On the subject of Hugs

"Daddy, I just wanna give you hug."

Welcome words to me, although when I hear them, I am usually translating it to "I want to stay up just a few seconds longer and this sounds like a good excuse."

I love hugs. I am one of those touchy-feeley guys. I am a hugger. It might not be politically correct, but I think it is a wonderful way to show affection.

While most people are logging on to hear about Karaoke from last night, I think the following will be a pleasant alternate look at the night.

Hugs received last night, with my own translations:

"Hey I have missed you." (this coming after I had to empty my hands of the plates I had.)

"How great is this?"

"Thanks for inviting me."

"It's not the same without you, happy to see you."

"Buddy!"

"Um, okay, how 'bout a hug - well now we're friends." 

"I only met you once, but I feel I know you well enough for a good hug."

After an amazing night of singing and dancing... my sweaty self still was a recipient of more hugs as people departed.

"This was nice, let's do it again sometime."

"Thanks for inviting me, and making me a part of a fun night."

"Grrrrrrrreat to see you."

Handshake - "I am just that kind of woman"

Right after - Handshake "I am still not sure about you yet."

"I don't want this evening to end."

"I feel like you are the big brother."

"Hope this one lasts till we meet again."

I know there was probably not a thought behind the hugs other than it was just a hug. However, I think you can speak volumes with how you hug... and I would rather remember them this way.

And I hope all of you that received hugs last night all received my message to you:

"I am so blessed to know you and appreciate you being a part of my life!"

The best hug was saved for long after the event, when I embraced my wife and thanked her for joining me on this special night. That translation was easy:

"I love you, but I still think you are a goofball."

Good night, Honey. I love you too.

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of a Full Day

How can I have time to blog when there is real life to take care of?

Call it my Bloggee break.

I had my first extended meeting with a new motion graphics designer who is coming on to help my company with its growing portfolio of projects. It will be very nice to have a hungry, creative, cool individual to work with. It will also take some getting used to as I will be sharing the office I have held as a solo for so long. 

Design time for television this afternoon with authoring the look for some broadcasts my company is beginning this fall. I used to draw this exact kind of thing as a doodle when I was growing up.

SIDE NOTE: The only time I was disciplined in a major manner in high school was for doodling. A teacher threw me out of class after seeing I was doodling. Wow. I wonder where she is now. Last I heard of her, she was seen on an illicit affair with a Congressman (really)

Tonight, it's softball time where my company team vies for sole possession of first place. We are in a four way tie for first, with one of the teams being the team we are playing tonight.

Later - it's the night I have been waiting for literally for months. It's the Improv meets Karaoke night with a reunion of my old improv class. I have missed them all greatly, so it will be incredible seeing them again. I have some surprises for this performance in store.

Best of all, my better half will be making a rare appearance at one of these events as we have made arrangements for the kids to have sleepovers. I know the wife won't sing, but I hope she enjoys seeing the "unfiltered" me, as that is what she will get plenty of tonight.

One last note. Congratulations to one of my new classmates, who is now an old classmate. Rosie, who has always wanted to work full time in the theatre, has accepted a position in Austin, Texas. Yaaaay! I am sad she's leaving, and jealous that she's getting to go to Texas and I am not, but happy for her none the less!

I am sure Karaoke will be the highlight of the next blog... so until then.

Good night, Amy. Time to go to Rehab. No? No! NO?!?

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of Silence

If I was literal, this blog would be blank.

As I am wanting to write, there will be words here.

The time is rare that my office is quiet. After all, I make television for a living. On those days when I am not making videos of some kind, I am planning for others. On those days, I put on my Capital Radio out of London.

Right now, I am getting set to head home, and the media player has been quit. All I hear are the rumblings of the air conditioning and the tapping on the keyboard - a sound only interrupted (many times I might add) by the pause of me finding the backspace button to correct a typo from trying to type too fast.

Silence is rare for me as I said. I sleep with the radio on. The television is on most all the time I am home. So, it is the exception for me to hear nothing.

The times when I hear nothing the best are those when I am tired, when every sound, no matter how small, resonates in my head.

