A Little Storm Never Hurt Anybody

So, it takes a lot to scare me, or get me freaked out! Yet, this was accomplished this past weekend. In fact, it happened for many many many people this weekend. You see, this weekend I had to work at the professional go kart track. We had a double race, so I was there on Saturday and Sunday. Now, many of the racers, are older, big, burly, men, and it's not often you hear a large number of these men get together and start saying things like, "That really freaked me out" or "Yeah, that was scary." So what was it that did this you might be asking yourself.

It was a storm!

Now this was no ordinary storm. No, this was a massive, beast of a storm. I am lucky as my cell phone has radar on it, so I would occasionally check the weather. We had a severe thunderstorm warning put on us, that was to last through the day. It didn't worry us too much. We have survived many a storm in our little 12'x6' trailer. Well this one started to come through the track and it was heavy rain. But it wasn't too long until that heavy rain turned into the monsoon from hell! The rain was no longer falling down...it was just whipping sideways! The trailer was shaking in every single direction imaginable! The two of us in there took opposite sides as to even weight if we could! Then as we look out the window, we see one by one the portable toilets falling over! (Ewww, but I don't use them, I have a regular bathroom there). And then the call!

My boss who was in the trailer with me, got a call on her cell phone. She answers and it is one of our clients, who is just shouting, "Move your car now!" She hesitated going into the mouth of the beast to move her car, but was glad she did. Right after moving her car, a large tent, complete with its steel poles came crashing down where car was once resting! After about 20 more minutes of this rain and wind and thunder and lightning, it slowed down. Enough that everyone came outside (much like at the end of the hurricane or tropical storm). Everything was just piles of mangled metal from tents being play toys for the storm. The storm had made perfect semi-circular arcs from some of the steel poles...STEEL POLES!

So after it was all over I figured I would check the radar to make sure nothing else was coming. There wasn't anything else coming, but the massive storm from Hades, on the radar, was oddly purple! I have never, ever, ever, seen purple on the radar before...usually the power goes out before purple shows up! But this was purple! (The purple I saw is the upper left hand of the picture below, follow the orange arrow. I couldn't find an actual radar picture with purple in it!)


We all survived, thank goodness, but it was scary!

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The Mika Edition

Well, it seems as though more than just Troy and Hilda know about Mika because I had three people vote for him! He has quickly become one of my favorite British imports here in the states. And since he only has one album there won't be much of a traditional mix-up, so instead I will just go through the CD! Here it goes:

• Grace Kelly - A great song, his first single both in England and here in the States. Just a fun song, really shows off his vocal range!
  
• Lollipop - A fun song that depending on how you interpret it, could be either childish and fun, or be full of sexual innuendo.
• My Interpretation - One of my top four songs on the CD! It just talks about how everything is different for everyone because it is up to their interpretation!
• Love Today - A fun and optimistic song, with a great message, that everybody should love everyday, in any way, just love.
• Relax (Take It Easy) - Again, fun song. Everyone needs some sort of a break at some point in time.
• Ring Ring - It's a good song, probably my least favorite on the album, but it is still a good song.
• Any Other World - A great song about the freedom in some places that are not always allowed in certain places.
  
• Billy Brown - Another of my top four from the album. About a man who is married and has kids, and decides to have an affair, with another man. Then goes on vacation by himself and hooks up with a woman.
• Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) - Another one in the top four...a song that says everyone is beautiful, no matter of shape or size!
  
• Stuck In The Middle - A good song, again, one I sometimes skip over, but it is about not knowing exactly where to go, which side, etc
• Erase - The last of my top four! This is the power ballad on the album, about a guy who calls his ex who he still loves, and leaves a message on her phone, and wants her to erase the message before she listens to it.
• Happy Ending - Because all albums should have a happy ending! And this one literally does...a very fun song, complete with choir!

Well that is the debut album from Mika, Life In Cartoon Motion! He is currently working on his second album, which should be out late this year or early next year!

Showing My Feminist Side

Okay, so for a long time now, I have had a moderate feminist side to me. Maybe it was being surrounded by females all through school, maybe it is the certificate in Womans Studies that accompanies my certificate in Linguistics and my BA in English. Who knows what it is...but my feminist side definitely showed this week.

