Childhood movies

We just finished watching a good portion of 'Newsies' on the TV.  Not the best movie ever made, but I loved it when I was younger.  Loved it as in watched it a couple of times a month or at the very minimum once a month.  I don't know why, I just loved it.  It has catchy songs.  Nice storyline.  Maybe this is where I got a taste of fighting the Man.  Watching it just now, is it a good movie?  Not really.  Was it fun to watch again and have just a split second for the lines and songs to come back?  Yes.  My wife just rolled her eyes. 

It made me think of some other movies from my younger days that I still enjoy.  Let's start with 'The Goonies'.  This is another movie that was on a constant loop in our house (much to my mom's chagrin, I'm sure).  Who doesn't like this movie?  A bunch of kids on an adventure to find lost gold of a pirate to save their homes?  Sure.  And let's be honest here, One Eye Willie sounds worse when you are grown up as opposed to when you are in your innocent childhood adolescence. 

'The Great Muppet Caper' was my first real exposure to Jim Henson's headliners.  I vaguely remember Fraggle Rock (but watching it in adulthood made me think Henson was on some serious drugs), I never saw The Dark Crystal, I never was around when The Muppet Show was on, so 'The Great Muppet Caper' was it.  While I don't remember watching this as much as some of the others from my childhood, I still list it as one of the tops from my youth.  

Oh Jackson!

Alright, in an attempt to quench my thirst for baseball to start up again, I went rummaging around for the greatest call of this past year from Mario and Rod and found it.  Austin Jackson makes up for his high strikeout rate with an amazing glove and a cannon for an arm.  I love that hockey being played right now, but baseball just needs to get here and replace the basketball games on the television.  


So here it is.  Try not to get goosebumps when Rod goes ape shit. 

The Christmas Post

*Author's note: I wrote this back in 2008 and I have since made it my Christmas Eve or Christmas day post. It is simple and makes it easy for me to say that I at least wrote something for the holidays. Enjoy the day everyone. Be sure to keep the television off as long as possible and love being with family and friends.*

We are watching A Christmas Story right now, and there is nothing better in this movie than the nostalgic feel of the Christmas morning scene. More than the kids ripping apart the wrapping, it is the expressions on the faces of the mom and dad. Just the joy that they have watching their kids.

As much as people think it is all about the Red Rider BB gun, the movie is more than that. It's about family, more than anything.

• Idolizing the father
• Having a life long understanding with your mother
• And the fighting with your brother

And the final scene of the mom and dad relaxing with the Christmas tree alight and the snow falling at night. Magic.

Yoga for Kids

For the longest time I have been wanting to write about this, but have always found other subjects and this just kept getting pushed to the back of the shelf.  Well, when I woke up two hours before my alarm went off, I found this idea kicking around my head and finally am getting around to write about this.

We sell yoga videos for kids at work.  Well, not videos.  Video.  One, but if you can find one there's bound to be more.  When I walk past it, I can't help but think that it's both good and bad.  It's good because it gets kids up and about.  It gets them off their asses and exercising, you can't argue that point.  But I don't remember growing up and having an exercise video I watched to keep me active.  I went outside and played or I went downstairs and ran around down there.  In fact, I can remember my mom owning a few workout VHS (look it up people not born before the 90s) but I do not remember her saying 'here kids, watch this and work out.'  She sent us outside to play with the neighbor kids.  Even in the winter time, we went outside.  We dug tunnels in the back yard.  We went to the Michigan Bell building and went sledding on the huge snow piles from the parking lots that I have always hoped the workers made for the neighborhood kids.   

When you are young enough, you don't realize that you are exercising and that it is good for you when you are playing.  You go out and run around because you are having fun.  You are playing with other kids, but you are outside.  Now, here is where I think that having an exercise video for kids is bad.  If you have a kid exercising using a video, they are still inside.  As people talk about our kids living a more sedentary lifestyle the easiest way to put an end to that is to get them out of the house.  Make them go out and play kick the can or kickball or dodge ball or tag (or freeze tag, or tv tag, or one of the thousands of types of tag we use to play as kids).  Make them get out of the house and get some fresh air, it does a body good. 





Either way, it's good for kids to get away from sitting around and exercising.  Even if the exercising takes place in front of the television that is the root of some of this evil.

Sports at Christmas time

The NBA needs to take a page from the NFL.  This year, Christmas falls on a Sunday and what day does the NFL generally play on?  Sunday.  So looking at that, they have moved all but one of the games to days around the twenty fifth.  There's a game on Thursday, the majority of the games are on Saturday, one on Sunday, and then one on Monday.  Now, the game on Sunday night is Green Bay against Chicago, so it's not like the teams have to travel cross country.  I wonder if the Bears players are going to have to be in Green Bay a day or two before the game or if they have the option to spend Christmas morning with family or friends.  Because that would be nice if they could do that.  I mean, come on, what can they learn from going through a practice or walk through on Sunday morning at the field? 

The NBA has played on Christmas day for most of my adult life, or for as long as I care to remember.  I have never understood that.  Well, I can't say I don't fully understand it, I understand that if they are the only sport on television on Christmas day, they'll get all the ratings and viewers.  I understand that.  However, and I feel like I'm writing a bunch of themed posts here, but Christmas is all about being with your family and friends.  I know that it's all about making money and having a captive audience that is in need of sports, but it's just one day.  Let your players have that time. 

I don't ever remember watching sports on Christmas, in fact, I don't really remember the television being on Christmas day.  Well, the CBC channel use to have the crackling fireplace and soft Christmas music on most of Christmas day and we turned that on once or twice to have some ambiance.  In fact, you can find something similar to this on Netflix watch it now if you feel so inclined.  Just type in 'fireplace for your home' and enjoy.  I thought it's a great idea.  Anyway, I don't remember the television being on Christmas day until late in the afternoon.  You obviously have present opening in the morning, then there was breakfast or brunch, and then we would always play with our new toys or try on the clothes that we got from Santa.  Eventually the clean up would be underway and that could take some time because who wants to clean up versus play with new stuff?  So it wasn't until late afternoon or early evening that the television would be turned on and I don't remember what we watched, I just don't remember watching sports. 





Or maybe we did and I was just too engrossed with my Legos. 

Music Time

One fun thing about the holidays is that there is music that you don't listen to any other time of the year.  With music there is always going to be songs that you like and songs that you don't.  Christmas is no exception.  Everyone has their absolute favorite song.  We were talking about it last night at dinner.  My mother in law's favorite song is O Holy Night, my father in law loves a slower version of All I Want For Christmas is You.  I've tried to think of one absolute favorite song.  I think I have come up with it, but who knows, it might change next year or the year after that.

With the exception of the first year we lived down in Wichita, we have not been home for Christmas since our college days.  So it works out that one favorite song recently has been I'll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams), the Bing Crosby version, because is there any other?  It just fits our situation perfectly because it's what we deal with every year.  We can't go home because of my job which has always been a downer, but we have had family come visit and it's been nice to have that little bit of home every year.


Along with number one favorite songs, everyone has their list of songs that they love and can fight for the top spot in each person's heart.  If not favorite songs, favorite albums.  I've been a fan of Crosby's 'White Christmas' because that's what I grew up with, but then again, didn't most everyone?  Along with that, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' album has always been fun because the television special has always been fun.





And to think, Charles Schultz wasn't a fan of jazz music. 

These nuts(cracker)

I have always liked the traditional feel that Christmas can bring.  Old handmade, handed down ornament.  Family traditions.  And the things that go with the holidays.  Like nutcrackers.  Growing up, we had a nutcracker that was very old.  Like fall apart if you even looked at it old.  Very traditional looking, very European.  He has a beard, a black hat, and a rifle on his shoulder.  Like the nutcracker from The Nutcracker.  It was never used to crack nuts like it's original purpose.  I always thought that it was the coolest decoration that we had. 

So I have been disappointed the past few years at work when different kinds of nutcrackers have been produced.  Firefighters, army men, policemen, teachers, etc.  Even other holidays have nutcrackers.  Halloween themed nutcrackers are making their appearance.  Vampires, mummies, frankenstein's monster.  All sullying the traditional feel and purpose of the nutcracker. 

We have two nutcrackers that are meant to be decorations and they look very traditional.  A nice throw back to a part of my childhood during the month of December.  I'm sure that there are people buying these new themed nutcrackers and they will eventually be a part of their child or children's memories and traditions for Christmas, but doesn't fit in my mind. 

In the end, it doesn't really matter as long as the tradition continues to be passed down from generation to generation because that is what being a family is all about.  Christmas in part is about family.  And families pass things onto the next generation.  That's what a tradition is. 

A what Christmas?!

There is a possibility of a green Christmas this year.  No, this is not a re-posting from my years down in Kansas, this is this year.  2011.  In Minnesota.  Is that even legal?  Last year around this time, Minnesota got slammed with a blizzard that dropped somewhere between fourteen to twenty inches of snow.  Enough snow to collapse the roof of the Metrodome.  Where's it now?  Why can't there be enough snow to collapse it one more time?  That's all I would want. 

