Oops

I kind of missed writing a blog for the 30th of June, which would have been the last blog of the whole “A Blog a Day for 30 Days” thing. I had a couple of different things I was going to write about, like…

Franken Declared Winner in Minnesota Senatorial Race: I mentioned this before, but apparently the Minnesota Supreme Court finally decided to declare Al Franken the winner in the Minnesota Senate race against Norm Coleman. This now makes the U.S. Senate a near impossible to overcome Democratic majority, with 58 Democrats in the Senate and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats. Take that, you lousy Republicans!

Her: It’s been a while since I wrote about Her, but she has been on my mind a lot lately. She’s off at school and soon to go out of contact because they are taking cell phones away sometime soon, but think I’ll manage to get through it, and I’ll try to stop being so cranky about it. I might take the advice of some friends and write her a letter or something, though I don’t know if I will send it. I guess we’ll see what it actually looks like when I am done with it.

Running: I ran a bit on Monday, nearly 4 miles to be exact. It was a good run, though it was very hot. I also ran again today (Wednesday), though still hot, I ran inside because of the rain and my irrational fear of being struck by lightning. While my run today was slow, it felt good. Planning on the gym tomorrow for a swim and some biking, and more running on Friday and Saturday potentially. I am feeling better about going away to school next week and not looking like a total weak ass once I get there. I am still kind of hoping that they don’t have organized PT so I can continue doing my own thing, but I guess we’ll find out when we get there. My weight has been fluctuating a lot lately; it seems to be holding pretty constant right around the 295 mark, though I do feel and look a little thinner these days. We’ll see. T-minus 58 days or so until Stef’s wedding so I can be all fancy looking.

Yeah, I know the blog says June 30th. I wrote it on the first but it is about things I thought about on the 30th, so it still counts. Pay attention in the upcoming days for more bloggygoodness.

Three More Days To Go

Let me tell you, this whole blogging every day for a month thing is getting really old. I’m glad June is almost over so I can go back to blogging infrequently. Though I do not necessarily plan on blogging as before, I don’t think I can do the whole blogging every day thing. My life is just not that interesting, and the only potential for making it interesting is departing tomorrow for six weeks. Not to mention that I myself will hopefully be gone for the middle two weeks of July as well.

I might just simply go back to some old stand-bys: Song of The Week, This Army Life, Movie Reviews, Running (as one anonymous reader says I should write more about), etc. But do not read this and be let down; there will still be plenty o’ things for you to read about on this here blog. Besides, you could spend all those days that I don’t post anything to go back into The Archives and really do some light reading.

Tomorrow’s blog should be a good read. I think I may actually put my Theory down in writing, a sociological theory if you would, that should be very entertaining and will someday have a research project funded by some major grant or something to find out how true it actually is. But other than that, I guess we will just have to wait and see what is on the horizon for me and this blog. This 30 days thing was a fun experiment, and might be one that I repeat again in the future.

I guess we shall see. Until next time…

Baby Shower Hijinks

I went to a baby shower today for one of my co-workers and his wife. Good time were had by all, and I have a fridge stocked with leftovers that should last me a few days, so all is good in the world. I am not usually one for baby showers, but seeing as I had nothing else to do, it was a good time out of the house hanging with some pretty interesting people.

Beyond that, it made me think of a day, hopefully in the near(er) future where all my friends and family can gather because my wife and I are expecting a baby. Maybe it is because I am getting older, or maybe I am worried about the age of my parents, but I would like to have children of my own someday, preferably while I am young enough to not be too old when they have children, and while my parents are around to meet them.

I think this also stems a bit from the thought of my legacy. I have not yet done anything super fancy in my life, and while there is still plenty of time to do that, I really do not anticipate being someone that will be remembered for generations. If I end up doing something memorable, that’s great, but I would rather just be someone who lived a good life surrounded by a loving family.

While I am not currently “surrounded” by my family in the literal sense of the word, I feel closer to most of my siblings now that we are older than I ever remember feeling growing up. We have now shared similar stories in our lives and can commiserate when we need to about things going on in our lives. And no matter how far I live away from them, I know that they are always a phone call or a quick flight away if I ever really truly need them for anything.

Growing up in my family was probably not a whole lot different from a lot of other families out there. We had a lot of the same struggles and triumphs, and shared in them all, especially the kids. When you can honestly say that you grew up with your best friends in a sense, you know it could not have been all bad. Sure, there were times when it wasn’t cool to hang out with your little brother and sisters anymore, or you just had some other friends that you spent a lot of time with, but that doesn’t discount the strong bonds that we kids had growing up.

Now, why am I talking about this stuff? How does going to a baby shower stir up thoughts of mortality and family? It just does. I have always thought that I would be a father someday, and that my children, even if I only had two, would be able to share the same kind of bond that I had with my siblings, and develop the same kind of bond with their cousins, though my children will be much younger than my nephew Lance and Stef’s kids. Unless I get started now…

So what in the end is the point of this? I don’t really know. But a few days ago I posted some long blog about my parents; it is only fitting that I include my siblings as well.

Love ya!

I Understand, But…

Michael Jackson died on Thursday.

Am I wrong to not really care about this? Sure, Michael Jackson might have had a major influence on music for around 30 years or so, and had the best-selling album of all time. He also reinvented the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and sparked the advertising war between Pepsi and Coke.

But the last part of his life, since the child molestation charges and trial, he had not really been the “King of Pop” that we knew and kind of became a parody of himself. Turned into a real weirdo and just stopped being interesting. I must admit that I was never a big fan of his and I seriously thought that he had already died or something before.

I just don’t think that the constant news coverage since his death is really necessary. Sure, he was a major person of interest for nearly 40 years, but other people were as well and they do not get the same type of coverage as this has. Many seem to gloss over the fact that he “allegedly” molested a child and probably only got out of the charges because he had money and other influence.

Please, everyone, let’s just stop everything. It is okay to mourn; it is okay to be sad (I guess). But you never met him. You were just a fan. As much as I am a fan of Brad Pitt or Ben Folds, if they were to die tomorrow, I wouldn’t cry. Sure, it would be unfortunate that they were no longer around to share their gifts with the world, but not something where I would have to go to the place where they died and build a shrine and be recorded on television crying because of their death. It just seems a little ridiculous to me is all. Save your real grief for the important people in your life, and don’t waste it on a person you have never even met.