I love the complexity of the clouds in this photo.
Magical?
My husband and I are seriously considering selling our Disney Vacation Club membership. There, I’ve said it out loud.
The past few trips to Disney properties, namely Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida, have not lived up to the memories we cherish from earlier trips to these venues. There’s a few reasons for this, and at the top of the list is the cost. Even with our prepaid accommodations, a trip to WDW for four or five days costs an incredible (to us) amount of money. From park tickets that are way over $100 per person, per day, to the cost of meals, to the cost of extra like ride photos and whatever “FastPass” is called this week, to now having to pay for the (non-)Disney bus from Orlando International Airport to the park… it’s just too dang expensive.
And honestly, the “magic” I once found in Disney seems to have dwindled a bit. It is impossible to escape the outside world. It used to be that you passed under the big arch and things were more colorful, the cast members were groomed to a certain standard, smiles were brighter, and in general, you were leaving the big, frustrating world behind for a while.
Now, Disney wants you constantly on your phone, with meal reservations and ride reservations and photo reservations. The male cast members that were originally required to be clean shaven and now required to grow a “neat, short beard” during their vacation, in actuality are all scruffed up to “meh, I didn’t shave for two days and I’m not brushing my teeth anymore”. Exiting attractions is often through the “back stage” area, where we see Mickey without his head on a smoke break. There’s more and more money required for anything beyond getting through the gates.
The magic has broken our bank a bit.
Yes, as I’m constantly reminded by my husband, I have old fashioned expectations for this modern world. I get that. That’s why there’s no one on our lawn. But when you’re paying sums of money equivalent to several house payments for a week in the Floridian humidity, you want a little bang for your buck.
I recently stumbled across this four hour review of the now closed “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” two day immersive experience. A lot of what is mentioned here can be attributed to the entire Disney experience.
It’s quite sad to me.
Holiday.
I love the sound of the classic analog synths of the late ’70s and ’80s. I stumbled across a YouTube channel that features these wonderful sounds, and here’s a sample.
Here’s a recreation of “Holiday” by Madonna.
Sectioned.
I’m going to start this blog entry by stating it right here at the top: I really enjoy Michelle Yeoh.
Paramount+/CBS/All Access/whatever it’s called these days has released a trailer for “Star Trek: Section 31”, to be released on Paramount+ in 2025. If it wasn’t for the “Star Trek:” in the title and a few mentions of a Vulcan or something else, I would have absolutely no idea this trailer depicts a movie in the “Star Trek” universe.
This feels like some sort of cyberpunk sci-fi cuss mess that does NOTHING to contribute the original vision of “Star Trek”, and that’s when humanity gets beyond itself and into a prosperous, harmonious, future. NOTHING in this trailer invokes hope. Like most things branded as entertainment in the 2020s, this seems to be about strife, anger, and a dystopian future.
Bleh.
I am a Trekker from long before “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. I fairly enjoy “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”. I haven’t been as invested in the franchise since “Star Trek: Voyager” was canceled in the early ’00s and I could never get into “Discovery”. I enjoy “Strange New Worlds” to a degree, mostly because I hope at some point we’ll see Anson Mount shirtless in front of a mirror shaving around his awesome Starfleet sideburns.
“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” is one of my least favorite of the ‘classic’ series because back then it was straying too far from the hopeful future once ever present in the Star Trek universe. That’s where the concept of Section 31 was introduced to the canon, but from what I can tell, this Section 31 is nothing like what was introduced back on DS9.
A few years ago Paramount+/pick your name brought fan films in the Star Trek universe to a complete stop, as they had their own vision of what should be shared in the space going forward.
They should have left it to the fans to make their own films.
I’ll pass.
Suburbia.
There are many things to love about living in Tucson. Beautiful sunsets, amicable weather all year long, plenty to do when it comes to exploring the outdoors, the list goes on. But one of the things not on my list is the sprawl. Tucson has strip mall after strip mall, usually accompanied by mid 20th century housing developments in many directions.
I’ve known a little behind the history of American suburbia; it was a conscious effort to get more people driving. Phil Edwards, formerly of Vox, shares a fantastic video on the subject.
Reset.
I wasn’t even 10 minutes through the first meeting of the day when I realized that I was starting to feel way too stressed on a Monday morning. Since my meetings start at 07:00, this was not a good precedent for the work day, let alone the work week.
I stepped away from my office desk for a few moments, hugged my husband, and gave Truman some nice pets. He wanted treats. This improved my mood.
A few more things happened at work and I decided it was time to take a few moments and just let my brain reset. Enter my daily dose of Solitaire.
After getting through a couple of goals, I’m feeling better.
Sometimes I have to step back to improve my mental state instead of just trying to plow through the situation. I’m sure the afternoon will be quite productive and ultimately I will have a productive work week.
It’s good to remember to breathe once in a while.
Thoughts.
Monsoon season has continued on and I’m enjoying it very much. The afternoons and evenings have been showing promise of some good, albeit slow moving, storms on a regular basis. The pattern looks like it’s going to kick up a bit in the beginning of August as the eastern Pacific Ocean starts doing its typhoon things.
Weather is so interesting, especially with all the change going on.
