Tag Archives: VHS

Letting My Fingers Do the Typing

20 May

I had this well-structured post ready to roll, but I am not feeling it. Honestly, it seems too mechanical, and I am in a more organic mood. It is a night to let my fingers move over the keyboard and type what comes out of them. It is like playing with a Ouija board. Put your hands on the pointer and see where the energy goes.

In college, my roommates and I decided to break out the Ouija board. It was going good for a while. We asked about the hot girls in our classes and if we had a chance with any of them. We asked stupid questions that college guys ask. Then, one of the roommates asked if the Devil was in the room with us. To make a long story short, we became convinced that our apartment was built on top of an Indian burial ground. Everyone ended up sleeping in the same room.

I think there is a Ouija board somewhere in the house.

Wait, it suddenly got quiet. My wife and stepdaughter had one of those competition shows blaring. I think it was The Voice. It could have been American Idol. Anyway, they turned it off, and things suddenly got quiet. It is almost an eerie quiet.

There is a video on my desk called Rock and Roll: The Early Days. I watched it when I was a kid, and it fascinated me. The rise of the first stars is followed by their fall. Next semester, I am teaching a class on the history of American music and knew that this is something I wanted to show. Unfortunately, it only comes in VHS format. Luckily, we still have VCR’s on campus that work.

The quotation bubble at the corner of the screen just turned orange. That means someone left a comment. I just commented on a few blogs, so it is probably a reply. I got into this blogging business to write and have found that I enjoy reading just as much. It is always good to leave a comment on a post that you find fascinating.

By the way, do you want to know how powerful blogging can be? In my last post, I complained about Nashville not having a proper amphitheater. The Tennessean just unveiled a rendering of Nashville’s new downtown amphitheater. Now, that is power.Amphitheater

I found out about that through my wife’s Facebook. A friend who read the post sent over the link and said I would like it. I do not have Facebook. I am convinced that the Devil my roommate asked the Ouija board about is the one who invented Facebook. Obviously, it does good things, but those only cover up the evil within. Do you know how many problems are started on Facebook? A bunch.

There is a local controversy going on as I type this. A well-known guy has been accused of taking $5 million from people through a fraudulent scheme. There are people on Facebook actually defending him and saying everyone makes mistakes. That is true. We all make mistakes. However, stealing $5 million from people you have known all of your life is not a mistake. It is a calculated crime. Wait, all of that is alleged.

Anyway, it is not my point to talk about an alleged crime. The point is that Facebook makes us too connected. I know it is hypocritical to say because I blog and am on Twitter, but I am going to say it. We were not meant to be that connected to everyone else.

I suppose that I am finished with this string of thought. I should get out of my office and pay attention to other people in the house.

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From Sports Illustrated to The Old Farmer’s Almanac

24 Dec

This is another one of those nights when I don’t have anything to write about. I thought about an expose on Duck Dynasty and the dangers of turning a real person into a television character, but I have heard enough about that topic. All I know is that I don’t agree with the opinions of most of the people around me.

Last night, my mind was running crazy with ideas to blog about. There was this movie character that I was going to compare to a person in my town. Then, I remembered how many people in my town read the blog. I also thought about writing about our dinner at a local establishment. In fact, that could be a future one.

Heck, I even thought about listing a bunch of stuff that I like. One day, I was driving down the road when I came upon a bridge. Out of the blue, I said, “I like bridges.” The lady who was with me said that I sounded like Forrest Gump. It’s true. I like bridges. That’s just the way it is.

As I sat down at the computer, I considered writing about the emails that we get from students when the semester is over, but I have already written about that. It’s usually over by down, but I am still getting emails about grades on Christmas Eve.

Of course, I could write about my current treadmill book. It is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. No Country for Old Men and The Road have already been scratched off my McCarthy list. They were both made into great movies, and I think this one would make a great movie, too. It would be one of the bloodiest and most realistic Westerns ever made. I am proud to say that McCarthy is a Tennessee guy.

Those are all things that could be written about, but I’m not going to do any of those. Instead, I am going to list some of the things that are on my desk.

There is the latest copy of Sports Illustrated.Sports Illustrated

Next to it is a box of dry erase markers.

A gift card to Bed Bath and Beyond is underneath there somewhere.

My grade book is out for those emails that I have been getting.

There is even a couple of VHS tapes.

There is a tape measure sitting on top of a book called John Henry: The Doc Holliday Story. It was written by Ben Traywick, native of Watertown, Tennessee and official historian of Tombstone, Arizona.

Sunglasses and a stapler are butted up against each other.

Beside them are a couple of lottery tickets that didn’t pay off.

My trusty iPhone is next to my trusty calculator. I know. The phone has a calculator, too. I don’t care because I like the old-fashioned kind.

There is a stack of bills and a newspaper clipping from the Civil War.

A little further away sits the 2014 issue of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.Almanac

If you want to get smarter, then you need to pick up a copy. It’s full of all kinds of great information. For example, November 25, my birthday, is one of the best days to set posts or pour concrete.

That’s the stuff that’s on my desk, and that’s also the reason my wife keeps telling me that I need to clean it.

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