More information we have, the less we learn

Good Morning and it sure feels like we've skipped to summer!

We were watching TV late last week (yeah, one of those stupid pawn reality shows) and a guy was trying to sell a pair of Dr. J's sneakers.
While the bickering went on between the TV guys, the teenager asked, "Who is Dr. J?"
Over the weekend, we took a trip to Washington D.C. and walked through the American History Museum. One of the exhibits contained Archie Bunker's chair. The 12-year old asked, "Who is Archie Bunker?"
My answer to both those questions was "Look it up and learn."
Technology has given us the ability to learn all about everything. Want to know what the Vikings ate while sailing to Greenland? Google it.
Want to find out the top song on May 27, 1972? Go online.
Who is Dr. J? Well, that question should never get asked.
The problem, though, is with so much information, I fear we are losing something.
When I wanted to learn about Jackie Robinson, I read books and watched the movies. Now, there's not investment. A quick search calls up a Wikipedia page and a scan of the text pulls in the information.
How much of it sticks, though? I mean, really, we've all be sucked into the hole where we start reading about something, click on something else, then something else and forget the original search.
All the info obviously is not bad, we just have to use it the correct way.

Gardening without a green thumb

Good Morning and can you believe it's almost Memorial Day?

So, I got the flowers and tomatoes all planted last week. I even picked up all the right fertilizer and dirt this year.
A week into growing, the plants haven't died yet. I call that a good season.
See, I have the opposite of a green thumb. I could take the heartiest plant and shrink it to nothing in a few weeks.
Heck, I've even had a cactus die on me and you don't have to do anything to a cactus.
This year, though, is going to be different. I'm going to water the plants. I'm going to make sure the rabbits (where did they all come from) don't eat the leaves.
I'm confident in my work.
Now, if only I could get a few tomatoes to actually ripen.

Oh those college speakers

Good Morning and it's way too nice out this morning to be inside!

OK, a little bit of truth here, I don't remember who spoke at my college graduation. I know he was some kind of judge or lawyer or something.
I probably should have been paying attention. I know that. I'm sure the class was told such good things as "make your mark" or "get out in the world" or "in 10 years this college degree won't be worth the paper it's printed on" or "remember the Alamo."
Maybe if the speaker was Bill Clinton or George Clinton or Clint Eastwood, the speech may have mattered to me. At the time, though, I was happy to be among family and friends and, well, didn't really care.
So, when I read about the controversies surrounding so many college commencement speakers this year, I began to wonder what I missed.
Maybe I'll go hang around a lawyer's office.

12 years of learning

Good Morning and welcome to the muck!

Here are a few things I've learned over the past 12 years:
If you play hide-and-seek, make sure you check all the boxes.
Don't walk past a candy store with somebody who has a sweet tooth.
When standing in line for Santa, make sure everybody stands with you.
Keeping the camera running on Christmas morning leads to some unexpected sweetness.
Minecraft is not only a game, it's life.
When you least expect it, something nice happens.
Being scared is OK.
Fighting with your brother and sister, well, not OK.
School days it's not so easy to get certain people out of bed.
Off days, they are up at 5 a.m.
A slow burn can turn into an explosion in a matter of minutes.
Missing school is easy if you can somehow convince everybody you are sick.
Sometimes, you need to miss school just because it's a nice day to miss.
Zombies can be terrifying. Vampires are kind of boring.
If it wasn't for Brendan, my life would not be full.

Sports? Yeah, that's not real life

Good Morning and welcome to summer!

Remember when former Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens was doing push ups in his driveway. Remember when he was saying he needed a raise to feed his family after making $9 million in 2004. He was set to get $4.5 million in 2005.
Yeah, that's not real life. I don't think any professional athlete can relate to real life.
Do they care if the minimum wage is raised? Only if it means the price of pizza is going up.
OK, here's another one.
Earlier this season, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable to pitch because he had worked three days in a row. He was unable to enter yesterday's game because he had a stiff neck.
Probably got that stiff neck carrying his $13 million check to the bank.
Sorry, it's not reality.
If I called work and said I was unavailable today because I had worked three days in a row, they would probably tell me to find a new place of work.
Sore neck? Now you are becoming a sore someplace else.
Then there's the whole flu-like symptoms thing. What the heck is that? How many times have we heard about that one? I mean Allen Iverson used to miss practice with flu-like symptoms every day.
Yeah, right. I have flu-like symptoms all the time. Not only don't I get any sympathy, but I also have to go into work.
So, I don't want to hear it. Next time you don't want to come into a game, just tell it like it is: you are a pampered prima donna who just wants to sit in the sun.

