Thursday, April 25, 2013

Friday Four Fill In

First lets do the Friday Fill In with Hilary of Feeling Beachie...

This week’s statements:

The Color of Money reminds me of a time when Tom Cruise could be charming.


Lately work is hectic so blogger has had to take a back seat.



Does the sound of breaking glass make you look around for Stone Cold Steve Austin?


When I wander around campus I am amazed by its beauty?


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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

Hi all,

I know you come looking for the linky.  The last couple of weeks I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to visit everyone who has linked up.  I have thought that was entirely unfair on my part, so I didn't add a linky this week as it is the last of term and my head underwater in work at the moment.  I promise once term is done, I will get back to my bloggy self but priorities must be just that.

Wayne.






Coffee Chat

Thanks to Les for hosting.  This week's topic is:

What Was, or What's to Be?: If you had the choice of going back in the past to a specific time in history, OR, if you could travel ahead into the future (you are coming back to present, don't worry) --- which would you choose?

I would actually choose to live in the present but since that was not among the choices given, I guess I would be more apt to visit the future.   I am a firm believer that while understanding and learning from the past is vital, a look towards a brighter future is imperative.  I would like to see how the world progresses and life has evolved to meet the challenges that have been presented.  

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday Posts


I will however, get to my Friday meme's. First up Hilary and the Friday Four Fill In...

This week’s statements:

1. I hate hating.  It is an unproductive way to spend emotional energy.


2. I used to love playing baseball as a kid.


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3. Common sense says people are untrustworthy, but I tend to give the benefit of the doubt.



4. Once, I was surprised to find myself speechless.


Now onto Mrs. 4444's and the Friday Fragments...
    Mommy's Idea
  • My life is going at 100 miles an hour with the end of term at the moment.  I will blogging intermittently over the next week. 
    • On a related note:  I apologize also for my lack of visiting lately.  I enjoy visiting everyone but sometimes work and family obligations takes over.
  • I had a real let down teaching my last classes of the semester yesterday.  I don't feel like I connected as well with the students this semester as a whole.  I am not sure what was different than normal.
    • On a related note: I thought I did some of the coolest most innovative teaching I had ever done this semester.  That is what makes it feel even worse.
  • I have gotten so bad that I am supposed to go up and be on stage for graduation but I feel like some of the students would rather have a couple other faculty members up there instead of me.  I have not had the feeling before.
    • On a related note: Can you tell I am feeling down today?

    Thursday, April 18, 2013

    Thirsty For Comments Hop

    Welcome to Thirsty for Comments  Get comfy, grab your favorite hot or cold beverage, link up a great post from this week (or even earlier) and visit some other great blogs to comment!
    Grab our badge for your sidebar or post:
    Acting Balanced
    What is Thirsty for Comments?
    This is a blog hop dedicated to giving good comment - please, when you are visiting, actually READ the post that is linked and make a thoughtful comment!
    This is NOT a hop for "I'm here from the hop, follow me back" comments!
    Link up your own SPECIFIC POST that you'd like comments on - remember - no giveaways!
    *****************************************
    The rules are simple -
    1. Link up a SPECIFIC POST (NOT just your blog URL) that you'd like to have more comments on - NO  GIVEAWAYS or OTHER BLOG HOPS - they will be deleted
    2. Visit AT LEAST THREE other blogs and READ the posts and then comment thoughtfully on the post.
    Extras (nice but not required):
    • Add the Thirsty for Comments button to your post
    • Blog about Thirsty for Comments
    • Add Thirsty for Comments to your Meme List!
    • Leave a comment here on how we can improve Thirsty for Comments :)

    Pondering - Twist?

    Let's see if Brenda got my knickers in a twist with this week's topic.

    Let's twist again, like we did last summer...

    Twirling, twisting in the wind.
    Using twist ties to create our favorite crafts
    While twisting up our insides telling each other funny stories.
    Acting twisted with funny faces while
    twisting the truth playing balderdash.

    So let's twist again, twisting time is here...


    Wednesday, April 17, 2013

    Hodgepodge

    1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income taxes...what's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'?

