So I was a late bloomer and a year behind my classmates, which means I have another 365 and a quarter days to make the most of my thirties ... but I did have an unexpected gut check about my advancing age when I watched Lenny Kravitz perform his extended commercial on TNT for the NBA. Why? Because the first thing I thought of as my brain synapses fired was "The Jeffersons". If you don't get it, continue to enjoy your youth!
FOR YOU YOUNG'UNS, HERE's THE CONNECTION:
http://www.amusingfacts.com/facts/Detail/lenny-kravitz.html
ARE YOU GONNA GO HIS WAY AND WATCH THE NBA IN ACTION?:
http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5401
THE DIRTY THIRTIES (NOT MINE, THE COUNTRY's):
http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5401
January 6, 2011
January 5, 2011
Random Wordplay for Wednesday 1/5/11
Arch(e)type.
Used in a sentence: "As drugstore pharmacies continue to expand the doo-dads and gadgets surrounding the counter for those who are waiting, I stumbled on Dr. Scholl's foot-mapping kiosk that promises it will tell you your arch type so that you can purchase the right product -- is it wrong that I wanted to take it a step further and have it provide me my predominant Jungian archetype as well?"
[Hey -- I have to do something with all that schooling I had. Why not come up with a plan to enhance the foot-mapping to include some psyche-mapping.]
"You have flat feet AND you are consumed by the Shadow within."
Anyone sitting on some extra investment money?
CAUSE A MACHINE IS BETTER THAN A DOCTOR ANY DAY, RIGHT?:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dr-Scholls-Custom-Fit-Orthotics-Footmapping-Macine-In-Local-Stores
THE SHADOW TAKES OVER WHEN YOU ARE CONFUSED, DAZED or DRUGGED:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes.htm
THIS GUY SAYS ... "OUR GENES WANT US TO BE BAREFOOT":
http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes.htm
Used in a sentence: "As drugstore pharmacies continue to expand the doo-dads and gadgets surrounding the counter for those who are waiting, I stumbled on Dr. Scholl's foot-mapping kiosk that promises it will tell you your arch type so that you can purchase the right product -- is it wrong that I wanted to take it a step further and have it provide me my predominant Jungian archetype as well?"
[Hey -- I have to do something with all that schooling I had. Why not come up with a plan to enhance the foot-mapping to include some psyche-mapping.]
"You have flat feet AND you are consumed by the Shadow within."
Anyone sitting on some extra investment money?
CAUSE A MACHINE IS BETTER THAN A DOCTOR ANY DAY, RIGHT?:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dr-Scholls-Custom-Fit-Orthotics-Footmapping-Macine-In-Local-Stores
THE SHADOW TAKES OVER WHEN YOU ARE CONFUSED, DAZED or DRUGGED:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes.htm
THIS GUY SAYS ... "OUR GENES WANT US TO BE BAREFOOT":
http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes.htm
January 4, 2011
Random Tune for Tuesday 1/4/11
"After my boom comes your boom".
And it's time for the annual tribute in trilogy to those celebrities that passed in 2010. With Bea gone last year and Rue passing this year (not to mention Leslie too), I am most worried for Betty. Perhaps she can strike a deal with the Grim Golden Girls Reaper for extra longevity. But enough about the living ... it's just comforting to know that although we may never get to see the musical version of her autobiography My First Five Husbands (on which she was working when she died), we can catch her on Maude and Mama's Family and Golden Palace and Sordid Lives on occasion, and in the show that brings us this clip which is seemingly on multiple times a day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diXtiuVCcr0&feature=related
And it's time for the annual tribute in trilogy to those celebrities that passed in 2010. With Bea gone last year and Rue passing this year (not to mention Leslie too), I am most worried for Betty. Perhaps she can strike a deal with the Grim Golden Girls Reaper for extra longevity. But enough about the living ... it's just comforting to know that although we may never get to see the musical version of her autobiography My First Five Husbands (on which she was working when she died), we can catch her on Maude and Mama's Family and Golden Palace and Sordid Lives on occasion, and in the show that brings us this clip which is seemingly on multiple times a day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diXtiuVCcr0&feature=related
January 3, 2011
Random Memorial for Monday 1/3/11
Gone but not forgotten: my time in a small town.
Not to go all John Mellancamp on you, but I've only been in Chicago for a quarter of my life.
When I got to see 43565, a documentary in rotation on PBS this month that brilliantly captures vignettes of small town life, I was able to fondly remember moments from my youth. Kids driving around town with nothing else to do but see who else is on the same route (ah, crusin' the loop) ... the annual fair (for me, the Bologna and St Gertie Fests were more on point) ... knowing more than you should about everybody's business ... all beautiful things about growing up as I did. Lebanon PA was a little more metropolitan than Sidney, Ohio (the zip code referenced in this piece) -- after all, we ended up with two zip codes before I moved on -- but it was/is Americana.
