Day 3485

Janet and I went an saw Yesterday at a matinee this afternoon. We are both retired, but it still seems weird that we can just go see a movie whenever we feel like it. I liked the film. It was basically a romcom with a happy ending and lots of great music. I grew up with The Beatles and they were one of the main reasons I learned to play the guitar and was in lots of enthusiastic but inept bands during high school and college. Despite this background, I had forgotten just how many amazing songs The Beatles actually wrote. There are literally hundreds of great Beatles songs. For someone who was a freshman in high school when I Want to Hold Your Hand hit the airwaves, Yesterday was a pleasant trip down memory lane. I completely forgot that the whole premise of the movie was ridiculous.

I like going to movies in the afternoon. The theater is usually empty and you can sit anywhere you want. Ticket prices are a little lower, although they still seem high to me. We got the discounted daytime, senior citizen rate and still paid about $10 a ticket. I remember paying $5 not that long ago. OK. Maybe it was a long time ago. I wonder how movie theaters survive. Why go to a theater when you can watch the same thing on iTunes for half the price?

It is still ridiculously hot. I wear twice as much clothing now because I have to change every time I take a walk. Sweating has become a way of life. I think we have had worse heat waves in the past, but it is so humid this year that it feels even hotter than it actually is. I thought we were going to get some rain today, but one big storm system went to the West of us and then a little while later another one went to the East. Normally this would be great news. Now I'm not so sure. A nice gentle rain would cool things down. Let's not go crazy though. No more downed trees or power outages. We've had enough of those.

I watched the last episode of Chasing the Moon tonight. Seeing this back-to-back with Yesterday made me nostalgic for a time in history that I don't expect to see again any time soon. Sure, there was a lot of social unrest in the sixties. This was the era of Vietnam and campus protests as much as it was  a time of moon landings and the Beatles. The jarring memories have faded away though. I think this is human nature. We like to remember the positive things. The space program faltered for a while after the Apollo program ended and of course The Beatles broke up. These things existed though. They happened. I like to think that if we could do something once, we can do it again.

I often wonder how you keep dreams alive. I've certainly had plenty of big dreams that have faded away. Probably everybody has. It's easy for the problems of daily life to slowly grind you down one inch at a time. I mostly think about paying bills, high cholesterol, rush hour traffic, and roof leaks. Every once in a while when it is very late and very quiet, I still have dreams though. Can I reach them? Do they even matter? I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3473

I found out this morning that the article I finished yesterday about my trip to Kennedy Space Center has already been accepted for publication in the August issue of Spaceflight Magazine. I was stunned. All I could think was wow, that didn't take long. It isn't every day that you can write an article on Thursday, send it off, and get it accepted by an internationally recognized magazine on Friday. Some of you may never have heard of Spaceflight Magazine, but it's a big deal for people who follow astronomy and space. This well respected British publication has been around since 1956 and is still considered by many to be the authoritative reference for information about international space programs and commercial space exploration. It's not the New York Times, but for a space geek like me, it's exactly where I wanted to be.

This new development gave me hope that I may become a space journalist yet. Hey, it could happen. There was a time when I wrote so much about Dalmatians that I ended up becoming a contributing editor for The Dalmatian Quarterly. I loved that little magazine. Much later I became fascinated by watches and ended up writing frequently about the watch industry. I wrote hundreds and hundreds of articles about watches until that ship finally sailed. I haven't written much lately, but the blog keeps me in practice.

I've kind of been on Cloud 9 all day thinking about what might lie ahead. I may never be published again, but that's not what typically happens. One thing very often leads to another. I learned long ago that if something falls in your lap, you must seize the opportunity and run with it. I'm definitely going to apply to attend more of these NASA events in the future. I won't get accepted for all of them, but persistence does pay off. One of these days I'll be watching a launch again and I'll write about that one too.

I was excited to find a brand new breakfast restaurant this morning right in my own neighborhood. I noticed this place while I was driving toward the once trendy restaurant that has fallen off the map lately. I immediately turned around to try the new place, but unfortunately it wasn't open yet. The reason it looked open was that there was a training meeting for new employees going on. The manager told me that the restaurant will be opening for business on Monday. Guess where I'll be going next Friday morning?

Has anyone seen that new movie Yesterday? Some people love it and others hate it, but this sounds like something that I might actually go see in a theater. I love the unlikely premise that after a freak bus accident during a strange and largely unexplained global blackout, a struggling singer/songwriter wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed. For some reason this guy still remembers, starts singing their songs to a world that has never heard of The Beatles and becomes an overnight success. Kind of a wacky little fantasy film, but I've always loved the music. I think I'll go see this film.

Another hot day. Another sweaty walk. Another uneventful breakfast away from home. Life is good though. I'm a happy camper today.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day