A Poster Of Memories...

I found the poster while digging around in the basement looking for Christmas decorations. It is a Christmas decoration, of sorts. It was meant as a promotional poster. It ended up being a memento, complete with signatures and well wishes.

It's a poster for Rodger's Memorial Theatre's production of Scrooge from December, 2000.

And it's amazing.

The theatre passed out these posters for us to place them around town, at our work, at home, basically anywhere people would see them. I had one hanging up in my cubicle and I received more than a few comments about how great it looked. Ebenezer practically jumped off the poster with rage. You, as a viewer, knew the pain of that man.

When the show ended, I took my poster to the theatre and I had the cast members sign it for my son. He was my oldest and he was only five-years old at the time. I thought it would be a cool thing for him to have, maybe frame it and put it up on his wall. I didn't know if he'd ever do another show--turns out, he caught the bug. In the next few years, he did other shows--he was even Chip in the theatre's production of Beauty and the Beast a few years later.

I snapped a picture of the poster and thought it would be a good Pic Of The Day. That's what I did, and I got many comments on the poster on social media. I wonder if any of them saw the words and memories around the edges.

I took out my phone and videoed the poster, including the signatures and thoughts the cast members left for a child. 

The show took place before the advent of social media, before Facebook, before Instagram. In the almost twenty years since those sentiments were written, many have moved away, some have passed away, children grown to adulthood, adults grown older still. In a word, it's been a lifetime since we met on stage and performed a classic story. And for me and my son, a good lifetime.

Spotted A Super-Shelf Yesterday...It's Holding Up A Lot Of Awesome!

Yesterday afternoon, just after 5pm, I drove down to the city's newest (and only...) bookstore. An author friend, Frank Cole, was having a book signing and since I don't see my author friends very much and since he was in town, I thought I'd stop by and say, "hi." It took a while for a lull to open up in his line (dude's popular among his target audience...), but once there was, I said, "hi." We chatted. I wished him well. 

On my way out, I saw a bookshelf, and to be honest, I was amazed at the strength of that particular bookshelf because it held so much awesomeness! It must be a super-shelf to successfully hold up such super-literature.

The shelf highlighted three local authors, and an author from Colorado. Each I know personally (some better than others...), each have had a positive effect on my writing. The display was set up in anticipation of a book signing. On Saturday, December 14th, at least two of the four authors will be in town to mingle and pitch their wares. I thought all three Utah authors were to be at the signing, and maybe they will, but the store's website only announced two.

Don't let that dissuade you from attending if you're in the area--the two authors, D.J. Butler and Brad Torgersen, are loaded with talent. And, as good of authors that they are, they've proved to be better people. And who knows...Mr. Larry Correia might be there, too. I don't believe Aaron Ritchey will be able to make it, and that's too bad--he's a character.

I've tried to highlight authors I've met and who have helped my on my literary journey. I'm constantly amazed at the quality of people I meet. Maybe I'm just lucky and have not encountered the jerks. Anything's possible, but my batting average of quality writers/people vs. jerk writers/people has been pretty good.

If you're close and you'd like to pick up some fantastic reading material and chat with the writers of said material, stop by the new, shiny (it really is...) Barnes & Noble store in Farmington, Utah a week from Saturday. You can access the store's website with information about this and all their signings by clicking: HERE. It'll definitely be worth your time.

Those #$%&* Christmas Lights...

We've lived in our house since 2003 and since 2003 we've hung outside Christmas lights around our front door. The way we designed the front porch works well with lights, at least, we think so. One day we'd like to go all-out and put lights all around the house and on our huge pine trees that are next to the house.

One day.

Then again, maybe we won't.

Normally, I put up the lights and forget about them. They've worked well year after year, but this year we've been bit by the Christmas light gremlins. And it's a tad frustrating. 

A day or two after I put up the lights they were all out. After a little troubleshooting, I found the problem. The first string was bad. I quickly checked the 100 bulbs on the string and they did not come back on, so I got another string--one that was working--and replaced that first string. 

We're good, I thought.

Nope.

Within a few days of working fine, they all went out again. Once again, I found that first string out. This time, I found the problem--when placing a snow shovel against the railing, it broke a bulb and blew the fuse. No problem--I'll just replace it again, which I did.

Last night, after several days of full illumination, I went outside and saw all the lights out again. The first sting is out. I'm thinking I'll just leave it as it is. I mean, I suppose I could replace the string yet again, but what's the point? The strange thing is, this has never happened before in the sixteen years we've lived here. 

Those #$%&* Christmas lights.

I Had No Idea I Looked So...Evil

The other day I donned a turtleneck shirt--because it was cold. Plus, since I was on a break from work due to Thanksgiving, wearing a warm turtleneck was a cozy thing to do. After I put it on, I caught myself in the mirror and thought the item of clothing made me look a little smarter than I normally look (t-shirt and jeans...). I decided to snap a selfie and maybe I'd use it for my Pic Of The Day.

That's just what I did.

