Well, how about that?

So, I haven’t written in awhile. Really, I have no excuse other than, you know, life. However, recently I have been doing some thinking about that. I love to write, I love to blog and I love to unapologetically be the person who is not consumed by my career. I love to be the big nerd in the room, who honestly believes it is not what you do for a living but what you do for humanity that is what defines you. Now I have to apologize to my readers (Kristen Sardynski – I say readers, we all know it is just you). I have to apologize to myself as well, because I haven’t been living my life by my own rules lately. I haven’t. I have been the person consumed by my job. Why? I don’t know. I want to say it is because I have my dream job, saving the world one person at a time, making differences in people’s lives and being the best in a world comprised of those just trying to be less bad then the really evil people. This simply isn’t true. I push papers for a living. Worse even to my young idealist self, I push papers for a big box America Fortune 100 company.

Do NOT get me wrong. My company is amazing. They honestly are. They take care of their employees, from the beginning of your career to the time you die, when they take care of your beneficiaries, no matter your age. I am lucky to have the employer I have, as they honestly believe in Corporate Responsibility. Also, it is one of the friendliest LGBTQA companies around. For all this, I am grateful. Every day. I am, however, able to say as great as it is, it is not me. It is not me at all.

This is why I do apologize. I apologize to anyone who does read my blogs. I apologize to anyone who I have ignored or been distant to and I intensely apologize to myself. I lost my way. I got caught up because I do love my employer, and I do not hate my job. Which is interesting don’t you think? It’s not that I love my job and it is not that I am even passionate about it. It is not that I wake up in the morning with a burning desire to go into work to do what I do. I like my job. That is it. Such a small thing for someone who used to believe someday she would change the world. That realization brought my thought process around to the issue that I think is why I threw myself into work to begin with. There is a moment in everyone’s life when they doubt their beliefs in some form and I do believe that is what happened to me – a kind of existential crisis if you will.

Now, for anyone who knows me there might be rolling their eyes at the Psych 101, or some may still cling to the belief that to have an existential crisis it has to be some kind of religious based faith crisis. Still others may go, you were fine through engagement, marriage, you were fine through all that your family has been through in recent years, and those are the main existential crisis stimulators…what the hell. Well, trust me I have had that thought process as well. I honestly believe that a culmination of many factors contributed, but none more than getting what I laughingly refer to as my “big kid job.”

It was easy to realize that after a string of administrative jobs that ranged from really great to you know, HELL, I was at a great company that cared and was willing to develop me. For somebody who graduated with an Associate’s degree and a Bachelors degree with high GPAs, who then bounced from one entry level job to below entry level to ridiculous, this was crazy to me. I have issues that I am dealing with in this job, and the main one is that past. I feel no matter what I am going to get the last one hired first one fired speech – I tell myself we are not a small mom and pop company, or a flailing not-for-profit. I try to calm down. I then panic that I am going to reach the end of my contract with no funds to renew it…but wait, I am not a contractor. So then I think that maybe there will be some ridiculous reason, and start to panic. This is still a weekly occurrence, at least up to about a week ago.

Then I realized the big difference. This isn’t a “big kid job.” This is…GULP…a career. That TERRIFIED (and frankly still terrifies) me. I think that is why it happened. I am not someone who has ever cared what anyone thought about me, and have never need approval from those closest to me, let alone society in general. I never cared if I was part of the group or not, didn’t have any need or want to be the “cool” kid. Then, I was at this place that seemed to care if I felt well trained, that rewarded you for doing things above and beyond, that saw you volunteered regularly and brought attention to the fact that the company has a whole volunteer program. I had the opportunity to get educated in my industry – and my company pays for it. I admit I got sucked into being the person who was defined by what I do for a living. It was fine at first, because I love my company, I love my co-workers, I adore my management team beyond what most people would find acceptable…and more than that I respect them. My direct supervisor is honestly one of the best men I know, and his wife and daughter are honestly kind and wonderful people. For the first time only, not only do I feel like I have a secure place to work, but I feel like I have a family at work, and it is nice.

