What is This World Coming To

It's simply amazing how many things you can purchase from a vending machine these days. I mean you've always been able to get the basics: candy, chips, pop, and gum. But now you can get milk. And coffee. And fruit snacks. And cheese. I've seen tampons, pregnancy tests, and Ibeprofen. And sewing kits and condoms and toothbrushes. And Ipods and cameras and phones. But things are getting really crazy now... because this weekend while camping, my family was able to purchase firewood from a vending machine. I couldn't help but think... now, that is a blog topic! So I snapped a couple of shots. See photos below.

After seeing this vending machine contraption for firewood, I couldn't help but laugh! And the funniest (or rather not so funny) part about the whole thing is that you know how items are a lot more expensive from a vending machine then say purchasing them at Wal-Mart, well the same rang true for firewood. My Dad said that he used to cut huge loads of firewood and sell it for $15 a load. Well, after putting in a nice, new crisp $5 bill, out popped six lousy little logs. What a rip off, huh? And to top that off the machine only took 1, 2, and 5 dollar bills!!! I mean what is this world coming to! 

In the Land of the Giants

These photos depict the GIANTS of our future. These enormous wind turbines, located in Blairsburg, Iowa, have become popular sources of wind energy around Northern Iowa and the rest of the country and will continue to be for centuries to come. Sooner than we might think, these huge structures will be lining our fields and road ways, creating multiple kilowatts of energy every day.

But these GIANTS also remind me of my past. I don't know if any of you out there ever watched Wishbone, the Iowa Public Television show that featured a little dog named Wishbone who entered historical stories and became the protagonist, but my sisters and I loved this show! And it was from this show that I was first introduced to the tale of Don Quixote. 

This story by Miguel de Cervantes, is about a retired country gentleman who has become obsessed with books of chivalry, believing them to be real and true. He decides to go out as a knight-errant in search of the adventure he reads about in his stories. He wears an old suit of armor, renames himself "Don Quixote de la Mancha," and names his old horse "Rocinante".

During his second quest, Don Quixote comes upon the Windmills of La Mancha, believing them to be ferocious giants waving there magnificent arms in battle. So he attacks them, only to be beaten up pretty badly. This is where we get the phrase "tilting at windmills," describing an act of attacking imaginary enemies. This is just one of Don Quixote's many adventures, but this is the one that I think of every time I enter "The Land of Giants" in Northern Iowa. I look towards these monstrous structures and instead of thinking about the huge amounts of energy they create everyday, I am reminded of an old tale and little dog named Wishbone.

 

The Three Day Weekend: My Solution to a Happier World

Last night I pretty much decided that the world would be a greater place and people would be a whole lot happier, if we only had a four day work week. Like if the President of the United States suddenly declared that the whole world would now operate on a four day work week, the idea of it wouldn't be strange at all, because it would simply be the norm. All businesses would still be fine and still make money, even though the weekend would start on Thursday night, because all businesses would operate in conjunction with how they work now. For instance, if a company is opened on weekends now, it would continue to be open on weekends. And if a small business is only open during the week, they would lock their doors on Thursday at 5:00pm when the week days end. See... it wouldn't be a complicated change at all.

Plus...I just feel that we, as human beings, spend way too much of our lives working. I mean just a few days ago, I was sitting in the breakroom when I suddenly realized that I WAS NOT in the office for only ONE number on the clock, six. Because I work from 7:30am-5:30pm, I am never in the office when the clock reads 6... BUT for every other number on the clock... I am in the office, working. How depressing is that? And I just can't get myself to believe that God put us on this planet only to work. Instead, we should be celebrating life by expriencing the world and making new friends and loving your old ones. It should be about being happy, not working.

And I can't help but wonder if this is all one man's fault. The guy who invented the dollar. Whoever he is. Because before the dollar and money, people simply traded and bartered. They did work, but only what was necessary to live. For example, a man raised dairy cows, and he didn't raise them to become rich and famous and to one day own Anderson-Erikson, but he raised them to feed his family and have just enough excess milk in order to buy the other few essentials of life, like food and clothing (Not an IPhone or Mercedes-Benz). And don't ya think life could be so much more simpler if we went back to this ancient system? I mean, I would have a trade. And you would have a trade. We would trade. And then we would be happy.

So VOTE TODAY! Vote for change! Vote for the three day weekend! Vote for the four day work week! Vote reALIty for President of the United States! And I guarantee that your life will be so much more simpler... and happier!

Did I convince you?

Lines & Rows

Rows of corn and beans popping up all over Iowa has brought to my attention how many things around us come in or form rows: eggs in an egg carton, vegetables in a garden, coffee drinkers at Starbucks, days on a calendar, cars in a parking lot, cans of peaches on a shelf at Fareway, lines on a ruler... I mean our entire world is mapped out by longitude and latitude lines, is it not? And while it is quite obvious that all these things come in lines or rows because it is the most efficient and effective way to do things, it scares me to think that perhaps our world is restricted by these lines as well.

Order is all around us, molding us, shaping us, telling us right from wrong. And not just in lines and rows, but in signs and arrows and alphabetazation and piles and the Dewey Decimal System. It's like it's not okay to freak out every once in a while: step out of line, go down a one-way street backwards, place the Y file in front of the Z, throw those peaches on the shelf without stacking or straightening them. But I feel like it would be almost empowering to do so, to break the line... like you are defying the ways of the universe! And it wouldn't be in order to piss anyone off by budging in line or not piling up your laundry, but just so you feel like you have some control over your own life, like you make the rules...

Otherwise, you are just contantly following directions, walking in order, standing in line... And please tell me, right now, where the world would be if people like Albert Einstien and Alexander Graham Bell and George Washington Carver always stayed in line? We'd be stuck in time, probably... reading a book by candlelight, stuck in the middle of nowhere without a phone, or eating a PB&J without the peanut butter... and that would just be boring!

Jersey Boys: FIVE GOLD STARS!

Now I think I've seen enough musicals in my lifetime to know that Jersey Boys, the musical featuring the lives and songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is simply AMAZING! It is one of the best musicals I've seen, and I'm comparing it to shows like Wicked, Mamma Mia, The Lion King, Rent, and Chicago, all huge musical hits.

For me, the show was the perfect mix of history, music, drama, and comedy. I laughed out loud more than once and erupted into applause after the musical numbers! And by the end of the show, my companion and I were ready to jump from our seats in a standing ovation! (Everyone in the audience was I think, considering we were up from our seats before the actors even entered the stage to bow!)

The four actors/singers who played the Four Seasons played their parts so well. Their facial expressions were hilarious! The actor/singer playing Frankie Valli had a very impressive voice, sounding almost exactly like the original Frankie: high and mighty! In fact, all of the actors/singers voices were great, and the harmony was fantastic!

As a twenty-three year old, I wasn't sure how many songs I would know by this famous group from the mid-Sixties, but I could practically sing along with every single one. I would recommend this musical to anyone ready for a night of laughter and great music! ENJOY!