Life in the Middle

This weekend was my nephew's birthday and we had a big bash for him at my mom's house. We had Dee come for the weekend, and she is doing really well, communicating more and more with her voice board. I am really amazed at some of the things that she says and she had us in stitches a few times, I always knew that she had a sense of humor, it is just nice that now she can finally express it.

Anyway, as you know my sister has been having some really rough times, and my nephew has wanted a Wii game system for a while now. Well, my mother and I went in on one together and you should have seen the look on his face. I don't know if you know this or not, but the Wii is down right difficult to get your hands on. I am not really sure why Nintendo doesn't make them more readily available to the public, although I have heard from people that their theory is that if they hold out then the demand will stay high and so will the price and novelty of it all. I don't know if that really makes sense to me. It seems to me that the more of them they sell, the more controllers and games they can make and sell and therefore they make more money. That is just the way I see it, but what do I know about big business. We only go this one as a freak accident, I was at Walmart and was talking to the woman there about an Ipod that I was looking to purchase and they didn't have the one I wanted. She jokingly said to me that she didn't have that, but she did have a brand new shipment of Wiis that she just unloaded if I would want one. Well, I called my mom right then and there and we discussed going in on it together and getting it for Matt. Needless to say, I took that Wii home.

I don't know if you have ever gotten the opportunity to play the Wii, but this thing is really awesome. It comes with a whole bunch of sports games that you can play and one controller. Well, I know you have probably already heard all the Wii controller being a hazard stories, but really the thing is not, unless you throw the controller, which they give you a wrist band to help keep it in your hand, plus now they have even added a heavily padded skin to the outside of the controller, I guess to help keep it from going through the TV screen if you accidentally do let go of it while playing.

In any case, so far I have gotten to play baseball and bowling, both of which are a real trip. You swing around that controller like you are really throwing and batting and bowling. It is actually really neat the way the thing responds every time you swing that controller, and honestly that thing is really exercise. I found that my arms began hurt after doing those games for a while; I even tried to get Dee in on the act helping her swing the controller and she laughed and laughed as we played baseball with Matt. It was a really nice day, and I am sure a birthday gift that Matt won't soon forget!

My parents have living in the same house for several years, and they are pretty easy to get along with. Well, my mom called me and was complaining about the neighbors on either side of them. In the past there have been complaints from her about people hanging stuff on their clothes line, without there permission, a neighbor's son who had to park his pick up truck right up next to their front porch (they are very narrow pieces of property and this area seemed like a good place to extend his driveway) and then tore up the lawn when it rained, and even one neighbor putting food garbage under their back shed. Honestly, I have found some of the stories a little bizarre, but I try to listen about them and reassure her. On several occasions my father and my mother have spoken to the neighbors and have tried to explain to them about boundaries and respect for other people's property. It seems that before my parents moved in for about the past 20 years this house that they are living in had been a rental house, so apparently they just did whatever they wanted to, because after all the neighbor's didn't really own the house anyway, a third party did, so they just took over.

If you met any of these people, then you would probably understand, they are true country folk, and not to top heavy if you know what I mean. In any case, mom called me up yesterday and was completely enraged. While my parents had been away about a week ago, someone had come through their yard, and cut down two really straggly bushes up against the property line. Dad said that he figured it was one of the neighbors, but he didn't really care since they left just the flowering bushes, it looked nice. Then while dad was at work yesterday, Mom heard one of the neighbors outside with a weed trimmer. My nephew came running in and said Grandma did you know that Kevin (one of the neighbors) is cutting down all of your plants. Well, Mom knew just where to look and sure enough he cut down every last one. She ran outside, and yelled at Kevin and his response was, well it is my property. She assured him that he was mistaken and that he only had the right to cut down the parts of the plant that grew onto his property such as the limbs etc. Then he proceeded to tell her that the bushes were filled with poison ivy and that his wife was allergic and that is why he cut them down. So her answer, which I thought was a pretty smart one was, "Well, does that mean that if I am allergic to pine that I can come over there and chop down your pine tree!". Meantime, the joke really is that this man's wife never even goes outside. I think that my parents have seen her maybe 3 times this year.

In any case, I tried to reassure mom that some people just don't get the thing about respecting other people's property. Some people were not raised with any boundaries.

