All right, time for an explanation, I suppose.
Last week, I alluded in the Justice Gator post to the fact that I was having an unbelievably long, busy week. I did feel bad, leaving everybody hanging with no new blog content. This week has been quite a bit easier; next week will be bad again. Though not quite as bad as last week, knock on wood. Truth be told, I've been saying to myself for a couple of months that, once I get through May, I think I'll live to see 32. But really, it's been more a matter of "once I make it to 5/12, I've got a fighting chance to make it the rest of the way." So I will try to walk you through my week, so's you know where I's coming from.
This isn't a ploy for sympathy, mind you, because I'm not complaining. Just a window into the life of a guy with four jobs, two kids, and one car. For any of you who are thinking of pursuing such a lifestyle yourselves :-)
Monday: Monday was weird for a lot of reasons. For one, I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep the night before. You might think this was because I was out at Iron Man 3, but it wasn't. I actually still had a shot at about 4 hours of sleep at that point, and 4 hours is not too far from my norm these days. For some reason, I just couldn't fall asleep when I went to bed, and then I had to wake up at 5 to catch the bus for my booking in Katy. Made it to the 5:50 bus on time and stepped off my 3rd bus in Katy at 7:02 (like clockwork). Then, I received the news that my grandfather had died that morning right about the time I was falling asleep. Grandpa Alex and I were not particularly close. In fact, I rarely saw him the last several years I lived in Kansas, and the only times I saw him after that were after he moved in with my parents. He hadn't lived a particularly admirable life, at least not where family goes, and he also spent most of his life pretty adamantly avoiding God. Over the past few years, I would see him when we went up for Christmas, and I'd take the boys. By that point, he was in an assisted living facility and it was clear he wasn't always 100% "there." All this to say it wasn't a major emotional blow to find that he was gone, but it was still quite a bit of a surprise, and it did make for a very surreal morning. (I forget if we had 2 or 3 performances that day, but I think it was 2) I kept trying to contact home to make sure everybody was all right, and my mom assured me that my dad was doing very well, which I admit I found puzzling because I know how hard my dad had been praying for his dad, and now it seemed like he was gone without having ever changed his mind about Christ. Later, I learned that, in grandpa's last day, he had a window of mental clarity during which he spoke with the nursing home chaplain and, in that time, he did accept Christ. Once I learned that, I understood why my dad and his brother had been taking this so well. Because Grandpa Alex was ready to go. His body had been going downhill for years. Ditto with his mind. So for God to grant him that last bit of mental clarity, that last chance for redemption, and for Grandpa to have taken it--I'll just say I'm stunned anew by the grace of God, and I can see now why Grandpa's passing was more of a celebration than a mourning. Because all the time that was lost by his choices in this life is nothing compared to the time we'll have together in glory.
Anyway, after my performance on Monday, I was dropped off a the bus stop to learn that I had missed my bus by five minutes. (This happens ALL the time) It was about noon by this point and the next bus going downtown (to begin my 2+ hour commute back via the metro system) wasn't due for another 45 minutes, so I decided to walk back down the street to grab a bite at Fuzzy's Pizza, which I'd never tried before. It was great. It also took longer than I expected, so I also missed the next bus and had to wait another half hour. I think I finally made it home sometime between 5 and 6, but most of the details from that day are pretty hazy. I don't remember anything from that night except tiredness.
Tuesday: not as bad a Monday. I did get closer to 5 hours of sleep. Which is...good? Normally on Tuesdays I go in to the church for staff meeting, but I called off that day because I was in dire physical need of rest. I decided to run some errands in the morning and then snooze in the afternoon. However, the "getting a new phone charger" errand ended up taking about three and a half hours. Long, uninteresting story. You've all been there. So by the time my errands were done, it was time to get the boys, get Kim, and head to the ballpark for the night. Fortunately, I was one of the ones cut loose early, so it was only a 4-hour shift. That hurts the bank account somewhat, but it suited me just fine, knowing the rest of the week was still ahead of me. Plus, I was tired. Unfortunately, since Kim and the boys had dropped me off, I didn't have the car, so it was buses home for me. Which means I still got home a little after midnight.
Wednesday: Wednesday was almost a normal day. My morning call-time was fairly late, so I didn't have to wake up at 5 to catch a bus. Instead I took the boys to school and the sitter and took Kim to work before catching the train downtown to catch the bus to Katy. Also, the booking ran late enough that I scheduled myself out from the ball game, so I was able to come home as soon as the booking was over. (Again, it was two performances, I think) I even planned on going to bed early (10:30 p.m. or so) that night.
