People-Watching

One day last week, as I was visiting someone I knew in the hospital, I had a few minutes to kill. So, I took some time to gaze out the window in the lobby to do a little people-watching. I saw an elderly man who was in one of those scooter contraptions you see advertised sometimes that allows people with physical challenges to be mobile.

It didn't look like the man could move his arms or legs very well, but he could move one of his arms well enough to operate the scooter. His ride showed up and he rolled across the pick up zone to the car. A woman, about the same age as the man, presumably his wife, sat in the driver's side seat while the man maneuvered the scooter close to the passenger side car door. It took him a couple of minutes to do that, and when he finally had the car door open, he slowly lifted the armrests and then moved one leg over to the side of the scooter, followed by the other leg. He aided his second leg with one of his arms. Then, with what looked like every ounce of energy he contained, he struggled to his feet, backed his way into the car and plopped down in the seat.

The woman got out of the car and into scooter. She maneuvered it around to the back of the car and popped the trunk open. She disassembled the scooter into two or three pieces and then used a hoist that was attached to the underside of the trunk to raise the scooter into the trunk. I watched the man as the woman handled his scooter. He kept fidgeting with his baseball cap and watching her in the passenger side mirror. I'm totally guessing here, but I kept thinking that he must have been agonizing over the fact that he needed help with such things.

And if he thought that, I can understand why, but I, on the other hand, saw a courageous man and woman who are dealing with the life God has given them. And I was moved by it. Surely it's a routine that they go through every time they leave the house or apartment together. And that makes what I saw even more sacred; two people who are totally committed to each other, doing whatever it takes to get from Point A to Point B.

I have a niece who has been wheelchair bound most of her life. Maybe that's why I notice such things. But we all know that life can change in an instant--a stroke, a car accident, a mugging, a sports injury, an unexpected spill, but until it actually happens to us, or to someone we love, we somehow think we are above it all. As if it couldn't happen to us. But it can, and at some point, it probably will.

That's not to say that we should dread such times. God has taught me much during my own difficulties and I suspect he's done the same for you. Instead, I think we ought to simply be more aware of the struggles of people around us. By all means, if we can help someone along the way, we ought to. But even if we can't help, just observing people as they attempt to slay their own dragons can be inspiring.

Friday Free-for-All

--I joined the texting revolution this week. It almost seems like an underhanded way of communicating with people when you shouldn't though. I can't tell you how many restaurants and other businesses I've walked into only to see a clerk with his or her head down, punching away on a text message. I still don't really understand the craze, but it if means communicating with my niece more frequently, then I'm all for it. Now I just have to make sure she isn't doing it during her classes at school.

--The regular baseball season is over and it feels weird not watching or listening to my beloved Royals each night. But I've already read more since the season ended, and that's a good thing.

--I completed a moleskine notebook recently, and that means I got to start a new one. I love thinking about the possibilities as I tear off the plastic wrap of a new moleskine. I've already jotted down the following quotes this week: "Ain't no cure and that's a fact, for a reminiscing heart attack" (a line from an old Banshee song that has been running through my head lately). "Peace is not a sign of health--graveyards are peaceful" (my pastor said this during a recent sermon). "Writing isn't a disease, it's the cure" (a commenter named wandererchronicles on a recent post at the moleskinerie.com flickr page).

--Ron Benson wrote a post called "Church" a couple of days for his blog, Grace Clinic, that is hysterical, thought-provoking, and dreadfully serious. While I should highlight the dreadfully serious part, I almost died laughing when I read this paragraph: "My brother and I used to crawl under the pews while the church pianist practiced and the room was dark. She suffered from delusions, and believed she was a former Communist, now a U.S. spy, and she knew that her previous employers would eventually hunt her down. Robert and I would sneak around making creaking noises on the floors, popping up every now and then, and trying to cough like Communists, to watch her jump from the piano bench." I love the "trying to cough like Communists" line. Too funny.

Have a great weekend!

The 2007 Weblog Awards

Last year, I was honored when Little Nuances was chosen as a finalist in the 2006 Weblog Awards in the "Best of the Rest Category." It's that time of year again. The 2007 Weblog Awards website is now accepting nominations and will continue to accept them through October 15.

If you've been reading a blog every day for the past year and want to show the writer how much his or her words means to you, nominate the blog for an award by clicking on the awards button (or by clicking here). Select the proper category and leave a comment with the blog's URL and RSS feed. Blogs can be nominated in more than one category. If the blog has already been nominated, then click on the "+" icon as a way of saying you like the nomination.

Finalists will be selected in late October and after that everyone will have a chance to vote for his or her favorite blog in each category. This year there are 49 categories--six more than last year. If you need help in figuring out which categories to nominate your favorite blog in, don't be shy. Ask the blogger. He or she will be glad to help.

If you are interested in nominating Little Nuances, it could probably fit into the following categories:

--Best Individual Blogger

--Best Religious Blog

--Best Culture Blog

--Best Diarist

--Best of the Rest of the Blogs (8751+)

The URL to use when nominating Little Nuances is: http://littlenuances.blogspot.com

The RSS feed is: http://littlenuances.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Alternate Endings and Commentaries

I watched the alternate ending of Rocky Balboa on DVD when it first came out and it bugged me. I'd already fallen for the real ending, and it was so much better. The idea of Rocky winning the fight against Mason Dixon (as the alternate ending depicted) was a bit ridiculous and Rocky's motivation had nothing to do with winning anyway. It was about respect and it was about doing the thing that had been left undone. Thankfully, Sly Stallone chose the right ending. 