One of the reasons we moved here was to have white winters and white Christmas days to wake up to.  Nothing is more depressing than waking up on December 25th, a day full of happiness and excitement, and seeing dead grass and wet sidewalks from the night's rain.  Those are the Christmas mornings you don't want to remember.  You want it to be like your childhood memories.  Looking out in the late morning and seeing the sun reflect off the fresh snow and it being almost too bright to look at.  You want it to be so cold that when you open the door, your lungs tense up a little bit, your nose hurts just a little bit as it adjusts to the cold air.  You don't want to look outside and see the remnants of the fall season.  That time has come and gone, you want cold.  You want white.  You want what Christmas should look like.  Last year, we left the blinds drawn and dealt with having no snow for what we thought was the last time. 

We got just a burst of snow a few weeks ago, but that has since melted away during our recent 'heat wave' (it got up into the mid thirties).  All right Mother Nature, I know you and I have had out differences over the years, but you have eleven days to get your shit in order and bring down the snow.  I demand it!  







Please.  

The curious case of Todd Bertuzzi

For the longest time, I hated Todd Bertuzzi.  There are several reasons why.  He played for the Vancouver Canucks for several years and gave the Detroit Red Wings and their fans fits because they always seemed to match up perfectly in the regular season and the playoffs.  He played like a goon, but had the talent to play and not fight.  And the incident with Steve Moore.  No one can forgive him for that.

When he played with Vancouver, he and Markus Naslund were both just so big and physical and talented that they offered a one-two punch that most teams could not match.  Bertuzzi would just plain knock the guy off the puck and skate away, Naslund would use his stick and brain to pick pockets and skate away.  How do you counter that?  Bertuzzi was also there to protect Naslund, the role of the enforcer/goon.  He's what some would call a power forward.  He can beat you with his skills and his fists, a great physical combination.  The problem is that he came into the NHL about a decade too late to be called a true enforcer and gets labeled a goon because the style of the game had changed.  I'm not going to say that there isn't a place for enforcers in the NHL now, they are just more of an anomaly than a frequent sighting on teams.  And while he may have relished his role as an enforcer, it put a damper on his career and put his skills as a passer and a scorer not on a back burner, but on a smaller burner perhaps. 

Let's talk about enforcement.  Let's talk about the Steve Moore incident.  It is quite possibly the worst on ice incident I have ever seen.  It was retaliation for a hit Moore put on Naslund, a hit that was considered legal by the referees and did not draw a penalty.  The hit gave Naslund a concussion and a bone chip in his elbow.  A week later, half way through the third period, Bertuzzi punched Moore from behind and drove him to the ice, breaking his neck and ending his career.  Bertuzzi became enemy number one throughout all the sports world, regardless of which major sport people were talking about.  Bertuzzi held a press conference in which you can tell he was remorseful for what he had done, but the damage was done.  His reputation had been tarnished forever.

After that, he was suspended indefinitely and was eventually reinstated.  He was traded after the 2006 season and bounced around a little bit (Florida, Anaheim, Calgary) before eventually landing with Detroit.  I don't think he could have stayed in Vancouver after this incident.  It would have sent a bad message around the league.  They wouldn't want to appear to be a safe harbor for dirty players, even if they have been instrumental in your team's success the past few years.  He's still a strong, physical player but you don't see him fight.  He uses his skills now while playing for the Wings and it's good to see.  He has help invigorate the spin-o-rama move during overtime shootouts.  It's a thing of beauty to see a huge man use some skills.  

He has stayed down since the incident and has quietly put together a nice career, it's just too bad that his name will forever be linked to a bad decision.

The Donation Question

Last month, Andrea and I went to the Minnesota Institute of Art on a weekend afternoon.  We needed to get out of the apartment for a little bit and now living in a bigger city, there is more to do.  We got into the car and just drove downtown until we found something to do.  We walked in and found that there was no admission to get in, which is awesome, but a donation box is at the front desk.  There is a printed sign that states 'suggested donation is five dollars.'  I'm not going to lie, I felt a little bad not putting any money in the donation box.  I just expected to pay using a card so didn't have any cash with me.  Now, they do have a traveling exhibit and charge admission into that, so there's that at least. 

The question that comes into play here, is how much do you give and is it ever appropriate to not give?  I'll answer the latter first because that's an easy one.  As we were leaving I mentioned that I felt a little guilty about not giving any money to which Andrea replied 'everyone should get at least one free visit.'  Makes sense and it's something that everyone should be able to get on board with.  I think that this is a place that we could visit every once in a while.  It won't be an every weekend thing, or even a once a month thing.  It might be a once or twice a year thing.  It's big enough that you can't see and appreciate everything in one day so going there multiple times isn't out of the question.  So five dollars, at most twice a year in this written scenario, isn't much.  Twenty dollars for the two of us.  Money well spent. 

Now, as far as how much to give, I think that it depends on how often you go there.  If you are there once a month, do you give the recommended five dollars each time?  Do you stiff them and don't give anything at all (dick move, don't do that)?  Or do you give just a little bit every time you go there?  It'll all depend on the person visiting.  If they are a huge art fan, they may give more than five dollars as they visit.  If they are more like me, not a huge art fan but can still appreciate the talent and skill that most of the artists use (more on that in just a second), and go there quite a bit, a dollar or two each time would be worth it.  It, once again, all depends on the person but I would think and hope that any visitor with a conscience would throw some kind of money into the bin.  If they're a visitor from out of town, what's the harm in showing some appreciation for the institute and give a few dollars?  The amount one gives should be relative to how often they are there, but at the very least, if you are past your 'first time free' visit, throw in a dollar.  It's tons cheaper than going to the movies and you'll be better for it. 

I am not even going to put myself in the same universe as the majority of the artists that have work hanging at the MIA.  I can draw stick figures very well and that's about it.  Even the majority of the modern and post modern artists are fantastic.  HOWEVER, there is some art there that my nephew and nieces could do.  There were two pieces, not joking, that was masking tape strips torn and made into words on a white canvas and framed.  I don't always 'get' art but try to find appreciation for the work that the artists does, but not these pieces.  Two pieces of art by this guy that were the same style, one just had blue tape instead of the regular masking tape.  And then there are the pieces that are just one color on a canvas.  Seriously? 

I would hope that if the zombie apocalypse ever happens, the classic artists come back and just devour those who have defiled the ways of their craft.  Or at the very least, gnaw their hands off. 

Reading more (quickly)

I haven't ever really kept tabs on how many or how quickly I have read books.  It's always been one of those things that I have done slowly, but it's one of those things I have enjoyed doing.  I have people in my life, like my mom and wife, who can breeze through any book that they pick up.  I know my mom will bring two or three books with her on vacations because she has always enjoyed reading and reading at long periods of time.  That's why we got her a Kindle for Christmas last year.  That way she can just bring that little tablet as opposed to her small library that she has back home.  My wife is the same way.  She can sit down for a couple of hours and just read.  I've had to kick her out of bed a few times in the past because I had to get up early in the morning and she was still reading at midnight.  It's just one of those things that some people can do for great lengths of time. 

Not so much me.  I think that part of the problem is that I read at night.  I will want to keep reading, but I know that if I do, it wouldn't take long before it's eleven or later and I have to get up in four hours.  So I read a chapter or two a night and call it good.  Now, depending on the size of the book and the amount of chapters, that can take a very long time to get through just one book.  And then there are the books that are broken up into three or four parts as opposed to chapters then it's all about finding a good stopping point.  With a well written book, that is hard to do at times.  It's usually about finding a page with a sentence ending it. 

Around Christmas time and my birthday (only two months apart), I get several books or gift cards to a book store.  I rush out to get books and add them to my collection.  The problem?  I still have books on the shelf from last Christmas and my last birthday that I have yet to read.  I counted them out when we moved to Minnesota and if I remember correctly, I have fourteen books on the shelf that I haven't read yet.   Some of them have been hanging around for more than a year.  The bad thing is that I see them there collecting dust and I try to tell myself that I will read faster to get to them.  The problem?  Once I get to them, I will slow right down because there are more history books than novels.  It's going to be heavy reading.  It'll be like I'm back in college, but with no paper or discussion circle around which historian the author hacked or what facts did the author leave out to make their point or why book 'A' is more important than book 'B'.  It'll be for pleasure.  History reading for pleasure?  Yeah, it happens.

I think that the best way to go about reading more in a year is to set aside more time during the day to read.  During my weekends off finding time to sit in the bedroom away from the television and the computer and lose myself in the pages.  You hear people say that they just want to curl up with a book and read the afternoon away and it can be easy for some people to do.  I just never have because I am a slow reader and take my time reading through the piles of books that never have an end to them.  

Wrapping presents and winter weather

If music imitated present wrapping, my ability to wrap presents would closely resemble some high school garage speed death metal music.  As opposed to my wife, whose ability to wrap presents is more closely related to Mozart or Beethoven.  It's just a talent I have never possessed.  Refined abilities escape me very easily, and I'm okay with that.  That's why whenever we give birthday presents or presents at Christmas time, she wraps them for us.  I'm the reason department stores offer gift wrapping.  

