The Writer's Poke

Netflix Relief Fund with Jason Alexander from Jason Alexander Right now, people are starving in Somalia, but most Americans are more concerned with Netflix and gasoline prices. It's sad. I was at the car dealer's yesterday morning, and the Today show was on. I had little choice but to watch, and what was the focus of the show? The future Queen of England does her own grocery shopping. We also were told that royals today are willing to fly coach(!) and that they are career-oriented. Why is the Today show focusing on the royal family of England? Why are people more interested in this than the war in Libya? Yes, I know the answer, but... it's sad...

Never been a big fan of Shark Week, but if Brock wants to F5 a shark again, I'll be watching, for sure.

"You're still relatively young," my doctor said, "And so unless you want one, I won't give you a rectal exam." He told me the same thing at last year's physical, too, and my assumption is that he's no more eager to check my prostate than I am to have him check my prostate. That's the nice thing about being 38, though. I'm still "relatively young." Of course relatively young is a relative term, and when the checkout girls at the grocery store addresses me as "sir," I feel old. But I know I'm now too old to take any offense at being addressed as "sir." In fact, the last time I was at the grocery store, the bagger complimented me on my Nike t-shirt. I thanked him, letting him know that it even glowed in the dark. His remark, which I know he didn't intend to be the least bit snarky: "It's good to hold on to your youth." Damn. I'm getting old. What is special about your current age?...

Life is just a series of milestones. Do you agree? Whether you want to play the game of life or not, you’re in the game. The older you get, the more you start to reflect on what you have or haven’t accomplished. There’s no escaping reflection. Some people may be able to discard the value of milestones, but discarding doesn’t eliminate them. When people talk about having a happy or content life, what they are probably talking about is paying attention to the milestones, and being happy or content with their accomplishments. People only discard the value of milestones when they are not happy or content with their progress. For me, Writer’s Poke #300 is a bit of a milestone. When I started writing my blog a few years ago, I had the number 300 in mind. It was something to shoot for, but I didn’t know how long it might actually take to write 300 pokes. I’m convinced, however, that if I didn’t have the goal in mind, it would have taken a lot longer… and I might never have reached it a...

How in the world would Kenny Omega wrestle a 9-year old girl? That's what I wondered when I started watching this. Funny thing is, this girl can wrestle, and the three-minute time limit helped this match, for sure. I guess Tavi can be in the ring in less than 6 years...

Tavi lost her best friend last week. Damn you, Kansas City. A little bit more frustrating is the fact that she never got to say one final goodbye. Granted, a 3-year old doesn't understand "goodbye" or distance or moving, but one last goodbye would have been nice. They had sold their house, and they were staying at the hotel one last day. The "plan" was for Tavi and Abigail to swim together one last time. When Linda called the hotel that afternoon, however, they had already checked out. I'm sure they were preoccupied and busy, but still, they never even bothered to call to say goodbye, or to let us know that they were leaving. A week later, Tavi is still talking about Abigail, and I'm sure she will for some time to come. Loss sucks, but maybe being on the receiving end of inconsideration sucks even more. How do you handle loss? "Accept loss forever." -- Jack Kerouac