Blur

In a world addicted to speed, I blur the moments into one unholy smear.

~ Ann Voskamp

- - - - -

As soon as a moment passes, the truth of that moment is also gone.  There is only the teller's version of the moment.  Or the tellers' versions.

In fact, maybe there is no truth in the moment itself.  Maybe the baggage we carry and the lenses through which we view events in the world as they happen compromise the accuracy of our accounts.

So, what does this mean?  That we shouldn't attempt to share what has happened?  That everything we say is at worst a lie and at best seriously distorted?  

Nah.  It's just stories.  It's all just stories.  Blurry, messy, creative, fictionalized reality.

So have a little fun with it, already!

But not if you're called into court.  You can get in uber trouble if you fictitionalize or fictionate or create a fictography too much in court.  

There is a fine line between creative recollection and lying.  

(pause)

Actually…  in some cases it's not a fine line.  It's more like a humongous speed bump.

Teacher

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, 

when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.

~ Umberto Eco

- - - - -

I think you can learn a lot from a father.  I won't go into specifics because then it would have the potential to be about gender and might stir up a bunch of arguments because of the huge following my blog has.  Like if I said you can learn to drive from a father, someone would say, "What?!  You CAN'T learn to drive from a mother?!!"  And that wouldn't be what I mean.

You can learn a lot from a father and a mother.  And a grandmother.  And an aunt.  And a grandfather. And a neighbor.  Or someone on the news.  Or from a child.  Or a slightly older child.

Let's face it, you just have a LOT to learn, okay?

Photography

Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it.  No painting or drawing, however naturalistic, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does.
~ John Berger

- - - - -

Occasionally I take a photo that I really like.

This is one of those.

It has a tree.  And a road.  

It's good to have a tree by the road.  Just in case you need shade to wait for the tow truck.  Or so that there is something to look at besides the flat parts - of which there are a lot around here.  Also trees are good for the environment which is important.

Do trees do good things for the environment because they are genetically designed to or do they give back to the environment if the environment is good for them?  Is it nature or nurture with trees?

(pause)

It's nature.

Foundations

Do you wish to rise?  Begin by descending.  

You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds?

Lay first the foundation of humility.

~ Saint Augustine

- - - - -

I like that quote.  Well, of course I do or I wouldn't have used it.

I agree with it.  I think a lot of people lack foundations of humility.  They have foundations of pride or greed or envy or straw or ego or sticks or even sand.  And that's no good.

I think I have a pretty great foundation of humility.  But I'm too humble to mention it.

(pause)

To mention it often.

Resolve

Don't ever give up.  Don't ever give in.  Don't ever stop trying.  Don't ever sell out.  And if you find yourself succumbing to one of the above for a brief moment, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, whisper a prayer, and start where you left off.  But never, ever, ever give up.

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

- - - - -

I like New Year's Day.  I don't like New Year's Eve.  I think I've shared that.  I like the reflective part of it, but I don't like that some people use the last day of the year to behave irresponsibly.  Of course, that probably isn't the only day we as human beings behave irresponsibly.  I know some people do that for a few days in June and that one day in August and those four days that fall randomly in September and October.

But I digress…

My point is that I like New Year's day because it is a new year.  A new start.  But I read something recently and it made me realize that it is silly to wait until January 1st (a randomly chosen day to begin with) to start over.  Instead of New Year's Resolutions, I think we might all be better served to make New Day's Resolutions.

And - for a few of you - New Minute's Resolutions might be even better.

(pause)

You know who you are.

Music

Without music, life would be a mistake.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

- - - - -

I love music.  Sometimes I get obsessed with a single song.  The last time that happened, I think maybe it was "Counting Stars" by One Republic.  Or maybe it was "Demons" by Imagine Dragons.  It doesn't necessarily matter for the purposes of this post.  My point in this paragraph was going to be that sometimes I play a song over and over again because it resonates with me.  For whatever reason.

Other times I explore to try and find new music.  I let Pandora guide me or I try to find out what other people are listening to.  Or sometimes I even listen to the radio.  Rarely, but sometimes.  

Okay, that's not true.  I listen to the radio all the time.  It' just usually NPR.

But I digress.

