Do It Right

"It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Bread Color Coding

Monday is blue
Tuesday green
Thursday red
Friday white
Saturday yellow.

It is alphabetical – B-G-R-W-Y/M-Tu-Th-F-Sa

Interesting tidbit I found on the internet.

Paycheck

I watched the DVD "Paycheck" with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman. It had a great concept - reverse engineering and memory wipe.

Synopsis

Reverse engineer Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) does specialized projects for high-tech corporations. Once a job is complete, his memory is erased so as not to divulge any company secrets. Highly paid for his work, Jennings expects to earn $92 million for his latest 3-year project, but upon completion of his job, instead of a big paycheck, he is given an envelope full of random objects and told that he has agreed to forfeit all payment. With his memory erased per usual, Jennings has no defense, until he discovers that the objects are clues to his past. Now, with the help of Rachel (Uma Thurman), the woman he has worked with and loved for the last three years, Jennings is in a race against time to put the pieces of his past together before the people he once worked for have him killed.

Leisure Time

"The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours." - unknown

A Good Plan For Life

"This is a good plan for life in general: If you have two choices, choose the harder. If you're trying to decide whether to go out running or sit home and watch TV, go running." - Paul Graham

Don't Forget To Pray

"Don't forget to pray. It’s like a television set. If you unplug it, it’s not going to come on. But when you plug it in, you connect it to the power source - the electricity. It's not that the TV is not working - you got to plug it up, you’ve got to be reconnected. That's what we all got to do, reconnect. We, as sinners, get disconnected from God. Every morning when you get up there’s a tug of war going on, the devil wants your soul and God wants your soul. When a child of God comes home, the devil is sad, but God rejoices. So when the child of God gives his life to the devil, God is mad. We have got to keep our eyes on the prize, every day. You might not have the things you want, but if you check carefully, you got all you need. " - Mr. T

Courage

“Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” - Tom Krause

First Game

My youngest son had his first football game against Immaculate Conception at Plunkett Field in Elmhurst. He played both ways the whole game and was also on the kickoff return team. He made quite a few tackles and blocked up the middle both on offense and defense. A lot of the team's middle offensive plays depend on him pushing forward. He's gonna be a great football player. They played a good game but lost 32 to 6. Grandma and Papa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Leann and Aunt Nancy and Kelly all came to watch. They all met for dinner at Simon's afterwards.

No More Hours

"There are no more hours in a bad day than in a good one!" - Unknown

First Touchdown

My oldest son scored the first touchdown of the season on a twenty yard run and the first extra point conversion of the season for his freshman team. They lost to Conant High School in Hoffman Estates 24 to 8. He was one of the team captains and played the whole game as starting quarterback. He made three excellent pass completions and had another run for about five yards. He had one fumble after getting tackled and had two interceptions. Both of his interceptions were on target. It's gonna be a great season.

16 Rules To Live By

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time."

"The above rules for survival are included with the permission of Bob Parsons www.bobparsons.com Copyright © 2004-2006 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved."

The Kings Of Infinite Space

I finished reading the "The Kings of Infinite Space" by James Hynes.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Paul Trilby is having a bad day. If he were to be honest with himself, Paul Trilby would have to admit that he's having a bad life. His wife left him. Three subsequent girlfriends left him. He's fallen from a top-notch university teaching job, to a textbook publisher, to, eventually, working as a temp writer for the General Services department of the Texas Department of General Services. And even here, in this world of carpeted partitions and cheap lighting fixtures, Paul cannot escape the curse his life has become. For it is not until he begins reach out to the office's foul-mouthed mail girl that he begins to notice things are truly wrong. There are sounds coming from the air conditioning vents, bulges in the ceiling, a disappearing body. There are the strange men lurking about town, wearing thick glasses and pocket protectors. The Kings of Infinite Space is a hilarious and macabre spoof on our everyday lives, and gives true voice to the old adage, "Work is Hell."

Dissolve Your Problems

"Don't solve your problems, dissolve your problems - so that they should not recur again." - Yogi Bhajan

What We See With Our Eyes

"Sometimes what we see with our eyes, awakens our heart." - Anonymous

Cellular

I watched the DVD "Cellular" with Kim Basinger.

