I have been busy, a busy bee. A very busy, busy bee.
I am back in grad school in a certificate program and I have been busy with many work projects. This means my time for blogging is rendered, somewhat improbable, if not impossible. Consider it a valuable sabbatical from the blogging world. Not that you care.
(Wait....do you?!!?!?!?)
My graduate program involves traveling to Northern Ireland in June, so that's cool. Work has been keeping me busy and there's that darn family keeping me active.
I will blog as the spirit strikes me and that spirit may be the holiday spirit in December!
In the meantime, enjoy this pic dump from photos I saved on my work computer. Also, trigger warning for cursing, clear those kids out of the room.
It's a seal on top of a whale. This should make you happy. Think about if you've ever seen anything as cool as this. Then think about all the cool stuff that has happened with animals that NO ONE WILL EVER SEE OR KNOW ABOUT. That will make you sad.
7. I stole a cardboard, life-size Worf from Jack in a Box.
Yes, this Worf.
6. I covered a neighbor's car with almost every food item in the fridge and cupboard one night in a frenzied giggle-fest with my roommate. Yes, we were drinking, and yes, he kinda deserved it. I totally felt guilty the next day.
5. I felt as if destiny was calling and I transferred to another university after two years (it turns out I just had eaten too much fried food).
4. I created my own short-film series, "The Wonderous Adventures of Blueguy" that became big events for my circle of friends (there were a total of 10 episodes). It was an ironic homage and love letter to Saturday morning cartoons - all starring toys. Some of my most beloved characters were "The Other Guy" and "Ketchup Monster".
2. I had an idea to start a fake student club so I could be a "president and founder" I had vague ideas about the "cover" for the club, so I went on down to the student life/activities department (or whatever it was called) to ask about filling out an application. However, I was overheard talking with the clerk or whoever it was by a board of trustee member (??) who pulled me into a board meeting (bunches of old white men) and declared what a great idea I had in front of the board. Needless to say, my cover was busted and I never showed up to our scheduled meeting. I regret this, when caught this badly, I should have doubled down.
1. I ran for Student Body President as a protest candidate (I didn't win). I lost to an eventual US Congressman, but I still feel I had a better slogan, "The Under $20 dollar Campaign" (I was hugely into campaign finance at the time).
In the hustle and bustle of life, it's hard to appreciate everyday beauty. There are many things in life that can trip you up: traffic, your kids throwing fits, stepping on legos, your computer going slow, your pet throws up on the carpet, your back hurts, losing your keys, stuff in the house that stops working....oh wait those are the things that trip me up.
Anyway, life in the first world is by all accounts, objectively awesome. However, sometimes we fail to see the (cue the cliches) the "silver linings" or the "bright side". So, it's good to get a reminder that life has a beautiful side to it. This brings us to this edition of Confucius Didn't Say That!
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius
Very true and very wise.
I can tell Confucius didn't say this in part because Confucius was rarely pithy. It's also not a typical concern of Confucius either. Confucius lived in a time of political upheaval. Those in the political realm were living in tumultuous times, while the peasants worked (as always) from sun-up to sun-down. Appreciating beauty was low on the list of what would be considered important to Confucius or even to most common people living in ancient China.
The word "beauty" occurs* twice in the Analects, although it's used only once in a meaningful way: The Master said: “I have never seen one who loves virtue as much as he loves beauty.” - Confucius in the Analects 9:18
Ironically enough, this is one of those pithy statements that Confucius actually said. It also happens to illustrate the polar opposite of the fake quote. Beauty isn't underappreciated, it's over-appreciated.
Confucius is lamenting the fact that most humans care too much about beauty, while not caring as much about their virtue. Even over 2,000 years later, this quote rings true. People are more interested in appearing beautiful than doing the right thing.
There's a similar thought about beauty and ren (often translated as humaneness) in book four of the Analects:
The Master said: “As for a neighborhood, it is its ren that makes it beautiful. If you choose to live in a place that lacks ren, how can you grow in wisdom?”
