The Latest Late Fragments

I'm back.

At least for now.

I was meaning to write as soon as the fall semester ended but then before I knew it the holidays had come upon our home. There were choir and music programs, holiday parties and the we instituted a winter cleaning and re-arranging of the kid's bedrooms.  I almost had less time on my hands than I did during the semester. Now, with the kids back in school, I can exhale a little. First world problems, I know and I am NOT complaining.

The fall semester went by in a flash.  I am halfway through my graduate certificate program and I held down my full time teaching duties without being a terrible professor (well at least not too terrible, as I am still employed).

I was busy but it honed me to use my time wisely. Now, when I look back over the years at falling behind with my grading all while just having my familial and job duties, I just have to wonder....what was I doing with my time??

Hint: Youtube and the internet

And no, I am not capitalizing internet.

Here's the kid update. C was elected to the 5th grade student council and now plays the cello, E  (2nd grade) joined the school choir and has gotten a lot more mature this year (less fits, easier for her to soothe herself), H (age 4) played soccer and when he was playing attention, the best or second best player on the field, he is also OBSESSED with Pokemon.

Pokemon cards, Pokemon TV shows, trading cards, pretending we are Pokemon, saving up his pennies and talking about buying Pokemon, Pokemon, POKEMON POKEMON.


At work, I applied for promotion, which took hours and hours of getting my digital portfolio ready. Thankfully, some of the ground work had been done in the spring. I also hosted a Black Lives Matter speaker as well. I didn't need to have too many signs up as I was having 5-6 classes coming to the event, but I put a few up outside my office. We had to replenish the signs over 8 times. Yup, folks, racism is a alive and well in 2016. The event itself went well enough though with standing room only!

Every night before bed, even if I was behind with my graduate reading I would read The Name of the Rose. It was slow, kinda boring and comforting. If you like dense, going off on odd historical tangents, and books that are a tad boring books, I recommend it.

Since the break, I read though a bunch of old comics (yay),  A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comic, The Man in the High Castle (because we love the show), and skimmed through What If? (by the xkcd comic author). I am reading a book about Confucianism now. It's great to just read.

I've booked most of my flights for my wife and I this summer. We will be visiting Dublin & Belfast (and parts many places between) and London. We have an old friend in London, so that's awesome when you have a local around to help.  Then, my love flies back home after a week and I go up to Ballycastle in northern, Northern Ireland for another two weeks for my capstone class. I heard it's class from sun-up to sun-down, but a former student (and friend who did this program last year) said they advised the program director to ease up and allow some free time. I can hope they heeded his advice.

Now, I've got to get busy planning a study abroad to India, becausel, what else am I going to do? When I turned 39, back in July, it really  gave me a sense of urgency in what I want to do with my career. I found a willing colleague, so why not? Life is short and the world is full of adventure.

I'll try to blog again before I am back at work as I really want to finish up my high school memories series before Father Time eats more memories. I might even check in from time to time before I leave for our trip. Then, I will definitely be updating the blog with all the nutty details of our travels.

Well, back to reality and time to sweep up. Whoever you are, I hope your holiday season was well and you are able to reflect on your life and be thankful for something, even if it's small.
 

Pic Dump - Blog Update

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.

Nope.

Old SNL skit. So wonderful.

 

In honor of Timmy!!!

Fragments of College - 8 Things that Happened

8. I was ticketed for noise pollution during our one official, cliché college keg party that my roommate and I hosted.  I had mistakenly forgotten that I had taken Benadryl before I had started drinking and lemme tell ya, that's a big mistake. Needless to say, people started turning the music up and I was passing out in the living room. My roommate drunk dialed his ex and he left to go get his hook up. The next thing I know I look up and a police officer is in my apartment. Luckily a friend walked me out and held me up as I received my ticket.  As  I walked back into my apartment, I held the ticket aloft and said, "We got a ticket!" and promptly fell flat on my face and passed out. 

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".

3. I hosted a show with my friend on the our college radio station.

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). 

Thought of the Day

Nothing I say, write or do will be remembered.

In as few as one hundred years my dreams and triumphs, my failures and defeats will be dust.

So in between now and forever, I choose to love and work in small ways to make the future better for the generations to come.  

Confucius Didn't Say That! True Beauty Edition

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 is literally 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.


* As always I use Muller's translations.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius104254.html

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius104254.html

Thought of the Day

It's almost unreal I live in a world that in the last five months...

A good Star Wars movie came out.....

A new Pee-Wee movie came out

and

Weezer released a good album! 

I am floored.

I feel like this my pop culture moment in the sun.


Just give me a moment to enjoy this.....

The Fragments of my Life

It's been awhile, so here's fragments.

The fragments of my life.

 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: