Other Fish in the Sea...

“I think catch and release fisherman are heartless weenies. I think putting a fish through agony for nothing more than your own entertainment is just plain cruel. I think if you're going to torture a living thing if, you're going to make it look into the eyes of its maker, face its own puny little place in the universe, then, for God's sake, have the decency to eat it!” – Gray (Jennifer Garner), Catch and Release

The few times I’ve gone fishing I enjoy the views, the breezes, the sunlight warming me, and maybe even reading in the fresh air – but when there’s a tug on the other end of that line I want someone else to do the dirty work. I can reel it in, but I don’t want to take it off the hook. The way it wriggles freaks me out. I’m afraid of killing it if it is one to toss back, and I really don’t want to be the one cleaning it. Like Gray had said – you should have the decency to eat it not just put it through agony for no reason. Dating is a lot like fishing.

I had to contact the guy I was dating because I knew he was feeling the spark and I wasn’t. I wanted to respect him more than the guys from my past that just vanished, and I also have a tendency to run into him. He is a great guy, but just not the guy for me. Some people made me feel like I’m a jerk for wanting the spark and not continuing to give him a chance. “You know, the spark doesn’t last” is the statement I heard the most. So here is my BBQ Grill of Love Theory – you must have a spark to start a flame to get the coals burning. Hopefully you put down a good foundation lava rock. Yes, the spark does die out, but you got a steady burn going and every now and then you will see a spark. If you were smart you had some coals in reserve so that the fire doesn’t completely die out.

I’ve had the spark once with someone I can never be with, and about once a year he tries to get it going again. I know that I must have a bigger draw to the guy I’m dating than with the fire juggler. His flame is only a illusion, but it is very convincing. I guess I would rather be a catch and release weenie than to play with fire when it involves someone’s heart.

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Correspondent

2011 Already?!?!

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that 2011 brings you much happiness. Many people use the changing of the calendar year to reflect on the previous year and make plans to improve their life. I’m not going to talk about resolutions. Majority of the people don’t keep the ones they make, so why bother? Besides this is already January 4th and many have already been broken?

It seems to me our society expects us to make resolutions that we won’t keep, and that seems like a huge waste of time. It seems like if we don’t live up to the expectations then we are a wasted life. I got many lectures about my seasonal attitude from a lady at work. My family decided not to “celebrate” Christmas with presents. Just a bit of background my family consists of my mother and me. We both go out and by what we need/want, and have way too much stuff. We did go to Christmas Vigil services and we also talked about those we loved that are no longer with us – it was nice. My family will never look like a Norman Rockwell painting, so why try to pretend that we are? If we do pretend that we are it will never feel right and should be stamped with a huge “FAIL”. I will admit there are a few more things that could be done to get into the holiday spirit. Overall we are doing our best to celebrate the meaning and not the commercialization. We also joined the other misfit toys at some casinos.

Now I feel like I’m being encountered with the idea that that my life will suddenly change when the calendar switches years. (It didn’t) If that is the case then why do we need to have resolutions? Please don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making what you deem to be a positive change in your life. I also realize sometimes the changing of the calendar year is a good time to start, especially if you need to psych yourself up for something. However, even if I did follow through with two of the most popular resolutions – get fit and get organized – how much would my life change? I get the feeling that I would find something else in my life that needs to be fixed. How satisfied are we ever with our own lives?

To those reading this I hope 2011 is a year of great things to happen!

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Coorespondent

Merry Christmas to All

From us to you all !!

-Doc and Friends

Goodbye Greinke

I enjoy sports, but I’m not a sports fan. I will watch a game on tv if it has one of the teams I like and either nothing else is on, or it is suppose to be a really good game. Outside of KU Jayhawk basketball the sport I follow the most is baseball. I love the fact it is in the summer time and the rules are pretty much the same for the professionals as it is for little league. Movies about baseball are great to watch and my favorite has to be The Sandlot. I love history, and baseball has a great history.

