I don’t remember my dreams very often, but when I do they are always a little on the strange side. My latest dream (last night) was no exception. The exception was, is that it stayed with me all day. Usually I forget them by the time I drive to work. This one is still strong in my memory.

Started with me being in an apartment, instead of my house. That in and of itself isn’t too strange, but I it was supposed to be an apartment building I lived in before. I’ve only lived in two, and this wasn’t either of them. Anyway I was entering an apartment that wasn’t mine. It was by mistake. I was trying to enter the apartment I had the last time I lived there. The lady living in the apartment wondered what I was doing, and I explained I just had a brain freeze and jumped back 20+ years. She laughed and dropped the bag of stuff she was carrying. As I helped pick up the stuff, she gave me a quick peck on the cheek. Strange, but it seemed important at the time.

Jump some indistinct time period, I find that some other lady in the apartment building is planning to murder me. I didn’t know why or how, but I was able to listen in to the entire conversation without anyone knowing. Going out the the garage to contact the authorities, I’m shoved into a big black van. I’m assuming these are the guys that will do me in. No, they’re a rock band that live in another apartment. They needed me to run their lights and sound for their gig. The first lady met is going to be their lead singer. Now the van drives off and is pursued by a red corvette.

The band and lady turn out to be some sort of government agents. They push me behind some crates, open the back doors of the van and start shooting at the Corvette. The guys in the corvette shoot back. We are going quickly down a highway that looks a lot like I95 in Florida?? Where did that swamp come from?

Van doors close and the FBI guys are again a band. I run lights and sound for the gig and head back home. I meet the lady who was setting up my murder and she wants to go out on the town. Thinking nothing of this I go, followed by the FBI guys again.

Then I wake up, only I’m still in my dream. I go to the apartment of the first lady, really thinking that she would be interested in the dream, only to discover that she lives with the second lady and they are plotting to kill me. I run out the door, only to run into the van full of FBI guys. The wild chase begins again… Then the alarm rings.

Yep, time to get up and go to work.

Today while preparing to watch the latest in what seems like daily thunderstorms, I was watching a taped broadcast of the National Spelling Bee. One of the funniest moments of any bee I have ever seen was in the 9th round. Sameer Mishra from West Lafayette, Indiana was given the word numnah. The 13 year-old eight grader mispronounced the word and said “numnut.” Not only did I start to laugh, the entire television audience cracked up and stopped the whole thing for 30 seconds. Upon reflection, the young man quickly recovered and a light bulb seemed to come on. OH…. Numnah!!! And he proceeded to correctly spell the word and eventually become crowned National Spelling Bee Champion with the word guerdon. (and if you would like the definition, language of origin, etc. I am not giving them to you> I would hate to spoil a good game of Balderdash).

My own association with the Bee began in the 5th grade. I was runner-up to a 6th grade girl. We battled each other through (I believe 8 rounds) before I unfortunately misspelled illegible. I do remember my class giving me a surprise party a few days after the bee.

My six grade year, I did not fare as well. I incorrectly spelled pajamas. I knew as soon as I said “g” and not “j.” In hindsight, if I had just slid that last sound to an “a” instead of “e”.

I do not remember my seventh grade experience. However, I was finally victorious my 8th grade year and progressed to our county bee. I do not remember where I finished there, either.

In last year’s competition, an eighth grader from my local junior high school made it to the National Bee where he made it just beyond the first written round. Pretty impressive considering our small community had previously never sent a speller to Washington, DC to compete.

watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E

This is a time of transitions.  Of course, as you know this is the time school days transition to long vacation time for the kids.  They will be transitioning to the next grade, moreso of course these days than yesteryear.  Once upon a time schools believed that holding back a child who wasn’t ready for the next grade was the right thing to do.  Parents had to fight the schools to keep their children from this fate.  Nowadays, schools have done a 180 and advance just about anyone believing it does more harm than good to hold that child back.  This means that a child can do pretty much whatever he or she wants during the year without fear of having to repeat the grade.  Parents who actually believe they might help their child by holding him/her back now must fight for this end instead.  Is being held back such a bad thing?  I don’t know- I just know things have really changed in schooling.

