To celebrate the Chinese New Year, Apple posted a video on their Youtube channel. It’s a well done 15 minute short that tugs at the heartstrings a bit. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Wonder Woman 1984!
I really didn’t enjoy “Wonder Woman 1984” back when it came out a few years ago. I thought it was all over the place. The best part was the Lynda Carter cameo in the post credits scene.
However, I stumbled upon this fan made intro based on the ’70s series but for the movie and it is awesome! Enjoy!
So Very Long.
We have finally made it to the last day of January and wow, has it been a long month. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we started this month with the usual New Year’s Day festivities and that we had a couple of days off for holiday and it still felt like a very long month.
Is it because of a focus on goals for the New Year? Is it because in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere it’s colder and darker than most people enjoy? Even here in the Sonoran Desert I’m wearing pants, though the weather has been surprisingly warm this week.
I’m looking forward to what February brings.
Flying The Boeing 737.
Please pay attention to this pre-takeoff safety checklist, courtesy of Pam Ann. It was nice of Boeing to just modify the 737 instead of coming up with a new design; this safety checklist works for the MAX too!
At Least Try.
I get spam email all the time. Once in a very great while one of them will be convincing, but decades of being online has taught me a thing or two and I usually don’t fall for these things.
But, if you’re going to send me spam, at least put some effort into it. I particularly enjoy the section I have highlighted in bold print below.
Hey,
I hope this email finds you well! It’s been a while since we last caught up, and I thought I’d drop you a quick note to see how you’ve been doing.
Life has been keeping me busy lately, but I’ve been thinking about our last conversation and wanted to check in on you. How have things been on your end? Any exciting updates or news you’d like to share?
On my end, I’ve been [briefly mention what you’ve been up to, such as work, hobbies, or personal projects]. It’s been keeping me on my toes, but I’m grateful for the opportunities that have come my way.
Let’s definitely schedule a time to catch up soon, whether it’s over a cup of coffee or a video call. I miss our chats and would love to hear about what’s been going on in your life.
Take care and talk soon!
Warm regards,
Nostalgia.
The other night I wrote a rambly post about good memories from the past and it made me smile in the moment. This morning I came across a social media post about nostalgia and the 21st century.
I don’t know a lot of people nostalgic about the 2000s.
Now, it’s been long enough, nearly a quarter of a century since the beginning of the 2000s so there’s certainly room to be nostalgic about those times. But I don’t know many people that look upon the 21st century with a lot of nostalgia. We often hear, “the ’80’s were awesome” and “I loved the ’90s!” but when it comes to 2000s, not much. Maybe I”m not hanging around the right people.
Well, for one thing, did we ever settle on what we were to call the 2000s? It’s easy to say and type the ’60s and the ’70s and such, but the ’00s? Are they the “oh”s? Are they the zeroes or the naughties? Or do we just say the “2000s”? It’s funny, as I’m composing this blog entry that decade seems so long ago.
The 2000s pretty much kicked off with 9/11 and from my seat it appears like the United States completely lost its mind as a result of that day. Insane amounts of security theater in the airports, forced us to give up a lot of personal freedoms with the Patriot Act, and the like were gained steam in a time when we had the first modern President we didn’t actually elect, and things just got weird. Then there was the Great Recession at the back half of the ’00s and that was a hoot and a half. At the very end of the ’00s the Tea Party was kicking into high gear and after enduring eight years of “W”, we decided that stupid was really chic and embraced Sarah Palin.
No, there’s not much to be nostalgic about when it comes to the first decade of the 21st century. Things calmed down a little bit when President Obama was elected into office and that got us through the first half of the ’10s, but even that decade doesn’t seem like it’s going to lead us old folks into the same wistful gaze our parents had when they got nostalgic about jukeboxes, drive-in movies, and poodle skirts. As much as I enjoy technology, I’m not wistful about out first flat panel TV.
Perhaps many of the ills of this century have to do with all this (arms gesturing wildly) being nothing to be nostalgic about. Good memories? Of course, I hope everyone has good memories, but while I often read about people claiming the likes of the ’80s and ’90s being “the good old days”, I really don’t think in 20 years we’re going to be saying the ’10s or the ’20s were the good old days.
Maybe we need to all nudge society into a direction that will change our feelings about this era when we look back. There’s also a chance I didn’t get enough sleep last night and I’m starting to feel a little loopy as I finish up the little missive.
Make an awesome memory today.
Mindful.
As I write this it’s 0850 on a Monday morning and I’ve already navigated through multiple fires at work. The only thing that’s keeping me moving forward is one thought.
“Would I want to feel what I’m feeling right now if this moment I took my last breath?”
Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.
Past.
I’m reading a book that suggests by remembering how we felt in the past, we possibly stunt our growth for the future.
There are many things I miss about the past. Eating food without worrying about calories. Big metal bowls of popcorn drizzled with real butter. Grandparents that called butter “oleo’. The smiles of loved ones that have passed. The friendly faces of a supermarket cashier named Ruth. The smell of decades old books in the library. Old school penmanship. Mom yelling into the back 40 trying to figure out where I was. Riding in the back seat of a car listening to AM radio. Watching airplanes come and go from a small grass strip. Enough cash to buy things. Going to church and noticing everyone seated in the same place week after week. Shopping in a downtown. Watching the Christmas decorations go up in the village. Wondering what the rest of the country was like and resolving to find out on my own.
The past builds our present. It’s all in the soup. Can’t take it out now. Stir it in and enjoy.
Caturday.
We celebrated Truman’s five year anniversary of “Gotcha Day” this week. He just wanted extra kibble.
He has been a little more social with the dogs lately and the three of them chased a laser dot together. He then retreated to his cat tree to watch activities around the house.
Hope.
I call this photo “hope”. While out for my walk, this sunny spot on the darkened mountain caught my eye. It reminded me there’s always a bright spot, somewhere.
