85) Confusing Morning

I had a confusing morning and am not sure exactly how it happened. I woke up and went through my routine as I do every morning. I brushed my teeth, put my contacts in, got dressed. As I washed my face and messed with my hair I noticed that my right eye was a little blurry. I adjusted the contact several times, but the blur never cleared up. I took the contact out and looked at it closely, thinking that I must have put it in backward or something. The contact looked strange, almost like it had split and had two flaps going in different directions. I was not quite awake and could not see so good, but I played with the thing until I realized it was actually 2 contacts stuck together. I looked at my contact case and realized that I just came home from vacation and opened a new package of contacts the day before. My thought was, I must have left the old contact in the case, and then last night put my new contact in the same case. So I pulled the two contacts apart and tried to determine which was the old and which was the new. I could not tell them apart so I blindly chose one and decided to keep the other one in case I learned today that I was wearing the old one. I continued getting ready, made my lunch and then went to find Liz to say goodbye for the morning. While talking with her I felt like my left eye was blurry and immediately assumed that I was wearing 2 contacts in my left eye. By this point I was running a little late, so I hurried to the bathroom to dig out the 2 contacts and see which was the older. I peeled my eye lid back and could not see a contact. I felt around in there and discovered that I did not have a contact in my eye. So, I went to my case and took the other contact out, the one I thought was older, and put it in my left eye. I guess this morning I put both of my contacts in the same eye. This is the first time I have done anything like this. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

84) Destination Wishlist

Following is a small list of places I would like to visit. I know I am leaving many off, but this is as far as I was able to get over lunch:
















Pyramids: I have always been intrigued by the pyramids. I like ancient stuff, and these simple and magnificent structures stand for no reason in the middle of the dessert. For that reason, I would like to touch them.

















Grand Canyon: I would like to go river rafting through the grand canyon, making sure to spend at least one night deep in the middle of the thing.



















Wurtzburg, Germany: I would like to visit Dirk Nowitzki's home town of Wurtzburg, Germany. I want a picture of me standing at the city limit wearing my Dirk jersey. Ok, maybe I do not need that picture, but I would like to see where my favorite athlete was born.




























Wallace Monument: Since Braveheart came out (saw it 5 times in the theater) I have been obsessed with William Wallace. In Stirling, the location of one of his finest victories, stands a monument just for him. I must see it.






















Taj Mahal: Supposedly this amazing structure is a mausoleum built in memory of an ancient shah's wife. She must have been an amazing woman.

















Old Trafford: I would like to visit Manchester, England to watch Manchester United play a game at Old Trafford. Not sure I want to do this to see the awesome display of skill, or if I will be more interested in watching the drunk, English fans getting worked up. Probably both.

83) Music Listography#2: Top 20 Albums If I Had To Leave Planet Earth

The second assignment in our Music Listography book is: List 20 Albums You'd Bring If You Were Leaving Planet Earth On A Spaceship

I found this assignment to be especially hard. Much more difficult than the first assignment, which is post #80. I thought about this assignment and how different the list of albums would be based on when you ask me. So, this list is as of 4/8/2012. Just to note, one of the reasons I like this question so much is because it forces me to think of an entire work in and of itself. A song represents a story, an idea or an emotion. An album represents everything the artists were living, feeling, thinking, hoping during a specific period of their life. The album is a complete work that somehow makes me feel closer to the artists than my favorite songs alone.

Friends introduce me to songs I may like. But those songs lead me to exploring the band's album. It is that exploration that deserves this list. And the most difficult thing about this assignment is that we are leaving planet earth. Any album left behind will be lost forever...and that makes this list so bloody stressful!