    There is only one job I have never met a person who teaches in any capacity enjoys and that is grading.  It is the worst part of the gig.  Image having to read 70 similar 10 -12 page essays in about a 72 hour span.  That is grading over 10 pages an hour if one doesn't stop to do something insane like eat or sleep.  That is the challenge laid before me every exam period.  I know I do it to myself - I could cheat and do an ABC test - but it is the best way to actually ensure that students know that material.

    2. I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on letter O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food?

    In my current sick state I am going with oranges.

    3. What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience?

    The ability to leave the house in the morning and tramp around town and as long as we were home by dinner it was all good.  

    Playing street hockey and stopping when someone yelled 'car.'  They have now made this illegal on most roads in Toronto.  That and my kids growing up in South Carolina - street hockey is not a big thing here. 
    4. Term limits for our elected officials...your thoughts?

    Being a politician was never intended to be a career by the framers of the US constitution.  The idea was that individual's would take breaks from their careers to serve the people for a time and then go back to their original occupations. That being said, with the ways and means it takes to get elected today, only career politicians can afford to run for office and win.  That is why incumbents have such a large advantage in any election and thus why we are in the current state we are.

    The way to stop this is to be strict on campaign financing.  Each candidate get X number of dollars to run and that is it.  The dollar amount has to be kept low so that anyone with even moderate means could run and that votes could then not be bought.  For instance, it now takes close to a billion dollars to run for president.  Do you think they are making that kind of money from $25 donations?  Hence, make it so only individuals can make donations and that no individual can donate more than $100.  They will then be begging for lowered limits. Finally, stop any lobby group from giving any donations or gifts of any kind to politicians.  

    All term limits would do is ensure that the politicians spent the last six months of their elected period softening their landing.  The way to get rid of career politicians is to reduce the time they have to spend raising money.  Then they have to run of their results and not their bank accounts. 

    5. On April 18th 1775, Paul Revere made his famous 'midnight ride'....when did you last make a midnight ride? Perhaps the fate of a nation wasn't hanging in the balance, but tell us where you were headed anyway.

    I once drove from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Kitchener, Ontario (1400 Kms) only making gas stops to make sure I was home on time for Robyn's birthday party.  I left at 10:00 at night and got in by noon the next afternoon.  Along the way I dodged moose, bear, OPP and traffic.

    6. What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider?

    I guess the mouse but neither really does for me.  It is one of the reasons Heather keeps me around.

    7. I love it when people ask me____________________________.

    about real issues.  I am not a small talk person.  I like having real conversations about things that matter to people.
    8. Insert your own random thought here.

    I have been really sick/busy the last few weeks.  I am sorry to everyone that I have not be visiting as much.  I am hoping once term is done my brain get get back to as close to normal as it can get.

    Tuesday, April 16, 2013

    Wordless Wednesday....












    Please link up your ww posts here:




    Tuesday Coffee Chat

    Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers Les for hosting coffee chat.  This week her topic is:

    What is/was your favourite Board Game? Do you have Family Game Nights at your home?

    Like most things board games have been modernized in our house.  We live in an iVironment where we will play online games such as Words with Friends with each other.  I am not sure it has the same cachet as sitting around but it is constant.  Our house is a never ending game of words and trivia.  There is a lot of ummmmm useful information that continually flows as a result.  It leads to discussions which is the point of said games.  So I guess we do family game night but just a little more modernized.

    Monday, April 15, 2013

    Music Monday

    Thanks to Dolly and the rest of the crew for hosting... This week's theme is:

    Theme/Songs for Tax Day or Money Songs, maybe Ironic songs, since it is kind of ironic






    Listicles

    Thanks to Stasha for hosting.  This week's topic is:

    ***PLEASE NOTE THAT I WAS IN A NYQUIL INDUCED HAZE THIS MORNING AND READ THE WRONG TOPIC.  I KNOW THIS IS FOR NEXT WEEK, SO I WILL JUST REVERSE THE TOPICS***