This year I have been in more of the holiday spirit because of the weather.  It's because of the snow.  In the past several years, I have waited to the week or so before Christmas to get my shopping done and I think it is in part to it not feeling like winter.  There wouldn't be any snow on the ground and it would still feel like the fall.  It wouldn't cross my mind to go Christmas shopping and not be one of those people that does all the shopping on the twentieth of December.  Being up in Minnesota now, it has felt like winter because we had some snow on the ground at Thanksgiving time!  It's been in the twenties or below the past week and it makes me happy. 

So here I sit, in the bedroom taking a break from my death metal wrapping to write a little bit about being happier because we are some place that reminds me of my childhood in the sense of it feeling like winter more than a week out of the year.




Sorry Kansas, but that's another strike against us ever moving back.

Scary commercial

Has anyone else seen the new Motorola Razr that refers to the phone being more 'self aware'?  Here it is if you haven't.  Okay, show of hands, who else does that freak out?  Hopefully anyone that has seen any of the Terminator movies had their hands shoot up in the air before they realized what was going on. 

Maybe it is because I just watched Terminator Salvation the other day, but seriously it's freaky that Motorola would advertise their phone like that.  And maybe they want it to be as a sort of wink at the movie series.  With that said, technology is slowly taking over the world and everyone knows it.  Think about all the electronics you carry with you on a daily basis.  Cell phone.  Ipod or Ipad.  Laptop for work maybe?  Everyone at one point or another has said something close to the following:  'I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my *fill in the blank*.' 

It's so nice to have a phone with you at all times and be connected twenty four hours a day if need be, but how long can you go without your cell phone?  It's always nice to disconnect from the world but it is awfully difficult to do so for long periods of time because we have become so use to having instant communication whenever it is needed.

So maybe the machines haven't risen against us (yet), but they control our lives more than some would like to admit.  I have no problem admitting that.  I actively check Facebook during the day.  I'm on Twitter (@Litzner).  I just recently got a smart phone (I held out as long as I could).  And obviously, there's My Own Manifesto.  Everyone needs to disconnect every once in a while.




And if you can't, just sit tight, John Conner is on his way to save you.  

Sleep cycle

I have been trying to break my old sleeping cycle as of late.  I have always been under the impression that getting eight hours of sleep each night was more of a guideline than a recommendation, despite what you hear or read.  I would shoot to get somewhere between six and seven hours and call it good, but lately I have found myself sleeping in later and having to hurry around the house a little bit before going to work.   In an attempt to get to a point where I'm getting between seven and eight hours of sleep each night, I'm trying a few things. 

I'm not taking a nap after work.  I love naps.  Half an hour or forty five minutes zonked out on the couch completely oblivious to the world around.  You wake up afterwards and feel refreshed.  However, last week these little naps went from being half an hour to an hour long.  So what's the big deal?  Well, if you fall asleep for your nap around four thirty and wake up an hour later, you feel like you can stay up an hour later that night (at least I did).  Before you know it, you're going to bed at eleven o'clock and the alarms goes off at five.  Six hours.  Not good.  Foregoing the nap makes me more tired earlier in the evening and I go to bed earlier and end up crashing hard at nine thirty at night.  So, the alarm goes off at five and I'm looking at seven and a half to eight hours of sleep.  Boom, problem solved, right? 

What about the weekends?  Who wants to go to bed at nine thirty on a weekend where you don't have to get up for anything the next day?  I certainly don't.  So trying to find that right time to go to bed on the weekends has been a little strange.  I think some time between ten and eleven works out because it isn't too far from where I am trying to go to bed during the week.  Plus, I sleep in so I'm still getting enough sleep where I don't over sleep and can't fall asleep Sunday night before the work week starts. 

I feel a bit old manish writing about trying to get more sleep and going to bed earlier in the evening, but at the same time, doesn't more sleep keep you healthy by not getting you run down?  I will risk being called an old man and going to bed before ten at night if it means I stay healthy during the winter months.  No one likes being sick, and getting enough sleep each night can help out with that, apparently.  I never understood why, I have always just gone with it. 

The visor debate

Earlier this month, Chris Pronger returned to the ice after missing close to two weeks worth of play with an eye injury.  An eye injury that was caused by an inadvertent stick to the face.  One of those injuries that everyone talks about as a career ending injury if it had been just a few inches either way, it certainly could have.  When he returned, he had a visor attached to his helmet.  Just recently, Ian White of the Detroit Red Wings, missed a week's worth of games for accidental blocked a shot with his face.  It broke a cheek bone, another reason you can never question a hockey player's toughness.  So, it has brought up a debate of whether or not visors should be required for all NHL players.

It seems to be one of those things that players acknowledge is a good idea, but can hinder their play.  Visors apparently cut down on their peripheral vision, and vision is key to the game of hockey.  Those no look passes don't create themselves.  It also can create issues with the enforcers.  If they get into a fight, how can your fist go through their face if there is a piece of plastic in the way?  Any argument you hear is just a mask for the real argument against the visors:  it's not manly.  I know that hockey is a game of manly men, but there also has to be a point when safety comes before masculinity.

I wasn't around for the debate about everyone being mandated to wear helmets, but I'm sure it went the same way.  It blocks my vision, it doesn't feel right, if I punch someone the helmet hurts my hand.  Everyone got over it and it was for the better.  You can't tell me that helmets are a bad idea.  Visors are the same way, it's a smart safe advancement for the players.  I think that they should be mandated for every player.  I don't want to hear this debate again after a player can't lace up his skates anymore because of an eye injury.  All the league would have to do is grandfather everyone in.  Anyone who is playing in the NHL right now, doesn't have to wear a visor, but anyone who comes into the league from this season onward must wear a visor.

The big thing that I don't understand is that in the lower leagues, they wear visors or cages, so what is the issue?  I don't know if they restrict vision of the players, but it will keep them safe and that is what the commissioner should take into consideration.  No one will question any player that wears a visor.  I sure wouldn't.  Would you want to be considered manly for not wearing a protective visor and having a shorter career because of eye or facial injuries or be considered less manly and have a longer career because your face is safe?

Almost got away without it

The NBA has tentatively reached an agreement to end their lockout.  The agreement, if approved, would start the season on Christmas day.  All of this is according to ESPN.  I'm sure we'll hear more about this as the story progresses. 

We almost got away with no NBA season and how glorious would that have been?  Further more, if they do reach this agreement, why would they start on Christmas day?  How horrible of an idea is that?  Why not just start on New Year's Day and play later into the calendar year?  It'll give them more time to get back in shape.  I understand that they have played games on Christmas for years and years, but they have been just two or three marque games and are meant to draw a huge amount of numbers and television numbers, but are they going to have every team play?

Outside of the fact that they are starting to play, how many fans did they lose with this lockout?  There are going to be the die hard fans that will watch regardless of the lockout, but what about the fans that are just casual?  It will take a long time to get those fans back.  Baseball and hockey both dealt with it after their lockouts and it took years and years to get the fans back.  Basketball will deal with it too.  The arenas will be filled from time to time and for teams that are really good, but the teams that are bad, their arenas will be emptier than they would have been if the season was not in a lockout.   








You know, I think that they should just cancel the season and do nothing but train for next year.  It's the best for everyone involved.  

Early decorating

How early in the winter season is it okay to decorate for Christmas?  I understand people get really really excited for it and jump the gun, but is two weeks into November too early?  I think so.  Some apartments around our complex have lights on their decks or porches or trees in their windows and I thought that it was time to lay down the law on decorating.  And it's real simple:  Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving is so close to the end of November that why not just wait?  It's not like there is a ton of decorating people do for Thanksgiving, but they just need to take a break.  A few days into the month of November the Halloween decorations come down and it should be time to take a break.  Realize that your house or apartment does not always need to have lights hanging off of the eaves or pictures in the windows.  I always thought that December was the time for Christmas decorating, not November.  Christmas decorations stay up through the majority of December through the new year, but not too long past the new year.  Within the first week.  Growing up, the decorations were always down before my brother's birthday which is 10 January, so there's a week and a half window in which to take everything down. 

We got our first snow last week and I immediately thought about decorating for Christmas.  It was the first time in years and years that there was snow on the ground before Thanksgiving.  Snow brings out the spirit of Christmas and the decorating that goes along with it.  However, it's all about timing.  Decorate too early and you seem too eager, decorate too late and you lose out on how long your house looks like a fun holiday house.  I think that the best time frame for decorating your house has to be some time in between the 7th and the 11th of December. 




Not to be too particular or anything like that. 

Life milestones

A few months from now, I will be thirty.  It's one of those life milestones that gets overshadowed unless it's happening to you.  Normally, when you hear people talking about their life's milestones, it's twenty first birthdays, sixteen, eighteen, forty, etc.  Thirty can be big if you want it to be, but it seems to be more of a second thought with all the other age milestones.

