Oranges

I just did the most amazing thing today -- I walked out in my grandfather's backyard, picked an orange from the tree there, and then peeled it and ate it. Simple, right? Yet ohhhh so good! There's just something that's so... So... Wonderful... about eating freshly-picked fruit instead of sifting through a bin of old and checmical-ridden produce at a Kroger somewhere down on Ponce... 

Maybe that's the trick to oranges, then... Picking it yourself... Perhaps that's true of most things in life, too... If you're patient and willing to work hard towards it, you'll reap the benefits ten-fold. 

Forrest had it wrong... Life isn't like a box of chocolates - it's like an orange tree.

Thoughts on Macy's

So... I had the extraordinary privelige of marching in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with the Georgia Tech Band - it was spectacular. Cold, but spectacular. However... Since getting back, I have seen our performance well over 20 times now... And every single time I have to tell people, "No, that's not me - I'm at the front... They didn't show me." But that doesn't seem to matter much, because family and friends will still point to the screen and go, "Oh! Oh! There's a flute player! Is that you?!" The answer will always be the same... "No, that's not me - I'm at the front... They didn't show me."

So now that I'm in California, my grandfather, who probably has more gadgets and high-tec stuff than any other person I know, whipped out the DVR and proceeded to do the exact. Same. Thing. And this is despite my precursor of "you won't be able to see me... I don't even know exactly where I am on the screen..." Siiiiiiigh... But, there is one perk... I finally - FINALLY - get to watch the rest of the parade. As in all of the parade. As in I never got to watch a lick of it. As in... Yeah. I'm kind of enjoying myself, but some of these musical numbers are starting to grate on my nerves... But I think I'll enjoy the Tech band's performance more when I can see it as part of the whole parade, instead of just a stand-alone clip... 

Quick note: The "Little Mermaid on Broadway" people were there, and I must say... I loved all of the costumes, except for Ariel's tail... She kind of looks like a mutant instead of a mermaid... That tail is sticking out like, 3 feet away from her body... Creepy. But man, can Sebastian sing! LOL!

Also-also: It's really funny watching these Christmas commercials when it's already mid-March! 

Do you know the way...?

You’d think you’d get an internet connection some several thousand feet above the ground, but no dice… Thus, everything you see before you was copied and pasted from a Word document – 

but written somewhere above the Sierra-Nevadas. Yes, that’s right, you heard me – the Sierra-Nevadas. As in the mountain range. I am flying over a freaking mountain range. And trust me, it’s beautiful… 

Just now, in  fact, we are passing Yosemite National Park – the back-side of Half Dome is to my right, and from this high up and this far away, the whole valley just looks like a gaping, oddly-shaped hole in the ground, yet you can still see thin little trails running through it that, if you got close enough, would turn into some of the tallest and most beautiful water-falls you have ever seen in your entire life.

Kind of makes me want to go back to Yosemite again… Except for all of that snow… There looked to be a lot of snow… Seemed kind of chilly… So maybe I’ll save that one for another, warmer trip…

Only 35 minutes out, but I’m bored… I pretty much zonked out as soon as I got on the plane; woke up in order to eat some cereal (food: one of the finer perks of flying first class); and then almost immediately passed out again. Granted, this is my usual tactic before these early-morning cross-country flights (8 am): get only a few hours of sleep the night before so you can sleep on the plane. Makes 4 and a half hours go by much easier, especially you know you’d be restless otherwise. Except, this time my plan somewhat back-fired on me… Granted, I stayed awake through take-off, which prompted an almost surreal view of Atlanta (until you get that side view… God, it’s so spread out…) and a nice overhead view of mist spreading off a lake and through a golf course. I also woke up just in time to see the mountains, which is always my favorite part of this trip (and you have to have a favorite part when you make this trip several times a year, and most of it is the mid-west). But I did miss one thing… Quantum of Solace. They were showing it on the flight… And I slept through it. I feel… Oddly sad inside… Guess I still have to keep it on my Blockbuster list… Oh, well!

So I’m about to arrive in San Jose… About time!  

It's Official...

... I am now a blogger. My down-fall was eventual, I'm sure. 

But still... There's something so... Wrong, almost, about starting up a blog... Maybe it's because I have this mental image of greasy-haired 30-somethings in their mothers' basements... Maybe it's because I go to Tech, which, if you look around, seems to breed future greasy-haired 30-somethings who live in their mothers' basements... Though far more successful. Actually, they probably bought their mothers' houses with the millions they've made off of their research and grant proposals... So, I guess that would put me in a class of geniuses... Ooooh - I like the sound of that! 

There. Now I feel much better about myself! And so... Blogs away!