What I'm trying to say here is that I really like music.  It helps me in a lot of ways.  I know not everyone loves music.  That is okay, I guess.  Odd to me, but okay for others.  Personally, I think everyone should have a song in her or his heart.  And I think everyone does.  Some people don't choose very well, though and the songs in their hearts probably feel like heartburn.  

The song in my heart feels like, "WooHoo!  I love music!"  And also, "How about some Squeeze?  You haven't listened to Squeeze in a while."

Hey!  Know what?  I just thought of something.  Hearts have chambers.  Like chamber music.  I think everyone has a song in the music chamber of her or his heart.  

(pause)

But it doesn't have to be actual chamber music.  You might want to have Squeeze in your heart instead.

Love

Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.

~ Japanese Proverb

- - - - -

You never know where you will find love.  So be on the lookout.  There are lots of opportunities all around us to receive love and kindness.  Sometimes we close ourselves off to those things.  Which is silly.  We should be more receptive.

And we should take every opportunity to show and share love with others.  Even if it means using a cell phone in a bathroom.  (pause)  Sometimes the things I think in my head seem much different when I put them into writing on a page or a screen.

I love thinking.

I love words.

I rarely endorse using a cell phone in a bathroom.



Notes

He listens well who takes notes.

~ Dante Aligheri

- - - - -

 

Anyone who knows me or has ever been in a meeting with me knows that I take a lot of notes.  Those notes end up in different places, settings and are utilized in a variety of ways.  It actually helps me think better to take notes.  I used to doodle when I was in grade school because THAT helped me listen better.  Then I got in trouble for doodling, so now I take notes.

 

One challenge, however, is that I sometimes forget why I wrote certain things down.  For example, the other day I saw a note I had written that read, "215 or whenever."  This morning I saw one that said, "Share w/ others."  I also have, "Every two weeks" and "areas of expertise."

 

I don't mind that I don't know what these mean.  I figure that it will give my future biographers some wiggle room for speculation.  After all, I really would like people to use creative writing in the making of my biographies.  I certainly use creative writing in capturing my autobiography.

Cold

With my last breath, I'll exhale my love for you.  

I hope it's a cold day, so you can see what you meant to me.

~ Jarod Kintz

- - - - -

So, it has been a cold winter thus far.  That is what the Farmer's Almanac said was going to happen.  It definitely has been happening.  

This morning when I went to work it wasn't too bad.  I think maybe it was 7 degrees or something.  When I left campus, it was about 0 degrees and the wind had picked up, so I'm sure it felt colder.  I saw Maura and Elyse as they were headed across campus.  Maura reprimanded me for not having a hat on.

She was right.  It was too cold to be out without a hat.  I had a hat in my car, but that wasn't really helpful in that moment.  I should have been more prepared / organized.

Almost immediately after Maura said I should have had a hat on, a young man passed me wearing a t-shirt and shorts.  Mind you, it really was VERY cold.

"Maura!" I yelled.  I gestured at Mr. Frosty and added, "See?!  At least with me it's JUST a HAT!"  She and Elyse agreed that Mr. Frosty was less wise than I was.  Of course, that doesn't make me wise.  That just makes me less unwise.

Just like in the animal fables…  There's the wise old owl, but surely there must be a less wise old owl.  Or, wait…  No.  That's not the same.  They might both be wise.  In the case of Mr. Frosty and Michelle we might neither one be wise.

I also think that a TV show called "Mr. Frosty and Michelle" would be unwise.  That said, it might fare better than "Half-naked Backpack Boy and Icehead."  

(pause)

Or maybe not.  I think we can all agree that either of those could potentially be successful kids' cartoon shows.  Which is not a negative commentary on children.  More a negative commentary on what we think children should be spending their time watching.

Of course, the moral of either show could be to dress appropriately for the weather.  Something apparently neither Snowshins nor I learned as children.

Rural

It is only in the country that we can get to know a person or a book.

~ Cyril Connoly

- - - - -

I love barns.  If you have read even a few of my blogs, you probably picked up on that.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  I just like them.  They are interesting and beautiful and fun to explore.  They remind me of my grandparents' farm.

And they look so interesting to me.  A lot of them are old, but still standing.  A lot of them are old and part standing.  A lot of them are old and not so much standing.

I'm sure there are young barns out there, too, but that's not what I'm talking about here.

And I love being from the midwest where people know their outbuildings.  Like this weekend when I went to see the movie, "Nebraska."  At one point, Bruce Dern looks out the window (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler) and says, "The old barn's still standing."