Didn't count on the baby getting sick.
Blah blah blah, rock-a-baby, rock-a-baby, bottom line is bed time was actually 3 a.m.
Thursday: Thursday was rough because Isaac was still sick. He was cranky, he cried all day, he wouldn't sleep for longer than half an hour, I hurt my back carrying him all night and day. It was a long day. And then another ball game. Again, I was fortunate to go home early, but unfortunate to be headed home on the bus.
Friday: And we saved the best for last. Bam! Five o'clock wakeup call. Triple performance. Bus back into downtown, kill a little time at the library instead of coming all the way home, walk to the ballpark for a full game PLUS fireworks. I will say I was again awed by God's grace, as I actually lasted this day much better than I expected to, especially given the previous four days' worth of activity and sleeplessness. But I made it, I made it, I made it. Thank God it's the weekend.
Saturday: Only I have to teach two acting classes on Saturdays. Well, I more "assist" with the first and teach the second. But this day almost got me. I had to step out of the room for a few minutes during the first class to steady myself. Getting a bit jittery, you know? But I got myself under control, finished up the class, put some food in my stomach, and finished strong. And then, of course, went to work another ball game.
So there you have it. Seven performances, four ball games, two acting classes, and about 24 hours of sleep over 6 days. Next time I say "I've got along week ahead" or "I've had a really busy week," you now have a frame of reference :-)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Justice Gator
I know I haven't checked in this week. Trust me, it's been a long week. However, I needed to pass this story along about a man who robbed a car, eluded police officers, was attacked by an alligator, and was arrested in the hospital. However, according to state law, any gator that attacks a person has to be put down, so if they ever find Justice Gator they have to kill it.
It's pretty much The Dark Knight, only with an alligator.
This article is totally worth reading just to get the neighbors' reactions at the end.
Fight on, Justice Gator. We'll chase you, because you can take it.
It's pretty much The Dark Knight, only with an alligator.
This article is totally worth reading just to get the neighbors' reactions at the end.
Fight on, Justice Gator. We'll chase you, because you can take it.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Moses
Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously. Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses as Moses supposes his toeses to be.
It occurred to me on the bus last night (around midnight, after getting a full 5 hours of sleep for the first time this week--context!) that this makes no sense.
Unless Moses is dealing with some sort of deeply-rooted psychological denial, he can't suppose something he already knows is untrue. At least, not when it comes to toes. (I'm not gonna say we haven't all supposed something we've known wasn't true at some point in our lives, generally while in love) If Moses knowses his toeses aren't roses, then he doesn't really suppose that they are roses. Just makes no sense.
I mean, right?
So I spent the last leg of my long commute home working it out. I finally came to the conclusion that there are two Moseses in this story, and the sentences are just ambiguously worded. This isn't all that unusual, especially where Moses is involved, because the Bible does this all the time. Seriously, there have been times when I've had to go back and reread a verse four or five times to make sure I knew who was doing what to whom. ("And so he went with him, and he with him. And on the way, he took what was his and hit him, and thus they became enemies from that day forth.") Upon this realization, I tried to piece together which Moses thought what about whose toes. I am assuming here that Moses 1 (or "Moses Prime") is actually biblical Moses, because how many other Moses (Mosai?) would you bring up, first-name only, with no other explanation? Obviously, at least one more, because we get no clues on Moses #2 either, but I am assuming that this was to make a bit of a play on names once Moses Prime has already been introduces. There have been a few other prominent Mosai throughout history, my favorite of which was Harriet Tubman. However, Harriet was a she, and so she doesn't fit my hypothesis about the pronoun confusion above, so we can't use her. A quick Google search for "Famous Moseses" yields the following: "Did you mean 'famous horses'". Which, of course, I did not. I was going to go with NBA Hall-of-Famer Moses Malone, but eventually I decided on Moses Martin, seven-year-old son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin, because you could see this kind of misunderstanding happening between a hero of both Jewish and Christian faiths and a seven-year-old.
So, Moses (prime) supposes his (?) toeses are roses. This could very well mean Moses Prime supposes Moses Prime's toeses are roses, but Moses Martin, he knowses Moses Prime's toeses aren't roses as Moses Prime supposes Moses Prime's toeses to be. And now the song makes sense. Contrariwise, you could say that Moses Prime supposes his (Moses Martin's) toeses are roses, but Moses Martin knowses Moses Martin's toeses aren't roses, as Moses Prime supposes Moses Martin's toeses to be.
