I Feel Funny

It's been a day of a myriad of emotions and at the end of the day all I have is my dear friend, blog, to comfort me. Together, though, blog and I can conquer the world so I'm not too concerned.

Before I get into the day itself the last week has rained upon me a wide spectrum of thoughts and emotions that collectively is best described as "bitter-sweet". I soon must leave the wonderful island of Grand Cayman and my new found friends. I will leave my job and my quaint but peaceful apartment. Yet, the thoughts of family and friends and simple luxuries denied to me here, beckon me and fill me with glee akin to a child getting a new bike. As they must celebrations and gatherings will pass and I will have to get back to work and start "building my future" in an an certain world with an uncertain future. In reality though, I look forward to it and hope I will be able to apply the changes I have made in myself here back at home.

All day today I eagerly looking forward to the time after work when I would be able to hear word from the University of Utah. As I watched the press conference (albeit late) and read the articles concerning the move to the PAC 10, I was undeniably proud to be a University of Utah alumni. Previously, I had just shrugged it off as it could have been any school. Yet today, even though my contribution has been at-best minimal, I am unashamed of my pride in my alma mater. As I do, I was trying to read the news from a variety of sources for a wide perspective of what the future will bring for the U. As I was doing so I found myself in the comment section of the Salt Lake Tribune. My high was quickly brought down. I know better than to read these ramblings but one caught my eye and I'm suddenly trapped. The comments typically made are full of ignorance, hate, and malice from both sides. Many times I want to make a comment as a rebuttal or defense, but fortunately I have learned my lesson. No one will care and it will just make me mad. I'm always game for a good argument amongst friends, and even frenemies, but these comments serve no purpose. The thing that makes me mad is that I let it effect me.

I had to go blow off steam so I headed up to the gym. My plan had been to watch game 7 of the NBA finals while running. As a back story, at first I didn't really care about the series. Yeah, I wanted the Lakers to lose but I didn't find myself paying too close attention as I don't have cable to watch it anyway. Well, I found myself emotionally involved in game 7 after some ignorant and out of place comments made by an acquaintance. Again, I shouldn't care, but I let it get to me. Celtics winning would have made him look like an idiot, so I wanted the Celtics to win. If you have ever watched a sports event with me where I have a favorite, you know I sometimes have soft, gentle conversation with the inanimate TV. Needless to say, my blood pressure goes up as well as my heart rate. Combine that with running. The game was so tight that my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Plus I think I would constantly scare the people around me when I let out a gentle yell at the refs. Upset alert: Celtics lost. I lost. Jerkface won, kinda. In the end, not that big of a deal.

By the end of the night I had calmed myself down and watched Ol' Yeller and cried. Just kidding. I had been reading and decided to stay up to see what would happen with the planned execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner. It was bizarre. I'm not trying to open a debate of whether it is right or wrong but to discuss the happenings leading up to the execution. This is the reply I left for a friend on Facebook: Weird world we live in. I watched updates via Google latest; news which consisted mostly of Twitter feeds. Mark Shurtleff (or his staff) was even updating his Twitter. Also as I waited the comments via ustream the comment board was open and live. Some people are just morbid. It's a strange strange world.

As to not scare anyone a way, I wouldn't consider this my daily range of emotions. If scientists some day find that men go through PMS (let's keep it to the emotional stuff), say, two times a year, I would believe it. I wouldn't even say it was a tough day, just interesting. And at the end of the day (which is actually on to the next day (kinda) now that it's 2:30 am) I'm tired and pretty sure I'll sleep easy!

Our Prejudice World

I don't consider myself to be a prejudice person but today my eyes were opened. As I was walking today I saw a chicken in a tree hopping up branches. I don't recall ever seeing a chicken in a tree before. I may have without remembering, nonetheless, I found the behavior peculiar. I stopped and watched it for a while. I even tried to get a decent picture/video of it. A Caymanian security guard for the school the try was by asked what I was looking at. When I told him I'd never seen a chicken in a tree he laughed and said that it happens all the time. As we walked away he chuckled and shook his head. I may have even heard him utter "white boys" under his breath. I walked away thinking about this whole new world I just walked into full of all sorts of new and exciting possibilities. I also thought about turkeys.

Believe it or not, chickens are birds. Why should they not act as other birds and chill in a tree? They have wings and birdly desires just like any other bird? Why did I insist in my own mind to keep them grounded? It was a punch in the gut to me. Probably not unlike the men of America felt in the 1800's when they realized "Hey, women are people, too, and well, they want and deserve those same things declared in our constitution." And so it is with the chicken. All birds are created equal (some just taste better than others). I long for the day when I can see a penguin getting what's his and relaxing, pipe in mouth, in a tree of his own. Or better yet, him and his friends the emu and ostrich and the kakapo all chilling together at a table of birdhood.

I continued walking ashamed of my prejudice and to my disbelief I saw a tree in the distance full of many chickens. It was then that chickens in trees began to feel natural. Sadly, however, these chickens were not so keen on other birds in their trees as I witness several chicken belittle and gawk at an unidentified non-chicken.

Just the other day I had read in the newspaper here that the longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds. Long enough to get all up in a tree I suppose. Side note: The paper prints a small "Did you know?" box where it mentions random trivia facts. Twice I've noticed facts about chickens and oddly enough I remembered them (not unlike the only facts I remember from biology is that snakes have two penises that work in junction with a female's organs similar to a lock and key, preventing cross breeding). The other chicken fact was that a chicken uneaten can live up to 8 years. I wonder how long a chicken can live when it is eaten...

As I continued to walk my hyperactive mind got to thinking that I should make a blog entry. At first it was going to be simple, like "Hey today I saw a chicken in a tree and that is all". But then I got thinking about how I wouldn't have observed the whole chicken in a tree thing had I not been walking. Side note: My car is being fixed; hence the walking. So then I started thinking about all the things we fail to observe because we insist on driving and don't allow ourselves to slow down. This made me consider how much I enjoyed the beach earlier. I sat there enjoying the sun, the sand, watching kids play, watching a dog swim after a tennis ball (which made me really want a dog), girls in bikinis, and a book to read. Nothing MTV would be interested in-except, of course, the girls in bikinis-but certainly enjoyable. Eventually my mind slowed down enough to conclude that I need to walk more.