Random Thoughts #92 - the "meltdown" edition

Welcome back for another round of Random Thoughts, the 92nd edition.  I wasn't planning on doing another blog so soon or until after my birthday, but I've got a lot of stuff to get off my chest and need to do an information dump.  With that in mind, let's get to it.  Enjoy.

 -  The subtitle for today's blog, the "meltdown" edition, has many meanings.  Japan had a major earthquake that has put some of it's nuclear facilities on the verge of meltdowns (my prayers to Japan).  Several celebrity personalities have had some form of a meltdown, perceived or not.  We all know about Charlie Sheen...and who doesn't?  He's all over the flippin' airwaves and the news with his antics.  Now comes word of Chris Brown having a meltdown after an interview on Good Morning America.  Different types of meltdowns all around.  I'm gonna open up here for a bit...I've had my share of meltdowns and even recently I've felt like I've been on the verge of another one.  There have been times in my life where this has happened...some of you have seen it and fortunately many of you have not.  Most times nothing comes of it except in the most unusual circumstances..the last time it happened was over a year and a half ago.  I'm not expecting anything like that now and I'm hoping to bounce back pretty quickly especially with some things coming up, but my spirits have been pretty low as of late.  As to why, some of you already know some of it and the rest I can't really talk about, but I am dealing with this the best I can even if it's not quick enough or just enough period for some people (nobody on Facebook, but there are some people).  If I seem out of sorts or what not, at least you'll all have a general idea why.  If I need help I will ask but for now just keep me in your prayers while I deal with this stuff.

 -  My birthday is coming up, but I do need to say something about it.  I did make plans with some people over this past weekend to go to a club for my birthday.  After a couple of days of thinking about it, though, I've decided against doing that for the time being.  The only thing I'm doing for certain is my yearly birthday sojourn to PIzza Hut.  That decision is not set in stone...it's just that I've done the club thing on my birthday many times before but right now it just doesn't look all that enticing.  I know that some of you will be disappointed by this, but this is how I feel and I hope you'll understand.  I'm keeping my options open for that weekend for a way to celebrate and I still might end up going out to a club, but for now I am not commiting to anything until closer to my birthday.

 -  I went up to Screaming Willies a week ago Saturday and got to see some people I haven't seen in a long time, at least since last year.  I didn't dance too much due to a cut on my right foot (bugged the heck out of me) and the fact that I'm out of shape (no surprise there).  It was nice to see friends though.  I did do some bar hopping last weekend but nothing notable came of it.

 -  I decided to do a NCAA Men's Basketball tournament bracket this year for the first time in several seasons.  I picked Ohio State to win it all.  So far three of my Final Four are still in the tournament as of the Sweet Sixteen and so far over half my picks have been correct including one of my upsets.  So far this season this tourney bracket ranks in the upper half of those I've done in the past.  I just hope OSU wins out.

 -  There is a wrestling promotion out of Cleveland called Pro Wrestling Ohio (PWO) that airs on Sunday nights at 10 PM on SportsTime Ohio (the Cleveland Indians channel).  It's a pretty good show for the most part and several of it's wrestlers have been or are now involved with either TNA or WWE.  The most notable is Madison Rayne, the current TNA Knockout champion (WWE calls their women Divas, TNA calls them Knockouts).  Two others, Johnny Gargano and Benjamin Boone, showed up on the first season of NXT as security for MIchael Cole (when he confronted Daniel Bryan).  Raven, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, and Greg Valentine have all wrestled for the promotion.  The reason I bring this up now is that two more have been signed, one each by TNA and WWE.  Bobby Shields, a member of the group "Sex Appeal" in PWO, has reportedly been signed by TNA after participating in Taz's wrestling "finishing" school.  Also, even bigger than that, "Mdogg20" Matt Cross is going to be a contestent on the upcoming WWE Tough Enough series premiering before the Monday Night Raw after Wrestlemania.  I wouldn't be surprised if more were signed from PWO in the future as it seems over the last year it has become the place for future wrestling stars.

 -  Song on repeat:  "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" by Queen.  My interest in Queen started with my ex-fiancee who was extremely into the group and it's music even a couple years removed from lead singer Freddie Mercury's death.  My own interest in their music was the only thing that survived from that relationship to this day.  Queen were pioneers in rock music, including different genres of music into thier own and making history along the way.  It always amazed me how Freddie Mercury could grab a live audience, entrancing and commanding them in a way I've seen only Michael Jackson could (BTW, MJ wrote a couple of songs with Freddie, including "State of Shock" which MJ did with Mick Jagger).  Their music stands the test of time and used in so many mediums.  "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" is one of my favorites.

 -  SLP to the following:  Holly, Griff, Patrick H., Rita D., Chad, Dave, Ernest, Al, Shane D., Shane B., Derrick, Harry, Daryl, Pat M., Pastor Cory, Damian (happy birthday), Jennifer K. (happy birthday), Dani (happy birthday), James P. (happy birthday), Jenny K. (happy birthday), Heather K. (happy birthday), Donielle, Cheryl, Michelle, and Art.

Spring is here and I hope the weather improves soon.  We've had glimpses of better weather but I want more.  Anyway, I'm gonna take off now.  I hope to have more positive stuff next time so until then, folks.  Take care and God Bless.

DJ

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Random Thoughts #91 - the "almost" edition

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 especially if you take care of others or in case something happens where you need to use these skills.  It is free, so find your local Red Cross office and find out where they holding this free training.  Did I mention that this is FREE?  It's not often they do this so take advantage of it...you may save someone's life.

 -  St. Patrick's Day is coming up.  I know many of you will be celebrating in an inebriated fashion and I hope you get through it safely and without too much hassle.  As usual, I won't be going that route or really celebrate it, but I might consider picking up a Shamrock Shake at McDonald's or something.

 -  Song on repeat:  "In The House Of Stone And Light" by Martin Page.  This is one of those songs I find myself humming from time to time out of nowhere and have done it quite a bit recently though I don't recall hearing it anywhere...must be a memory thing.



 -  SLP for the following:  Holly, Laura (happy birthday), Chris H. (happy birthday), Tommy D (happy birthday), Tatjana (happy birthday), Heather H. (happy birthday), Renee (happy birthday), Kristy (happy birthday), Daryl (happy birthday), Betsy (happy birthday), Kevin S. (happy birthday), Chad (happy birthday), Griff, Ron, Tillman, Dave, Debbie (happy birthday), Kenda (happy birthday), Rita D., Aunt Susie, Josh, Ted, Jack (happy birthday), and Ernest.

Boy, there were a lot of birthdays this past month.  Anyway, I probably won't post again until after my birthday which I hope will be a happy one.  Until next time, folks.  Take care and God Bless.

DJ

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