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Categorically

30 Jul

We just finished walking around the neighborhood. As we did, I noticed a man through a window. He was working at his desk, and I began to wonder what he was working on. Was he writing the next great novel? Was he writing a letter? Was he blogging? At the moment, I am sitting by a window, and people are probably looking in and wondering what I am doing.

I like to think that people like what they read here. It’s a hodgepodge of stuff, but it comes right out of my head. Sometimes, It’s travel. Sometimes, it’s music. Sometimes, its stories from the past. All the time, it’s something that is stuck in my mind and needs to get out.

I am not sure what needs to get out tonight, so I will just go down the list of categories on this blog and type this first thing that fits.Scattergories

Academics – School starts back soon. That means inservice.

Agriculture – The other day, I got gas at the Farmer’s Co-Op.

Art – There is a guy named Art who works at Beauty Boutique, Necole’s store.

Biography – The last one I read wasn’t very good, It was about Ward Bond, John Ford and John Wayne. It should have been good.

Books – I just finished The Eye of God by James Rollins. It is the further adventures of Grayson Pierce.

Childhood Memories – Tonight, I mentioned that my parents had a Weeping Willow in their front yard, and I used to play under it.

Comedy – Nothing is funny, at the moment.

Community – I was named to the local Planning Commission. This afternoon was my first meeting.

Crime – Tonight, I found out that a guy I once knew tried to kidnap his wife and lock her in a closet. Hopefully, he will get what’s coming to him.

Did You Know? – I forgot about this category. It needs to be revisited.

Dining – Tonight, we had a home cooked meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and green peas.

Dreams – Lately, my dreams have been less than memorable.

Government – Necole went to the DMV this morning. There is no reason they should be that slow.

History – I am getting my lecture voice warmed up.

Movies – We watched Batman Begins, and I realized that the guy who plays Joffrey on Game of Thrones was in it.

Music – We have a couple of concerts coming up – Don Williams and The Eagles.

Nature – There’s a great article about sugar in the latest National Geographic. Everyone should read it.

Photography – In a few days, we are getting more wedding photos made.

Rambling Ruminations – I think that is what this post is all about.

Relationships – I’m married.

Religion – I would like to write about it more, but a few things are better left unsaid.

Sports – College football is about to start, and my team, the University of Tennessee, is in the Southeastern Conference. However, you’ll never hear me chant S-E-C. I cheer for one team and hope the other ones lose every week.

Stupid Stuff – It’s an accurate description of this post.

Television – I’m waiting for Justified to crank back up.

Therapy – I used to go. I don’t anymore.

Travel – We just returned from California and will be heading to Arizona soon.

Writing – Am I the only person who doesn’t mess with those writing prompts?

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The Moneymaker Decade

3 Jul

The World Series of Poker is going on in Las Vegas, and it is something that I have been keeping up with for a long time. Although I am sure that I watched it earlier, my earliest recollection is watching Scotty Nguyen winning the main event in 1998. However, it was ten years ago that an unknown player shocked the poker world.

Chris Moneymaker came from nowhere to win the 2003 main event.Chris Moneymaker

It was interesting to watch, and it was surreal that he was from Nashville and worked for a restaurant that I have been to many times. (An aside: Moneymaker was not the first Tennessean to win the main event. Puggy Pearson, one of the all-time greats, won it in 1973.) After Moneymaker’s victory, a lot of people became interested in the game. It seemed that everyone was playing No Limit Texas Hold’em.

It wasn’t long before a bunch of guys at work began a regular Sunday night game. Some played every week, and others drifted in and out. I don’t know how long we did this, but a lot of changes took place during that time. Some got married. Some had kids. Some got divorces. We got lucky and took bad beats. We talked about work and about less serious stuff. One night, my girlfriend called to tell me that she was stuck in an elevator.

As I think back on all of that, it is hard to believe that it has been ten years. It seems like yesterday that I was watching the final table on television. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were meeting on Sunday nights. As I look back, it brings to mind all of the changes that have taken place in the Moneymaker Decade. Obviously, his life has changed during that time, but everyone else’s has changed, too.