Okay, I have gone way off topic now, so where was I?  Ah yes, transitions.  I am transitioning from working to looking for work.  I will be looking in to a state job possibly, among other things.  I mean, besides teaching- there are state jobs in just about every field.  There are also transitions in my church as of late.  One of the teaching pastors left a couple of months ago after only a short time at my church to head up another college.  The new singles group got started a couple of weeks ago.  Most kids moved up a grade starting this week (the rest will change over at the end of August).  And, there have been some staff rotations.  The pastor that had written the curriculum for at least 4th/5th grade, probably the younger grades too, had transitioned to another church campus running both from there, but now he’s back and they hired another one to take over at the other campus so now each is dedicated to one campus.  However, as duties have changed now a different pastor who previously did mostly the younger grades has officially taken over 4th and 5th grades as well, meaning he is responsible to get out the emails about the weekend to the leaders, such as what we should be doing, who will be teaching, new rules, etc…  Yes, with the transitions come new rules.  Just a slight change, but since he didn’t get an email out being new to this and all- he didn’t let us know until Saturday night.  One of us two leaders (yes, only two of us this service) had to take over last minute.  Since I work two services, I agreed I would teach Sunday morning so she taught Saturday night.  The third service was actually worked out between a couple of the leaders phoning each other when they didn’t get an email I found out later, so Sunday went quite smoothly.

This was the first time for the former third-graders, now fourth-graders, so things were completely new to them.  They are used to having a drama (which I was part of, of course) but now they have a game time instead.  Worship is also different- they have to provide all the singing.  Prior to this, they sang to recorded children’s songs, with the leader providing motions to do.  Now the leader is more like the leader tin the main worship service, providing the music via guitar and possibly other instruments depending on who is there.  Well, this was how it worked Sunday.  We had no worship leader on Saturday night.  High school students are a big part of this ministry and we just don’t have any serving on Saturday nights (they often provide the music as well as lead).  We have had an adult doing worship Saturday nights, but he wasn’t there this time for some reason.  I hope he didn’t transition out, or if so that a replacement takes over quickly.

Anyway, also new to the new kids are small groups divided up by gender.  Girls with female leaders, boys with male.  The leaders could of course be high-school age, adults, or somewhere in between which is why I don’t say “women” or “men.”  Well, one thing that hasn’t changed is my Monday night small group, and I have to do my homework for it, so- later.

Friday June 13th sees the return of The Incredible Hulk to the big screen. While I do remember the television series that ran on CBS from 1978-1981, I found the original 2003 big screen adaptation to be lacking in some areas while being way too overblown in others. As a youngster, I fondly remember Dr. Banner becoming enraged and transforming into the green giant who was not always so jolly. He would smash buildings, overturn cars, hurl bad guys around like dolls.

As I grew older and saw reruns that pop up from time to time (this week a marathon of episodes is running on the SciFi Channel), I noticed from the first episode a somewhat Jekyll/Hyde saga. Following the death of his wife in a horrible automobile accident, Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby) began experimenting with gamma radiation in an attempt to unlock the hidden strength that lies within everyone. Dr. Banner accidentally is exposed to lethal amounts of radiation. In times of rage, Banner transforms into a 7′ behemoth who is capable of flipping cars, smashing holes in walls, uprooting trees, etc. As many would suspect, the monster is seriously misunderstood as he is more of a hero than an evil monster. After his tantrums are over, the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) changes back into the mild-mannered scientist who is endlessly seeking a cure for the transformation. Complicating matters is Mr. McGee, an investigative reporter who pursues Banner. The end of each episode features Dr. Banner either hitching a ride or hopping a bus to travel from city to city. So, I guess we can call it a Jekyll/Hyde meets the Fugitive.  Following the series cancellation, there were three reunion made-for-tv movies (The Return of, The Trial of, and The Death of the Incredible Hulk).

Now, the problem I had with the big screen movie was the fact that the producers wanted to do too much. Overblowing everything with the magic of CGI and forsaking anything resembling a plot. I remember the big promotion during Super Bowl XXXVIII and the first theatrical trailer showing The Hulk. If I remember correctly, reaction the next day was horrible and only could get better, right? WRONG!!!! I was never a huge fan of the comics…. indeed my main background with the character was from the series. I hated the look of the creature; it was abundantly clear that he was indeed an overblown computer generated image.