I want to make my thirtieth birthday a memorable one.  I want to get a tattoo [inspired by my sister who has a few so blame her for that mom!  :o)].  I have a few ideas rolling around in my head of what I want.  If anyone had asked me about seven or eight years ago if I would ever get one, I probably would have said no.  I don't know why, but it's something that I want now.  I was told once that if you can picture what you want, where you want it, for at least six months, you are definitely ready for ink. 

And who knows, two months from now, when my birthday does roll around, I may change my mind completely.  But then again, I could have a tattoo in mind that goes shoulder to shoulder. 

Why cold is great

It's getting cold outside.  I checked the weather this morning and it showed that it was twenty degrees, but felt like it was ten.  It's an exciting time.  I think that I have always enjoyed the cold.  I know that as an adult, I prefer the cold to warm or hot weather.  With cold weather, you can bundle up.  Put on a heavy coat, a scarf, gloves, hat, etc.  When it starts to get hot outside, you just walk around in shorts and short sleeve shirts.  There is no way to walk around with a portable A/C unit in your pocket (or is there.....).

One thing that I have noticed in the early mornings when it is cold outside is that everything just sounds different.  It's quiet but there is something weird about the quietness.  I can't really explain it, but everything is just that, different.  There's something in the air when it is cold outside and I love every second of it.

I love putting on a heavy coat, a wool hat and scarf.  I love having just a little slit to look through in between the hat and scarf.  Just that little bit that reminds me of a cartoon character that gets shooed out the door by their mom as they have to walk to school in a blizzard.

The one thing above all else is that makes it great when it is cold outside is being in your own house and kicking back in a pair of sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt.  It's great coming home from a long day of work and relaxing on a couch with your favorite sweats and grabbing a beer or a scotch and putting your feet up in your slippers and just letting it all go.  

Permanent move

What constitutes permanent residency?  I pose this question because we went and got our Minnesota driver's licenses last week which is one of several steps I think it takes to become a resident of a state. 

It was interesting because despite the fact that we both have been driving for more than a decade, the state of Minnesota requires everyone who is getting their license for the first time in the state to take a forty question test.  You need an eighty percent to pass the test.  We both passed.  With an eighty percent.  BOOM!  The test had some questions that you would never think of.  Like, 'how many feet are you suppose to leave between you and someone biking on the road?'  It's something you never really think of.  Then they would have a question like, 'true or false:  Alcohol impairs your judgement when operating a vehicle.'  There were some questions that were no brainers and others which made me think how did I pass this course in the first place when I was fourteen and didn't have the experience?

So we both got our licenses, but that is just one of things it takes to be a permanent resident.  The biggest thing has to be living somewhere.  The first two weeks we were here, we lived with my uncle so we didn't technically live anywhere.  We were out of our lease in Wichita and had no address in Minnesota.  We missed our one opportunity to get off the grid and disappear forever.  At the beginning of September, we moved into our apartment and step one was completed.  Although there are some that would not consider living in an apartment a move towards a permanent residency because you could just be here for a year and be gone.  However, we're here for the long haul, so I'll count it.  Step one:  completed. 

Step two and three go hand in hand.  Driver's license and license plate for your car.  Both of these things expire eventually, so no matter how much you delay, you eventually have to get them both.  These are the things that are the biggest road blocks when it comes to becoming a resident just because they cost quite a bit of money to get.  Okay, so not a ton for a driver's license.  It was twenty five dollars.  License plates can be expensive, around one hundred dollars.  I am waiting until July to get my license plate because that is when it expires.  The license plates in Kansas come with property tax and it cost around one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty dollars depending on how new your car is, so I am getting my money's worth out of my Kansas license plate. 

So it isn't until those three things fall into place that you become a permanent resident of a state when you are an adult.  You can't hold kids to these standards because they can't drive.  

Writing barrage

Every single year, I try to write at least the same number or more posts than the previous year.  The goal is one hundred and twenty three this year.  Looking at the number of posts I have now, it's going to be quite a busy month and a half coming up here at My Own Manifesto.  Enjoy or be disgusted, don't really care. 

I have an issue with the Veteran's Day sales that stores have.  Specific two or three day sales that are plastered with savings.  Now, when I think of Veteran's Day, I don't think of going to Macy's or Kohl's or a furniture store warehouse to save money.  I think of men and women serving their country.  Not just the United States, but any person that has served in any branch of their military in any country.  It's a day to remember any person that has fallen in the defense of their country, for something that was bigger than they were.  It's a day to thank anyone you know that has served.  It's a day not for going to stores to do your best to save some extra money on something you want to buy. 

This holiday falls in line with the Columbus Day sales you see advertised.  And President's Day sales.  What is the connection to people coming in and saving money on a couch and Christopher Columbus mutilating, raping, and killing his way into the history books?  Do you think that if George Washington could be here now he would be so happy to see that you can save an extra twenty percent at the local department store during President's Day weekend?  Do you think a veteran of the first Gulf War gives two shits about any of that?  I think not. 

The one nice thing that I have seen is what some restaurants are advertising that they are doing for vets.  It isn't anything major, but still, it's a sign of gratitude.  Some McDonald's (okay, not a real restaurant) here in the Twin Cities are donating portions of their earnings on Veteran's Day to the Minnesota Military Family Foundation.  A nice gesture.  Kind of makes me want to go find one of these McDonald's and clog my arteries for a good cause.  Many restaurants are giving veterans free meals on Veteran's Day.  It's a great way to say thank you in the best way that their business can.   

I just think that the best way that you or I can say thank you to a vet is to just say that.  Thank you!  Thank you to all the men and women around the world, no matter what country you are from, thank you.  Thank you so very much for thinking of your country before yourself. 

Up goes Frazier, up goes Fraizer!

Joe Frazier has passed away at the age of sixty seven.  'Smokin' Joe Frazier is spoken about in awe and reverence amongst sports people.  From all accounts, he was a great athlete.  I never got the opportunity to see the man box.  I have only seen clips of some of his fights.  He was a true warrior, apparently. 

Boxing is a sport I will never truly understand.  I could not be paid enough to stand in a ring and get punched.  Repeatedly.  Can't do it.  But some people can.  Frazier was one of them.  When boxing was big, he was bigger than the sport.  The first man to beat Ali.  Olympic champion.  I will never understand the sport because I did not grow up with it.  I did not grow up seeing the big names on Friday nights or Saturday main events.  I did not get to see the rise or fall of the men of the ring. 

Once again, it is one of those situations when you read or hear about some great person before your time passing away.  You hear the stories that others have of these people and wish, just wish, for once that you can tell these same types of stories.  But for that to happen, someone has to pass away. 







And no one wants that. 

Early holiday

I worked in close proximity to our seasonal department today.  I died inside a little bit today because of it.  Christmas spluged all over. (if you don't understand that statement, just move on).  I enjoy the Christmas holiday, it's just that it starts so damn early in the retail world that by the time the end of December comes around, when you should be really excited for it, you just want it to be over.

Everyone has their favorite holiday.  Whether it's the fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Columbus Day (let's not kid ourselves on that one, not even Italians like Columbus Day) or another holiday all together.  Christmas is my favorite.  And I'm not even talking about it from a kid's stand point, because what kid doesn't like Christmas morning?  As an adult, it's always just been fun because it's about family.  We've been lucky enough to have my in-laws come visit us down in Kansas the past four years because they are retired and my brother-in-law even came over from Colorado.  It's just been nice to have some family there.  The second year we lived in Wichita, we didn't get to go home and no one came to visit.  It was depressing because we didn't have family around and it didn't help that there was no snow on the ground.  Luckily, we don't have to worry about the no snow thing anymore.

This year, I planned on not letting the early Christmas set at work get to me.  And that lasted all of a week. 





Dammit. 

It could be worse....

One more little tidbit on the Occupy Wall Street movement then I promise to move on.  And it's not like this is some big lengthy post, it's just a link.  A link to the past and what the occupiers could face if we lived in a shitty country.  Maybe not shitty, maybe if we lived in a more oppressive country.  Yeah, let's go with that. 



Hit it.  And be thankful this isn't the case. 

Deer driving

Growing up and learning to drive in Michigan, one of the biggest dangers we were warned about were the deer.  And it's true, you look at the sides of the highways and you see the dead deer, especially in the fall.  Most of the deer are pretty big too.  They can get up to one hundred and fifty pounds.  That's the size of a grown adult.  You run into one of those going down the road and it can do serious damage and can even kill you. 

As we drove back to the Soo, we planned to stop a little over half way because we didn't want to be driving at midnight or one in the morning because the deer are moving around and when it gets dark, they move even more.  The last forty five miles were the most tense I have been behind the wheel in a long long time.  Even with your headlights and high beams on, they are difficult to see.  It's not like they got a ton of white hair on them to reflect back, oh no, they have to be brown.  They are very tasty, but I don't really think about that when they are splattered along US 2. 

