Smores

My only regret on this blog is that I’m not saying these things to you while we’re both eating smores by a campfire. That way, if you had a question about something, we could look each other in the eye, take a scrumptious bite out of our smores, and I could then put my arm on your shoulder and spell out exactly what I mean.

image via  i.ehow

incredibly busy

I'm.so.busy.

post sketches

Too busy to put together a proper post. BUT I thought I could maybe put a sketch of a post or two that I'm excited about. I don't want this blog to just be one big complaint that I'm busy. So here are some sketches:

One post that I would like to develop some time would be a post about how much I love buffalo wings, and also how I like jalepeño poppers except not when they have some non-cream cheese in them...that's all for that sketch.

Another post would be about what I would imagine would be by far the most embarassing thing...ever. And what would be like the 2nd through 5th most embarassing things...anyway, I'm looking forward to filling out that sketch as well. More posts soon!

Yikes!

The title of this post almost perfectly describes how I'm feeling right now: "Yikes!" is right. I am getting bombarded with comments on my posts and the hours and days are just sprinting past me. Please know that I will try my best to respond where appropriate.

Also, I don't have time to attach it here, but yesterday I saw an image on the internet that almost perfectly describes my life. It is a picture of some person with like 8 arms trying to do all sorts of tasks at the same time. I'll try to attach it when (ironically!) I have a little more time...More posts soon!

busy...

Hi Everyone! Sorry, things are crazy busy around here! More posts tomorrow...

Internal Conversation

This is a (paraphrased) conversation I had with myself today. Sometimes I am surprised at the wisdom coming from the most un-likely of places, but I think it helps put in perspective my crazy-hectic schedule of late:

• Ben, it looks you sure have a lot of things on your table!
•• Well, things are pretty crazy-busy right now, that's for sure!
• Don't you have time to stop for a minute and enjoy life! A little bird (or was it a miniature bunny rabbit?) once told me that a crazy-hectic life does not mean a happy, fulfilling life. You need some time to see the beauty in nature, you need some time to really, REALLY listen; you need some "you" time.
•• I know. I know. I know. I'm sorry. I suppose I'm addicted to the ever-so-addictive drug of productivity. (I do love being productive and checking off my "dumb things I gotta do" lists!) But you're right, I need some time for me. To really sit back and meditate, to look at each day as a new day to discover the world and myself all over again. To laugh as a child. To skip through puddles on Spring days, and to meditate.
• Promise me something.
•• OK
• Promise me that when you work through these incredibly busy days, and hectic weeks--promise me that you will find some time to really, REALLY listen to others, and even to the songs of birds. And promise me that you will find some time to really get to know who you are. You so obviously need some "you" time.
•• You are so right.
• And guess what?
•• What?
• I promise you that regardless of how crazy-busy your schedule is, that your life will be more fulfilling and happy.
•• That is so true.

Momentum

I have been getting lots and lots of comments on my posts lately. Please know that I APPRECIATE the support and it's really giving me momentum to get some posts up. It is also heartening to hear that other people are busy. But as I mentioned in a comment earlier, I thought I told myself when I was a kid NOT to let my life get crazy, hectic busy (sigh!)

Well, things have got to get done and I guess I need to get them done! (Meetings, phone calls, work, errands, cleaning, conference calls, etc. etc. etc.) I suppose such is the stuff a busy life is made of. REALLY, REALLY: More posts coming!

The routine

Errands, meetings, phone-calls, conference calls, planning, working, maddeningly fast growing in box...You get the idea. Things are as busy as ever...More posts coming soon though!

New tag line

I'm pretty excited about my new tag line: "Where all the suites are executive suites...sweet!" I really think this tag line is a harbinger of GREAT things to come. I'm looking forward to giveaways, contests, photo montages, and possibly revisiting robot poetry. Of course (and I hate that I'm saying this again) things will need to calm down substantially from the current busy status. Crazy busy just might be the understatement of the year!

Things should be calming down soon

So things should be calming down in the not-too-distant future. I'm so anxious to get to posting again. I have been thinking about possibly adding a tagline to the title of my blog among other things...but such will have to wait for a slightly less busy time in my life (that seems to be one hectic day after another!!!)

Bad idea

So I thought I should just outline a typical day over the last little while to give my reader(s) a sense for my hectic schedule. But then I thought that might stress others out. Bad idea. I'm looking forward to things calming down in the near future, but things are BUSY around here.

One word: busy!

Time has just gotten away from me. One word: busy!

AAAHH! Some wrenches thrown into my schedule

Unfortunately, some big events happening this week have thrown the rest of the day out the window. I will be traveling tomorrow, but I'll try to post something when I have a spare minute. I think I have some good posts in the pipeline, but today just got away from me. And I'm pretty sure I'm getting on top of things, so sorry that today has been so busy. More posts coming up!

Crazy busy!

I am so sorry I have neglected my blog, but things have been so crazy busy! I promise I will get posting again. Look for my new post tomorrow!

My "deodorant" only works on my left arm

I should probably change my deodorant. In fact it's a little silly that I haven't. I got it because I got all nervous when I heard that a man shouldn't smell like his deodorant, and I got some of the recommended stuff--that apparently didn't make you smell like your deodorant. The first day I wore it, I thought after a few hours: "Hmm. This kind of smells like body odor." I had the same impression for the next few days, but then I had a realization: it is really awful only under my right arm. The left isn't so bad. So now if anyone tells me that I have really awful body odor, I can tell her (or him, I guess) that it is only awful under my right arm. Here, try this arm...see? It's not nearly as awful. Isn't that weird? I think my dilemma is this: I'm told I shouldn't smell like my deodorant. I have this idea that there is some other deodorant at some store I rarely visit that might work for both arms. In the meantime, I can explain my awful smell by referring to the fact that I got it on recommendation, and the really awful smell is mostly just under the right arm.

bad sequel decision

I think a bad sequel decision was to make Back to the Future II hinge on Marty McFly getting really bugged if someone calls him 'chicken'.

