Reach

It was a nice relaxing day, a little humid but overall a nice day. I'm winding down at the end of the day, reading a book, writing in my journal, those kinds of things. I decided to go back and read over the last 10 years of my journal entries for today's date. There were a lot of interesting and mundane things that happened today in my life over the last 10 years.

The most interesting day was June 28, 2005. It was a Tuesday. I was slightly hung over. I had a lot going on at this point in my life. My dad had died 2 months ago. I was stressed out about a ex that I had just broken up with earlier in the month. I had almost wrecked my car a week and a half ago ( a precursor to totaling it another 9 months from now). A few days ago I returned from a week long business trip in Chicago. Today they operated on Frank to remove the cancer from his pancreas but found that it had spread to his liver.

At the time Randy & I were hanging out at Applebees. He had stuff to do that day at home so after work I went over with Denny. We had a good talk & hung out for a while but he always left right at 5pm. At 6:30 my Russian friend, Kare'n stopped over. He always had some off the wall wisdom. Coming from a communist country he saw things very differently than I did, but he always made so much sense and would see everything in a completely different light than I ever did. We would drink shots of vodka with a lime while he would chain smoke and dispense Eastern European wisdom. Kare'n told me he had something for me. He said "Time heals all wounds, & maybe this will help you to remember that." Then he handed me a black box. It had a Russian made wrist watch in it. Very cool.

Later in the evening I also made a new friend, Sean. We have a lot in common. Military, Astronomy, & the same political views, we both even drink captain & coke. He had met Kare'n the week before and we hit it off. I love meeting random interesting people in bars. He said he had a book he wanted to give me. He ran home and got it. The book is called Reach, by Edward Gibson, he was a former astronaut. Sean even wrote a little wisdom inside the book for me.
Scott,
no matter where you are, or how far you've gone, you should always be reaching for whats next.

I Hope You Can Hear This!

Please read the entire blog before you watch the video.



Well its Fathers Day, but most people don't seem to remember it. I know that I didn't. My mom called me around Wednesday to see if I was going to my grandparents in New York. A few people asked me what my plans were for the weekend and when I told them I was going to New York, they said they had forgotten it was Fathers Day. Some of them didn't ever have a father around and others had lost theirs and the day seemed to fade away. I didn't even realize this connection until I was on the road Sunday morning.

It made me realize how lucky I have been over the years. Even though my dad wasn't always around I always knew he loved me. I also had a good step-dad & Grandfather that looked out for me and taught me lots of things. Even now I have a very good friend that is kinda like my mentor and a big brother.

So I'm driving with lots of things going through my mind. I'm on the first half of a 6 hour drive with only 3 hours of sleep. I'm not really expecting this to be a sad Fathers Day at all. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you. I was listening to my Ska cd in my car. A song came on, one that I hadn't heard in a long time. I didn't even know what song it was when it first started to play but all it took was the first few notes and something hit me and it was all over. Before I even realized what the song was I was in tears. As I listened to the song and realized what it was they came faster and larger.

When I got home I knew I wanted to put the song up on my blog. So I started out by looking up the lyrics. I found them easily enough, but the words by them self just didn't have the emotional impact that the song did. So I tried to find a web site that had streaming audio or video so I could share the entire experience with everyone. No luck Anywhere. So I spent the last two nights creating my own video and uploading it to Youtube. Its been a rough two nights, but what I made is better than anything I could have ever found. Under any other circumstance this video would have me rolling on the floor laughing, but certain lyrics in the song really get to me. I cant think of a better way to be remembered than by celebration.

Even though your not in any of these pictures you made them all possible. Thanks for the good times and the continuing memories.

I really miss him, he would have loved this, I hope he can hear me!
Happy Fathers Day!

Kaakwha

Well today I was asked for advice.

Over the weekend I was out on Raystown Lake having a grand old time. We were shooting water balloons at other boats and having the greatest of times. I am very burnt right now. My skin itches and it hurts. I have been covering myself with lotion & taking ibuprofen the last 3 days. I can tell as soon as the ibuprofen starts to wear off. So as soon as I was told that someone was looking for advice, a song from 8 years ago popped into my head. It was originally written 10 years ago and published in the Chicago Tribune. See if you remember it. You may not at first, if you don't look it up on Youtube.

"Everybody is free to wear sunscreen" by Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

P.S. Kaakwha is the sun god of the Seneca Indians.

Learning To Fly

Maybe next time you sing loudly into my ear you will know the correct words :)

Into the distance, a ribbon of black

Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a windswept field

Standing alone my senses reeled

A fatal attraction is holding me fast

How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings

Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything

No navigator to guide my way home

Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,

My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air

Across the clouds I see my shadow fly

Out of the corner of my watering eye

A dream unthreatened by the morning light

Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can't keep my mind from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

STS-117

6:25 PM Talking to Steve on Instant Messenger. He informs me that it will be storming like a *&#%$@* down my way in about 45 minutes.

7:13 PM The rain just started.

7:20 PM The lights flicker, luckily I'm watching the weather and its sunny in Florida.

7:25 PM No constraints to launch

7:26 PM I can hear the hiss of something starting to engage, no rumble yet though.

7:29 PM T - 9 minutes and counting

7:38 PM We have liftoff

Im sitting here watching NASA tv on my laptop. Watching the Space Shuttle Atlantis liftoff into space for STS-117. Now im not sure what the top speed is but at one point they said it was traveling at 8000 mph.

I remember when I was little and how big of an event a shuttle launch was. It would always make major news, now most of the time its barely mentioned. I was home sick from school on January 28, 1986. I remember sitting there watching the Space Shuttle Challenger take off that day. I was watching live as it blew apart 73 seconds after launch.

I still like watching it go up. Some day I want to go to Florida and watch a launch live. That would be an awesome display. Usually what I do now is go to the web site Heavens Above and check the times that it goes over. If you enter in your location the web site will tell you what times and where you can watch the space shuttle, the ISS, and other satellites go over. If you check it out definitely look up the Iridium Flares. Its interesting to be able to go out in your back yard and look up and watch something like that going over. At least it always fascinates me, but I'm simple like that :)

P.S. if the STS-117 doesn't show a viewing during the next week just look for the ISS. They will be docked for most of the mission. It should be very bright.