I told you last Friday that something about alternate endings and commentaries at the end of DVD's bugs me. It didn't used to, but the more I watch of them, the more I'm bothered by them. I used to like the fact that they gave me special insight into the making of a movie, but I no longer think the tradeoff is worth it. I already know it's a fictional world, but I don't want the writers and producers to remove the curtain that shields us from reality so we can see them at work. 

I don't want to know that a particular scene was shot in Los Angeles if the fictional world is supposed to be set in New York. I don't want to know that someone had to add an extra window in a room so they could get better lighting. I don't want to know that props needed to be added to make a scene look more realistic. If I'm into the movie, and if my mind is already in the story line, then I've already bought the illusions. And I like it that way.

Recently, as I listened to commentary about a television series that I'm working my way through on DVD, a couple of the actors made all sorts of mistakes about what their characters did and didn't do. The series has been off the air for a while, so I'm guessing that the actors are on to other projects and I understand that, but hearing them mangle their character's story lines didn't do the series much justice in my opinion. 

So, the obvious answer for me is to stop watching all of the special features, and that's what I'm going to do. Anybody else feel this way or do the special features add to your experience?

Technorati tags: movies, Rocky Balboa, Rocky, alternate endings

NASCAR Photos from Kansas

My friend took much better photos at the Kansas Speedway this past weekend than I did. Here are a few of them...

This is just a small sample of what I was talking about in my last post about the parking lot being a sea of flags and banners:

A view from outside the speedway:


Here's a neat close up of Jamie McMurray's car:


Lined up for Busch qualifying:


Happy Hour for the Nextel Cup guys:

Technorati tags: NASCAR, NASCAR photos, Jamie McMurray, Kansas Speedway, Kansas

My NASCAR Experience

My friend and I left for the Kansas Speedway on Saturday at 6:00 am. We arrived shortly after 9:00 and we were awestruck by what we saw. The parking lot, which was really a parking field, was a sea of flags and banners supporting various different drivers. It was obvious that many had set up camp at least a day early to take in qualifying the day before. Many of them had RV's and far more of them had tents and most seemed to have lawn chairs and grills.

As my friend and I got close to the speedway, we heard a loud roar and we both looked at each other, thinking, "Is that not the loudest thing you've ever heard...and can you just imagine what it's going to sound like from Row 5?"

We made the long trek toward the speedway and were pleasantly surprised by how fan friendly the set up was. Most drivers had trailers where you could purchase merchandise, and some even posted schedules to let fans know when the driver would be appearing at his trailer to sign autographs. Several mock cars were spread across the campus and fans could have their pictures taken with the cars. My friend and I walked through the maze of NASCAR memorabilia for three hours. Sometimes you'd get a head nod or wave from a fan who was wearing the gear of your favorite driver.

My friend and I caught the final half of the Busch Series qualifying. The closer we got to our seats the louder the cars were. As a car approached you could feel the rumble, and you could smell...well, I don't know what the smell was, but something off the car. After a car passed you, your right eardrum felt like it was going to explode. It didn't take my friend and I long before we protected our ears with earplugs and/or headphones. The cars were so much faster than they look on television. And it made me appreciate the drivers' talent even more. Driving a car 200 miles per hour into four turns without wiping out is an incredible feat.

After Busch qualifying, we watched Happy Hour (which is the final practice for the Nextel Cup series). That was a load of fun. I tuned into Mark Martin's radio transmission and listened as he told his crew chief about the adjustments he needed to make. Mark's car was too tight to stay on the bottom of the track so he had to move to the high groove--not something he likes to do, and you could hear the frustration in his voice. He'd bring the car into the garage for adjustments and then drive it back onto the track, only to find that the adjustments hadn't worked. It was a little disheartening for me to hear since I had high hopes he'd run well there, but being so close to the action was an experience unlike any I've had with any other sport.

Five hours after we arrived, the Busch race started. Here is a photo I took of the cars during their initial pace laps:

Here's a video I took of the start of the race:

I was rooting for Carl Edwards, who is my second favorite driver, and he got off to a great start, but the handling on his car started to fade. Nearly half way into the race, my right leg (which I've had blood clot issues with in the past after surgery to repair my ruptured Achilles tendon) started to hurt quite a bit. We were packed into the stands so tightly that I couldn't move my leg and I know that I can't stay that way for long. So, I took a walk, got some refreshments and my leg didn't feel much better. I guess I overdid things in my zeal and I never was able to go back down to our seats. I watched from one of the doorways and ended up meeting a nice elderly gentleman who is also a Mark Martin fan. We talked for a long time. He's been into NASCAR since 1970. He travels to many of the dirt tracks in the Midwest. And, as you might imagine, he knew his NASCAR. But he asked me my opinion about a lot of things, which was nice.

By the time my friend and I made it back to our hotel room, I was exhausted. We decided that we weren't going to get to the track so early the next day for the Nextel Cup race and that we weren't going to walk around as much. Then we heard that a thunderstorm would probably hit during the race and the thought of taking on such another day didn't seem like so much fun--especially considering the issues with my leg. We arrived at the track not knowing if we'd attend the race or not. Eventually, we decided to sell our tickets. We did that and made one more pass at the souvenirs before heading home. We watched the race on television and gladly fast forwarded through two rain delays.

All in all, it was a great experience. One that I'm glad I had because it gave me perspective that I wouldn't have had in any other way. But I'll be just as glad to watch the races next week at Talladega on television with my leg propped up in my recliner and the air-conditioning set to the temperature of my liking.

Technorati tags: NASCAR, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Kansas