It's time to outlaw homework

Good Morning and welcome to Springtime on the 'Net!

I never really understood the point of teachers giving homework. I mean, really, we were just in school for nine hours, why do I need to do extra work at home.
As I moved through my school years, I pushed off enough homework assignments that many of my mornings were spent frantically finishing 100 division problems.
Now, though, it seems even more pointless.
It's almost like teachers these days feel like they have to give homework, because, well, they had to do homework. I very rarely see the point when the schoolies come home and pull out their stuff.
Sometimes, I feel like just telling them to put down gibberish and get outside.
School is different these days. Students are subjected to biased standardized testing and inundated with work, work, work during the day.
It's time to take a No Homework stand.
Who's with me?

The satisfaction, then the pain

Good Morning and welcome to another May day!

A few years ago, my brother was talking about training for the Ironman competition. Yes, that crazy, swim a lot of miles, bike a lot of miles and then run a marathon. He was talking about how tired he was, but was able to keep going because he was determined to get it done.
When his first one was over, he immediately signed up for the next year's race (or whatever you call it).
He started talking about how he thought anybody could do it. He looked at me and said, "You could do it. It's just swimming and riding a bike. Then you can walk the 26 miles if you had to."
Yeah, right.
Anyway, both my brothers were with me Sunday during the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia, the 10-mile tour of the city. Of course, it's a 10-mile tour you need to get done in 2 and a half hours.
We were among the 40,000 who decided it would be a cool thing.
You know what, it really was cool. It was exciting. It was a miracle.
Somehow, I was able to finish the whole 10 miles under the cutoff point (if my brothers weren't there, by the way, I wouldn't have lasted 2 miles).
Making it to the finish line was overwhelming. The pain later was just a bit of a nuisance. If we could have signed up for next year, we would have done it right away.
I finally understood what he was talking about.

Time to lace up the sneakers

Good Morning and welcome to the river!

In a couple of days, I'll be doing something I never thought about doing. I was pleasantly (if not healthy) happy with my sedentary lifestyle. I liked watching TV. I liked having a few (too many) beers in the backyard. I enjoyed pizza and burgers.
It was all fine with me until one day I did not feel well. I stood up and got dizzy and thought, "Hmm, maybe I should do something."
So, I joined the YMCA and started working out on the machines. I hadn't done it for years, so it was a slow go at first.
One day in November, another member was wearing a Broad Street Run T-shirt.
Once again, my brain started talking. "There's a goal for you."
So, I worked out. I ran on the street. I put in miles. I ate better. I had setbacks (my calves are still painful enough that I have a slight fear I won't finish). I started a Facebook page where friends have been offering encouragement and kept me going.
This Sunday, I'll be attempting to run (very, very slowly mind you) all the way down Broad Street in Philadelphia with about 40,000 other people. Most (if not all) will finish before I will.
It's not a race for me, though.
This is a change. I'm determined to show my children you can do anything you want. Don't let others bring you down. Don't let others say you can't do something.
Now, who wants to let me borrow their hot tub Sunday afternoon?

Birthday parties

Good Morning and welcome to another day on the 'Net!

So, I found out last week that having a birthday party in your house is kind of embarrassing.
See, I always thought it was a good deal because you had all your games, toys, whatever and could show them off for your friends.
Sure, I've seen the move away from house parties over the years, but I thought I could hold on to that tradition.
Guess not.
Now, anything less than laser tag or jumping off walls is passe.
Apparently, not even bowling is a good idea.
"Nobody likes bowling," I was told.
Unless, of course, they go bowling. Then you can't pull them off the lanes.
Maybe there's some place we can have laser tag bowling.

Running? More like walking

Good Morning and welcome to the new day!

For some reason late last year, I thought it would be a good idea to set a goal for myself. So, I thought, wouldn't it be great to train for the Broad Street Run?
I have never done anything like it. I was told by some I would never be able to do it. Of course, that meant I was going to do it come hell or high water.
So, the run (I won't call it a race, because I'm not racing) is Sunday. I have a week left and, as it turns out, a weak right leg.
I was so resolute in my training, I fear I may have overdone it. Last week, I started to get cramps in my calves.
It all came to a head Saturday night when I used the Haverford Twilight 5K as my final training run. Well, OK, it was a training walk. About a mile in, the pain in my legs started. I wasn't going to stop, though, and I still finished in 40 minutes (what I was really shooting for).
Of course, when the 90-year old with the walker passed me on the course, I thought I might be in trouble.
So, I'll use ice, I'll eat a lot of bananas (saw on the Internet) and I'll be ready Sunday.
Well, that's the plan anyway.

