The Mondays: 10 Random Thoughts For The Week Of October 26, 2009

T his weekend was a roller coaster for me of random thoughts.  It was a flurry of activity, productivity, and way more than the daily-dose of self-reflection.  So let's dive into the lighter side first… hats off to Spike Jonez and David Eggers for "Where the Wild Things Are."  Simply put, the movie is actually one of the more impressive things I have had the pleasure of spending time with - yes, you read that right, I actually consider it something that I "spent time with" not just watched.  I have heard tidbits here and there about it being this or that, not for kids, for kids and kids at heart, blah, blah, blah.  I sat down with an open mind.  I saw a movie that honestly manages to be beautiful.  The movie is actually relatively simple in much of it.  The "wild things" look much like any number of creatures from Jim Henson's Muppet cast (in particular the Gorgs from Fraggle Rock)… and this was fitting because for many of us, Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" is a sister world to that of anything Henson created… things that for the most part, children today don't get to enjoy.  The movie itself manages to capture the world in a way that I don't think children see things, but in a way that I think we (as adults) think children see things.  The "wild things" themselves each represent some level of childhood archetypes… ones that as kids we don't see so delineated but as adults… well things change.  I think the movie only works for those of us who have lost or innocence.  Long story short -- too late -- I highly recommend that you take the time, without the kids and possibly even just by yourself, and go to see it on the big screen and think about your own childhood every step of the way… I did… and it was great.

On a separate note, I spent a lot of time think about people and communication.  This last week was definitely one that seemed like it would have been great, save the pock-marks that all came from communication issues.  And that brings me to a particular note… there is a land… I like to call it Passive Aggressiva (pronounced: pah-seeve ah-gress-eve-a).  It is a place where people don't just handle things directly with one another and say, "Hey, can I take a minute and talk to you one on one about something that is bothering me?  Now that you are listening, here's the thing…"  Instead, we send terse emails, we volley cryptic jabs assuming the other knows exactly what we are talking about because there must be some ulterior motive at work, we post things for all the world to see rather than just owning up and taking on the conversation one-on-one.  This happens here, there, and everywhere.  This land -- this place I call Passive Aggressiva -- we all know it well, because in modern society it seems that we all hold dual citizenship to come and go as we please.  What if we all just decided to boycott Passive Aggressiva?  What if we made this place and its natural religion -- the cult of Passive Aggressive -- embargoed.  No more free trade in passive aggressive.  Let's take a stand together. ;)

OK. I think I have run a little long in the tooth in my reflection from this week, so time to cut to the chase and lay out some random thoughts...

1. Opinions and onions are not easy to digest.

2. Wouldn't it make sense that fishes would get cramps after eating too?

3. Idiots -- the world's first and greatest pandemic.

4. Have you ever noticed that some arrive tired immediately after they get hired?

5. You can tell a lot about a person based upon the ways they eat, dance and curse.

6. "Stop, Drop and Roll" is not just for real fires… it works for metaphorical fires too!

7. The longer any single kiss lingers, the more it seems to miss the mark.

8. In an odd twist of fate, why is it that lemon juice is made with artificial lemons and yet dishwashing liquid is made with "real lemons!"

9. If a train station is where a train stops -- and all things are held constant -- what would that make a workstation?

10. Let me put it this way -- I'm not cheap, but I am on special this week.


OK, chew on that for this week. ;)