Finding the extra in the ordinary.
I already miss the Super Bowl. No more hype, no more debates about who’s going to win, no more inspirational spots about Drew Brees and the city of New Orleans, no more legit reason to be lazy and eat junk food all day.
Now, it’s just Monday.
…except in New Orleans.
After watching “Crazy Heart” yesterday, I immediately went out and bought the soundtrack. Is country music one of those things that you start to like as you get older, like sushi, fireplaces, and people-watching? Or maybe it’s just Jeff Bridges, who is surprisingly good as a country singer. Whatever the case may be, I’m rollin’ out with that country music on full blast, jeah.
Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’…for a little while
I went with my friend, Paul, to a swim meet in Long Beach, where a good number of Olympians (e.g. Michael Phelps, Kosuke Kitajima, Katie Hoff, Jason Lezak) and regional swimmers competed. The world of competitive swimming is this whole new experience of which I was never really aware. How everyone constantly looks at the score board for times, how you cheer during the breast stroke in short bursts, only when the swimmer’s head is out of the water, and how tiny tweaks in technique can make a second of a difference – which, in swimming, is a make-or-break amount – is pretty fun to watch.
During the meet, I couldn’t help but regret not having pursued swim. I used to be a good swimmer, back in my glory days of elementary school. I honestly think I could have been one of the greatest (I have the blue ribbons to prove it…serious). Even though my coach used to say I dived like a sack of potatoes, I owned the butterfly and backstroke. I coulda been a contender.
Or, I coulda been a washout. It’s still nice to wonder.
To be honest, I don’t really care all that much about what’s been going on with The Tonight Show, but it seems to me that the bad guy in all of this is Jay Leno. You can go and blame the executives, but they’re just doing their jobs, albeit sucking at them. They are focused on money and it’s obvious that they’re betting all their chips on Jay.
Jay should be the bigger man here and bow out of the late night talk show business like he said he would. He knows he’s shafting Conan (and Conan’s entire staff) by taking his old job back, and yet insists on being available to edge him out.
Jay Leno’s like the Yankees in that sense. Everyone hates him, but what can you do when he’s a proven winner of the (late night) game and has the money/backing to do whatever he wants? He sure doesn’t care.
Hmm…what to say, what to say.
A big “what’s up” to the new year and the beginning of the new decade, 2010.
Started off the new year right, with a church service + a late-night kickback with some pinots. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Everyone should watch Food, Inc.! I still don’t understand all of it, but I do know it addresses important issues about our food, specifically, where it comes from. The crazy thing is that the problems don’t stop at our plates, they reach far deeper into politics, business, and people’s livelihoods.
Here are some excerpts from the message it writes at the end:
Buy from companies that treat workers, animals, and the environment with respect.
When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season. Buy foods that are organic. Know what’s in your food. Read labels.
Everyone has a right to healthy food.
The FDA and USDA are supposed to protect you and your family.
If you say grace, ask for food that will keep us, and the planet healthy.
You can change the world with every bite.
Hollerrrrrrr
I just watched “Into the Wild”. It’s a film by Sean Penn about a guy, Chris, who eschews worldly possessions and his parents’ expectations to find meaning in nature and to define his own existence.
There were a lot of scenes at which I clapped and nodded my head in agreement. One scene in particular, in which Chris burns his money at the beginning of his trip, got me really happy.
It’s nice to fantasize about giving everything up for adventure. I can only imagine how peaceful it can be to stand alone in the wild, with nothing but your thoughts, the thrill, and the beauty of nature.
We idealize it so much, but is that necessarily the better way to live? It’s exciting and challenging, that’s for sure, but I think there’s a certain amount of selfishness in that lifestyle. Whether we like it or not, we’re born into a society, a network of interpersonal relationships. We’re not here for ourselves, but for our families, our friends, our future progeny, and the rest of society, especially those in need. It seems a little self-seeking to disown this civilization we’re born into, in order to retreat into a world where the only person you have to care for is you.
You could say that you’re rebelling against materialism and the values that civilization has created, which are often at odds with what we feel and desire. I wonder, though, how much of that is an active resolve to live the way you feel you’ve been called to live, in the very core of your being, and how much of that is reluctance to buckle down and work within the context of our societal responsibilities.
I think it’s great to explore and discover, which sometimes requires giving up the conventions and norms to which you’ve been accustomed. But I also think it’s easy to veil our quests as a search for truth, when really, we’re just running away.