Cable TV? Hmmm

Good Morning and, man, it was chilly out there this morning!

I can remember when we first got cable TV in the house way back in 1981.
I remember watching a movie on PRISM just because I could watch a movie on PRISM (it was like a local version of HBO). They also showed Phillies home games, so, you know, so much for listening on the radio.
There was also this little thing called MTV, which showed music videos. So, you know, so much for listening to the radio.
In those heady days, network TV still had a stranglehold on programming. You wanted to watch a new show, you had to be in front of the TV at the right time.
Next came the VCR and, well, you could watch your favorite shows any time as long as you could figure out the damn clock.
We've certainly advanced since then. Now, there are 100s of channels and the networks don't always have the best option.
I think the end of cable is coming sooner than a lot of Comcast executives want to admit. Pretty soon, we'll be able to stream everything right from the Internet onto our TV. Netflix and Amazon are changing the game with movies and TV shows.
Why pay for 100 channels with nothing on when you can pick and choose for much less?
We are close to cutting the cable cord. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

My kingdom for a horse...

Good Morning and who's not loving the spring smells?

OK, I'll admit it, I have a love/hate relationship with vehicles.
When I first get one, I always believe I got the best one on the road. By the end, I can't wait to just dump it and move on.
Case in point, my blue van.
I've had plenty of good times in the four years we've been together. We've gone up and down the coast. We have taken trips to New York in the winter and Washington DC in the spring.
There was that time our picnic turned into a rain out and we ate the sandwiches in the back.
Now, though, all those miles later, it's time to go. I don't need the room with my passengers getting older and I certainly don't need the low gas mileage.
Now what? Let's make this easy.
Of course, nothing is easy. If only we hadn't moved away from horse-drawn carriages.

Marathon musings

Good Morning and welcome back to another week!

I've always been impressed with people who can run marathons. Sure, they are crazy and all that, but it takes something deep inside to decide (and train) for running 26 miles.
Heck, I can get tired driving 26 miles, so you can forget about the running part.
Thanks to some sick individuals, we will all have an eye on Boston this morning during the marathon.
Hopefully (most likely with all the security), nothing will happen this year and it will be a big celebration. Those who can cross the finish line should be lauded, whether they be the first or last.
Having never been much of a runner (OK, I have been a beer runner a few times), I decided this year to try it out. I'll be doing the 10 mile Broad Street Run in May (2 WEEKS!!!).
My legs aren't too happy with me. They seem to say after every training run, "You know, we were pretty happy being a part of a couch potato! There's no reason to do this."
I don't think I'll ever understand what it's like to run a marathon. It's not even on my Radar, but I have been getting a taste on what training can be like.
Yes, they are still crazy, but it takes a little crazy once in a while to keep the world spinning.

The Rock

Good Morning and, wait a minute, did the weather guy just say "snow?"

With the great weather this weekend, it was nearly enough to make the winter a distant memory.
Finally, it was time to get outside. Finally, it was time to open the windows. Finally, it was OK to pull out the shorts.
So, Saturday morning, with the soft breeze blowing inside, I made an executive decision.
Turn the games off and let's go for a walk. Yes, the underlings weren't too happy about not getting a vote, but, hey, I run a dictatorship (most of the time).
Now, we could have just walked around the neighborhood, maybe down to the playground. The more I thought (and I had plenty of time to think as everybody else was moving in slow motion), the more I wanted to take in some nature.
Even if the trees aren't in bloom yet, there would be a few flowers or something.
We headed out to Forbidden Drive at the Wissahickon Creek. It's a place we used to walk all the time, but haven't been there for a few years.
If you've never been, there, do yourself a favor and take a ride down the Blue Route. It's a great, flat area with some wonderful scenery.
Without the blooming, we were able to see new waterfalls and fallen trees.
While the complaining didn't really stop until we were heading home, I'm pretty sure if you pressed even the traveling party would admit it's pretty cool.

Getting antsy for a garden

Good Morning and here comes the sun!

OK, I have to admit, I'm getting a little bit crazy (although, maybe that happened years ago).
I want to get outside and plant some flowers. I want to dig in the dirt and start the tomato plants.
I want to cut the grass (see, crazy). I want to see the trees the bloom.
I know, it's early in the spring. You aren't supposed to put any veggies in the ground until Mother's Day. Flowers would probably wither and die before the spring hits full stride, but I don't want to wait.
Truth be told, I have somewhat of a brown thumb. I can kill the heartiest of plants, but that doesn't mean I won't try again this year.
In a few weeks, I'll have way too many tomato and pepper plants in my small garden. I'll figure out ways to brighten up the outside of the house.
I want to forget about the winter now, though. Why wait?