I will confess I don’t know a lot about the different teams. My three teams are: KC Royals, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs, however, I can be persuaded to add to the list. Royals are the home team, and you must root for them. The Red Sox and the Cubs both have fans that even when they sucked they were still loved, and they have chosen to keep their stadiums. I have not yet seen Wrigley Field and I plan to tour/go to a game when I finally make a trip to Chicago. I did have the opportunity to tour Fenway Park in 2007, and fell in love. I have been told by some Yanks fans when discussing why I can never be a fan because they tore down their stadium – they had the nerve to say Fenway was going to be torn down. Uh no, the owners realize the history and are sinking a lot of money into Fenway – they realize it won’t be the same if they tore down and rebuilt. After watching Under Cover Boss I think the owners of the Cubs realize the same thing with Wrigley. The only team that got the “I will still like you even though you destroyed your history” pass is the St. Louis Cardinals. They are my second home team and many of my friends are fans of the Red Birds. I’ve gone to games in the old and new Busch Stadium. I should have added them to my list above.

I’ve grown up going to games at Kauffman Stadium since I was in elementary school. I pretty much wasted my role of film taking pictures of the fountains at that first game. Every time I go to a game I remember that first trip. They’ve done a major remodel and it looks great, but we still have the features that make it The K – a view of I-70 and the fountains. Walking in and near the top you can see Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs.

Sunday, the Royals made the news. Zack Greinke is leaving the Royals for the Milwaukee Brewers. He played for the Royals for 5 years, and asked to be traded. Apparently he didn’t want to be on a re-building team anymore. I’ve watched many great players start out with the Royals and move on to better teams. There are very few players in any sport that are willing to stick to a team. I don’t buy shirts with a player’s name on the back because I know it will soon be outdated. I know they can get more money elsewhere, but I would like to see a real competition of talent and not just talented players on a team that pays. I’m disappointed, but I understand. When I hear the name Greinke I will remember he once played for the Royals just like Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran. I wish Greinke luck in Milwaukee, and hope he doesn’t forget his beginning.

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Coorespondent

Better than Happy Holidays, right?

For those that haven't caught the seasonal spirit yet!

-Disaster Chick, Scrooge Coorespondent

Changes

My world is changing, and major announcements were made shortly before I sat down to write this that will change life as I know it to a certain degree. I usually welcome change, but can sometimes apprehensive. I think that is a normal reaction, because you never know how positive or negative those changes are until a little ways down the road. I like to think that I adapt well and go with the flow. What else can we do – yesterday is history and who knows what tomorrow will bring? We cannot live in either period – I’ve unsuccessfully tried before.

Living in the now is challenging. It is easy to look back and make the past better than what it actually was and long to return to that perfect time. The future holds endless possibilities, and in our minds can be utopia. Living in the moment is hard because there are things we just don’t want to deal with and procrastinate. How often do you step back, take a deep breath, and fully take in the moment you are living? Probably not often – let’s try to do that more!

I’m sure that everything is going to work out. There are just a lot of rumors and unknowns in my career at this moment. One of my oxymorans is that I’m a free-spirited planner. I like to have a general map or directions that I consider a guide, but not a requirement.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

(Turn and face the strain)

Ch-ch-Changes

Don't want to be a richer man

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

(Turn and face the strain)

Ch-ch-Changes

Just gonna have to be a different man

Time may change me

But I can't trace time

I watch the ripples change their size

But never leave the stream

Of warm impermanence and

So the days float through my eyes

-David Bowie, Changes

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Correspondent

Happy Monday!

Good luck with that!

-Disaster Chick, Monday's Suck Correspondent

Motivational Poster of the Week 12/11/10

Have a great weekend!

-Doc

Party on, Wayne!

Sunday between 6 – 10 PM CST if you can send any intelligent or trivial thoughts my way please do so. My team, “Party on, Wayne!” will be competing with about 55 others teams in the Kansas Trivia League. We made it though the semi-finals last Sunday.

The readers of YJKOBT seem to be an eclectic group and if we use our powers collectively to send knowledge to me then maybe just maybe “Party on, Wayne!” can win! Even if we don’t have super powers positive thoughts are always helpful.

Oh, yes every time our name is said my team and many others shout out, “Party on, Garth!” Even if we don’t win we are having a good time!

Inexperienced Coffee Snob

I’ve always thought I was just a foo-foo coffee drinker – like the high calorie ones you get from Starbucks. I’ve never been able to stand the coffee that comes from the “office” coffee pot and that is not just because I’ve smelled it burning. I had convinced myself it is because it is hard to have the fancy liquid creamers around – they usually need refrigeration and some of my offices that has been a slight challenge. I wonder how many inches I’ve added to the derriere making it the color of hot chocolate? Recent developments convinced me that I’m an inexperienced coffee snob.

