Remember National Twizzlers Day? Apparently, It Was A Local Event...

Are you one of those people who track those "national days?" You know the ones. They always post on Facebook or other social media platforms proclaiming to all whatever new "national day" it happens to be. Then, if it's National Cupcake Day for example, they post a picture of them or their family chowing down on cupcakes.

Yeah, you know people who do that. You may be people who do that.

And there's nothing wrong with that--don't get me wrong. I'm all for celebrating whatever day it is (which is just a way to generate more sales of whatever national day it is, but that's another story...).

A few weeks ago I entered the break room of my p/t job and low and behold before us all were bags and bags of Twizzlers. The note broadcast in no uncertain terms that it was National Twizzlers Day.

Of course, we all participated. You can't not celebrate National Twizzlers Day, especially when bags and bags of short sugary ropes taunt and temp as those blasted Twizzlers always do. I even took a picture--the same one on this blog post--and used it as my "Pic Of The Day" photo.

Turns out, it was not National Twizzlers Day, at least, not officially. I found out last week that it was only National Twizzlers Day in the break room of the south branch of the Davis County Library because the Branch Manager saw they were having a sale on bags of Twizzlers at her local grocery store so she stocked up, dumped them on the table, created a little note and let nature takes it's course.

I have no idea if there is an official National Twizzlers Day. But, after the celebration we had, there ought to be.

Another Cause...Of Distracted Walkers

If you've been outside the last week, you may have seen scores of people ambling about holding their smartphones in front of their faces. I'm usually guilty of distracted walking being caused by something else...

A book.

I don't walk much, basically too and from work when I take public transportation. I don't get a lot of reading done while walking and thankfully, I don't have to cross a lot of streets. Sure, I'm not as aware of my surroundings as I should be, but I don't believe I pose too much of a threat to either myself or the rest of society.

Unlike all those other people...

I'm not going to disparage or in anyway demean those who have chosen to participate in the newest smartphone/exercise craze. Personally, I think it's great. I even dowloaded the app, but I haven't had any free time to participate in the fun. I have seen others walking around and they generally look happy.

And this world could use more happiness.

For me, though, I think I'll stick to the distractions that required turning pages. Be careful out there, all you gamers...and readers!

Meet Our Newest Neighbor...

Two summers ago our neighbor to the north decided to get some chickens. They were very small and all but one succumbed to the elements--elements being mostly cats. But one survived and we had a lot of fun watching the black chicken wander around our yard. It got so tame that we could pet it and feed it out of our hands. All the kids on the street enjoyed having the bird around, too.

Then we didn't see it anymore. We live on a mountain so any number of things could have done it in. For the past year and a half our neighborhood has been sans free-range chickens.

Until recently.

Introducing our newest neighbor. I have no idea what breed of chicken this is, but we believe it's fully grown and it's half the size of a normal bird. Chickens like our yard because we have strawberries and raspberries, boysenberries and blackberries. The ones we don't get, they do.

The other day I was sitting on the front lawn and the little bird came wondering by. I picked up some grass and held it out thinking there's little chance this bird will be as tame as the last one. But I was wrong. It came over and began plucking. I don't know much about chickens. Maybe they're all like that--once they get used to the people around them, they warm up to humans. I'm sure those who have raised chickens know more. For now, we hope this particular bird enjoys our berries as much as we enjoy having her around.

In Just A Couple Of Months...I'll Know Where I'm From!

Well, I did it. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, ever since I heard about it. But things came up, budgets were considered and it just never happened.

Until now.

For Father's Day my lovely family got me an Ancestry.Com DNA test. It basically tells you where you're from. It's something I've wondered about most of my life. That happens when you're adopted. And back in the 1960s, adoptions were different than they are today. I don't believe open adoptions, like they have now, existed back then. Things were done one way, and the results were final. I can understand both ways of looking at adoption--open vs. closed. But I only know how my life's turned out, so I don't know how I'd feel if my adoption was open.

So many feelings...

On Monday I dropped off the kit in the mail. It can take up to eight weeks or more for my results to come back. I can't wait.

"You May Now Kill The Bride"...Directed By Kohl Glass

Because I was asked to be on a Salt Lake Comic Con panel, and I agreed, I met a filmmaker named Kohl Glass. I don't remember much about the panel or what we said, but I was impressed that we had a real live director with us, someone who lives the dream, went through all the hard work (we're many times not willing to do...), and became a film director.

We linked up on social media after that and from time to time I read about a project he's working on. The last time I read something from him, it caught my attention. He said a TV movie he directed was going to air soon and he gave the details. We recorded it when it was on, but only got around to watching it this last weekend. Maybe some of you caught it. It was on the Lifetime Channel and it was titled You May Now Kill the Bride.

Maybe you didn't catch it.

As a general rule, we don't watch that channel. It's not that it's necessarily a bad channel--they produce shows as good as many other channels, and in some cases, butter. But we're not what they might consider their "target audience." And I'm not going to say any more about that.

But, I wanted to support my friend so I watched it. From the title and the promotional poster (and if you're familiar with Lifetime and the movies they have...), you can probably guess what kind of show this was. Good vs. Evil in domestic America. The show had all the ingredients for the genre, people off meds, attempted murder, family secrets, love gone wrong, and even a twist at the end.

I watched the show a little differently. I looked for landmarks. I wondered how the casting was done and if local talent was used. I paid more attention to the camera shots more than the dialogue. Since I don't normal watch these shows, I'm not the most qualified to say if this was above or below par, but I thought the production quality was very good. The story was told in a straight-forward manner. It was effectively told. Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet up with Kohl at a future event and talk to him about this project, and find out what he's up to next.

Sometimes No Picture...Is Worth A Thousand Words

Yesterday morning I found myself sitting on the front steps of our house.

And I didn't have a camera.

You may be thinking, so--do you need a camera everywhere you go?

The answer is, no. I don't, but since early 2011 I've taken and posted at least one picture on social media every single day. That's almost 2000 photos. And when I found myself outside Saturday morning, I thought about how I was feeling and maybe I could compose a blog post about the morning, about how the recently mowed grass smelled, how these are the memories my children will carry with them into adulthood. The sun had not yet crested the mountain and I had a few minutes before I had to go to work.

It was one of those moments that speaks to your soul. And my first thought was how I didn't have a camera to chronicle that experience.

I considered posting this blog post without a picture, but I caved and went outside later in the morning and snapped one shot, one photo. Of course, there's no way any picture--even if I took it while those thoughts swam in my head--could give you, the reader, an impression of how I felt just sitting on the porch of my house early on a summer morning.

Maybe I take and post too many pictures. I think I need to just sit and experience the world around me without worrying about how I can turn those memories into a blog post, take time to turn off the electronics, let those quiet times feed my soul again. And if I do, you probably won't be reading about those times here.

Happy Birthday, Steph!

The older you get the more people you'll know. And sometimes you'll be invited to celebrate their birthdays with them. Such was our opportunity tonight. Our friend Steph had a birthday (as did three other of my Facebook friends...) and my wife and I got to spend time with them tonight.

We've known this family for almost twenty years. That is hard to believe. Many of our kids are the same age so during those almost two decades we've shared many good times. And Stephanie has been an invaluable friend to my wife, someone she can confide in, and share a sisterhood with. They've helped our family on numerous occasions and we've been blessed to do the same for them.

Tonight we had great food, exceptional company, and some wicked music to set the mood. We talked about growing up and raising kids that are growing up. Family, friends, food, fun, and a big birthday cake. Thanks Steph and your family for being such great friends to us. And enjoy the new year!