Month: March 2013

It is a significant indication of maturity when the key item on you wish list shifts from sports car to laundry machine. It is another indication of maturity (perhaps post-maturation) when that list shifts back to sports car. I’m in that first shift. The things I want are plentiful once more, but most are about the family and making the homestead a better place. This is most likely a coping mechanism as I psychologically pull away from the home in an effort to delve deeper into my writing and the writer’s life.

There needs to be a balance between the two things: home and professional life if for no better reason than the existence of one provides ample context for the existence of the other. Either one is made less valuable without the existence of the other. A man who only stays with his family does not know the work world and thus that family time is always in the shadow of what could be. I suppose this is my primary argument against the existence of housewives. I feel like you need to have a significant portion of your life that belongs only to you, but then again I am a loner somewhere in my core.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Gus is still the best thing on Psych. Come on, son. you know that’s right.

2. I don’t dream anymore. There is something fundamentally wrong with that…

The official weigh-in was 205.8, my lowest number yet and 10 lbs off the big weight I’ve been coming down from. It hasn’t been an easy road for me. The goal is to be the best me possible, and that goal requires me to buck up and exercise some courage, willpower, and determination. I have 15.8 (15.4 as of this post) lbs to go to make my target weight. It isn’t going to happen with just a diet change. No, I have to start working out in a serious way. Today I took a step forward, running a mile for the first time in nearly 6 months. I didn’t time it, didn’t try to set any speed records. I just tried to gut out an exercise that my mind did not want to complete. I wanted to quit at the .25 mark. I found excuses to be and do anything else. Still, I endured. I wanted to quit again at .5 and again at .7, .8, .88. Not till I hit the mid 9 range did I want to power through. It is a lesson in perseverance.

There are things in life that I want. Some of them I should not have, some of them will have dire consequences, and others are worth fighting for. If I am to be the best me possible it means weighing all of these things and putting the maximum amount of effort towards getting the job done. This has been a difficult thing for me, but it isn’t an impossible one. I know there is a better version of me in here somewhere. I just have to care enough to find it.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. I miss New York, but I don’t necessarily miss the New Yorkers. 
2. The NCIS production team is piloting a new show. They’re taking a page from the CSI playbook by introducing the new NCIS: Red team in a popular NCIS show. Red offers to be an interesting look at a female driven NCIS vehicle with a strong cast and a cool shooting style that is somewhat derivative of NCIS: LA

I’m starting this post about a half hour after getting home from the first day back to work after the break. I decided to ease in slowly to the work return, as my students are best served by a gradual return. Getting home after work I discovered that elementary instructors do not share my philosophy. The kids were riled up and overwhelmed my over-tired wife. I’m certain at some point she will up and go to the gym, most probably right around bedtime–the most disruptive time available. Of course, I should ask her to go earlier. That would alleviate a great deal of marital stress. That kind of stress is a negative in my relationship, but the main drama has to be caring for kids.

No, it isn’t the kids. As I said in the last post, the problem is having real world responsibilities while having kids of an age where they don’t appreciate that there is a world outside of the involvement that I have with them.

Having that outside life is becoming more of a priority with me. I enjoy these people I work with, and I want to find a way to spend more time with them. There needs to be a balance between me-time, work-time, work-friends time, wife time, family, etc. Finding that balance is big business. It is how life coaches make such a good living.

Some Thoughts:

1. In a decade I’ll have to mark these posts like star dates. 3701 doesn’t sound like a realistic number, but in 10 years from today that will be about the number of posts I’ve made and # of days, counting back to the beginning, that I’ve posted.
2. My fingers are so long and weighty that when I type the first word of a sentence I often find that the first TWo letters are capitalized and then I need to go back and fix the sentence.
3. The war between my two younger kids threatens to destroy the world. They act as if this is the immortal struggle between Lex Luthor and Superman. It is not. In fact, it is a silly recurring feud over who gets more attention.
4. Talis Out.