At a Kansas City restaurant on Saturday I had Turkish coffee, and it was fabulous. I didn’t add sugar or anything to it. I could smell the coffee along with other spices. It tasted strong, rich, and the way I’ve always wanted coffee to taste.

The little sweet little grocery next to it sold their own Turkish coffee. Since I can’t get this fantastic drink where I live I’m thinking about getting all the supplies to do it at home and enjoy whenever I want. However, I will continue to avoid the office coffee pot at all costs and stick to my hot tea.

-Disaster Chick, Back-Up Coorespondent

The Diet Dr Pepper Challenge

Doc had talked a couple weeks ago about Diet Dr Pepper tasting as good as regular Dr Pepper, and this got me thinking about the Cola Wars back in the 80s.

I barely remember commercials of the Pepsi Challenge to see if people liked the taste of Pepsi over Coca-Cola which I will not refer to as Coke.

I was reading a book that talked about this and they had professional food taste testers comment. Pepsi is sweeter and if you take one sip you are going to like Pepsi over Coke. However, Coke remained the leader. Why? Well, most people are not just going to open up a can of soda-pop (this is my way of preventing the pop v. soda war) take one sip and walk away from it. We are going to drink the entire can. Most people don’t want that initial sweetness for their entire soda-pop drinking experience and hence go back to drinking Coke.

Now it looks like Dr Pepper is doing a little soda-pop war of their own by saying their unleaded is as good as the leaded. Diet Dr Pepper was the first diet soda-pop I actually enjoyed. Other diet drinks were too icky and regular was too sweet. If you are going to do the Dr Pepper challenge enjoy a can of each to make your decision. My advice would be to split in half and take the challenge with a friend. Have fun!

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Correspondent

A hiatus of sorts

Is anyone else busy as heck with work, the holidays, kids, and everything else? Yes I thought so. Everyone is busy, and so am I. Something has to give and I have decided to give the blogging a little rest.
No this blog isn't shutting down. It will still be here. I just can't promise that I will be posting on it daily for the time being. The great and insightful Disaster Chick will still be doing her weekly commentary on Tuesdays and I won't be totally gone. Whenever something reaches out to me and really needs posting I will post it. I will also of course be updating my Walk to 100 progress. (I am still outpacing the Bobcats)
So that's it... Maybe after we get through the holidays I will have more time and inspiration...

-Doc

Motivational Poster of the Week 12/4/10

Yes it would!

Have a great Weekend!

-Doc

Make a Memory

What are the moments that stick out in your mind? Have they ever involved people you hardly knew? Would they care that moment has been implanted in your permanent memory?

I have been reminded of a conversation I had with three guys several years ago. While we share the same employer there is only one of them I have talked to since. I doubt if any of them remember me or what we talked about. They gave me a new perspective on something I was going to write off, and really gave me hope that good guys still exist. Today, one of them is burying his 33 year old wife. I won’t go to the services or otherwise contact him because we only had one conversation over dinner. While it is one moment that I will always remember, but I doubt it would register with him.

Life is short – even if you get to live to be one hundred years old. Everyone says it all occurred in a blink of an eye. I once read an article where actor John Leguizamo once said that with children “the days are long but the years are short.” Isn’t that how it is in our daily life? We go to work and can’t wait to get home only to begin the process again. All our days run together like the watercolor mess of an inexperienced artist.

We may never know the mark we actually made on Earth. We may never know how many lives we touched. We only have a few generations that we will actually be remembered unless we do something to make it into the history books. But history isn’t always made by world leaders, inventors, and activists. We touch people’s lives and transform small pieces of the world every day.

Get out and transform those moments into memories that way if you ever get Alzheimer’s you will have reflections of many great moments.

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Correspondent

Anyone want to buy an Ice Cream store?

Apparently there is one for sale...

-Doc

Motivational Poster of the Week 11/27/10

Have a great weekend!

-Doc

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

From the folks at YJKOBT: We wish each of you a blessed Thanksgiving with all your friends and family and we are thankful that you come here and read the stuff we post!


