Content and Curious....

So after sitting here listening to Music.Yahoo.com and reading Simmons' recap of the Grammys, I have come to the thought of - "where would I be had I gone to a different school?" Well, actually the thought began this morning as I read some of the math "literacy" of the local high schools. Most - including the state average - were at about 30%, that meaning that 3 out of 10 high school students were properly prepared to pass the new math graduation standards for the state of hockey. My high school - 15%. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm pretty much a math genius. Calc in high school - a couple engineering degrees from college. But seeing today that my high school was so far behind leads me to ask - was I challenged enough? Could I be a really nerdy physicist or something working at some secret think tank in northern Nevada? Maybe. Would a change from green and gold to blue and gold made the difference? Certainly I'd be in a different place today - at least with who my friends are and the past experiences that have brought me to this point. But just how different? Every once in a while - and I mean once in a while, very sparingly - I start to think about this, but I always am comforted by the fact that 1) the decisions/choices were made and can't be changed and 2) I've always been pretty reasonable with the decisions I've made. I don't regret too many of them and even for those that I do are for petty reasons. The short version is - are there things I wish were different - of course. Are those thought dominating my life - nope. I have great friends, family and work. Is it always easy - no. Could it be just a little easier - of course, and that's what I look for. As long as I'm able to continue to look myself in the mirror and sleep at night - that's what counts.

lonely times and empty days

how does the human mind so quickly translate from content to lonely? one can usually point out the general reason, if not the specific moment when the transformation began, but the reverse is not so easy to define or initiate.

maybe this is the reason for periods of mourning, reflection and detachment.

how much time and energy is spent (and some might say wasted) in mentally tackling these questions - with little to no success in discovering the answers?

ahh yes...the time spent writing this falls in that category. time for a mental release....or this might become an empty evening.

Frozen Tundra of Minnesota

Cold cold cold go away. I'm ready for spring. (although, who isn't by mid-February?)

Hopefully the broken water main in front of my house doesn't cause any problems. Hopefully.

As I sit here at my parent's house, dog and house-sitting for the night, I am watching Back to the Future III on the dish. (with all the choices - I can't pass up a B to the F flick) Wouldn't it be great to have a time machine? I'd love it.

The sleeping dogs should be left to lie. How little life has changed in 365 days. Sure, a house was bought, a couple of trips were made and someone retired, but apparently February 9th is not my lucky day. (which leads on to say that neither is the 14th)

So the tundra finds itself a little more frozen - figuratively and literally. And the former being much less certain to thaw by spring than the latter.

Oh well, it is what it is. The path is cloudy, choices may be mis-taken, but it is the road taken. Good or bad - it is what it is.

So yes, another abstract posting - but that's the road, or style, less taken.

Anna Nicole's End - not always the good die young?

Today brought the end to the interesting life of Anna Nicole Smith. A seemingly fitting way for an ex-Heff girl (and ex heffer) to go - no unsightly aging or exposure. Didn't outlive her ex-husband by nearly as long as all thought.

At only 13 years younger than Anna, this is yet another opportunity to reflect upon my life as it currently sits. It is just amazing how much that some people cram into their young life and how little (seemingly) others do. Is it moreso by choice or by gift? Do I care just because I recognize it? Are there others that do better with a non-caring attitude?

Amazing the swings a life can take in only 40 days. The new year rang and brought artifically inflated hopes. The following week brought the crash back to reality. The latest weeks leveled to the usual collected calm. Do I dare crack the can of worms once again? Is it worth it? Am I missing out? I think I am, but then I think, is is more like the Wedding Crashers quote - people go to weddings because they want to believe in true love. Is there a point where that has passed a person by?

Viewing the glass as half full - what swings will happen in the next 40 days? That, my friends, brings hope and good sleep.

Winter Workouts...

Quick update for the records....I'm back on my regular gym schedule starting February 1st. I'm shooting for going 2 out of every 3 days. So far, so good.

Feb 1st - ran 3 miles (26:23), lifted
Feb 2nd - ran 2.5 miles (22:23), lifted
Feb 4th - ran 2 miles (17:17), lifted

Good start. Trying to get my strength up - so have to keep eating (not much of a problem there)

Venting on Manning

So as an ex-high school quarterback who played the game a lot like Peyton Manning, you'd think I'd like the guy and be cheering for him. But nope. I can't stand the guy. He's my 'most hated' player in pro sports right now. In the past that guy has been Christian Laettner, Charles Barkley, and the entire University of Miami.

He's too whiny. He's too tightly wound. He's too distanced from his teammates. He's too fakey in commercials. He's just overall too annoying. Sure, he's pretty good, but not the good that makes me want to watch and cheer for him. I'd rather root for Vick, Pennington, Kitna, Palmer, Carr and Favre than him (and I'm a Vikings fan, so that's saying something).

Now he finally has his Super Bowl ring. Can we stop talking about him now? There's nothing left to say. He's a guaranteed first ballot HOF'er. No doubt one of the top 3 statistical QB's ever (Favre and Marino) I'm just sick of listening to Madden and Simms get all teary eyed yapping about him and talking about his prep.

Don't get me wrong, I really really really dislike the other side, the guys like "Tank" Johnson who never saw a sandwich or firearm (or drug) that he didn't like. But Manning is too far on the opposite end of the spectrum. My kind of guy is the Robert Smith type. Smart, but still cool enough to fit in with the rest of the guys. Anyway. Stupid Manning.

Cold night and Bud Light

So just to get something down here for today, I'll scribble out this little blog.

Not much of a special day today - typical Tuesday. Work - not too busy, not too slow. Typical Tuesday dinner at the palace. Couple of Bud Lights with a canuck afterwords. Home by 9:30. A snack or two later, in bed by 10:30.

Interesting quote for the day:

"Experience is the name some give to their mistakes."

Sometimes makes me stop and think - how experienced am I? In some respects not enough - not for the lack of making mistakes, but for the lack of the opportunity to. Kinda like the quote, "you miss all the shots you don't take." On a court I was never shy to let fly from anywhere, but in life I have never mirrored that. There have been plenty of times I've looked back and wished I'd done different....are those mistakes? Is that the experience mentioned? Hard to say. Perspective and hindsight being what they are, the judgment of those questions isn't an easy task. Should I bother myself with them now? No. Should I choose a more reasonable time to consider them - yes.

Cold weather is a-comin' with highs of -4 for Saturday in the forecast. And yes, that is -4 degrees Fahrenheit not Celcius. And yes, I said highs not lows. As the Beach Boys said, "Fun Fun Fun tell your daddy takes the snowboard away" (ok, so that was modified just a smidge.

Good night.....