I Can't Even...

Just as an FYI, weekend posts are likelier to be a little less focused than the ones that appear during the week. All work blah blah blah no play blah blah blah...and after a week of dealing with all of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, etc., I can't even deal. So I tend to do whimsical stuff, like...

Decisions, Decisions...

As a Thought Experiment: Given the choice, would you prefer to have to take on Evil...

"I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!!!"

...or Stupid?

"I'm not a Constitutional expert, but I play one on Twitter."

Personally, I prefer Evil. You can usually spot it coming from a distance, and it is far easier to predict what it is likely to do in a given circumstance. Stupid, on the other hand, tends to pop up without warning, catching people unaware, and often baffling us with its ability to make no sense whatsoever. And as the comedian Ron White reminds us, you can't fix Stupid.

Of course, every so often we're confronted with someone who is both Evil AND Stupid...

"Use the same cell phone for multiple email accounts??? That's CRAZY talk!"

   

Oh, be still. No one was talking to you anyway...

Peak Life Experiences

One of the purposes of this blog is to give people who read it some insight into who I was and how I lived my life. One good way to do that is to talk about some of the best people, places, and things I have experienced in my life. For instance...

 

In the summer of 1967, my whole family took a car trip across South Dakota, including a visit to Mount Rushmore National Memorial...

This is one of those few places that lives up to its advance billing. It is an absolutely breathtaking sight in person.

Just a couple of weeks after my first wife passed away in June of 1977, I was dining in the Sky City restaurant in Seattle's famous Space Needle...

 




In July of 1985, while returning home from Philadelphia where I had played in a World Open chess tournament, I took a detour south along the coast. I stopped in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and saw the Atlantic Ocean in person for the first time. 

I laid on the beach and let the water completely cover me, then recede, over and over...and finally conquered my fear of water...

On April 26, 2012 I had the pleasure of meeting my musical hero Joe Bonamassa in person prior to a concert at the Omaha Music Hall.

The guitar he's holding is mine. Her name is "India," and the necktie I'm wearing features Joe playing his guitar that is the same model. 

I was so nervous that I forgot to have him autograph her! I did get a great story to tell, though. "India" (and the other members of my guitar "harem") will make more appearances here from time to time...

Enthusiasms

Among the things I collect for fun are HO scale model locomotives. These "toys" bring back fond memories of my early childhood, when trains were a part of daily life in my hometown of Council Bluffs. The most recent addition to my collection is this beauty, an Athearn Genesis Electro-Motive Division (EMD) DDA40X, also known as the "Centennial."

For comparison, here's a photo of me standing next to the prototype for this model, road number 6900, which is at Kenefick Park in Omaha...

 

 

Meanwhile, Out at Kauffman Stadium...

My beloved Royals did a number on the hated Cardinals last night to open a three-game series. The game's hero was Kendrys Morales, who hit two home runs and drove in five...

Batir los Cardenales!

Tonight we'll be looking for a strong start from another off-season acquisition, Edinson Volquez, who brings an excellent 2.74 ERA to the game...

Bésame el culo, Cardenales!

Housekeeping

I know it seems obvious, since the book, DVD, and music recommendations are labeled as "Weekly," but for the record, those recommendations will change each Monday. And if you haven't already figured it out, clicking on the image for any of those recommendations will take you somewhere where you can learn more and, if you like, buy...

So GO, already, who's stopping you? Don't let the door hit you in the tail on your way out...

Sorry about that, folks. Patience isn't one of his strong points when he's hungry.

Until Next Time...

Today's fine arts content is a short video clip I used to show my students from time to time, as a way of reinforcing the point that any artistic communication--music, painting, literature, etc.--has a special power over us. It is from the 1994 film Immortal Beloved, written and directed by Bernard Rose. Thanks for reading this far today. Enjoy...