Caught up in 10:33 a.m.

Guess who’s baaaaaack!!! It’s been an extremely long time and I sincerely apologize for that. I’ve just been incredibly busy. And the Aurora, CO Tragedy is the topic across the nation that everyone has become aware of in some form or fashion. This event and the surrounding stories, issues, witness accounts and media coverage gives me a litany of points to address, but I am going to look at it from the scope of how an over-abundance of media creates more problems than solutions. First off I would like to say that this tragedy is truly a sad occurrence for the victims, their families, the city of Aurora, CO and the nation at large. Something of this magnitude would have produced only news of the event and condolences for victims and their families for days to weeks. But in this age of ever-present media, aided by technology, related issues have been given headlights only hours after everything happened. The only thing that is truly important now is that a man decided to terrorize fellow citizens and many are grieving in the wake of this tragedy. 

Prisoner of 9:58 p.m.

Today was the “homegoing” of none other than legend Whitney Houston, and the service her family held was pretty interesting. They decided to have it in the church where she grew up in New Jersey, bringing her life full circle since this is where she got her start singing in the church’s choir. Space was limited due to it being in a church instead of a stadium or arena of some sort, so the immediate gathering was comprised of family and close friends of Whitney and the Houstons. However CNN broadcast the service live so that fans and viewers all over the world could take part in it. In my opinion this was a very unique way to keep the very personal, emotional moment special for those who were loved ones of the celebrity while sharing it with all of her fans the world round. 

Stuck in 7:10 p.m.

So my day-to-day involves interaction and service to at-risk youth and there is a new philosophy gaining steam about the method that should be used to “reach” these particular young people. It should come with no surprise that there tends to be behavioral problems with these kids and there needs to be something in place to curb this kind of behavior. In most cases, the answer is discipline, removal of privileges, and other consequences to those actions. But there is new research that shows these tactics may not be as helpful for the unruly kids as for their usually well-mannered, respectful counterparts. Instead the technique that is gaining steam is that you should take a strengths-based approach with these individuals and make a concerted effort to reward their good deeds and not focus on punishing their misbehaving. I will admit that I am more than a little skeptical on the feasibility of this strategy and the likelihood of it bearing welcoming outcomes.

11:07 p.m. of Gloating

Anddddd to admit that I was abso-fucking-lutely wrong at the same time. Way back in August, when Blank The Moment was just in it’s infancy, I made a very bold statement. It was that I was getting sick of  the “Packers are just too good to be beat and are on track to repeat as champs” talk. I think I went out on a (what was at the time) a limb and proclaimed that the Packers would not win a playoff game this year. 

Take a 10:57 a.m. to Reflect

I meant to write this the other day, and also to write more in general recently, but it’s just been pretty difficult for me. As the minutes of 2011 count down and every gets ready to party and bring in the final year of the world according to the Mayan calendar, take a minute to look back on what you were in the year 2011. I don’t mean that as a way to come up with new year’s resolutions because we all know that those don’t work. It’s just a ploy to get you to buy things (the main thing being exercise equipment). But really take a few minutes to reflect on your accomplishments, shortfalls, goals, regrets, cherished memories, missed opportunities, close calls, wins, losses, draws, etc. 

Spur of 8:33 p.m.

So as the end of the NFL regular season is just a few short weeks away, the MVP talks would normally be getting going full steam ahead. But this year Aaron Rodgers is playing like a man amongst boys and is likely going to become the second unanimous decision for the award following last year’s Tom Brady. I’m not going to get into how much I hate the Packers right now. I touched on it even before the season started, and then go out and start the season 12-0, with a somewhat cake final 4 games to round out the season. But I would like to actually take the time to talk about a player that is not only valuable to his team, but to his entire organization. So much so, that by not taking a single snap this year he has had by far the most effect on his team in the 2011 season. 

Stuck in 11:54 a.m.

Sorry for the hiatus. Class + Work = No time to post. It’s sad. Hopefully I can do better. But enough about that. Today we are going to discuss the BUSIEST shopping day of the year in the US. Black. Friday. The first time I heard the term I didn’t know the meaning behind it and I immediately thought it was racist.

“Oh, since all the black ppl are trampling each other to get a $200 TV in Walmart at 6am you call it BLACK Friday?”

“Actually it’s called Black Friday because this is when the companies go from being in debt (in the red) to making a profit (in the black)”

“Huh? Oh.. my bad. So you mean to tell me that being ‘in the black’ is a good thing?”

“Yes.”

9:01 p.m. of Truth

Shit is about to get real. Real soon. Starting with the fact that since I have this job thing starting soon I have to bump my classes back up to 8am. 5 days a week. I really didn’t want to drop this class, on the off chance that after my year (or more) of Americorps service, so I had to switch from my current section because I will be eventually working from 11am-7pm. So for those of you keeping score, for the next 7 or so weeks I will be waking up Mon-Fri at 7ish to get to class at 8. In a couple of weeks that will extend to me going from class straight to work for the next 8 hours. I am going to be absolutely pooped after that. Time for me to turn into a “no-fun-having” grown up, because I will be going to bed early and not having enough time for TV and shit like that. 

Spur of 7:24 p.m.

I saw a couple of weeks ago that VH1 was bringing back Pop Up Video and I got really excited. Then I found out that it would be airing daily at 12 noon. I have to leave for class right around that time, so this didn’t exactly fit into my schedule. Bummer. Welllll it turns out that today was my lucky day. After watching tons of tv on what is a typical “lazy Saturday” for me, I was treated to an airing of the reincarnation of Pop Up Video. It is just what I needed, and inspiring enough for me to write my first post in two weeks.

9:52 a.m. of Clarity

I finally have to admit that I am probably a little in over my head right now. When I started this blog I was inspired by Daily Spew, and I knew then that I couldn’t keep up with his rapid fire pace, but in the beginning I tried to anyway. Lately I’ve been pretty busy, and I know that I apologized for that before, but it’s just true. When I do get a break, I’m usually too tired to muster the effort to click clack away at these keys to give you my perspective on a certain issue/product/event. I’m going to try to be better, but I can’t make any promises. But you all deserve an explanation for the recent trickle of posts where we were all used to a gentle showering. It’s just not possible for me. I don’t like just doing my Musical Moments, because that’s not really a post even though it does give you a look into what I’m currently listening to and what gets me amped up, mellowed out, or inspired. Most of this process has been pretty cool, so it’s going to continue. I just wanted everyone to know it’s not going to be the traditional “every time I get a thought I’m going to post it on my blog” type deal. When something really sparks my interest, you can believe you’ll hear about it here at Blank The Moment.