Have mentioned that before I became a Raiders fan (on January 9th, 1977), the first 11 years of my life was as a follower of the Los Angeles Rams. There is the proof.
In another football related thought this week, as a football fan since my earliest memory, an avid consumer of all types of football content, and having met and talked football with thousands of other football junkies, I can honestly say that I have never met a single person nor heard a talking head that was a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Staying with sports, now that I am living the college life vicariously through the Boy, have become a follower of UVA basketball. Don't follow college sports closely probably because my university didn't have that culture, but noticed the Virginia Cavaliers were highly ranked and started to listen to some games on the radio. Noticed that ESPN GameDay was in Charlottesville last Saturday and asked the Boy if he was going out. He was already there....details from him are few and far between, but gleaned that he had to get up at the crack of dawn to get tix and be part of the scene. UVA lost to VaTech that day, but am so massively envious that he is having this experience. That he is interested and follows a sports team is a tad surprising cause he has never been the die hard that I was at his age (even though I provided ample encouragement)
His mom is visiting later this week and she reported that she heard from Boy-o that he is about to pledge to a fraternity. I spent a lot of my parenting capital instilling the G.D.I. (God Damn Independent) ethos, and must have had a hundred talks a hundred different ways about not bowing to pressure to do things that would harm himself or others either physically or emotionally. Did you see this article from the last few days where some J-O's from a frat at Cornell had a "Pig Roast" competition where they got points for sleeping with the fattest girls? I know you remember the Penn State frat where a pledge had to drink to a black out state, broke his neck while the other "men" laughed . The details of the dumb assery of the frat boys in that one are too horrific to recount.
When I heard about Boy-o's intentions, sent him a note numbering 101 of the "not only for yourself, but you'd better watch out for the ones that can't watch out for themselves" speeches. He replied..."The only reason I am considering joining is cause they have a history of being a more wholesome frat. Like their hazing is cleaning the house, taking brothers out for meals, etc. Also they are one of the few where hard drugs and shit isn't common. the guys I do know in it already I think are also super stand up guys so I think it'll be good."
Hard to argue with that, but personally, cleaning doesn't sound like hazing. The frat he is joining (Pi Lambda Phi) has "The Elimination of Prejudice" as its philosophy. Started at Yale in 1895 by Jewish kids that were unpalatable to the establishment and predominantly Jewish until after WWII, their mission of inclusion sounds ideal. Still, it's a bunch of frat boys and remain highly suspicious. Will be following these developments closely.
That was a bit of a deviation, but one more for "Sports Corner". Cannot find Winter Olympics on TV here and am way to lazy/lack tech savvy to figure out how to stream it, but have seen more than a few mentions in media about the luge and in particular, the suits that the men wear. More specifically, that the fellas aren't wearing any kind of athletic supporter and you can clearly see the outline of their junk. Had an individual discussion group on this. Have always been perplexed as to the fact that football players don't wear cups but concluded that the lugers probably don't need them. Then thought that since wind resistance is such a critical aspect of their sport, that I would wear a cup that helped with aerodynamics. Finally, maybe some of the lugers appendages act like the winged keel did during the '82 America's Cup and that some from the more ethically fluid countries may be surgically altering theirs to reduce drag.
Was click baited into reading an article this week about 7 tips for losing weight/staying in shape after 50. Most were all things you'd expect, like diet and exercise, resistance rather than weight training, etc., but one was new to me and was super exciting...eat spicy food. Something about it increasing metabolism. I don't care about the science behind it and am all in.
A promised and long overdue update. Around this time a year ago we were in Sri Lanka and stopped at an ayurvedic medicine place. They had remedies for everything and I invested in two; one for arthritic knees and one to combat the psoriasis on my scalp. Suspected that my knees were beyond medicinal repair and the juice didn't really have an affect, but the scalp thing has made big changes.
The treatment was a daily application for one month...stuff didn't have a neutral smell and wasn't offensive although it was a deep red and ruined a couple of shirts. After the month was over, I went back to the shampoo that had been prescribed and had been using for years (decades). Almost immediately, I found that the old shampoo not only didn't work on the psoriasis, but made it much worse. My entire scalp would explode and my whole head peeled off in sheets, so I stopped using my prescribed medicine. I would still get patches of crust, which I could combat with a topical steroid, but even those have gone away. I now use Head and Shoulders once or twice a week, and my head has never been better. My mom had the same problem with her scalp and it went away when she got to be about my age, maybe a little older, so perhaps it was just coincidence, but I am intrigued and open minded to try some more of these ayurvedic treatments.. These herbs and Chinese medicine have been around for 3000 years, so they have to be onto something. I hope, and would be stunned if they weren't, that big Pharma is breaking this stuff down to the molecular level to figure out why they work and incorporate it into western treatments. The Boy wants to be a chemical engineer, sounds like a great research project to me.