As I have stated before I really enjoy reality TV. I think that it is very interesting to watch what people do and how they react. There is a relatively new show on now which is called the Moment of Truth. This show is a little out there and I am not sure I really like it, but I have watched it a few times. I actually saw this show last night, and quite honestly there were 2 people on there. The first was a man; he was a Mormon, which it seems that they have used a few Mormons already on this show. I think that perhaps it is for shock value or something. I think that they are hoping that the family's reactions will be more severe than those of an average family. I am not really sure but the person that I really want to talk about was the woman who came after this guy.

Now if you have never watched the Moment of Truth then this is what you need to know. The people on this show are asked 100 questions while being polygraphed before the show. They seem to know a lot about these people, and I am not exactly sure how they find out all the dirt about them, before hitting them with a bunch of questions. It is obvious; however, that they know what the big button issues are for each person. In any case, when they are on the show, they must tell the truth and the questions will be asked in any order and they use their previous polygraph test to tell if they are telling the truth. Now the woman that I want to talk about was a mother of 3 and a volunteer firefighter. The first question this woman was asked was "Have you ever given your children something that you had stolen from the store?". Her truthful answer was yes, and when the host asked her for clarification of what she had stolen and given to her kids, her answer was it could have been a lollipop, flower, or a book, there were too many instances for her to count. The next question was had she ever stolen from a neighbor. Again she said yes, and that she had gotten angry with the neighbor, stolen their photo album and burned it for revenge. The next question was have you ever stolen anything from a relatives house and again the answer was yes. Have you ever cheated on a Red Cross First Aid Exam, and again she answered yes. Then they had her fire chief ask her if she had ever ignored an emergency page from the fire house, and again her answer was yes. Well, the thing you must know is that the whole time this woman is smiling and laughing about all these questions, like of course her responses are totally normal. Her husband does not seem the slightest bit shocked by any of her answers, but her father looks like he wants to die out there. Now here she is admitting all these horrible things about herself and the next question comes it is "Have you lost physical attraction for your husband since you have been married". She answers no, and the lie detector says that is a lie. She goes off the stage crying. Now she loses all the money, and she just said all these horrible things about herself and doesn't care about that, but she was afraid to upset her husband. The whole thing was just dumb.

I just don't really get how she could sit there and say that she was a liar, shoplifter, and cheat, but yet she couldn't say that after having 3 kids she was not as attracted to her husband any more. Of all the things to lie about and the people always seem shocked at the questions, which to me just seem a bit bizarre. If they ask you all the questions in advance, then why are they surprised at the questions when they are asked them? And if you know that they are going to ask you a question that perhaps your family or spouse doesn't know about, why is it that you would not go home and confess before going on the show to save everyone a little bit of embarrassment? I am not sure I get the whole concept. Whether we get it or not, I am sure the show will keep coming on, and such is life I am afraid.

I ran into an old friend the other day - Roshani, who lived for a whiles here in Indianapolis - and we got talking about everything and nothing. I told her about my trials and tribulations (which I won't go into here), and she talked a lot about the past few years of her life, mainly her ten months in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, which is where she was most recently. Anyways, she had what sounded like a pretty awesome time out there.

The people are amazing, she said, especially considering everything they've been through there in the last century or so, and she was made to feel welcome wherever she went. She was teaching a little out there, but she'd saved up enough cash back in Indiana to keep her going out there for a long time, mainly because the exchange rate is so low. So she taught english, a little French (which I did not know she could speak!) and some other bits and pieces, but mainly she just lived there, building up friendships, settling down a little. Some of the people she's met she'll be friends with for life, was how she put it.

Anyways, there was one particular story stuck out for me, probably because I've been thinking of doing a little travelling in the not so distant future. She'd got a nippy little vehicle from some car hire place out there - nothing fancy, just something to be able to take the odd trip outside the city and go see some of the amazing ruins in the countryside there. So, in her last month there, she decided to travel a little further afield, see some pretty rare sights, get to know the country that little better. One night, she's driving back to the house she's staying in - with a family about 100 km north of Phnom Penh - and out of nowhere an elephant comes lumbering out of the brush and into the middle of the road! She swerves at the last minute, and goes smashing into some trees. The car was totalled, and she needed treatment for whiplash and some minor cuts at the local hospital. Her travel insurance covered it but, still! How cool is that! - How did you get that scar? I nearly crashed into an elephant! Wow!

