Seen and Heard

I wonder if the guy standing in the middle of the aisle of the grocery store has any clue how ridiculous he looks (and sounds) while engaging in an argument on his cell phone?

Mind Games

Several more strange dreams of late. All where I end up being greatly relieved and thankful upon awakening that they are not real life. Dreams where once awake, I need to get up and move around for fifteen minutes or risk sliding right back into the chaos. Not of the horror variety but take for example, dreams where I'm driving down a road and see up ahead in the distance, another vehicle owned by myself and without a driver, moving down the road. I'm trying to catch up when it suddenly veers off the road and out of sight. Did it crash? The mind can certainly conjure up some wild, strange and varied situations. Like abstract lost episodes from The Twilight Zone, only stranger. And the pleasant dreams seem to be a rarity these days, far in the past. I'm left wondering if it all is somehow related to my attitudes and fears about aging?

Movie Fever

For many years, I've said that Gregory Peck is my favorite actor. These days, I think it's a three-way draw between Gregory Peck, Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan. With Henry Fonda not too far behind. They all have a certain dignity that I respond to.

Favorite actress?  I'll have to get back to you on that.

As I type this, downstairs the 1956 movie, The Girl Can't Help It is on television. I hear a young boys voice (refering to Jayne Mansfield) ..... "If she's a girl, I don't know what my sister is."

Vacation Daze

Wow!! A first for me!! ...... I was thinking earlier of returning to work in the morning after the weekend. Had to remind myself that I took a vacation day. Can you imagine, forgetting that you've taken a day off? I'll have to view it as a serious issue requiring intensive moments of attitude adjustment if it ever happens again.

It's been a nice two weeks of zero telemarketing and scam phone calls since cancelling my longtime home service. If the phone companies would actually do something about shutting the lowlifes down (and lower their monthly rates charged) maybe they'd still have me as a customer.

Talk about discipline and willpower!! .... It's been damn near a month now since I've had a pepsi or coke. I've even said, thanks but no thanks to a couple of different people who, without knowledge of the historic life changing decision, have attempted to deliver the drink to me. Just shows what can be accomplised once you identify a little motivation to make a change.

A little sad to read that a downtown art gallery is closing. Can't say that I'm surprised though. Over several visits the past couple of years, they never seemed to have much of interest. Must have been an opinion shared by other art seekers as well. They blamed among several factors, a lack of visibility and lack of support from the city but you need objects of interest as well. I'd wander through their gallery and there would be very little on display that would cause me to return for a second and third look. That would result in my slinking out the door, feeling badly that I didn't make a purchase. Not wanting to feel that way would keep me from returning regularly.

the last time I purchased a new car (2007) I said to myself that hopefully I'd die before I ever had to go through that process again. No such luck!! Here I am, nine or ten years later, seriously pondering new car possibilities again.

Curry Ball

They say it was a record! For both the regular season or the playoffs. Stephen Curry with seventeen points in the overtime period. As much as I wanted the Blazers to win, it was amazing to watch. He just went off!! And when he gets in a groove like that, there's nothing you can do except maybe double team him at half court and force him to give up the ball, but then your in a 4 on 3 situation. He has a combination of offensive skills that are unstoppable. Quickness-plus going in any direction. He can change direction in an instant, come to a completely balanced stop in an instant and only needs a an inch of space and a fraction of a second to get his shot off. And the shot itself is consistently deadly from just about anywhere past half court. Unless you can see into the future when he's in a stationary position and are able to cut him off before he starts actually moving, you are HELPLESS!!!

And to think that this was coming off two or three weeks of little activity while dealing with an ankle sprain and knee injury. Those five minutes, both heartbreaking (the Blazers lost the game) and thrilling!! It was one of those basketball displays that I'll never forget.

All Things Shall Pass

Watched the documentary, "All Things Shall Pass - The Rise and Fall of Tower Records." I spent many hours in the 1980's and 90's visiting three different Beaverton and Portland locations. It was a cultural event in its day. A night on the town in the big city. Open to midnight. The anticipation of walking in the door. Huge selection in all genres. Whatever you were looking for could generally be found at Tower. If not, then it was probably out-of-print. But it's the memories of browsing through all those bins that I recall most vividly. It doesn't sound like much. You had to love music and be part of the search to understand the significance. These days I still feel a certain sadness at its decline and demise. It just didn't seem possible at the time for something so big and so popular, to fade away.

One Of Those Dreams

Had another of those dreams the other night. The dream where I meet a stranger and fall in love. A dream girl with no flaws!! The dream that aches when you awake and realize that it's not real. The dream where you want to go back to sleep and see if it picks up where if left off. The dream that causes you to be on high alert all day in case of self fullfilling prophecy. The dream that gives you a warm feeling of remembering what life used to be ..... for a few hours, before gradually fading away. One of those dreams!!! Sure beats those basketball dreams where I keep shooting jumpers but can't make a shot!