Top 20 albums I'd bring if I were leaving planet Earth on a spaceship:

Pearl Jam: Ten
Pearl Jam: Verses
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Blind Melon: Soup
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Coldplay: Viva La Vida
Coldplay: Parachutes
Tool: Aenima
Rush: Moving Pictures
U2: War
Franz Ferdinand: Tonight
Oasis: What's The Story Morning Glory
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium
Radiohead: Hail To The Thief
The Police: Reggata de Blanc
A Perfect Circle: 13th Step
NIN: Downward Spiral
Sublime: Sublime

82) Letter To Copyright Law

Recently I became inspired to create 2 minute vignettes documenting events/evenings/fun times that I have with my friends and family so that I can post them on Facebook and have them live in my timeline for me to revisit anytime in the future that I wish. I toiled over buying a camera, but worried about spending too much money on something I might not have follow through on. I talked with my good friend Craig about possible solutions. He suggested using my iphone, because the video quality is good, transferring the data to my computer and into imovie is easy, and it would not cost me anything extra. And then, if this becomes I hobby I wish to take more seriously, I can buy another camera.

My first opportunity to test my inspiration came when a group of us went to a concert for the band Fun. If you are not familiar with this band, they sing the song, "Tonight...We are Young!" I went to the concert and annoyed the group with my phone out. I captured a total of 16-17 minutes of video and edited it into a simply vignette over an audio bed of Fun. music. I spent about 2 hours on the editing process and ended up with a simple, yet compelling tribute to our Wednesday night concert. I posted the video on youtube in order to share with friends and family. Within 30 seconds, the video was banned due to copyright law!

So now I am confused. I can go on youtube and find videos on any and everything that exists or has existed dating back to the beginning of television. Or I can find dozens of recorded or live versions of random songs, either local bands or professional bands. Yet, 30 seconds after I post a homemade video, it gets flagged and restricted. And I could possibly be prosecuted for violating copyright law.

So, if I had to write a letter, I would write to Copyright Law and I would ask, "Why was my video flagged so quickly, while other videos are free from restriction?" And next I would ask, "You're not gonna to prosecute me, are you?"

81) Funny Story

Got a call from Chris White at 8a. His morning routine was interrupted by several power surges that caused his security system to beep loudly every fifteen minutes or so. This interruption began in the wee hours of the morning and continued on until it was time to go to work. He begrudgingly rose from bed, got dressed and drove to work, wondering why in the heck power surges caused him to get so little sleep. The one thing he did not do was look at his feet.

He arrived at his office on a typical Tuesday, one in which he has a weekly status meeting with his team first thing in the morning. Our friend, Chris White, walked into his meeting where his fellow employees noticed him wearing 1 brown shoe and 1 black shoe. I am not sure what part of this situation I like better: the funny reveal at the office where his team members get a good laugh at his expense, or the hour and a half drive of shame where he had to go home in order to get 2 matching shoes.
























This story inspired me to devote a post to instances where the brain did not work properly and someone ended up at work wearing mismatching shoes.


* I made it to work one morning with my shirt inside out. In my defense, the stitching on the outside of the shirt looks similar to the stitching on the inside of the shirt.

* While in college I took a class with an Italian exchange student. He was extremely Metro and rode around campus on a smallish motorcycle. I lived far off campus and parked no where close to my classes. He drove by me one day and offered to give me a ride. I declined. He persisted with his thick Italian accent, letting me know it was common practice for 2 dudes to ride a smallish motorcycle together. Reluctantly I got on. Out of the 12,000 or so students attending Baylor at the time, Britt was on campus and saw me riding. He assured me it was more than unacceptable for 2 dudes to ride a smallish motorcycle together.

* At least once a month I forget my laptop at home and must turn around to get it. Each time, I discover the fact I forgot my laptop in the parking garage. However, I wait until I get inside my office so that I can be seen getting to work on time. I have to walk into my cube and pretend that I just realized my laptop is missing. My acting is good and works every time, but that does not make the drive of shame any less annoying.

* I teach a class at a community college and once showed up to the wrong classroom. I sat in there alone for 20 minutes before discovering I was in the wrong room. Amazingly, my students did not institute the 15-minute rule.

