Monthly Archives: November 2013

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Hectic holidays

November 12, 2013 9:16 PM , Leave a Comment ,

Remember when we were kids?  We just had to show up at a holiday and it all magically happened.

The turkey was on the table, the presents under the Christmas tree, the 4th of July barbecue ready.  The holidays season at the end of the year was a time which kids looked forward to with anticipation since early January.

When did this magic stop and the work begin?

Even though I don’t have kids the workload around the holidays seems to grow each year.  The normal work load at the office doesn’t let up.  If anything it seems to get worse.  On top of that we have our social obligations.  Functions to attend, presents to be acquired, cards to write, decorations to be chosen and put up and then taken down.

Can’t imagine how much more it is for parents but I can guess trying to wrangle one kid to do what he needs to do is bad enough.

How did my parents do it?  I doubt the holidays were easier for them back then than they are now.  At least I can be lazy and do some shopping online.

Some planning and pro active work can help minimize the stress of the holidays but every year some unexpected twist takes place at home or at work and all the planning goes out the window.

I guess the best I can do is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  I hope that one day I can get back some of the magical feeling that the holidays used to exude and enjoy this time of year.

Posted in: holidays

How to fall in 4 easy steps

November 10, 2013 7:38 PM , Leave a Comment ,

When we go through life we might hope that we will cruise through life without any injuries or scars but that’s rarely the case.  All of us have to be prepared to receive and deal with life’s injuries the best way possible.  I have compiled a list of  four ways that you can best come through the inevitable falls in life.

What inspired this post was a recent event.  My second day running in central park ended on a memorable note.  I fell, and I fell hard.  I was running south towards Columbus Circle and almost finished my run when I decided to cross the street.  All I had to do is hop over the curb and it would be a straight run out of the park.  A tiny piece of cobble stone peeked over its fellow cobbles.  Maybe a millimeter higher but just enough to catch the edge of my running shoe and send me falling forward.

I hit hard.  Having not totally lost my balance this much in at least a decade I was totally unprepared for it.  I could feel and hear my knee joints grind together.  My hands out in front of me crumpled and twisted in odd directions.

I had the presence of mind afterwards to not move around too quickly and do an inventory of what might or might not be broken.  I scared a couple of kids who witnessed it and they graciously helped me back up.  I was fine but it could have been worse.

So first lesson.  Avoid the obvious perils.  In this case I should have waited for a handicap ramp or a bike lane or something rather than hopping over the curb like some kid.  In life I can do many stupidly perilous things or I can play it safe in most things possible.  It won’t make me totally safe but I can minimize the damage that I might otherwise take for no good reason.

Second lesson.  learn how to fall.  I pretty much just let this fall do what it wanted.  I didn’t try stabilize myself or guard my body.  You can trip and fall in ways that the damage is minimized to almost nothing.  But, if you do nothing you are almost asking to get hurt badly.

Third lesson.  Take stock of the damage.  This, I did do.  A disaster in your life is never as bad as you think it is.  Try and see things for what they really are.  Calm down, think, prioritize, and move forward.

Last lesson.  Thank those that try to help you.  In this case it was a pair of teenage kids that I doubt put together weighed as much as I did but they put their hearts into helping up an old man.  Be mindful to note those that helped you when you were down.  They could have walked on after all.

 

 

 

Posted in: life in general, running

cinema vs live theater vs reading

November 8, 2013 6:19 PM , Leave a Comment ,

I’m more visual than most.  I tend to favor things such as cinema and live theater.  It’s not just a matter of the content, although it is important to enjoy good quality content, however things like cinema or theater add an actors, or playwrights, or director’s viewpoint of a piece.  It’s a kind of discussion with those other human beings not just the writer.

But I don’t go for just the average shoot’em up as I once did in my youth.  I’m after pieces with something worth saying.  How many times can you go to an action flick before you get tired?

Live theater is something I have recently added.  I don’t do too many of these because I want  to be picky as to what I attend.  The performances I attend have been excellent.  They have been thought-provoking, well acted, and presented in a way to make an impact on the audience.

My book reading has evolved over time.  From a diet of mostly pulp and few quality reads to one of mostly quality reads and little pulp.  I can feel the vascular pressure in my brain relax as I take in less garbage and a more mentally nutritious diet.