-Doc and the Gang @ YJKOBT

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving there won't be a "Random Thoughts" post so I figured I would just have a few here:

- I don't know about you all but I really enjoy Thanksgiving. A break from work to not only give thanks but spend time with the Three 'F's" Family, Food, and Football. We are going to my parent's house and should have a great day. I'm deep frying our Turkey and that doesn't work well in the rain, so lets hope the showers stay away.

-There have been a bunch of odd news stories recently and I have been thinking about bringing back my "hitting the high notes" segment again. Mt. Cat sent me one recently. Check out this article about a transgendered woman posing as a doctor who was arrested for giving breast exams in a bar. I mean who lets anyone give them a breast exam in a bar anyway? Here is her (or his) mugshot.

-I'm not one who is much for shopping anyway but the idea of "Black Friday" shopping terrifies me. The idea of a whole bunch of ladies hungover on tryptophan stampeding to get $5 laptops could easily be a horror movie.

-The results from my Pro Football Pick Em league have been interesting... As of today there is literally a three way tie for the lead. Evil Twin's Wife, Jayman, and myself are tied for the lead with the exact same score. Pretty amazing.

-On a related note, I am thinking about doing a Pick Em game fro College bowl Pickem so let me know if you are interested.

-While I was thinking of what to include in today's blog post I asked for suggestions on Twitter and my friend Dysfunctional Supermom suggested that I blog about her. So here goes: If you aren't already reading the great blog by the uncontested Supermommy of Dysfunction then you should be. Why? Because reading about the life of a woman who keeps trying on husbands and juggling her "spawn" across the United States is not only funny, but also entertaining... and if you pay close attention you may learn a thing or two while laughing along with her. Give her blog a read and maybe you too can become a "pantyliner"

-OK with that being said I have run out of random things to ramble about. I do hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and travel safe if you are doing so.

-Doc

Dweeb - Dork - Nerd - Geek - and You!

If you consider yourself to be one of the cool kids you can stop reading this blog right now. Really, you are much too cool to learn about the differences in Geeks, Nerds, Dorks, and Dweebs.

Yes, there is more to us than what you see in the Big Bang Theory, and there are major differences.

The three main components are Intelligence, Obsession, and Social Ineptitude. If the cool kids are still reading I will explain these components a bit more.

Nerds, Geeks, and Dweebs possess intelligence. One usually thinks those that possess intelligence are know-it-alls with superior mental powers, but that really isn’t the whole story. A really intelligent person realizes how much they don’t know. Intelligent people acquire and apply knowledge using thought and reason. You don’t have to be Einstein or Sheldon Cooper to be intelligent – you just have to think though and apply reason and knowledge to problems.

Obsession is where the cool kids are lacking. Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks are ones that are obsessed. Do you see the cool kids at a Star Trek convention? Obsession can be cute, but it can also scare people or just make them think you are weird. People tend to look down on people that read romance novel. I once read a historical romance writer saying her job isn’t easy, because if she mentions a gadget that hadn’t been invented, a wrong piece of clothing that wasn’t trendy or used in that period – her readers will let her know. Any more we expect obsession in occupations. How many of us have to specialize? Very rarely do we see a doctor any more – we go to the pediatrician, the ob-gyn, the proctologist, the dermatologist, and so forth. I’m sure the internet has helped out with obsession too because you can find groups online that share your obsession – dogs, cars, tracking currency, games, television shows, and even fan fiction.

Finally, social ineptitude is what distinguishes the Nerds, Dorks, and Dweebs from the Geeks. The Geeks can handle most situations involving people, and will probably even actually like people. Being an extrovert and I have a hard time understanding introverts. They hate social situations – they would rather have the safety of a computer to visit with people. They can be very outgoing online, but face to face is a different story. I have a friend with a very introverted wife and she feels like people are going to hurt her. It has taken her about six years to warm up to me because I’m reckless at times.

I hope you enjoyed discovering if you are a Dork, Dweeb, Geek, or Nerd. Please share what you are with us. Whatever you are just go out and have a good time being you!

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Correspondent

Today we learn how to make a proper BLT

How to make a Bacon, lettuce, and Tomato sandwich the right way:

Any questions?

-Doc