Then, I got unhappy. My feelings about my job did not change, except to maybe get better. So at this point I was forced to ask what the problem is. It took over 8 months to realize…I had completely abandoned me. My true self, my true personality. I am not sure at this point if anyone else ever noticed, or if they did if it was as big a deal to them as it is to me. I am awake and aware now. I am ready to be me again. I am learning how to be me with the fact that I do have this new reality, this career. How can I adapt this into who I have always been? How can I mold this Fortune 100 Company that has a system in place that doesn’t adapt to individuals easily into the life of who I have always been? What other realizations that at 31 have I come to?

Well, we will find out. As a blog that started with me writing about things that interested me and that I am excited about and want to share my passion on, it will now be more. I think that I am not the only person who has ever felt like this, who has ever had this particular loss of identity and reawakening. So, though I am getting back to it, and you will again have to read about Sharks, LGBTQA rights, and a whole plethora of nerdy goodness you can’t even imagine, be prepared. There will be more like this. It is easier for me to figure it out when I put it down in writing, and if I am going to write it, I may as well post it right?

It is going to be interesting.

TAKE HEED FROM THE CLOWNS

So those of you who know me, may know that I often have some rants, or as my wife calls them “nutties” or “Heather Moments.” Thanks babe. I CANNOT sit idly by however, as I have read ANOTHER article about what I refer to as clear signs that the Clownpocalypse  is steaming toward us full steam ahead.

For those of you who do not know me very well, I must let you know that I love most things horror or Halloween. Friday the 13^th and Jason, sure. Jeepers Creepers, psycho killers, crazy animals, evil babies…I love it. Michael Myers – he scares the hell out of me, but BRING IT…love it…rush like no other. There are 2 things however, that are clearly signs of pure evil, and are not entertainment pieces, but just tools of the Devil. Snakes and Clowns. So, obviously the first time I read the article about the person who was dressing up like a poor man’s Pennywise in Northampton, England I had one of the above noted nutty’s. I in fact had an epic nutty that I didn’t even keep in the sanctity of marriage, but shared with Facebook, as this is clearly a sign that the clowns are making their move.

Stephen King is in my very humble opinion, nothing short of a literary genius. He takes a lot of heat I know (only a little pun intended) mainly because some HATERS feel that he lacks closing skills. I have read many of his books, and am still working my way through his vast collection of contributions to the literary world, but I have seen no problems with his closings. I feel if you are let down by the closing, you should readdress, because he generally words things in a way that can keep a seed planted. As for the movie adaptations for his books, well….jury is out on most of them.  At dozens upon dozens, King has had more novels adapted into movies than any other  living author, and to be honest, I would have to research if any dead penners have him beat. I have seen A LOT of the movies, but not all. From the “horror” adaptations, I usually come away let down. This is for a simple reason – I am a snob in this aspect of life.  Let me explain…

Did I have to cover my eyes during the body scene in Stand by Me – you bet, for YEARS. Did Cujo make me cringe – for the parts of it where I wasn’t incredibly bored, yuppers.  I empathized and hated Carrie,  felt the pangs of loss and desperation in Pet Semetary and even I knew how good Kathy Bates could play crazy by the end of Misery. When it comes to King’s horror novels though, a HUGE part of me wants Hollywood to leave them alone. Kubrick is a genius, but his version of The Shining was so far from the story, that King himself redid it in a miniseries. On its own, great movie. Read the book and you were like, that was not an adaptation, that was really only kind of a based on. This truly ruins it. You don’t see the hedges shifting and changing, scaring Danny and encouraging Jack. You don’t see the snowmobile rushing towards freedom. I could smell the fire and hear the explosion better from King’s words then any movie has ever painted them for me, and the reason is simple. The man, love him or hate him, paints a picture with words better than anyone ever has, or quite frankly ever will.

As for the adaptations of his other works – yes, let it be known far and wide, the man can write, not just horror, but I do believe EVERY genre.  The ones that truly pop into my head are The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. I mean. If you haven’t seen these movies, I do not know what you are waiting for. Go. NOW. I will wait. I mean, not literally, these are King adaptations, that is like a day’s worth of viewing there my friends. Seriously though, go. Now. These movies are fantastic. They have casts to die for, scripts of gold and are some of the best cinematic contributions of our generation. You may have your own opinion here. If it isn’t this though, it is probably wrong. If you haven’t READ these works, I mean, why not? These and The Stand, I mean, time commitment definitely. Worth it – every single milli-second. Every one.

