Won't even try to make it pretty: this weekend was pretty awful, and I did not have time to write anything. Post will be up Wednesday or something. Sorry.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
FTP 43 - Try new things
Many years ago, I worked at a casino in the food court. Being a friendly (if introverted) person, I soon got to know pretty much everyone on all three shifts in all of the restaurants and the production areas. One day, one of the guys who worked in the bakery pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to go to a concert with him. It turned out he was the drummer for a punk band that would be playing in Worcester, MA, and wanted me to go with him. Despite having no real interest in punk music, I figured it would be interesting, and agreed.
On the day of the show, I drove over to his place, and right away, things got amusing. He'd decided at some point in the past to take out the front seat of his car in order to fit his skateboards (yes, plural) in there, so I rode in the back passenger seat, with loads of legroom. We chatted the whole way up there, and discovered, once we got there, that the people who were supposed to help get things set up hadn't shown. The guy who drove their gear up looked at me and said, "well, any interest in being a roadie for a night?" I laughed, because no not really, but said I'd be happy to help, long as they showed me what to do.
It didn't get any more serious after that, either. To my surprise, my friend's band was the headliner (which meant they went onstage at like midnight...), so I had a lot of waiting around to do. Being a responsible person, however, I was back at the place about 15 minutes before time, and found out that my friend was the only band member there. Since someone had to be there, he asked me to go hunt down the members of his band... at midnight... in a town I didn't know... for people I'd met all of once. Somehow, I managed to do so, and they all got on stage on time, where I promptly discovered that no, thanks, I am not a fan of punk music. We finally packed everything back into the trailer at 1:30 or so, and my friend and I started back to Connecticut.
Am I glad I went? Heck yes. I had a very interesting time, and learned a lot. Some of it was what I'm not interested in, but by doing those things, I have narrowed down a lot of possibilities, and it gets easier to find what I do like. Cheers!
On the day of the show, I drove over to his place, and right away, things got amusing. He'd decided at some point in the past to take out the front seat of his car in order to fit his skateboards (yes, plural) in there, so I rode in the back passenger seat, with loads of legroom. We chatted the whole way up there, and discovered, once we got there, that the people who were supposed to help get things set up hadn't shown. The guy who drove their gear up looked at me and said, "well, any interest in being a roadie for a night?" I laughed, because no not really, but said I'd be happy to help, long as they showed me what to do.
 |
| Lol, no. But thanks. |
It didn't get any more serious after that, either. To my surprise, my friend's band was the headliner (which meant they went onstage at like midnight...), so I had a lot of waiting around to do. Being a responsible person, however, I was back at the place about 15 minutes before time, and found out that my friend was the only band member there. Since someone had to be there, he asked me to go hunt down the members of his band... at midnight... in a town I didn't know... for people I'd met all of once. Somehow, I managed to do so, and they all got on stage on time, where I promptly discovered that no, thanks, I am not a fan of punk music. We finally packed everything back into the trailer at 1:30 or so, and my friend and I started back to Connecticut.
Am I glad I went? Heck yes. I had a very interesting time, and learned a lot. Some of it was what I'm not interested in, but by doing those things, I have narrowed down a lot of possibilities, and it gets easier to find what I do like. Cheers!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Fickle popularity
When I was in ninth grade, I was part of an after-school program called Dow Explorers (hosted, obviously, by the local Dow Chemicals plant). Once a month or so, a group of us would get together and do simple experiments or projects that tied in to math and science, presumably as a way to see if we were interested in working for said company. I didn't really pay much attention to that side of it, because what we got to do was absolutely fascinating to someone with a sense of exploration. One month we had to bring in water samples from our homes or nearby lakes, and we did various tests to see how much of what additives were in them. Another time we got to learn how the company made Styrofoam and tour the production facility. And one time, we got to make boats...
One of the nearby towns had a yearly regatta-type thing, being situated on a rather large and fairly calm river. A month or two before it, the people in charge of our program asked us to bring a willing parent/ guardian in, and we split up into teams (kids vs elders) in order to design and build a raft- using only x amount of styrofoam and other materials- that we would then test by participating in the regatta. Naturally, none of us were expected to actually win it, it was more just a "let's give 'em something to do, while showing how invested we are in the community" type thing.
One of the nearby towns had a yearly regatta-type thing, being situated on a rather large and fairly calm river. A month or two before it, the people in charge of our program asked us to bring a willing parent/ guardian in, and we split up into teams (kids vs elders) in order to design and build a raft- using only x amount of styrofoam and other materials- that we would then test by participating in the regatta. Naturally, none of us were expected to actually win it, it was more just a "let's give 'em something to do, while showing how invested we are in the community" type thing.
Friday, February 22, 2013
FTP 42 - Know your audience
I am happy to admit I am quite enraptured with my smartphone. For me, it is a combined street map, day planner, weather forecast, on-the-go translator, stopwatch, timer, clock, phone, text and internet connection, and of course, timewaster. I love silly little games that I can play really quickly while waiting for someone to show up, or for an appointment to start, or just to wind down at night. I do have a few requirements for these games, though; the games 1) cannot be timed or done in a way to make me feel rushed (it's a way to relax for heaven's sake!), 2) must be easily interruptible (they are a time filler, and should be put away when anything important happens), and 3) absolutely must require some amount of logic, intelligence, or problem-solving so that I can, in some small way, justify them as brain-training or self-improvement timewasters.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Business names
Being as that I have had a load of drama dumped on me recently, I decided to draw for today's post, because I know that if I attempted to write something, it would turn into a rant about the person who is making me angry. With that in mind, here are a couple business name suggestions based on movie quotes. Enjoy!
Sixth Sense:
Sixth Sense:
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