demo week

You know those days when you feel your mortality? you can feel that you're getting older, can't stay out as late, can't jump as high, run as fast, remember a name etc. I feel this almost daily as I look myself in the mirror and see the slow but unmistakable transition I am going through to become Frank (my dad). My forehead is getting bigger and my "yeaah gang" face is becoming more prominent. As I write this I am sitting in a dance class being run by another teacher. It's demo week which basically means that this is the one class a year that the parents and grandparents and whoever else who wants to come watch gets to come and watch in the front of the room and smile and watch and take photos. Today I feel my age! back in my day demo week featured me wearing some very bright, and noticeably tight, biking spandex shorts and these were the classes that had the pictures taken of which I still get to see. The biggest difference in demo week from when I did it to when these kids are doing it? when it was my demo week my dad would lug out the camcorder (which was the size of a small suitcase), set up the tripod, and then hook it up to the VCR so that it recorded!. he brought all of this to dance class and took up a small area of the room. by todays standards he would look like he was doing a national broadcast for monday night football! There is a grandmother sitting next to me who is filming her grand daughters ballet class on an iphone. grandmas is smiling, the child is gesturing over to her and trying to get noticed by teacher. Yes, I feel my age and see huge differences in technology but the experience of demo week seems to be fully intact and alive. why couldn't you just have used an iphone dad?

how old are you?

I was at work the other day and a co-worker of mine shared a story about some 20-somethings that she had encountered. this got me thinking about our ages and how we describe them. if we don't want to say the specific age of someone or of ourselves there is any easy way to be close without being specific. we will use the age group of 40-50 year olds. if someones age falls right ont he even decade (30,40 50) then thats easy we use that as their name. 41-43...early 40's. 44-46 mid 40's. 47-49 late 40's. so using this formula I am in my mid 20's. this of course, is not perfect science. if you don't knwo the specific age of the person you are referring to then you are probably guessign in which case if you guess young, chances are the person you are referring to will be pleased. if you guess too old, well then thats your mistake. and this my friends, you can take to the bank.

backing in

most people who have driveways or parking spots to park their car at the end of the day do not have the luxury or having a "drive through" spot. you need to stop in your garage, stall, or spot. In the morning when it is time to drive again you must back out your vehicle and start your day. How come hardly anyone backs in when parking? either way at some point you're going to have to drive in reverse. I try to back in when parking. here is why, 1) when you hop in your car and just start driving it feels bad ass to just go. 2) sometimes (or often, if you're like me and wait till the last minute) you're in a rush and you can save some precious seconds by not having to back out. nobody ever arrives home in a rush, but lots of people leave in a rush. so I ask you world, why don't more people back in when parking?