Synopsis

Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) is a high school science teacher and mother whose peaceful life is turned upside down when she is kidnapped from her home by five unknown assailants and taken to a mysterious location. Fearful for her life and completely in the dark as to her abductors' motives, Jessica manages to patch together a shattered telephone and secretly place a call to an unknown number in a last-ditch attempt to save herself. Ryan (Chris Evans), the carefree young man who answers the panicked call, suddenly finds himself Jessica's last hope. With no knowledge of Jessica other than her hushed, fearful voice on the other end of the tenuous phone connection, Ryan is quickly thrown into a world of deception and murder in a frantic search to find and save her. The lives of Jessica and her family are in his hands, but what is waiting for him on the other side of the line and what will it cost him to find out?

The Greatest Use Of Life

"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." - William James

Get Even With

"The only people to get even with are those who have helped you." - Anonymous

Bob The Butler

We watched the DVD "Bob The Butler"

Synopsis

Bob Tree (Tom Green) is an extremely clumsy and accident prone guy, incapable of holding down a job. Bob has the best intentions with the worst luck, but he will not accept this as his destiny and decides to enroll in Butler School in an effort to refine his inept ways. Anne Smythe (Brooke Shields), a single mom with two kids, is spinning out of control trying to balance a high maintenance boyfriend, a stressful job and unruly, bratty kids. A desperate Anne, in dire need of assistance, stumbles across one of Bob's old babysitting flyers and calls. Much to their delight, the kids find Bob to be a real pushover and convince their Mom to hire him fulltime. Anne is pleased when she learns Bob has attended Butler School and assumes she has found a trained professional to look after the kids, cook and clean. After fooling Anne into believing Bob is the calm, collected individual she needs, hi-jinks ensue.

A Pleasure

"A pleasure is not full grown until it is remembered." - C.S. Lewis

Learn and Live

“Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Montini Football Jamboree

My youngest son's football team, Our Lady of Peace went to Montini's annual football jamboree and played three twenty minute scrimmages against St. Joan of Arc, St. Michael's and St. Cletus.
He played all sixty minutes both ways and made some tackles. It started at noon and ended about 3:00 p.m. Each of the players got lunch and a tee-shirt.

Chasing Amy

We watched the DVD "Chasing Amy" with Ben Affleck and Jason Lee.

Synopsis

In "Chasing Amy", life-long best friends Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are enjoying success as the creators of the cult hit comic book 'Bluntman and Chronic.' When they meet fellow comic book artist Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), Holden's desire for the beautiful charmer is immediate. Alyssa, however, has set her romantic sights elsewhere and yet decides, nevertheless, to pursue a friendship with Holden. This presents Holden with a dilemma: Feeling the way he does, can he merely be friends with this woman? Banky, who knows Holden best, doesn't think so. As the friendship deepens, so do Holden's affections for Alyssa. And cautiously, yet effortlessly, so do Alyssa's for him. With their relationship struggling to define itself, Banky grows more and more frustrated at the notion of losing his best friend to emotional adulthood.

Scrimmage Night

My oldest son's freshman football team had their first scrimmage. It was drizzly and rainy. He did great at quarterback and even scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak. The scrimmage lasted from 4:00 p.m. until after 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow he finds out what team he is on.

Get Back Up

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." - Vince Lombardi

Practice

“Practice beats talent when talent doesn’t practice.” - Unknown

Make Some Difference

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make some difference that you lived at all." - Arthur H. Prince

Act As If The Whole World Is Watching

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching." - Thomas Jefferson

How to Exercise While Sitting at Your Computer

Sitting at the computer all day is not exactly good for the body. If you have to be at a desk all day long, doing some simple things can improve your posture and health.