The fluffy bunny and the banana

This is the beginnings of a children's book I'm working on. A lot of this is inspired by discussions I had in my youth with Weston Spencer.

My What not to Wear party

So I threw my own what not to wear/queer eye for the straight guy party this last week. I guess I would say it was successful, but I was hoping for a more enthusiastic response from my friends and family.

Gabby designed the invitations, I wrote most the copy:

You won't believe Ben's new look...

Ben is turning over a new stone...

Get to know the Ben with even better taste in clothing and cuisine...

Goodbye crappy clothes...Hello awesome and stylish clothes!

See what Ben has done with his hair (hint: it will BLOW YOUR MIND), and experience the luxurious grip of his properly moisterized hands...

Watch Ben roll sushi, and engage his new cultural knowledge.

Witness Ben's deliberate, professorly-looking gruff...

Come listen as Ben shows his new look and reads some papers on Bureaucracy and Education, and talks about his scholarly interests in preparation for job-talks at Colleges and Universities this next Fall...

Ben is totally excited to reveal the new Ben...



I was being honest, I was totally excited to reveal the new me. And, judging from what I'd seen on these shows, I thought a lot of people would be too.

So about 6 people came. I was waiting upstairs for about 15 minutes, until Gabby said I should come down. I wish I had picked better music for my entry, and I guess I was hoping for more gasps and applause and laughter and general enthusiastic approval. And yes, more than 6 people would have been nice too. I guess I would say that I was a little disappointed in the response, a couple people said, "hey Ben, what a fun idea!" and I was more looking for what I have become accustomed to seeing on the TV shows I was trying to replicate: "Whoa! No way! Wow! Ha Ha Ha Ha, this is great! I can't believe the change! You look...you look fantastic! Wow, yes, read us another paper! What??!! You roll your own sushi??!! Wait a second, did you just say genre? This is great! Wow! This was so fun to see the new Ben!" But I still love my new look, and attitude.

If I thought I could throw my own "What not to wear" party, and come off with the same results as the TV shows, I was wrong. There is a ton of work in the background to help get the friends and family and audience excited and motivated to say really nice and thoughtful things. I'm not bitter, but consider that my last "What not to wear" party I throw for myself, unless I have way more support, and ideally some sort of television production, and audience cheer-leading crew.

Smells like teen spirit

I feel like I missed a major milestone in music. I don't know if I was on my mission, or just not around when Nirvana came out and in particular when Smells like teen spirit came out. I have heard Gabby (and Josh and Jared) say the same kinds of things about when this song came out for a while and I was listening to All songs considered, and a featured band was talking about their favorite or most influencial song, and Smells like Teen Spirit was one of the songs. What did it for me was that the reasoning was basically identical to Gabby's.

Gabby has been saying this for years, and the featured band said it too: Once the song came out and the video first played, everything was different. This was unlike anything else before, and everything would be different after; it was as if all the rules for music were now changed.

It wasn't some obscure artist who was awesome and the few who knew about her shared knowing nods.

I never saw the video for "Hey Ya", but I saw a performance on one of the late shows and felt like this was totally fresh and original, felt like it challenged music, I haven't heard anything that was that big and that original since, and it swept the nation. Was that what Smells like teen spirit was like? Or was Hey Ya too fun?

Still love both songs. Can my experience with Hey Ya compensate for missing Smells like teen spirit? Or is it not a fair comparison? Other songs up for consideration?

Etiquette journal: Moving help

So many people are moving in and out of our neighborhood, and I have been thinking about my experience moving out to New York.

When Gabby's brother, Jared, and I drove across country and arrived at our new place in New York, we were welcomed by members of the Elder's Quorum. We were exhausted after driving 10+ hours a day for the last four days. One of the helpers brought a Dominos Pepperoni pizza and a two liter bottle of Sprite and said: "You guys must be exhausted and hungry, why don't you sit down, eat some pizza and take a break, we'll start hauling in the boxes." This was of course extremely nice. They brought in a considerable number of boxes, and we joined them after a much appreciated rest and, of course, we appreciated that they brought some much needed food.

As Jared and I considered this, we thought how nice these strangers were, and how nice it was to be able to arrange an arrival time, and how reassuring it was to talk with a contact on our way out; we checked in regularly, and made a point to be available should they need pertinent information--such as contact numbers, food preferences, etc. to make for a smooth experience.

A couple thoughts occurred that hopefully can help in thinking about moving etiquette: I love pizza, EVERYONE knows that. I also like soda. Now if you were to ask me if I like sprite, I would answer: "Yeah. It's great." If you asked me: "What is your favorite soda?" That is easy too: root beer. By that same token, if you were to ask me if I like pepperoni pizza, I would answer: "Yeah. It's great." "What's your favorite pizza?" Easy: pepperoni and sausage.

So we were in contact with a person who arranged these helpers. We loved the pizza and the Sprite. I guess my question is this: How hard is it, really, how hard is it to make a simple request, like: "Hey, we're gonna be bringing some pizza and soda...what do you like on your pizza? How about soda--do you have a favorite? Really, is it much more difficult to ask what someone likes? It's just a simple--what do you like on your pizza? What's your favorite drink? That's it. Simple. And you know what? It can make a world of difference. It's etiquette, plain and simple.

We are still SO GRATEFUL for the plain pepperoni pizza and the sprite. Yet, I can't help thinking what our experience would have been like had they asked 2 simple questions: We arrive, a stranger brings OUR FAVORITE pizza, and OUR FAVORITE soda. NOW, I would feel really welcomed--who wouldn't?