Chinese New Year is today...Friday, February 16th. Happy Year of the Dog to you. This is the first time in many years we have stayed in town. Betty is gone, so it's just Babydoll and I. No family have invited us over to anything and while I should be insulted, am secretely happy cause doing nothing is what I do best.
Have shared a lot about CNY in this space over the years so will not rehash that, but every year I learn a few more nuggets. For example, people give pistachios to each other as gifts as their shell looks like a smile and doing so brings good fortune. They do look like smiles and since I love pistachios so count me in on that one and expect the gift of them gong forward.
At Coffee Morning last week, we had our annual CNY discussion...invited the European School to send a speaker and they brought two high school seniors that told family and traditional stories. I liked hearing about their family traditions. One kid's family looks up in the "book" and determines what their family's lucky direction for the coming year is, gets in the car and drives for 5 minutes in that direction for good fortune in the year ahead. One of these years, have to get someone to explain this book (aka Royal calendar) to me. The day Betty and I got married was determined to be auspicious based on research done by my mother-in-law based on this calendar and cannot complain so far. Not sure exactly how it translates, but Chinese people speaking in English use the word 'auspicious' a lot...one we native English speakers don't use much but should. The other girl at coffee morning said that her mom was worried that she was too short and their superstition to grow bigger was to go out at midnight, find the biggest tree and hug it. She did but acknowledged it didn't see to work for her.
We also had a lady come along to do a paper cutting activity. Was awfully proud of my effort and it hangs proudly over our kitchen table.
And we had a lady do custom calligraphy. She would write words on red paper to hang on your door to bring whatever you needed. She asked what I wanted mine to say and I didn't know...she suggested "good luck" and I told her that "I'm a privileged white male, how much luckier could I be?" She didn't know how to reply to that, so we settled on something that I interpret to mean 'show me the money'.
I was born in the year of the Snake. How do snakes do in years of the dog? "Snakes are active when the sun is warming the ground. They hide and sleep after sunset. Dog is connected to the time from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Dog tells Snake it is the time to rest."
As I understand it, this is then a year to recharge and wait for opportunity. Done. In my superficial CNY research, I looked up a lot about snakes and learned quite a bit. First of all, based on my birth year, am a "wood" snake, and there are even more specific characteristics once you add in your element. I don't believe in this stuff unequivocally, but some personal aspects that are reported in people born in my year seem uncannily accurate. I also will note that Betty and I are both wood snakes and we are certainly not the same people. I cut and pasted a bunch of them to extract commonalities and decided to leave them below, but some high/low lights...
- Order...we crave it. Seemingly above all else.
- We are generous with our time but not with money.
- We have extremely good luck but are the worst gamblers (wish I had known that decades ago)
- Witty and "notoriously" good looking...I like to think I'm witty, but what does 'notoriously" good looking imply?
- Lazy
- Holder of grudges. Absolutely.
I was born in the year of the Snake. How do snakes do in years of the dog? "Snakes are active when the sun is warming the ground. They hide and sleep after sunset. Dog is connected to the time from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Dog tells Snake it is the time to rest."
As I understand it, this is then a year to recharge and wait for opportunity. Done. In my superficial CNY research, I looked up a lot about snakes and learned quite a bit. First of all, based on my birth year, am a "wood" snake, and there are even more specific characteristics once you add in your element. I don't believe in this stuff unequivocally, but some personal aspects that are reported in people born in my year seem uncannily accurate. I also will note that Betty and I are both wood snakes and we are certainly not the same people. I cut and pasted a bunch of them to extract commonalities and decided to leave them below, but some high/low lights...
- Order...we crave it. Seemingly above all else.
- We are generous with our time but not with money.
- We have extremely good luck but are the worst gamblers (wish I had known that decades ago)
- Witty and "notoriously" good looking...I like to think I'm witty, but what does 'notoriously" good looking imply?
- Lazy
- Holder of grudges. Absolutely.
Had some SF trip follow-up but will save that for next time. Also was gonna say something about this mass shooting thing, but what is there left to say. I would encourage you to find out how your congress person voted on H.J. Resolution 40 and vote them up or down based on your feelings about it accordingly.
Wood snake stuff....
- People born in the year of the Snake do not have a lot of friends. It is extremely hard to get to know them because they keep their feelings locked up inside. Snakes are careful in choosing friends. They will never forgive a breach in friendship.
