The Great Movies

I have never been one to go along with the crowd. As everyone else jumps off the cliff because all of their friends did, I sit quietly in my house, munching "healthy" snack-type food and maintaining vigilance against the aliens that are amassing themselves just outside the Andromeda galaxy waiting for their opportunity to swoop down and take over the Earth. Hah. Good times, good times. Actually, while this is only partly true, I was hanging ten on Al Gore's internet^TM the other day and I stumbled upon a list of the highest grossing films of all time. This list includes:

1. Titanic
   
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
   
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
   
4. The Dark Knight
   
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
   
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
   
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
   
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
   
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
   
10. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
    

Perusing this list, I am sure that most folks have seen at least half of these movies. Maybe even some true theatre afficianados (not the euridite spelling of "theatre") have seen the full list. Well good for you, you are truly special. Truly special. What does it say about me that I have seen none of them on the big screen? Am I some sort of kook? While everyone else is gathered around the water cooler swapping stories and discussing the amazing special affects and dialog, I am slinking about in the shadows looking for an opportunity just to get a simple drink of water.

To-Do List

I am one of those list-maker types. A person afflicted with a sense of organization and progress tracking that I fear must border on a psychological disorder. The common terminology that is used is anal retentive, a term to characterize a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others. The definition goes further to say that the anally retentive person develops such a routine that they eventually become a major annoyance to themselves! For me, I make a detailed to-do list when I arrive at work each morning. I work on a number of different projects that each have different deadlines, and each project has several people connected with it. I fear that without my to-do list, chaos would result. Critical project deadlines would slip past and the folks working with me would grumble and complain. In short, I would forget to do what is necessary and important for me to do.

I have included a photograph from my to-do list for yesterday. The first three items in my list are the same each day. They always read:

• 1). Say prayers
  
• 2). Work to improve
  
• 3). Update thoughts log

The reminder to pray is more of a reminder to keep God central in my life as I go through my day, from start to finish, to keep my eyes and ears open to his word and his presence. My second item to improve is necessary to be sure to keep my focus on lessons that I have already learned so that I don't slide back into old patterns. To be sure that I work to put forth my best effort each day and to look for ways to do better, to be a better person, a better friend, a better father, a better worker, a better Christian. Finally, I have found it a good exercise to journal in my thoughts log a bit each day. To keep track of what has happened so that I don't grow complacent, so that I can examine what I did right each day and what I did wrong. Each listing is critical for me to be sure that I don't forget to do what is most necessary and important for me to do.

Mine Field O' Poo

Over the past week, the lab where I work has been a major bustle of activity. Outside teams of experts in lawn maintenance, street sweeping, landscaping, power washing, and all manners of janitorial services, have descended upon us. The reason is that the U.S. Secretary of Energy (Steven Chu) is coming in for a visit. As James Brown is to soul, Dr. Steven Chu is to science. He is the cheese that holds the delicate nacho plate of science together. As science research at our National Laboratories and Universities relies (essentially) fully on government funding, and Dr. Chu holds the spatula for the hot grill of funding, he is, no doubt, an important man. It certainly makes sense for my laboratory to put it's best foot forward, to show it's best face, to maybe even tidy up a bit. Hence the army of folks cleaning, scrubbing, trimming, vacuuming, raking, mowing, planting, etc. Amusingly, in their zeal and fervor, I have seen folks cleaning places that no human has ever seen or would ever care to see. However, something is not quite right. They are all neglecting something pretty obvious. If I can quote Will Rogers (the man who painted all those heart-warming pictures for the Saturday Evening Post), "You can put a pretty sweater on a donkey, but it still remains a donkey, unless you kill it".

Perhaps, I need to explain what the real issue is here. The lab is infected with Canandian geese (ey). There are several brazen clusters of them randomly located around the laboratory campus. As near as I can tell, Canadian geese waddle around all day looking smug and pooping. What's worse, they are completely indiscrimate in where they leave their waste (see What Grinds My Gears VII). But with the platoon of Molly Maids that have overtaken the lab making preparations for the upcoming visit, nobody is taking care to stop the geese from making their "deposits". The entire place is like a mine field, a mine field of poo. Nobody seems particularly worried about this or has taken any notice of this (except me). Do they think that the Secretary will not notice the poo mounds as he is forced to serpentine and bob and weave to get from his car to the front door? Maybe he doesn't worry about such trivialities as he has a team of minions that carry him around in a sedan chair from place to place. While this is probably most certainly true, everyone else must wade through the debris field. What about them? Folks are so busy cleaning behind the sinks in the utility closet that they are totally oblivious to the 6-in layer of goose poo that covers the site. I think we need to kill the donkey here.