She says she regrets nothing. Glad it happened. Just for the story and the sight of an elephant in her headlights. She never knew what happened to that elephant, but she's happy enough that she didn't hit it. I tell you one thing, hearing that gives me itchy feet! Maybe I'll do some travelling myself soon…

I went to my sister’s house for dinner last night, and she was all excited about a volunteering opportunity that she had just found out about. It seems that she had been watching Dr. Phil last week, and they had done a show about helping kids. She has always been the type of person who likes to help others, and so when she was watching this particular show, they spoke about volunteers needed for an organization called CASA. In short, Dr. Phil and his wife are becoming spokes people for this organization. She went on to tell me that being a CASA volunteer will allow you to help children whose families are in crisis. A CASA volunteer has to go through 36 hours of training and make a 2 year commitment to the cause. After the training portion, your job is to meet with children who need representation in court and trying to figure out what is their best option. For instance, you will help with decisions on custody and placement for children with bad home lives. You will not only interview the kids but the grown ups involved, check out living conditions, talk to school psychologist, social workers, and teachers, to try and help represent the child’s best interests. Then after the interviews, etc, you will put all your findings into a report, and will need to appear in court to testify if necessary. You are basically the eyes and ears of the court, so as to cut down on the man hours that are needed to make decisions in the best interest of the child or children involved. This does not just mean putting the child where they want to go, but making a tough decision for the child which is in their best interest in the long run.

My sister told me that she already received the application and submitted it. I asked her if she really thought that she had the time to invest in doing something like this, and her answer to me was, how could she not? I should have known. Anyway, after talking about it a little more, I really thought that it sounded like a worthy cause and I told her to get me an application and I would do it with her. After all, life is really about giving back, isn’t it? I just am glad that as a child, I myself had a stable home life and did not have to face a lot of the things that the kids today have to face. I know if I were a child in this tough situation, I would really want to feel like someone was there just to be on my side and to represent me and my interests.

I think that this will be a really worthy cause to work with kids and help them get what they need. I look forward to the challenge of it. We are really hoping that we can do our 36 hours of training over the summer so that it doesn’t interfere with our school schedules. I am sure that Mom can watch the boys while we go to training together. It will be really nice to get to spend this time together as well.

Well, David Cook did it, he beat out David A for the title of American Idol. It is a bit upsetting to me, I mean I think that David C is a very good singer and entertainer, but I really thought that David A. should have won. I mean he definitely is more naturally vocally talented than David C but he did always seem a little timid on stage. I really thought however, that immediately following those performances on the last night, that David A looked awesome, and David C looked a little weak in comparison.

I actually got to learn a little bit about the behind the scenes at AI when I went to see Colton Berry in person. I got to see him perform live, and he also talked a lot about the AI experience. In case you don't know who Colton Berry is, he was one of the guys who made it to the top 20 but then got taken off soon after. He told things about AI that just amazed me.

He talked about his first audition where they filled an entire stadium with American Idol wanna bes and called each one down one at a time to sing. When you got down to sing in front of several producers they only let you sing a few notes and then they said whether you were in or out. He sang a few notes, and after he did they said they weren't sure on him and that he would have to audition in front of Nigel Lythgoe (From So You Think You Can Dance). Apparently, he is one of the producers of AI as well. Well, he said that he sang in front of him an entire song, and when he finished Nigel said that he really couldn't sing, but he had great hair so he was putting him through. I thought that was really interesting.

He said then he got to come back a few weeks later, and audition in front of the judges. The whole time, he couldn't let anyone know that he was going to be on American Idol. Then he went back and made it through with the judges, and then he had to go home again, and still couldn't say anything to anyone. Then each time he went back to AI he couldn't tell anyone when he came home that he was progressing, and eventually just lied to people and told him that he was going out of town for a while to visit friends. He said that he began this process in August, but that the shows didn't actually start to air until December, so he said it was a very long/secretive process. He said that he became really good friends with the other contestants, and said he still keeps in touch with them. He also said that the one guy who didn't make it into the top 20, you know the guy who was living in his car, actually has since gotten a recording contract and is doing fine. He also talked about how small the set on AI is, he said it looks really big on TV but it is like being in a cardboard box. And he said that the microphones that they hold actually don't do anything, they are just for show.