From what I gather from previews for The Incredible Hulk, the character battles a creation known as The Abomination who is every bit as big and powerful as the green one. I’m kind of torn on this one. Will it be as unmemorable as the original movie or will it redeem the series?
Incredible Hulk tickets on sale now!

The Incredible Hulk – The Television Series Ultimate Collection

For the past four days, I have been helping out my friend Amie while she babysits while her mom is down in Texas. You see, Cheryl (Amie’s mom) went down to Texas to help her daughter-in-law, Angel, and Angel’s son, Aidien, move up here, while Zac (Amie’s brother) is over seas. The problem, what was going to be a two week thing has turned into being a whole month! Apparently Angel called and said she couldn’t deal with it, it was all too much to handle on her own and she needed Cheryl down there as soon a possible. Yes, I understand that her husband is going over to Afganistan, and her son is a premie, but is it really necassary for Cheryl to be there a whole month while Amie is up here doing Cheryl’s job and not getting paid for it? Amie was supposed to go down and help Angel for the summer, and get paid, so she would have some money for college in the fall, but that was changed, and now she’s helping her mom for nothing! Amie’s not too happy about it, and to tell the truth, neither am I! Amie is working so hard with these kids and is going to have five children at a time some days. I am staying with Amie and helping her this month, so she doesn’t go crazy. There are days that I will be going back to my house to do some chores around the house, but a lot of the time, I will be over with Amie, because a month is too long for her to have to do this for free. Yesterday, Amie went to her friend’s graduation party while I watched the kids, so hopefully she will be able to do that occassionaly, because I get to leave when I feel like I need to, or should so I can do things at my house, and spend some time with Tony. So I am hoping to do the same for her: let her spend time with her boyfriend and other friends. She will need breaks and I want to be there when she does.

Once Angel gets up here, she and Aidien will be staying with Amie and her family. The problem is that Aidien has to stay downstairs because of his oxygen and other stuff, so Angel has to sleep down there too, but there isn’t really anywhere for her to sleep. Cheryl stays on the couch so she can get up when the kids start to arrive. And another thing, with all the stuff for the kids that Cheryl babysits, there really isn’t room for all the stuff Aidien needs either. Amie isn’t very happy with what is going on, but she really can’t do much, since Angel is family and it’s her mom who is letting them stay. Plus, with the way things are between Angel and myself, it will make things a little difficult for Amie, I think. Angel isn’t very thrilled with me, though I really haven’t figured out why. I have asked Amie about it, and she really doesn’t know either. I have tried to patch things up, to help Amie, but Angel keeps pushing my attempts away, so it’s really up to her, if things are going to get better between us while she’s here.

On a lighter note, Amie has kittens in her garage. There are five cute little kittens and Amie has named them all. There is George because he’s verycurious, Cotton because she’s so fluffy and soft, Jet because she just takes off, Juno and Telula just because Amie liked those names.

Yesterday (it was yesterday as I am making this post) was a fantastic fun-filled day full of little people, great friends, and a surprise or two. It actually began last night when I received a phone message that I was to return to see if I would like to do something this weekend. It was a good thing we did not plan it for Friday night with all the storms in the area. Instead, a bunch of us went to an indoor Entertainment Complex known as Crazy Pinz full of arcade games, games of skill, mini-golf, and mini bowling (which I must admit to being a real master of… my score may not have shown it but a master nonetheless). Watching C walk up the lane crawling on his hands and knees to fix the lane several times was humorous at times. Then it got to the point where it became ridiculous.

There was also a very fun and if you were not careful, addictive, Deal or No Deal game. However, the prize was not ONE MILLION DOLLARS, but anywhere from 1-200 (or 2-400 depending upon which version you played) tickets to be redeemed for prizes. I did pretty well collecting tickets from this game (better than the bowling which was great too).

The surprise came in when we were getting ready to sit at a table to enjoy a small break. I suddenly felt someone wrap her arms around me and say “Guess Who?” After giving up or just allowing my captor to get off her tiptoes, I discovered my “Aunt” Carol standing behind me. She then led me over to her group where my cousin was having a gathering of her own at the bowling alley. Some of them were dressed for what seemed like Halloween party or a superhero convention. Stacy was dressed as the Amazon Princess Wonder Woman. There was also a Batgirl, Catwoman, and a few others in costumes I do not remember. But how strange was that?!

