What Do You Want To Do?

Every year Netter asks me this question as my birthday approaches, and every year I have absolutely no idea how to answer.

While I think birthdays are special and people should take one day to celebrate themselves, I think we can all agree that as the years advance the thrill wears off. The magic of the birthday subsides.

While 13 makes one a teenager, 16 means you can drive, 18 brings adulthood and 21 means you can consume alcohol (responsibly of course), and then 30 or 40 mark milestones of sorts, what really is the difference between 40 and 41? Right?

Still there was the question last Thursday night. We had a 3-day weekend with a few commitments to work around, my birthday was on Monday - "What did I want to do?"

So, I tried to come up with something... "Let's go down to the Short North," I said. "We've been meaning to go walk around and discover a little bit. Let's do something different, go to lunch, and then just explore."

This was the plan for Friday -

And then it rained.

So, I punted. Let's go to lunch at that TGIFriday's in the mall where they have the California Club I like so much, I'll get my glasses adjusted, we'll walk around, it will be different. Shopping at the mall is different. We're usually shopping at Walmart. We walked around Easton last year, let's walk around Tuttle today.

Friday's was closed with facilities issues. Undeterred we headed for another restaurant in the mall, had a nice lunch, and continued on our way.

Malls are quite different than what I remember from my younger days. For example, what exactly is this guy selling? Seriously, I didn't even have to go into the store (I won't say which one.) to see this. It screamed at me as I walked by.

To be fair, this isn't a phenomenon unique to malls I guess. We did see this gem among others when we visited Walmart last week. Apparently Halloween costumes are now required to bare as much skin as possible, at least for the ladies. We saw a similar costume for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, sexy witches, you name it. This one of Cinderella made me remember a quote from the movie Pretty Woman. Unfortunately, I cannot find a good clip, and while I can find the text at IMDB quotes to paste it here, it just looks awkward. It was toward the end of the movie and came from Kit.

But I digress.

Shopping these days is different, and this is how I want things in my life to be right now - different.

Nonetheless, on Saturday, we took a break from different and did the same thing we do almost every Saturday during the fall. We watched college football with our friends in the "nayvorhood," (another post, another day). We love driving to the hood and hanging out. That will never change.

Sunday we returned to "different" and finally made the trip to the Short North. First, we attended "How I Became a Pirate," (K is a member of the stage crew), at The Columbus Children's Theatre. We followed that with a trip to the North Market, and a walking tour of the rest of the Short North, as well as parts of Columbus' downtown and Arena District.

That's right - we walked. We walked a lot. My feet were tingling when we were finished that's how much we walked.

For many, many reasons, I loved every minute of it. I love downtowns. I love eclectic. I love seeing things we don't ordinarily see, and I love discovering things for the very first time.

I've driven up and down High Street in Columbus hundreds of times in the 26 years I've lived in the area. Never once, had I seen this. Right there, on the side of the road, through the guardrail.

Who knows where it leads?

When I stopped to take this picture, Netter and I started talking about the railways in Columbus. She told me about the train station, that used to be here and which tracks went where. She reminded me that an arch from the train station is on display in a park near Nationwide Arena.

I've always wanted to ride on a train. A real train, not that goofy thing at Kings' Island or Cedar Point. I know that passenger trains have mostly gone the way of the Dodo, but a fella can dream can't he? I want to take new journeys and blaze new trails.

I know there's a way. I just have to find it. That's what I really want to do.

Life "After (Kinda) Golf"

A customer once came into the Karl Road Library, (where I worked from 1988-1995) and asked one of our reference librarians if we had a golf course directory for Central Ohio.

"Yes," she answered "he is up at the Circulation Desk."

That would be me.

I'm thinking about this because a week or so ago I saw a story on ESPN about the Bob Hope Classic. This was the third tournament of the year on the PGA tour, and golf had not even been on my radar.

What the heck?

An obsession gone awry?

Yes, in the long ago and far away - I was a golf nut.

Now don't get me wrong, I still love the game. It's just not at the forefront for me right now and takes a different place in my life.

There's a few reasons for this, but primarily it comes down to two things - time and money.

The money of course is self-explanatory. In a tough economy there are some choices to be made about where your dollar should go.

But believe it or not, (because I know I talk about it all the time) money is not the major player in this equation.

No, the biggest factor is time.

I once had a friend who I played golf with quite a bit. One summer it seemed we were playing about once each week. The next summer not so much, and the next, well, hardly at all.

So I asked him about it:

Me: Hey, what's up? You used to play golf all the time. Now, not so much?

My Buddy: I'm busy with the kids Jim.

Me: I'm busy with the kids too. I still play golf.

My Buddy: It's different. My kids are older. You'll understand one day. I promise.

Huh?

Flash forward to Jimmer about 4-5 years ago when both girls started playing sports and got involved in more "after school stuff." Suddenly there were games to go to, and activities to attend, and everybody needed a ride...

Holy heck - as another Buddy put it: "Jim, when I do get a day off where I might have played golf before, I just want to take the day off."

Couldn't agree more Bill, and yes Mark I do understand now.

