A Touch of Class

Last year during Breast Cancer Awareness month NFL players and coaches were encouraged to wear pink during games to raise awareness for annual screenings for this horrible disease that effects so many. It was very well received and I am happy the league and its players ran with it and are doing it again this year.

I sat down today to play some Madden 11 on my Playstation 3. As the game started up the machine told me an update was required. I begrudgingly updated my game and away I went. Usually the updates fix some glitch or add some feature I don't really care about.

I was very happy to see that you can play in the Breast Cancer Awareness Month mode. The players and coaches have pink on and at the 2 minute warning they give the official announcement including the website you can go to for more information.

I thought this was excellent and applaud Electronic Arts and the NFL for doing this. This in an excellent way to use a very popular platform to raise awareness for a very important cause. It could have been easy for them to not bother or become bogged down but they used their profile to make a difference.

I don't play a lot of video games. I watch more movies on my PS3 than play games. Gaming is not seen as having much of a social conscious. Many games are violent and have dark themes. I personally have no issue with this but I am happy to highlight when a huge moneymaking venture takes some time to do some good.

I realize some of what they are doing is including it because it is 'in the game.' That's ok by me. We should not discourage good acts.

I personally commend Electronic Arts and the NFL for including this feature in the game.

Where Is It?

I am fairly creative. I come up with some pretty good ideas from time to time. I do write a couple of blogs and occasionally have something good to say. I enjoy photography and have taken some nice photos over the years. I admit I can't draw or paint to save my life, but we can't be good at everything.

Lately, I have not had a creative thought.

It seems the well is dry. It seems all my good ideas are gone. I keep coming up blank. The part that bothers me is I don't know why.

It might be that my life has not been too inspiring. Maybe I'm just tired. I know that's true. I may not care enough at the moment but I don't know why that would be it.

Creativity is fickle. It's easy for it to be turned off. It's easy to lack inspiration. I look at the world around me and I don't see anything interesting. It's like I've been there and done that. Maybe I need a change but its easy to fall into ruts. I seem to be in one.

There is an upside to all this.

I'm sure my creativity will come back. I'm sure I will have more good ideas. I'm sure the world will continue to surprise and amaze me. I'm sure I will say and do things that will be great. I hope it happens sooner than later but I know it will happen.

I'm a creative guy in a funk, but it will come back, and that is a great part of life.

Getting Back At It

During my summers I don't live at home. I don't live too far away, about an hour drive. Once you consider the long days getting home is not really an option. This isn't a big deal but I do have to turn off the life a bit. Having said that, I am back home and returning to my life.

It's takes some effort to get back to normal.

Over the summer I stop by my place about once a week. Unread the mail and ensure everything is ok. I may stay the evening or I may head back out. It seems a lot of envelopes and used glasses seem to accumulate. A glass of water while reading the mail doesn't make a big individual mess but it does accumulate.

All the stuff I take with me has to be unpacked and either cleaned or returned to where it belongs. Again this is time and effort.

If you are away for several weeks you need to restock the food. Not much point in keeping food around if you are not. On those few occasions where you want to stay home and eat during the summer a pizza will do just fine.

A very important part of returning is to track down the friends I have neglected. The people I call my friend are the most amazing individuals. I always feel bad when I go away for the summer and barely speak a word to them. They deserve better. I do make a point of regularly updating my Facebook status so at least they know how I'm doing but, it's not the same.

Over the years people have often asked why I do this every summer. There are times I wonder as well. The best I can figure is it prevents me from living an ordinary life. When I look back I want to see a unique and varied existence. I want to be able to tell stories or amazing moments, interesting people, and exciting adventures. To do that some sacrifices need to be made. If not living at home in ten sum er will bring this then I am happy to do so.

Different people want different things in life. It's part of what makes life amazing. If it is important to you then you will be able to make the necessary sacrifices to get it. We can't do it all but we can do what is most important. Make sure you are doing the right things for what is important to you.

I Have One

After several attempts I have managed to get myself an iPhone 4. There were the several trips to the Apple Store when none were available. Then there was the waiting in line at West Edmonton Mall, only to have to bail to go to a wedding. I checked many other retailers to no avail.

