Hit the Ball Already

Main Street's favorite son, Ronald, created this image of Obama shortly after the 2008 election. 

I do like complaining but I also see the need for solutions sprinkled in amongst all that bitching. On a side note, the more MacGyver-esque the solutions are, the better. I don't care to hear about how something won't work and neither does Mac.

Talking about solutions at length is like leaving a putt short. You're guaranteed to fail 100% of the time. Instead, walk up to the damn ball and give it a shot... a chance! And if you fail, then try it again from another angle, but dammit, you have to try.

If you don't think it's broke at this point, and I am referring to the health care system, then please read this and reconsider the facts. The rise in premiums and the lack of available care is unsustainable. It is. Bottom line. And the longer we take to make a change, the more money we're set to lose.

I create solutions to visual communication problems. That's what I get paid for. I would expect to be fired if I ever stood in the way of those solutions. I would expect to be fired if all I ever did was complain about possible solutions and never having any viable ones of my own. I would expect that others in their respective fields would feel the same heat for obstructing the solutions they're paid to create.

Last night, I heard a call to come up with solutions, not obstruct them. We should all follow suit.

Rant 012710

While I don't want to make a habit of this, I witnessed something today that I had to get off my chest. This won't be the last time, so behold the new face of "holding your tongue." 

I had to run to the bank at lunch and decided that I'd pick up a sub while I was out. The closest Subway was down 5th in a strip mall... very close to the bank. I usually shy away from this location unless I'm on my bike. There just aren't many parking spots available and it's always chaotic but I was close and thought I'd give it a shot. Upon pulling into the lot I watched two women getting out of a terribly-parked Honda Civic to my right. The edge of the lot was to their right giving them no chance to blame a poorly-parked over-sized truck next to them. Not only was it crooked, but it was two feet into the empty spot next to it. I watched in disbelief as the driver looked back, not just once, but twice... knowing that her stupid ass was blatantly taking up two spaces in an already crowded parking lot. I couldn't have been more furious as she turned and continued to waddle towards the Subway entrance.

There were no spots available so I eventually looped around and found a spot on Northwest Blvd. I wanted to do something. I felt the need... to say something... anything... but I didn't. It would've been rude and caused a scene. Instead, I walked into Subway and silently passed them on my way to the back of the line. But it's not right. I was raised not to cause a commotion, but dammit, you can't always hold your tongue. You can't! Honestly, the real question is, "Who raised her?" Who raised such an idiot stick of a person. Go ahead and steal my spot in the lot, whatever. I'll get over it, but to walk away when you see a car wanting to park in the only available spot which is no longer available because of your poor, mindless parking job is inexcusable.

We're too nice. We've been raised to be too nice. When someone forwards me an email telling me to boycott a US Stamp with Arab text on it because "MUSLIMS" have bombed this and that, I should reply with big fat capital letters telling him what a moronic dickhead he is for the lack of understanding and general intelligence he possesses. Such a request might be equivalent to boycotting BYU for atrocities committed by its founder, Brigham Young, against humanity in the 19th century. Muslims aren't the only humans to have murdered in the name of God. Or better yet, boycotting the United States entirely for atrocities committed against First Nations People throughout its history.

But instead, I deleted it. Didn't want to cause a scene.

Too Cute

Work has been busy. Toy Fair time. I've never been. I'm not sure what the excitement is all about, but I do know some of our clients are excited which is always good for business. I had to be in Cincinnati for meetings on MLK Day. We decided to spend the weekend there and look for houses... errr... neighborhoods, rather. It would at least give us an idea of where we wanted to look and it was good to get to know the city a little bit better.

Got to eat at Terry's Turf Club Saturday night with my sister and Dan. I had heartburn until the following Wednesday. My brother and Leslie were down in Tennessee for a long weekend and my parents were watching the girls. We spent the night in Milford to help them out. Was able to wake up, have some coffee and hang out with my nieces until it was time to neighborhood hunt once again. Just an FYI, if you've never driven through Bellevue, KY... do it. There are some very cool places if you search long and hard enough.

Last week was more of the same with work. Training for the Flying Pig is just about to commence. I'm looking forward to being back in a schedule. This is going to be my last marathon training cycle in Columbus. I'll miss some of this rolling terrain, but not the wind. Ugh... I hate the wind almost as much as I hate mangoes.

Yesteryear

While celebrating the Tyler Family Christmas, my Aunt Ang called all the nieces and nephews into the room because she had something for us. She carried out several Ziploc bags and handed each of us one with our name on it. The contents were an assortment of pictures, drawings, clippings, etc etc that she'd saved over the years and she wanted us to have them.

For the next 30 minutes, we all flipped through our respective bags, laughing at old photos of days long since gone. It was a great gift. My Grandma and Grandpa Tyler passed away more than 20 years ago. You forget what people sound like, even what they look like. These pictures remind me a little bit that they still impact our lives. Makes me happy that someone took them. That's why I'm a little peeved that I didn't take any pictures over the holidays. The pictures I take shouldn't be for me... they should be for my nieces, (hopefully) nephews and (hopefully) my own kids to look back on and laugh. Not every picture is going to be a great, or even good, shot but it's not about that. It's about capturing that moment in time and preserving it... proving the vulnerability of it all.

