Six Word Music

 

 

 

Great cause, great show, great time!

 

 

Come play along; it’s Six Word Saturday!

On This Day

 

As I’ve surely mentioned, I like to take a peek at the day-in-history listings from time to time.  I especially like to do this on days that are important to me personally so I can see what other monumental things happened on any given date.

Take today, for instance . . .

 

  Way back in 1865, the Salvation Army was founded in London.  It had a different name back then, but their mission was still essentially what it is today: help people who need help.

 

 

In 1954, in Memphis, TN, Elvis Presley recorded “That’s All Right (Mama)” at Sun Records. There’s a lot of lore surrounding exactly how it is the whole thing went down, but all that really matters is that music would never be the same.

 

 

A little more recently, in 1996, Dolly, the cloned sheep, was born.  I know a lot of people think cloning a living being is the devil’s work, or at the very least, should not be man’s doing.  But I’m just enough of a geek that I think it’s really cool, and can only imagine the possibilities opened up by such a breakthrough.

And why does today’s date matter to me anyway?  Because on this day back in 1986, I became a Mrs. to Brian’s Mr.  Twenty-seven years, and we’re still going strong.  Tonight, we’re off to see a movie (The Heat) in a fancy-schmancy part of the theatre where they have reclining chairs and you can order food right from your seat.  We’ve never been there before, so I hope it’ll be tons of fun.

Today We Celebrate

 

It’s the 4th of July, Independence Day, the birthday of the USA.  It’s a day for hanging out with family and friends, maybe cooking up a small feast on the grill, and capping off the day with a cool fireworks display at the local park.  And, somewhere along the way, take time to remember why we celebrate at all.

I know there are those who believe our country is going to hell in a handbasket, and I can’t deny we’ve got some problems.  But our problems are not anything that we can’t solve if we put our minds to it and if we learn to work together.  Surely if our forefathers taught us nothing else, they taught us the importance of coming together for a common good.  I’m hoping we’ll see that some time soon.

But, leaving behind the real-world struggles our nation faces, let’s ponder for a second what we’d do if the planet was being taken over by hostile aliens.  I like to think that we’d find a way to work together for the common good of survival.  And, I can’t let a July 4th pass by without watching this speech at least one time.  It’s a classic, and certainly one of the best moments in film, ever.  Enjoy, and Happy Independence Day.

Weight Loss Wednesday, July 3

 

It’s bad when the high point of my activity for the week is walking a couple of blocks to the courthouse to drop off some papers.  Worse still when that sluggish behavior has caused me to increase another pound in weight.  I am beyond disgusted with myself, and I pray now for the strength to simply do what I know I must do in order to change what I do not like.  I will start as I did what seems like forever ago now, I will increase my step count incrementally.  Given the abysmal numbers I’ve had lately, I obviously need to start very small, so I will commit to minimum 8,500 per day this week.  Let’s get this thing going.

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	5,451	--
Thursday	6,200	--
Friday	5,817	--
Saturday	2,626	--
Sunday	3,906	--
Monday	7,150	--
Tuesday	6,939	--

Perception, My Take

 

  One of the many things taking up space on my DVR at the moment is the most recent installment of Perception.  Actually, now that I think about it, I think it airs on Tuesday, so I’m assuming there are actually two installments there now.  And, my guess is, there will be several more before I find time to actually watch them.  (Thank goodness there aren’t that many first-run programs on during summer session, or my DVR queue would be overflowing!)

But, the point is, I’ve got some episodes waiting for me, and I’m looking forward to finding time to see what’s going on.  Perception is a relatively new show to the TNT lineup.  It premiered last year, and has just returned for its second season.  Of course, that’s a cable season we’re talking about, so I’m pretty sure they only had ten or eleven shows last year, and I think they’re scheduled for 12 or 14 this summer, but I hope it won’t be a whole year later that it returns again.  But, I’m ahead of myself. (Warning: some spoilers ahead.)