Finally today I got in line about 8:15 am and at 4:00 pm my new iPhone 4 was activated.

This is a big jump from the 3G version I originally had. The screen is extremely clear. The camera is 5 megapixals. It shoots HD video. The processor is much faster and it has a lot of storage.

Like every Apple product it is easy to use and designed to to interface with humans.

I am very happy with my acquisition. It's going to serve me well. It is worth the long wait in the mall.

I have an iPhone 4 and this makes me very happy.

It Must Be A Popular Item

Last weekend I tried to buy an iPhone 4. After visiting about 20 retailers I'm fairly certain that none were available in Winnipeg. There is only one reason I could not get one. The system miscalculated the demand for this product. The only question is, did they miscalculate demand in general or was it just in the Winnipeg market?

Being out of stock is costly and foolish.

When someone makes a decision to purchase an item from your organization, you need to have it available. You need to be able to fulfill their purchase need. If you do not, chances are you have lost the revenue to another product or retailer.

The iPhone 4 may be a bit of an exception.

Apple has had a significant resurgence in the last 5 years. They have spent a lot of time studying how we interact with machines and their easy to use hardware and software has developed a loyal following. I know this first hand. I used Microsoft operating systems on various hardware platforms for most of my life. They have always been clumsy and difficult to use. When I started acquiring Apple products I discovered that computing doesn't have to be awkward.

I will continue my quest for the iPhone 4. I'm sure I will get one in the next couple of weeks. I'm sure I will be happy with my purchase. I'm also sure Apple will continue to put out great products.

And We Laughed

In the last few months I have rediscovered late night comedy. I'm not sure why I stopped watching but like many things in life, I forgot how much I enjoy it.

Comedy is important.

Although, laughing makes you feel good and usually relieves stress, that's not why comedy is important.

Comedy is important because if it is done properly it pushes boundaries.

For some reason, society seems to be moving further and further toward not offending anyone. People do not share what they believe because they fear the repercussions of rubbing someone the wrong way. As we have moved from a duty based society to a rights based society, creativity and honesty have taken a back seat to not saying anything that may hurt anyone.

By laughing about what is different we can move to closer together. Being able to poke fun at yourself, makes you human and approachable.

I know my humour is edgier than most and I find something funny in almost anything. I know not everyone shares my sense of humour. I'm quite fine with that. I feel for the people who don't share or pretend not to share my sense of humour. They are loosing out.

If you don't push forward you will risk withering away. Humour can move you forward and enlighten you. It can make you see the world around you. In this world of being highly connected it appears that people are less aware of the world.

We need to get out and laugh more. We need to find the funny in the world around us, we need to share this with those we know. We need to do this without fear. If we do this we will all be in a much better place in the long run.

Maybe This Was The World Protecting Itself

Very early this morning I was buying gas for my SUV. While I was filling up at the pay at the pump island, a woman pulled up to fill her car. Ok, there may be a bit more to this. In trying to park her car to fill it, she nearly backed into the pump. It appeared that she was trying to parallel park to fuel up. In the end, despite nearly backing into the fueling station, she really wasn't close.

To add to the situation she didn't know how to fuel her car. The pump she wanted to use would only work if you pay at the pump. She asked me to fuel her vehicle for her.

I did not fuel her car.

If you cannot put fuel in your vehicle, then eventually the car will not be useable. It will become a motionless piece of manufactured goods.

I'm not against women driving. Where I draw the line is, if you cannot safely drive or fuel your vehicle, you should not be be in a position to operate your vehicle.

Maybe this is the world protecting itself.

I realize this woman, not through skill or ability, managed to put more fuel in her car. I know for a fact that she didn't do it at the station I was at.

You could argue that being able to fuel a vehicle is a basic life skill or at least a testable skill for the issue of a driver's license. It appears it is not the case. However, the world is trying really hard to keep this woman from driving but since she managed to drive to the gas station, she will most likely continue to drive.

I only hope she doesn't hurt me while driving without a clue.