I had the opportunity to listen to two of the nations most groundbreaking women speak. That's right, both of them are groundbreaking in their own ways....but both either have or are paving the way for women in power positions.

Tuesday, May 20:

On Tuesday I got to listen to and meet the woman who:
- Interviewed every president since Nixon
- Got not just one, but two huge interviews with Fidel Castro
- Has won numerous Emmy awards, along with tons of other journalism awards
- Was the first female co-anchor of a nightly news show

Thats right ladies and gentlemen, I got to listen to a very interesting conversation with Barbara Walters!




She gave a talk, working with our local bookstore, that was actually a conversation between Ms. Walters and a local TV Personality, Laurie Jennings. The night was fun, it was great to hear the stories that she told, and lessons that she has learned in her 78 years! Then she signed books and I got to meet her. Very interesting, very inspirational!

Wednesday, May 21:

So, as we all know this presidential race is like the energizer bunny...it keeps going and going! Well, on Wednesday, the main Energizer Bunny was in South Florida to talk to the people. That's right, the first female presidential candidate to ever win a primary, and to come this far...Hillary Clinton:



She talked about getting the Florida and Michigan votes to count. She focused on the many things that need to get fixed come January 20, 2009. She focused on not necessarialy getting herself into office (even though she did though in a female reference every now and then) but just getting a democrat into office!

She was a phenomenal speaker, and an inspiration to watch. She even used someones sign to make her point!

The Dreams That You Dare to Dream Really Do Come True

Dreams...so powerful, so mesmerizing, so visual, yet hardly remembered, and I am not talking about the dreams you have when you lay your head on your pillow at night. I am talking about the dreams you have for you, for your future, for your life. We make these dreams for ourselves, but how often do we proceed with them.

Let me start with a question, of everyone who reads this post, please in the comment section answer these questions: (1) When you were a child, what were some of the many careers or jobs you "wanted to do when you grew up" and (2) Are you doing that job now?

If you answered question two with a YES, then congratulations. You have met at least one dream in your life, but now what...Are you done? Is there nothing left...no! Keep making dreams, don't let dreams fade in and out. If you have accomplished a life long dream and have the dream job, great...you still have more of your life to live...so get a new life long dream to work towards!

Now, if you answered the question with a NO, shame on you! What are you doing now that is keeping you from that dream job? Sure many people have a "situation" but more often than not those "situations" are more like excuses in disguise. There is always a way around a situation, but many of us, myself included, get to a roadblock and then give up. Some of us give up temporarily, and some of us give up for good, but many of us give up.

This needs to change. Find a way to get back up, focus on the dream and keep going.

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The Police Edition

Well, thanks everyone for getting out and voting this week! The winner was The Police, in a 75% victory over The Rolling Stones. So, here it is, the Police mix!

• So Lonely
• Message In A Bottle
• Bring On The Night
• Don't Stand So Close To Me
  
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
• Every Breath You Take
• Wrapped Around Your Finger
• Walking In Your Footsteps
• Synchronicity II
• Roxanne

So, it looks like my iTunes decided that the best way to shuffle through the Police is via their greatest hits! I hope y'all enjoyed it! Now go vote for this weeks "newcomer" edition!

Today's the Day

Yes that is right, as of today I can

1. Rent a car without having to pay any sort of premium price or insurance rate
2. Call my car insurance company and say, I'm 25, drop my insurance price!

So yeah, today is my birthday, I am 25 today! A quarter of a century! Wow, but today has been a really fun day. My mom made sure that she got me whatever I wanted for lunch. My parents and grandmother both gave me generous gifts as did some of my fellow Toastmasters!

Oh yeah, it was birthday, and what did I choose to do? I went to my regular Toastmasters meeting, and I gave a speech. It was really nice, because even though I wasn't with my "immediate" family, I was still with family, just a different type!

Oh, and this is the birthday that keeps on giving! I am going to dinner with a friend on Friday, dinner with parents on Saturday, and then dinner with some other friends on Sunday!

So, thanks for everyones birthday wishes...let's see what adventures I get into this year!

"Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows...