After eating dinner, and being taken back home, I was ready to crash. A great day but most great days do seem to wear you out. I did forget to mention the rather lame amusement park roller coaster simulation that gave you the sense of nausea however, none of the rush of speed and euphoria felt during the real thing. Just watching it from behind I kind of got the same impression.

This day actually started some time yesterday evening. During a thunderstorm in the area and a tornado close to us, 4 outlets in our house went out. I’m thinking something in the storm caused it, because to was only part of a complete circuit. Looked like I would have to replace at least on outlet. I couldn’t tell from a exterior glance as to which outlet shorted out. So I put a trip to the hardware store on my Saturday to-do list. The first thing on the list was getting my daughter to her SAT testing.

Now on to Saturday Morning… Storm damage from the previous night’s storms caused some rough driving. A normal 40 minute drive took closer to 1 hour. We just made it just in time to the SAT testing site. Hmm, day not starting off well…

I had to wait around for at least an hour for the hardware store to open, so I stopped for coffee. Those who have known me for a while, know that my favorite coffee shop closed for good a little over 2 years ago. This was the place my dear wife and I spent many happy times, just getting away from the kids, planning for future things, getting to know one another again after 4 children. Good memories in that little place. I have yet to find any coffee shop that comes close to the atmosphere, quality of the coffee, food ect. and the people who frequent the shop itself. The place I stopped in today had a very nice atmosphere (except for the big screen TV, but I went around the corner from that). The coffee was very good. The food I had ok, but nothing special.. Not many people there, so I couldn’t say anything about that. Too bad it was a 40 minute drive… Too far for a once a week type of thing.

After the coffee, I could get the things I needed to replace at least 1 outlet. I got 4 new outlets just in case. I still had at least 2 hours to wait for the SAT to finish. Stopped at another store and was able to find some water filters for our office at work. I installed an older water filter on the tap at work, but the filters have been hard to find. I try to pick up extra whenever I see them on the shelf. Filtered water makes better coffee ya know… Now only 1 1/2 hours for the test to let out…

Got a call from my daughter in FL, we talked until my Cell battery almost died. Then I got a notice that I had 3 messages… Two were from the day before!!! They weren’t there when I got up in the morning, I checked… Storm must have hit a local tower or something?? Anyway a friend wanted to get together to (in his words) “just get out of the house”. Great!! How does one decide what to do when I was already invited to oldest daughter’s place for fun and games… Hmmm. Well, I was expecting a call from the oldest earlier in the week to finalize the plans. It never happened. I let my youngest test goer decide… Friend won the toss.

So after a good lunch youngest, and I head out for some fun. We played games (all sorts), and just had a lot of fun. We played a miniature bowling game. The balls were slightly larger than a softball, no holes, and the pins were on strings/wires. If you ever see one, try it out. They are very fun. We also played indoor mini-golf (black lit area with dark black ‘greens’, and glowing colored bumpers and obstructions). This was fun to, but it did make it hard to ‘read the greens’. I ended up with a hole in one on the last hole. We also played a number of arcade games for ‘tickets’. It was a fun afternoon/evening… Good idea C…

Now I’m tired and ready for bed…. What a Day…

Just kidding.  Thursday I subbed at a middle school again, and eighth grade did have graduation rehearsal most of the day.  Fortunate for me, I subbed for seventh grade.  The end of year had already come for three of the districts I sub in, but this one district actually finishes next week with a half-day Thursday and a one-hour day Friday.  I currently have an assignment for Tuesday, but I am not sure if it will last.  I didn’t get along well with one of the TAs in that class and even got a call from the principal on the day, but I have a good record with that school so he recognized it as an anomaly.  I did skip out on an assignment with this teacher since, but being the end of the year with only one district still in school I can’t be too fussy.

So, back to this week, I subbed Thursday for a BD/LD teacher.  The classes I had were two small-group reading classes and two tutorials.  There were two other classes, but I acted more as an assistant in those.  It was mostly self-work,  but one class was end-of-year details, i.e. turning in books.  Yippee.

Friday was a half-day with the class I was with Wednesday.  Good for me as I left my lunch is his fridge… 😀  He never noticed, and I grabbed it Friday.  Not much to do here- silent reading, correcting homework, math test, self-science review…  The teacher is going to be out all day Monday too.  Too bad for me someone else has that assignment.