Just like in this movie, being in a town where the train whistle could be blowing at any time from traffic on the tracks that split the town in two ... you are missed.
IT SURE AS HELL AIN't 90210:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/45365/
IN SIDNEY, THE BICYCLE MUSEUM OF AMERICA:
http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/ohio/sidney
CHECK THINGS TO DO IN LEBANON (AS NONE OF THEM ARE IN THE CITY):
http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/pennsylvania/lebanon
Not to go all John Mellancamp on you, but I've only been in Chicago for a quarter of my life.
When I got to see 43565, a documentary in rotation on PBS this month that brilliantly captures vignettes of small town life, I was able to fondly remember moments from my youth. Kids driving around town with nothing else to do but see who else is on the same route (ah, crusin' the loop) ... the annual fair (for me, the Bologna and St Gertie Fests were more on point) ... knowing more than you should about everybody's business ... all beautiful things about growing up as I did. Lebanon PA was a little more metropolitan than Sidney, Ohio (the zip code referenced in this piece) -- after all, we ended up with two zip codes before I moved on -- but it was/is Americana.
Just like in this movie, being in a town where the train whistle could be blowing at any time from traffic on the tracks that split the town in two ... you are missed.
IT SURE AS HELL AIN't 90210:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/45365/
IN SIDNEY, THE BICYCLE MUSEUM OF AMERICA:
http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/ohio/sidney
CHECK THINGS TO DO IN LEBANON (AS NONE OF THEM ARE IN THE CITY):
http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/pennsylvania/lebanon
January 2, 2011
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 1/2/11
What Chicago is talking about this week:
Regardless of how you feel about the creepy coincidence (21 firefighters died on Dec 22, 1910 and 2 died + 19 wounded on Dec 22, 2010), the fallen firefighter heroes have been laid to rest. Chicago mourns their passing and honors their commitment to their profession.
[And, a prognosticatory proposition -- if anything is burning on Dec 22, 2110, just let the thing burn out.]
TO CITE MY SOURCE, JESSICA H. POINTED OUT THE "COINCIDENCE":
http://www.wgntv.com/wgntv-firefighters-trapped-after-building-collapse-dec22,0,3469227.story
THE STOCKYARDS FIRE (NOT CAUSED BY MRS. O'LEARY's COW:
http://www3.gendisasters.com/illinois/6897/chicago-il-terrible-stockyard-plant-fire-dec-1910
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERs FOUNDATION:
http://www.firehero.org/
Regardless of how you feel about the creepy coincidence (21 firefighters died on Dec 22, 1910 and 2 died + 19 wounded on Dec 22, 2010), the fallen firefighter heroes have been laid to rest. Chicago mourns their passing and honors their commitment to their profession.
[And, a prognosticatory proposition -- if anything is burning on Dec 22, 2110, just let the thing burn out.]
TO CITE MY SOURCE, JESSICA H. POINTED OUT THE "COINCIDENCE":
http://www.wgntv.com/wgntv-firefighters-trapped-after-building-collapse-dec22,0,3469227.story
THE STOCKYARDS FIRE (NOT CAUSED BY MRS. O'LEARY's COW:
http://www3.gendisasters.com/illinois/6897/chicago-il-terrible-stockyard-plant-fire-dec-1910
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERs FOUNDATION:
http://www.firehero.org/
January 1, 2011
Random Posting for Penn State 1/1/11
First, let me just say -- that's a lot of ones!
Second, please note that this message is coming to you unadorned with marketing messages and unadulterated of corporate influence. [And it's not because I don't need the cash, it's just because I haven't figured out how to monetize this creative output.]
Third, as this game progresses, can I offer up a branding opportunity menu-add for Outback Steakhouse (as sponsors of today's Outback Bowl during Capital One Bowl Week on Disney's ABC channel presented by ESPN, etc., etc.)? Can they make bloomin' onions as a turnover?
FLAKY TURNOVER ONION PASTRY:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/flaky-turnover-pastry
SO MUCH FOR UNADORNED WITH MARKETING MESSAGES:
http://www.outback.com/
A TURNOVER MEASURES OFFENSIVE CARELESSNESS OR DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCE:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-turnover.htm
Second, please note that this message is coming to you unadorned with marketing messages and unadulterated of corporate influence. [And it's not because I don't need the cash, it's just because I haven't figured out how to monetize this creative output.]