While I’m always interested in capturing moments of life via video captures and photos, I’ve been trying to take some time each day with my phone in my pocket and enjoying the world around me, just for me. I went for my morning walk, leaving the iPhone behind for 35 minutes and I feel like it was a great way to start the day. This is something I used to do all the time before the smartphone era. Some of my best memories are of me alone in the woods behind my parents’ house just walking, exploring, and lost in my own thoughts. It’s a practice I need to get back to on a regular basis.
I’ve never understood how so many folks, especially those of the younger generations, walk around with earbuds or headphones on all the time. But then again, I don’t understand how private pilots can fly around listening to music in much the same fashion, especially since an airplane engine is a world of music of its own.
I will always be thankful that I am solidly part of Gen X, in that I’ve seen the world without 90% of this technology and I’ve seen all the wonderful things current technology can do. Couple my generational placement with my higher than average memory and I can keep all this loud technology around us in perspective.
The sunrise was beautiful this morning. As hues of pink and orange appeared over the Santa Rita Mountains to the east, I stopped my walk for a few seconds to watch the rays of the new day peek over the ridge. I smiled. I said “thank you” to whatever forces in the universe listen to that sort of thing. There was no impulse to catch the moment digitally, it was impossible with my iPhone back home.
And that’s a brilliant way to start the day.
Video: Tips for Hiking Mount Lemmon – Aspen and Mint Springs Trails
Here’s a video of my latest hiking adventure. I decided to take a slightly different approach with this video and included tips on how making your hike more awesome when you’re hiking Mount Lemmon. I’d love to hear any feedback you have on this or my other videos.
I have to admit I’m rather proud of this particular piece. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.
Seeking.
The ever growing number of ads in my Instagram experience have been depressing me. The depression comes from this ad laden world we live in, but the content of the ads was bringing me down as well.
As I scrolled through lots of airplane, cat, and smiling faces photos, I was constantly being asked if my dopamine levels were off, or if my ADHD symptoms were getting the best of me, or if I was feeling down and depressed. Of course, the ads were geared so I would download an app that would be a cure all, subscribe to a trial plan, and then probably get hit with a whopper of a bill in a few weeks or months. Said subscription would be harder to cancel than a Sirius/XM radio subscription and if I went through that rigamarole I’d probably be more depressed than when I started the app to begin with. So I did the sensible thing and closed Instagram and threw my iPhone across the room like Joan Crawford did in a movie. I think she threw the lamp. Who knows, maybe I made that part up.
I actually made the “throwing the iPhone” part of this story up because I often fantasize about doing just that. I don’t particularly enjoy that smartphones have become a necessary part of life. I would like them to remain somewhere in the complementary category. These days you can’t even park your car at a parking meter downtown without your phone and an app. That’s a whole separate blog entry that I should write someday. I’m not noting this down on my iPhone because it’s in the other room. Intact.
When I start to feel this way I go back and find random blog entries from the past 23+ years of this bloggy thing and look to see how I felt at a certain time in my life. Knowing the past helps me shape my present and plan for my future. I typed a random date and was led to this blog entry.
The Universe speaks once again.
Here’s the text of that original blog entry. Reviewing it has made me feel a bit better this morning. Instagram remains closed.
Spiritual (30 July 2012)
I think I had a spiritual moment whilst standing on the Golden Gate Bridge this past week. It was a glowing happiness that washed over me as I stood there, enjoying the sun and the breezes and the water below. Perhaps it was relatives that have passed on stopping by to enjoy the view with me. Maybe it was the gentle smile from the clergy-like attired man that was there to speak with those that thought about having their last spiritual moment on the bridge. Whatever it was, I felt calm, at peace, recharged and ready to take on the future head-on after a few moments of standing there.
When I returned to the observation area, the man that knows me better than any other person on this world sensed that “something” had happened on the bridge for me. I couldn’t put it in words for him so I didn’t try. I know I felt more relaxed than I have in a couple of years. The feeling carries on.
This weekend a friend asked if I am a spiritual person. The emphasis of the question was on the word ‘spiritual’ versus ‘religious’. I’m definitely not a religious person; I think the vast majority of organized religions have taken the a beautiful intent and perverted into a diatribe of hate, a conversation of a fear and an intent of pure profit. But spirituality is something completely different for me. Spirituality is found when the heart connects with everything that surrounds it. I seek beauty everywhere I look. I fully believe that this life, right now, is just one chapter of a multi-faceted journey and I fully believe that we have kindred spirits that we have known before, we know now and we will know again. I have met people where there was just a resounding ‘click’. When I meet someone for the first time and I feel that ‘click’, I attribute it to some sort of connection and start talking with them like I’ve known them before. I figure we had a conversation in a previous life or something, so we might as well just continue on together. I know, it sounds very Shirley MacLaine. I’m okay with that (though I wasn’t completely okay with her portrayal of Endora).
I know a lot of gay men that are atheists. I know many that have found a path similar to mine; finding spirituality via the Universe instead of relying on the writings of man. Each of us have our own path and I’m fine with that. I’m not going to try to change your mind and I thank you for not trying to change mine. We have our beliefs and I don’t think that it all comes down a binary answer.
I believe that we can do wondrous things for the world if we just open our hearts and minds. Standing on the Golden Gate Bridge opened up my heart and mind a little more. My goal is to maintain that openness and do what I can to make the world a better place. So yes, I am a very spiritual person and I am happy that I have found that again.
Caturday.
I bought Truman some new scratching pads so he can scratch to his delight wherever he goes. He seems unimpressed.
