Ponderings and Musings

Imagine my surprise when Time Warner sent a full cable crew, complete with bucket truck and hard hats, to our home only 45 minutes after the cross-eyed, twangy sounding tech and the four kids in the back of his truck left the premises.

Wow! Color me impressed.

The cable crew replaced everything aside from the cable that runs under the driveway (which is completely intact and passes all tests with flying colors), ripped out the booster that the tech installed three weeks ago, explained everything they did and gave me an internet experience that’s faster than passing gas after Burger King.

I am once again a happy geek and surfing at high speed, baby.

Bring on the porn news and family friendly entertainment.

Earl has been out of town for the past two nights. He was expected home this evening, but during last night’s call he let me know that he’ll have to spend tonight out of town as well.

This kind of has me bummed. It also has me thinking.

Since he’s out of town tonight and tomorrow night he has a sleep study for his sleep apnea and then on Thursday he’s out of town again, I’m rethinking out overnight plans we have for this coming weekend. We were going to go to Buffalo for the last half of a bear run but now I’m thinking that might be a bit much, especially for him.

Maybe I’m getting old.

I guess we’ll have to discuss it tonight.

I think I’m starting to kick into hibernation/homebody gear in tandem with the color change on the trees and the cooler temperatures. For the past 24 hours or so I’ve been really in the mood to bake a pie. I’m in the mood for stew. I want to eat some squash.

Interesting that my thoughts of autumn gravitate to food.

I’m noticing an increasing trend in this area. While making an occasional fast food stop, whether it’s at Subway, Quizno’s or one of the burger places, I’m noticing more and more people aren’t picking up their garbage and putting it in the trash bin when they’re finished.

What’s up with that?

Are people becoming so arrogant that they think they can just leave their trash lying about? Have the fast food chains instituted some table-side service that I didn’t know existed?

The next time I see an ignoramus just leave their trash lying on the table in the middle of McBomb or whatever, I might be tempted to stand up and say “Hey! You forgot your trash!” I’ll leave the “asshole” off the end of the sentence so I can give an air of being polite.

I don’t know why I think I must be the manners police in these situations but this new trend is driving me crazy.

I’ve mentioned before that I am currently enrolled in a health class to get my required physical education credit. Many see this course as the lazy way of meeting the requirement but I am surprisingly getting a lot out of the course. I don’t know if it’s guilt or what but I’ve stepped up workout routine considerably since enrolling and I’m feeling better for it. In fact, I’m in jeans that I couldn’t fit into in August. This makes me happy.

On Thursday we had an exam covering everything we’ve discussed thus far. As I mentioned before, the class is seemingly populated with slackers and before returning our exams to us, the professor mentioned that these were the poorest results he’s ever encountered in teaching this class for the past 30 years. Coming out of the class on Thursday, I wasn’t confident of my performance on this exam. So when the professor wrote the grades up on the board “80+, 3”, “70-80, 6”, “60-70, 10”, etc., I ballparked myself as one of the six and maybe one of the ten. Surprisingly it turns out that I was one of the “three”. Not my most stellar exam grade but I’m pleased.

It’s amazing the amount of practical information that is being taught in this course. Smoking leads to lung cancer. McFood is bad for you. Exercise helps you maintain a healthier body. While I’m starting to cheer on the younger generation a little bit, because I’m finding that many professors really don’t give a crap about the students they are teaching, I can not for the life of me figure out why teenagers are picking up smoking. With all the undeniable evidence out in the wild, there is absolutely no reason that any person with any sort of common sense would start smoking in this day and age. I just don’t get it.