I've driven in blinding blizzards, no problem.  Pouring down rain, sure why not?  Icy roads?  Just go slower and don't crank the steering wheel.  Hell, I've been stopped on the Mackinac Bridge with the wind not only moving my car, but the bridge as well.  I've heard the stories from my parents about the wind being so bad that it actually pushed a car over the side.  No seriously.  In 1989, the wind came up through the grates and threw a Yugo over the edge.  The reason that these things aren't much of a problem for me is because I can help control what is going on.  I can realize that the weather is bad and can slow down and take my time driving.  When dealing with the knowledge of deer running out onto the road, you can't control that.  You have to be on extra high alert for anything that moves.

When it gets dark this time of year, you keep your eyes on the sides of the road.  A downed tree can look like a deer.  A clump of tall grass takes the shape of a deer.  The reflective discs on guardrails look like eyes.  It's a sense of alertness and paranoia. 



You can never be too sure when one will run in front of you.  

The new counterculture (part two)

This is the second part of the Occupy Wall Street posts.  Here's the first one.


I like the idea of the Occupy movement but there is something missing in it.  For the longest time, I couldn't put my finger on it.  Then it dawned on me.  It wasn't some great epiphany or in the middle of the night and I shot up in bed with this great idea.  It just popped in my head when I was reading some articles on the movement.  They aren't doing as much as they should be.

It is great that there are so many voices in so many places finding a purpose.  Not only are they finding a purpose, but it is the same purpose.  A unified front speaking out against those they feel have let them down.  Or at the very least, looked down on them from their corner offices and downtown penthouses.  

The movement is great, but you can only say so much before needing to take action.  They must realize that marching in the street, camping night in and night out in a town square, and making funny yet poignant signs can only get you attention.  Going on political talk shows gets the attention that you need, but you need to take that next step and get your voice heard by those who really can make the change you want.  If you are there just to protest that's fine, but if you want actual change, you need to take your anger and your voice and present your case, whatever it might be, to the government.  They aren't going to sit up on capital hill and eventually change the way they do things just because there are protests all around the country.  They can wait it out.

Do I think this will actually happen?  I don't think so.  I know that the thought process behind the movement is that it is suppose to be a leaderless movement.  No one person is the voice of the Occupy movement.  They are a collective voice.  There are local leaders I guess you would call them, but there is not one or two big time leaders, but that is what they need.  They need just a handful of people to meet with lawmakers and get these changes made.  The only way just flat out protesting will get anything accomplished is if it is a violent protest.  With guns.  And that won't happen.  It worked in the Middle East, but that is an entirely different world compared to the one that the Occupy movement is dealing with.  The Middle East protests started violent and used violence to end oppressive and violent regimes.  You can't go from being a non-violent protest movement to taking up arms.  That would be disastrous.


In the end, the important thing to take away from the Occupy movement is that thousands of voices can find a common theme.  And what they say can change the country if they find the right people to lead them.

The new counterculture (part one)

I wanted to break this up into two because I got half way through and realized it would be too much for one post.  I also think it's worthy of two posts just because it is an interesting topic and can be so much more in the end. 

One of the greatest things about this country is in the first amendment of the constitution.  The rights to free speech and the right to assemble.  Since the first movement of Occupy Wall Street took form in New York I have been passively following it just because I'm obviously not in New York and cannot participate.  Occupy Minnesota has been going on for a few weeks, but it has not had the coverage that some of the larger city occupations have gotten.  Mainly because it isn't as interesting as some of the others.  All across the country there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of arrests of protesters for various infractions and at Occupy Oakland there have been violent clashes with the police.  This is just the latest case of violence and I'm sure there have been minor clashes throughout the country and the world.  

I can't help but feel like the occupiers are the new counterculture.  Just like the hippies of the sixties who were out and about protesting the government, Vietnam, civil rights, and whatever else they felt like, those protesters had a voice and a cause and were willing to clash with the government over it.  The occupiers are starting to find that same voice and that same fight.  They have found something they think is worth fighting for, worth getting arrested for, worth getting their skulls bashed in for.  

The occupiers and protesters feel wronged by the top tier (or one percent) of this country and are sick of the greed that they have used to their advantage.  This is where the 'We are the ninety nine percent' theme came from.  Groups of people have unified under one banner that most of us can identify with.  This isn't something that the normal person hasn't thought about before.  Everyone wants to shake their fist at the government in a public place.  They want to be seen, they want to be heard and that is what the Occupy movement has allowed many people in cities throughout the country to do.  New York, Columbus, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Oakland.  It has gone global.  London, Madrid, Melbourne, Berlin.  That's the beauty of the internet within this movement.  It's allowed for worldwide unity against the rich.  

But there is a downside to this movement that I will get into next post.  Before I get into that, I have a quote from Gangs of New York which I think is appropriate for the movement.  'The earth turns, but we don't feel it. And one night you look up. One spark and the whole sky is on fire.'  Just think on that for a little bit.  Absorb the context.  Until the next post.   






Interested in learning more?  Click it. 

A little late

I always take a moment at the beginning of October to remind everyone that this month is Domestic Violence Awareness month.  And I also try to point out the fact that it is overshadowed by Breast Cancer Awareness month.  You don't see yogurt tops to be sent in to the local YWCA in support of a women's shelter which is sad.

Want some more info?  Here's some links:

• YWCA
• Domestic Violence Awareness Project
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Look, both causes are good causes.  Both causes should be prominent in our society.  Both causes can be really really scary.  I don't have much more to say about it I just want everyone that reads this to take some time and get informed about domestic violence.





And if you're moved by this, get off your ass and do something about it.

A good year

Despite the fact that the Detroit Tigers did not make it to, and eventually win, the World Series (because I think that they could have beaten either National League team), it was a good year for the team.  Going into the season, they were seen by most professional analysts to finish either second or third within the division and not make much noise.  We all know how that turned out.  We'll hang our hats on that divisional banner, thank you very much.  It's funny that no one really started talking about the team until they overtook the Cleveland Indians and subsequently ran away with the division.

I will give Texas their due, I knew going in that it was going to be their bats that would keep them in the series and that if Detroit didn't take at least one of the first two games, it would have been hard for them to get to the Series, so hopefully they beat St. Louis and bring the championship back to the American League.  The one thing that surprised me was their bullpen.  I didn't pay much attention to the team because they play in the AL West so I didn't see them or hear about them that much.  If they can win one of the first two in St. Louis it'll be done in five, even if they don't win I still think they win, but it'll be in six. 

Back to the Tigers.  It was a good year and I can already hear the analysts next year forgetting about them again.  They'll talk up the White Sox again and their great acquisition of Adam Dunn *snicker snicker* and how Jake Peavy is going to bounce back.  Again.  *snicker snicker*  They cannot overlook the starting five that Detroit can potentially run out there.  Verlander, Fister, Scherzer, Porcello, Penny.  Yes, yes, yes, maybe, and not so much.  That, I think should be the rotation.  You could even switch Porcello and Penny, but how long can they hold back Jacob Turner?  I guess as long as Penny's contract is.  Brad Penny is next year's Phil Coke.  The guy that'll give me gray hairs because of his inconsistency. 

They need to get in Austin Jackson's ear and get him a better eye if he is going to stay at the top of the batting order.  The Tigers can't have a guy striking out that much at the top of the order.  I think with Magglio re-braking his ankle he'll be done in Detroit as a major player.  If he resigns, his play will be limited because players like Don Kelly and Andy Dirks and Brennan Boesch are ready to play full time and I don't want any of those players to go away just because Mags wants to play even though he's slowing down.  Once again, I love Magglio.  He's my Tiger, he'll be my Tiger until he's retired or moves on, but for a functional team, they can't keep rolling him out there just because of the past.

The young players are growing up and they are hungry.  Hungry and angry.  Just how they need to play next year.








And for years to come... 

Keep it up!

Thank you so much NBA for having two greedy sides on the negotiating table.  The first two weeks of the regular season has been cancelled.  With that, now is the time for the NHL to step up to the plate.  Note the references to three of the four major sports within one paragraph, it just kind of happened.  Touchdown!  There.

The NHL needs to take advantage of the NBA dealing with this lockout.  For the longest time, hockey has been seen as the fourth of the major sports.  Looking at the ratings for the sports, hockey does come in last and the major part of that is the television contracts that they have.  The NHL has a contract with NBC and Versus.  With NBC, you see the games at the end of the season and into the playoffs, which is cool but if you don't have Versus you're sunk.  And I suppose if you live close enough to Canada, you get to see the games on the CBC and CTV. 

So what can the NHL do to help boost their numbers?  Talk with NBC and get as much exposure as possible.  They have taken steps in the right direction with the 'Winter Classic' and I know that all the games cannot be played outside, but they need to showcase the great teams.  They need to stop showing Washington Capital games.  They aren't that good.  They need to delve deep into talented teams and get them in the national spotlight.  Take Tampa Bay for example.  They have young hungry players that are talented beyond belief.  I would watch them play.  They make the game look fun and energetic. 

They need to get rivalry games like Detroit/Chicago.  Buffalo/New York (Rangers).  Boston/Philadelphia.  Games that are intense from the first drop of the puck to the last drop of the gloves.  I know that NBC loves Pittsburgh and Washington because of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, but you can only watch those games so many times because they focus just on those two players and the game is more than that. 

