I'm very thankful that Trader Joes is now in Grand Rapids.
Kids mispronouncing words is hilarious. Exemplified by the young kids (new to the U.S.) I was reading with this week. They're learning the alphabet, and working on pronunciation of sight words. This is done in an audible fashion, the kids thinking and trying verbally; the tutor (:me) listens and helps proper pronunciation. It's very cute. The kids smile a lot. They're very thankful for the help, and love distractions. But they also try hard. The first kid pronounced every 's' as 'ass'. So when he'd go through the alphabet, it would sound like q-r-ass-t-u-v. He was doing it unintentionally, but I found it hilarious. No one else seemed to notice, but I could barely contain my chuckles every time he did it. Which was a lot. So if anyone would have passed me in the hall, they'd have seen me cheesin' from ear to ear - looking like a total doof. Another one would add a soft 'fu' or 'phf' as part of her natural sounding pattern, so she kept saying 'fu' before R or L. That wasn't too funny. But it did make it pretty hilarious every time she got to the C or K.
Speaking of C and K. Louis C.K. is hilarious. And some of his standup routines make me think as much or more as the best of sermons.
NCAA tournament time is awesome.
The Spartans got screwed out of a #1 seed, which matters mostly because of all the publicity. I hope it lights a fire under them.
Adding a bit of cinnamon to roasted squash adds way more flavor than one would think.
Coaches, like Tom Izzo, may say that seeding for the NCAA tournament doesn't matter, (or more accurately that he doesn't care what seed they are because they'll play whomever) but the reason it matters is that the #1 seeds logos are on everything. They 'run' their quadrant of the bracket. Their players and schools are mentioned on so many things leading up to the tournament, and that matters. It matters to recruits. It matters for publicity. Anyone saying differently is lying. So to rob MSU of the #1 seed does matter. And, I agree with John Calapari that it affects the teams you should be playing.
The whole process exemplifies the brokenness of The System. Which I hope is in the midst of change, needs change, but we need to be smart about it. Like, if Michigan's governor is forced to resign because of the water thing in Flint, we're setting a terrible precedent. If only the one at the top is blames, all that happens is a transference of guilt and blame, thereby deferring punishment and brining in Yes People to the government, which is a terrible direction. Wouldn't it be way better to apologize and fix the problem. Like right away. Rather than spending all the time and energy on finding out who to blame?
There's no way Virginia should be a #1 seed over MSU. Virginia lost their last game of the year. They had 7 loses overall. MSU hasn't lost a game since Purdue (Feb 9). The game went into overtime. State was on the road, down early and battled back. We started the year 13-0 before Denzel Valentine got hurt. Then we lost on the road to Iowa, sans Valentine. In the season's 5 loses, 3 occurred during a seven day stretch in January, from the 14-21st. Denzel was not at full strength. Which matters. One of the games (Wisconsin), we gave up a lead and missed a shot at the buzzer; another (Nebraska) we also missed a shot at the buzzer. If Valentine is healthy all year, we're the #1 seed in the whole tourney, probably losing 2 games the whole year. His injury caused a 7-day rough patch, one that was only made up for and improved upon. Barring the lone O.T. road loss to Purdue, we haven't lost a game since January 21. People aren't talking about that enough; the committee definitely didn't take that into consideration.
But alas.
Speaking of Trader Joes, I heard one person describe a store new to our town as a "mix between Trader Joes and Whole Foods". The comment's recipient said, 'that's the whitest thing I've ever heard'.
Gratitude, available to us at all times, ready to be tapped into right now, this instant, is the single-most important attribute to had and practiced. Each day - and minute - very truly could be the last. Like, I could die on the run I'm about to go on. Or in the car when I drive in an hour or so. If that were the case, I'd have spent so much time worrying about things/people/events/drama that is/are meaningless.
Serial Season 2 is an interesting glimpse into international politics.
All people originate from God, and it is meaningless to fight and label. Instead, we should love.
It is especially dumb for straight people to fight and label gay people. I read an article this week about a guy that was kicked out of a church for being gay. He never mentioned his sexuality, but people 'knew', his congregation loved him, he grew the attendance of the church, and did good for the community. The comments at the end were very interesting. Especially those passing judgments. They all played The God Card as their reasons against the guy, but every comment sound hateful, and very much not like God. Which was interesting, and is something I'll be thinking about much, much more over the course of the next few weeks.
Some cliches are good. The one about pointing one finger at someone else and having four point back at you a great example. And also a great point.
And finally, without a doubt, I feel better on days I exercise.