Steps

Sit properly in a good chair designed for deskwork. Your back should be straight, and your head should be looking directly into your monitor. If you have to look down or up, you need to adjust the height of either the screen or your chair. If you keep leaning forward, first get your eyesight checked. If your eyesight is fine use a loose belt or string to tie yourself to the chair. After a while your posture will improve and you'll no longer need this restraint. Maintain an ergonomic body posture while typing. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that the knees are only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a step stool of some sort. Stand up every half hour. Walk around a few steps, stretch your legs, and give your eyes a break from focusing on your computer screen. This will also help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs. Blood clots are very common among middle age people, who generally use the computer a lot. Roll your head around your neck periodically, but avoid rolling your head all the way back. Do the motion slowly clockwise for 1-3 iterations and then repeat in the opposite direction. Roll your wrists regularly (this will help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing). Recognize that people tend to hunch in front of the keyboard. To counter that, perform the following exercise: open your arms wide as if you are going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull you shoulders back. You will feel a stretch in the scapula area. Contract your abdominal and gluteal muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Do this all day long while you are in your chair. Stretch your arms, legs, neck and torso while sitting. This will help prevent you from feeling stiff. Take advantage of the downtime created by rebooting or large file downloads to get up and try something more ambitious such as doing a few push-ups, sit-ups, and/or jumping jacks. Beware of your snickering co-workers though. Acquire a hand gripper. They are cheap, small and light. When you have to read something either on the screen or on paper, you probably won't be using your hands very often so squeeze your gripper. It is an excellent forearm workout. Acquire an elastic band (also cheap, small and light) and use it to do the actions mentioned in step 7 (i.e., when stretching your arms, do it by pulling apart the elastic band). You will not only stretch but it will also work the muscles slightly. Take a few deep breaths. If possible, get some fresh air in your lungs. Invest in a large size stability ball or stability ball style desk chair, and sit on it with back straight and abs firm. The actual stability ball is more effective, however the chair is a more viable option for use in an office environment. Sit, bounce or do basic toning exercises while watching tv or talking on the phone as well. Use the actual ball form in moderation when typing, as this is probably not the most supportive seating to prevent carpal tunnel and tendonitis.

Tips

Don't neglect the health of your eyes! It is detrimental to your eyesight to focus at one thing for long periods of time (i.e. your monitor) so take breaks to look out the window and focus at something at a farther distance away to maintain good occular health. Also consider purchasing an LCD screen which is easier on the eyes. As long as something is moving, you will be helping to keep yourself in better shape. Constant movement will burn calories and contribute to cardiovascular health. While exercising at your computer is helpful, it is not a substitute for going to the gym or conducting a regular exercise program. Don't sit still. Fidgeting is a good way to keep moving. Even something like tapping your foot. But don't make too much noise--however you fidget, the repetitive noises may bother other people. Always have water nearby to drink. If you're all alone, try shutting off the computer for a bit and exercise. If you're on a cell phone call, get up and do stretches, or leg lifts, anything to keep moving during down time away from the desk. Try exercises that combine opposing muscle groups (flexors and extensors, e.g., biceps and triceps) to get a good workout. Clasp your hands together with palms facing each other. Pull up with one hand while pushing down with the other. Play music while working to provoke body movement.

Warnings

Your body needs more exercise than just what you do at the computer, but following these steps will contribute to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Do not sit at your computer for a long time. Take a break after every 15 minutes. Steps 7 and 8; if not done in moderation, may cause you to start sweating, which may not be a pleasant sight or odor in an office environment. Keep in mind you are doing these to prevent stiffness, so save the enthusiasm for the gym.

Through It

"If God brings you to it, God will bring you through it." - Robert Schuller

Envy

I watched the DVD "Envy" with Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

Synopsis

Tim (Ben Stiller) and Nick (Jack Black) are best friends, neighbors and co-workers, whose equal footing is suddenly tripped up when one of Nick’s harebrained get-rich-quick schemes actually succeeds: Vapoorizer, a spray that literally makes dog poop, or any other kind for that matter, evaporate into thin air - to where exactly is anyone’s guess. Tim, who had poo-pooed Nick’s idea and passed on an opportunity to get in on that deal, can only watch as Nick’s fortune - and Tim’s own envy - grow to equally outrageous proportions. The flames of jealously are fanned by an oddball drifter (Christopher Walken) who takes it upon himself to help fix Tim’s situation, but only causes Tim’s life to careen more wildly out of control…and Nick’s with it.

