Unimaginable

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Nicole

What would your life be like without music?

Hello! It’s been a few weeks since I posted thanks to life. To my pleasant surprise, today’s prompt was a perfect excuse to post something.

Music is something that has always been part of my life. From an early age, I took to playing musical instruments, starting with piano. Everyone in my family had somewhat varied musical tastes which later influenced my eclectic taste.

Music has been there for me at times when I wasn’t quite sure how to process things. It’s been there for me during long stretches of ~~tedious work tasks and projects that nearly drove me insan~~e work tasks. Shoot, half the time when I’m walking around town I have my own soundtrack running through my head, perfectly punctuating every step.

To summarize, music enriches my life.

Stay tuned – later this week (or weekend) I’ll have a fun music related post that I hope you will all check out and participate in.

Also, if you are on Instagram, be sure to follow my account. My latest post is a collection of photos from the Wanamaker building in downtown Philadelphia, which includes the World’s Largest Pipe Organ.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAClR2uvuK9/?igsh=ZWpuY2RhdmN0MDU4

Bus Stop or Secret Agent Meeting Place?

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Nicole

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?
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I know this prompt came out days ago, but it fits a recent search I did that has yet to produce results. While in Cape May, NJ I spotted several of these booths near the US Coast Guard campus.

This appears to be a bus shelter, but… there were no “Bus Stop” signs anywhere, nor did I see a public bus during my time in Cape May. Similar shelters were jutting into front lawns of duplexes and houses and had no smoking signs.

If you zoom in on this one, you’ll see a green station for poop bags (along with a garbage can to deposit said bags) which has nothing to do with the booth but I just wanted to point that out.

What really piqued my interest was the numbers on the outside of the booths. This has a blue “1” on the front. As I progressed down this same street I saw more booths sequentially numbered (2, 3, 4, etc…). The last booth I saw was number 8.

My search started with an image search of this- which led to image results of bus shelters not in Cape May, that all had bus signs nearby and were NOT numbered. I tried “bus shelters Cape May”, “marked bus shelters New Jersey”, “marked booths Cape May” well you get the gist of what I’ve been googling.

So far the only information my search has produced is that it’s not uncommon for bus stops in NJ to be in front of someone’s front lawn, according to the NJ Transit FAQ.

IDK if I would have the patience for this if I had a bus stop in front of my house.

However interesting this may be, I’ve yet to confirm this particular booth or outdoor shelter is for a bus stop. Being a storyteller- the possibilities of what this could be are swimming through my head.

If you know what this is or simply have a creative answer to what this could be, drop me a note in the comments section!

Smurfing Good TV

Posted on August 26, 2024 by Nicole

Daily writing prompt

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

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As a kid of the 80’s, Saturday morning cartoons were it. Living out west where everything seems to air early, the ONE cartoon show I woke up early every Saturday to see – I’m talking like 5-6am depending on the time of year- was THE SMURFS!

My attempt at making some type of 80s design of a Smurf moving through dimensions.

The allure of the Smurfs for me #1 was the humor. The way “smurf” was used numerous ways as a verb. Jokey Smurf and his exploding presents. For some reason I thought it was the funniest thing ever. #2 was the overall look- the bright colors of the mushroom capped world of the Smurfs drew me in. #3 was the adventures these little blue guys went on each episode- usually to defeat Gargamel.

The world of the Smurfs fasicnated me and entertained me. I’d also make a case that the Smurfs are responsible for my ~~addiction~~ appreciation of coffee. Given that the show aired so early on Saturdays, as soon as I was old enough to reach the coffee maker on the counter, I learned out how brew a pot of coffee and pour myself a cup. There was something magical about sitting at the glow of the TV when it was still dark outside on Saturday mornings sipping on an hot cup of coffee whilst the incessant Smurf chant of the Smurfs theme song LAH- LAH, LA LAH LA LAAAH, LAH LAH LAH LAAAH LA floated out of the TV.

Those were good times.

Everything About this Week

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Nicole

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

I’m traveling this week. The last time I left my surroundings was 3 years ago in 2021. I gifted myself a trip to the East Coast to celebrate the fact that I made it through a 24 week program through UT Austin on machine learning, which as discussed a few weeks ago, required me to learn Python.

I started out my week in NYC. Was my first time there. I will share more of my experience there in a future post but I moved on to Philadelphia. So far this trip has allowed me to spend time with a few different friends that I had not seen in awhile which in itself is exciting and amazing.

The last thing I got excited about among a week of excitement was experiencing downtown Philadelphia. I took a train from NYC to Philly, which gave me the opportunity to take in the sights between the cities. I snapped some photos from my seat, including this one of the Delaware River.

Once in Philadelphia, after a nice leisurely lunch at Reading Terminal Market with my friend who lives in the area, we spent some time in a park. Coming from the Southwest, the foliage here was different and amazing.