Perception stars Eric McCormack as Daniel Pierce, who IMDB describes as an “eccentric neuroscientist”, which is certainly true, but it leaves out the part about him being a schizophrenic.  So he’s not just quirky, but he has an actual diagnosis, too.  Between the disease, his nerdiness, and the fact that he doesn’t tolerate fools gladly, it makes for an interesting character.  Pierce is a college professor who also consults with the FBI from time to time (you know, every week) and helps them solve all their really tough cases.  For those of you who only know McCormack from his old Will and Grace days, you might be surprised to find a slightly darker character, but I think he does a good job of it.   Pierce surely isn’t the only character on TV these days with a mental illness (though no others are springing rapidly to mind), but he’s doing a good job showing how that illness doesn’t have to be all that there is to a person.

Pierce assists the FBI through his relationship with Agent Kate Moreti, played by Rachel Leigh Cook.  She used to be his student way back in the day, and she’s the one who sort of recruited him to become a consultant for the Feds.  She knew about his eccentricities, and his genius, but she’s only recently learned about the depths of his illness and the problems it can create (which served as a big part of the season one finale, and I’m really looking forward to the time I can queue up the new episodes and see how that’s all playing out).  And, really, I’m hoping these season two episodes make me a bit more of a Moreti fan, because I have to say that so far, I’m not overly impressed.  Of course, a big problem with all these “consultant” type shows is that it’s the consultant who’s the star, therefore the one always having the epiphanies and solving the cases—it makes the professional crime-solvers seem like a bunch of boobs sometimes.  And that’s kind of where I’ve been with Moreti.  Not that she really seems like a boob, but she doesn’t come off as particularly necessary, and that’s always bad.  The consultants are really only ever truly successful when they’ve got someone to consult for, so it really needs to be a partnership.  I’m not feeling that just yet with Daniel and Kate.

One of the interesting partnerships on the show is that of Daniel and his graduate assistant, Lewicki.  More than just grading papers and filling in for a lecture when Pierce has better things to do (though there’s plenty of that), Lewicki is really sort of Pierce’s keeper.  He lives with the professor, knows about and understands his illness, and tries to help him manage it, even to the point of telling him when he’s having hallucinations.  Lewicki is portrayed by Arjay Smith, and he’s one of my favorite characters.

Rounding out the primary cast, we’ve got Kelly Rowan playing Natalie Vincent, and LeVar Burton as Paul Haley.  Natalie is a . . . confidante to Dr. Pierce.  It’s great to see Daniel with someone who makes him feel balanced and comfortable, even if it does turn out that she’s a recurring hallucination.  And Haley is Daniel’s boss at the university.  He likes Dr. Pierce, and thinks it’s great that he can help out with the criminal stuff, but he also wants the guy to be a regular faculty member sometimes, meaning stick to a class schedule and attend department fundraisers sometimes. He understands Daniel’s limitations, but he still tries to push beyond them sometimes.  Really, I think that’s what’s great about most of the characters: they don’t want to let Pierce be defined by his illness, even though it might be a big part of why he is who he is.  And, back to Moreti, I think maybe that’s part of why I don’t think her character works as well just yet, because she’s not had the full insight into Pierce’s circumstances, and has seemed more interested in using him for what he can do for her.  (Which sounds much more cold-hearted than I think the character really is, but she’s just not fleshed out well yet, I think.)

Anyway, all together, I think Perception makes for a pretty enjoyable hour of television.  It’s a nice blend of characters and performers (and even a Trek alum!) for a decent police procedural.  There’s nothing ground-breaking here, but McCormack really is sort of mesmerizing in this role, shifting between his perfectly functional professorial persona to a man overcome by his inner demons, with lots of variations in between.  I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops as the show goes along.

One Year Today

 

It’s hard to believe, but today marks the one year anniversary of the passing of my father-in-law.  I think time seems even stranger when you experience the loss of someone you really don’t see often, but it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s been a year ago to me, and I know Brian feels like the year has practically flown by.  And, of course, he is sad today, remembering and missing his dad, but grief is such a personal thing anyway, and certainly when dealing with someone like Brian, who doesn’t normally see the point in “dwelling” on things.  Still, even though I’m often guilty of keeping things to myself, there are definitely times I think you just feel better to let it out, and I really think this would be one of those times. 

