stop and think

Sometimes I have an epiphany on how I can make life easier. Unfortunately I didn't invent the Internet (like Al Gore) or Facebook or Twitter. and I probably won't be in on The Next Big Thing.

No, I think of really simple things that could never be patented. Tonight I became irritable when my wonderful wife asked me to go to the basement to get toilet paper. And I thought and said something to the effect of "Why in the bleep is the T.P. down there? We don't have a bathroom down there. ALL the T.P. should be stored near the bleeping toilets!!! I didn't actually use the salty language, but you get the point.

Another idea is to only do one thing at a time. Or to put it even simpler, finish one thing before taking on another. One scenario is during the trip from the basement to the upstairs, I'll carry multiple rolls and then try to pour myself a glass of water when passing through the kitchen while holding onto the rolls. Inevitably I'd spill water or drop the rolls, yell an obsenity, and have to clean up. Why not just set the T.P. down first? Or skip the water?

I hope you can find a way to incorporate this advice into your life and lower your stress and anger levels. Occasionally I'll think first and am almost always grateful.

La Marquesa

Yesterday I returned from an 11 day family vacation to Mexico City and Acapulco, along with a day trip to a national park called La Marquesa, just west of Mexico City. La Marquesa is in a temperate valley surrounded by rolling mountains of pine trees and the day there was one of the highlights of the vacation. There are a multitude of activities there: soccer, hiking, kite flying, frisbee, football games, fishing, 4 wheelers, horseback riding, and more.
After throwing a football around for awhile we sat down outside a restaurant and ate tacos, quesadillas, tlacoyos, and huaraches. I chose to wash it down with a michelada, a beer with salt on the rim of the bottle and lemon juice and hot sauce added to the beer. After that we rode four wheelers and then played a game of touch football with about 15 kids and adults. Finally we went back to the picnic tables and took about another 90 minutes to finally pick up and leave.
It was one of those long, sunny days where you forget about time and stress and just have fun. As a youth I spent summer days like that in the towns of Alaska and Holland State Park, MI. Now that the weather has turned for the better I hope you'll plan a day trip somewhere near you and enjoy some leisure time in the great outdoors.

Down Mexico way

Having a great time in Mexico and will have lots to share next week.

iPod and classic albums

I was a bit perplexed this evening when my tween daughter asked me to pull out some of my favorite albums so she could download some of it them onto her iPod. Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Joe Walsh in particular. I was pleased by her interest but perplexed by the word "some" in the preceding sentence.

I gave her the CDs assuming she'd download all of them only to see her first downloading Abbey Road and picking out about 8 of the 17 songs. Personally I'll usually only listen to it when on a road trip or doing a project in the yard because that's the only way I can listen to it all at once. I asked her how she could load Mean Mr. Mustard, not load Polythene Pam, and then load She Came in Through the Bathroom Window. It made no sense to me. I have other examples from other albums but I'll just stop there.

There are pros and cons to being part of the iPod generation. One pro is that they don't have to suffer through some of the bad songs on great albums. A major con is that they miss what it's like to know an album's time and place and how it was part of an artist or group's career. For now I'll try to get her download whole albums and there's nothing to lose because I already paid for them.

Mel Kiper Jr.

If you listen to sports radio even just a little bit you'll eventually hear Mel Kiper Jr. Mel is what is known as the "NFL Draft guru". He knows just about everything no correct that everything there is to know about every NFL team and every Division 1 college football prospect. This time of year leading up to the draft is Mel time and you'll see and hear him seemingly everywhere.

The little I've thought about him in the past is that he's slightly nutty but now I'm starting to think he's a genius. He is so specialized in his knowledge that I think he could translate to almost any medium. I could just hear Mel handicapping the Oscars, the midterms elections, or even the weather with the same passion he does with NFL draft. Joseph Campbell once said "Follow your bliss". Mel Kiper Jr. certainly has.

Here's a video of Mel talking about Tim Tebow. This is a three minute interview. Mel could do this for hours without coming up for air!

an apple a day

One of the first things kids learn about health is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." It is one of those phrases that becomes ingrained in the psyche. I've never paid much mind to it myself as I only eat them sporadically. I started to take another look at apples recently because of reading about their benefits to the teeth. According to ezinearticles.com,

"In addition to their basic health benefits, they have numerous dental benefits. Apples are a mildly acidic fruit. Because of their slightly astringent quality, they are an ideal food for cleansing and brightening teeth. The acidic nature of an apple is not enough to make a person's teeth pearly white. The acid needs the help of the fiber-rich flesh of the apple."

I've been eating one per day for 10 days and I think my teeth look whiter. I've been fanatical about my teeth since having braces as a teenager and hearing the horror stories about what effect poor habits would have on my teeth. I imagined myself with yellow teeth around the white square that was the brace on each tooth. The only thing I do knowingly that is harmful to my teeth is drink diet pop at lunch and dinner.

I'm planning to keep up the habit and will know for sure if anyone comments on my whiter smile. Even if that doesn't work they have other less vain benefits.

Napoleon Dynamite

For a time back in 2004 one could barely go anywhere without seeing some reference to Napoleon Dynamite or a Vote For Pedro t-shirt. My tendency is to resist being sucked into these trends and just let it ride out. I rarely get to see an "adult" movie and don't know much about modern music. And that's ok. Sooner or later if a movie is good enough I'll check it out. When the student is ready the teacher will appear.

Last night I viewed Napoleon Dynamite for the first time. I could tell within the first five minutes that it was going to be a gem. Like the best comedies, the movie keeps your attention despite a thin plot because you anticipate that something funny is coming often.
Without being a spoiler, I'll just share a list of the top five characters: Napoleon Dynamite, Uncle Rico, Kip Dynamite, Deb, and Pedro. If you enjoy slow-paced movies with nuanced, tongue-in-cheek humor, then check it out. Here's a look at Uncle Rico.