In 2003, I was in my second year of teaching. I was also the youngest member of the History faculty. Now, I am the oldest member of the History faculty.

In 2003, I was dating a kindergarten teacher and was not being very faithful. She was followed by a string of girlfriends. Now, I am getting married in a few days.

In 2003, I had never played a hand of poker. The first night I went to the Sunday game was the first time I had ever played. There is no telling how many hands I have played since. Now, I haven’t played poker in a year, and that game wasn’t very serious.

I 2003, I had yet to teach the field trip class to New Mexico. Now, I have been on the trip countless times and am supposed to take it over. Two of the teachers have retired and one is not far from it.

In 2003, I had considerable more hair. Now, it has gone somewhere.

Like any other ten-year period, the Moneymaker Decade has brought a lot of experiences and changes. Some good. Some bad. Some remembered. Some forgotten. Through it all, I remember watching a guy from my town win the biggest poker tournament in the world. I just can’t believe ten years has passed that quickly.

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The Big Misdirection

29 Jun

My fingers hover over the keyboard, but they don’t know which keys to hit. My mind really hasn’t come up with many good blogging ideas lately because there is simply too much going on. The wedding is one week from today, and there is a lot still to do. Go here. Go there. Get this. Get that. It all adds up to something I call the “Big Misdirection”.Magician

Last week, I saw “Now You See Me”, a movie about a team of magicians. Like all good magician movies, they talked about the art of misdirection. Get the audience looking one way when all of the action is going on somewhere else. It’s what magicians have been doing for centuries. Heck, there are even misdirections to stop you from focusing on the real misdirection.

I am convinced that weddings are one big misdirection. There is all this stuff to do. Cake tastings. Fittings. Decide on a caterer. Pick out the music. Before you realize it, there is so much going on that you just want it to be over. Once the wedding has taken place, you the entire build up is suddenly gone.

However, that is the misdirection. You get focused on wanting to get the wedding over with that you forget that this lifetime commitment follows. The ceremony takes place. Everyone has fun at the reception. As a couple, you ride off into the sunset. Relief sets in as you realize that you never have to answer another email from the wedding planner. Then, it hits. You realize that you are married and a completely different phase of your life has begun.

So, it’s one “Big Misdirection”. You are so stressed about one day that you can’t think about how it’s a life changing event. It’s a magic trick worthy of applause, and, in the end, it’s a magic trick that I am happy to take part in.

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The Stuff Staring Back at Me

25 Jun

The moving process began this evening, and a lot of things have been added to this humble abode. However, the moving has also dug up some old things that I haven’t seen in a while. The office has become a dumping ground until we can figure out where everything goes, and, as I sit here, a a lot of stuff is staring back at me.

One interesting item is a photograph of me and my dad with Al Gore. It was at a fundraiser when he ran for president back in 2000. Of course, that was an interesting election, and a lot of focus was placed on Florida and its hanging chads. People forget that Gore lost his “home” state of Tennessee. In my mind, that is what cost him the presidency. Around here, people know how that happened, but the national pundits never really paid attention to that.Electoral Map

There is also a paper bag full of old pictures. I think they are of me in my younger days. At least, that’s what my mom says. I haven’t looked at them. For someone who likes to study the past of others, I’m not too crazy about dealing with my own.

Do you remember when they used to sell Time-Life collections on television? There was one called The Old West, and each volume contained information about a different aspect of history. “The Miners”. “The Gamblers”. “The Ranchers”. The ads would say, “John Wesley Hardin once shot a man for snoring.”John Wesley Hardin

The commercials were cool. Now, I have the complete set. Those commercials could have started me on the path to be a historian.

There is also a decorative coffee mug depicting a fox hunting scene. It has the dogs, the red jackets and everything.

I’m looking at a dream catcher, a folding chair, a globe with pastel colored countries. There is even a couple of vent filters.

It’s amazing what people accumulate. I think that our stuff becomes part of who we are. I suppose that’s what archaeologists are here for. They look at the stuff of people to determine the essence of people. It makes one wonder what a future archaeologist will think about us. Do today’s archeologists get it right? Will the future archaeologists get it right? Someone digging into my stuff would think that I voted for Al Gore. They shouldn’t be so sure about that.