There is one King book though that is my nemesis. It is adapted into a movie. I have seen parts of the movie. When I was young. Real young. This is when I knew what true terror is my friends. TRUE TERROR. Yup, that is right – It. When I was young, I walked into a room, the movie was playing. I thought oh, clown. Ha. Yeah. Deranged, fanged, killer clown. The clown horrifically killed a kid and this girl was done. To this day, I don’t walk over sewer drains, I don’t take balloons from strangers and I realize that Laurie Notaro is not only the Queen of idiot girls and one of the funniest people alive, but a genius. She has alerted people to the Clown Network. Taking heart in her bravery, I must alert people to the truth. The Zombie Apocalypse is a lie. The Clownpocalypse  is where the truth is. You can sever the brainstem from the zombie or get a direct head shot, beat its head with a baseball bat, you can beat it. YOU CAN’T BEAT CLOWNS. They have advanced levels of special relations. There is no defense. You are still trying to figure out how they got 8 of themselves in a VW Bug, and more are coming. You are automatically outnumbered. There is no defense against pies in the face. I mean, you can’t win.

This leads me to my initial point, and if you have hung in for this crazy ride (Kristen, really, it’s just you) I have to tell you the crazy that is happening. Poorman Pennywise is no longer just in Northampton people. Poorman Pennywise clowns were spotted in March in Staten Island. This was supposedly linked back to publicity stunts, but this is the same network that brought us the Zombie Apocalypse craze and balloon animals. They are crafty, they are experts at concealing their identities and anyone who can wear those shoes and do physical comedy can only be dangerous when cornered. This is a terrifying course of events. I hope that you are all prepared and that everyone takes heed. Don’t smell their flowers, don’t smile at their falls, don’t clap when they throw pies and if they offer you balloons, whether regular or in animal forms, don’t think, don’t pause, just run.

Because as I have told my wife, if a clown comes at you vows mean nothing. That my friends is an every person for themselves situation, and I will sacrifice you to save myself. I have a strong survival instinct people, and if you cover your face with white paint, give yourself a large unrelenting smile and hit yourself with a mallet to make me laugh, in my mind the alert level goes to red, and I punch first, napalm second and shrug when I get in trouble. Be warned clowns, Heather don’t play that game.

My Sochi Rant - Sorry, Will try to make it be the only one...

"Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."  ~Master Yoda, Episode V Emipre Strikes Back

So, I do try not to be too political or preachy on here – but at the end of the day, as my lovely wife will point out when my rants become slightly too intense, that is what this is for. So, like any good slightly too sure that my beliefs are the right ones person, I will rant here – but I do apologize in advance.

Look, I am not trying to reinvent the wheel here. I get that the XXII Winter Games are underway in Sochi, and I do get that no matter how much I yelled and screamed, they were never going to not be there. That is not the way life works, and blahity blah blah blah I know, I get it, I hear you, I acknowledge the logical and exact arguments and facts. With the disclaimer out of the way –

What the hell. Seriously….SERIOUSLY? How exactly did that decision happen? Flashback to 119^th IOC Session – July 2007 – Guatemala City: Um, I dunno. Let’s not give it to someone who has had it dude, that is so last century…Well man, I don’t know. We need to decide because there are 13 fun zones in Guatemala City I want to explore…Well, does it matter, just pull a name out of a hat…But we want it to seem more important than that…So who are the surviving bids again? UMMMMMM – I dunno, bubba you want to check that out for us?...Oh um, Sochi, Russia; Pyeongchang, South Korea or Salzburg, Austria – And here I interject not a what the hell but a WTF – did you get the bids from your asses, but hey what do I know, I excelled at English and History in school, not political sway and geography, so back to the decision making process – Well, we have to knock it down to two before we can go sight see, so let’s vote. Okay, by overwhelming numbers, Salzburg, Austria is OUTSKI. Yeah, it is a HUGE gem of culture and history. It is even know and has been voted as one of the best-preserved cities. It is FREAKING gorgeous, and gave us Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, not to mention was some of the set for “The Sound of Music.” – Another side note, Original Sound of Music here people, don’t talk to me about any LIVE Carrie Underwood Version – However, Salzburg is just, I dunno, too boring. They will most likely be able to handle the different cultures and beliefs that come with having athletes from ALL OVER THE FREAKING WORLD there for 2 weeks – they are a huge tourist city, no, no, no. They are way too capable. DUDE I KNOW – Russia, they seem like they are totally caught up and over dissolving the USSR and losing the Cold War. Lets reward their often 18^th century mindsets, and the fact that they still think that every poor decision they have ever made as a nation is just damn liberal westerners misinterpreting their close minded and hateful views with international attention – totally where the 2014 Olympics are! Pass the blunt, because we must obviously be very, VERY high.

