Ballet

At work, our favorite radio station is 104.1 - "Voodoo 104.1 ... New Orleans". Because of the station, I'm able to kick ass in the Current Pop Music category in the Song Pop games I play with my friends.

One of the songs in current rotation on the station is The Script's song Hall of Fame. Here are the lyrics. The video is below the lyrics.

 Yeah, you can be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You could beat the world
You could beat the war
You could talk to God, go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up
You can beat the clock (yeah)
You can move a mountain
You can break rocks
You can be a master
Don't wait for luck
Dedicate yourself and you gon' find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

You can go the distance
You can run the mile
You can walk straight through hell with a smile

You could be the hero
You could get the gold
Breaking all the records they thought never could be broke

Yeah, do it for your people
Do it for your pride
How you ever gonna know if you never even try?

Do it for your country
Do it for your name
'Cause there's gonna be a day...

When you're standing in the hall of fame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion
On the walls of the hall of fame

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers
(Yeah)

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be truth seekers

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions

Standing in the hall of fame (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah, yeah, yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah, yeah, yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

(You can be a champion)
You could be the greatest
(You can be a champion)
You can be the best
(You can be a champion)
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

(You can be a champion)
You could beat the world
(You can be a champion)
You could beat the war
(You can be a champion)
You could talk to God, go banging on his door

(You can be a champion)
You can throw your hands up
(You can be a champion)
You can beat the clock(yeah)
(You can be a champion)
You can move a mountain
(You can be a champion)
You can break rocks

(You can be a champion)
You can be a master
(You can be a champion)
Don't wait for luck
(You can be a champion)
Dedicate yourself and you gonna find yourself
(You can be a champion)

Standing in the hall of fame

And here's the video...



I'm going through some trying times at work right now and am looking for any kind of inspiration to help me work through this time. One of my philosophies in life is: when I'm not sure how to proceed, throw enough darts at the dartboard and some of them will stick. That is, try enough methods to work myself out of a situation and some of them will work.

Here is where I want to link to the tag of the past times I've discussed some of my other life philosophies, but I see that I have not previously created that link. In the future, I will come back to this post and rectify that. I'll leave this tag for now.

The Script's lyrics and especially the video reminded me of a 1982 Rush song called Losing It. Both songs involve ballerinas - and making a live change. In the Rush song, the ballerina is defeated. In the Script's song, she is not.

The lyrics to Rush's Losing It (with the video following)...

The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration

Stiff as wire, her lungs on fire
With just the briefest pause
The flooding through her memory
The echoes of old applause

She limps across the floor
And closes her bedroom door...

The writer stare with glassy eyes
Defies the empty page
His beard is white, his face is lined

And streaked with tears of rage

Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision

And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more...

Some are born to move the world
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we'd like to be
Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you, the blind who once could see
The bell tolls for thee... 

And the most representative video...



My point is that adversity is universal. By zeroing in on one example - the life of a ballet dancer shown in two different songs - we see that there is potential for different outcomes.

We make the decisions. We make the choices. We rule our life.

I read Marc and Angel Hack Life regularly. Their post entitled 5 False Beliefs That Are Holding You Back works with my theme, especially their retort #3 (I am stuck in my current life situation.) and #4 (It's too late to start anything.)

Quotes I Live By III

As I walk through my day, many thoughts pass through my mind. Here are some quotes by others that reflect ideas I think.

Take your work seriously, never yourself.

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even. - Ann Landers

The skill in attending a party is knowing when to leave.

Angry people want you to see how powerful they are...loving people want you to see how powerful you are. - Chief Red Eagle

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For past quotes, click here.

Thanksgiving

In my generation, we have 13 cousins. At 43, I am the second oldest. The first five of us are very close in age and grew up together.

My 41-year-old cousin Paul, the youngest of us five, has been battling colon and liver cancer for the last six months or so.

In person, via email and via Caring Bridge, he keeps us updated on his condition. Since today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to share with you his most recent communication. You’ll see that he is quite a good writer – and tries to keep his humor about the situation.

All right…all right, I’m back in the game. Today was the big pow wow with Dr. Griffin, and the unknowns are now known and on the books.

