- It's hard to believe I've actually done 125 editions of DJ's Random Thoughts. It's a milestone for me in that it has surpassed the two stints combined at Ohio State to become the longest single commitment of my life so far. That's a feat in itself. The journey started as an old personal Myspace blog that moved over to Blogspot 4 years ago around this time. Actually, the DJ's Random Thoughts name first started on June 15, 2009. After a dispute with several people over something I wrote in that old blog (something I've talked at length here about before but not the main point of what I'm talking about today), with the question of whether I was even going to stay on Myspace over my head (I did end that Myspace account a few months later) and a small desire at the time to make my thoughts more "public," if you will, I decided to take a chance and start one on Blogger. I couldn't even imagine then what it would become for me over the years and how it's changed. In the future I expect it to change even more. I'll be honest...I don't know how many of you got something from DJRT but I sure have gotten a lot from doing it. Thank you for reading and supporting DJRT and I hope it continues to be a ride worth sticking with me on.
- Before I move on, I also have to recognize that I've been using the DJRT Logo for almost one year now officially. I've changed the official color scheme a couple of times but the design is still the same. Like I was when I initially created it, I couldn't be more proud of having it.
- Officially, summer will start in a few more days but unofficially the summer season arrived late last month starting around Memorial Day. That means it's the season for fairs and celebrations and weddings and and carnivals and festivals, hence the edition subtitle. In my ongoing effort to get myself more out and about in the world, I've been making a concerted effort to start hitting up more of these festivals wherever they are taking place. As I've already talked about, I've been going to the Rockin' on the River festivals in Cuyahoga Falls. Last weekend I hit it up a little later than I usually do and I actually had to look around for an open parking spot (I think people know I like to get to things real early...I don't want to miss anything...at least that's my excuse...). I love walking around that festival and around downtown Cuyahoga Falls in general. About a week and a half ago, I made a day of festival-going to hit up three separate festivals including one I discovered by accident simply driving by it. I first hit up the Porch Rokr festival at Highland Square in Akron. I came across a bunch of people doing a group Zumba dancing lesson/demonstration on one of the front yards. I also came across some people selling jello shots just right in their front yard...I don't think that's exactly legal so that's why it was notable to me. Most of the houses in the 10 block radius that encompassed the festival either had a band or artist performing in someone's front yard or on their porch, a yard sale going on, or one of the types of vendors you might find at most festivals. Although I was going to avoid it, I changed my mind and decided to hit up the Riverfront Irish Festival in Cuyahoga Falls. I was just going to simply pass by it but I found a good parking spot really quick so I decided to stop. The one big thing I noticed about the Irish fest was that there were a lot of people in kilts. It was a bigger festival than most in the Falls in that it used up most of the space in Falls River Square on both sides of Portage Trail (anyone who's been there knows what I'm talking about). After that, I ended up driving by the Chapel Hill Mall area and I come across a carnival taking place behind Macy's. I haven't been to a carnival or a theme park in over a decade so I thought I'd stop and at least check out the midway. I didn't ride any rides, which is something that is going to have to change sooner than later, but it was fun just to watch everything going on there and I did take a photo which I'm using as this edition's main pic up top. I think I've already hit up more festivals this year than in the past decade combined with more to come...
- Speaking of "more to come," there's even more festivals coming up that I am planning on hitting up. With the Fourth of July coming up, there's obviously going to be a lot of events going on around that time. Two I'm planning on hitting up are the fireworks in downtown Akron on the 4th itself as part of the annual Rib, White & Blue festival there (here's the Rib, White & Blue website) and the Rock the Docks festival in Springfield Township (here's the Rock the Docks Facebook page; fireworks are on July 6th at dusk). One I'm hoping to hit up at the end of August is the Art in the Square festival at Highland Square in Akron (here the Art in the Square website). It skipped last year but is returning this year and looks to be another exciting one. I'm also hoping to hit up other celebrations and fairs as well so on the remote chance anybody wants to come along with me to one, hit me up.
- Rocky's, a roller rink I used to skate around at as a pre-teen, might be getting torn down if a senior housing project being planned comes to fruition. They wouldn't tear down the entire building...just the big section that houses the roller rink itself. Before I got into dancing, I would go there a lot when I was a kid. At first, I just hung out there in the arcade at the front of the joint and didn't do any skating because, quite frankly, I was afraid to. Once I got past that and actually learned how to skate, I really enjoyed myself. I had a lot of trips and falls in the process of learning, but that's life itself. This was an era very much prior to the introduction of inline skates. Since that time, the only time I went skating was about three years ago in Columbus...or at least tried to. Let's just say I was out of practice and leave it at that.
- Quick question: if Bill Belichick starts Tebowing, does that mean the end of the world is nigh?
- In my recent internet travels, I came across something rather amusing that I thought should be shared here...(fake) upcoming versions of Windows. Here's what I found (as I'm saying this sarcastically):
- Windows 9: Just like Windows 8, instead of the icons being boxes, they're stars.
- Windows 10: All icons now come in sexy zebra stripe.
- Windows 11: A Windows 95 Throwback.
- Windows 12: A Windows 11 Throwback.
- Windows 13: Skipped to avoid bad luck.
- Windows 14: Requires only a few minor abacus calculations.
- Windows 15: Operating system with human brain.
- Windows 16: Operating system with dog brain.
- Windows 17: Edible.
- Windows 18: Rumored to be used in remote mountain communities!
- Windows 19: In this exciting Operating System, your cursor is wrongly accused of murder and you must click the octagon shaped icons to escape from authorities and prove your innocence.
- Windows 20: A Windows 12 Throwback.
- Shoutouts: Debbie, Todd, Terry B., Holly, Ernest, Kristin, Aunt Sue, Bob, Scotty & George.
That's it for this edition. Join me next time at I attempt to dunk all my haters and antagonists in a dunk tank at a fair...as soon as I figure out how to pack them all into one like a clown car. Then again, maybe I shouldn't waste a dunk tank on people who just aren't worth it. Until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