I post my Pic Of The Day on social media on four sites: Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, and on my daily blog. If people respond to my pictures (not all of them generate responses...), it's most likely to come from my Facebook post. I chose this picture as my Pic Of The Day on November 29th. So far, I've received 63 reactions, fifteen comments, and one share. 

I had no idea I looked so evil.

Sure, responding with a gif of Mike Myers portraying Dr. Evil is appropriate--even expected. If I hold my pinkie finger to my face and arch an eyebrow, I can cosplay as Dr. Evil with extremely little effort. I get it and I think it's funny (if you're bald you either have a good sense of humor about it, or you're bitter--I prefer the former...). 

What I didn't expect were the comments that suggested I was evil, or I looked evil. A few comments said I looked like, a criminal mastermind, a British villain, a James Bond villain (they're not always British...). You get the idea.

I suppose we all have an opinion of how we think we look to the outside world. We may be right on, or completely wrong. Then again, is there a true representation of how we look since the perception is in others, in those who are looking? I guess the way we look actually depends on everyone else, or, in other words, we can look as different as there are people on earth, or even more because people can look at someone differently depending on a number of factors.

I haven't worn the turtleneck since last week. Since the turtleneck is warm and the weather will only get colder, I'll most likely don it again. And when that happens, will I feel evil?

I just might.

I'm Sure Going To Miss This Team...

I'll admit it--I was a little nervous, especially after the first quarter. The men in red were supposed to smash their opponent and show the world they deserved to be considered a top-four team. I guess I shouldn't have worried, though. The final score told the tale--a thirty-point win over a conference foe.

What a season this has been!

Sports are a strange animal. The more you trust, the more you risk, the greater the glory...

The greater the pain.

Sports isn't the only thing that generates such feelings. Anything you commit to, that you work for, that you admire, can all cause such a reaction.

This year's U of U football team, well...they've brought the feels.

The game ended the same way they last eight have ended--a Utah win. I've been a fan of the Utes for decades. There's been players I've loved to watch. This year, there seems to be a lot of them. I was fortunate enough to see them play in person. While I watched last night's game, hearing the roar of the crowd brought back that feeling. When you're a fan of a team and that team is wining, there's nothing like sitting with tens of thousands of fellow fans as they scream out their support, stomp their feet in unison, and do anything they can to push their team forward.

This year's Utah team will play at least two more times. Their season as players--our season of fans--is not over. If they're really good, there's a chance they'll play three games. I have no idea how this season will ultimately end. I hope, on a win. But even if they don't, those experiences and memories and feelings we've accumulated since an August win against BYU have been marvelous. I'm going to miss this team.

Thanks for the incredible season. Let's end it the same way.

* All photos used without permission from the ABC broadcast

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

My brother is almost two years older than me--to the day. From Thursday to yesterday, I was fifty-four years old, and he only fifty-five, one year apart (at least, on paper...). 

Today, he becomes "officially" two years older.

Like the way it's supposed to be.

The "two-years apart" thing was never planned, not by anyone in this world. Both of us were adopted, and both times, my parents didn't know they were getting either of us until after we were born. Things were much different in the 1960s. So, us having almost the identical birthdays was a fluke--maybe fate had something to do with it.

Because I was "placed" in my family, I look at things a little differently. My parents, my siblings--everything could have been different--things could have ended up completely different. But, they ended up the way they did and continue to end up the way they are. It's life.

I could not have asked for a better example in my life. I've had friends who had brothers and, growing up, they nearly killed each other...literally. I remember my brother and I got into tussles, but nothing serious. Once I figured out he could kick my butt, I backed off. It wasn't worth it.

My brother was always good at pretty much everything he tried. He was an excellent artist, singer, "popular high school guy"--you name it. I just tried keeping up. And now, that we're old men, he continues to be an excellent example for me and my kids. 

Today's his birthday. Love you, brother! Hope it was great.

Restoring Mr. Snowman...

It was a Christmas present given to us from my sister-in-law a long time ago. We've put out Mr. Snowman every year. 

Even when his lights were all but out.

Years ago my wife's sister had a craft room where she created amazing things! We were fortunate enough to have received several of her works of art. Two make their appearance each December (and, sometimes sooner...). They're showing signs of wear-and-tear, especially, since we've got a big dog in the house.

But, we've always put out Mr. Snowman.

This week I've had some time on my hands. I brought out Mr. Snowman from storage and went to work on the lights. Given enough time, I'm usually able to troubleshoot a string of Christmas lights. I unplugged and plugged in each lightbulb several times--thankfully, it's a 25-light string. I even replaced the small fuses that are in the plug. 

Nope--no lights, nothing.

I'd have to replace the lights. Trouble is, 25-light strings are no longer as popular as they once were. Before I worked on Mr. Snowman's lights, there was another string of lights I was also trying to troubleshoot. Its problem was different--only half the lights worked.

Turns out, a half-lit string was a perfect replacement for the non-working one. It took a little time, and there's a lot of the string wrapped up and hiding behind, but for the first time in years, Mr. Snowman is happy and bright. 

And so are we.