Tuesday, October 31, 2006

:: Skurd? ::

Happy Halloween!!!

Monday, October 30, 2006

:: Daylight Savings ::


:: an old indian saying meaning 'confuse the foreigners and make them learn to program their vcr'. doesn't this seem strange to anyone else? i understand why it was started - so we could tend to our gardens and feed the family. but how many of us garden anymore? and wegmans doesn't close, ever. wouldn't it just be easier to go into work an hour earlier in the summer so we could enjoy some daylight afterwards? do we really think 'it's only 8am, i can't start checking my email until 9'? i once heard someone say it's like cutting the bottom off your blanket and sewing it back to the top in the spring. then in the fall you cut that top off and sew it back on the bottom. ridiculous. but maybe the indians were right: i do need to dust off the manual for my vcr and learn to program it. (just don't tell them i have one that sets automatically! aha!) ::

Saturday, October 28, 2006

:: Perspective ::


:: a good many years ago i remember in science class learning about 'frame of reference'. it's really just the idea of how perspective applies to observations. a simple example is for us, it feels as if the earth is a solid non-moving mass (just the life on it is whizzing by). in reality, the earth is rotating about itself, the sun, the milky way, and so on. to the point that it could be moving at thousands of miles an hour or more. so back to the story already in progress: every weekend the usual suspects gather to throw the gauntlet. it's always intended to be in good fun, but we all take the preparation very seriously and when things get cattywhompus in the hour of power it ends up affecting us pretty severely in the following week. each day we are away we plot and plan and struggle with our inner-self, reliving each second on the hour and analyzing. there's a screening party in our minds and siskel and ebert are giving two thumbs down (each). such was this week. personally i was frustrated over loosing the tyre which, for this week at least, i blame for missing the top50 placing i had been hoping for. another of my endorphine craving cohorts was not fairing even as well as i in the cinema of the mind. we gathered around him in word and spirit trying to revive his passion because we see true genius. this was the week: licking our wounds and helping pals bandage theirs. and then it hits. the moment when the frame of reference for life is shifted, skewed, twisted, and warped. suddenly things are in the proper perspective: one of our gang has been diagnosed with lung cancer. that vile creature that has taken the life from, or out of, someone that we all know. and as it sometimes does, from a person with a clean life, embracing every day. someone who never saw it coming. we gather together this weekend not to improve ourselves but to lift our comrade. come monday, let's screen a different movie. ::

Monday, October 23, 2006

:: Dr. FeelGood ::


:: i finally found the secret to feeling ok about life. of course i find the same thing almost every time i swing my leg over the top tube. it's amazing how short my memory is when it comes to this. things begin to pile up in life's inbox and a crushing feeling is overtaking my soul. "you can't possibly take time today to relax; there is too much to do and not enough time" i hear my inner voice saying. but there is a draw. 8am and the sun is shining. air is crisp. leaves are hundreds of colors - like a masters painting begging to be experienced. turning my head to ignore the inbox as i pass. it's only moments before a rush of endorphines are coursing through the veins. a twinkle appears behind the sleep sand still in my eyes; like that of a child on christmas morning. today the squirrels are busy collecting the final stores before winter. the juxtaposition of blue jays against the goldens and greens. a visit from the friendly ruffed grouse who asks me why it's been so long since my last visit. he's changed so much in the few weeks since our last meeting - looks much more mature but still has an inquisitive innocence that makes me envy his existence. after a hearty lunch i return my attention to the life inbox and begin to plug away. it seems no less insurmountable as it did a few hours before, but it's importance is now diluted. will i remember my secret tomorrow? mr. grouse, please pray that i do ::