For a big AI fan like me, it was a real treat to get to hear about someone's first hand experiences with the show. I really enjoyed getting the inside scoop.

I found myself with nothing to do last night. It was just one of those days where so many plans are pencilled in that nothing becomes concrete, so I just decided to stay in and surf. Whilst looking for games online, I came across a curious British obsession – Bingo. Although the term was coined in the States, the game is hugely popular over there, and I decided it might be fun to try a bit of UK Online Bingo myself. It’s a very simple game, not dissimilar to playing the lottery. You pay a set amount and get a whole bunch of cards with rows of numbers on them. A “caller” then draws numbers from a generator, and you need to cross off your numbers as you hear them. The first person to complete a row must declare “Bingo!” and they then win a prize.

It’s a very simple game, but surprisingly addictive. Because the entry fees are generally low, and the game is played en masse, it doesn’t really feel like gambling. You can participate in chatting to other players, or else just concentrate on the game itself – I’m told that the social aspect to Britain’s traditional Bingo halls is the most important thing, and it certainly seems that the websites – Mecca being the biggest – are trying to uphold this communal flavour as much as is possible in a remote, online game. Reading up a little on the history of the game, I managed to get to the bottom of some of the obscure, often-rhyming terms they call out to identify the numbers they’ve drawn – from the slightly dubious (15 – young and keen) to the cryptic (80 – Ghandi’s Breakfast), to the topical (10 – Gordon’s Den), to the downright weird (3 – One Little Flea). I won’t even begin to tell you what they mean, but it’s all very quaint and charming.

In the end, I got one row to match, for which I won $25, and I still have 29 games to play for my $100 entry fee. Considering how much fun it was, I think that makes it a pretty worthwhile deal, and I’ll definitely play internet bingo again.

I went to Mom’s house for dinner tonight. My sister and father cooked dinner and I did all the dishes, being that it was Mother’s Day. It was great to spend a nice evening with my family. I played with my nephews a bit and gave them my famous piggy back rides and tucked them in and read them stories. They all were staying the night at Mom’s house, so they would drive home in the morning. After the boys went to sleep, we talked about Dee and the fact that she was going to move into her new place at the end of the week. My mom reminded me that I had promised to help move her stuff and get her settled in her new place. I was excited and nervous for her all at the same time. I have talked through it with my counselor and we have ironed through my issues about giving up control of my little sister to someone else. She has really helped me to see that this is truly the best thing for all. My sister has keyed in yes, about her new living arrangements, and of course we will all come visit her often. She will be right in Muncie so I will be able to check in on her a lot. I think this is what we all need. Neither my older sister Carolyn nor I could possibly take on caring for Dee right now. My mother is struggling to do all this by herself and her health is beginning to fail. My father if left to be the only one to care for Dee would either need to put her in a home, or hire a round the clock nurse for her. None of these are the best scenarios for Dee. To try and make hap hazard arrangements for her care in an emergency situation would just not make for a smooth transition. I am really trying to be up beat and positive about the whole thing. I assured my mother that she just needs to let me know when she needs my help and I will be here.

My older sister Carolyn looks really tired tonight. She does not seem to be feeling well, and I gave her an extra hug. I know that the emotional and physical stresses in her life are definitely taking their toll. I quietly suggest to her counseling, and this time instead of blowing me off like she has done many times in the past, she actually asks me for my counselor’s name, which in my mind means that she is softening to the idea that she might need someone outside the family to lean on. It might just be the oldest child syndrome or a personality flaw, but Carolyn believes that she must always be strong, or at least appear to be. I know that may be true in front of her boys, but I also know that she can’t hold in all of her feelings about everything that has happened to her forever. She needs someone to talk to, and if not me, then someone.

Must it always be all at once or nothing at all? I called Jenna last night and we talked for a little while and we agreed to go to dinner and a movie next Saturday night. Well a friend of mine Steve invited Chris and I to come over to his place for a night of poker and beer. Well, little did I know that there would be women at this party as well and that definitely made the game much more interesting. Steve introduced me to his girlfriend’s sister, her name was Taylor. She was quite beautiful with tan skin and green eyes, and yes a body that you definitely wanted to see more of. Well, she was quite the poker player and I definitely enjoyed her company. After the game we all hung out for a while and I got to talking to her. She goes to Ball State also, but I had not ever seen her there before. She told me that she doesn’t spend much time on campus that she still lives at home with her parents, and works at her father’s store. She said that in her free time, she hangs out with her friends and goes out clubbing. She just broke it off with her high school sweetheart, and they had been together for 4 years. She said that she has been wanting to meet someone, but after all that time of dating the same guy, she is not even sure how to go about it.

