Day 2 of our 2016 Disney adventure was a special day for me. It was my birthday! There is no better way to spend your 38th birthday than being at Disney World. This is now the 3rd birthday I’ve celebrated at Disney, and they each get better and better. We even have my 40th planned to be visiting Disney yet again. (I’m still working on getting my birthday twin, James Corden, to join us. We were both born August 22, 1978.) Continue reading “Day 2 – Happy Birthday, Chris!”
Apologies for the delay in this series of posts. While I had all the good intentions to have them done when I last posted, real world got in the way. No excuses. And really, I don’t think anyone’s been clamoring for the posts. LOL. Continue reading “Day 1 – Let the Memories Begin!”
I like to think that everything in the universe is imbued with some form of consciousness. Whether a living creature, a plant, an inanimate object, or even smells. Smells are a marvelous thing. They are the equivalent to a time machine. They link us to specific places, specific times. All it takes is a small whiff of that particular aroma to propel you back to that memory.
I find that the aromas that trigger me the most commonly are the ones related to Disney World. (Surprise, I know!) Working in the downtown core, I often will find myself transported back to that magical land simply because of a passing bus. Suddenly, I find myself standing outside of Pop Century, just waiting to get on the next shuttle to one of the parks.
It does not work on command though. No matter how intently I go somewhere trying to trigger these memories, it won’t happen. This is why I think smells have some consciousness to them. I seem to find myself getting transported at those moments when I need a little escape. It’s like the universe is trying to say “Hey, you’re seeming to be a little stressed, overwhelmed. How about I help you take a moment of happiness and bliss.”
Thank you universe. You take care of me so incredibly well.
So, happy reader, what is your Delorean?
In my previous life, I was well-connected. From morning til night, I found myself in front of a computer for nearly every instant that I was not working or sleeping. Actually, even sleep did not always dissuade me as I’d often pull my laptop next to my bed in case someone would message me in the middle of the night. (I did have friends in Australia, Europe and on the West coast after all!) I would get up in the morning and the first thing I did was sign in. I would get home from work – sign in. I had even set up my apartment so that while seated at my computer, I could watch TV. My life consisted of being online. I had become an extension of the internet.
It was during these years (the majority of my 20’s really) that I “disconnected” from the real world and connected electronically. All of my friends were chat buddies. I would spend countless hours in chat rooms, or just messaging my friends. I’d communally watch TV with people, chatting about the show during commercials. (How many “OMG can you believe that?!” conversations about Lost did we have Nat?) Continue reading “Disconnected”
It’s been well over two months since I’ve had my trip to Disney World. Two months, and I’ve not yet written a word about the trip. Since I’m sitting at work with all of our systems down (over two hours now!), I thought I’d take some time to write a bit. I didn’t know what to write about, so I thought Disney would be a good way to start.
It had been 4 years since Isabelle and I had been to Disney World. While we did make a visit to Disneyland in California a couple of years ago, the magic is definitely not the same; to the point where we debated taking a trip to Disney World as a palate cleanser. But it did not come to pass. Continue reading “Disney World – August 2016”
A delightfully delicious blog post by my wife. Disney treats galore!
There are certain smells, certain tastes, that take you back to another time and place. I’ve just had one of those moments while making banana bread.
Over the past two years, my wife has renewed her love of baking and, as such, she’s done the majority of it in our household. But tonight I am in the kitchen. Continue reading “Cookbooks and Memories”
If there is one thing that I can say about myself is that I am an observer. I am always watching, listening, observing everything around me. I tend to notice things that other people don’t. Over the years, I have always delighted in picking up snippets of conversation of people that I pass by and wondering where the conversation was going or where it started. Am I alone in doing this?
Occasionally, these little moments of conversation will spur on an idea or catch me in such a way that I need to jot them down. Who knows when you might find the perfect reason to use them? I’ve started keeping a list of pieces of dialogue, ideas, characters, etc. with a hope that I can someday use some of them.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had three specific snippets of conversation that have stuck with me. The first was by a 4-5 year old kid who said to another child “ça va faire mal à la butt-crack, Nicholas!” It struck me as so funny at in the moment. While I know what the context of the dialogue was, I’d rather leave it unspecified here and let you make up your own scenario.
The second was a day or two ago, walking through our building while at work. “Just let me touch your butt.” That was it. And they were gone.
The most recent happened today, again at work when I overheard someone utter the phrase “It never fails – every time someone gets up to ask you a question, you’re picking your nose.”
I don’t know that I’ll ever really need or have the opportunity to use these pieces of dialogue in anything I write, but I like to think that by sharing them with you all, you’ll at least imagine a scenario where these bits and bobs were being used.
Happy imagining!
Aujourd’hui, je suis très reconnaissant et appréciatif de tout ce que j’ai dans ma vie. J’apprécie:
En court, j’apprécie ma vie, comme elle l’est. Parfois je dois me rappeler ce fait, mais de plus en plus, je le reconnais à tous les jours.
One step at a time…
Dearest James,
I hope this note finds you well. As you know, our joint birthday is quickly approaching. I suppose you wouldn’t know that though, since you don’t know that August 22, 1978 is also my birthday! Continue reading “Dearest James”
Musings of A Boxhead 