- Confucius in the Analects 4:1
I'm not quite sure who this quote should be attributed to, as my Google skills can't find a definite answer. I found a book from 1995 which attributes the quote as a "Old Chinese Proverb" but almost everything else I could find attribute it to Confucius himself (one book tacked into the Analects but failed to fact-check it). Someone on Facebook attributed it to the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, but if you Google that, it just goes back to their FB page and no one else linked it to Kangxi.
It sounds like a Chinese fortune cookie thing, so chalk it up to a clever fortune cookie writer or as an actual "Old Chinese Proverb".
As for the quality of the actual quote, I think it's pretty stupid. For one thing, the statement isliterally wrong. There is no beauty in cockroaches, vomit or dirty diapers. It's a lie of the first order.
I know, I know there may be people out there that may state, "well an entomologist may find a cock roach beautiful". Maybe so, but my guess is they still don't want the roaches in their kitchens.
So, so maybe the quote isn't about "beauty" in the literal sense of the word but is more about finding gratitude in our lives. I believe that it's true that filling your life with gratitude will change your outlook on life and more importantly, your actions.
My own two cents is that it's an okay-enough statement. For most things in life, there is beauty. Even though my kids might be screaming, fighting or fussing, underneath is a beautiful person being developed and the preciousness of life. We need to live with more mindfulness to find beauty.
I can't find much in the Analects about gratitude.I searched Muller's translation for "thankfulness", "thankful", "gratitude" and "grateful" and came up with nothing meaningful. I don't think the concept was foreign to Confucius but might not have been something he or his editors found important enough to speak/write about.
Yup, I grew up on this song. So amazing how emotional Aaron Neville can get singing about cotton. Amazing.
About three weeks ago, I was surprised to see an armadillo walking in our backyard. Once I alerted the kids and it became aware of noise and it hopped (??) away, looking down-right rabbit like, hopping/running down our hill towards the safety of the woods.
I've been thinking about applying for a Fulbright to teach in India and once I told the kids, they were excited. They started talking about where else they would want to go. E, age 7 said, "I want to learn Spanish in China!" While C, age 10 said, "They speak Japanese in China, E!"
Anyway, I have no idea how competitive the slots are (there are about 50) and if they need or want someone with my background, but ya know, why not?
We we went to visit some friends in Arkansas for spring break. It was our first "real" spring break trip and it was eventful and fun. I saw my first Trump billboard (in central AR) and really got to know "Trump" country pretty well (Northeast TX and AR). The nature in the area was gorgeous and we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall. Most of the time we generally hung out with our friends. It was low key and we liked it that way.
They live in a small town, so when we visited the antique store and I saw comics, I was happy. I picked up my very first pre-1970's comics. I now have a few 60's Disney comics! Alas, there wasn't a Carl Barks. They are in pretty shoddy shape, but still cool to me! Later at a used book shop, I found a 1970 collection of Buck Rodgers for a little less than ten bucks. I felt like a big spender but I figured I would kick myself if I didn't grab it.
On our way back home we stopped in Little Rock and visited Central High, where the "Little Rock 9" helped integrate the public education system in Arkansas. We also visited an African American art museum and the Big Dam Bridge (a walking bridge built over a dam).
We also stopped by another friend's house in Longview, TX. That was fun and I finally got to play Mario Maker for the first time. That was so awesome, I wish I had an extra 300 bucks around. I'll wait until the WiiU is about to die and pick it up for cheap.
On the way home home we pulled into a church parking lot to wait for GPS to"catch up" to where we were. The church had one of those rotating digital signs and two messages stuck out. "The 2nd amendment guarantees all the other amendments" and "Political Correctness is Insanity!"
I figure that's a Trump Church if there's ever been one.
Pop Culture Update:
I saw the new Pee-Wee. Thumbs up. Saw Zootopia with the kids, also, thumbs up.
Weezer has a new album coming out next week, I kinda don't really care all that much but I really liked "LA Girlz", despite the stupid title and spelling.
Gonna buy the new Star Wars on DVD/Blu Ray - I really liked it and I am excited on showing the girls the movie for the first time. We just couldn't find the right time for me to take them to the theater. Look, it's a flawed movie, but I still can't believe there's an actual new "good" Star Wars movie.
That's it, one day I might write an actual blog post of substance. Until then enjoy this:
It's been awhile since I've had a generic fragments.