Then, Putin took office (for an unprecedented and possibly illegal 3^rd longer term) in 2012. He went from officer in the freaking KGB to politician. He took over when Yeltsin resigned in 1999, and became President in 2000, holding the position for 2 consecutive 4 year terms. In 2008, he was made Prime Minister and in 2011, under a new law extending the Presidency to 6 years, he ran again – though there were protests, he won in 2012 and will be in power until 2018. Though many feel that Putin has done many good things domestically (especially financially) for Russia, he has been plagued with scandal since 2000 with the Kursk submarine incident, to allegations of fraud, to the 2002 Moscow theater hostage incident to the Beslan school hostage crisis – hmm, many hostage incidents I see – to being marked by most outside countries and organizations as decidedly undemocratic and very dictator like. With his new term, Putin has made strict anti-LGBTQA laws, faced many protests and shown an alarming alliance between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church – an unseen alliance level since the days of Russian communism.

Oh and lets please not forget that currently, Russia’s relationship with America is at an all time low since the F***ING COLD WAR. For the first time since 1960, the US pulled out of a summit in response to Russia granting asylum to Edward Snowden. The US feels Russian is guarding nations that are controlled by terrorists or anti-American governments – Syria, Iran, Cuba…and Russia proudly “protects” them from US interference. When Putin and the Russian government confirmed that their new anti-homosexual “propaganda” (really just anti-gay) laws would in fact be in effect for the Olympics, and that they would in fact apply to all domestic and foreign athletes, media and tourists, they seemed to be upset that us damn western nations had an issue with their internal issues – because we like you know not just LGBTQA rights so much as BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL – and seemed to react like a toddler who was just told that you cannot in fact go through life stomping your feet and inconveniencing all around you because you don’t like it. Also, let’s give a hand for the IOC and the way they reacted…that they will completely support Russia in this and will punish any athletes that politically act out against these anti-gay laws, as that is not what the Olympics is about.

Um. What.

So the athletes can’t be political but can be subject to another countries unjust law. Um Okay. Well you live in the land of the oblivious, say hi to Santa, and let me know how Elvis is at his next live concert. Morons.

This is where the IOC is sending the 2014 Winter Olympic Athletes. Excellent. Hey, for the summer Olympics can we just forego the ceremony and give them all guns and say ready SHOOT. Come on. Nothing may happen. I get that. There may not be one violent incident. I will say though that a non incident is not a victory here. I can honestly say that anyone who had to make the choice between not competing in the Olympics – a possibly once in a life time experience – or going and competing in Sochi will not feel that a non incident was a victory.  There are LGBTQ athletes that had to make hard choices, there are LGBTQ allies that had to weigh a decision that never should have been forced upon them. Well done IOC – way to not politicize the games – wait, I forgot, the host city can apparently politicize the games; by not listening to concerns from other countries and participating athletes, by siding with the host country the IOC can politicize the games; by making the choice to support the host city or not the tourists can politicize the games – the only people the IOC can and as they say will punish for politicizing the games are the athletes. The people who are the reason that the IOC have a freaking position at all. The people why tourists go to host cities. The athletes. So to what I am sure will be very few if any athletes that make that stand, you amaze me. You win a medal or not you are the champions to me. I stand next to you on the podium with my metaphorical fist raised as well, as if we were Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. To the athletes who just go and perform and live out their lifelong dream – I salute you too. I support every athlete who puts it all out there on their respective course, whether it is snow, ice or anything. I wish you all the luck, I hope you all perform how you want to and I pray to all that I hold as holy (so, Joss Whedon, Star Wars, George Lucas, TBBT, paging Dr. Sheldon Cooper) that every single athlete returns home safely, and whether a medal holder or not, with the knowledge that they are an Olympian and that is a selective and awesome club to be in.