Citizens Bank Park: A decade of what?

Good Morning and I guess it's time the rain stopped!

So, after they roll the giant flag back up and an acrobat drops the first ball from a helicopter or something, the Phillies will officially start their 10th season in Citizens Bank Park.
Eh, whatever.
Sure fans have been able to enjoy an unprecedented amount of success during the decade. Remember, folks, the Phillies have not had the best of histories.
The 2008 World Series was great. The surrounding seasons were a lot of fun, but, for me, at least, the stadium holds no pull.
Truth be told, I haven't been there too often. The Phillies (Major League Baseball in general) have outpriced a family from going to the games.
With the three baseball fans coming along with me, I'd have to take out a small loan to see a game.
Even without that, there always seemed to be something antiseptic about the stadium. The Park as all the bells and whistles, but, then what?
Winning, of course, makes it all look prettier. Somehow, though, 100 years down the line, I don't think there will be a lot of nostalgia about attending Citizens Bank Park.

Over here Cap

Good Morning and I hear it's getting warmer!

Every once in awhile I get excited about a new movie coming out.
It doesn't happen too often. I figure I can wait for most to turn up on Netflilx or (rarely) On-Demand.
Years ago, when my group was younger, I remember seeing billboards and watching commercials for the 'Polar Express.' I hadn't read the book, I just had this feeling it would be a great movie to give children the whole theater experience. I was right.
The past couple of weeks, I've been seeing the trailers for the new Captain America movie.
Now, first a little history, I had a few Captain America action figures growing up. Although I was never really into comic books, I always thought it was a cool story about fighting Nazis and stuff.
So, even though we watched the first movie in the series on television, we were psyched about going to the theater for this one.
When you get these big, action movies, they are better at the theater (despite the price). It is an enjoyable movie. It's a lot of fun.
And, if you buy a large popcorn, you get free refills.
Can't beat that.

Never long enough

Good Morning and do I feel spring weather out there?

I go through the same ritual every morning: wake up well before the alarm, fall back asleep, hear alarm, hit snooze about 100 times, pull myself out of bed.
Every morning. The exact same ritual.
In between the first alarm and the snooze, I always think: "If I just had a couple more hours, the day will go smooth."
I know it's not true. I know if I did call into work and say I would be a little late, the extra sleep wouldn't matter. The next day would be the ritual.
So, as the coffee is brewing next to me, I think: "Wouldn't it be good to get a couple of hours of sleep."

Mall walking

Good Morning and I'm not going to complain about the rain!

Much like a lot of people (apparently since the roads were packed), we were getting a bit stir crazy Saturday.
It was raining, but the last thing any of us wanted to do was sit around the house. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. If I told the boys we were just going to sit around the house, they'd be more than happy to fill the time playing video games.
So, in part because we hadn't been there for awhile and in part because it's big, we headed out to the King of Prussia mall.
We parked at the far end and started walking. We walked the whole thing, stopped in a few stores and listened to complaints.
The goal was to get in some exercise without it actually feeling like exercise. We walked at a decent pace and a couple of hours later were heading back into the van with sore legs.
It wasn't until I got home and checked the stats when I was surprised.
According to the walking thing, we had gone five miles. That's right, five miles.
Well, I won't be making fun of those mall walking clubs anymore.

What a drag it is getting old

Good Morning and here we are again!

I find it kind of ironic the Rolling Stones released a single called 'Mother's Little Helper' on July 2, 1966.
First of all, the line 'What a drag it is getting old' doesn't exactly ring true. It's not really a drag. Not for me and especially not for the Stones. I saw them when they played Philly last June. There was no dragging on the stage.
What I'm talking about is my knees. My right knee is not a big fan of this training I've been doing for the Broad Street Run. Over the weekend, I felt like it was laughing at me. Well, OK, not laughing, but at least making sure I wouldn't laugh.
I remember back in high school playing a pickup baseball game (Does anybody play pickup baseball anymore?). After getting a hit, I rounded first and was going to try for second, but the ball was thrown in from the outfield. I stopped quickly and tried to get back, but my right knee went the other way.
I lay in pain for a few minutes, then rubbed some dirt on it and kept playing.
Now, I might be paying for that decision.