My Road Trip Begins! video
August 3: My Missouri Road Trip, aka my 11th 29th birthday road trip, aka my 2013 Road Trip is officially underway. I traveled a total of 479 miles today.
One advantage of traveling alone is I picked out a couple of books on CD. I’ve been listening to Wicked. My dreams should be fairly entertaining tonight. If I get to sleep long enough to dream.
Edna and Frank
have been married a long, long time.
When asked, “A Tuesday
past forever,” is Frank’s line.
For the most part
they putter around their trailer home.
It’s been just the
two of them since their kids are grown.
They never leave.
They don’t take a vacation.
Somewhere they lost
the genteel art of conversation.
She is wearing
the same faded housedress for days.
His suspenders
over his t-shirt keep his pants in place.
Frank sits at the
table and works the crossword in the paper
while she hovers
over the stove making soup for later.
And Edna says,
“I’ve never liked the 31st.
Bad things happen
and it always turns out for the worst.
And in my view,
July 31st should be wiped away
because nothing,
no nothing good comes today.”
A few moments
later he speaks up to say,
“I don’t mind it.
After all, today is my birthday.”
“I know,” she says
and spoons the soup up in a ladle.
He continues
to work his puzzle at the table.
Edna and Frank
have been married a long, long time.
When asked, “A Tuesday
past forever,” is Frank’s line.
© 2013 ck’s days
I was ready.
In 1997 I lived in Texas where I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a missionary, I spent my time preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. At any given moment, I needed to be ready to share a profound thought usually expounding scripture.
I’ve always been a fan of adages and I collected quotes that I thought were short nuggets of profound wisdom before my mission. The more obscure the reference the better. By the time I left on my mission I had a library of rather exceptional maxims.
I’m not a critic. But I do enjoy going to the movie theater. I tend to go to a matinee usually by myself. Despite what popular culture leads us to believe, going to a movie is not really conducive to a date or group setting. You can’t talk and get to know each other. And popcorn wreaks havoc on the breath. So, I like to go alone.
I went to see White House Down a couple of weeks ago. This movie didn’t make a deep enough impression for me to remember to write a blog about it the following week. The plot involved something about the President of the United States and some inside baddies with one Channing Tatum to save the day. Really, that’s enough to know about that one. But one of the previews before the movie was for R.I.P.D. That looks really stupid, I thought.
Then the big media push for it came on television the following week. By opening day my tune changed to, it might be kind of funny. So, I went to see it Friday afternoon. I bought my small Dr. Pepper (ah, worth the price of admission right there) and small popcorn (which together cost more than my ticket).
If you are planning on seeing R.I.P.D. please stop reading right now. Or at least, skip to the very last line. There will be huge spoilers and I don’t want you upset with me.
About five minutes into the movie I remembered something very important. Ryan Reynolds bugs me. I’m sure he is a nice enough guy but I personally don’t think he can act. He more reacts to the script than anything. I swear every role I’ve seen him in has been the same character.
Oh yeah! If only I had thought of that sooner I could have saved me some money. But I did get a Dr. Pepper out of the deal so I was okay with it.
The theater was a little too quiet. Even during the jokes. That’s what happens when the funniest parts of a movie are used for the previews. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible movie and I think it has the potential to grow on me. You know, when it is relegated to its monthly FX viewing and long after I forget about the previews. I predict I’ll watch it on television. And I may even appreciate it. I think.
The premise is a tricky one. The main character dies shortly after the opening credits. He dies after making a very serious error in judgment and before he can rectify the situation. Yes, he is a good guy and yes, he made a very serious mistake. But he can use the excuse “the devil made me do it.” Almost literally.
The winding up scenes made me nervous. The one thing I don’t like about this type of premise is the forced happy endings. Oh, the character isn’t really dead. He’s just sleeping. And now he’s awake and oh – happy day!
Pu-lease!
Or that tender moment when the dead person can speak to the living and gain closure for both.
Pshaw!
In my experience, that veil between life and death is pretty final. There are no second chances to say what needs to be said. I just don’t like those kinds of scenarios.
So, why did I go see this movie, again?
Everybody sees Ryan Reynolds character as a little Chinese guy and Jeff Bridges as a sexy blond. Now, that’s funny. Plus, Mary-Louise Parker does a great job with her character and manages to salvage the movie.
This movie did delve into the whole ghost and human tête-à-tête. But by that point in the storyline it is forgivable. After all, it is just a movie so why tarnish the character’s reputation? It did make me a little nervous when it headed to a happily ever after ending. Albeit with a twist. It veered from that path though. And I appreciate that.
When all is said and done, do I recommend it? Yes. On Red Box.
“Our neighbor was doing something last night after 11:00,” my dad said casually during dinner. “I heard scrape, scrape, scrape. So, I got up and looked out the window. He was digging in the alley.”
Oh boy –
this will be a long afternoon.
I don’t
suppose you’re leaving sometime soon?
You sure
annoy me to no end.
No, I
don’t want to be your friend.
I know
exactly what would make my day –
if you
decided to just go far away.
Go away. Go away. Go away!
Wait, what?
You don’t care much for me?
Really?
How can that possibly be?
I mean,
most people think I’m a delight.
Word on
the street is I am dynamite.
If I
make you laugh you’ll see I’m okay.
Then we
will be bff’s and go play!
Let’s go play. Let’s go play. Let’s go play!
© 2013 ck’s days
I never got the chance to name a child. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have ideas. I planned to combine a scripture name with a family name for each child. Here’s what I came up with:
Moroni Jack. This is quite possibly the most awesome name ever! Moroni is a double whammy. Not only is he the last Book of Mormon prophet to write in the book but there was also a Chief Captain Moroni over the Nephite armies. Jack is after my mom’s dad. I just really like the name Jack. This is the name my family makes fun of me over. They don’t think it’s as cool as I do. Obviously, there is no accounting for taste.
Rebekah Rion (pronounced Ryan). Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, is one of my favorite scripture heroines found in the Old Testament. And Rion? Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch. My grandma’s name was Marion. But she hated the spelling because it was the masculine form (as if in John Wayne’s real name).
Emma Zoe (rhymes with no). Emma after Joseph Smith’s wife. Zoe after the same grandma from above. Before the name Zoe became popular with the long e at the end, my grandma (born in 1902) went by Zoe – long o and silent e.
Samuel James. Samuel is a prominent scripture name throughout all the holy writ. James is after my other grandpa. Again, I just like the name Sam. I picture this kid becoming a famous DJ – “This is Sammy J playin today!”
I never figured out a way to work in my other grandma – Tomie. Still working on that.
But during Sunday School on Sunday, we learned about a man named Zebedee. You just don’t hear about many Zebedees nowadays. So, I’m adding one more to the list. Zebedee Lee. Sorry, Moroni Jack, there’s a new cool name in town. (And yes, I listened to the actual lesson, too. Eventually. It took a while to recover after I thought of the name and kept repeating it in my mind. I thoroughly entertained myself for a few minutes)
I guess I need to write a few stories and give my characters the names I picked out. Because they are just too good to go to waste. Perhaps I’ll start with Zebedee Lee. Just as soon as I say it five times fast.
The other night I turned off the light and waited for sleep to find me. While the Sandman ran a little late getting to my bedroom I heard flip, flip, flippity-flip, flip, flippity-flip. Great, another moth. Since I heard the little annoyer as I tried drifting off to sleep my mind played out some weird scenarios. I won’t go into detail but one involved the moth landing in my mouth after I fell asleep. That woke me up and I turned on the light.
ck's days 