The park had squirrels everywhere. Yes there are squirrels where I live as well, just not in my current neighborhood. I have to visit a local preserve to see them back home.

While in downtown, we walked over to Independence Hall.

Then viewed the Liberty Bell. We went at the right time- there were no lines to view the bell.

This is just a smattering of things I saw yesterday. This whole week has been an exciting experience in many ways. Even sitting in the park just people watching on a summer afternoon without melting away from heat exhaustion was exciting!

That’s all for now. I hope you all are enjoying your latest slice of life the excitement that accompanies it.

It’s a Dry Heat

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Nicole

What do you love about where you live?

At least some of the time it is.

Just another July at dusk in Phoenix. 🔥 🔥 🔥

Except when it’s not, but then it’s still neat.

Overnight storm, August 2024.

Overused Phrases 2010 Edition

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Nicole

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

I’m recovering from the events of the weekend. I finished my final project on Sunday but I’m having nightmares about bad Python code scrolling down my screen at will and wreaking havoc -but life goes on.

Given that my brain is mush and I have to focus on my actual job which has me knee deep on projects that run on not Python I am drawing a blank on current day overused words. Hell I’m drawing a blank on words in general.

However I recently ~~dug up~~ came across this gem of an email I sent myself in 2010. Context: I was frustrated at work, and had just walked out of a meeting with my boss at the time – let’s call him Jim. Jim used no less than 6 of the 10 words/ phrases I outlined below.

Tired of attempts to get actual clarification on my next assignment because answers were given using some combination of the words outlined below, I took a break and typed this up. Enjoy!

Top Ten Most Overused Words/Phrases at …The Company I Worked for in 2010

10. Multi-media – seriously, the word doesn’t the word media by itself imply a wide range of communications?

9. You’re a rockstar! – Really! Hot dog! Someone call my promoter and book me another gig ASAP!

8. That’s awesome! – Is the typical, and only, response from managers when pointing out yet another organizational defect.

7. We’re gonna quick look and send off – And if my quick look doesn’t catch an error then it’s still your fault you didn’t catch an error that I couldn’t possibly have caught either.

6. Round and Round, where it goes… Where its bucketed …no one knows!

5. I’m gonna get my arms around…uh oh, that sounds like a sexual harassment complaint just waiting to happen.

4. In the driver’s seat/ you wanna drive? – No real comment here, just way overused.

3. Organizational restructure – Because we seem to have one of these somewhere in the organization about every 2 months.

2. I envision…a world where I don’t have to hear the word envision.

1. World Class Sales Organization – I don’t really need to comment on this one, do I?

From the Notebook

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Nicole

This weekend, I’m finishing up my final project for a post-grad certificate program I’ve been enrolled in since January of this year. I’m currently knee deep in executing Python code to create a model that will assign a database of IT support tickets into different categories. Fun stuff! So while I’m busy working in a Jupyter notebook, I thought to keep thing moving along on my blog, I’d share some work from another notebook.

*Sophomore Yr English Poetry Notebook* *ca. 1996*

My sophomore year English instructor had us put together a notebook of our work over the fall and spring semesters. I didn’t have a computer at home at the time, so I remember working on this during my lunch break in the school’s computer lab. I don’t know why I chose a cursive font but whatever! She was nice enough to package our work in a spiral bound and laminated notebook, which I still have today.

I’ll share page 6 as it contains 1) a poem about summertime 2) a limerick and 3) a haiku.

It’s not award winning work, but hey I was 16 when I wrote these. The limerick still cracks me up- which tells me my humor has not changed much since I was in high school.

Seasons Poem

The hot blazing sun.

Its rays beam down to the Earth like a laser.

The days seem to last an eternity.

Patiently I wait for cool breezes.

As I step onto the sizzling sidewalk , I wonder

Will this hellish weather ever end?

Finally, I see a yellow leaf floating to the ground

As the wind travels through the cool night air.

Note: After reading this, the yellow leaf could be from a dead tree- you know- that died from the summer heat. The cool night air indicates the shift from summer to not summer but not yet fall. So, probably late August, early September.

Limerick

There once was a kid who had a dog.

One day the dog chased after a frog.

While running down the street.

A car the dog did meet.

And got squashed because of a dumb little frog.

Haiku

The clouds move swiftly

Fluffy and round, always moving

Stretched out in the sky

Have you recently come across any creative projects from years ago? Did it surprise you to revisit your work?

Let’s Laugh Together

Posted on August 9, 2024 by Nicole

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

I don’t expect my blog will bring big changes to the world but I do hope my blog resonates with at least a few people. By no means would I say I’ve had a “hard” life but at the same time I had to endure experiences early on that others in my peer group have yet to navigate.

As such, I’ve always found humor ~~or made my own humor~~ in everyday life. I also like to stop and observe. I look for the details in the outdoors, at the grocery store, in my neighborhood – basically I’m always on the lookout for the interesting among the mundane.