All I know is that the NHL cannot sit idly by while the NBA bickers over billions of dollars.  They need to see into the future and show the world that there is more to the sports world than football and basketball during the winter time.  They need to smell the blood on the ice and hook the disenfranchised basketball fan base. 





Do you hear me Gary Bettman?  Get off your ass and do what's best for the sport that hates you. 

Is my Tiger done?

Two nights ago, Magglio Ordonez re-aggravated his reconstructed ankle.  Several years ago, this would have been devastating to the team, but with some additional players, it's not so bad.  Plus, he is getting older so he is not as key to the offense as he was in 2006 when the Tigers were last in the playoffs. 

When the Tigers started the 'Who's Your Tiger' campaign, I immediately went with Mags as my Tiger.  I liked his style of play.  High batting average, smart glove, and some pop in the bat.  I also like that he is not one of those players that are all about 'me, me, me'.  He's a team guy.  So, unlike a fair weather fan, I have stuck by him even in his down years.  It makes me sad that his injuries have lowered his productivity and playing time, but if you play a sport for fourteen years, your body would wear down too.      

This leads to my question, is my Tiger done?  Not done just in Detroit, but done done.  Forever.  His play and playing time has dwindled in the past couple of years and the Tigers cannot hold back some of their younger players any longer.  Not only has his playing time gone down, but the injuries are piling up.  It will be a sad day when he does walk away from the game and I will have to find a new Tiger.  And some names have come to mind, but I won't spoil it for you.   







You'll have to wait...

A good start

While everyone, myself included, celebrated the Detroit Tigers victory over the New York Yankees like it was the World Series, we must look at it in a serious way.  Not that they beat New York (which is absolutely fantastic), but that they now have to go up against another tough lineup. 

I was hoping that Tampa Bay would win their series against Texas, but the baseball gods were so focused on Detroit that they forgot to concentrate on other things.  I feel that the Tigers matched up against Tampa Bay better.  And by better, I mean that they are a ton better than their batting team than Tampa Bay.  Tampa Bay isn't as deep of a batting lineup as Texas is.  Texas is just as scary as New York when it comes to hitters.  If you get past Hamilton, you have Young.  Get past Young?  Still got Beltre.  And Kinsler, Andrus, even Mike Napoli.  Scary up and down. 

I know that the pitching staffs don't seem even.  The Tigers have a slight edge and I think that is where they need to win it.  The Tigers can rake just like the Rangers can, but their pitchers cannot have any missteps because if they do, the Rangers will capitalize on it.  I love Rick Porcello, but his inexperience is the weak link in the rotation. 

But I have faith in the Tigers, don't worry.  It will be a good series, a series of close games.  I don't want to make a prediction of who wins the series because I'm superstitious like that.  All I will say, is that it will be done in six games. 

Occupy!

The Occupy Wall Street movement has started to spread across the country and it is intriguing me.  It has made it's way to Minnesota.  If you live in the Twin Cities and want to get involved in giving the top one percent the middle finger, here's a link to Occupy MN.

I'm not gonna lie, if I had a job that did not involve a ton of responsibility, I would think of calling in.  But I can't, I need money for bills.  I highly encourage anyone to take up the cause.  It's a great expression of freedom of assembly and speech.  And apparently the Minnesota government is okay with it.  As long as everything is peaceful and doesn't get violent, they're going to let it happen.  Not like the New York cops who pepper spray peaceful protesters.







And you wonder why I hate New York.   

A better win

I meant to write this a few days ago as a follow up to my post about the Lions' win against Minnesota not being a good win because they shouldn't fall behind a bad team like that. 

This past Sunday, the Detroit Lions fell behind the Dallas Cowboys early and looked to be at the end of their perfect beginning of their season.  With a combination of collapse and comeback, they ended up winning the game.  I was scared about the game because I saw how far behind they were and thought 'well, Dallas knows what they're doing, the Lions will be three and one and that will be respectable.' 

This was a better win for the Lions because the Cowboys are so much better than the Vikings.  Because the defense carried the offense for the majority of the game and sparking the comeback with two pick sixes.  And because of Calvin Johnson's one on three touchdown catch.  Seriously, there were three Cowboys defenders around him in the end zone and he comes up with it?  Beast mode my friends.







Beast mode.   

So that happened....

Hank Williams likened Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler today.  No, seriously.  And there are consequences to idiotic statements like getting your song pulled from Monday Night Football.  Sports and politics crossing lines once again.  I want to write how stupid this is, but that's pretty straight forward.  And he did it on Fox News.  But what else would you expect from them?

Now, everyone is right to have their own opinion, but at what point is it okay to go on national television and compare anyone, anyone, to the worst person ever?  I don't care how much you hate someone, there is no one on earth that is in the same level as Hitler.





I just don't get people sometimes.  

The best caffeine?

Caffeine is not the real solution to being wide awake and perky.  Sleep and exercise is.  Apparently.  Who has time to exercise everyday?  Not me, cause I'm fucking lazy.  When I was exercising, I never felt really good afterwards.  I was tired and sweaty and was in need of a shower.  I didn't get to the end of exercising and felt good.  I didn't like it.  And who has it planned out to sleep for eight hours a night?  I try to, but end up staying awake until ten thirty or eleven and wake up at five thirty in the morning.  Not exactly eight hours of sleep.  So what do we do as people when we need more energy?  We drink caffeine.

I bring a thermos of coffee to work each day and people look at me like I'm some kind of nut for bringing that much coffee.  I make half a pot of coffee each day, drink a cup before work and bring the rest.  Drink a cup for my first break and usually have the rest at lunch time.  I say usually because there are days when I don't, but for the most part I do.  It saves on spending money on water or pop or whatever, but I also drink it because I enjoy coffee.  I enjoy the taste of it.  The caffeine is just an added bonus.  And it's a natural.  It comes from the coffee beans that the young children of Latin or South American slave over so I can enjoy it.    So it's natural and is proven to be good for you, but why don't more people drink it? 

Why are more people turning towards drinks like 5 hour energy, Monster, Red Bull, etc.?  Is it the marketing?  I know I see ads for energy drinks more often than for coffee and they advertise that they are better at keeping energy up than coffee.  I have a problem with it because it doesn't seem natural.  Here is a list of ingredients.  You'll notice some asterisk next to some of their claims to helping to keep the person taking it stay awake and energized.  And when you look at drinks like Red Bull and Monster, the majority of the ingredients are sugar or sugar-like products. 

Now, I know that sugar is a naturally occurring ingredient, but it is processed so much that it gets away from being natural.  Coffee beans are just roasted and ground.  That's it.  That's all.  And that's why coffee is better than energy drinks. 





Plus, douche bags sponsor energy drinks.  You don't want to be a douche, do you?

Not a good win

Now, don't get me wrong, this week's win against the Vikings was excellent.  It was exasperating, it was inspiring, it was stress inducing, it was only possible against the Vikings.  This is the pattern for the Vikings so far this year, and you know what, I'm not gonna complain.  The Vikings are 0-3 after blowing three straight games when leading big time at halftime.   

However, if the Lions were down by twenty to the world champion Green Bay Packers, they would have just poured it on and the Lions could have lost by thirty or more.  If they were playing the Pats and were down by twenty at the half, it could have been worse.  But it wasn't, thankfully.  I know that the Vikings are fast starters so far this year and can't close the game even against a college team, but the fact that the Lions had that many problems against a team that is so much worse than them, it's scary to think about what is gong to happen when they play good teams.

The big factor from what I saw was their inability to stop the running game.  I know it was against the best back in the game right now, but it was hard to watch what little bit I could when I was on lunch at work today.  I don't think Jim Schwartz will be happy with the way the team performed today, but a win's a win.





And I'll take them any way they come.   

A little letter

Dear NBA: 

Please don't reach an agreement.  The sports world is better without you and your spoiled whiny players. 

Sincerely yours,



Litzner

Life without cable

We went about a month without cable television.  And you know what?  I didn't really miss it.  Well, there were some aspects of it that I missed, but all in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been.  It's not like I sat in the corner in the fetal position because I was missing a show or a sporting event, but I was also looking forward to watching some stuff and then had an 'oh wait' moment.

It wasn't that big of a deal when we were down in Wichita because it just came with the apartment (one of the benefits of living in a nicer place) and it was always there.  We got accustom to having it and the shows we found and loved.  Up here in Woodbury, we're in a cheaper place and one thing that we have to pay for is the cable.  One of the problems you come to realize when you try to save money on a place you live is that you give up some nicer things.  Such as having a washer and dryer.  So instead of having a washer and dryer in the apartment, we have to pay through the nose for the cleaning of our clothes.  Thanks cheap apartment complex!  Maybe we should look into a laundromat.  Don't know if it would be cheaper, but what could it hurt?  

