Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Album Playthrough Project: June 2024

I am a little embarrassed with my list of albums listened to in June.  It seemed like it would be a great month for me to sit down and listen, but it seems my life picked up in the summer.  Anyway, here are the albums in which I intentionally listened.  


Shake Your Money Maker (1990) Black Crowes 6/2/24
INXS Kick (1987) INXS 6/10/24
Night Service: Live at LunAtico (2024) Jon Lampley 6/29/24
Beginnings (2017) Bruce Harris 6/29/24
True Design (2020) Giveton Gelin 6/29/24

Best Memories: Kick, INXS-
80's cool

Biggest Surprise: Night Service: Live at LunAtico, Jon Lampley -
Cool Jazz right off the stage of Late Night with Stephen Colbert!

Biggest Disappointment: I didn't choose Shake Your Money Maker as best memories -
Great album, great band, but it didn't have as much of an overall impact today as INXS. Might be different tomorrow.

Listened to Over and Over: Night Service: Live at LunAtico, Jon Lampley -
It might be the album that sabotaged my listening in June! I'm listening right now.

For a description of the Album Playthrough Project, click here

February

March

April  

May


Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Balancing Act of Life

If you've ever walked through a school building in the summer when students are on break, it can really look like a mess.  Work that needs to be done on the building always waits for the summer months so it doesn't interrupt student learning.  Yearly maintenance like stripping and waxing the floors takes place so the school looks its best when students return.  


What all of this means is that classrooms are packed up and moved to the hallways for waxing and other maintenance.  It is a feat stacking and balancing to take the contents of a classroom out of the room and fit it into the hall in a short amount of time.  

I encountered a stack of desks that caught my attention recently.  I had to stop and take a good look to see how many desks were in a stack that was in front of me (see picture).  I couldn't help but think of the balance and work it took to stack all of these and how that can be related to life.  Sometimes we are taken out of our comfort zone to balance a lot in our lives.  It may seem impossible.  It may seem hopeless to tackle.  It may seem like a tangled mess.  But if we approach all of the things we need to do from our 9 to 5 jobs, spouses/significant others, to taking care of children, maybe caring for a parent or spouse, fulfilling our own lives with our hobbies and social activities, it can really add up.  Like those who stacked these desks, if we really look at our tasks and responsibilities and try to balance them, we can make it work.  We also need to realize that maybe it is too much!  There is a ceiling after all.  

Anyway, I hope when things seem to be piling up, we can think of the desks in the hallways of a school in the summer.  We can stack them in a well-balanced way to make it all work out or say no to a few things to make it all balance out.  


P.S. I believe there are 5 desks per stack.  Nice work to our custodial and maintenance staff for their balancing and their amazing work to make our schools look awesome at the beginning of the year and all year long.  

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

American Pickers: I can't stop watching

I don't watch much television, because I always feel guilty for the time it seems to waste. But when I swing by the History Channel and see American Pickers it on, I can't walk away.  For those who haven't ever watched the show, here is an explanation from the American Pickers website: 


The American Pickers are on a mission to recycle America, even if it means diving into countless piles of grimy junk or getting chased off a gun-wielding homeowner’s land. Hitting back roads from coast to coast, the Pickers earn a living by restoring forgotten relics to their former glory, transforming one person’s trash into another’s treasure. The show follows the team as they scour the country for hidden gems in junkyards, basements, garages and barns, meeting quirky characters and hearing their amazing stories. If you think the antique business is all about upscale boutiques and buttoned-up dealers, this show may change your mind – and teach you a thing or two about American history along the way.

The hunt is what draws me in.  I enjoy the history that the hosts share as they are picking.  In particular they have an affinity for bicycles, motorcycles, cars, advertising and toys.  Their passion and knowledge of these items is really fun to see.   

Watching them negotiate with the owners of this "junk" is a lesson alone.  I feel that they are super fair in their offers especially knowing they have to resell the items they find.  I like when a seller offers too little for something of significant value, the hosts will tell them that they aren't offering enough, and they will make a fair offer that is higher than the seller's original.  I love this honest bartering.  

American Pickers never disappoints me.  I never feel that it is wasted time watching TV when the show is on, because I am entertained and I feel that I learn a little along the way.