So yeah. That is my rant. Will I boycott the Olympics – to be honest I don’t know. I will boycott a good portion of them, but again, my theory is similar to the one I have always held on the “War on Terrorism.” I don’t support the invasion of countries for nonexistent WMD. I do not support the war. But I damn well support the troops. I do NOT, and I cannot stress it enough NOT, support Russia. I think Putin and his Kremlin gremlins, and his alliance with the Orthodox Church are our generations Hitler and the Third Reich. I think this is mimicking 1936 in so many ways I want to hit people over the head with their history books. I think that the IOC is full of political, spineless morons. I feel that not enough people will speak out or step up. I do however support the athletes. Every single one of them. So a full on boycott, I don’t know. Even if I watch, I will not watch silently. I will step up and protest the only way a person on a different continent who is a no body can. I will blog. I will talk. I will be the little activist I have learned to be in my 31 years on this earth. I will do so with the arrogance and security only a lifelong American can. And I will be proud, every time I do. Because I will not sit silently by. I will shout every time you come for someone else – I will be the one there to shout you down every time. I may not be able to change the world myself but I sure as hell will not silently let it pass. So to my friends and family and whatever poor slobs got sucked into this train wreck of a rant and couldn’t get away – I support whatever opinion you have on boycotting or not. Don’t worry – I will be here to tell you what I think for those of you who care. And for those who don’t.

A Little About the Winter Olympics History

On Friday, February 7, 2014 the XXII Winter Olympics will be rung in at the Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. This comes 90 years after the first meet, which now known as I Winter Olympics, was known then as International Winter Sports week in Chamonix, France (the French Alps of course). That kicked off on January 25^th, 1924 with 6 total sports and 14 total events. Being somewhat new, it captured the imagination of spectators and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held the next one in St. Moritz Switzerland in 1928, dubbing it the Second game of the Winter Olympics. Scandinavians, who had been holding the Nordic Games in Sweden every 4 years since 1901, dominated the Chamonix games, and the United States skated away with a lone medal. The 16 nations that participated were so fond of the event, it led to the IOC planning the St. Moritz Games, and retroactively claiming Chamonix as the madly successful I Games of the Winter Olympiad.

The history of the Winter Games is a rich and somewhat convoluted one. There are 12 countries that have attended every Winter Games held – Austria, Finland, Great Britain, Canada, France, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and of course, the United States. Half of them have medaled in each game and the US is the only one that has taken at least 1 gold in every game, included the lone medal it took in the inaugural games of 1924. The countries of Germany and Japan have both been banned from times at the Winter Games, and are the only 2 countries that have. There have also been 2 cancellations of Winter Games, in 1940 and 1944 respectively, both due to WW II. The 1936 games, IV Olympic Winter Games, were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, and the 1936 Summer Olympics had been in Berlin, Germany…this was the last year that had both Winter and Summer Games in the same host country, though the 2 year break between games we know now would not take effect until the 1990’s, with the Summer and Olympic games on the same every 4 year cycle.

In 1986 the IOC decided that the Winter and Summer Olympics needed to be put onto separate 4 year cycles. This was for a multitude of reasons, but it was hugely logistical. The cost of putting on an Olympic games is astronomical, for the host city/country, the participating nations, and the athletes and yes for the IOC. It also takes a lot of planning and effort. It also relieves the sponsors and gives more time for bigger packages, and better investment. The construction generally included in an Olympics also takes a lot of time, and this helped hosts to really make plans and execute well, without rushing. It took effect in the early 1990s, with the 1992 Summer games in Barcelona, Spain and the 1992 Winter games in Albertville, France, with the next Winter games to start the new cycle a mere 2 years later in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway (though more commonly known to most as Kerrigan – Harding grudge match).