We Are What We Repeatedly Do

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Easy

"Always think of what you have to do as easy and it will become so." - Émile Coué.

Tips For Reaching A Goal.

If you’re having trouble accomplishing a task, try these tips:

Write down your goal.

Make a long to-do list to give yourself a feeling of progress as you work toward a distant goal.

Break your main task into smaller, more manageable tasks, and begin by doing whatever is easiest.

Set a deadline.

Don’t give up if something interferes with your deadline.

Ask advice and support from knowledgeable people.

Get familiar with other people’s work, so you don’t reinvent the wheel.

Sometimes it helps to keep the stakes low at the beginning, so you feel less worried about making a mistake; sometimes it helps to keep the stakes high from the beginning, so you're not tempted to slack off.

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It’s better to do something imperfectly than nothing perfectly.

Must Love Dogs

We watched the DVD "Must Love Dogs" with John Cusack and Diane Lane.

Synopsis

Dating is never easy. Early in the search for love, people find the golden formula for meeting a soul mate is one part humiliation, two parts aggravation, and a little blind luck thrown in for the fortunate. Today's dating game is a blur of websites, speed lunches and hordes of friends and relatives who know just the wrong person for you. Thirty-something pre-school teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) has been divorced for eight months, which is much too long for her co-workers and family to bear. With the best of intentions and only her happiness in mind, Sarah's sisters, Carol (Elizabeth Perkins) and Christine (Ali Hillis), begin lining up less-than-savory potential suitors. Meanwhile, their widowed father, Bill (Christopher Plummer), is way ahead of the curve, having already cornered the market on internet dates, including his new web squeeze, the free-spirited Dolly (Stockard Channing). Eager to launch her sister's cyber-dating debut, Carol pretends to be Sarah, goes online and puts her profile on perfectmatch.com, with the last line being "Must love dogs." Sarah soon endures a torrent of eager wannabes and one very possible maybe, the handsome and accomplished but surprisingly awkward web date Jake (John Cusack) as well as Bob (Dermot Mulroney), the newly-divorced dad of one of her students, a hot prospect who may prove too good to be true. As she braves a series of hilariously disastrous mismatches and first dates, Sarah begins to trust her own instincts again and learns that, no matter what, it's never a good idea to give up on love.

Based on the best-selling book by Claire Cook.

My Dog

"My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost $7.00 in dog money." - Joe Weinstein

Every Artist

"Every artist was first an amateur." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make That Someone Be You

"Everyday somebody does something great. Today make that someone be you." - unknown

"WIN" Strategy

"WIN" strategy or "What’s Important Now?"--to evaluate the past, focus on the future, and do what you have to do in the present. But, the most important three rules to remember if an individual wants to have success and meaningful relationships with people is: one, just do the right thing; two, do everything to the best of your ability not because somebody is looking or somebody is going to applaud you; and three, always show people you genuinely care about them. If you follow those three rules, life is not complicated." - Lou Holtz

Radio

I watched the DVD "Radio" with Cuba Gooding Jr.

Synopsis

James Robert Kennedy (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) - nicknamed "Radio" because of his vintage radio collection and his love of music - is a loner in Anderson, South Carolina, pushing his grocery cart up and down the streets. He speaks to no one and is rarely spoken to, until one day, Coach Harold Jones (Ed Harris), one of the town's most respected men and coach of the popular high school football team, befriends him. Radio is suspicious at first. But Coach Jones is persistent, even enlisting the help of Radio's mother. Jones' friends and family are taken aback as well since, until he met Radio, all his energies were poured exclusively into football. Slowly, Coach Jones earns Radio's trust and opens up a new world to him. He invites Radio to help out at football practice and during games and to sit in on his classes at school, despite the initial misgivings of Principal Daniels (Alfre Woodward). Coach Jones' life is also enriched by Radio, from whom he learns to value friendship and family ties as much as he does coaching football. Still, there are those in town who believe that the coach's devotion to the young man is distracting him from his duties as head coach. Coach Jones is finally forced to make a difficult decision, which will impact both his growing friendship with Radio and his career as a football coach. Based on a true story.

