The future is here

Going back to the SeaQuest train of thought.....

Oh yes, awesome show!! (First season was the best)

SeaQuest ran from 1993-1996.  It took place in the years 2021, 2022 and 2032.  Now, you have to remember that in 1993, the Internet wasn't what it is now.  It wasn't until 1996 that I actually used the Internet for the first time.  There was no way in 1993 that anyone could have guessed what would happen over the next decade in relationship to technology.

The Internet portrayed in the TV show was still rough graphics and bad sound.  At one point in the show, they travel 150 years into the future and find that mankind had a super computer that linked all the knowledge of the world together.  (It was a massive, neon light computer that took up an entire room.)   It only took a decade and we hold the entire world of knowledge in the palm of our hands.  It isn't a massive computer with flickering neon lights, it's an iPhone.

I love old sci-fi shows.  What technology they perceived as impossibly far into the future is here!  Think of the old Star Trek shows (even the ones from the 90's) they couldn't imagine the technology that was right around the corner.  It wasn't going to take a thousand years into the future to get there.

Now, we aren't traveling around in personal spaceships, like the Jetsens, but that may not be as far into the future as we might think.  What did we think possible ten years ago? Certainly not what we have now.  What will be possible ten year from now?  I can't even begin to guess.

A story ahead of its time

OK boys and girls, it's time for a long winded story.  :)

When I was a senior in high school and my first two years of college, my favorite TV show was SeaQuest DSV.  I loved that show and I had a crush on one of the characters.  I won't say which, but it wasn't the teenager that was in the show.  Deep inside of me is an actor and a story teller.  It is why I write.  I love to tell stories.  The actor in me wanted to be a part of that show, so in my own mind, I created my character and inserted her into the SeaQuest stories.  I didn't write any of that down, it was all in my imagination.

I'm terribly embarrassed, but today I had an eerie (for me) but amusing experience that reminded me of my SeaQuest days.  My character was named Moriah.  Now, Moriah wasn't a crew member of the SeaQuest, but she was hired by the UEO (United Earth Organization, who SeaQuest was under.)  Her job was a short termed one, but most important:  to build a library and a cataloguing system for the SeaQuest.  You see, SeaQuest was not only a military vessel, but a research one as well because it could dive deeper than any other submarine and had the very latest in technology.  They were gathering more data than their database could handle.  It was Moriah's job to fix that.  She set up a cataloguing system for the SeaQuest that was unique to it.  It could easily store, classify and catalog all data that was entered into it.  It was complex and complete, but user friendly.  Moriah also had some adventures on the SeaQuest, but the reason she was there in the first place was because she was a professional cataloguing librarian.

Yes, it is cheesy and that is why I've never shared that with anyone before.  Hello Cyberspace!!

Now, I am in library school.  I've got a major project due in 13 days.  Believe me, I've been thinking about it all semester, but until recently, I didn't know enough about the subject of the class to really be able to work on the project.  It is crunch time now and I sat today with my papers in hand, despairing over how much I needed to do.  I realized there is a LOT more to the project that I thought.  I read over the assignment again, again, and again. 

I have to pretend that I am a newly hired Information manager of an organization.  I need to take the library of the organization and create for it a new cataloguing and knowledge organizational system.  I was pacing my living room, talking out loud about the assignment and trying desperately to put myself into those shoes.  Then I realized, I had been in those shoes before - on SeaQuest.  What I need to do for this project is exactly what I created my character to do in my own SeaQuest adventures.  An efficient cataloguing and organization system for the company.

I understood my assignment!  My story of Moriah was way ahead of its time.  Crazy, crazy.  Now, even though I understand the assignment, it doesn't mean I know exactly what to do.  I have to write a 3000 word paper describing the new system and why it is needed.  I honestly don't know how I will fill that many words.  I struggled all afternoon with it and have only managed 369 words.  Only 2631 words to go. 

