Hello and welcome to the 91st edition of my Random Thoughts. As I suffer through my weatherization to get ready for the warmer weather (coming sooner than later, I hope), I've got some stuff to share today, so with that let's get to it. Enjoy.
- Last Friday I ventured into downtown Columbus to go pay my city taxes and hoping to avoid any big protests going on near the Statehouse (thankfully there weren't any). While I was downtown I decided to make a quick stop at the Arnold Expo at the Convention Center. I couldn't get into the main areas but I was able to watch a dance exhibition being presented by my old friend Ted Sun who I hadn't seen since my first go-round at OSU around 17-18 years ago. He was a part of a group that I was almost a part of, hence the "almost" edition. It was me, him, and a couple of other guys who thought about forming a dance group. I had to drop out because of all the crap I was going through at the time, but that group, I believe, would eventually become the Buckeye Dance Force (my memory is hazy from that time so I may have to be corrected on that). With all the people I've danced with all these years and group dances I've been a part of, this was the first and closest time I was to being a part of a legitimate competing dance crew that entered competitions and stuff. I did do some stuff with this group, like participate in an intramural track meet which our group won, but beyond that I wasn't too involved with them. Every once in a while I do "what-if" thinking on what would happen if I handled or did certain things differently with this being one of those situations. The more I got to think about this particular situation as a what-if, however, I remind myself that I didn't have a lot of the skills or group coordination I got later on nor was I really a grounded person at the time, dealing with so many insecurities and events beyond my control that I really couldn't commit to anything long-term (emergency management thinking and all that). I think a lot of us think about the paths we don't take in our lives, but we shouldn't let them get in the way of our futures lest we get lost in the present and lose our way altogether. At this point I'm just happy I was able to reconnect with my friend once again so we'll be able to keep in touch regularly.
- Speaking of almost, it's almost that time again where I get a year older. In a month I will be 39 years old. Compared to last year before my 38th, I had some more positives happen in this past year of my existence and I'm hoping this next year will have even more. I can honestly say that I finally have a solid idea what I want out of my life and once this new beginning of mine gets going (it's slow going at this point) I'll can start going for what I want. As for my birthday itself, I have made absolutely no plans. It is on a Saturday, but I've found whenever I have a birthday all my best-laid plans for it go south. Therefore, I have no idea what I'm going to do if I'm going to do anything that weekend. I guess I'll have a better idea when the date gets closer but right now I don't want to make any plans unless I can be 100% on what's going to happen.
- A lot has been made of Charlie Sheen's behavior over the past few weeks. It got to the point where he was fired from his hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men." I have heard theories about why he's doing what he's doing, but I have a perspective on this that I haven't seen elsewhere. For a long time now I've had to deal with mental illness. It's not something I'm proud of, but it's my reality. In dealing with my issues, I've learned a lot about breakdowns and how and when they may occur. With several nervous breakdowns under my belt, I've got personal experience I can draw from. In Charlie Sheen's case I think he's had some kind of outright psychotic break. In other words I think something broke inside of him. Many people have said he's probably on drugs. From what I understand, you don't have to currently be on drugs to have a psychotic break, but a history of drug abuse can substantially up the chances of having one later on. I think that's what we may be seeing with Charlie here. Starting with the flare-up he had with producer Chuck Lorre, he looks harried...like he hasn't slept in a week. He's been overly public and erratic with his actions, like he's trying too hard to prove something. He's started using phrases that are now fodder for the talk shows. He's attempting to make having two women he's apparently shacking up with around his kids seem like something that is acceptable by everybody when it's clearly not. I can see why some are starting a death watch on the man, because what he's doing sounds like the actions of a person who's broken on the inside somehow. I guess all his fans can do is pray for him and hope he gets off this crazy train he's been riding for weeks now.
- A week from this Saturday, the 19th of March, the American Red Cross is sponsoring Save-A-Life Saturday at all its chapters across the country. On this day the ARC will be teaching free CPR and first aid classes for anybody who wants to learn CPR and first aid. As a former Red Cross worker, I can tell you it's worth taking these classes