We debated on whether or not to get the cable, but in the end we found a cheapish deal for internet and cable so we went with it.  Once again, it's not like we needed it, it's just nice to have because you can only watch so many PBS specials before you start to need something mind numbing like a sporting event.  So it's nice to have again just to feel connected to the world again.  There is a little part of me that just wants to get rid of it all together, but what would be the point?  Maybe it would lead to reading more books?  Doubtful.  I think I would still flip through the channels looking for something to watch. 





It would just take less time because there would be less channels. 

What about books?

While we were getting the cable hooked up last week, we were talking with the cable guy about shows and movies.  Our movies are on display in our living room because, well, it makes sense that's where the television is.  We were waiting for the cable channels to update or whatever and just started talking about movies like we were long lost friends.  Movies are always the way to break ice amongst people who don't know each other very well.  People who like the same movies have a tendency to get along.  That's all well and good, but what about books?

If people take a look at your book collection, shouldn't there be something there that can spark a conversation?  For example, a very good friend of ours hates The Catcher in the Rye which happens to be my favorite book.  I connected with it in high school because I enjoyed the writing style and the main character that was disinterested in the world around him.  She didn't like it because the main character is a self absorbed, rich, shallow person who whines about his privileged life.  I am well aware of his privileged life, but wasn't focused on it.  And that is perfectly alright.  Everyone has the right to their opinion, especially if they are well thought out opinions like she has.  Totally respect that.  At the end of these discussions, I always feel mentally better because the discussion revolves around literature, not around the latest Michael Bay explosion-fest.


But that is the world we live in now.  The majority of people want to spend just two hours watching overpaid actors and actresses as opposed to taking some time to read a book.  For me, it takes weeks and weeks to read a book.  I'm a slow reader.  It always feels like an accomplishment finishing a book.  It's great to get to that last page and close the back cover and go find a new book to read.  With a movie, you feel a little bit of satisfaction when the end credits roll, but you never sit through them all.  And I guess at the end of it all it took one person pouring their heart and soul into a book as opposed to a movie..... 














Which employes more than a local hospital. 

As Luck would have it

While watching Michigan pull off an unbelievable comeback after giving the game to Notre Dame last Saturday, I had a discussion with a friend about Andrew Luck.  Andrew Luck is the quarterback for the Stanford football team and he is a senior this year.  He had the opportunity to leave college and enter the NFL draft last year.  He was the projected number one overall pick worth millions upon millions of dollars.  However, he decided to return to school for his senior year to complete his architecture degree. 

The debate was intense on all the sports shows at the end of the college football season earlier this year when he made this decision.  The majority of people were talking about how bad of a decision he made because he was the number one overall pick.  Guaranteed millions and millions of dollars.  And it makes sense.  Why not forgo your last year of school and make all that cash money?  However, I like what he did.  I liked that he said 'nope, I want my education.'  And why not?  It's free for him.  He's got a full ride scholarship to a great institution in Stanford.  It can't be cheap.  And it's not like he is going to school for a business degree or a sports recreation degree.  It's architecture.  He wants to design buildings for a living.  I don't know anything about architecture degrees or the type of classes that you have to take to get that type of degree, but it can't be easy.

So the discussion with my friend was all about how if he left school for the NFL he could make millions of dollars and even if he only last for four year (roughly the average length of an NFL career) he will have that money and he can just go back.  This is my friend's statement/argument.  A very valid argument.  And it's true.  If he went into the NFL, made millions of dollar for four years, maybe didn't get hurt, and retired, he could roll onto the Stanford like nobody's business and re-enroll in the classes.  Hell, they may let him coach the football team too.  But he would have to pay for it.  It would be a drop in the bucket for sure just because of all the money he made the previous four years.  So let's say he finishes up his degree after football, goes into the real professional world, and bombs.  He can't get a job or he just flat out fails as an architect.  He still has his millions of dollars, but he is a twenty five year old out of work millionaire.  Is that going to be the case?  No.  If he has the financial resources, he can keep himself afloat.

But that is where our society is at right now.  Get the money, get the money, get the money.  Who cares about your immediate education?  I think he is role model for education.  He is getting it for free, sure.  He gets to do what he loves on Saturday afternoon and can probably get away with more than you or I could in college.  But he is still there.  He is putting that degree, that education, ahead of making money in the NFL.  The NFL is going to be there when he graduates.  A very strong argument against his staying in school is what if he gets hurt this year?  A crazy random play where he lands wrong on his shoulder and is out for the year.  Two words:  Sam Bradford.  Bradford pulled the same move as Luck and in that year suffered a few injuries that cost him a good portion of the season.  After his junior year, he was projected number one overall pick (like Luck) and even after missing most of the senior season was still the number one overall pick and he is doing just fine in St. Louis.  Or what if he has a bad statistical senior year much like Jack Locker.  Another projected number one overall pick.  He had a bad senior year and went from being the number one projected pick to number eight when he was drafted.  He has a four year, twelve million dollar contract.  Poor guy missed out on all those millions.

Either way, he is going to get his millions of dollars playing the sport that he loves.  Why not take advantage of getting a free education in the process?   

Playoff push

The Detroit Tigers are twenty games over five hundred right now.  They are nine and a half games up on the Chicago White Sox.  Their magic number before tonight's game is ten.  They have gone nine and one in their last ten games.  They are playing out of their minds right now. 

All truths that everyone knows right now.  All truths I am scared of.  I have been scared this entire season until recently just because teams like the Sox and the Indians were so close, but now the Tigers are pulling away as the season winds down.  I don't want them to have such a large lead in the division that they really stop playing, and they could coast the rest of the way if they wanted to.  I want Jim Leyland to keep in the players' ear and keep them going through the next month.  The last time I saw the Tigers play in the month of October, they were throwing the ball all over the place as they were rolled by the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.  Since then, I have wanted them to get back in the playoffs to redeem themselves.  

The moment ESPN analysts started talking about how good the Tigers are playing right now, I tensed up.  ESPN is a curse on my Tigers.  I want them to leave my Tigers alone and stay focused on the Yankees and the Red Sox.  They are going to get either the Yanks or Sox in the first round and it is going to be tense.  Both of those teams are neck and neck and I hope they burn themselves out trying to win their division because the Tigers are playing so loose and relaxed right now and everything is going right for them that I know the Yanks and Sox don't want to play Detroit. 

I think that boasting about how great your team is playing is a jinx and I don't like to do so especially around playoff time. 






Not until the game is in hand anyway.  Then it is on. 

Lake rage

While I was at the beer store tonight (cause that's what I do), I saw beer brewed by the company 'Great Lakes Brewing Company'.  I thought ;that's awesome, where in Michigan is it brewed?'  And you want to know why?  It's not because I'm from the greatest state in this country, but because the state touches four out of five of the great lakes.  And seriously, who cares about Lake Ontario? 

Lo and behold, the beer is brewed in Ohio.  To make it even worse, it's brewed in Cleveland.  Cleveland!  Where do they get off?  They're Ohio.  The only great lake they touch is Lake Erie.  Seriously.  Lake Erie sucks.  It's the Ohio of the great lakes.  They don't deserve the company name. 

Even if the beer is great, I won't touch it because the last good thing that came out of Ohio was....well....






I guess that ends this conversation. 

One more move

Wednesday is going to feel like deja vu.  We have to pack up a U-Haul trailer and move the next day.  Feel like you've read this before?  I know it feels like I have typed this before.  We have been staying with my uncle until the first of September when we can finally move into our apartment. 

The two weeks we have been spending here have flown by and just when we get use to everything it's time to move.  The nice thing is that it is going to be a bit more permanent than the first move.  We signed our lease last week and got to do a walk through of a similar size apartment in comparison to the one we will be living in.  Going from a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a washer and a dryer to a one bed/one bath no washer or dryer is going to definitely be a change.  Not only are there less things like that, it is also about three hundred square feet smaller, but there are some benefits.  Like having a storage garage for all the tubs of shit holiday decorations we have.  There is also a nice big walk in pantry to make up for the lack of cupboards in the kitchen.    The biggest benefit though?  The amount of money we will save on rent.  The endgame is a house (whether it is renting or buying) in the near future. 

While apartments are nice because they require little upkeep, a house is a house.  It's the adult thing to do.  Once you get to a certain age, I think that it sounds a little funny to say that you live in an apartment.  As you start to get older and get more established the next step in life has always seemed to be house ownership.  And you can go from there and expand your family if you want via a pet or via the human pet (also known as a kid). 

I wrote about wanting a house earlier this year and I still want to live in one.  In the two weeks we have staying with my uncle, it has been nice to live somewhere that has stairs in it not going up to it.  It breaks everything up and separates everything.  Which is kind of why people who live in houses acquire more shit.  It all gets spread out and it looks like you have less than what you have.  Oh well. 





Wednesday.  The last part of our escape from the flat state of Kansas. 

Religious humor

I don't know what made me think of this today, but it popped into my head and made me chuckle.  Everyone remembers a few months ago when the rapture was suppose to happen, right?  Remember how pretty much everyone was going to be stuck here and not taken into heaven because of the horrible lives we have led?  Okay, now that you are all with me, enjoy this.

