Random November Saturday Morning Musings

1. Has anyone else ever noticed that the Beatles' song "Birthday" sounds awfully sarcastic? Listen to it again. The tone of Paul and John's voices definitely have a certain harshness. It's almost as if they are mocking the subject of the song with each lyric.
"You say it's your birthday - well it's my birthday too, yeah!" --- this is like someone sneeringly claiming it's their birthday when it obviously is not just to spite the person whose birthday it truly is.
"We're gonna have a good time" --- No, we're not. Because I'm a jerk and I'm belittling you by making fun of your birthday party.
"I'm glad it's your birthday" -- No, not really. I'm just sarcastically saying that to make you feel bad. Ha Ha Ha.

2. This has been one of the nicest Autumns I can remember. Too bad I've spent most of it indoors doing engineering stuff. It never rained in September, and maybe rained twice in October. We had one week recently of 50 degree weather, but other than that it's been in the 70s and sunny.

3. I keep having dreams where I'm talking to Brett Favre as if we are friends or I at least have an opinion that he cares about. I've always respected Favre as a football player, but I'm a Bears fan - so it's not like he's been one of my sports heroes. I kind of feel for the guy right now. He's having a rough season...getting physically beat up, the media has swarmed over his "racy texts" scandal (even though it's really no one's business and shouldn't be news - the only purpose it serves is to keep Jenn Sterger's name floating in the ether and providing fodder for the aforementioned media), his coach stinks, his team is a mess...he's almost assuredly wishing he'd just stayed in Mississippi instead of coming back this time around. That being said, though, you have to be impressed by his ability to keep playing with men half his age. He's still very capable and one of the better players at his position.

4. Is it just me or does Thanksgiving seem to come more quickly these days and without any build up? From childhood through my college years there was always a month-long anticipation and excitement that brewed. But lately the big day just sort of rushes upon us with only a bit of fanfare on the day before. Could it just be that I'm older now and my mind is occupied by more important matters? Looking back at my 20 year old self, I had so little responsibility or truly important things to tend to that I could afford to think about Thanksgiving every day for a month leading up to it. Come to think of it...my 20 year old self was a head-shakingly shadow-like version of my current self. But then that's always been the goal: to constantly be improving and as a result looking back on old versions of myself with disregard and a roll of the eyes. It would be a shame to always consider your former self to be the better you.

Well, it's time to eat a late breakfast and go watch my Hurricanes stink it up against Georgia Tech. If we lose today I will then be in full hoping-that-we-tank-the-season mode and looking forward to hiring a new coaching staff (Jon Gruden please!). If we win...meh...I'll be happy for the players and will try to be optimistic about the future, but I won't be daydreaming of championships.

Just Nodding My Head to Prove I'm Alive

Yes, I've been neglecting this blog for a while now. The reasons? First -- school. There just hasn't been time for much else outside of engineering related stuff. Second -- I think I fell into that natural tendency of mine to over-think what I was writing about and got to a point where I was hearing the criticisms of others before even writing anything. So, here's a nice, easy step back into entertaining all 3 of you who read these things....

Thanksgiving is fast approaching...my favorite holiday. Some folks prefer ham over turkey, which to me is simply outrageous. Even outside of a holiday meal - a full-sized turkey vs a full baked ham -- the turkey always wins in my book. And there's no such thing as too much turkey. It's meant to be consumed for a week after the actual holiday in sandwiches, reheated plates of leftovers, and even turkey-a-la-king. In fact, in this spirit of complete government control of all aspects of our lives and mandating every minute detail -- why don't they just make it a rule that sufficient turkey must be prepared such that all immediate family members and hangers-on can indulge in turkey eating until at least the end of the weekend? Turkey Czars? Why not! We have czars for everything else....

College football is nearing the end of its regular season and the NFL only has a couple more months. Meanwhile the dreadful NBA is already back in action. Just like John Mayer (though, admittedly not as awful and detrimental to society) the NBA should be abolished....or at least forced to only last for the few paltry months that the football season is limited to. This 9 months out of the year stuff is a crime against humanity!

Swine flue, swine flu, swine flu....did you get your shot? Not me. I got a regular flu shot as I've had them in recent years with no side effects. But I do not trust the hysteria or the rushed production of the swine flu vaccination. Rule of thumb -- never trust anything that has been politicized or overly hyped by the media. It's also a rule of thumb in chemical engineering to have the velocity of water through a pipe somewhere between 4 and 10 feet/second. (or is it 4 and 7......crap....)

I haven't been to the movies since August, so I have no reviews. in fact, other than a trip to Garden of the Gods with the family a few weeks ago and the school-trip to Nashville for our national conference, I haven't left the house at all on the weekends!

The Office....in the last few months it has become my official favorite show on tv. The wedding episode was fantastic, but all of the new episodes since (with the exception of this past week's) have been quite disappointing. And other Office fans that i know seem to feel the same way. Hopefully this most recent episode is a sign that they are getting their groove back. Dwight being Dwight, Jim playing pranks, Michael doing awkward and ridiculously stupid things...that's the magical formula that made the show so great. Michael at the shareholder's meeting was superb! "45 day plan....45 points....45 points in 45 days..."

Okay, I'm hitting the wall and there's much engineering stuff to be done today. If I don't write again before Thanksgiving - have a good one and send me your leftovers.