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What Are They Running From?

12 Jun

I see people running all the time. They run through the neighborhoods. They run around campus. When I go to Nashville, I see them running through the city. Men. Women. Kids. All shapes and sizes. People are constantly running.Road Runner

As I watch them go by, I ask myself, “What are they running from?”

I’m sure they are not being chased by a coyote using explosives made by the ACME Company. However, I have some theories about what they are running from.

Death – This one is pretty obvious. People run to be healthier and being healthier is supposed to lead to a longer life. However, there are a few reasons why this is not a good idea. First of all, we can’t run from death. No matter how healthy we may be, we are not going to get out of this alive. (This leads me to another point. Religious people talk about how great heaven is and how they want to get there, but they don’t want to get in a big hurry about it. In fact, they want to put it off as long as possible.)

Second, I think there are better ways to exercise and stay healthy. Swimming is a lot easier on the body, and cycling seems to be a lot more fun than pounding the sidewalk over and over.

Loneliness – This is my major theory. When I see someone running on a Friday or Saturday night, I immediately think that they don’t have someone to be with. Instead of sitting home alone, they fill their time by running. When people ask them about their weekend plans, they can say that they are going running. On top of that, they may meet someone with a similar interest along the trail.

Boredom – Directly connected to loneliness, I believe this is a major aspect. Instead of staring at a wall, they get outside and stare at the road ahead.

Themselves – A lot of people don’t like themselves. They don’t like their flaws. They don’t like their life. They don’t like the decisions they have made. Only, it’s impossible to run from ourselves and the demons that may be lurking inside us. No matter where we go we will always be there.

Addiction – This one is more personal. I have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic and addict. He hits the streets every night. I think he has replaced unhealthy addictions with a healthy one. I believe he and others have become addicted to running.

Godzilla – I haven’t seen the giant lizard stomping on buildings and spitting fire, but the last time I saw this many people running Godzilla was on the prowl.Godzilla

Look, I know people are going to read this and think, “Why is he making fun of people who are trying to be healthy?” Good for them. I like being healthy, too. That’s why I use the treadmill. People make fun of me, but it’s a way that I can exercise and read at the same time.

I am merely pointing out the fact that health is a good reason to run, but I don’t think it’s the only reason. What are all of these people running from? It could be a lot of things. In fact, it could be some things that people need to turn around and face.

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Outdoor Blogging About Lightning Bugs and Time Travel

6 Jun

Tonight, I am doing something a little different. Instead of sitting at my desk or at the breakfast table, I am blogging on the deck. Dusk is my favorite part of the day. It’s that time between dark and light when you can see but not see. It’s that time when the shadows begin to echo with the noises of the night. It’s that time that I like to imagine vampires waking from their sleep. With all that going on, I need to experience it and not be shielded by the artificial lights of the house.

Actually, I’m not a big fan of artificial lights. I keep my office dark, and, when I am able, I keep my house dark, too. For some reason, things just seem more interesting when they can barely be seen. That’s probably why they keep the lights dim at strip clubs.

Here I am sitting on the deck, and I really notice the noises. I hear the neighbors talking on their deck. I wonder if people realize how far sound travels. I hear birds in the woods behind the house. I hear crickets chirping, one of the most lonesome sounds in the world. There is a dog barking in the distance.

When I was a kid, we played a game. Whoever saw the first lightning bug would win a prize. It could have been a soft drink or an extra thirty minutes before going to bed. Seeing the first lightning bug always seemed to be a moment of passage. In my mind, that’s when day truly turned into night. I just saw the first lightning bug, so it is night, now.Lightning Bug

I feel the urge to get up and catch one. That was also a fun game. Catch one and let it glow in your hand. It’s probably weird, but I also tried to find patterns in their mass blinking.

The neighbor just yelled, “Cold beer!” That’s one way to spend a relaxing evening. I’m not a big fan of beer, however. When I was younger, I hated it. Then, someone told me that I had to acquire a taste for it. That didn’t make sense. If I had to learn to like something, then why would I want it in the first place? There are other choices of adult beverages that taste better.Jack Daniels Logo

The light of my computer screen is attracting bugs. It’s always good to be typing and something is crawling along with the cursor.