Molly and Moriah are needing so massive help with this project.  I can do it!  Just like every episode of SeaQuest ends with them narrowly escaping danger and have a happy ending with a smiling crew, so shall this project end.  It is going to be tough, ugly and probably very scary those last few days, but, I will turn it in on time and I will be smiling.  Then, my first year of school will be over.

Auntie M's Children's Theater is back!

Now that we have moved, settled down and my school semester ends in 3 weeks, I'm starting to think about summer season 2 for Auntie M's Children's Theater. 

We will be starting out with our teen comedy and improv group.  My son is looking forward to doing this again with people other than his mom and dad.  I'm really hoping we can get a group of great kids.

I'm also planning on doing a summer play.  I'm not sure which one.  I might do the same play I did last year - The Seven Ravens.  Being in a new state, no one I worked with last year would be participating this year.  New group of kids!  Plus, I've already got all the props and scenery. All I would have to do is resew the raven costumes and find a location for the performance.  I've got a few ideas for location and if all else fails, someone told me they have a perfect backyard for putting on plays. 

Anyway, I'm excited for the beginning of Auntie M's Children's Theater 2012 Season!  Check out the website.

Laughing until I hurt

Laughing until I hurt is my favorite kind of pain.

Last night I laughed until I hurt.  In the last 10 months, the Hubby and I have had the opportunity to see some of our favorite actors perform live.  Yesterday, we drove two and a half hours to a lovely little university town in Pennsylvania.  It rained on us.  I love the rain.  So, we had a nice drive.  We chatted, we sang to our favorite music CD's and we talked about the performance we would be shortly seeing.

When I get excited, I get talkative.  I talked a lot yesterday. 

Last night I got to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood do one of their live improvisation comedy shows.  I had nothing but the highest expectations for the show and they exceeded them.  My biggest complaint was about the lady sitting behind me, but that isn't the fault of Colin or Brad, just my seating luck.  She was loud, loud, loud.

Despite loud lady behind me, I had the best time.  I laughed hard.  I laughed until I hurt.  What a terrific night!


The cover from the DVD of their live show.  Released March 2011

Squawky The Bird

Squawky, our Budgie, sits in his cage on top of the file cabinet in the office.  He has food and he has water.  He has a mirror and a disco ball.  What more could a little budgie need?

Well, shared with you today are seven thoughts Squawky had during the course of the day:

"You're my best friend, Bernice," he says looking into the mirror.  "No one understands me like you do."

"Wow!  Look at the way the light is hitting the disco ball!"  he cries as he starts to flap his wings like a feathered-bird version of John Travolta.  What his owner interprets as squawking is actually: "You can tell by the way I move that I'm a woman's man, no time for squawk!  Sing with me Bernice!"

"Bird seed, again?  Can't they get a little more creative with my food dish?  I mean, how about a nice fat juicy worm?  Come on people!  Less seed, more worm!"

"AHHHH, the music!  Turn it down, turn it down!  I can't take the sounds of Nick Jr. coming from the computer again!!"

"Bernice, you want to play hide and seek?  OK, I'll turn my head, count to five and you hide.  Ready?  One, two, three, four, five!  Here I come ready or not! (turns head back to mirror) Oh, your right there.  Bernice, I don't think you get this game."

"Hey!  Hey!  Some one come clean my cage!  There is a mountain of poo below me.  Someone come get this stuff out of my home!"

"I don't know Bernice, sometimes I dream about flying away from here, finding my brothers and living in a budgie commune.  Maybe one day...."

"Hey lady who feeds me, thanks for coming over and checking on me today.  I appreciate when you talk to me, when you feed me and when you whistle at me.  However, I don't like when you try and pet me and for goodness sakes, can you please get this poo cleaned up?"

Sincerely,
Squawky

I've recently found Mama's Losin' It and have found it to be a fun blog.  Each week she hosts a writer's workshop.  This is my first prompt.

Follow your Dream - Run a Marathon!