Either interpretation now make sense.
Except something was still a bit off, at least in my mind. Why would Moses Prime call either his or Moses Martin's toes "toeses"? I suppose even Moses Martin is old enough to have moved past that stage developmentally. Thus I began to wonder if there wasn't a third someone in this scenario. Someone who may have said the word "toeses" and Moses Prime, unfamiliar with the term, assumed he said "roses" while Moses Martin clearly understood the word uttered as "toeses." And then the final piece clicked into place.
You know where this is headed, people.
And that is how, just after midnight and after too many hours on the bus and too few hours of sleep, I determined that the song above is actually referring to a misunderstanding between Moses, the son of Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gollum.
It occurred to me on the bus last night (around midnight, after getting a full 5 hours of sleep for the first time this week--context!) that this makes no sense.
Unless Moses is dealing with some sort of deeply-rooted psychological denial, he can't suppose something he already knows is untrue. At least, not when it comes to toes. (I'm not gonna say we haven't all supposed something we've known wasn't true at some point in our lives, generally while in love) If Moses knowses his toeses aren't roses, then he doesn't really suppose that they are roses. Just makes no sense.
I mean, right?
So I spent the last leg of my long commute home working it out. I finally came to the conclusion that there are two Moseses in this story, and the sentences are just ambiguously worded. This isn't all that unusual, especially where Moses is involved, because the Bible does this all the time. Seriously, there have been times when I've had to go back and reread a verse four or five times to make sure I knew who was doing what to whom. ("And so he went with him, and he with him. And on the way, he took what was his and hit him, and thus they became enemies from that day forth.") Upon this realization, I tried to piece together which Moses thought what about whose toes. I am assuming here that Moses 1 (or "Moses Prime") is actually biblical Moses, because how many other Moses (Mosai?) would you bring up, first-name only, with no other explanation? Obviously, at least one more, because we get no clues on Moses #2 either, but I am assuming that this was to make a bit of a play on names once Moses Prime has already been introduces. There have been a few other prominent Mosai throughout history, my favorite of which was Harriet Tubman. However, Harriet was a she, and so she doesn't fit my hypothesis about the pronoun confusion above, so we can't use her. A quick Google search for "Famous Moseses" yields the following: "Did you mean 'famous horses'". Which, of course, I did not. I was going to go with NBA Hall-of-Famer Moses Malone, but eventually I decided on Moses Martin, seven-year-old son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin, because you could see this kind of misunderstanding happening between a hero of both Jewish and Christian faiths and a seven-year-old.
So, Moses (prime) supposes his (?) toeses are roses. This could very well mean Moses Prime supposes Moses Prime's toeses are roses, but Moses Martin, he knowses Moses Prime's toeses aren't roses as Moses Prime supposes Moses Prime's toeses to be. And now the song makes sense. Contrariwise, you could say that Moses Prime supposes his (Moses Martin's) toeses are roses, but Moses Martin knowses Moses Martin's toeses aren't roses, as Moses Prime supposes Moses Martin's toeses to be.
Either interpretation now make sense.
Except something was still a bit off, at least in my mind. Why would Moses Prime call either his or Moses Martin's toes "toeses"? I suppose even Moses Martin is old enough to have moved past that stage developmentally. Thus I began to wonder if there wasn't a third someone in this scenario. Someone who may have said the word "toeses" and Moses Prime, unfamiliar with the term, assumed he said "roses" while Moses Martin clearly understood the word uttered as "toeses." And then the final piece clicked into place.
You know where this is headed, people.
And that is how, just after midnight and after too many hours on the bus and too few hours of sleep, I determined that the song above is actually referring to a misunderstanding between Moses, the son of Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gollum.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Happy Day to Me
Hello, Thirty-one.
It used to be it would feel strange when I'd say my new age the first couple of times. "How old are you?" "Twenty-six." Twenty-six? Dang, that sounds so old! Surely that's not me! Nowadays, not so much. I generally feel way older than I actually am. So thirty-one sounds just about right for me.
