$1 Wonder

Just recently I was in need of certain supplies at the house so I decided to go to the local Dollar Tree. There are tons of "Dollar stores" where I live but they fail in the most crucial way....making EVERYTHING a dollar. Only the Dollar Tree can promise that everything will be a Dollar or less. Now you would think that this store would only sell $1 dollar pieces of junk, but let me tell you, you are far from right. This place is incredible. I got brand name mustard, Diet Coke, a jug of Arizona Ice-Tea, a wine bottle opener, brand name body wash, hand soap and 2 wine glasses. All of this stuff would have cost me at least 20 bucks at a cheap store like Wal-Mart!!! I only got just those things but there was loads of good stuff there. Eggs, any frozen food you could imagine, flooring, headphones, USB cables, a James Blunt CD (that my girlfriend almost bought because it was a dollar) shampoo, decorating stuff AHHHHHH. It was seriously nuts. This brought me to my next thought. How in the hell can all of these items only cost a buck? Do they get this stuff because it is factory defect? Do they bribe someone, or shall I say lots of someones? Do they pay there employee's a dollar for every pay-check? I really don't know. Maybe it's good not to know. Maybe they had to sell their soul to the devil or something. All I know is that if they keep selling all that stuff for just a buck, I will be asking for my pay-checks in cash...more specifically in single dollar bills.

TGIF! Is there something in my Eye?

First off let me start by saying thank god it's Friday. Although I would not consider myself a religious man, I'm still going to thank god because I feel like my wishes have come true. What I find funny is that I really have no reason to wish for the weekend. I did not study hard, I didn't work out hard, or have a busy week in general; I think I just need a mental and emotional break. I hate to say it, but I don't think the weekend can cure that.
Upon waking up this morning everything seemed to be standard about my day except for one thing, my right eye was bugging me. It felt like I had a piece of a potato chip or moon rock stuck under my eyelid. I went about my day taking my shower, brushing my teeth etc. expecting this nagging reminder to go away. After several attempts to rid this annoying fellow I just tried to ignore it. That is way harder then it seems. It's like a little kid poking at his mom saying,

-"Mom...Mom...Mom...Mom...Mom...Mom...Mom",

-"WHAT!!!!"

-"Hi."

It still was stealing my attention while I am trying to learn about velocity and acceleration of a projectile in my Bio-mechanics Lab which I already struggle in, let alone dealing with an eye-terrorist. I soon decided the best way to go about it was to just close the problem eye and pretend I was a pirate who lost his eye at sea, but even blinking with the good eye irritates the neighboring eye. I felt paralyzed. All I could think of amongst -9.81 m/s/s (acceleration) was Ben Stein saying Clear Eyes in that monotone voice. Him washing off the beach ball which is to represent the problem eye and all the relief that comes with it. Class ends and with each step back to my house I feel as if I would do anything for relief. Stick a plunger to my eye and suck it out? Sure. Fork my eye, take it out and put it in the oven at 350 for an hour and a half? When do we eat!
Although I did not have the actual brand "Clear Eye's", I thought the off-brand should suffice. After dripping what amounted to a small waterfall of eye drops in my eye, it seemed I was going to have to deal with this handicap for the remainder of my life. I decided to put my contacts in and just live with the fact that I was going to suffer from a life altering injury. I proceeded on with my day, making coffee, cleaning up and noticed something... the culprit in my eye had fled the crime scene. I was no longer praying to Ben Stein, or imagining myself as pirate with an eye patch (although I have always wanted a talking parrot resting on my shoulder). I guess time (and some praying to Ben Stein) cures everything.

Winter Olympics

I guess you could say it is sort of a special year this year because of the Olympics. Once every four years we get to see dudes fly down an icy track face first at 80+ mph, dudes wearing odd outfits and dancing on skates, and people swifering ice while sliding a rock towards a circle and guess what. We love it. I personally fell victim to mens short-routine figure skating; something I would never be caught dead watching. I started to think about these less popular sports that are only highlighted during the games and I just wonder what it is like to live that type of life. It's not like major corporations save their best commercials for a break in the Bobsledding World Championships. It must be an odd experience to be virtually unknown to having your face seen by planet earth. Like going from nothing to everything. Although the Winter Games are not as popular as the Summer games, it still seems to bring the same feelings as being human. At least thats how I feel. The Olympics help me to realize that I am a human on this earth sharing different interests, especially those of the Skeletoners, and thats just fine. I am happy for those that get to show their expertise on such a great stage. And although not everyone can take home a medal, representing your country and your species is something more important than Bronze, Silver or Gold.

