Being a teacher I don't "work" in the summer. Yes, I know, it's awesome. That's why I'm a teacher. And, I have to admit, I like working with kids. They are alot like adults without alot of the emotional scarring/hang-ups we grown-ups collect as we get older.
Anyway, back to not working. I live a mile from a nice beach. Now, it's on the bay not on the gulf so it's not great. But it is natural and it is at a small resort so it's nice. I live 25 minutes from St. Petersburg beach which is white sand for miles, on the Gulf of Mexico, really nice. But where do I spend my summers? Right here for the most part, on the computer, reading and writing.
Granted, summer in Florida is very rainy, it rains every day, usually in the afternoon. So being inside is ok. I go back to "work" in a couple of weeks. I am teaching all of the middle school writing labs. Really, I can't think of a better job. Well, ok, playing for the Pistons would be cool. Maybe, getting a book on the New York Times Best Seller list.
All that to say that even though I didn't get to the beach as much as I could have, or Busch Gardens (30 minutes away) or get out on the boat (just kidding I don't have a boat unless you count the raft I cobbled together out of our old dining room chairs: Cuba here I come!) I'm feeling pretty good about this summer. I don't feel like it got away from me. Which is good. It's not fun to look back at any period of time and feel like you wasted it.
Something strange happened to me the other day. Actually it was a month ago probably by now. I was playing basketball at this park with my friend Lamar and some of these people he knew from his church. It was winner stays and my team was pretty much whooping up on everyone there. And do you know what I did after the second game we won? I sat down, and I said, "I'm sitting this one out." Huh. I was playing good, scoring, rebounding, handling the ball, dropping a sweet dime here and there. The jumper was suspect (double rims ftl) but I was getting what I wanted inside. The fact was I just didn't want to play anymore. I didn't want to play anymore.
And at that moment I seriously thought about retirement. I felt like the love just wasn't there anymore. Then I got back in the game and hit a turn around in the post that would have made Rasheed Wallace stand up and cheer.
But I'm still seriously thinking about retirement.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
1983-1989 The Golden Age of Cartoons
In no particular order:
M.A.S.K.
Spiral Zone
Transformers
G.I. Joe
Thundercats
Dungeons and Dragons
1. Lifter-Bruce Sato probably had the best mask. I actually had the Brad Turner Motorcycle/Helicopter...Condor, yeah, awesome. But my brother had Matt Trakker's flying IROC, dope.
2. I would really like to see a current rendition of those heavily armed, single-wheeled motorcycles the good guys drove but not the wheel-chairs with tank treads the bad guys rode on. If you don't know about Spiral Zone and you were born before 1980 then shame on you. Wikipedia: Use it.
3. Transformers: Well, the Decepticons could fly so I thought that gave them a pretty big advantage. But the Autobots did a pretty good job considering they were mostly tow-trucks and volkswagons and what not. I had Starscream, Ravage, Rampage, and a few others.
4. The Joes and Cobras were probably my favorite toon of all. The toys were at their coolest when they directly modeled the military units of the time. My brother's Skystriker really looked like an F-14 right down to the payload. I mean you always had your A.S.P. type vehicles (which was very cool btw) but the realism was what made the toys for me. Favorite character: Stormshadow, Cobra Ninja.
5. Tygra was my favorite and I can't find any information on the Black Widow Shark, but I know it was on the show. Also, Lynx-O was cool cause he overcame his disabilities.
6. Oh yeah and that D&D cartoon. The one with Dekion the skeleton who is really a Celestial Knight is probably my fave. I really thought Eric was voiced by David Schwimmer but alas, it was Don Most.
List your fave cartoons, of the 80's or any era!
M.A.S.K.
Spiral Zone
Transformers
G.I. Joe
Thundercats
Dungeons and Dragons
1. Lifter-Bruce Sato probably had the best mask. I actually had the Brad Turner Motorcycle/Helicopter...Condor, yeah, awesome. But my brother had Matt Trakker's flying IROC, dope.
2. I would really like to see a current rendition of those heavily armed, single-wheeled motorcycles the good guys drove but not the wheel-chairs with tank treads the bad guys rode on. If you don't know about Spiral Zone and you were born before 1980 then shame on you. Wikipedia: Use it.
3. Transformers: Well, the Decepticons could fly so I thought that gave them a pretty big advantage. But the Autobots did a pretty good job considering they were mostly tow-trucks and volkswagons and what not. I had Starscream, Ravage, Rampage, and a few others.
4. The Joes and Cobras were probably my favorite toon of all. The toys were at their coolest when they directly modeled the military units of the time. My brother's Skystriker really looked like an F-14 right down to the payload. I mean you always had your A.S.P. type vehicles (which was very cool btw) but the realism was what made the toys for me. Favorite character: Stormshadow, Cobra Ninja.
5. Tygra was my favorite and I can't find any information on the Black Widow Shark, but I know it was on the show. Also, Lynx-O was cool cause he overcame his disabilities.
6. Oh yeah and that D&D cartoon. The one with Dekion the skeleton who is really a Celestial Knight is probably my fave. I really thought Eric was voiced by David Schwimmer but alas, it was Don Most.
List your fave cartoons, of the 80's or any era!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Old Newman
Vacation was great. We really needed to get away for a while. The weather was perfect for the days we were in Michigan. The only bad part was the flight to Detroit from Tampa. There was alot of lightning around the plane and the turbulance was so bad it woke William from a deep sleep. He just scowled at me and went back to sleep though. He was great all trip.
It was great to see my family and friends. It was a "Phil and Pam + Fam." kinda trip which as you probably already guessed = Fun.
Magic was good, lots of fun, competative games for the most part. Football was a good time, though I think it made everyone sore and volleyball was great.
The trip back was good, though my mom was sitting a few rows behind my wife and the baby and I and when I politely asked the guy who was sitting in our row if he would like to trade seats with my mom he got all huffy and started swearing and giving me crazy eyes. I said, "Hey man, you don't have to move." He mumbled and ran to the back of the plane to my mom's old seat. To be honest he started sweating and rolling his eyes when he saw us coming with the baby. He looked kind of like Newman from Seinfeld with gray hair. The weird ending to the story is that we saw him at the luggage carousel and actually rode the parking garage elevator with him to where we parked. I thought I would thank him again for the seat as we exited the elevator. "Thanks again," I said. "CRAZY EYES," he replied.
Crazy eyes indeed, Old Newman, crazy eyes indeed.
It was great to see my family and friends. It was a "Phil and Pam + Fam." kinda trip which as you probably already guessed = Fun.
Magic was good, lots of fun, competative games for the most part. Football was a good time, though I think it made everyone sore and volleyball was great.
The trip back was good, though my mom was sitting a few rows behind my wife and the baby and I and when I politely asked the guy who was sitting in our row if he would like to trade seats with my mom he got all huffy and started swearing and giving me crazy eyes. I said, "Hey man, you don't have to move." He mumbled and ran to the back of the plane to my mom's old seat. To be honest he started sweating and rolling his eyes when he saw us coming with the baby. He looked kind of like Newman from Seinfeld with gray hair. The weird ending to the story is that we saw him at the luggage carousel and actually rode the parking garage elevator with him to where we parked. I thought I would thank him again for the seat as we exited the elevator. "Thanks again," I said. "CRAZY EYES," he replied.
Crazy eyes indeed, Old Newman, crazy eyes indeed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)