Homeless guy

I listen WNCI pretty often, but there was a pretty big change in the show this week, and I just don't think they got enough credit for it. BBC News reported today about this guy's video going viral, but they hardly credited any of the work that went into bringing this guy back on air. First off, I heard them talking about him on WNCI on Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure the Columbus Dispatch had already "discovered him before then". Secondly, Dave & Jimmy had him on the radio Wednesday morning which is where CBS finally caught up with him. Of course everyone is ready to jump on the bandwagon once the guy is the next hip thing. But I just wanted to put a short post out there to credit the Dispatch and WNCI for bringing this guy into the public's radar again. I'm really glad to hear a positive story on the news for once.

"The Climb"

While listening to WNCI and some of their sound clips, this picture of Miley Cyrus came up beside the title of her hit song, "The Climb". Climb to what? Can you honestly convince me you've been climbing anywhere besides the high road to infamous celebrishame (I replaced my previous Dr. Seuss word with something more acceptable)? It's shocking how big a fall some of Disney's heroes have taken in their celebrity careers and in a world of lawsuits, don't you think Disney ought to be wondering about what it does to their name to be tied to people like this? But wait, they're still idols in American culture so that's just fine. Am I being down on them today, sure, but I find some people so disgusting I don't know how you'd listen to their music.

Please disregard the digression but I got rolling here and couldn't stop. This week's my birthday, yet another in what I hope will be a long list of days in my life. Amanda insists that I have a dinner and hang out with people. I probably seem a bit ungrateful for her enthusiasm for the special day, but I'm not really. I appreciate her thoughtfulness and love, it's just that it's difficult to spend another day in my life as the center of attention. But wait, you might say, it seems like I'm always trying to gather people's attention. Isn't that why I have my Ag Blog, and why I just linked to it? (Shameless plugging, lol) Isn't that I why speak my mind and tell people what I think in groups beyond just my private life? Well let me clear up the conundrum for you.

Being around large groups of people and spending social time in forced environments is not my favorite thing to do. My preference is for a much smaller, close-nit, personal interaction with people. However, I do firmly believe that this world should be a better place, and do firmly believe that I have the opportunity to be a part in its improvement. I also believe that the only reason I got to where I have in my personal development is through other people being examples for me and helping me along the way. Yet, I can't make a difference just keeping everything to myself and my friends. This is why I stand out and speak; this is why I take the time to teach those younger behind me and their parents. I want to capture people's attention so that they can see the example I try to be. Am I perfect, no, but I don't want to be. I'm happy being real instead and think that I can better contribute to others as a person who makes mistakes and enjoys fun. I would never be that way if it weren't for the fact that someone set a good example for me and I enjoy helping people and teaching things that I have learned. Take the time to teach someone something new every day and remember that you only got to where you are because someone took the time for you.

Weekend already?

Darn, it's such a disappointment, but I know it can't be the weekend already. It feels like it should be, what with the long last couple of days on a pig farm down on the South side of Ohio and the heat. The weather has been absolutely unbearable and totally thwarted all of our efforts to reduce our electric bill. We've bought and installed (Amanda deserves the credit for that) a programmable thermostat, turned off the a/c whenever possible, closed the blinds to prevent sun heating, and turned off the lights any time possible. Yet our electric usage for the July - August was double that of the previous bill. But enough of that.

The nice thing about the heat is that with a cold pool and the bright, blazing sunlight the people at the pool have dwindled to the ugly, mis-behaved and myself/my family. Jeremy and I performed a serious overflow flood with a dual cannonball into the 5 ft. deep pool. It's probably better that most times people aren't around to watch us, I'll just leave it at that. And then yesterday there were two kids scantily clad/losing their swimsuits and swimming unattended. Absolutely awful, but even more so once their teenage mother showed up and they started vying for her attention and trying to break her texting habit by shouting and "falling" all over the place.

Tomatoes... I had some growing, courtesy of Chris's survivors from a small frost accident this spring. Some tough plants, because they even are trying to fight back after being sprayed by herbicide thanks to some highly-trained and yet negligent landscaping employee. I'm honestly so mad about it that I still haven't gotten up the calm to even call and complain. I'm worried I won't even have something appropriate to say and so instead I am forced to continue trying to water the plants and hope something good comes out of them. I had so many tomatoes growing on that little guy and now they're all shriveled up. :(

And still the thought of a weekend looms over me. It's almost time for school, I used my C-pass for the first time today and I have to admit I was pretty excited about that. With Marshall tomorrow and WNCI blaring away about football season and Labor Day weekend this week, I'm just excited. Hopefully all this excitement turns out to be legitimate.