Anyways, one of the topics that came up in the discussion today sort of surprised me. Many of the younger students believe that there are cures (or we are really close to a cure) for many of the incurable diseases: diabetes, cancer, AIDS, etc., and the U.S. government is surpressing these cures (or really close attempts) in order to keep the pharmacutical companies alive. They reason that it’s all about big business these days and why should we come up with a cure that would knock out all this big money? Now, I’ll admit that I proudly wear my tin-foil hat, especially with Bush Lite and his cast of idiots populating Washington, but that’s one point of view that I’ve never considered. I think this discussion is indicative of a lot of things. First of all, with this up and coming generation I see big changes on the horizon. It might take two or three decades, but I feel like there’s some sort of light at the tunnel when it comes to this mess our country is in. Secondly, I found myself agreeing with my classmates. I’ve never been one for taking medication. Hell, I don’t go to the doctor unless something impedes my appearance (being vain and all) or messes with my sexuality (being a man and all). I don’t know if their theory goes to the extent in which they proposed by why would big business want to cure a disease when they can make a ton of money just treating it? But you know what, this group of slackers brought up an interesting point that made me think, and add another bit of Reynolds Wrap to my hat.

Sometimes I sit and wonder what the world is going to be like in 30 years. I don’t know why I get all pensive about this sort of thing and I don’t know why I try to look 30 years into the future, but there are times when Professor Frightful is talking to his chalk and my mind starts to wander in math class. And these are the things I ponder.

For one thing, in 30 years I’ll be approaching 70 years old. I have no doubt in my mind that my folks will still be alive, they’re both wired that way. I wonder if the flying cars that we were suppose to have by the year 2000 will be here in the year 2037. Will I still be using my PowerBook?

Earl and I will be celebrating 41 years in 2037. If the history of my family is any indication and I follow their lead, we’ll still be traveling and exploring. What does one buy for their lover on their 41st anniversary?

Whatever the future holds, it sure looks bright to me.

Tom and I had some friends over for lunch today. I like it when friends dropped in unannounced. They didn’t have much to say while they were here and they were seemingly quite content while we hung out in the lawn together.

They come by from time to time. Lately they’ve been visiting quite a bit. Perhaps I’ll throw some seed around tonight after work so they can have a bedtime snack.

They were happy I wasn’t serving turkey sandwiches today.

This was posted on Barry Manilow’s site yesterday:

A message from Barry…
Hey guys,

I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out.

It’s really too bad because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those.

Love,
Barry

I have to admit that I find this quite humorous. How very Alicia of him. I commend him for sticking up for his beliefs.

One could probably tell that I’m not a fan of the pretentious “Elisabeth with an ‘S'”, and I have not watched ‘The View’ since Rosie’s departure.

Earl and I are sitting at our local Panera surfing the internet face to face over a couple of pastries and iced tea. Our internet connection at home has been down all day, preventing us from making phone calls (our phone goes over the internet), preventing me from completing my online course work without an extra visit to the campus (to borrow some wi-fi from the library) and keeping me from blogging and more importantly, stifling my daily pr0n intake.

It’s surprising what one can accomplish when there’s no internet in the house. I didn’t vacuum though, let’s not get crazy, the dust bunnies aren’t barking yet.

Today was my first major exam in that math class with Professor Frightful and his group of friends that live behind the blackboard. He provided us with a practice test yesterday, which I completed last night and did surprisingly well. I’m glad I took the time to do that because the practice test was nothing like the actual test. The practice test was a little skim of the material, the real test got down and dirty and surprisingly harder than I thought it would be. Still, I feel cocky and confident and I think I did well. That probably means I failed.

I decided to take a different approach to exams this semester over last semester’s approach. First of all, I’m going to continue to study and make use of the preparation aids (sounds like I have butt problems) that students are provided. However, every book you read about how to be a successful students decrees that you should take your time and review all your answers before submitting the exam. Take all the time that’s available to you. Unfortunately, that’s not how my brain works. I work in hyperdrive and if I don’t know it right away it’s not worth knowing so I’ll work at my own hyperpace, review as I go along and then submit my test when I’m done, without going through a secondary check. My testing stumbles last semester were because I second guessed my original answers when they were right. I’m not taking that risk twice.

Keeping in line with this “I Did It My Way” theme, I’ve decided that if that several of my fellow students can go out of their way to be depressed then I can go out of my way to embrace my personality and be as chipper as I really feel. If I see you and I know you, I’m going to wave at you and perhaps even say hello or stop for a moment to talk to you. I won’t mind if you run in the other direction, it won’t deter me. “Oh God, here he comes again!”