It really is a nice evening. The trees are swaying in the breeze. Someone down the street is mowing their lawn. For me, it is a night for contemplating. When that happens, I think about the distant future. I guess that’s strange for someone who studies the past for a living. I tend to think of it as future history. What will historians of the future find when they look back? What will my house look like? Will it still be here? Will this be one of those neighborhoods of old homes like we have now? How big will the trees be? Will there be a George Jetson car pulling into the driveway?George Jetson

I don’t know, but I wonder. That’s why people have always been fascinated with time travel. We want to know what we, deep down, realize that we can never know.

Anyway, that’s what happens when I blog outdoors.

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Having a Ball

1 Jun

As I sit looking out the back window, I see a lot of things going on out there. The grill cover is faded by the sun. The swing is slightly moving in the breeze. The trees a moving a little more briskly. Usually, there are rabbits or deer roaming around, but they are probably hunkered down in the shade.

It is quiet in the house. I just turned the television off, and the air conditioner is not running at the moment. The only sound is coming from the keys of the laptop. Uh oh, here is one of those pop-ups from Apple. They are always updating.

Shortly, I will have to start getting ready for the big event tonight. It is the Phoenix Ball, a fundraiser for my university. The Phoenix was adopted by the school to symbolize its rising from the ashes of the Civil War, when the original campus was burned. The last time I went to the ball things were definitely burning. That’s the year that the air conditioning cut out. If you have never sweated in a rented tuxedo, then you should try it at your earliest convenience.

Anyway, the members of my town’s social register will be at the ball. I don’t think my name is in the book, but it is important to support the university. There was a kickoff party a few nights ago at a local home. It is called the Patrons’ Party, and there was a lot of patrons. The crowd was good. The weather was good. The libations were good. So, that made for a good evening. Hopefully, the ball will be just as good.

My rented tux is hanging in the closet. When I picked it up, I noticed a long list of names of fellow renters. I tried to get a good look at other people who will be wearing rented clothing. I figured the people not in the social register rent while the people in the social register have their own. That way I would know who the other non-book members are. Of course, if someone comes in with a top hat and cane, then it’s a good bet that they are actually a product mascot.Mr. Peanut

That reminds me. I wonder what kind of food they will have.

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Six Degrees of Joe Walsh

7 May

I have been flipping through the television dial (yes, television used to have dials that you actually got out of the chair and turned) and hit upon Guitar Center Sessions on the Audience channel. Tonight’s episode features Joe Walsh, one of the all time greats. This guy isn’t just a great guitar player. He has lived one crazy life.Joe Walsh

Walsh has had a varied career as a solo artist and member of several bands, but he may be best known as one of The Eagles. That band was founded by Don Henley and Glenn Frey. When the band broke up, they both had successful solo careers. Frey even spent some time acting on Miami Vice.Glenn Frey

Miami Vice made Don Johnson famous for his white suits, pastel shirts and cool cars. He was the definition of the 1980s. Johnson tried to parlay his television fame to the movies, but, like many television stars, the transfer didn’t go so well. However, he just appeared as a plantation owner in Django Unchained, the controversial and Oscar-winning film by Quentin Tarantino.Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino came to the attention of most people when he made Pulp Fiction. Of course, that was a ground breaking film that revitalized the career of John Travolta. He danced. He killed. He got killed before showing back up at the end of the movie. It takes a heck of a writer to come up with something like that.

Welcome Back, Kotter introduced Travolta to television audiences as one of the Sweathogs. A vehicle for comedian Gabe Kaplan, the show ended up focusing on the misfits in an inner city high school. There was Vinnie Barbarino, Horshack, Boom Boom Washington, and Epstein. It stayed on for a couple of years and launched Travolta, unlike Don Johnson, to movie stardom. Kaplan went on to play poker and become a poker commentator.Gabe Kaplan

As a member of the professional poker community, Kaplan has played against many of the great players and won Amarillo Slim’s  Super Bowl of Poker in 1980. Slim was considered one of poker’s great players, but he was a better talker. After his win in the 1972 World Series of Poker, Slim appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.Amarillo Slim

Johnny Carson’s father was known as “Kit” Carson, whose nickname was derived from a famous figure in the history of the American West. He gained fame through many endeavors, including being a trapper in the Rocky Mountains.Kit Carson

One of Joe Walsh’s best songs is Rocky Mountain Way.

