(lygenztia *242) At the risk of being repetitive..spring may have sprung.

I just couldn't stand it anymore and got my kayak out today. As far as i'm concerned, spring is here. It's official. (winter sucks, but i've said that before)

When I got to the water, the local fire department was doing some training and watched me unload my kayak. One of the guys I used to play hockey with saw me and said "are you nuts"? I looked at him standing in freezing cold water with his funny boots and asked the same question of him. We both realized it was a mexican stand off and laughed.

Moving on to the actual paddling, even with my cold water equipment on..... I froze. I don't care. My fingers went so numb, they may have been permanently injured. I don't care. It struck me as I paddled that everything was so "brown". It's that weird time period between winter and spring and the breif seasonal transition before we go "green".

No snow, no winter...but no green, no warm. Yet.

About that, I do care. Make it spring NOW. Please.......

(lygenztia *241) Get over yourself..Mozart was cool. YOU aren't.

Music can be a strange thing. Some people get very defensive about their choices in music, which in some ways is cool, because that shows how much the music touches you.

However, on the "un-cool" side of the spectrum is the pompous, condescending, classical music lover. Most are the same, they look down on anyone that doesn't appreciate classical music. I was recently challenged by one of these pompous nitwits about my taste in music.

Music was brought up in the conversation and I merely stated that I do not really care for classical music. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, it just doesn't suit my ear. Well! One would have thought that I insulted the very notion of civility in society. Classical music lovers, almost exclusively, are pompous, insecure dolts that are doing their best to appear more intelligent than the rest. (if you don't agree, reference Major Charles Winchester from M*A*S*H)

Classical music lovers, please, don't judge others based on your archaic, boring, insecure, phony tastes. Live and let live, Beethoven would have. (if he hadn't been dead for about 7000 years)



-NEWSFLASH- Music can also be fun. Music can also be inspirational. Music can also be just a temporary escape from the humdrum of life. There is a reason classical music lovers sit alone on weekends, sip cognac and listen to Bach..it's because nobody else can stand to be around them!

As far as the pompous classical music lovers go, I defy you to show me one single attractive, socially balanced, interesting and exciting classical music lover on the face of the planet. Cause that person, doesn't exist.

(lygenztia *240) It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time

Trying to remember some things can be like trying to squeeze a marshmallow through a key hole without scraping any sugar off of it.

I was watching a fellow recite a speech from memory the other day and got to thinking about memory. Just what the heck is your "memory"? You can't touch it, you can't see it and you can't really show where it physically exists. I mean you can point out the general area in the brain that is responsible for memory function, but the last time I looked I didn't see a tiny shelf of encyclopaedia's stored there.

Our memory is just a notion, or idea, kind of an abstract piece of brain function that can't really be truly explained.

Your memory just "is".

Why do we so easily retain some memories, while some are so quickly "erased"? And are they really "erased"? Think about it, we don't know if our memory has an actual storage capacity, so in theory we have the capability of remembering every single thing that has happened to us.

It's not like it keeps me awake at night, but if you really think about it, human memory is a fascinating concept. (but if you do ponder the question....don't forget to remember why you were thinking about your memory, or that will really twist your brain.)

(lygenztia *239) I think it happened last week..."you know you're old when..."

We've all seen those "you know you're old when" jokes and wise parables about old age, but for some of us "getting old" hits us like a ton of bricks.

For me, it was a Tim Horton's epiphany. I was walking by Tim's the other day and stopped for a coffee. As I waited in line, I thought to myself "man, I spend more money per week on Timmy's now than I do on booze."

And THAT is when it hit me. I am officially "old". I mean, i've heard it..i've been told it, but I never quite accepted it. Took the damn double/double to drive it home.

(lygenztia *238) When did we get so busy?

I don't get it...when did we suddenly get so busy? I don't mean me and you, I mean all of us. It really is amazing...think about the response that you get when you bump into an acquaintance and ask "How are you?"

The response is almost always...."oh my gosh, we are so busy". I just don't remember what changed or when exactly we became so busy. My parents raised a very large family and did a great job, but I remember they always had down time on the weekends, to sit by the pool, visit or just "do nothing". Remember going for a drive with your parents? Can you imagine doing that now? NO WAY! There wouldn't be time, or if there was, there would have to be mapped out destinations, designated lunch stops, internet researched routes...etc, etc, etc. The fun would be completely driven out of the drive. (pardon the pun)

The point is, people never used to be ridiculously busy like we are nowadays. So, when did it happen? It had to be between now and then. Life seemed so much more relaxed up until the 80's...maybe it was then.

I don't know, but I sure wish it could go back.

(lygenztia *237) Philatelist's are sooooo cool.

What kind of freak collects stamps? Serioulsy, what the hell is up with that?

How can anyone possibly find this interesting? if you really have nothing interesting going on in your life and you have nothing better to do, then I kind of get it, but not really.

But to say stamp collecting is "fun" or "interesting", is kind of like saying that listening to static on a radio, just in case a station suddenly comes in...... is "fun".

Basically, drop 397 little pieces of paper on the table (don't forget the glue on the back half is made from dead horses) and then try to find an interesting stamp. Yep, that's how I want to spend my friday night.