...and what's on the other side. Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide. So we've been told and some choose to believe it, I know they're wrong, wait and see. Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me. All of us under it's spell, we know that it's probably magic..." (The Rainbow Connection)

Such a simple thing, rainbows. Simply the sun shining on small droplets of moisture in our atmosphere. Yet, they stand for so much more...they really are, almost a realization of dreams and imagination.

You show a kid a rainbow, and more than likely that either from school or from stories, their first instinct is to search for the end of the rainbow, looking for that pot of gold. It becomes an adventure, trying to figure out where it ends, where it begins, and why it's even there. It allows kids to dream this big adventure, to imagine everything that could happen.

A kids imagination is far bigger and more expansive than yours or mine I am sure. They come up with ideas that are far more incredible, far more magical and their dreams are far more fantastical and phenomenal. Yet it seems that there comes a point where this never ending imagination just ceases. Sure we all have brief moments of an insane genius imagination, but the are few and far between.

Why is that? Personally, I think a lot has to do with the boundaries that are placed on us. Boundaries and restriction and limitations, set by everyone from government to management to parents to advisers, etc.

How many of you out there remember being a young kid, and every week you wanted to be something completely different when you grew up? A veterinarian, a firefighter, an actor, a dancer, and list can go on and on. When we were six, seven and eight, that was great! Or how many of you, when you were asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" knew the answer plus every other detail of your future life.

But as we got older we started to hear the "What are you planning to do with your life?" and "What do you really want to be when you grow up? questions. These are the questions that begin to limit our imagination. And now, "grown up" how many of you, when planning a project at work, or planning at home, are limited by restrictions put upon you. It's these limitation that hinder us. They don't allow us to use imagination to our full potential.

I guess what I am saying with this post, is try not to lose that inner child. Find ways, to keep the imagination and creativity alive. Granted, this is much easier if you have kids, but if not there are ways to. I don't have kids (yet) but I find ways, whether through hanging out with my friends kids, or cousins, or just occasionally going to the toy store, just because.

The Monday Morning Mix-Up: The U2 Edition

I can't believe that in the three months I have been doing poll based Mix-Ups that U2 has never been polled or won. So, anyways, the iTunes have mixed and picked its own mix of 10 U2 songs, present and past, so here we go:

• Even Better Than The Real Thing (from the album Achtung Baby)
• New Year's Day (from the album War)
  
• Love and Peace Or Else (from the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)
• Bullet and the Blue Sky (from the album The Joshua Tree)
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (from the album The Joshua Tree)
• Pride (In The Name of Love) (from the album Rattle and Hum)
• When Love Comes To Town (from the album Rattle and Hum)
• Beautiful Day (from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind)
  
• Mysterious Ways (from the album
• Like A Song... (from the album War)
  

I Am Speeching On Wednesday!!!

So, some of you out in the world of blogs, might know that this Wednesday I will be giving a speech at my Toastmasters club. Some of you might even know that this Wednesday I will be turning a quarter-century old! That's right the big 2-5! The big car insurance break...(except mine is already the cheapest in the house)!

Anyways, I have to give a speech that night, and I know the idea of the speech, but I would love to have some imput and stories from you all! The title of the speech is "Another Year Older, Another Year Dumber" and the idea is that, as you get older, your parents get smarter. The reason behind the parents getting smarter is actually you realizing their advice was the "good advice" or the "right advice" from the beginning.

So, what are some of the situations where you got advice from your parents that you didn't take that ended up going wrong, and you realized years later, if you had only taken your parents advice?

I'm Back...For Real This Time!!!

Yes, it has been a while since I last posted, trumpeting my win over the nasty cold that held me hostage for days on end! So, what has been going on since my last post that was oh so long ago...well a whole lot of Toastmasters! I am an Area Governor (AG) for a local area in South Florida, and so this past week I got the rest of my visits over. As an AG I have to visit each club in my area (7 clubs) twice during the Toastmaster year, which ends at the end of June. So this past week I finished that and was pleasantly surprised to see that many are farther along in their recognition plans that I had thought.

Anyways, with that out of the way, I can focus on my speech for this Wednesday (see the above post). I can also focus on Mother's Day and the unending number of birthdays that go on in May!

With that, the mix-up last week (where U2 won), will be put up tomorrow, as well as a new poll. Besides that:

Happy Mother's Day

to all mothers out there in the blogosphere!