Once people are his/her friends, the Snake is willing to share his sorrow and happiness with them. Snake people guard their chosen friends much like valuable possessions, and they are easily jealous and even obsessive.
Wood snakes lay emphasis on order, so they prefer living in the neat and elegant environment. They pursue accuracy and always arrange the things in order. Wood snakes are gifted in academic appreciation and creativity. Also, they have good taste and know how to identify the good quality.
Wood snakes pay great attention to their manners and they are very prudent and easy-going, so it's easy for them to make friends and they often have many intimate friends because of their hospitality. However, wood snakes are a little snobbish and they often feel they are different, so they prefer making friends with the so-called important people but dismissing the humble one. Maybe it is because that they place strong emphasis on neatness and they think the sloppily dressed people are inferior to them. In addition, wood snakes are passive and not motivated, so they need to be encouraged by their friends to be successful. Wood snakes have lofty ideals which may be failed, so they need to be practical and learn a skill to have higher achievements.
In terms of work, wood snakes often encounter many difficulties and find it's difficult to start. Fortunately, they solve the problems with the cooperation of others. Furthermore, wood snakes always have a lot of changes in their career, such as position adjustment and part-time job; they need to seize the opportunity to make excellent achievements.
Wood snakes make unremitting efforts while others are wasting time, thus they are often successful. Once they failed, the stubborn wood snakes go off into wild thoughts and depression. They hate failure but have good luck in wealth, and they need to learn how to grasp the opportunity to show their talent.
Wood snakes pay great attention to their manners and they are very prudent and easy-going, so it's easy for them to make friends and they often have many intimate friends because of their hospitality. However, wood snakes are a little snobbish and they often feel they are different, so they prefer making friends with the so-called important people but dismissing the humble one. Maybe it is because that they place strong emphasis on neatness and they think the sloppily dressed people are inferior to them. In addition, wood snakes are passive and not motivated, so they need to be encouraged by their friends to be successful. Wood snakes have lofty ideals which may be failed, so they need to be practical and learn a skill to have higher achievements.
In terms of work, wood snakes often encounter many difficulties and find it's difficult to start. Fortunately, they solve the problems with the cooperation of others. Furthermore, wood snakes always have a lot of changes in their career, such as position adjustment and part-time job; they need to seize the opportunity to make excellent achievements.
Wood snakes make unremitting efforts while others are wasting time, thus they are often successful. Once they failed, the stubborn wood snakes go off into wild thoughts and depression. They hate failure but have good luck in wealth, and they need to learn how to grasp the opportunity to show their talent.
Wood Snakes have a very friendly manner and also a great understanding of human nature which will help them out throughout their lives. The Wood Snake is very good at communicating with others which gains them many friends and colleagues.
They are witty intelligent and ambitious people with a large amount of interests who prefer to live in a quiet, stable environment where they can work without any interference. They enjoy art and love to collect paintings and antiques in their home. Their advice is always admired by friends and colleagues especially in social and domestic situations.
The Snake is an extremely intelligent and active person. They will always be planning and looking for ways that they put their substantial skills to use. They enjoy sitting back and thinking about everything that is going on around them, sometimes through meditation.
There will be many points in their life where they decide its time for a change and shed their old skin and take up a whole new range of activities or sometimes even a completely different area of work. Snakes rarely make mistakes as they are very well organized.
Most Snakes are financially secure in later life as long as they do not gamble; this is due to the fact that the Snake is known as the worst gambler in the Chinese zodiac. The Snake is a calm and easygoing person who prefers the quieter things in life. They hate it when somebody tries to rush them into making a decision and prefer to not be around a loud active environment. Snakes do not usually take other peoples advice and will not take kindly to anybody who tries to get involved in their affairs.
The Snake can appear quite confined at times; they are quiet and reserved and can sometimes have difficulty in communicating with others. They do however have a great sense of humor which comes in very useful in times of crisis.
They are not afraid to work hard and will always make sure all their work is carried out thoroughly. One thing that Snakes must be careful of is high blood pressure and diabetes; this is because they burn off so much nervous energy after any physical activity and demands rest for some time afterwards.
It is believed that Snakes are late starters in life due to the fact that it may often take them a while to find a job that they are truly happy doing; they will usually do well in any position that involves research and writing and where they are given freedom to develop their own ideas and plans. Snakes can make good teachers, politicians, personnel manager and social advisers.