Third, as this game progresses, can I offer up a branding opportunity menu-add for Outback Steakhouse (as sponsors of today's Outback Bowl during Capital One Bowl Week on Disney's ABC channel presented by ESPN, etc., etc.)? Can they make bloomin' onions as a turnover?
FLAKY TURNOVER ONION PASTRY:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/flaky-turnover-pastry
SO MUCH FOR UNADORNED WITH MARKETING MESSAGES:
http://www.outback.com/
A TURNOVER MEASURES OFFENSIVE CARELESSNESS OR DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCE:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-turnover.htm
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 1/1/11
I don't mean to go off on a rant here ...
... so I won't.
Look - I promise to get back to my crotchety grumbly self next week (and one day, my transformation into Ed Asner will be complete), but it's the New Year. The world isn't going to end if I decide to rave instead of rant today (instead, it will end when the magnetic poles swap places a few days before Christmas, 2012 in a Y2K reprise, right?). In the spirit of 2011, here are my 11 Raves (in alphabetical order) from the past year ...
1.) BONNIE HUNT may have ended her talk show, but she did it with class. What a tribute to take those five hours that we once spent with her weekly to embrace and promote the "humanity" that she highlighted on her mission.
2.) CHER was locked up in Vegas in an eternal cycle of saying farewell, but promises new artistic output in the years ahead (and it's already passe to pick on Burlesque in your critical 2010 lists, so move on). In the meantime, she continues to put her support behind essential movements like Operation Helmet for our IED exposed troops overseas.
3.) CHRIS L had the good sense to wait for his artery to collapse until he was on the table with the doctor conducting an angiogram. Now that's a sense of timing worth raving about (p.s. thanks for not dying)!
4.) CHRIS W was my boss and guided me through a major transition at work that upheld his stated goal of being someone who took great pride in developing his employees as people. And although it's currently review season, he is not a FB friend (so I'm not brown-nosing here) as he has strong opinions about the separation of work and non-work (and he embraces that LinkedIn phenomenon that I backed out of). Apparently, I have a bit of an anti-authoritarian streak, so his support was even more valued in a year where "trust us, we have your best interests in mind" was the mantra.
5.) HOLLY A, a high school classmate of mine who now lives in Orlando, is involved in an organization that fulfills the final wishes of people from all walks of life. She takes on their issues, their illnesses, their dreams and spins it all into happiness and pleasant memories, all the more essential because those memories won't be lasting a lifetime. Selfless and a hero ... she's a shining example for us all.
6.) My LINCOLN PARK TEAM at the Kaplan center where I worked for most of this year (and the last few years of this decade) rallied around our goals in this same year of work transformation I referenced earlier and made our center the best place to be. I might be biased, but I am not naive -- and I know that our successes in 2010 were because so many people rallied to our cause. For that, I am most grateful.
7.) MAYOR DALEY was the only mayor of Chicago I've known since I've lived here (which makes sense as he's just surpassed his father in longevity), and it's hard to imagine the next chapter ahead. I can only hope that his successor will have the ability to keep this city of competing interests, backgrounds and responsibilities together for all of its citizens.
8.) MYSTERY is truly gone but not forgotten, to quote my Monday shtick, having been euthanized this past March (two years to the day after my pit bill Demon was put down). She would bolt at the first sign of unknown noise and she would hide for hours on end until she was convinced the vacuum would not come back to life. But she was also right there over my shoulder on the couch in the evenings, she was a welcome pillow to the other cats in the apartment that wanted to snuggle with her and she most definitely left us too soon.
9.) RALPH N is my father, and he's now confined to a nursing home. Mind you, I've always said that there's a generation canyon that separates us (he was born in 1923 and I came along in 1972) and I don't have any type of typical relationship with him. But now that I'm responsible for his affairs, I've been forced to reconnect with him in a very unique way. I already know that I will never have all of the answers that I seek -- but I'm learning things each month of his final years and gaining perspective that I never thought I'd have. I thank him for teaching me that there is an infinite world of greys in this life I thought was black and white.
10.) WALTER and DOLLY L are the heroes of the year for my "family". Welcoming to me since 1998, I've been privileged to watch them devote their post-retirement years to their children and grandchildren in ways they never could have imagined. Project after project, they tirelessly contribute to keeping their brood taken care of, and, as they age, even at the risk of their own health. It's an honor to know such helpful folks.
11.) YOU -- if you've made it to the end of this post, that means you are a regular reader of mine. And I can't thank you enough for your support during this experiment in getting back into swimming in the creative pool. I don't know where this journey is taking me, but I look forward to continuing it and sharing it one bit of randomness at a time.
May 2011 bring you and yours the type of blessings that I've recently experienced!