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Things I Thought Today

3 May

I thought that….The Thinker

they held a touching memorial service for George Jones.

people who constantly brag about their jobs are jerks.

with all of the vehicles on the road and planes in the air it is going to be difficult for us to give up our addiction to gasoline.

service in a restaurant should not be slow when only three tables are occupied.

Walmart is Earth’s version of the Star Wars cantina.

the last day of class is always a day of mixed emotions.

I’ve become addicted to Twitter.

the quesadilla I had for lunch was pretty good.

sports talk radio is going to run its course one day.

newspapers should never be a thing of the past.

Justified should be on year round.

Iron Man 3 is a movie that I have to see within the next few days.

I really need to get a new car.

going into a bank is better than going to the drive-up window.

McDonald’s has the best french fries.

the only way I could make it through a marathon would be to pretend that I was in a Godzilla movie.

a lot of kids play soccer, but not many play it when they get older.

I could come up with a better blog post than this.

honeybuns may be the greatest use of sugar in human history.

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A Monumental Post

1 May

I have this bad habit of planning one kind of post but ending up writing another kind. This serious post about prejudice has been floating around my head all day. It probably stems from Jason Collins, the NBA player who just announced that he is gay. However, it also stems from an article in The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily newspaper.

A monument is being erected to honor the young people who staged sit-in’s in Nashville during the Civil Rights movement. One of the artists who is being considered was born in China. Apparently, one of the original protesters believes that a Chinese kid from California isn’t qualified to create a monument to him and his fellow protesters. The Chinese part is the only thing he got right. The lady is middle-aged and lives in West Virginia. I guess prejudice can come from anyone – even those who faced it and fought against it.

People tend to get upset over monuments for some reason. Last night, there was a documentary on television about the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. People didn’t like it because they thought it ugly. Now, more people visit The Wall than any other monument in the city.Vietnam Memorial

Also, I seem to remember some people getting upset because the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial did not address his paralysis. FDR went to a great deal of effort to hide that from the public, but there is now a statue with him in a wheelchair.Franklin Roosevelt

I understand that activists for the disabled believe that his paralysis should be shown as an example that obstacles can be overcome. However, the monument honors him and he did not want that displayed. Are monuments about the person being honored or about the people who are doing the honoring?

Maybe we shouldn’t put monuments up at all. Usually, the subjects are already dead, so they don’t mind. On top of that, do monuments really add anything to our knowledge of the people? Do we learn more about George Washington at that big obelisk or at Mount Vernon?Washington Monument

Also, monuments tend to turn humans into god-like beings. The Abraham Lincoln depicted at the Lincoln Memorial is this giant figure sitting on a throne. The Abraham Lincoln depicted at his home in Springfield, Illinois is quite a different character.

Thomas Jefferson has a bunch of monuments. Of course, there is the one in Washington, but did you know that the Arch in St. Louis in a Jefferson Memorial, too? I have never been in the Arch, but I have been in the underground museum that covers westward expansion. I get the feeling that when people drive by the Arch they don’t think about Jefferson. They probably think about him when they got to Monticello, however.

I have come to the conclusion that monuments cause people to get upset as much as they cause people to come together. A Confederate monument put up in the 1890s doesn’t convey the same message these days. The monument to the presidents at Mount Rushmore doesn’t make Native Americans very happy. After all, it was carved into one of their sacred sites.Mount Rushmore

It’s not like monuments are going to last forever, anyway. How many buildings named in honor of people have been demolished? How many graveyards have been forgotten and grown over? How many Indian mounds have been dug up? How many Pharaoh graves have been looted?

I’m not sure how to end this post, so I’ll do it with a quote by Tommy Douglas, a prominent Canadian politician.

“I don’t mind being a symbol, but I don’t want to become a monument. There are monuments all over the Parliament buildings, and I’ve seen what the pigeons do to them.”

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