Then I heard the woman next to me lean to her husband and whisper, "Looks more like a corn crib to me."

She was right.  And people not from around here or who don't know farms wouldn't know the difference.

They could make notes for themselves, though.  Maybe some sort of corn cribsheet.

Heretics

Just because Galileo was a heretic

doesn't make every heretic a Galileo.

~ Jay Griffiths

- - - - -

On a recent flight I was sitting next to an armrest hog who happened to be an older man.  I don't like armrest hogs.  And I think the fact that I noticed he was one highlights the fact that I don't have to sit next to a lot or armrest hogs.  Which is nice.

Anyway, he was reading a book called Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.  It made me really wish I carried a voodoo doll with me at all times. 

Rather than just on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Difficulty

Bad times have scientific value.  

These are occasions a good learner would not miss.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

Most difficult times require change or occur because of change.  Something doesn't go the way you expected or hoped.  You find yourself in a circumstance not of your choosing.  Like the dust bowl.  That wasn't expected and occurred because of climate change.  The unwanted and unanticipated results of bad agricultural planning.

Any sort of tragedy or disaster.  Sometimes even just having to move from one town to another.  Or losing something and not being able to find the exact same thing again, so you have to adapt to a purple wallet instead of a red one.

Change is hard.  Maybe most of us are comforted by routine.  Predictability.  

Maybe change is hard because it's made out of metal.

Attire

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies...  It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.

~ Albert Einstein

- - - - -

I get frustrated when people equate professionalism with attire.  I don't understand it.  Especially when that is the ONLY thing that people can say about what it means to be professional.  I think there is much more to it.  Some things to consider:

* Good grammar

* Good timing

* A sense of respect for others

* Working knowledge of issues at hand

* The ability to listen well

* The ability to communicate well in person and in writing

* A willingness to look beyond the immediate situation (people, event, setting, etc.) 

* Eye contact, non-verbals and body language

But, I guess for some people, what kind of shoes you are wearing matters more.  I wonder if the woman who owned these shoes and left them behind was considered professional when she showed up with no shoes.  

I had a conversation with someone recently.  We saw someone dressed in an outfit that some people might have considered professional.  I might have considered it unwise given the freezing weather and icy sidewalks.  I said to a colleague, "That's quite an outfit.  It's eye-catching."  My colleague responded, "Except when it catches your eye you want to stab your eye out."

That wasn't very professional.  But sometimes being funny is more important than being professional.  And sometimes being professional is more than your meat wrapper.

(pause)

Which sounds like slang for something else.

Birds

The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.

~ Arthur Miller

- - - - -

It's interesting how we contextualize things in terms of birds, isn't it?

Early bird.

Bird's eye view.

Bird's of a feather.

Wing span.

Bird brain.

Free as a bird.

Give someone the bird.

I wonder why we do that.  Maybe because birds are common points of reference?  Maybe we hold birds in higher regard since they can fly (and walk and some can also swim)?  It's hard to say.

We anthropomorphize birds in lots of ways, too.  Wise old owl is but one example.

But when the woman said she just "Shat the equivalent of our Thanksgiving turkey," well...  I guess she wasn't anthropomorphizing.  Maybe she was anthropoomorphizing.

Stories

After nourishment, shelter and companionship, 

stories are the thing we need most in the world.

~ Phillip Pullman

- - - - -

I wonder sometimes about our lives as stories.  Do our lives - when boiled down - end up as a single lesson or theme or moral?  Are our stories so different from those of others?  Do our lives all end up with the same summary - "Be good," or "Help and be helped," or "Try harder"?  I don't know.

And what if our own stories are not ours to keep?  I am a relatively private person, but what if the story of who I am and what I do belongs to the universe or the world or society and not to me?  I wouldn't like it much - it is scary and makes me feel vulnerable to think that someone else owns the meaning of me.  But maybe if I get to craft it, it wouldn't be so bad.

None of us really gets to craft our own legacies though, right?  That is done after we're gone.  Sometimes by people who don't know anything about us.

But maybe that is why people blog or post on Facebook or use Twitter.  To help provide some framework for their lives and stories.  To give their own meanings before someone else does that.

Or maybe they blog and post on Facebook or use Twitter because they want you to know what they are watching on TV or how their food looks tonight.