This Friday we watched Benji and on Saturday morning I watched Return of the Jedi (for the first time) with my two oldest. Yeah, I'm parenting the right way.
I have to tell you, if there had been a competent film editor, Benji would be like 45 minutes long. 1/3 of the movie was showing Benji running around (sometimes in slow motion, often in a place the audience has already seen multiple times).
Both the girls liked Jedi, mainly cause Ewoks.
I'm not a Jedi hater, I like it, it's solid. Obviously, its the weakest of the three but so what? I love the first 30 odd minutes with Jabba. It's cool.
The Lucas additions really stuck out this for me and the young Anakin ghost thing is just so stupid. I have hidden the prequels from my kids. My oldest C really pressed me on why they were so bad but try explaining to a 10 year old how terrible they are. She asked me what the story was about and I told her it was about how Darth Vader grew up. She said, "That sounds awesome!" and I replied, "That's what we thought before we saw it."
In retrospect, it was a bad idea for three complete movies. There are literally no major surprises in the film and I think that really hurts them. Maybe it could have worked as one movie, but the heck with it, the prequels criticism begins and ends with Plinket, so what else is there to say?
I suppose it's time for me to share this song because it's spot on.
The other day our son was eating cocktail fruit and he wanted to let this sisters know that we had opened a can. He asked me what it was called and then went calling out in the garage, "Hey, girls, we have cotton tail fruit!" It was great.
Earlier this week I was driving home and saw a bumper sticker of Calvin for the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes bowing before a cross that said "Real Men Pray".
Okay, but Calvin is neither a man or real. Someone should let him know.
That's all for now. Buckle up when you drive, don't forget to feed the fish and go ahead and take a long, hot shower tonight, you deserve it.
I haven't posted in awhile because my PC crashed and we still haven't got it fixed up just yet. Meanwhile, I've been busy teaching an apologetics class for the high school class at church and generally having to share the family laptop. Also, life, ya know.
I have a cool post about performing at a Spurs game and meeting Craig Sager so that's coming at some point.
Ahem, anyway, onto the post.
I adore Carl Barks' work. I first discovered the wonderful world of Barks on a family vacation to (of all places Disney Land) when I was 12. We stopped at my great uncle's house up and I spent the night in his den full of old stuff and old books.
Of course, even at this age, I knew what I had to do.
After rummaging through hundreds of books, I found a huge book of reprints of Carl Barks' stories of Donald Duck. I settled in for the night with the book in bed and read as long as I could. I already loved comics but these were different. I thought they would be "kiddie" but they were just as good (and most of the time) better than any epic Marvel tale.
From that night forward, I was hooked.
One of the great pleasures of being a parent has been being able to share my favorite stuff with my kids. I have been able to pass on my love of Carl Barks to my oldest, C. She tells me the Barks stories are the best and will frequently turn up her nose at a perfectly fine Don Rosa, telling me it's "boring".
Almost every night, C will read in bed with a reading lamp until at least 8:45 or 9:00 and she usually seeks out comics to read, especially Carl Barks. She doesn't realize how good she has it, my dad didn't have any comics growing up! I love it.
One Saturday morning last spring, I had one the new Fantographics reprints of on the kitchen table. I am happy to report, the Fantographics Carl Barks collection is just awesome. I can't recommend them enough if you love adventure comics!
Anyway, this was sitting on the table and I started to doodle, which turned into a copy. Enjoy
Here's the original. In this story, which is a great one, the ghost in the story is supposed to be Scrooge's ancestor, but the skeleton looks nothing like a duck. Why did this happen? An editor here would have been a valuable resource.
The only thing I regret is the text, which is pretty awful.
Detail. I had to improvise the writing on the gravestones (although the names are Barks'). The original image was pretty small, so it was just gibberish.
One of my favorite scenes from Throw Momma From the Train is Owen's coin collection.
If you haven't seen it, here it is:
For those of you too lazy to watch, the scene is about Owen's (played by Danny Devito) coin collection, which amounts to just normal nickels, pennies and quarters. The coins are only worth their face value, however for Owen, they are full of value because they are change that his father allowed him to keep (from a concert, the circus, etc). Memories can do that to ya. Suddenly a piece of paper with a doodle becomes a treasure.
