wrapped up in other things to see it.  I suppose I’ll have to do some research and figure out how to get things back to how they should be. 

In the meantime, this week’s report is not particularly exciting.  Almost 500 steps short of my goal, so I am clearly still having some problems with consistency.  Of course, it didn’t help that I ditched the gym on one of my regular days due to too much homework/studying and then I didn’t make it up over the weekend (for the same reason).  The way I like to think of it, though, is that had I spent even 30 minutes on the treadmill as is my norm, I would’ve far exceeded my weekly step goal, so I think I’m slowly getting better at the moving about. 

And, no weight loss this week.  But, no gain, either, and considering I was eating pretty badly (even for me), I think that’s a win.  It’s just about being able to keep on keeping on. 

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	5,947	--
Thursday	5,260	--
Friday	8,475	--
Saturday	6,531	--
Sunday	10,193	48 mins treadmill, 2.79 miles
Monday	8,854	--
Tuesday	13,801	46 mins treadmill, 2.27 miles

In the Nick of Time

 

Summer school is officially over!  I took my last final this evening (which I don’t feel I did particularly well on, by the way, but I think well enough to maintain my A, so that’s all that matters at this point).  Anyway, as the title says, just in the nick of time.  I know I’ve mentioned a time or two that I have had precious little time to watch my beloved medium, but you can see for yourself. 

And that’s just one screen; I can scroll another one or two more screens and they all look like this.  And, Unforgettable just returned to the air this past Sunday, so I just added another series to my list to record.  As an aside, Unforgettable has been sort of revamped, and it looks like most of the supporting cast is gone.  Of course, Poppy Montgomery remains onboard, and Dylan Walsh, which is good, because they’re sort of cute together.  But the only other familiar face I saw was Jane Curtin, which I thought was a little odd.  She has an interesting character, but she was only on the last ten or so  eps.  Maybe TPTB decided she hadn’t been in enough episodes for anyone to dislike her too much.   Could be.  Either way, she’s there in the new episodes, so I suppose everyone will get a chance to form an opinion. 

Anyway, I digress.  The point is, the ending of classes couldn’t have come at a much better time, from television viewing perspective.  The episodes are really piling up and my lack of storage space will reach critical mass soon. 

Yes, summer school is definitely over just in the nick of time, and I know just what I’m doing this weekend. 

The Latest Theory

 

So, not much has crossed my radar lately that hasn’t been school or work related, but I read an article today that made me pause for a moment, just long enough to shake my head in wonder.  And it got me thinking. 

It seems the Reelz Channel will be airing a docudrama this fall with yet another theory on the assassination of President Kennedy.  Only this time, the second shooter isn’t a mobster or one of Hoover’s henchmen, nor was he a Russian or a disgruntled Teamster.  No, this time around the second shot came from an unexpected and unintentional source: a hung over, poorly trained Secret Service agent.  So I’ll just say it: that just seems unlikely.

Here’s my way of thinking on the whole JFK thing: 

• I believe Oswald was probably not the only one involved. 
• I don’t believe in any of the government involved conspiracy theories, not because I think those in government are above lying and covering up, but because I believe large numbers of people just can’t keep a secret.
• And lastly, I believe we’ll likely never know the truth.  I mean, let’s face it, it’s been almost fifty years; I think if there were a definitive answer to be found, someone would have found it (see#2 above), and it would have been presented in such a way that there couldn’t be any doubt.

Still, I suppose it’s always interesting to hear new theories, even if I think most of them are just something to pass the time rather than anything to be taken very seriously.  Though I’ll also admit that there’s a part of me that wonders why we can’t just let it be.  I sometimes think how hard it must be for his family every time some new theory makes the headlines, and how unfair it is to them, though I’d guess they’ve mostly become immune to such things, which is a whole other story, and kind of a sad one at that.

What tidbits of news have made you stop and ponder lately?

 

Snapshot Sunday, July 28

 

Sad to report that I went through an entire week without taking a single picture.  I snapped a photo last Sunday of the meal I was eating for the “fave food” prompt for photo a day, and that’s the last time I picked up the camera.  (It was a yummy meal, though; take a look:) 

I think it’s likely that Mexican food is really my favorite, but a nice grilled steak comes in a very close second.  Yummm. 

Anyway, so I’ve ditched the daily photos yet again.  One of these days I’ll make it through an entire month; maybe I’ll try again in August, since at least two-thirds of that month I won’t be in school, so maybe things will be a little bit slower paced.

Anyway, then today I happened to look out my window and I saw a first-time bird visitor to the yard.  Not out at the feeder, just wandering around our driveway.  I snapped a few photos through the window, since I knew he’d run off as soon as I opened the door—which he did.

We see roadrunners out and about along the highway sometimes, but I’ve never seen one in our yard.  I wish I could’ve gotten better pictures, but I still enjoy seeing someone new come for a visit.  I was sort of surprised the cats didn’t chase after him, but they were just laying there in the driveway, not paying him a bit of attention.

So that’s it for the shutterbugging this week, pretty slim pickin’s, I’d say, but there’s always next week.  That’s the great thing about the camera; it’s always willing to wait for me and be ready as soon as I give the word.