I hid my birthday from Facebook this year because something was just sitting wrong with me about the literally hundreds of well-wishes from folks who probably don't even think about my existence until FB reminds them that it's my birthday. Honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I appreciate the reminder for my FB friends' birthdays and like the chance to send well-wishes, even if I don't really "keep up" with them. But I didn't want that for me this year, for whatever reason, so I hid. And to be honest, I've had a very nice, quiet day. Admittedly, my day started too early when Isaac decided we needed to get up at 5:00 on the one day I was going to get to sleep in until 6:30. But aside from some general fatigue (who's got two thumbs and is working at the Juice Box tonight? This guy! And those thumbs come in handy at the workplace, believe me! Actually, I always wonder if that saying ticks off people who've lost fingers in construction accidents. But I digress) it's been a very nice day. We're not doing "anything special" for my birthday, which is another something I'm fine with. Sunday night, Kim let me go to what will almost certainly be my last Aeros game as a sort of present to myself. Tuesday, Kim took all the time to make not one, but THREE lasagnas (the other two in the freezer for another day), which is my absolute favorite dish. Last night, she and Robbie made a new dessert called a cookie dough cream pie. Oh my gosh, you guys. It's so good. And unbelievably rich. And today? Just sort of a normal day. Talked to a few family members, got a few texts. Even got a text from the future late last night. About to go get Robbie, then go get Kim, then get dropped off at the park for work and get in late tonight.
Oh, and once again Marvel is giving me an awesome movie for my birthday, but I'm not going to get to it until Sunday night.
On the whole, life is good :-)
Looking ahead to Year 31: I have a feeling it's going to be a big one. I can see how year 29 was like the start of a new chapter. In a lot of ways, it was about breaking me down, teaching me. This past year has been about building back up, growing in new ways. And it feels like it's been building toward...well, now. Maybe I'm just used to trilogies, but it feels like this is going to be a big year for my family and I.
And in that vein, I've resurrected my flickr 365 project. Think of it as a sequel. A photo-a-day diary of the opportunities and changes that come our way between now and May 2, 2014. Maybe we'll get to the end, look back, and say, "Yeah...turns out Year 31 was actually pretty boring."
But I doubt that'll be the case.
Anyway, check it out. (It's boring right now, but there's more pictures to come) If nothing else, you'll get to see my cute kids' smiling faces pretty much every day. That's worth thirty seconds of your time daily, right?
It used to be it would feel strange when I'd say my new age the first couple of times. "How old are you?" "Twenty-six." Twenty-six? Dang, that sounds so old! Surely that's not me! Nowadays, not so much. I generally feel way older than I actually am. So thirty-one sounds just about right for me.
I hid my birthday from Facebook this year because something was just sitting wrong with me about the literally hundreds of well-wishes from folks who probably don't even think about my existence until FB reminds them that it's my birthday. Honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I appreciate the reminder for my FB friends' birthdays and like the chance to send well-wishes, even if I don't really "keep up" with them. But I didn't want that for me this year, for whatever reason, so I hid. And to be honest, I've had a very nice, quiet day. Admittedly, my day started too early when Isaac decided we needed to get up at 5:00 on the one day I was going to get to sleep in until 6:30. But aside from some general fatigue (who's got two thumbs and is working at the Juice Box tonight? This guy! And those thumbs come in handy at the workplace, believe me! Actually, I always wonder if that saying ticks off people who've lost fingers in construction accidents. But I digress) it's been a very nice day. We're not doing "anything special" for my birthday, which is another something I'm fine with. Sunday night, Kim let me go to what will almost certainly be my last Aeros game as a sort of present to myself. Tuesday, Kim took all the time to make not one, but THREE lasagnas (the other two in the freezer for another day), which is my absolute favorite dish. Last night, she and Robbie made a new dessert called a cookie dough cream pie. Oh my gosh, you guys. It's so good. And unbelievably rich. And today? Just sort of a normal day. Talked to a few family members, got a few texts. Even got a text from the future late last night. About to go get Robbie, then go get Kim, then get dropped off at the park for work and get in late tonight.
Oh, and once again Marvel is giving me an awesome movie for my birthday, but I'm not going to get to it until Sunday night.
On the whole, life is good :-)
Looking ahead to Year 31: I have a feeling it's going to be a big one. I can see how year 29 was like the start of a new chapter. In a lot of ways, it was about breaking me down, teaching me. This past year has been about building back up, growing in new ways. And it feels like it's been building toward...well, now. Maybe I'm just used to trilogies, but it feels like this is going to be a big year for my family and I.
And in that vein, I've resurrected my flickr 365 project. Think of it as a sequel. A photo-a-day diary of the opportunities and changes that come our way between now and May 2, 2014. Maybe we'll get to the end, look back, and say, "Yeah...turns out Year 31 was actually pretty boring."
But I doubt that'll be the case.
Anyway, check it out. (It's boring right now, but there's more pictures to come) If nothing else, you'll get to see my cute kids' smiling faces pretty much every day. That's worth thirty seconds of your time daily, right?
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