(pause)

Maybe that is the story of their lives.  

I won't judge.  

(pause)

Out loud.

Adventure

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

- - - - -

I have an amazing life. I get to write and read a lot.  I get to interact with students - who are the best.  I get to interact with people who care about students - also awesome.

I got to see a giant rubber duck.  I know how to juggle (a little).  I know how to make a really good hard boiled egg.  I know how to fix vacuum cleaners.  I know how to make a giant fire out of a smaller, pre-existing fire.

I get to have amazing adventures (real and imagined).

In fact, most of my real adventures get imagined in new ways when I recall or retell them.  I like that.  Leslie does not always like it because sometimes I alter the dialogue we have on those adventures.  I consider it creative memory.  She sometimes considers it misrepresentation.  I think she just doesn't appreciate it when I give myself all the good lines - regardless of the fact that she might have originally said some of them.

Waiting

The wait is long, my dream of you does not end.

~ Nuala O'Faolain

- - - - -

I think there is joy in waiting.  There is a perfection in the hope of something that the having of that something can never match.  Dreams are bigger than reality sometimes.

That said, however, the achievement or obtaining of one thing then opens the door to the dreaming and anticipation of another.  And I think we have an obligation to keep dreaming so that we can keep growing and the world can continue to aspire to be what it might be.

I don't mean it in a greedy or selfish or hoarding or envy sort of way.  Not all dreams are greedy.  Not all aspirations are selfish. If yours are, that's on you.  If mine are (and - truthfully - some of mine are), that's on me.  And we should strive to do better.

But maybe more important than us dreaming and aspiring for things for ourselves...  Maybe more important that what we want to achieve...  Maybe the focus should be on how we can help others achieve their dreams.  If we work together and share our goals and aspirations, maybe everyone can have what s/he wants. If we are vulnerable enough to give sound and voice and words to our hopes, maybe we can make one another's hopes come true.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Party

There was nothing wrong with being a homebody.  

There was nothing wrong with not wanting - not needing - 

the constant jostle and noise of a party or bar or…  whatever.

~ Jack Kinrowan

- - - - -

Leslie: (last night when she and I were on the phone), Well, we need to go to sleep.  Well, I need to go to sleep.  You can stay up and party or whatever.

Me:  I'm going to party like it's 1999.  (pause)  It's a retro party.

Feet

If you have feet, walk!  If you have wings, fly!  

Whatever you have, use them!  Don't let them to rust!

~ Mehmet Murat ildan

- - - - -

People get old.  Things hurt when people get old.  I think they hurt in different ways.  Like the aches and pains of the heart and soul might mellow with age.  I think maybe they do.  I'm not sure if we don't have the energy to hurt in our hearts the way we did before or if it's that we know pain passes.  And maybe that isn't even true for everyone.  

But the hurt OF our hearts and feet and backs probably increases with age.  Not the emotional hurting (although my back has never hurt emotionally, I don't think), but the actual hurting.  Wear and tear, I suppose.

One thing I don't think I'll struggle with is having brittle bones.  I have always had a pretty good calcium intake, so I think I might be okay there.  But if I must have brittle bones, I hope I get peanut brittle bones because that would really throw the doctors off.  And also, mmmm.  Peanut brittle.

Old

You are never too old to set another goal

or dream a new dream.

~ C. S. Lewis

- - - - -

I like old things.  Old signs.  Old stuff.  Old stories.  I'm sure that is at least part of why I was a history major as an undergraduate.  I think the things from the past have helped determine the present and chart the course for the future.  Old people are always trying to tell the rest of us what to do.  Of course, young people do the same thing.

Why is everyone so bossy?

Anyway, around the holidays we were at Mom and Dad's.  Mom started talking about the Old Folks' brand sausage we were eating.  Erik insisted that Old Folks' was a brand of retirement homes.

They might both be right.  I just hope if Mom is right she's not right  in a "Sweeney Todd" / "Soylent Green" kind of way.  

(pause)

I think Sweeney Green would be a good name for a serial killer character in a book or movie.

(pause)

My mind wanders a lot.  But that's okay.  I like to see where it goes.  

Love

It is better to be hated for what you are 

than to be loved for what you are not.

~ Andre Gide

- - - - -

Personally, I think it is way, way better to be loved for what you are.