A very good friend of mine has decided to follow her dream and organize her own half-marathon!  I'm so excited for her.

It is called the Saints and Sinners Half Marathon!

When:  Saturday, October 27, 2012
Where: Boulder City, NV - the course runs along gorgeous Lake Mead
Who:  Anyone and everyone! There will be a Kids Run, a relay, and the entire family is invited to attend.  It's a downhill course, so it's great for those first timers and young runners.

The greatest part of all of this is that 100% of the proceeds go to young LDS men and women who want to serve missions, but don't have the means to do it.  It is a great cause, will be in a beautiful locations, during a nice cool month and will be lots of fun!

Check out the Saints and Sinners Half Marathon website and then like them on their Facebook page!

TV Dad pick

I recently found a blog that shares writing prompts.  I had been looking for things like that for a while.  It isn’t that I’ve run out of ideas, far from it, but sometimes we get stuck in our own circle of thoughts and need to break out of that circle.  This is where the writing prompts come in.

Here is a fun one: “I wanted Mr. Rogers be my dad so I could live in his neighborhood and he could love me just the way I am.” What celebrity Dad would you have picked for yourself as a child?

I think Bill Cosby would have been a fun dad.  I would have stood out in a most odd way in his home, though. 

There are so many great TV dads: Ward Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver), Steven Keaton (Family Ties), Dr. Seaver (Growing Pains)….. 

Still, if I had to choose, I think I would pick Dick Van Dyke.  Who wouldn’t want to live in that great house with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore?  Have dinner with Rose Marie…  Yep, I think that would be my pick of a TV dad.

the "ee" names

Back from a spring break trip with the kids.  We had a great time and are very thankful to Gran for having us stay with her. 

I read something fun the other day on another blog.  The question was asked, if you could change your name, what would it be?

This is a fun question for me as I love names.

When I was a kid, I wanted to change my name to Sally.  I thought it was a beautiful name.  I'm not sure where I came up with that, but it is what I wanted.

Now, I think Sally is a nice name.  It is one that has quite gone out of style and it isn't looking like it will come back anytime soon.

Sally had it's peak in the 30's and early 40's.  It has steadily declined and last appeared in the top 1000 names back in 2004.  Yep, over 1000 names that people would rather give than Sally.  Sally is a pet name for the name Sarah.  It's a good old name that really needs to be revived, in my opinion.  Names tend to go in cycles.  It was a hundred years ago that names like Ava and Oliva were really popular.  Perhaps in about 25 years, Sally will get what she deserves and she will make a come back. 

I feel the same way about Maggie and Peggy.  I love those names.  Peggy, like Sally, peaked in the 30s and currently isn't in the top 1000.  Maggie's peak was back in the 1880s (or about there).  However, Maggie never really disappeared and currently is in the top 300 names.  Good for Maggie!

I guess I like Sally, Maggie and Peggy because they are similar in sound to my own name.  I don't know what I'd call myself if I could change my name.  My name suits me and I like it.

Hardest words for a 4 year old to say

Slinky, Squinky, Twinky

They rhyme and they are very hard for a four year old to say.

Happy birthday Doris!

Today is my favorite actress' birthday, Doris Day!!!

She is absolutly beautiful and incredibly funny.  Her movies are some of my favorites.  Enjoy a funny clip called Doris Day is Mad!

The Absent-Minded Moment

Last night I went into the bathroom to wash my face.  I picked up the little cotton ball, opened the cleansing liquid, and soaked the cotton ball.  I began to wash my face and whoo! my face was stinging.

I really didn't think about that.  Obviously my mind was elsewhere not to be concerned with the amount of stinging my face was feeling.

I looked at the cotton ball.  It was dirty.  I put the lid back onto the cleanser and at that moment did I realize what I had just cleaned my face with - nail polish remover!

No wonder the make-up came off so entirely and my face was stinging.

An absent-minded moment if ever there was one.