Posted in: entertainment

despising the old

November 6, 2013 7:52 PM , Leave a Comment ,

Houston is a city that is supposedly over 175 years old but that’s not really the truth.  For a long time it lingered stuck as a small town.  The humidity, the heat, the mosquitoes didn’t encourage people to come and settle here.  That is until the advent of the air conditioner, the interstate highway system and the space program.  All these gave Houston the impetus to grow.

Consequently we don’t really have the layers upon layers of history and old architecture that most cities do.  Take Chicago for example.  Founded only 4 years earlier than Houston but it grew at a steady pace since its start.  Building up layers and layers of history and memorable architecture.  It now boasts great architecture and a larger population than Houston.

We have little history to spare.  So you’ll pardon me when I get a little hot under the collar when some people decide not to save one of the few landmarks that this town has to offer.

Of course I’m talking about the Astrodome.  The so-called 8th wonder of the world.  Not the prettiest of buildings, specially now that it’s been allowed to decay, but certainly iconic of the city.  The first of the domed stadiums, it was copied and recopied around the world.

I remember for a long time that Houstonians have complained that they aren’t taken seriously as a big city.  We have a slight inferiority complex sometimes when compared to our more suave neighbors like LA. or Chicago, or New York.  We have none of the memorable landmarks that these cities have.  All we have are strip malls, parking lots, and miles and miles of cookie cutter suburbs.

The thing is that you don’t build up a reputation by bulldozing the old.  You care for the old, the damaged, you celebrate it.  I remember last year that opponents of the Dome pointed out how even the New York Yankees stadium had been bulldozed.  The thing is though that New York still has literally dozens of other landmarks to brag about.  We don’t.

So now the Dome will be bulldozed and in its place will probably be added more parking for the stadium next door.  Perhaps this then is our legacy to the future.  The city of parking lots, strip malls, and nondescript prefab housing.  We will be the model for the future cities of the world.  Bland, dull, interchangeable.

Posted in: Astrodome, Houston

Halloween costume dos and don’ts

November 4, 2013 5:23 PM , Leave a Comment ,

Whether it’s a small gathering or a party for 5000 there are some basic rules of costuming that you need to follow in order to pull off a successful costume for a Halloween celebration.

1. KISS – yes, keep it simple stupid can apply to costumes.  Specially if you’re not a cosplayer or someone who loves costuming.  Extra added parts, tails, tentacles, etc should be avoided as they are likely to fail and or fall off at the worst possible time.  Besides that, simple is elegant, it’s neat, it’s what you should be aiming for.

2. make up.  If you’re going to be in air conditioning and not running round all the time it’s fine.  On the other hand if you know you’re going to be somewhere hot and humid or walking back and forth then think of another costume or go light on the make up.  Nothing worse than a zombie with runny mascara.

3. Don’t be esoteric.  You may know the scariest movie out there and have the best costume idea, but if you have to explain it to everyone you meet then it drains out most of the fun of the costume.  Take it from someone who’s committed this sin.

4.  Remember you’re there to have fun.  Don’t get all serious and psychotic about your costume.  Remember that the point of this is to get together with friends and celebrate not to show off

Posted in: halloween

mental writing exercises

November 2, 2013 9:55 PM , Leave a Comment ,

Try this if you haven’t already.

Go somewhere crowded but open.  It can’t be some ill lit restaurant with barely any light or some cafe with intimate nooks and crannies.

Find an open floor space with lots of people in it where people come and go all the time.  Shopping mall food courts are good, so are hotel lobbies, or maybe plazas and parks.

Now just sit and watch.  Note the detail of the people coming and going.  How do they walk?  what are they wearing?  are they carrying something?  who are they with?

Take in all of these details, and come up with reasons for them.  That man pushing a stroller with a limp.  How did he get that?  Is that really his kid in the stroller or is he an uncle or maybe grandfather?  The well dressed woman with the Macy’s bag.  What did she buy?  What’s her home life like?  What’s she driving that’s in the shopping mall parking lot right now?

Try to stay conventional at first and come up with “reasonable” explanations but later on as you get more practiced try to branch out.  Make up more and more outrageous things.  Let these people live and breathe in your imagination.  Clothe them in details that your mind provides.

 

Posted in: writing