I’m not expecting any great “transformation” or personal insights during this period of enforced isolation. They could happen, mind you, but I’m not expecting or forcing any. What follows are my thoughts about the state of my soul before and during this shared crisis called pandemic. Continue reading “Forced in on Myself”
Posts
The Inside Job That Won’t Go Away
My moods have been roller coastering through this coronavirus crisis, and I’m finding the effort to maintain my optimism hard to maintain. My morale can shift multiple times in a day. Despite dispensing a lot of semi-useful advice on the professional blog, I’d be lying if I said I had my collective s#!t together. This is when being a “highly sensitive person” (or equivalent) has a tremendous downside. Today I’m going to talk to myself and try to remind myself of ways to think constructively in the midst of constant turmoil. Maybe my reminders to myself will help you. Continue reading “The Inside Job That Won’t Go Away”
Taking My Bad News Orally
Updated: In error, I posted that the resorts (hotels) would be closing, too. At present (3/13/2020), the resorts remain open. The parks are scheduled to close Monday, 3/16.
It’s been a little tense here in Orlando this week, culminating last night in the announcement that the two biggest employers/money making enterprises in town–Walt Disney World and Universal Studios–will be closing their theme parks effective Sunday night in response to concerns about this virus/pandemic galloping around the planet. I’m not happy, to put it mildly. Listening to or watching the news makes it worse somehow. Continue reading “Taking My Bad News Orally”
Working on My Inside by Working on My Outside
When I get into a funk, which has been the case off and on lately, I’ll often spend a great deal of time in analysis mode: figuring out what’s going wrong, trying to identify ways to fix it, and setting myself (theoretically) on a path toward healthy thinking. Here’s the thing: despite 30+ years of journaling and time with and without therapists, I’m remarkably bad at fixing myself. However, one thing I am good at doing is setting external goals and then achieving them. This is what I’m preparing to do with my 2020. Continue reading “Working on My Inside by Working on My Outside”
Movie Review: Star Wars IX The Rise of Skywalker
Fair Warning: This review contains major spoilers because it was nearly impossible for me to say anything useful about the film without explaining what it contains. I’m posting more than a month after the premiere to give people a fair amount of time to see it. You have been warned.
Short version: on your first viewing, go in without expectations; otherwise, you’ll just get frustrated. Accept it for what it is, and you’ll be fine. The space fantasy comes to a reasonable conclusion. Continue reading “Movie Review: Star Wars IX The Rise of Skywalker”
What Are Emotions and What Am I Supposed to Do with Them?
I’ve mentioned a few times before on this blog that I’m a moody person. I’ve not always been thrilled with this trait. Boys/men are taught not to display their emotions (save for a few “acceptable” ones like sternness or anger or mild humor), and I’ve been going against that grain all my life. This morning, in the midst of an early-morning fog, I asked myself a useful question while journal writing: what are emotions? My answer lies below. Continue reading “What Are Emotions and What Am I Supposed to Do with Them?”
Dominant Man
I accidentally encountered Dominant Man while at the Panera today. The members of my own sex continue to irritate me. Dominant Man is a premier example of why. Continue reading “Dominant Man”
Tracking Your Gratitude
Sometime last year, I saw a Facebook meme that suggested creating a “gratitude jar,” where once a week you’d write down one good thing you’re thankful for. I decided to take up the challenge. Here are some of my observations from a year observed via positive Post-It Notes. Continue reading “Tracking Your Gratitude”
What I Did on My Autumn Vacation, Ep. 4
Given that I was (and am) a major fan of the Lord of the Rings movies–enough of a heretic to suggest that they are, in some ways better than the books–I would’ve had my Geek Card revoked if I didn’t visit the Hobbiton movie set while I was in New Zealand. After quite a bit of discussion and little success arranging said visit from the U.S., I found out Trafalgar offered the tour locally (it would’ve been nice if they’d said that in the first place, but that’s a discussion for another day). What follows are pictures and thoughts from the trip to Hobbiton and another tour I took out of Queenstown to some other LOTR sites. Enjoy! Continue reading “What I Did on My Autumn Vacation, Ep. 4”
What I Did on My Autumn Vacation, Ep. 3
Thanks to plate tectonics and an ice age or two splitting them away from the rest of the world’s land masses, Australia and New Zealand’s local wildlife had time to evolve differently. Suffice to say, there are some mightily curious critters down under, and I saw quite a few of them under varying circumstances.
Australia
At a rest stop in the Dandenong Hills, there was a spot where the cockatoos liked to hang out. My guess is that the birds figured out that the arrival of the large, noisy vehicles filled with humans meant they’d get fed. This fellow decided to jump up and pose for a picture. Oh, and the bird liked the idea, too…

































New Zealand
Unlike Australia, New Zealand had few apex predators when human beings arrived (starting with the Maori around 1200 A.D.). It was, if anything, the world’s largest bird sanctuary. A couple birds died out thanks to the Maori–the Moa and the Haast Eagle, which preyed on it–and others like the Kiwi face threats from ferrets, which Europeans brought in to bring down the population of rabbits, which Europeans also brought in. Speaking of critters the Europeans brought in…



























Okay, so I’m not going to win any awards for bird watching or animal photography, but I had fun with the critters.