Posts in the “personal” category

“(I could see) the fear and the pity in her eyes. It's the same way people look at me when they realize who I am.”

From a Season 4 episode of The Dead Zone.

“We didn’t pray for drunk-driving fatalities to resolve themselves. We passed sweeping laws and accidents dropped precipitously.”

(Quote from this Twitter page.)

This tweet refers to gun laws and the shooting (massacre) in Orlando overnight. As someone who watches episodes of The Rockford Files and Columbo, I have always thought, “Geez, people sure did drink and drive a lot back then.” This tweet and those old tv shows made me think how much those laws have changed our culture.

Well, that sucked. I finished watching the movie Bridesmaids, thought “That was cute,” turned off the DVD player and tv, stood up, then had an instant to think “Oh f***” before unexpectedly vomiting. Then when I went to wash off my face I saw that the area under my eyes is very green. I hope the doctors can figure out pretty soon what’s going on with this body, this is really getting old. #StillShaking

Having the angiogram ~12 days ago has forced me to work standing up. To do the procedure they went in through my femoral artery, right in the area where the hip meets the leg (the groin-ish area), and used something called an Angio-Seal to help keep me from bleeding to death. Unfortunately that seal doesn’t dissolve for 60-90 days, and it hurts quite a bit if I sit down for long periods of time. So most of my programming and writing these days is done standing up.

My last name isn’t really “Alexander.”

But it’s not a witness-protection thing or an adoption thing, it’s an Ellis Island thing.

As the legend was told to me late in my teenage years, my great-grandparents on my dad’s side of the family immigrated into the United States through Ellis Island. As they were going through the immigration process, a worker at Ellis Island asked what their last name was.

(In case you ever wonder what I post for my friends on Facebook, the posts often look like this. It may be helpful to know before reading it that I’m known to have a bit of a donut addiction.)

Person behind the counter at Dunkin’ Donuts: “Hi, how can I help you?”

Me: “Hi. I’d like two donuts.”

“Two donuts?”

“Yes, four donuts.”

The two young men had been drinking in the open field in rural Kentucky most of the night. “Billy Ray”, Jimmy said, “ya know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna shoot the next damn thing that moves.”

“Includin’ me, Jeemy?”, Billy asked.

“No, a course not you Billy. But anythin’ else, I’m gonna shoot it.” Truth be told, Jimmy knew it was late, and they’d likely just finish their beers and drunk-drive themselves home.

In trying to understand Yahoo’s financials, I came across this good article. It includes these tidbits:

“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth.”

~ Walt Whitman (as discovered from this tweet)

Life changes a lot when you don’t know if you’re going to end up in the hospital from one moment to the next. Technology is important, but it’s also not important. I hope the “technologists” out there get a chance to understand this in their time. Paraphrasing someone whose name I can’t remember, “Nobody who was about to die ever said, ‘I wish I had worked more.’”

This performance of “Glitter in the Air” by P!nk one of my favorite performances of any song, ever. (Warning: Her outfit may not be considered safe for work.)

I’ve always thought that “Saving Grace” is one of Tom Petty’s most underrated songs. If it happens to be playing in the background one day, you might just catch yourself unconsciously tapping your toes on the floor. :)

May 8th is a special anniversary for me. On this day in 2007 I got in the car, drove for 13 days, and ended up living in Talkeetna, Alaska. #NoRegrets

The song of the day is Resurrection Fern, by Iron and Wine. I heard this song in one of my favorite movies of the last few years, In Your Eyes.

I remembered tonight that I had a clear interest in things like Zen, meditation, and yoga when I was 12 years old. Back then there was a baseball pitcher that I liked who was open about his interest in these things. One day he was pitching and my dad said, “Bah! He’s a flake.” I didn’t argue with my dad, but I thought to myself, “No, he’s not a flake, he’s just interested in things our family doesn’t know anything about. If we were born on the other side of the world, these things would be considered normal.”

I thought about that last part during one of my hospital stays last year. One of my nurses had been raised as a Buddhist, and we talked quite a bit. It made me wonder how different my life might have been if I had known one single person who had an interest in these things when I was young. Back then, and in our neck of the woods, meditation and yoga were not “normal” things to think about.

Today’s song is Shaft, by Isaac Hayes. I thought of this after seeing Mr. Hayes in an episode of The Rockford Files.

But in a two-for-one deal, here are some lyrics from a song called Superfly, by Curtis Mayfield:

Ask him his dream
What does it mean?
He wouldn't know
“Can’t be like the rest”
Is the most he’ll confess

And now, here’s Shaft:

Continuing yesterday’s theme of 1970s soul music (Shaft, by Isaac Hayes), this is a nearly twelve-minute long version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone, by The Temptations.

One summer day in 2011 I was meditating in the mountains in Alaska when I heard some other people. Turns out they were paragliding. Here’s a short video of them, and the area:

It’s probably not good for my reputation as a male, but I really like the music of Natalie Merchant. (I also like Guns ’n Roses and Godsmack, so there’s a balance.) This song, Kind and Generous, is one of my favorite uplifting favorites. (Thick as Thieves is also a favorite, but in a very different way.)

Outside of dancing with a couple of married women somewhere in the deep south (after more than a few margaritas), and one long night in Las Vegas, the last song I can remember dancing to in public is “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy),” by Information Society.