A Good Man's Life

"The best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love." - William Wordsworth

Black Swan Green

I finished reading "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

ABOUT THE BOOK

"Black Swan Green" tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world enacted in boys' games on a frozen lake; of "nightcreeping" through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason's search to replace his dead grandfather's irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran records, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher's recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.

Wonderful

"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful." - Annette Funicello

Novocaine

I watched the DVD "Novocaine" with Steve Martin and Laura Dern.

Synopsis

A dentist (Steve Martin) finds his well-ordered existence turned upside down when a mysterious woman (Helena Bonham Carter) becomes his patient.

Knowledge

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin

These Fuelish Things

By Bob Weber - Published August 6, 2006 Chicago Tribune

With gasoline well past the $3 per gallon mark, here's a refresher on how to improve fuel economy:

- Accelerate gently.
- Brake gently.
- Be patient. Instead of spurting ahead, try maintaining a cushion of space and keep moving slowly.
- Avoid excessive idling. It takes less fuel to restart your engine than to let it idle 45 seconds.
- Avoid prolonged warm-ups. Drive gently until your engine reaches operating temperature.
- Slow down. Driving 65 m.p.h. uses 10 to 15 percent more fuel than 55 m.p.h. The typical commuter travels 20 miles to work so it takes only three minutes longer to drive 55 rather than 65.
- Use the cruise. On the highway, cruise control saves fuel.
- Open your windows around town.
- Use the air conditioning at highway speed.
- Adjust your attitude. Avoid driving when you are angry or upset.
- Combine trips.
- Time shift. Ask your employer if you can come in earlier or later to avoid rush hour.
- Lose weight. Remove unnecessary stuff from the trunk.
- Remove things that create drag. Car top carriers and ski racks should go when they are not needed.
- Keep it clean. A dirty vehicle is less slippery than a clean one.
- Use the right gear. If you have an automatic, select overdrive. If you have a manual, shift to the next gear as soon as the upshift light glows
- Downshift when descending long hills.
- Tune up.
- Keep the tires properly inflated.
- Get an alignment.
- Change the filters. A restricted air filter not only robs power but also gas.
- Check the exhaust.
- Use the right octane.
- Select two-wheel-drive.

Happiness

"Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length" - Robert Frost

Leaving Las Vegas

We watched "Leaving Las Vegas" on DVD.

Synopsis

Remarkable. Touching. Riveting. Leaving Las Vegas is all of these and then some. I have not seen a film of this magnitude about loneliness and acceptance in such a while. Ben (Nicholas Cage), a man who has lost his wife and child, throws his job away, and takes all of his remaining money to buy as much liquor as possible and "drink himself to death" in the city of Las Vegas. He has given up all hope, with no wish to live, but for one reason or another, wants a companion to share in his misery, but not try to save him. He finds this companion in a hooker, Sera (Elizabeth Shue) They immediately form a strong relationship based on one night of talking about their lives. Sera in particular quickly grows attached to Ben, for no other reason than she has been alone her whole life and wants nothing more than to feel that want and need by someone. Cage won his first Oscar for his role as Ben. He was astounding, down to every single tick, the volume of his voice, the pain and tragedy buried in his eyes. I could not believe the extent of his role, the dedication and time he invested in bringing this character to life. Same goes for Elizabeth Shue, who with a simple glance at a person, she reveals her entire self, and no one even dares to notice except for Ben. This neediness is apparent, she wants to hold onto this relationship so badly, yet what makes their relationship work is total and complete acceptance of their respective decisions. He will not tell her to stop being a hooker, and she in return can never ask him to stop drinking. And it is in that factor that makes this film worth watching. To be totally accepted by those around them, to open themselves up to such an extreme. Leaving Las Vegas is a sobering film about connections, loneliness, acceptance, and a small little island of hope that is Ben and Sera. They are two good people, depicted in a world full of sorrows and misdeeds, who latch onto each other and never let go. I highly recommend this film.