Since 2004 my average number of golf rounds have dropped from 35-40 each summer to somewhere in the neighborhood of 8, maybe 10. In the summer of 2007 I played maybe 5 times as I separated my shoulder playing hockey shortly after our golf tournament in June and wasn't fully healthy, (well, as healthy as I was gonna get) until November. Last summer I had an emergency appendectomy, (Is there ever an appendectomy that isn't an emergency?) and played about 6 rounds total.

Every year from 1989 to 2004 or so, Annette and I attended the Memorial Tournament. It was our annual week-long extravaganza, sitting in the sun or standing in the rain, spending an obscene amount of money on souvenirs (I think they should pay me a royalty fee for all their clothes that I wear), and food and beverages (best Bloody Mary in Columbus that isn't homemade). We always loved walking the course, and after 2000 (I think) talking about how I had parred numbers 11 and 12 when I had played my round there.

Yes, I have played the Muirfield Village Golf Course. It cost me an obscene amount of money. So much that I will not post it here. We took one picture of our foursome that day and Meijers lost it in processing - a crushing blow, and yet another argument for digital cameras. I do still have the scorecard. No, you can't see it. I played like someone grinding it out on a course where I was overmatched. I'd actually love to play it now that I have no expectations of my game. I'd have more fun, and enjoy it more. Still, it was a once in a lifetime experience, and I am grateful I had the opportunity.

One year we decided that though we had the tickets in hand, we would be better served to use that money elsewhere. So we sold them to a friend. The next year we took a one time only chance to opt out of our season ticket holder status. The year after that we decided we really didn't need to keep our place on the waiting list after all. (There is no longer a waiting list by the way.)

Of course I still watched golf regularly, well until about 2006 when my favorite golfer, David Duval's exempt status for the major tournaments ran out. He wasn't playing much at that point anyway and I was too busy to find a new fave. Oh, I like Tiger as much as the next guy, but I wasn't about to jump on his band wagon.

Besides I really just like to see good competitive golf and Tiger has been walking all over everybody for quite some time. When Tiger is not playing I think it can be kinda boring. As you may or may not know, Tiger missed the second half of last season - and so did I.

I actually found myself watching racing more than anything else, which a few years ago would have just seemed wrong.

But it's all I've had time for, and I could turn on a race, work in my office, and look up during pit stops, or for a few important laps and, yes, for wrecks too. I could be interested without being committed. If you try to only look up once in a while during golf - you see nothing but a lot of 2 foot tap-ins. Trust me.

I think golf requires a different commitment, both from a viewing and a playing standpoint.

I think one of my greatest accomplishments, (yes for my whole life) is that in 1998 I made the decision to reduce my golf handicap. I spent one evening each week practicing. I arrived early for almost every round I played so I could warm up properly. I dedicated myself to my golf game for the entire summer. In the end I reduced my handicap by almost 7 full strokes.

This is a pretty significant accomplishment for a golfer at any level. I generally lack the ability to be this disciplined so this was quite an accomplishment for me personally.

Not a lot of things in my life have brought this out in me.

Obviously I love golf "that much."

What happened?

Learn & Play @ CML Thing#10 Image Generators

While this is a post for CML's Learn&Play, I guarantee non CML folk will want to see this. That's right - of all the "generators" I played around with I just couldn't resist the Read poster. I've been trying to find something to do with this picture for more than 20 years. It's a good fit - don't you think. Generate your own here.

This whole exercise also reminded me of the last time I used an image generator, again some 20 years ago at King's Island that cost an arm and a leg.

I think it was worth it. What do you think?

Good times, good times...

I also spent some time on The Generator Blog. To me this would be a nice site to visit on a rainy day, after you had completed every chore, washed your hair twice, walked the dog six miles, and had absolutely nothing else to do. Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do. It's just not my thing to do. Alright I admit it. I was very disappointed that the link to get my porn star name didn't work.

I did find one link there I had some fun with - an acronym creator, i.e. a handy tool to have when you need a technical explanation during the course of your customer service day - just kidding. I plugged in a few examples. Jimmer stands for Joint Interchangeable Micro-Mail Equipment Router. James stands for Journaling Array Modular Expansion Storage. My favorite though is created from the first initials of my family member's names Joined Architecture Known Mail Disk.

I spent a few minutes at Letter James, and I had already spent some time at FD Toys as part of the flickr exercise.

Whew - that was a lot of playing wasn't it?

flickr fun Learn and Play at CML - Thing #6

Another post for CML's Learn and Play program. No running of the mouth today - just playing catch up.

I spent some time playing around with flickr. I'm not much of a picture guy. This is Netter's department.

Still I can recognize a good product when I see it and flickr certainly fits the description. I can see where the photo creative types could just get lost in all that flickr has to offer.

I ran across a picture of an old shed, (I think it's a former Windows sample pic) that I think is really neat, (yes neat), and used jigsaw to turn it into a puzzle. Pretty cool eh?

Puzzles have always fascinated me. This might be because I'm not very good at putting them together. I lack the patience required for such an exercise. I will never forget a puzzle with a wagon full of pumpkins my Dad put together when I was a kid. It was all orange all the time it seemed. Still he patiently pieced the thing together and I was in awe. Sorry I knocked it off the table the next morning Dad. It really was an accident.

Getting back to flickr. The thing I like best about it is that I can use it for the slideshow on my blog to share pics with family and friends. It is a great product for creativity as well. Maybe not my gig, but definitely fun for those who are so inclined.