To back-up a bit and get you on the right page, I had a CT scan last Tuesday, because they hadn’t taken a look at my toenail on my left pinky toe. Well we got it, and now they can digitally recreate every pore in my body. The CT came back favorably, and we are now describing the size of the liver lesions in mm rather than cm.

As usual, the colon doctor didn’t trust the tested and proven CT to determine his prognosis, and I’m sore again. The really good news is that I’m scheduled for surgery on December 10 at Tulane Hospital. I am first in line for the day, which, like flying, is where you want to be. Funny, the similarities these days between flying and colorectal cancer.

Anyway, the colon surgeon should go first and re-connect my plumbing and then the liver surgeon. Sad to say, but we really don’t know what his plan is for the liver. I guess I’ll wake up with a surprise. Regardless, I’m very excited about making progress toward the end of the surgeries and getting to the next stage, whatever that is.

I will be in the hospital for 2 days, which would mean I will be out by Sunday if all goes well. Both procedures are laparoscopic this time, so recovery should be nothing like the first surgery. I assume that I will have more scans after the surgery and take those results to the Medical Oncologist to see what’s behind the next curtain. As I have stated before--through gnashed teeth--I want the second chemo regimen. I want to go through this just one time, and I will do what I need to do to achieve that goal.

All is well on the home front. We are heading to Shreveport tomorrow evening to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah’s family. I am looking forward to getting out of town for a few days and relaxing. I genuinely feel good and have had no other major incidents with my special friend [his colostomy bag]; however, I will be burning the bulk of my clothes once this is over. Oh, and after the surgery I’ll have some fancy balloons available for any birthday party or bar mitzvah. I have been itching to start jogging again but have learned from a reliable source that sweat and the adhesive on my apparatus do not work well together. Jogging can wait.

I hope you are all doing exactly what you want to do this Thanksgiving. In my family, all Thanksgiving attendees must write on a little piece of paper what they are thankful for and place it in a basket. After we dine the contents of the basket are read aloud and everyone tries to guess who submitted the entry. It’s funny, touching, sometimes sad, but always meaningful. I will not be there this year, so here’s what I’m thankful for: I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful that my body has reacted so well to treatment. I am thankful that I have such wonderful people around me who support and love me. I am thankful for doctors who have torn me up and are putting me back together. I am thankful for the quiet strength that I receive from my wife and children. I am thankful for being treated normally and not like I’m a piece of thin blown glass. I am thankful for the opportunity to kick this thing in the ass, turn around, and attack the rest of my life.

I printed out Paul’s Thankful For submission and slipped it into this year’s basket. We all had a good cry.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

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Some Thanksgiving quotes:


If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.
- Frank A. Clark

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.
- W.J. Cameron

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
- Irv Kupcinet

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
- O. Henry

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.
- William Jennings Bryan

Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.
- Michael Dresser

Forever on Thanksgiving Day
The heart will find the pathway home.
- Wilbur D. Nesbit

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.
- Cicero

And though I ebb in worth, I'll flow in thanks.
- John Taylor

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
- Aesop

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"
- William A. Ward

More Quotes I Live By

[For the original list, go here.]

"I've always believed that when you work hard and are kind to people, wonderful things will happen. And some of those wonderful things will happen to you." - Wil Wheaton


“Maturity is: The ability to stick with a job until it's finished; The ability to do a job without being supervised; The ability to carry money without spending it; and The ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even” - Abigail Van Buren

Quotes from the Family

Here are the latest quotes from my niece and nephew:

My 3-year-old niece Eden (who has an older and a younger brother, but no sisters): "I don't want God to make me a girl. I want to be a boy like Bennett and Nolan."


Bennett, the 4-year-old older brother: "When I get big, I am going to be an altar boy and a Monster Truck driver."


Bennett: Dad, who's playing?
Jeff, the Dad: The Bengals and the Steelers.
Bennett: Why are they the Steelers? Do they steal the ball a lot? Are they bad people?

Cleaning Out The Attic

Whenever I have an idea for a blog post, I scribble it on a sheet of paper, later transferring it to a Word file.

I have tons of Word files.

Tonight I'm going to clear out a lot of them.