I got my first comic sometime in 1984-85.
There had been a few comics around the house, some Whitman Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and some old Smurfs (Marvels, actually). I still have many of them and they were published in 1982 and possibly my sister's when they were first purchased. However, there were no real super-hero comics around the house. I did have an awesome Spider-Man shirt (I know I have a picture somewhere of me in it around the house) and I loved all super hero cartoons (well, pretty much all cartoons, really).
For years I had remembered Marvel Tales #185 as the first comic I ever bought.
I was with my Mom at Walgreen's and she told me to go pick out a comic to buy. It all felt special because the way I remember it, my mom just never bought me anything when she went out shopping - candy, toys, whatever. I don't think that's actually true, but you can't shake that feeling of "that's not fair!" impression out the brain.
I remember being really impressed with the cover and finding the Lizard really creepy.
I loved the issue. Spidey has to fight the Lizard with one arm and ends up winning by tricking him into a refrigerated train car, which weakens the Lizard (being that the cold would weaken the cold-blooded reptile). I was a little confused as I was aware sometimes Spider-Man wore a black suit and sometimes the red and blue. I also found all the 60's references perplexing but I figured that's just how Spider-Man was. I had no idea it had been published in the 1960's. This particular story was so powerful and well done.
It drew me in and I was hooked on comics since then.
However, recently I discovered that my old childhood memories were faulty.
That's because that comic (Marvel Tales #185) was published in 1986, which would place me in the 4th grade and I know I was into comics before that!
I have a specific memory of hiding Peter Parker #104 in my desk and showing it to my best buddy, Matt in the 3rd grade. This memory is so specific, it's hard to doubt.
The cover (and the internet) states it was published in July 1985 date but that typically meant the issue was on the newsstands for months before July. The weird cover dates on Marvel comics was a thing until the early 90's. So, I'm not really sure what my "first comic" was but whatever it was, it was good enough to get me to keep buying more!
I do have a theory as to how my memory was so muddled. I used to beg my mom for these three-packs for comics at my local Winn's. If you unfamiliar with Winn's it was a five-and-dime store. Think of it as mini-Wal-mart without clothing, kinda like a Big Lots but without furniture or Hobby Lobby without all the crafts or home deco but they had yarn. I remember lots of yarn and a kick-ass toy section. Oh, and they had ICEE's!!!
So, basically, kid utopia.
This was the same store where I first spied and lusted after the Ultra Magnus Transformer that was located on the top shelf. I begged my mom for months for that toy and finally got it on my birthday (which was probably my 9th birthday, in, you guessed it, 1986!)
Anyway, Winn's had these 3 packs of Marvel Comics that I would get from time-to-time but for whatever reason, I must have forgotten them and in my head, my love affair with comics really started with that Marvel Tales comic. I loved the three packs because you could never see the third issue, so you were getting one surprise every time!
Another great comic that I love is Spider-Ham # 6 (also, in 1986 ) Again, this one was bought at the same Walgreen's as Marvel Tales #185. I don't quite remember if it was purchased at night but I remember it in the car with me as my parents took us took my sister and I driving around to look at Christmas lights. After we got home, I took the comic and read it under the colorful lights of our Christmas tree. I remember feeling safe, warm and cozy. It's one of my most favorite childhood memories.
I am as anti-gun as they come nowadays but this is still one of my favorite covers of any comic I own.
Another great memory that also comes from...you guessed it, 1986. This time, a non-Spider comic and one of my only Archie comics in my whole collection.
I was visiting my grandmother (who lived out of town) and she took me shopping with her. I can't remember if my sister was with me or if we were by ourselves. She took me downtown, where we looked at the river that runs through her small town from the top of the bridge and we walked down to an actual old soda shop. My grandma treated me to a shake and a comic as well! The comic rack only had Archie's, which I found odd, but a comic is a comic. That old soda shop was fantastic and I wonder if it's still standing but I doubt it. More than any detail, I remember the feeling of that day with my grandma and walking into that soda shop. Again, another safe, special, childhood memory.
There might be more comic memories so, if they hit me, they will eventually wind up here. In the meantime, stay warm amigos!
