Hello and welcome to the latest set of Random Thoughts from yours truly. I got some stuff to talk about today, so I thought I'd blog about them. In the words of a character portrayed by one David Alan Grier: "Wanna hear it? Here it goes!!!" Enjoy.
- There's a couple of reasons I'm using the "force" title for this blog, both related to Star Wars. First, this is the 30th anniversary of what is probably the best of the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back. It's probably on somewhere on TV or on the internet if you don't already have a copy of the movie. Second, it's something related to this "new beginning" I've been trying to get going. Recently on A&E, I watched a documentary on the Star Wars movies called "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed." I'm not gonna go into details as to how it relates to my new beginning, but if you want a clue as to where I'm planning on going with it, watch this documentary. No, I'm not going into outer space or anything like that (though I do come off spacy sometimes), but some of the concepts and themes discussed may provide some insight for people as to what I'm doing and what I'm going for.
- From my own count, I think this is the 78th edition of my Random Thoughts blogs, going back to when I started them on Myspace and continuing to this day and beyond on Blogspot. I'm not talking about the other single-subject blogs I've done, just the Random Thoughts ones. That's a lot of Random Thoughts.
- I decided to take this weekend off from going out because I needed a breather from going out the past few weekends. I got a good sleep last night and a nice dream to boot, so it was worth it. I am planning on going out next weekend because it is the unofficial start of the summer season and that's something I don't want to miss (quick note: even though I've had bad things happen on a couple of past Memorial Day weekends, I don't envision bad stuff happening again).
- Last weekend I had an absolute blast going out. I went to Club Polaris on Friday night. It was nothing real spectacular, but I got to see some old friends I haven't seen for a while and got to check out the expansion of their outdoor patio. On Saturday night I went up to Martini Park. The band was alright, but it ran long and thus there was less time for dancing, only a little over an hour. However, I danced almost that entire time (after the band, of course), the most in well over a year. I got "down with my bad self" on the dance floor with my friends Al and Ernest and I got to dance with a couple of hot women (especially the second one I danced with, where I went all Animaniacs thinking "HELLO NURSE!!!") which is always a good thing. I was hyped and I believe it showed in my attitude last weekend.
- Before I continue, I want to address the fact that some people have had concerns about me recently. I have been out of sorts as of late, having up and down moods that have changed daily and even forgetting things I would normally remember in a heartbeat. Two factors in this are I've been fighting off depression, which has been a norm for me but I've been doing a lot more of it recently, and a job ended for me right before my last blog. Also I did vent some of my long-term frustrations in that last blog I did (the "good enough" edition) so that might also factor in here. I am dealing and doing the best I can in all of this. However, I must note that the "up and down" thing is an improvement given that it's the first time in about a year I've really felt truly "up" at times. Now if I could only sustain the "up" feeling, but at least it's a start in a good direction for yours truly.
- Like I said, next weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season. That means summer fun and warm weather (finally!!!). One event happening on Friday is Westerville 4th Friday. The monthly community festival in uptown Westerville kicks off the summer season in a big way. It's going on from 6 to 9 PM and you can bring your families with you. I'm not sure I'm gonna make it but I thought I'd put it out there for those of you looking for something to do on a Friday night.
- I haven't really paid much attention to the NBA playoffs this year, but the Cavaliers were bounced out by the Boston Celtics in the second round. I hate to say this but I'm not surprised. LeBron James hurt his elbow and, no matter what people around him were saying, it affected him and when half the team didn't step up it meant an early boot from the playoffs. A lot of people are putting this on the Cavs, but after seeing the results of the series between the Celtics and the Orlando Magic, I'm thinking more and more that it had to do more with the Celtics hitting their stride now and being a stronger team more than the Cavs just dialing it in. I would be looking over my shoulder if I were the L.A. Lakers because this looks to be a stronger team than the one that defeated the Lakers a couple of years ago. Celtic fans have got to be proud.
- A few days ago there was an episode of Jeopardy where one category was titled "In The Arena", about famous American arenas. The $400 clue was: "For WWE fans, Jan. 25, 2010 was this night 'RAW' in the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio." The correct response, of course, was Monday. It's freaky that Jeopardy actually mentioned a specific event I personally attended. I don't think that's ever happened before, at least for me.
- I wanted to pass along a couple of upcoming freebies that some of you might be interested in. One is the U.S. National Park Service is having some "Free Entrance Days" coming up in its parks where you would normally have to pay to enter. The next set of days this is happening is June 5th and 6th. More free days are also coming up and you can find out more at the "Free Entrance Days" website. The second is one that's potentially really big for those of you who have kids. Friendly's is giving away a free scoop of ice cream on Saturday, June 5th from noon to 5 PM. I came across this Facebook page talking about it (I checked it out and it is legit, from Friendly's Facebook page), so I thought I'd pass it along to everyone here. Hit me up on Facebook if you have questions about these freebies.
- Song on repeat: "Working For The Weekend" by Loverboy. I had a couple of other candidates for this edition's song. This one came about only a day ago. This song is one that I have murmured and sung to myself for years and yesterday I realized I didn't actually have the song on my playlists or even on my computer. I finally got it on here and have had it on repeat since I got it. It never occurred to me to get it on here, but I'm happy I finally did.
- SLP to the following: Andrea, Jimmy V's, Pastor Cory, Aunt Susie, Al, Griff, Cara, Holly, Anna (happy b-day), Jen C. (happy b-day), Bob, Lynn, Jay, Michael L. (happy b-day), Daryl, Matt, Miguel, Ernest, Dave, Joe C., Rahn (congrats on the new baby), and my brother Chris (happy b-day).
That wraps up another round of my Random Thoughts this time out. The weather is finally gonna hit the 80's regularly this week and it's going to be sunny to boot, so I'm gonna be a happy camper. I've got stuff to do and stuff to work on, so until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
