Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the grind. Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. My own was somewhat… tumultuous, and far less recreational than I was hoping for when last we met. It’s a long story I don’t feel up to relating right now; I’ll just say that it involved medical stuff, and assure my three loyal readers that everything is fine now.

Perhaps there’s some lingering fallout from that story I don’t want to tell, or maybe it’s just because I’ve been off work for three days, but I’m having a very hard time getting my mental clutch to engage. Which means the ambitious blog entry I originally had in mind for today isn’t going to happen (nor is much of anything else, I suspect). Instead, I think I’m going to stay in the shallow end of the brain pool and play with some memes. Here’s one I picked up from Jaquandor:

Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. The new Pixar movie, Up. None of the big summer blow-’em-ups promises a thimbleful of the charm, craftsmanship, sense of adventure, and genuine wonder that is evident in the Up trailers. I’m not generally a big fan of animation, but I dearly love Pixar. They are what Disney must’ve been in its golden period, a reliable brand that says audiences of all ages are going to find intelligence and heart in this product.
2. A quick death for the “shakycam” style of film-making.
3. An end to Hollywood’s current obsession with remakes. They’ve gone through nearly every movie and television show I grew up with that still has a recognizable brand, so logically this trend can’t go on much longer…
4. Going to Scotland — one of these days — with The Girlfriend.
5. The second season of Castle and the final season of Lost, so I can find out how their respective cliffhangers resolve themselves. Lost, especially, ought to be interesting, given what happened there at the end of this season… write your way out of that one, guys!
6. Seeing my old movie-theater buds next weekend.
7. The coming of a more tolerant, less belligerent America where science is trusted, differences are respected, and people keep their faith to themselves instead of trying to regulate everyone else’s morality. (Hey, the meme only asked what I’m looking forward, not whether those things were realistic and/or going to happen soon.)
8. Dinner.

Eight things I did yesterday:

1. Made pancakes for breakfast.
2. Downloaded the photos from my recent road trip off my camera and onto my computer.
3. Played with a pair of kittens.
4. Ate pizza with some friends.
5. Made the acquaintance of my first pixie-bob.
6. Washed the dishes (a far more remarkable event than you might think; mundane chores tend to pile up on me).
7. Fixed a balky thermostat (the batteries needed jiggling).
8. Put away that stack of CDs that’s been sitting on my desk for a while.

Eight things I wish I could do:

1. Find the free time to actually do the things I want/need to do, so I’m not always walking around in a perpetual state of frustration.
2. Figure out what the hell I ought to be doing with my life.
3. Travel more often, and farther.
4. Live long enough to see how it all turns out.
5. Face the world with self-confidence instead of doubt and insecurity.
6. Actually cook instead of merely heating food.
7. Solve the world’s energy problems, so that a Star Trek-style future actually becomes possible.
8. Coax a number of AWOL hair follicles back to life. (I suspect the energy problems are probably easier… sigh.)

Eight shows I watch:
(I’m presuming that this list refers to shows that are currently running, as opposed to older programs that I own or otherwise see via DVD and/or Hulu. It turned out to be a lot harder to think of eight currently running shows that I watch on any regular basis than I expected. Apparently, I watch a lot more DVDs than broadcast television.)

1. Castle
2. Lost
3. The American Experience
4. History Detectives
5. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (That would be the original, Las Vegas-centered show. Never have gotten into the New York or Miami variants.)
6. Two and a Half Men (Yes, it’s stupid and crass and low-brow. It’s also the only currently running sitcom that cracks me up on any kind of regular basis. Although it is starting to show its age now; it was funnier a few years ago.)
7. Mythbusters (Not one I would seek out myself, but The Girlfriend frequently has it on, and I often find it compelling enough to sit down and watch it with her.)
8. Rick Steves’ Europe

Eight life lessons I have benefited from (or am TRYING to put into practice):

1. It is what it is. (Thanks to my man Rick for this quasi-Zen statement about learning to accept certain unhappy facts of life.)
2. Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. (Obi-Wan may have been trying to weasel his way out of a big ol’ gobbywobble when he said this, but that doesn’t invalidate his point.)
3. Do, or do not. There is no try. (Easier said than done, Master…)
4. Men and women aren’t as different as our culture tries to tell us. Which isn’t to say that we’re motivated by or desire the same things. Only that we’re not really two different species, as so many self-help books and talk-show hosts would have us believe.
5. Race, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation, and all the other ways we try to distinguish “us” from “them” really don’t matter that much. When you get right down to it, there are really only two kinds of people in this old world: the assholes and everbody else.
6. People are generally decent and willing to help you out when you need it. The non-asshole people, at least.
7. Simply being nice and friendly toward others will often yield remarkable results.
8. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.