    TOP 10 WAYS TO SPEND 30 MINUTES

    10.  My favorite show...



    9.  Showering...(I love a hot shower).

    8.  Scanning headlines using Flipboard...

    7. Reading fellow bloggers posts...

    6. Blowing up the plastic pool for the first time...



    5. Any TED Talk (including thanking about them afterwards).  This is my recent favorite...



    4.  Playing at the Park...




    3.  Mash


    2. See YouTube clip below...

    1. Napping...

    Sunday, April 14, 2013

    Monday Quiz

    Welcome to Monday Quiz About Me - hosted by Acting Balanced and Touristic

    Here are FOUR QUESTIONS that everyone can answer and then you have the option to add a fifth question of your own for those who are visiting your blog to answer in the comment section, along with commenting on the four standard questions you answered! Grab the badge for your post if you like:




    Our Questions:

    1. What is your best solution for getting rid of a headache?
    2. Do you enjoy taking naps?
    3. What was the last 'block buster' movie you saw at the theatre?
    4. If you could have anyone cook you dinner who would it be?

    My Answers:

    1. What is your best solution for getting rid of a headache?

    I like a hot shower beating on top of my head...

    2. Do you enjoy taking naps?

    I am a big fan of the nap.  Siesta is a vastly underrated concept.

    3. What was the last 'block buster' movie you saw at the theatre?

    I went to see James Bond in the theatre last fall.

    4. If you could have anyone cook you dinner who would it be?

    Don't really have anyone who would fall in this category.  I am just thankful for food on the table.

    but here is my 5th question

    Would you allow your child to go to a house for a playdate with a person you know owns guns?

    Now please link up your posts here:



    Saturday, April 13, 2013

    Six Word.Saturday

    Posting using my new smart phone...
    Too bad its owner is not..
    Getting frustrated at my total ignorance
    But slowly coming around to it
    Perhaps, maybe, sometime in the future
    I will catch up to it...

    Friday, April 12, 2013

    Friday Memes

    Thanks to Hilary for hosting the Four Fill-In...

    This week’s statements:

    1. I don’t like to dance with the devil in the pale moon light.


    2. I love the smell of napalm in the morning


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    3. If I could change one thing in my life it would be a permanent vacation.



    4. If I was better at golf, I would be a philanderer.  P.S. Good Luck at the Masters Tiger!
    _________________________________________________________________________________

    Now thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting the Fragments...


      Mommy's Idea
    • I took a couple of weeks off of blogging.  It is the end of term and life is going at 100 miles an hour.  I may have to take off a few more days between now and then - so my apologies in advance.
      • On a related note: I do like visiting y'all - it is just going to take me longer to do so.  I am trying to get to as many as I can.
    • Heather's car is going in for repair today.  Please send us inexpensive thoughts.
      • On a related note:My check engine light came on while driving home last night...uggggg!
    • I got pulled over for the first time ever in my life last month.  My crime?  The light over my license plate was out.  
      • On a related note: I now have to go to court on Monday to show that I have fixed such an egregious offence.


    Thursday, April 11, 2013

    Pondering Light?

    Thanks to Brenda for hosting Pondering.  This weeks theme is:

    Light or Lite

    It was a dark and twisty road when all of a sudden the headlights came towards me...
    The moment seemed to slow to a stop as my head felt light as I tried to get my bearings.
    I tried to move but the wreckage around me was not light...
    The medics then arrive and shone their flashlight at me.
    It was then that my body all of a sudden felt free and lite.
    The burdens of life swept away in a wash of light.
    I looked around and saw that streetlights below.
    Panic should have arisen but a calming light was calling to me.
    It was as if the porch light was on to welcome me home.
    As I headed towards the light I realized that I was indeed...
    Going to meet the light of the world.

    Wednesday, April 10, 2013

    Wednesday Hodgepodge



    1. Share one fun thing you did last week while the Hodgepodge was on Spring Break?

    It is the end of term...there is not much fun happening at the moment.  We did take the boys to the park on Sunday and watched the parade of boats on the river.  That was fun...here is the video evidence.




    2. April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close?  Share a favorite story involving one or all of your siblings.  If you don't have siblings did you ever wish you did?