Sweltering heat those last couple of days I will tell you.  With temps in the high 80s (with high humidity!) and no AC in the schools we were all sweating, even with fans going.  This district is finally entering the latter half of the 20th century starting next year, but that didn’t help much those two days, or the at least one day I will be working next week.  Can I wear shorts please?

There have been several versions of the Robin Hood tale. the classic story of the character who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, battled the Sheriff of Nottingham, and wooed Maid Marian. Some of these include the 1938 classic starring Errol Flynn; the 1970s Disney version; the 1991 Kevin Costner movie. Heck even Daffy Duck and Porky Pig starred as the outlaw and his Friar Tuck-esque companion. I think my favorite incarnation took place around the same time as the aforementioned film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Qpid” sees the evil (yet hilarious) omnipotent being known as Q transport Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his bridge crew to medieval England (as a “gift”) where the adventures of Robin Hood and his merry men are reality. Commander Riker, the android Data, Commander La Forge, the Klingon Worf (who delivers the best line in the episode), Dr. Crusher, and Counselor Troi all assume roles from the tale. The recurring character Vash (an on again/off again love interest for the captain) returns to play the role of Maid Marian. In order to return to the Enterprise, Picard and crew must live out the Robin Hood adventure by rescuing Marian and defeating the evil Sheriff.

My favorite character from the entire series is the villainous Q. Since the premiere episode, John de Lancie played the god-like being with flair, comedic timing, and gusto (very melodramatic). During the course of its run, Q would return at least once a season to mischievously annoy the crew. However, he did introduce Picard and crew to their most formidable opponents: The Borg. I wish the franchise would have used the character in one of the big-screen adventures.

On a tangent yet again (which I so frequently do), Patrick Stewart has another tie to the Robin Hood legacy. He portrayed King Richard in Mel Brooks’ epic: Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Star Trek Fan Collective – Q

I’ve been reflecting this evening about the things I think about. While watching Jeopardy, I noticed (again) there are some subjects I’m very good at, others (opera, actors/actresses, TV shows) I’m not as good at. If you do specific actors, If I like them I will know most of there works, if I don’t well none of it sinks in even if they are in one or more of my favorite shows.

Anyway, I was trying to determine what type of information that takes root in this brain of mine. Computer stuff, most of the time. Math– well it used to, some is still there. Science– A lot, mainly the physical sciences (Earth Sciences, Astronomy, Physics, some Chemistry). Things dealing with logic (math/word puzzles). Politics, current and some historical. Some history, geography. Comic book heroes, well some of them anyway. Science Fiction and Fantasy books I’ve read (short list, I don’t read everything). Some movie trivia (mainly Disney, Lord Of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Comic Book Movies, Harrison Ford movies, Mysteries, some comedies). Word play (taking and twisting words/meanings for fun). Some things of religious nature, especially the odd and frequently outside of common knowledge stuff.

Things that don’t take root. Anything about TV sitcoms (exceptions Mash, Barney Miller). TV shows in general (I don’t pay attention to much on TV anymore). Theater/Movies/Plays/Opera (except as noted above, or I’ve been in a specific show). Musical Groups/artists and Song titles. Artists and their work with a very few exceptions (I know the common stuff, who painted the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel). Spelling/grammar (who knows, who cares sort of thing).

Other than that things come and go in my knowledge base quite frequently. If I’ve been playing Trivia games, I tend to keep trivia in my head. If I’m working on an intense project at work, that information needed there is front and center. Discussing Politics frequently, well that information becomes available.

Somethings stay in my head all the time. I can tell you when each daughter was born (it may take a second or two). I can tell you the day and time I proposed to my wife. I never forgot an anniversary. I remember the birthday of my first crush. I know what my last words to my wife were, I know hers to me, and her last words (that weren’t to me).

It seems like sometimes there shouldn’t be much room for anything else in my head. I do tend to keep some information that is no longer needed (Do I really need to remember the favorite color of a girl I dated in 1981?). Some I wish I would have remembered better (sending things in the mail at the right time). If I could only figure out how to store and keep the information I want/need and get rid or archive the information I don’t need/want. If I could figure that out I could write a book and retire…