In the last week or so in Kansas, I noticed more and more of the 'In god we trust' license plates.  Which is fine.  If that's your thing, that's your thing.  Just don't push it on anyone else.  That's not the humorous part.  Around the license plate, the license plate holder thingy that people buy that usually has a sports team or an annoying phrase like 'princess' or 'you wouldn't understand, it's a rich person thing', there was the phrase 'in the event of rapture, vehicle will be unoccupied'. 

Knowing where I was at, I knew that this person had to have bought it half as a joke and more than likely half being serious. 





And I don't know which is scarier. 

Love and hate for Kansas (part two)

After writing why I enjoyed moving away from Kansas a few days ago, I figured I would follow it up with why I enjoyed living there. 

A stepping stone.  It was a good place to start our professional lives.  Out of college, we agreed to move to the first place that gave either of us a decent paying job.  As it turns out, it was Wichita, Kansas.  The major downside from the get go was the distance from home.  The furthest we had lived from home was in college and it was only a three hour drive.  To go from that to practically four states away was rough to start with, but it was part of growing up.  Wichita is big enough to get a big city feel, but still small enough where you didn't have to worry about a ton of traffic or too much urban sprawl.

Broader horizons.  We saw part of the country that we would not have ever seen.  And who would blame us?  Who wants to go on a vacation to see Kansas or Missouri when you have no family or friends to visit?  Because we lived down there, we visited Colorado to see my brother-in-law, took several trips to southwestern Missouri for float trips, hell Andrea went down to Oklahoma to go wedding dress shopping.  We got to see Texas first hand when we went down there for a birthday weekend to see the Red Wings play the Stars.  Nebraska was a stopping point for a weekend five years ago when I was playing vintage base ball (yes, it's two words when you play old school style).  So the southern mid-west was explored and would have remained just some crazy right wing states that we never went to if we never lived in Kansas.  Were they the greatest trips and vacations?  Not really.  They were mostly for a weekend and there was purpose to them, it was not to just go and relax.  But we got to do these trips with friends and that is what counts.

Our friends.  Wherever you go, you are always going to make friends.  When you leave, you must obviously leave these friends behind.  Sometimes, these friends keep in contact for a few years only to start drifting away to the recesses of your memories and stories.  Other times, they stick with you for the rest of your life.  I hope that our friends stick with us.  I know that it is a two way street with keeping in contact, and it is hard sometimes to really go that extra mile which is why things like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are so helpful these days.  If we need a reason to go back to Kansas, that would be the only one, friends.  There is no point in visiting if you can't see the people that made the state worthwhile.  The nice thing about moving up to Minnesota, is that we already have some friends from high school that are here.  It's good to have that little base just in case it takes a while to settle in at work and find people that are worth hanging out with (that sounds snooty and pretentious but I'm sticking with it).  

 You know, I tried to balance the love and the hate out by coming up with equal numbers, but I can only think of three reasons why I enjoyed our time in Kansas.  I came up with four hates, although two of the four kind of go hand in hand.  But, such is life. 





And besides, I don't live there anymore so I don't have to worry about it. 

A nice note before it gets messy

Dear Hipsters:

Give us real men back our beards.  Stick to your skinny jeans that will hopefully cut off circulation to your genitals to help prevent your breeding aspirations and keep your thick rimmed glasses and give us back the most masculine thing a man can do.  If you do not, I will start to hunt you all down with trimmers and a rusty disposable razor.  

Sincerely,



M. Litzner
Future Hipster Hunter and Shaver



P.S.  Give us back our Chucks, you don't deserve them. 

Love and hate for Kansas (part one)

We have officially left the state of Kansas and moved to Minnesota.  We are currently in between apartments while we wait for our new living quarters to open up.  My uncle was nice enough to put us up for a couple of weeks because we could not get a lease until 1 September.  In the mean time, we live in limbo with no address.  I told Andrea that this is our one chance to get off the grid and live a life away from the government.  She didn't go for it.

While we took the ten hours to drive up here, there was some time to look back at the six years that we lived in Kansas.  As always, there are pluses and minuses to anywhere you live.  There are a few places in this world where you can honestly say 'this is the perfect place to live for the rest of my life.'  Kansas was not one of those places for us.  However, there were some nice things about living there (look for that post in the near future).

Because I would like to end these entries on a positive note, lets take a look at some of the negative things about living in the Sunflower State. 

The hardest thing about living there was being so far away from family.  In college, we were just a three hour car ride from home.  A weekend trip was something that could be done very easily.  We left after class was done on Friday and had three full days at home.  Being in Kansas, we could only go home for vacations.  Having to work, we only made it home twice a year.  Maybe.  Our parents came down to see us a few times a year, so we got to see them and they got to see a state that they would have otherwise may not have ever seen.

The weather.  This summer has been extremely hot.  Hotter than usual.  About a month and a half (possibly more) of days over the one hundred degree mark.  That's too much, but we have grown accustom to having a few weeks of that kind of temperature, but a total of six weeks?  Way too much.  And then there is the winter, or lack thereof.  Growing up in the U.P., we are use to see two to three to four feet of snow in December and into January.  Kansas doesn't have that.  If there was two inches of snow on the ground at one time, it would be a good week.

And let's talk about the government.  When the governor states that he would sign any law that came across his desk that was anti-abortion, without even reading everything that was involved, you know there is something wrong.  The law could say that for every abortion that is stopped, a puppy gets punched in the face and he would pass it.  You can be pro-choice or pro-life, I don't care, but the minute you put out a blanket statement like that, there is something wrong with you.  It is all about pushing his agenda and not what is best for the people in the state.  This is also the governor who went down to Texas for Rick Perry's day of prayer.  Nothing like separating church and state...

Speaking of church, the religious nut jobs that are in Kansas pushed me further and further away from the First Estate.  I found some great people and friends that are quiet religious and they were not beating people over the heads with their bibles and religious beliefs and those are the kinds of religious people that I enjoy.  People I can have a discussion with.  However, those people are few and far between.  The state is populated with religious extremists.  I'm not talking about Islamic extremists that Fox News is trying to scare you with, I'm talking about the Christian extremists.  They are out there.  Case in point:  Westboro Baptist Church.  There is nothing good about them.  They are the worst people in the world.  Not all the religious people in Kansas are as bad as the WBC, but oh do they love to judge those of us who do not share their same views.  I know that any state you go to is going to have these people, but in Kansas, they just seemed to be concentrated. 

A do nothing weekend?

I have the weekend off.  I don't want to do anything.  I have a ton of stuff to get done around the apartment.  See my dilemma?  I need to find an apt time to get things done around here.

I do not want to do anything in the morning.  I want to sleep in a little bit, make a pot of coffee, and just relax.  Maybe watch a movie.  I do not want to do anything in the evening.  The Tigers are playing the Royals this weekend, and they are on TV.  So my evenings are booked solid for at least three hours starting around six thirty watching the game and getting a little drunk.  By the time the game is over, it's ten o'clock or right around there and it's close to bed time. 

That just leaves the afternoon.  The hottest part of the day and there are things that I need to do outside as well as inside. 

Some of the things that are on my list this weekend:

• Dishes
• Laundry
• Recycling
• Donations to Good Will

 I lead a rough life.  I really do. 

Shame, shame, Notre Dame

Notre Dame reinstated wide receiver Michael Floyd after suspending him during the off season for being arrested for drunk driving.  Read that again.  He was suspended by the university during the time of year when he was not playing the game he is going to school for.  Anyone else see a problem with this?

If it were a first offense, I would still have a problem with this.  HOWEVER!  This is his third alcohol related offense, and he is only twenty one.  What does that tell you?  Here comes the rant kids, hold tight...

I know that Notre Dame is all about their football program and I know it has not been relevant since the 1980s, but are you fucking kidding me?!  This isn't the kid getting caught cheating on a test, or missing a curfew, or selling memorabilia.  This is against the law, not the first time happening, public endangerment drunk driving.  It wasn't that he had just a few beers and made a horrible decision, he was twice the legal limit when given a breath test and made a horrible decision.

Ohio State football players got kicked off the team for getting free ink in exchange for game worn jerseys and this guy is reinstated after not missing any games?!  Don't just kick this kid off the team, blacklist from the sport.  Take away the one thing that you know he wants and send him off to jail.  No more chances, no more meetings, no more fines, no more college.  Jail.  Just jail.  He has had three chances.  Get him off the street and out of the parties and into that cell.  

See, this is why if I ever have kids, I will steer them away from having an athlete as a role model.  They see them getting away with this and they could think 'that it's okay'.  Obviously not every athlete is getting pulled over for drunk driving or getting busted for drugs or hookers or illegal gambling (*cough cough Alex Rodriguez cough cough*), but it is scary to think of how many kids talk about professional athletes being role models.  Why not look to family members, teachers, coaches, or religious leaders for role models or mentors?  Is it because they aren't making millions of dollars playing a game?  Just a game?  That shit ain't right.  

I honestly hope that the NCAA takes a strong hard look at this and not only gets this guy out of the sport but goes after Notre Dame for thinking that this is okay to happen with no consequences.