From left to right... my Grandma and Grandpa Tyler holding a very young version of myself; my gun and I not taking any lip while my Aunt Ang and sister, Meghann, play in the background; a letter I wrote to my Grandma... probably after I couldn't have a 15th ice cream sandwich (I'm certain my two-year-old niece can spell better than I could at age seven); sitting on the couch with my brother looking dirt poor and corn-fed; and finally dropping a deuce or maybe I peed sitting down, who knows.

Inundated

Quick question... 

Why are there 1000" plasma screens in just about every restaurant anymore? 

Anybody else notice this trend? One more question... 

Am I the only one that has a hard time carrying on a conversation when a TV is on in a restaurant? 

Our favorite Skyline has two of them. My favorite breakfast place now has three. Even our go-to Chinese restaurant on the corner has a newly-installed flat screen right in the middle of the dining room. I haven't noticed it until recently and I can't say I like where it's going, but apparently, I might be the only one that feels this way. And to tell you the truth, I can't think of a bar other than the Blind Lemon in Mount Adams that doesn't have a television set. This is scary.

Re-Traction

So I need to rephrase something I posted earlier this week. I stated, blindly, that I liked running in the snow. Let me clarify: I like to run when it's snowing. Completely different from running in the snow.

I headed out to Antrim Lake early this morning with my "screw" shoes in tow, prepared to... I don't know... frolic along the snow-covered pond for an hour and a half or until I got tired. What I actually did was struggle through one of the toughest runs in recent memory.

The snow was more like sand than actual snow. The weather's been so cold since it initially fell that there wasn't any melting/refreezing to condense it so the snow wasn't really packed down... it was just flatter than what hadn't been walked on yet. I'm sure the screw shoes helped some, but it didn't really feel like it. I was ready to hang it up after the first lap (1.18mi).

So one might look at the situation, elect to make today a short run and go about the business of a long run tomorrow morning on some cleared streets. That wasn't going to happen. I drove up there, said I was going to do at least 10 laps and dammit, I was going to do 10 laps and because I had disrespected running in the snow, I was going to throw in an 11th lap to teach me a lesson. So, 13 miles later, I  finished with some new found respect for Mama Nature. I shain't do it again.

Cut It Up!

I like to run in the snow.

Erica takes forever to get ready for bed so I roam around downstairs, locking doors, preparing the following day's coffee, turning off lights, etc etc. I sat on the coffee table last night before heading upstairs and admired the quiet scene outside knowing I'd have some fresh powder to run through in the morning. Gnarly!

2010. Bring It.

I'd be more pumped if I wasn't so tired. Deciding that it's OK to sleep past 10am one day doesn't make or break a schedule. Deciding to do it for a week does. I couldn't believe how early 6am felt. But a great trick is preparing the coffee pot the night before and setting it to start about five minutes before the alarm goes off. Nothing gets me out of bed like the thought of a nice warm muggajoe. I also had the recently-purchased Communication Arts 2009 Design Annual waiting on me. Mmmm... piping hot coffee and the potential for idea thievery... how couldn't you hop right out of bed!?!

And my resolution for 2010? "Get Better." That's it. Apply liberally and see what happens.

The holidays were good. Low key. Erica got me a turntable. It's pretty great. I've been listening to Tchaichovsky's Piano Concerto 1 pretty much non-stop. The Tyler Family gift exchange got a shakeup in the form of a white elephant and that seemed to go over well... here's to one more year. New Year's Eve consisted of a nice dinner and watching the ball drop... realizing it's best to keep the TV turned off for all but the final five minutes. I can't believe that mess of a show brought in advertising dollars.

Some memorable moments of 2009: got married on 08/22; my niece, Kendall Marie, was born on 09/15; ran three marathons and got my "Boston Qualifier" at Columbus; had my first run-in with a car, albeit the door; designed a "collectible" item; ran 1861.2 miles altogether; Oscar and Boomer, two of the finest dogs to have ever graced us with their presence, passed on; my parents moved from the house that I'd known for 23 years; found out that Maine is a pretty rockin' state... at least the parts I saw; found out that Jersey is... well... not a rockin' state; designed a headstone; and I kind of helped put together a shed. All in all, it was a great year.

The holidays ended up being so low key, in fact, that I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. After finding a relatively close "trail" to run on at Antrim Lake in Worthington, I took to the task of making my first pair of "screw" shoes so that I could still get a good run in despite the snow and ice that often hangs around. I took 5/8" sheet metal screws and drilled them into the bottom of some old runners... 15 on each shoe. They work unbelievably well but were a complete pain in the ass to get in there. Getting a screw into the sole of a shoe, even with a vice grip, is no easy task. The other shot is just our door. I was really really bored yesterday, but did get a Bruegger's bacon, egg and cheese on everything bagel. Dang, it was somethin'.