Now, I am not going to pretend that I am not an Olympic Geek. I am. I watch the winter and summer Olympics religiously. Ironically, my least favorite part is generally the Figure Skating, though it appears to be almost everyone else favorite and gets oh so much coverage. I am 100% an Olympic watching, any sport is a good sport, gotta love it fan. Little actually research was needed for this piece, as it is part of my ridiculous useless knowledge arsenal. What has the Olympics on my mind however is sadly not the impending Games, the opening ceremony, the excitement or any of that. It is that we are repeating history. In 1936, nations went into Germany for TWO separate games as it was the last year the the Olympics were in the same host city for both. Countries poured in, and no matter what concessions Hitler and the Third Reich made, they were not enough. With what was happening to people being stripped of their rights, persecuted, herded into camps and killed the world went in and said and did nothing. Is that what is going to happen now? Are we as advanced nations going to go into Sochi Russia and say nothing of the way that people are being treated there? Are we going to allow them to classify homosexuals as second class citizens, and even extending their hatred to tourists? All that remains to be seen I guess, and all I can say is I hope not. So my excitement for the Olympics this year is tempered as I am a huge activist for not only Gay Rights but Civil Rights in general. I find it hard to stand by and keep my mouth shut. I just pray others will as well.

Chinese New Year

Since it is still January and since I get sucked into my own quests for knowledge like no other I am going to continue on my last blog touching on the history of New Year. This time, I got to thinking about the Chinese New Year. It is the one different New Year tradition that the majority of people I run into have at least heard of – whether it be to know what year they were born in or the festival surrounding it, this ancient tradition has captured the attention of many people the world over.

Since 1912, China as a country has celebrated the calendar New Year on December 31^st – January 1^st with the majority of the world. The Chinese New Year is not a set calendar date, and is still celebrated today as Spring Festival, starting on the first new moon of the New Year and ending 15 days later on the full moon.  The Chinese New Year is always on a different day, since it is based on a combination of the lunar and solar scheduled movements. This causes an extra month to be added in every few years – the equivalent to our leap years. There is a lot of history and tradition seeped into every aspect of the actual Chinese New Year ceremonies, from religious ceremonies to all of Heaven and Earth to recognizing the ancestors and all their sacrifice (family specific).

The ancestor portion of the ceremonies is usually the most significant, and is celebrated with a feast dedicated to them on the Chinese New Year’s Eve known as weilu (surrounding the stove). This weilu is a symbol of all the current and past generations of a family, and is meant to promote unity and honor within those generations for the upcoming year. Along with the deep traditions and religious implications of the Chinese New Year, there are many rituals and superstitions followed by the culture. For instance, the house should be completely and thoroughly cleaned before New Year’s Day, with all cleaning equipment and materials put away on New Year’s Eve. Then, after, you can sweep the floors beginning at the door, to the middle then to the corners, and not removed until the fifth day of the New Year, and never trampling on the piles. When taken out, it must go out the back door – this is due to an ancient belief that anything going out before this will be sweeping one of the family away, and to take anything out the front is to take away the good fortune or luck of the family.

 Also, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, every door and window should be open to let the old year leave and the New come. No cursing, no unlucky words should pass your lips, nor should anything about dying, death or ghosts, the past year or crying….as whatever passes will come to you in abundance that year. Do not wash your hair or you wash away good luck, red is a good bright color that is seen to welcome good fortune. Knives or scissors are avoided as they can cut good fortune. There are many more traditions that many may not believe in any longer but that are still done out of the view that these traditions are what connect the past with the present and the future.

The coming Chinese New Year is to begin on January 31, 2014 and the upcoming year is the year of the horse…and that is something that is a blog in and of itself, the year of and etc…so, until next time.

Another New Year - here it is, 2014

Here we are, at the start of another year. It seems to come faster and faster every year. However, being me, I don’t just count down from ten, blow the noise maker, kiss my wife and party it up. Here is how my mind works = what the hell? Why am I blowing a noise maker? Who decided this is when the calendar flips? Why do I care? The kicker is, being me, I am NOT content to shrug and move on. So, though I doubt ANYONE but me has these questions and cares, read on my friends.