Well, she was exciting and interesting to talk to. I had red flags going up because she had been in a relationship for so long and was definitely on the rebound. I had been drinking and little and so had she and well, one thing led to another, and I wound up taking her home. I really didn’t mean for this to happen, and I did keep telling Taylor that I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, and she said she wasn’t either, which I now am really hoping was true. I know this makes me sound like a total dog. I really do like Jenna and want to get to know her better, but Taylor was incredible and in my defense it had been a while since I had been with someone and sometimes things just happen. I just really hope that this doesn’t become a problem especially between Steve and I. I mean I didn’t make her any promises or anything, I was really careful not to with this potential new relationship on the horizon, I really don’t want to mess this one up.

Okay, so I am not really sure why I feel so guilty. I mean I haven’t even had a real date with Jenna yet, and still somehow I feel as if what I did was cheating on her. I haven’t made her any promises or anything, and I really don’t know if things are going to work out, but I guess that I know there was a definite connection there and I don’t want to blow my chance at a real relationship. I mean sex is one thing, but a real relationship is a once in a lifetime.

I just got finished watching Cloverfield . I was told not to watch it that it had made some people sick on the big screen. I thought it was really interesting. If you haven’t seen or heard of it before, it is about a day in life of someone and then a monster attacks Manhattan, and they continue to document through the disaster and tragedy.

I think that this movie was meant to be a representation of a terrorist attack, but that they did not want to open that wound again, so they used something fictitious to drive home the point without elevating the fear level in people. This created a little less fear from the movie while still representing the fear and chaos that unpredictable situations like the terrorist attacks of 9/11 create.

In the opening scenes of the movie, they document two of the main characters Rob and Beth and their love affair. Then they move to a month later, where they are planning a going away party for Rob as he has gotten a promotion and is heading to Japan. They film the party and the other characters using Rob’s friend Hud as the camera man. He is documenting everyone’s well wishes for Rob on his trip, when they uncover the fact that Rob and Beth had slept together about a month earlier. Anyway, when Beth shows up at the party with another guy, Rob and Beth have words and Beth leaves angry. Trying to comfort their brother and friend, Jason and Hud are trying to talk to Rob about it when the building shakes and powers out for a minute. This moment is very startling as they are just talking and then boom terror sets in. They go on the roof to see what is going on, and observe things flying and explosions in the city and the group of party goers flees the building. The whole time being filmed by Hud as documented by the video camera he is carrying.

As time goes on the terror and chaos ensue, as they still do not know what is going on in the city and the group tries to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. As they are crossing the monsters tail swings across and kills Jason and breaks the bridge. The group of 4, now make it off the bridge and in the mean time, Rob gets a call from Beth saying she needs help and that she is trapped and bleeding. The group decides to go back into the city to try and save Beth. When they do, they run into these smaller spider like monsters in the subway tunnels and one of the girls get bitten by a creature. As they try to get out of the tunnels and away from these creatures, the 4 weary travelers come across the military and their make shift hospital, and when they know that the one girl has been bitten they drag her into a tent and kill her. Very shaken, the now group of 3 continue into the city and find Beth and rescue her from her apartment. They then try to get out of the city by helicopter. The first girl gets on the first helicopter and is saved. The rest get on the second helicopter, which spins out of control and then crashes, but all 3 of them are still alive. Then as they are trying to get to safety, Hud the camera man gets attacked by the monster and dies. Then the two that are left are Beth and Rob and they take Hud’s camera and hide in the park under a bridge. The military bombing of the city and monster begin, and then they are buried under rocks and die or so we think. The very last scene is what was left on the tape before and flashes to Beth and Rob having fun together at Coney Island a month earlier.

I really enjoyed this movie, although perhaps not the most realistic of story lines, the plight of the humans to survive and take care of each other above all else seemed to be accurately portrayed by this movie. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys lots of action and suspense.