On the other hand, there’s a quote by C.S. Lewis that I find remarkable:  “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”  The first time I read that, I wanted to simply shout out a resounding “YES!”  That’s exactly how it feels:  fear.  Of course, fear comes in many forms:  fear that you won’t know how to go on alone without the person lost, and fear that you will carry on easily; fear that you will forget the look and the sound of the person lost, and the fear that you will remember constantly; fear that you will feel this emptiness and sadness forever, and fear that it will pass too quickly.  And that’s really the root of it—you don’t want to think that you will bounce back from a loss quickly and easily, because that feels like a betrayal.  But you also don’t want to think that you will feel this emptiness forever.  There is something scary on both sides of the equation. 

And, if showing most emotions in general is something Brian struggles with, well, showing fear is almost certainly too much to ask.  So, I don’t suppose he’ll be talking anytime soon about his dad and how he feels these days, so there’ll be no chance for me to lend an understanding ear.  I guess what I do have to offer, though, is an open heart and the empathy of someone who’s been there.  I’ll just have to keep offering whatever sort of support I can muster.

One of my favorite photos of Pop.

Snapshot Sunday, June 30

 

It’s sort of hard for me to believe, but another entire week has gone by without taking a picture of anything.  I know for a lot of people, that’s pretty much the norm—only taking photos at special events and such—but I don’t want to be that.  I want to snap pictures of daily life, whatever and whenever strikes my fancy.  But even though I usually have my camera with me (and always have my phone with me), I rarely seem to take pictures these days.  Certainly it’s a function of time and energy; I’m always either doing something, or preparing to do something, or crashing into a stupor from pure exhaustion.  Still, what kind of fun is that? 

So, even though I failed miserably at this month’s photo a day challenge, I’ve downloaded the July list, and hope to be at least a little more successful this time around.  We’ll see.

 

But, while I was reminiscing this past week about the whole STAR saga, I was also browsing through some old photos.  I logged into my SmugMug account to look at the Hollywood pictures, but took a couple of minutes to look over some of my other galleries too.  (As a quick aside, if you’re looking for a good online hosting site for your photos, SmugMug gets my vote for sure:  easy to use, nice features, and unlimited storage, all at a very reasonable price.  And, no, I don’t get anything for that little blurb, either, just an honest opinion of a service I enjoy.) 

Anyway, I was looking at some of my pictures, including an album from a trip we took to Minnesota three or four years ago.  There are a lot of scenery pictures—some of them pretty decent, if I do say so myself—and even some family photos, but the one that jumped out at me was something silly.  We were just driving around town in Duluth and seeing what there was to see, and I was snapping a few pictures here and there. Of course, photos snapped from the passenger seat of a moving vehicle typically don’t turn out all that great—and this one’s not really an exception to that rule—but they often capture simple moments that would otherwise be forgotten in the midst of all the “real” things that were seen along the way. 

So it is with this quick shot that caught my attention when I saw it in real life, and has brought back the moment each time I’ve looked at the picture.  There was just something about this pensive face, looking out the window of a rundown building, watching to see what was going on in the world outside.  I wondered what he was thinking about, if he would rather have been outside chasing our passing car, if he knew we were strangers in his town, if he preferred that upstairs vantage point to something on the first floor or that’s just where he happened to be.  Maybe he was waiting for his owner to come home; that would explain why he barely moved when we drove by; he would know the car he was waiting to see.  Maybe when that particular car pulls onto the street, the pensive face takes on a whole new expression and the eyes light up while the tail starts wagging and he runs from the window, bounding joyfully down the steps to greet his owner at the door.  I like to think that’s what happens, but even if it does, I still wonder what he thinks about until that special car pulls into view, and what sorts of things has he seen from his upstairs perch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have simple snapshots that capture your imagination?  What stories do they tell you?