Life's Journey -

In Life's Journey + I told you that the adventure was on. My 11-year-old daughter is accompanying me on a trip to Hawaii. For me, this is a big moment. I have become accustomed to going on business trips alone. For my daughter, this is most certainly a bigger moment. A special and unique week of fun and play and adventure with her daddy. While this has all the makings of a happy and positive experience, something has been kind of tugging at my mind and my heart. I guess that I am kind of feeling that this is somehow the last big adventure that I will have with my little one. My last time with her where her innocence is as big as her imagination and her spirit. Wide eyes and giddy laughter, exuberance and squeals, her breath taken by the new sights and possibilities around each corner. The future will no longer show a daddy and his little girl, but a dad with his teenage daughter. No longer a child, but a young woman. ... Perhaps I am getting too far ahead of reality, too far ahead of the clock, but somehow my mind is twisting and turning on this frightening transition. This notion is weighing on my spirit and applying its subtle pressure. Am I as organized as I can be? Have I thought of everything? What will we do every minute of each day? How can I make this trip as special as possible? At times these thoughts can serve to drown out all of the excitement and adventure. I am left with feelings of anxiety and unease and bad temperment and depression. Ultimately, I need to focus on the reasons why I am taking my little one on this trip with me. Her smile, her laughter, our relationship. Yeah, and the gentle tugs on my sleeve accompanied by "Ohh, daddy look at this".

Life's Journey +

I go on business trips several times each year to attend conferences and workshops held at various locations around the world as part of my job as a research scientist. In the scientific community, such organized exchanges of information are an important part of the process of announcing new measurements or calculations and providing an important forum for debate and critique. I have always gone on these trips by myself, to be sure that I could spend as much time interacting with the attendees as possible. Next month, my journeys will take me to the big island of Hawaii. This trip will be my third to our 50th state, as I have been to previous conferences on Maui and Oahu. However, this trip will be very different than any other that I have ever made. I will be travelling with my young daughter. Just the two of us. Her and me. Me and her.

Her young mind and imagination are already overflowing with thoughts and plans. Swimming in every pool at the hotel, horseback riding, all the sights and smells, the food, the pineapples, jumping on the hotel beds, and maybe most importantly, getting out of school for a full week. I would like to think that she is looking forward to a special, perhaps once in a lifetime, adventure with her daddy. There is just something very special about planning a big adventure like this and looking forward to it and then living it out. My daughter has been telling her classmates and teachers at school about her trip, and I know that she is absolutely loving the attention that she is getting. It all serves to build up her level of anticipation and excitement even more.

In a blog entry from earlier this month (Life's Adventures), I wrote of a recipe for living life outside of the routine, away from the usual crutches of watching T.V., playing video games, or surfing the net. I noted that my daughter has never once said "Daddy, remember the time that we were watching T.V.?" If we are not active and passionate about making time for real adventures, life has a sinister way of quickly slipping past us, the years falling away and leaving us to wonder where the time went. We are left with regret. For once, I listened to my own ideas and the adventure is on.

What is Sexy?

I was travelling down the road the other day when I was passed by a vehicle with a license plate that read "SEXY". When I eventually caught up to this car and looked over, I noticed to my surprise that the driver was not particularly attractive. In my younger days, I would have immediately made some derogatory comment either to myself or whoever was around me, poking fun at the person. Today such thoughts still arise and linger in my mind, but usually I can chase them away before they take root and pollute my mind. I once heard the definition of sexy as feeling comfortable in your own skin. I would guess it would include being satisfied and proud of who you are, what you are, and how you look. In fact, being so confident that you can unabashedly share yourself with your partner. You are sexy if your partner accepts the gift of you without reservation and makes you feel special and unique and fully accepted. You don't have to be good looking or have moves like an adult movie star, not even close. In fact, the sexy label on the license plate may not be some prideful boast, but a proclamation that they are exactly what they are supposed to be and that is perfectly O.K. and pleasing to them. Ultimately, that is all that matters.

Grind My Gears VIII

I suspect that most folks who know me would say that I am a fairly negative person. I would go further and own up to the fact that I am a card-carrying pessimist. With me, the glass is neither half empty or half full, some jerk clearly purchased one that is two sizes too big. I tend to observe people and look for reasons not to like them or to pick out reasons why they should have a banana inserted forcefully into their vehicle's tailpipe. However, there is one characteristic that I have observed in a lot of people that really grinds my gears. After I explain myself, I am sure that you will fully agree with me.

My office at work is situated on a hallway with something like a dozen doors on either side. Several times each day I find myself trailing behind someone walking down this hallway. Some people walk straight down the corridor minding their own business. However, others (and these are the folks that I am ranting about) have to bob their pointy little heads back and forth and stare into each and every open door. Some of these "people" actually seem to pause in front of each door and stare in for an uncomfortably long period before moving on to haunt the next person. When I am sitting in my office and one of these looky-loos invades my space with their intruding and concentration-busting stares, my response is to jump from my chair, wild eyed and pounding my desk, and tell them to take a dang picture as it will actually last longer. This tends to make them go skittering off into the shadows, until the next time they make their way past my office. It would be one thing if I was putting on some sort of a show in there, maybe doing a medley of show tunes, or pantomiming Act 2, Scene 3 from Romiette and Julio from Bill Shakespeare. However, typically, I am not. So, does anyone not believe these folks should be hit over the head with a rubber chicken?