Robert Thaves - Frank and Ernest

Great Title and Great Cartoonist:

Robert "Bob" Thaves, the pun-crazy cartoonist behind the long-running strip Frank and Ernest, has passed away at age 81. According to writer and comics historian Mark Evanier, the news was posted on the Frank and Ernest web site. Thaves was an enthusiastic fan of cartoons as a youth, and a gifted mimic of popular features at the time. He published in college magazine while attending the University of Minnesota, where he graduated in 1950. It would be 22 years before Thaves became a fully syndicated cartoonist, in 1972, following years in industrial psychology. The notice from the family says the strip was tried out at the family dinner table. Frank and Ernest would achieve blockbuster status, with over 1000 clients, moving from NEA to United Media. Frank and Ernest was always an odd strip, featuring two characters that continued from panel to panel, in various forms, in non-sequential sequences that existed in service of that day's joke. Thaves' work offered up a unique solution to the shrinking space newspapers afforded comic strips: it featured a one-panel format, usually centered around that single gag or pun. Thaves won the National Cartoonist Society's divisional award in Panel Cartooning in 1983, 1984 and 1986. In the 1980s there was talk around the newspaper industry that Frank and Ernest had benefited from a strange source: Gary Larson's mega-popular The Far Side, which trafficked in the occasional pun itself and was considered a "weird" strip like Thaves'. For a late starter in terms of not having his work syndicated until the year he turned 48, Thaves allowed Frank and Ernest to become an early adopter of various digital opportunities common to strips today. It was the first major strip to feature its creator's e-mail address, it has an ambitious, content-driven web site, and claims are made on its behalf that it was the first to digitally color its Sundays and feature interactive strips on its web site. Bob Thaves' son Tom will continue the strip. The younger Thaves has been working with the strip since 1997, affording the elder Thaves a semi-retirement.

Value Yourself

"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. " - M. Scott Peck

Cubs Game

My youngest son was invited to a 13th birthday party at Wrigley Field with some of his classmates. I was also invited to come along and drove half of the group. Before the game we went upstairs at Sluggers and the kids played some pinball and hit some balls in the batting cages. Right before the game were able to go onto Wrigley Field behind home plate and sit in the Cub's dugout. One of the Cub player's, Juan Pierre came by and signed some autographs for all the kids. We sat in excellent box seats on the third base side about twelve rows back. The Cub's lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 10 to 2. Juan Pierre played a good game and scored the Cub's first run. After the game we went to the birthday boy's house and they had pizza and played video games. It was a great day.

In The End

"In the end, it's not what you do for your children but what you've taught them to do for themselves." - Ann Landers

Life Is A Verb

“Life is a verb.” - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

I watched the DVD "The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants." I was touched. It was a good story.

Synopsis

Introduced as babies who were born to mothers who met in a prenatal aerobics class, the four grew up together and developed an enduring bond despite their distinctly different emerging personalities. Now, after years of sharing every triumph and loss, every wild idea and secret fear with the laughter and love of true friends, these four young women couldn't be closer... except that they're about to be separated as their lives take them in different directions for the first time. Introspective and occasionally volatile Carmen (America Ferrera) is looking forward to spending quality time with her out-of-state dad, whom she hasn't seen much since he divorced her mother years ago; super-confident star athlete Bridget (Blake Lively) is heading for a soccer camp in Mexico; soft-spoken Lena (Alexis Bledel), a gifted artist as beautiful as her drawings, is set to discover her heritage - and an unexpected romance - on a trip to her grandparents' home in Greece; and sharp-witted rebel Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) will reluctantly remain in town, stocking shelves at the local discount store while working on her pet project, a video "suckumentary" to expose what she sees as the banality of everyday life. On a shopping trip together the day before their paths diverge, the friends find a pair of thrift-shop jeans that amazingly fits and flatters each one of them perfectly, even though they are four young women of very different shapes and sizes. It seems these pants are meant for sharing and that gives Carmen, Bridget, Lena and Tibby a wonderful idea. They decide to use the pants as a way of keeping in touch during the months ahead, each one wearing them for a week to see what luck they bring before mailing them on to the next. In this unique way, though miles apart, the four still experience the challenges and surprises of life as they always have - together - in a summer they'll never forget. Based on Ann Brashares' best-selling novel.

Never Imitate

"Insist on yourself; never imitate." - Ralph Waldo Emerson