This blog allows me to:

1) Share my experiences through the lens of humor to add levity to everyone’s day.

2) Disseminate the interesting among the mundane.

One of my goals for this blog is to create a safe space for discussion. In time I hope more of you chime in and comment on your experiences or at least share slices of your life that come to mind after reading something here. Let’s laugh at the absurd together!

Like This But Different

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Nicole

Daily writing prompt

Describe your life in an alternate universe.

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I imagine my life in an alternate universe would be similar to the Futurama Episode “The Farnsworth Parabox” wherein the Planet Delivery crew encounters their counterparts in an alternate universe. The lives of their counterparts are similar, differentiated only by decisions made through a coin toss.

Coin Toss Outcomes

In the alternate universe, the coin toss had the opposite outcome, thereby all decisions made by the alternate universe Planet Delivery crew were the exact opposite of the “regular universe” Planet Delivery Crew.

Photo source: https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/The_Farnsworth_Parabox

A blue Zoidberg and a gold Bender? Not a universe I want to be in.

I don’t live in NYC in the year 3000, so I’m not by any means saying my life would be anything like life depicted in Futurama. Rather my assumption is that an alternate universe is a slight aberration from the universe we know. That things would be similar enough to recognize just off center. It’s really hard to speculate what this version of me would look like (since I already seem to walk the line between personality types as it is).

Following the Futurama model, the difference would be something like:

-When the electric company offered to give me a free tree for my yard I’d have chosen a Willow Acacia instead of a Desert Willow.

-I would have graduated college in 4 years instead of 5 and probably be one year closer to the grave because I would have had one more year in the workforce than I do now instead of spending that extra year ditching my classes and leaving my campus job early to go wander around the mall (we still have a few that are alive and kicking), take 2 hour lunch breaks then go watch reruns of Most Extreme Challenge with my bestie at the time before doing some actual homework.

-Or maybe I would have been a slightly less curious 4 year old and decide not to dismantle my family’s new CD player which lead to me getting my hand stuck in said CD player which permanently disfigured my right middle finger. Which sounds boring- I think I’d miss the slight scar that faintly lines the area under the nail bed.

From this perspective, discussing the alternate universe isn’t that interesting at all!

This is what a CD player would look like in an alternate universe. Forget Sony or Panasonic- the Dot brand ruled the compact disc player market in my alternate existence.

The IRL Alternate Universe Experience

I’ve been crafting this post off and on all afternoon and evening. In between piecing this ~~disaster of a~~ post together, I also had some brief discussions about high school reunions. I’d rather not discuss why that topic popped, other than to say it’s a constant topic in my household right now. And in thinking back to my one high school reunion, it was my taste of life in an alternate universe.

Before I crap on this experience, let me say I didn’t hate high school, but I didn’t love it either. It was very “meh”. To me it just felt like a holding pattern I had to endure before I could enter the sunny skies and grassy lawns of university life. I floated between social groups on campus as my actual friends went to different high schools all over the eastern part of the county.

I debated whether I should go. My mom somehow convinced me to attend. She had a completely different high school experience so to her, why wouldn’t I go? Against my better judgment I bought a ticket. Since I sunk $40 into this, now I had to go.

First, out of a graduating class of approximately 1250 students, I’d say maybe 300 showed up. There were 3 feeder junior high schools that comprised my high school. Of the people I associated with, they all went to 2 of the 3 junior high schools. So guess which junior high most of the attendees were from… just take a big guess.

Throughout the ~~2 arduous hours I could stomach~~ evening, I recognized 6 people. SIX. At one point, I wondered if I had attended some other high school’s reunion. Or maybe it was my high school but the wrong year. But no, the signage everywhere listed the correct high school and graduation year.

To add insult to injury, this one overly enthusiatic women who I’ll call Lindsey because I do not remember her name walked up to me had the audacity to ask me”are you sure you were part of our class? Why don’t I know you?”

To be fair I had no effing clue who she was either but I still – I found her remark to be rude but I decided to have some fun with this. I told her I ran into some trouble with during my junior year and had to finish out my high school career via correspondence courses as I was in the witness protection program until my first year in college. The look on her face was priceless.

During the dinner, which thankfully the food make up for the $40 I sunk into this evening, a video presentation ran in the background. I recognized the backdrop of my school but I didn’t recognize ANYONE in any of the photos shown in the presentation.

I stayed maybe 20 minutes after eating dinner and called it a night. I stayed long enough to say I’d attended but I couldn’t wait to leave. I managed to make small talk witht the handful of people I did recognize but I had zero things in common with any of these people that even the small talk was pure torture.

I felt so uncomforable the whole time I was there, that it definitely felt like an alternate universe! Kinda like- what would this school had been like had I not gone there. The memories I had of high school were nonexistent at that reunion. It was definitely a bizarre experience. I like to say I’ll never say never, but I can confidently say I’ll never go to another high school reunion!