OPERATION HELMET SAVES OUR SOLDIERS' LIVES:
http://www.operation-helmet.org/contribute.html
THE DREAM FOUNDATION:
http://www.dreamfoundation.org/
PAYING IT FORWARD:
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2009/04/17/lifestyle/features/teaming-bonnie-hunt.html
... so I won't.
Look - I promise to get back to my crotchety grumbly self next week (and one day, my transformation into Ed Asner will be complete), but it's the New Year. The world isn't going to end if I decide to rave instead of rant today (instead, it will end when the magnetic poles swap places a few days before Christmas, 2012 in a Y2K reprise, right?). In the spirit of 2011, here are my 11 Raves (in alphabetical order) from the past year ...
1.) BONNIE HUNT may have ended her talk show, but she did it with class. What a tribute to take those five hours that we once spent with her weekly to embrace and promote the "humanity" that she highlighted on her mission.
2.) CHER was locked up in Vegas in an eternal cycle of saying farewell, but promises new artistic output in the years ahead (and it's already passe to pick on Burlesque in your critical 2010 lists, so move on). In the meantime, she continues to put her support behind essential movements like Operation Helmet for our IED exposed troops overseas.
3.) CHRIS L had the good sense to wait for his artery to collapse until he was on the table with the doctor conducting an angiogram. Now that's a sense of timing worth raving about (p.s. thanks for not dying)!
4.) CHRIS W was my boss and guided me through a major transition at work that upheld his stated goal of being someone who took great pride in developing his employees as people. And although it's currently review season, he is not a FB friend (so I'm not brown-nosing here) as he has strong opinions about the separation of work and non-work (and he embraces that LinkedIn phenomenon that I backed out of). Apparently, I have a bit of an anti-authoritarian streak, so his support was even more valued in a year where "trust us, we have your best interests in mind" was the mantra.
5.) HOLLY A, a high school classmate of mine who now lives in Orlando, is involved in an organization that fulfills the final wishes of people from all walks of life. She takes on their issues, their illnesses, their dreams and spins it all into happiness and pleasant memories, all the more essential because those memories won't be lasting a lifetime. Selfless and a hero ... she's a shining example for us all.
6.) My LINCOLN PARK TEAM at the Kaplan center where I worked for most of this year (and the last few years of this decade) rallied around our goals in this same year of work transformation I referenced earlier and made our center the best place to be. I might be biased, but I am not naive -- and I know that our successes in 2010 were because so many people rallied to our cause. For that, I am most grateful.
7.) MAYOR DALEY was the only mayor of Chicago I've known since I've lived here (which makes sense as he's just surpassed his father in longevity), and it's hard to imagine the next chapter ahead. I can only hope that his successor will have the ability to keep this city of competing interests, backgrounds and responsibilities together for all of its citizens.
8.) MYSTERY is truly gone but not forgotten, to quote my Monday shtick, having been euthanized this past March (two years to the day after my pit bill Demon was put down). She would bolt at the first sign of unknown noise and she would hide for hours on end until she was convinced the vacuum would not come back to life. But she was also right there over my shoulder on the couch in the evenings, she was a welcome pillow to the other cats in the apartment that wanted to snuggle with her and she most definitely left us too soon.
9.) RALPH N is my father, and he's now confined to a nursing home. Mind you, I've always said that there's a generation canyon that separates us (he was born in 1923 and I came along in 1972) and I don't have any type of typical relationship with him. But now that I'm responsible for his affairs, I've been forced to reconnect with him in a very unique way. I already know that I will never have all of the answers that I seek -- but I'm learning things each month of his final years and gaining perspective that I never thought I'd have. I thank him for teaching me that there is an infinite world of greys in this life I thought was black and white.
10.) WALTER and DOLLY L are the heroes of the year for my "family". Welcoming to me since 1998, I've been privileged to watch them devote their post-retirement years to their children and grandchildren in ways they never could have imagined. Project after project, they tirelessly contribute to keeping their brood taken care of, and, as they age, even at the risk of their own health. It's an honor to know such helpful folks.
11.) YOU -- if you've made it to the end of this post, that means you are a regular reader of mine. And I can't thank you enough for your support during this experiment in getting back into swimming in the creative pool. I don't know where this journey is taking me, but I look forward to continuing it and sharing it one bit of randomness at a time.
May 2011 bring you and yours the type of blessings that I've recently experienced!
OPERATION HELMET SAVES OUR SOLDIERS' LIVES:
http://www.operation-helmet.org/contribute.html
THE DREAM FOUNDATION:
http://www.dreamfoundation.org/
PAYING IT FORWARD:
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2009/04/17/lifestyle/features/teaming-bonnie-hunt.html
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