The Snake chooses their friends carefully and although they keep a tight control over their finances, they can be quite generous to those they are fond of. They will have no hesitation to shower their friends and loved ones with lavish gifts or expensive meals but will expect their friends to stay loyal to them. If the Snakes trust is broken they can be very hurt by this; Snakes are very jealous and possessive by nature.
Personality-wise, Snakes are not people who can be easily ignored. They possess a strong,charismatic presence and a charm which has been described by some astrologers as "bewitching" or "beguiling." With a penetrating eye and attention to the desires of their conquests, they're known as experts in the art of seduction.
People born during the Year of the Snake are said to be endowed with wisdom and with deep philosophical understanding. They are born thinkers who excel in finding solutions to complex problems. In matters of business they can be shrewd, biding their time in making a deal only to strike like lightning and make a killing when they judge the moment is right. Thus in life, the majority of Snakes are financially successful and generally lucky with money; their fortunes very much depend on their careful and considered judgment in financial affairs and on their intuitive feelings in business negotiations. These are clever, intelligent people who take time to formulate their ideas and opinions. Even when they are at their laziest, their minds are working overtime, laying their schemes and hatching their plots for the future.
Snakes are wise, philosophical, calm, and understanding. They are receptive and physically alluring, often fickle. Success and fame come easily to Snakes. They can be treacherous creatures who delight in intrigue and who wouldn't think twice about double-crossing someone in order to save their own skins. Their calculating natures will never forgive or forget a slight. They can be lazy and self-indulgent. Their innate elegance can at times be ostentatious.
Subtle, secretive, elusive and enigmatic, there is an element of the mysterious that surrounds the Snake personality. Perhaps this is due to their intuitive faculties, or perhaps it is a consequence of their strong inner spirituality which can manifest itself in an interest in religion, mysticism or the occult.
A Snake can be counted on to carry a project through to the end. Their decisions are quick and firm, but they are formed by first impressions, on sympathies and feelings logically assembled in their minds -- rather than by simple facts alone. The Snake will fight and plod for anything they believe in and allow nothing to stand in his or her way. At ease in all circumstances and possessing uncommon self-discipline, the Snake achieves great heights and honors in his or her career, enjoying the well deserved respect of an admiring entourage.
Snakes are a bit tight when it comes to lending money, though their sympathy for others often leads them to offer help. The help will be in kind rather than in cash, however; the Snake is freer with himself than he is with his money! The fatal flaw in the Snake's character is, in fact, a tendency to exaggerate -- in helping friends as with everything else. If a Snake does somebody a favor, he becomes possessive toward them in an odd way, so that finally he is more a hindrance than a help. The snake's serpentine nature leads him to coil and cling to the point where he can suffocate the object of his attention. Think twice then, before you accept an offer of help from a Snake; you could regret it!
In money matters, the Snake has good luck -- he simply doesn't have to worry about it. He will always be able to get money when he needs it, and he feels this so strongly that it has never bothered him at all. Once he has got it, though, he's a little stingy; that's why he never lends. In old age he can become quite miserly.
Snakes are notoriously good looking and like to project the best image of themselves that they can. Both men and women of the sign have elegant and stylish taste in clothes; the men are sexy and always have a bit of the dandy about them, and the ladies are seductive and rave over smart accessories. Whether in looks or in circumstances, Snakes simply have a magical knack of making the very best out of the most mediocre.
In Japan, those wishing to pay a woman a compliment and acknowledge her beauty are accustomed to say: "My dear, you are a real snake!" -- a pleasantry most likely to be misinterpreted in the West.
As with real snakes, which hibernate in the cold season and come out when it's warm, Snake people shine in the hot months. And the Snake born at midday in the heat of a tropical summer will be happier than one born in the middle of an icy night in winter. The destiny of those born under this sign is so sensitive to the inclemencies of climate that the almanac warns Snakes born on a stormy day that they will face danger throughout their lives.
Earnest, with kindly wisdom and a need for complete intellectual freedom. His affections are constant and enduring and he seeks emotional and financial security. He craves admiration and public approval and will do his best to gain lasting and large-scale success.
If you stab a Snake in the back it is likely you will never be forgiven. In addition, you should prepare yourself for retaliation for the Snake always gets the last word.
While full of strength, the influence of the Wood Snake also has its own challenges. At times, the Wood Snake can have trouble letting go of the past, which manifest in the stubborn holding of grudges. Another struggle for the Wood Snake is the tendency to put to much value on what other people think. The Wood Snake can structure their interests and material desires around perceived symbols of success, instead of their genuine tastes. In this sense, the Wood Snake is encouraged to focus on being independent in their thinking.
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Too much wood snake definition for my taste.. just sayin'. MS
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