The Distance

Well, it has been about 2 weeks without getting to see my girlfriend Kayla and its starting to wear on me. For all of you who are dealing with this type of relationship I feel for you. Distance can really mess with your head. At an instant I can become jealous and angry and its over absolutely nothing. The only person who suffers is your significant other, which I find funny because they are the one person you care about most. I recall many nights where my girlfriend will "go out" with her roommates from college and for some reason it just upsets me. Well, it's not some reason, it's my mind making up scenarios: she goes to the bar, has a few drinks and gets a little drunk. Meets a guy. He's charming, handsome, attractive(always more than yourself) and better in bed(I don't want to get into the details). It may sound silly, but that is what distance will do to you. Totally blowing reality right out of the water. It always seems to get better with a refreshing visit, which is what I am looking forward too.

Do You Realize?

While listening to music the other day a song popped up called "Do You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips. I had not heard the song in a while and for some reason my attention was on the message of the song. I "realized", as they so kindly ask in the song, that all of what they were saying was true.
Do You Realize?:
-"we're floating in space?"
-"that happiness makes you cry?"
-"that everyone you know someday will die?"
These ideas strike me as being pretty universal so to speak, but its something we pay little attention too. I mean we all know that we will die someday, that overwhelming happiness sometimes makes us cry, and we are just people floating in space, but to actually acknowledge it is something in its own.
What I did learn from this song after about 100 plays, is that there is something we can do, which gives me a sense of comfort. We realize that all though these thoughts may bring discomfort, much like swallowing cough syrup, we know it is all apart of life. And thats okay. I realize life goes fast, and I sure know that it's hard to make the good times last, but all in all, I feel pretty optimistic.

Now for the real stuff

Well I had to start this blog for a class that I am currently taking and now I think that I would like to continue with it. It is kind of relaxing to tell you the truth. Today, has been anything but relaxing. Starting off hung over is probably not the best way to get your day going, but i guess you just have to roll with things like that. Last night was my friend (and first kiss) Maddie's birthday and I went to the bars with her and her boyfriend even though I really did not want to. But, in doing so I learned something; you can always find fun in anything. I am taking this idea from a movie I saw recently called "Yes Man". In the movie Jim Carey, is stuck in his own personal rut, goes to a seminar where the main focus is taking all the opportunities you can in your life by saying, you guessed it, "Yes"! After seeing this movie I recalled times in my life where I said yes to things I may not wanted to do, but discovered something that made me very happy. I feel the way I met my girlfriend, Kayla, was in a 'Yes Man' type of way. I was stuck in my own personal issues with my ex-girlfriend and was very reluctant to open up to anyone, including my friends. Kayla and I met through our friends and I can say for a fact that it may not have happened unless we both became 'yes men/women'. I know that I will probably not get to many people to view this type of blog, but it helps me none the less. Hooray.

Blogs related to P.E.

After discovering what a blog really was I realized that there was infinite amounts of voices out there to be heard. I have found that those voices in forms of blogs can also help to mold my ever evolving mind in the subject of my major, Physical education. I tried to search for blogs related to my major on this site, but to be honest I could not really figure it out. Luckily for me there is Google.com, so I just searched that and found a great blog by a guy named Dick Moss of physicationalupdate.com. His blog not only provides many new methods of teaching, but also everyday experiences that he has in his classroom.

One of his posts titled, "We Must Teach Students That Walking is a Form of Transportation" is a great way to incorporate fitness into an everyday activity. I especially enjoyed reading this post because it shows that fitness is involved with everyday activities and just by noticing it, we can better our fitness. Transportation for most middle class Americans, including myself, usually involves something with a motor. After coming to college I noticed that walking was the main type of transportation (just behind a bicycle) mainly because college students can't afford a car let alone parking passes. I feel like my idea of getting somewhere has changed due to this and I now think in terms of walking and what it can do for my health. I believe it is important to remind our students the impact of fitness in everyday life so that when time comes to make choices, they can make the right ones.

Another post I was interested in reading was one titled, "Physical Education Excuse Notes Can Make Your Day" . I think that this post shows the great versatility of this blog by revealing the comical side to being a physical educator. These types of posts blended with great information makes me as a reader, much more likely to read a blog of this caliber. I will Commit this to memory, and try to incorporate something similar into my blog. Thanks Dr. Moss.