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Sometimes the ideas are just the title of the Word file, that I know for sure I will remember later the significance, but of course over time forget. Song titles seem to be a popular starting point for me:
Desolation Boulevard (the name of an album by Sweet)
Love Vigilantes (the name of a song by New Order)
Tiny Dancer (from Elton John, resurrected by Cameron Crowe)

The references for the first two are lost to me, but my best guess about Tiny Dancer is that I wanted to discuss "Music Heals All Wounds" or "Cameron Crowe" as one of the answers to "Name the people in history you would like to have dinner with."

Here's the clip from Cameron Crowe's movie Almost Famous to help explain the former. The set up: Billy Crudup ditched the band to go party. The next morning he is found. The scene opens with the band's manager wishing the party goers goodbye, while the rest of the band are still resentful that Billy disappeared. Music heals the wound...


I have before mentioned how cool I think Dave Grohl is. Here is another reason:




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Sometimes the ideas are snippets of thoughts:
- Scott and the bus stop trash can
- $5000 bank error in my favor
- Larry Tyler Moore Parties
- My job: Like a frog in water slowly boiling
- Paw Paw Was A Rolling Stone (We called my grandfather "Paw Paw")
- The Sauna and Super Balls
- In early 2009, I was an expert witness for a case involving the hospital I work with.
- Artificial Hoops
- The Monty Hall Paradox

Expanding on the last one: I have always been fascinated with math, math problems and math puzzles. The more complex the better!

In college, I tested out of my first two semesters of math. I got an A in both my third and fourth semesters. To make extra money, I tutored in the Math Lab during my freshman and sophomore years. I was even a math major for one semester. (When I discovered that I would have to take advanced calculus, I changed my major. Not because I was scared of the challenge. Because the course was only offered at 8 am five days a week. Back then, sleeping late was more important to me.)

Here is the best explanation of the Monty Hall Paradox/Problem that I have found. Plus David Krumholtz is kinda cute.



Or if you're a Kevin Spacey fan, here is a clip from the movie 21 explaining the same thing...


Any of those snippets could be turned into a 1000+ word blog post. I just never seem to run out of current thoughts to explore in details my past ones.

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I am also a big fan of lists. Here are some lists that I never finished enough to blog about...

Name the people in history you would like to have dinner with:
Bob Costas
Larry Mullen Jr.
Jeff Buckley (RIP)
Ryan Adams
Cameron Crowe

Why do I want to have dinner with them? I need time to discuss. That's the reason I haven't posted about that subject yet.



The Top 10 songs of the 1980's:
Change - Tears For Fears
I Melt with You - Modern English
The Great Commandment - Camouflage
The Promise - When In Rome
Dreaming – OMD
Just Like Heaven or The Lovecats or Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Strangelove or Nothing (or really anything from their album Music for the Masses) - Depeche Mode
Don’t You Want Me - Human League
A Little Respect – Erasure

I can't finish the list because I could add to that list forever - and I can't narrow my choices down to ten.

As you can see, I was a fan of New Wave, pop and dance music in the 1980's. Interestingly though, back in the 1980's I was actually listening to Led Zeppelin and other classic rock gods much, much more than any of those other types of music. I don't think of any classic rock as having a time period. That music to me is timeless.

Here is the video for Camouflage's The Great Commandment. No matter how much I prod, Carlos swears he has never heard this song before.


And here is The Promise, When In Rome's only hit. This is my cousin Casie's Favorite Song of All Time...


I can't find a video for Depeche Mode's Nothing. How about a cute guy lip syncing to it?


In 1987, I was living in our fraternity house. That same year, I was the co-Social Chairman (along with my friends Todd and Sean. More on them one day soon), which meant in part that we had to plan and play the music for our parties.

Imagine 100+ (straight) frat boys dancing to Depeche Mode's Strangelove...


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This summary post of Cleaning Out The Attic is long. Imagine how long the actual posts could have been.


I do have enough material to fill another really long post, but I will stop here. I will finish this post with...


Quotes I Live By

Again, the explanation of each could fill a blog post...

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway

"Tart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar." - Benjamin Franklin

"It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." - Grace Hopper

"Alcohol. The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems." - Homer Simpson

Quotes from the Family

My younger sister Claudia (who lives in Atlanta with her husband and three kids) emailed me this today:

(Claudia's husband) Jeff is holding Bennett [the four-year-old kid] as he is getting communion...
Bennett: "Dad, when I get big, I can get one of those Body of Christs, right?"

Ahhh. Growing up Catholic.