I’ve always had this notion that I have to blend in with the crowd. As I grow older I discover that the notion of doing that is utter bullshit. Each and every person should embrace who and what they are and celebrate it. If people don’t like it, well then screw them. I think I learned that from my mother. Back when I was growing up she was rather outspoken and was always just herself. It’s a trait to be admired. I guess in the world of “J.P. and Earl”, I’m “Dharma”.

After my exam was completed, I decided to jam in the car and make a video in the process. There’s probably a dead singer spinning in his grave after hearing me sing today, but I don’t care. I wasn’t trying to be showy, I was having fun.

One of the things that I’m noticing about this bumper crop of freshman at school this year is that they seem to be depressed. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a hyper chatty Cathy at times or what, but I find it a little melancholy that many students choose to walk the campus completely zoned out and tuned into their iPods, with a frown or maybe even a depressing look on their face.

What gives?

Now I’m obviously a music lover. I’ll belt out show tunes, I’ll crank up dance tunes, I’ll airband with some rock and I’ll even sing along with Karen Carpenter and I am eternally grateful that I can carry my entire music collection on this little marvel of technology, but I don’t feel the need to listen to it 24/7. There’s too much out there to enjoy! I enjoy walking through the walls and seeing my fellow students of all ages. I wave hello to those I recognize from previous semesters, I hang with the guys in the hall and collectively we bitch about Professor Weird in Math 121 (I think the class is close to a mutiny, but that’s a blog entry in itself. I am bringing my camera along regularly though, just in case I get the opportunity to sneak a movie for the blog.) But there are so many that look down, iPods in place and just stumble along. The sun could be shining, the sky crystal blue and the changing of the leaves breathtaking, but they don’t notice.

I find that depressing.

I hope this isn’t the way of the up and coming generation.

I’m a geek to the bone and I’m proud of it. But c’mon, there’s a time and place for technology, and sometimes, you just have to get out there and enjoy life, no strings attached.

Last night I finished a science fiction novel called “The Demu Trilogy”. Originally three stories entitled “Cage A Man”, “The Proud Enemy” and “End Of The Line”, it was written by F.M. Busby. With last night’s completion it is the 36th time I’ve read the book from beginning to end.

Some might find this odd.

I discovered this book when I was 12. It was buried in a box of books from my Uncle Pete, sandwiched between two copies of “Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask”. (I’ve wondered why Aunt Bea and Uncle Pete had two copies of that book, but I was afraid to ask). It had apparently been passed over at a garage sale and was subsequently shoved into this box, along with a bunch of other science fiction books and the aforementioned sex books. The sex books weren’t that informative. I had questions that others would be afraid to answer.

One would think that reading a book for the 36th time would be a chore in monotony but believe it or not, with each reading I find nuances that I haven’t noticed before. I see symbolism that I hadn’t realized in the past 27 years. As a child, my interpretation of the images painted by Busby were, well, child-like. As an adult, I’ve noticed more and more depth to the passages with each subsequent reading.

The basic story goes somewhat like this. Barton, the lead character, is abducted by an alien race called the Demu. The Demu believe that they are the only true people in the universe, all other races are animals. When a non-Demu learns their language, this confuses them as only Demu should be smart enough to speak Demu. So they do their best to make the “animal” look Demu through some pretty rough cosmetic surgery. By the way, the Demu are exoskeletal and like “intelligent shellfish”, much like humans evolved from apes. Barton escapes, leverages his way back to Earth, along with a woman from another humanoid race, the Tilari. I really like the Tilari. Their differences from humans (lack of STDs, conscious control of ovulation, among many other things) make for some very interesting relationships. Earth joins up with Tilara (by the way, we’re called Earthani, not Earthlings, which I find cool) and they go after the Demu, which turns out is just a small part of a big puzzle. I won’t go into further detail, but it’s a great read for any science fiction buff.

It’s amazing how some of the small details of this novel have contributed to the molding of my libertarian beliefs. Sometimes I wish my English Literature professor would just say “write a thematic paper on your favorite novel.” I’d have a field day with that assignment.