Duh, Andre Gide.

Flight

You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

~ Toni Morrison

- - - - -

 

I love flying.  Well, I love it once I have checked my bag and am at the gate.  I get to listen in on people's lives in a not-so-creepy way.  I get to go new places.  Riding on an airplane is like riding a ride at an amusement park.  Riding on an airplane is usually the start of some kind of adventure.  I love it.

 

I even like the routine of air travel.  The same lectures.  The same processes.   The same irritated travel companions and crying babies and sick person you wish was sitting at the back of the plane.

 

Recently, I was on a trip and inadvertently didn't shove my carry on bag all the way under the seat in front of me.  The flight attendant came through and noticed it.

 

Flight attendant:  Can you move your bag so the straps are under that seat?

 

(I did)

 

Person sitting next to me:  Yeah.  never mind the plane is going to crash...  Those straps - they could hurt someone.

 

(I laughed)

 

My seatmate and I didn't talk at all the rest of the trip - until we landed.  Then she spoke.

 

Person sitting next to me: Are those straps okay?

 

Me:  I'm not sure.  They may have shifted in flight.

 

I love flying.

Dream

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;

remember that what you have now was once among the things

you only hoped for.

~ Epicurus

- - - - -

 

I'm not sure why we dream what we dream.  I think that things on our minds bubble up in the murkiness of things in our minds, but not on them.  I think that the weird mixture creates a sort of memory milkshake.  We don't always understand why the pieces come together the way they do. 

 

Some people spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.  I could spend days trying to discern how Erik escaped the bad guys from the 1920s when they were trying to blow him up.  Leslie thought maybe they were Boardwalk Empire characters.  Could have been.

 

And I don't know why I felt like it was okay just to go hom after I saw him escape that explosion.  And I don't know why the black and white cat with the collar ran into my house when I came home.  And why at first I thought it was okay to leave the cat in the house, but then decided to get rid of it.

Never mind.  Dreams are never really all that interesting to anyone else.  And they are kind of boring even to yourself after a day or so.  But if they invented a bike where you could ride it into your dreams, I bet it would be pretty popular.

Know what they would name the bike?

(pause)

You thought I was going to to say, "Dreamcycle," right?

No.  Then people would confuse it with the ice cream treat.

They would name it the "Dream Chaser 3000."  And they would use Eurythmics music to market it.  I hope.

Cold

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; 

and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

- - - - -

It has been cold lately.  Lots of people have commented.  My friend Stephanie commented that people ought to quit commenting and added something along the lines of, "It gets cold and then it gets less cold.  Quit whining!"  

Okay, I'm not sure that's exactly how she phrased it, but it was something like that.

And now people are doing all kind of wintry experiments.  Like throwing boiling water in the air to make clouds.  Some of them get burned by the boiling water.  Or blowing bubbles to make works of art as they freeze.  Well, after looking all over town for some bubbles on Sunday, I discovered that it isn't just regular bubble solution but a secret concoction.  I haven't had a chance to try the secret concoction, but Kristy said it sort of worked.  Or freezing bananas to use as hammers.  or whatever.

Well, I had sort of reverse freezing cold experience.  I put some pears in the freezer the other day so I could have some cold pears for dessert.  I forgot about them.  Then they froze.  I thought the most interesting things about the pears was going to be that they put the label on the can upside down from the end with the pull tab thing.  Instead, I have now invented Frozen Pear Snack. 

(pause)

I should come up with a better name for it.

"PEARadICE Dessert"

"Frozen Fruit Can"

"Mistake."

Whatever I call it, it is good.  It takes a LOT of effort to eat it, but it's good.

If I ever get on a competitive cooking show, I won't get very far.

But if I ever get on a competitive freezing show, I might win.

(pause)

Sometimes my posts are rambly.

Quiet

It's quiet now.  So quiet that you can almost hear other people's dreams.

~ Gayle Forman

- - - - -

I love the quiet.  Peace.  Calm.  

I really love enjoying quiet with other people.  That might seem counterintuitive, but when you are with someone and neither of you needs to say anything and you are just being.  Maybe reading.  Maybe sitting.  Maybe thinking.  Maybe walking.  Not talking.  Not disturbed.  

Although if I could hear other people's dreams, I think that would break the quietude.  Especially if I heard the dream Leslie had where aliens invaded her house.  That would not be quiet or peaceful or calming.

I just hope it really was a dream and not reality.  That would be even more disquieting.

Messengers

Man is a messenger who forgot the message.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

- - - - -

I like getting and sending thank you notes.  We forget to tell others we are thankful for them.  Showing gratituted, however, is not a selfless act.  Taking the time to thank someone for something brings to each of us a sense of gratitude and peace.  At least I think it does.  Actually, I know it does for me. 

Plus, it also reminds people that they have things for which to be grateful, as well.  And they may thank others.  They might even thank you for the thank you you send.  But that can get awkward after a few exchanges of thank yous for thank yous.

Anyway, the other day Wayne brought me a thank you note.  He said, "I have something for you!" and handed it to me.

"Oh!  Thank you!" I said.

"It's not from me," Wayne said.

"Oh."  I said.  And paused.  "Well, then I guess I won't hug the messenger."





Endings

There is no real ending.  It's just the place where you stop the story.

~ Frank Herbert

- - - - -

The other day Sara posted that she had reached the end of the internet.  Fortunately, all she had to do was wait 15 seconds and there was a bunch more internet out there.  I'm not saying what is produced constitutes new knowledge or useful information or truth or anything grand like that.  I just think it's growing a lot.

This photo is what I imagine the end of the internet looks like. Apparently, I see it as a "dead end." An internetherworld, you could say.

(pause)

But if you say it, please cite me. 

Unexpected

 

This is unexpected...  like squirt from an aggressive grapefruit.

~ Earl Derr Biggers

- - - - -

 

I was driving around and came upon this castleland.  I wanted to drive through it.  It looked like there were some interesting things there.  It was some sort of housing development.  The castle and knight things were not things I had anticipated seeing as I was roving around Iowa.

 

But I didn't go in there.  I can't remember if there was a sign that said I shouldn't.  Not that I always abide by those signs.  I can't remember if someone drove by and looked at me like, "Don't even think of going in there." (I know that look).

 

I do remember I was listening to a This American Life story about a girl who was falsely accused of murder and it ruined her life.  So maybe I was a little more attuned to following rules than I might have otherwise been.

 

Anyway, surprises are fun.

Except for the ones that are not.  Those kind are terrifying.



Windmill

Love is that to life,

What wind is to a windmill.

~ Kazi Shams

- - - - -

 

You have to love windmills.  I mean, you're neither legally nor morally obligated to love them.  I just love them.  I would think you would love them too.  They are nice.  Calming.  Productive.  Picturesque.  Tall.  Photogenic.  Both windy and milly.

 

What's not to like?

Unless they are infested with bugs. Then you might not want them around. Especially if the bugs had lots of legs. For whatever reason, people seem more freaked out by creatures with lots of legs. Like windmillipedes.

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: 

the fear of failure.

~ Paul Coelho

- - - - -

Sometimes we fear things.  Sometimes we fear things that are ridiculous to fear.  I used to fear that when I was watching "America's Most Wanted" that I would look out my window while watching it and the most wanted American would be standing there and he would see me see him and he would have to kill me so he didn't get caught.  

But that is ridiculous, right?  The most wanted American would probably not be casually window-peeping at me watching TV.  He'd be running and dodging the cops.  But it's not ridiculous because he wouldn't be able to help but notice his mugshot on my TV as he was running between my house and the next house to evade capture.

Like the image above.  You'd think it is silly for the little chicks to be afraid of that shark since sharks can't live out of water.  But you'd be wrong.  They are even more terrified because - obviously - this particular shark CAN live out of water.

My point is, aren't you really, really scared right now?

Batman

For me, Batman is the one who can most clearly be taken seriously.  He's not from another planet or filled with radioactive gunk.  I mean, Superman is essentially a god, but Batman is more like Hercules: he's a human being, very flawed and bridges the divide.

~ Christopher Nolan



 

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I work with Batman.  I can't tell you who he is.  I can tell you these things, though.

 

Every morning when he comes to work, I think, "Batman Begins."

When he comes back from a meeting, I think, "Batman Returns."

When he does something amazing (which is often), I think, "Batman Forever!"

When he goes home during daylight savings time, I think, "The Dark Knight."  It's a little play on words I have with myself.

You know what I never think?  "Batman and Robin." 

 

I didn't like that movie.