* To avoid using the office refrigerator, I bring my lunch in a small cooler (the bag-type, not the hard, igloo type). One morning, the plastic bag I use to hold ice did not work properly. The ice melted enough on my drive to work that water slowly dripped down my leg while I carried my lunch through the parking garage and up to my desk. My leg was so wet that I had to go home to change.

* I made it to my class one time without bringing my briefcase, which is to say I did not have any of my materials for the class. So I made up a class on the fly where I threw together random images in 4 different power point presentations and asked the students to deliver an impromptu speech using the random images as guides. The lesson was designed to show that you do not need words on your power point to spell out what you are trying to present. I now use that class each semester.

* I know a guy (promise that this is not me) that once put on shirt covered in dog urine. He did not notice until someone pointed it out to him. His response upon discovering the mistake was, "I wondered what that smell was?"


I know there are more, but have run out of time...

80) Insecurities

Getting back to the blog challenge put to me last summer, I am to write about something I am insecure about. This is a tough assignment because I worry about it coming across as whiny. For instance, I could write about my extraordinarily large nose that bends slightly to one side. Or I could write about how I am too short to be taken seriously in either high school sports or any of the construction jobs I've had. I could talk about my inadequate ability to grow facial hair even though I grow long thick, dark hairs on my ears, nose, unibrow area and all over my back. I could describe my smallish hands, or the fact that my toes are too webbed for me to move them independently of each other. I could tell stories about how my loud voice gets me into trouble, or that I snore so ferociously that I often wake up with a sore throat. I could write about my coarse Japanese hair that has so many cowlicks that my last stylist could not find where my hair is supposed to part.

I could write about these things, but the last thing I want to be is whiny. So instead, I am going to write about how I impressed a beautiful woman. I impressed her enough to spend her free time with me. I impressed her enough to marry me. Instead of whining, I am going to write how despite all these crazy truths I am the luckiest guy in the world. This is the point in the story where you say, "Awww."

78) The Little Things

A tragedy occurred this past Christmas. 2 men jumped a co-worker of mine in an attempt to rob him and his brother. Details are sketchy, but a struggle broke out that ended in my co-worker being shot from point blank range. He died on the streets of Little Rock just after 2am on Christmas morning.

I learned of this 2 days later via fb, and have had many troubles reconciling in my mind what has happened. The senselessness of the crime forces me to realize how little we actual control in the grand scheme of things. What sort of barriers truly exist between me calmly returning to my car after a dinner with friends or me being jumped and shot by someone desperate for what cash I may have on me? How many times do I leave my office after dark and walk the nearly deserted streets of downtown Dallas before reaching the security of my car without thinking once that my life were in imminent danger? Dozens? Hundreds? Infinitely more than my co-worker will ever again.

I returned to work on December 27th. Our agency closes the week after Christmas and I was the only person present in the office. I booted up my computer and before I knew what I was doing, I walked over to my co-worker's cubicle on the other side of the building. Everything was how he left it the day he departed for Christmas vacation. Toys and trinkets cluttered his messy workspace. 10 bottles of various liquors stood atop his filing cabinet out in the open, a blatant disregard for normal office protocol. Perhaps a clever case of hiding in plain sight. His cubicle walls adorned with posters of obscure bands he'd seen or festivals he'd attended.

I stood in his doorway and wondered what was going to happen to his things. I wondered who would have the unenviable task of cleaning out his cubicle and disconnecting his computer. Who would end up with all of his liquor? Or his toys? I thought about all the time he spent at his office and how his space reflected the playful sort of person he was. And sometime soon his cube would be cleaned and there would be very little trace that he was here at all.

That was when I noticed a postcard pinned up to the inside of his cubicle wall just behind one of his computer monitors. It read, "Don't Sweat The Little Things". It is a simple enough message, the sort you see all over the place. A positive mantra that reminds us not to worry too much because throughout our life there will be plenty of big things to worry about.

For 2012 I resolve not to sweat the little things. Life is too short and too important. Much positive can be said about Keye and the life he led. It is certainly true that he was taken from us far too early. But it is also true that we must enjoy as much of our time here as possible, because we never know when one particular day could be our last.