    My sister passed away about 12 1/2 years ago.  She was fives years older than I was and were always in different 'life stages' until just before she passed away.  My sister was a legitimate genius especially in relation to math and numbers.  Had she been able to deal with authority, she would have been the first person in my family to get a PhD.

    3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'?  How far will you go to 'buy American'?  If you're not American insert your own country in the blank.

    I live in America but still love Canada - so I guess I am more into buying North American.

    4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

    I always like the work of Confucius.  I found much of what he wrote to be quite wise.

    5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm?  What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

    This is Charleston in April.  Everything is blooming at the moment.  This place is an explosion of color at the moment and a lot of it came from having a really rainy February.

    6. What's your favorite yellow food? 

    Banana of course - though I do like them with a little green left on them.

    7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special.

    I have always been partial to the Man in the Glass.


    8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

    After taking a bit of a bloggy break, it is nice to be back and writing again.

    Tuesday, April 9, 2013

    Tuesday Coffee Chat

    Thanks to my good friend Les for hosting.  Here is what came out of her most interesting of minds this week as a theme,

    Not Myself These Days: If you could live another person's life for a week, who would you choose? Will it be the opposite sex? A celebrity? Or, make the prompt interesting: is it the cat's life for you?


    The silly part is that I had such a hard time writing this post.  There is no one I would really want to be other than me (even just for a short time).  I would not want to be a woman.  Sorry, but the idea of something potentially entering me is just unappealing - men are gross.  I would not want to be a celebrity.  Putting up with the lack of privacy combined with the constant judgement just would not work for me.  I thought about being Stephen Hawking - yes, I am that much of a geek - it would be nice to be that smart just for a bit but I would be afraid of seeing too much truth.  I couldn't handle the truth.  I could want to be a college student again but striking out often was hard enough the first time.

    I guess if I had to be another, I would want to be a meditating Buddhist monk.  The ability to just be alone with my thoughts for a week would be nice.  I would not need anything fancy just a place to lay my head and a nice vista to enjoy.  The peace, the tranquility.  I think we have found a winner.


    Monday, April 8, 2013

    Wordless Wednesday

    This is the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston S.C.







     
    Please link up your WW post here:
     



    A Superhero Level Listicles...

    I have been off Listicles for a couple of weeks.  So I will thank Stasha for hosting and move onto this week's topic:


    10 THINGS I CAN DO THAT MAKE ME A SUPERHERO

    10. I am able to sing this song from beginning to end...


    9. That I have never been caught on Internet porn.

    8. Photographs, photographs, photographs - imagine if I had a real camera and not just an iPad


    7. That my all time best month for visitation was last Month - you know when I didn't post for the last week. 
    Gotta love those scroller bots!
      

    * - not so super-hero-ish feeling - getting back to posting and watching the numbers go down.

    6. Outlasting the wife.  Whoop! whoop! I am man - hear me roar.

     5. On that note, being a good dad to three kids.

    4. Getting a citation alert from Google Scholar!  Someone actually read or at least skimmed something I wrote and cited it!  Of course, they could have said I was an idiot but it all counts the same...


    3. The fact that this listicle has two graphs and a song about being white and nerdy.

    2. That I do not use the Dr. Smith very often...it is a nice title but I do not have the ego to have to be called by it.

    1. When I can actually get to 10 listicle items without having to stretch too much...

    P.S. Didn't say that didn't exactly happen here...

    Music Monday

    Thanks to Xmas Dolly and the crew for hosting this week.    This week's theme is:

    Songs your parents used to listen too.

    My parents were products of the 50s - so their musical tastes kind of went that way.

    My dad liked:


    My mom was more:



    Sunday, April 7, 2013

    Saturday, April 6, 2013

    Six Word Saturday

    Back from a short bloggy break...
    Other duties in life took over
    Had to stay afloat at work
    While still making time for family
    Priorities had to be slightly adjusted
    But glad to be back blogging.

    P.S. I am still going slowly.
    I will try to get visiting
    all of my bloggy friends again
    I miss reading all your ideas
    only three weeks left of term
    Then hope I can finally breathe.

    Tuesday, April 2, 2013