 

I’ve been watching The Following on FOX. The show depicts the battle between  a serial killer’s cult and a team of FBI agents bent on stopping the killings. The more I watch the show with a critical eye, the more I notice the connections these writers are making between the average person and serial killers. See, the people following the killer and carrying out his will are lost. They seek the guidance of someone with a moral compass; and with a plan and purpose. In truth they are a lot like church folk in need of Jesus.

The parallels are compelling and the sole difference is the size of the population that follows the religious compass vs. that of a serial killer. One prays to God and acts His will. The other preys on the living and acts their shared dark morality. They both want to be a part of something–anything larger than themselves.

I would argue that our recent national fascination with serial killer shows and ongoing fascination with salacious sexual and explicitly violent content reflects a gradual decline of the baseline moral code. So many web authors point to the parallels between Rome in decline and today’s America, but it feels like we aren’t quite there yet. Still that fracturing moral code was part of the upswing of the Roman era. It ended badly. I suspect the land of us may too struggle if we fail to understand the connective tissues between the baseline moral compass and the prevalence of outliers to that compass. In short, the more the compass erodes, the more likely we are to enter into a space where extremists on both ends of the spectrum prosper. On one end you’ll have the ultra-cons looking to send us back to the formality of the 1800’s and on the other there will be many who treat human life as they would any other infestation and take equal pleasure in snuffing it out–so long as they are recognized for their good deeds.

I saw an ‘Instant Debate’ posted on NFL.com about the immediate future of the Jets franchise and I felt a deep need to chime in. Let me start with a clear assertion. Rex Ryan is a motivator and a game-managing coach. He is not an offensive mind. In fact, his history with Baltimore has trained him to be a classic ground-and-pound guy who is skeptical of the gimmick and unwilling to move forward in that vein unless there is a powerful and charismatic OC pushing the buttons. Last year they did not have that guy and the offense suffered. This year is about a new system and a new team of coordinators. Does that mean new results?

It starts with the players. Unless you are a genius on the scale of Belichick, you aren’t going to win many games with subpar talent. The Jets are loaded with subpar talent. The #1 receiver is best suited for a 2 or even a slot role (he would dominate) and there is nothing behind him. The team needs to look to the draft for a TE and the O-Line is a disaster. I’m not even prepared to address the QB situation. So, what then is the prognosis? The offense will come together incredibly well–provided the QB is not Sanchez. Without him, the team has an attitude of grit and fight and they will put up points in the offense. They will limit turnovers and score perhaps 2 TDs a game. That is not enough to win, so it has to happen on defense. Can it?

No. Not without Revis and a few other holes filled. The Jets once again have no answer at safety–the 2nd most important position on the D. The LB core is decimated, with 3 of 4 starters cut or gone to Free Agency. The D-Line lost the starting NT and the ends remain a question mark. So, without a huge influx of talent the D will buckle and yield more points than it did last season. Now, this could all be fixed with an extremely profitable Revis trade. Mark my words: Any trade of Revis will define both the season and the reign of Idzik. If the team cannot get extreme value for the defacto #1 corner in the sport, there is no reason to trade a guy that shuts down half the field–especially when there is a guy on the other side who can lock up on a receiver and take him out of the game. Imagine, Revis and Cromartie in top form? If the Jets grab the Honey Badger or another potential lockdown corner in the draft they can go 3 corners on 3 wides and pile up against the run with only 1 safety back for support or TE coverage. That is 7 in the box all day against a 3-wide set. That is pain and no-gain for yardage.

That is perhaps a pipe dream. It is also the fulcrum upon which the 2013 season hinges. As they say on NFL.com, Defense wins Championships.

It is a few days before I hit 38 and a few more before my 70’s themed b-day bash. There is much planning still to be done. I need to get a costume, figure out food, figure out music, and consider what the frack to do with the kids…There are several options–most of which involve sending them upstairs to play video games and hop about on an inflatable bounce house. Maybe I can do something with a gift bag or hire a babysitter to hang with the horde of children (I am guessing 12?).

The 70’s theme is the Wifey’s doing. I get the joke: I was born in the 70’s, so lets party like back then. It is doubled when you consider the return of the 70’s in the last few years. I really cannot wait for the 80’s to return.