The current calendar we use is the Gregorian (AKA Western or Christian) calendar. This is the most used calendar today. It is an adaptation or refinement of the Julian calendar that dates back to 1582. Now, if you were to look at a Julian calendar you would most likely not immediately see a difference. They have the same 12 months, in the same order, and of the same lengths. What then you may ask is the difference? Well, okay, you may not ask that, but again, I did. The difference is that both calendars are actually an approximation of the calendar year, the Julian calendar was simply too long by tenths of time, and actual length of 365.25 days, and the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days – a length difference of .002%. Seriously.  The major reason this was done was typical of the day – to correct the celebration of Easter back closer to the spring equinox as was originally decided during the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Under the Julian calendar, Easter continued getting earlier and earlier. The Roman Catholic Church worked to correct this and the Gregorian calendar was born. *Fun Fact – the Julian calendar is currently approximately 13 days behind, since the Gregorian calendar started by skipping 10 actual calendar days to get the vernal equinox back to the March 21 date that worked best for the Church.*

So, here we are, in year 2014 under the Gregorian calendar, still celebrating something that has been going since 2000 B.C. in Mesopotamia. It was really cemented in 42 B.C. by the Romans, who raised Julius Caesar to a deity on January 1^st and honored his reinvented (Julian) calendar after his murder on the senate floor. Now we have a period of remembrance, looking back at the past year, and analyzing every major event. This all culminates in a night of jubilation and partying the world over on what has become to be known as New Years Eve (NYE). On actual January 1^st, there are many traditions, from family to religious to sporting events and parades.

I still am not sure that I get the big party and celebration.  Personally, my celebration comes on (surprise, surprise) Shark Week Eve, but this is where my lives philosophy comes in – to each their own. I want to party before the new Shark Week specials; others want to ring in the coming year. See, how I figure it…I know that Shark Week is going to be good. I will get to see old shows that I love, I will see new documentaries that are enlightening, maybe even a mockumentary I really see no need for but is entertaining. I do not know what the upcoming year will bring, so why ring it in anywhere but in my bed, with pjs ready to go to sleep. The past few years have brought huge changes, from good – marriage, career, volunteering opportunities – to bad – old jobs, fights with family and friends – to horrible – sick parents, debilitating sickness, lasting injuries. And that is how it is. I am not celebrating nor complaining about these things – life happens. Every minute of every day of every week of EVERY YEAR. It is tradition for so many people that I sometimes wonder if anyone else wonders why we litter Rockefeller Center with confetti every December 31^st or if it is so familiar to them, they don’t give it a second thought. For those who love to party it up as one year ends and another begins, I say good for you. It shows an optimism and faith I am not sure I have ever truly been able to muster up, and therefore a part of me is jealous of it. Rock on whether you are an optimist who waits for midnight with bated breath or one who does not care at all and just rolls over to spend it like you would any late night – these are the differences that make life interesting, right?

Back from Life Time Out

So, first off, I am trying to get back into this. I know I haven’t written in almost 6 months – life got crazy. I got a job that I love, but of which I skipped about 4 rungs from no responsibility to lots, and it took some adjustment. Also, with birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, injuries, etcetera, life got away from me and taking the time to write was so not in the cards. Life is starting to calm down however, and I am slowly getting back into some of the things that I let slide before.

I am reiterating – there is no theme to this blog. The one constant will be that my thoughts and interests are everywhere, and so this will be. There will be some constants – Star Wars, happy geek things, sports and the Annual Holy Shark Week Celebration. Other than that, I have no clue where my mind will take it in any kind of pattern.

I stand by what I said in my first blog. I am not a “professional writer” and you will often see a lack of polish and finish. Also, I am not unaware of the fact that I am a tad strange, and that some of my rants or as I like to think of them “flows of thoughts” are also strange. I also see the validity in my wife’s most common phrase, that she really wishes she could “YouTube this shit” so people could understand what she is subject to listening to on a daily and nightly basis. However dear (if you are actually bothering to read this one…;-p) as I often remind you – you put a ring on it, you have to listen to it.

So again, buckle up my family, friends and any poor reader who clicked on any of these links hoping it was actually knowledgeable. Welcome to a small taste of the brain and thoughts of Heather…I promise no one will get hurt, yet make no such assurances on confusion issues…