Some Thoughts:

1. Just saw an incredible commercial that borrowed the Pacino speech from Any Given Sunday (life is a game of inches..) and tied it to some imagery of babies, joggers, and old folks leading into a reveal of workers crafting a Jeep. Nice stuff there. I miss giving the business to commercials. I ought to get back to that.

Enough complaining about the magical, mythical writer’s block and the idiocy that is the NY Jets front office (Revis is about to be traded for a pittance and there is nobody in the draft that is worth the squeeze). No more flim flam about finding my purpose and meaning in writing or anything remotely like that. I want to talk about films. Namely, I want to talk about Jack the Giant Slayer.

The film, directed by Bryan Singer, is a combination of two fairy tales, Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack the Giant Killer. Beyond that, lead writer Christopher McQuarrie (X-Men, Mission Impossible 4, The Wolverine) has created an interesting connective tissue between the myths and set up possible franchise opportunities with clever clues and item drops. The world of Jack is dynamic, beautiful, and just slightly steampunk-esque. There is a lot here to be happy about–between the quality of actors, acting, and scenery. On the other hand, the 3D leaves a great deal to be desired.

The 3D was blurry near the edges and showed evidence of fractured rendering, which could be the projector but is likely the film itself. 3D is a renewed medium, not a new one, and it is one that is hard to get right.

I encourage everyone to see this film if for nothing more than the fun of it. The movie was a joy to watch.

 

I’ve been back in AZ close to two weeks now and my productivity is dead. Dead on Arrival to AZ really. The full rigor set in about a week ago. So, now I am back to trying to find ways to get right. Under construction I call it. The deal is to figure out the root of the problem and then reconfigure from there. I diagnosed something close to the core: I need to write for myself. This is how it was once upon a time before I became obsessed with getting published and pushing a tiny word-agenda. The agenda is gone, but I still like being in print as much as possible. Now, that doesn’t quite mean writing for myself, but it helps point me towards the why.

 

The more I read the football posts, the more the pundits are convinced that Revis is leaving the Jets this offseason. Recent reports suggest he is headed to Philadelphia. That move would be the ultimate F-U to big blue. Not only would the Jets have unloaded the top defensive player in the NFL, but they would have moved him to a team that would suddenly have the best cornerback tandem in professional sports–a team that has to face the Giants twice a year.

Revis is an Eli killer. His buddy Nnamdi Asomugha was equally effective as a cover corner in years past, save for a hiccup last season as he transitioned to a ‘dream team’ defense that possessed poor leadership and a scheme the players could not follow. This move would allow the Eagles to have two Islands out there and put more men in the box to blitz or to run defend. In other words, this would effectively ruin the Giants’ chance to make the post-season for the next few years.

As for the Jets, it is hard to remain a fan if this trade happens. I get the value of Revis. If the trade gives the Jets a fully revamped roster, complete with an offloaded Sanchez, picks (like EJ Manuel), and a player or two, I can understand. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. Now, if there is anything less than a windfall for the Jets in return for Revis, then I am done as a fan. Heck, I might be done with the Jets nonetheless if a trade occurs.

As for the Giants, it is going to be tough going for them on the other end of this possible trade scenario. The G-men have 53 players and perhaps 10 who are good for 16 weeks. The rest are bit players who can catch fire for weeks at a time and tend to fall apart for weeks at a time. This is the situation that befell the team at the end of the season. Coach Coughlin has the unenviable task of balancing those kind of players and streaks in a fashion that allows his team to play well every week. He failed for two weeks this season, and it likely cost the Giants a trip to the Superbowl.

Some Thoughts:

1. Short post yesterday. I just haven’t been in the writer’s headspace that I worked myself into over the break in Denver. I suppose it is the transition back to AZ where my productivity falls to all time lows. I imagine I’d be a beast if I moved back to NYC, but I would probably never see my kids either. When I was watching Californication (TV being another reason why I am having issues) I thought about what it means to be a writer. It means finishing your work, even if that work sucks. I think I moved away from that way of thinking and need to get back there–and need to be more effective in sharing that message through my teaching. My role as an instructor is to be an example. In fact, my role is to be the baddest dude on the planet in terms of understanding and delivering the written word. Not there yet.