I know it's a strange thing to blog about, but turn everything off for a minute and realize how interesting that moment truly is.

Now, it is time for me to hop in my car and crank up the radio for the drive home, where I will no doubt hear at least one honk, the noise from the road, and the air conditioning blasting.

Maybe one more moment of silence.

Good night. Shhhhhh.

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of Turning Left

Many of my friends don't get it. "Why would I want to watch a bunch of cars turn left for four hours?"

NASCAR is a sport that you get or you don't. If you think it is just turning left, you have missed the point. The strategy, the teamwork, the communication all has to come together to have any success in the sport.

And for me, a personal touch. I wrote two weeks ago about my incredible experience with my dear high school friend at the NASCAR race in Chicago. Now my friend has gone big league, with today's JTG Racing debut at the most famous track of them all - Indy.

(Update: Marcos Ambrose finished a respectable 22nd after having to start at the back of the pack after an engine change.)

As I travel cyberspace. I find more and more "converts" to the sport, but there are still those out there who just don't get it. That's okay. There are a lot of things I don't get either. Like fishing.

Can't say good night here... it's daytime!

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of Good Friends

There are Facebook friends. It's a town all unto itself. Through cyberspace, we share experiences and communicate.

Nothing, however, can beat the real thing, and today, I had a rare day full of friends. A rare day.

This morning, it was writing time with Steve. We are working on a screenplay that we have been toiling on for years. Okay, toiling is not a good word, although a toilet plays a major role in the story, but I digress. We always seem to have a wonderful time when we get together as we have similar senses of humor, and when we get on a roll, it's phenomenal. Today, we had Bob Barker doing a PSA for abused show dogs (but not abused in the way you'd wince at!)

For lunch, it was the guy with whom I coach basketball, Ken. While he is a Duck and I am a Husky, we get along remarkably well, and always have something to discuss other than Ducks and Huskies. His son Joe is a great athlete, and he plays on two teams with my son, Drew. Both Ken and Joe are ultracompetitive, but Ken knows when to tone it down around me. I, on the other hand, will act as his "good angel" when it comes to him getting upset on the field or on the court. We compliment each other - that's what good friends do.

Tonight, the family went to a game night hosted by our longest running couple friends, Willie and Jen. Talk about some good grubbin' and a fun time. We played a card game called Buy, which seems to be for those ultracompetitive types (maybe Ken should come along next time.) I spent most of the time letting others chime in and BUY, but actually won a couple of rounds, much to my pleasant surprise.

The countdown is on for the biggest gathering of my friends, both real life and Facebook, as well as those who are both, for the Karaoke Spectacular this Wednesday. I can't wait, and it's not because I want to sing. It's because I love being around friends.

Good night friends!

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of A Good Night

Yesterday seemed a little peppier than usual. The muscles still sore from training the day before and dreading the next day. At work, the mind was actually working well after a technical glitch derailed progress for about and hour. A late meeting was the last thing on the business agenda.

She strode in with a smile on her face. She was a candidate for an internship with my company. JW as I will call her is a person who has established that she knows what she wants to do with her life. She wants to be a television cameraman (she dispensed with the person angle.) We talked about her goals and aspirations and I shared with her that I enjoy the energy of young people, especially those who know what they want.

I showed her some simple things from the work I had done for the Husky Gymnastics team last year. In the presentation, I pointed out a few things I looked for in a production, paying close attention to two shots that were throw aways that ended up as key shots in the piece. Both shots were extreme close ups of eyes. Both told their own story.

I said to JW, "don't ever think that you will have a shot that won't mean something to someone," or something profound like that. She smiled and said, "see, not even the first day and I am already learning from you."

A shot of my eyes would have shown a smile with a small tear. Yep, I get emotional when I believe I have helped someone see their dreams.

Later in the evening, I took the mound (or is it the rubber for softball - there is no mound, just dirt - but I digress) for my weekly softball game. We barely had enough players as Marilyn returned from her elopement. We were still shorthanded and playing against the top team in the league. For two innings, no runs by either team. Softball is a game where you are supposed to score, and we were stymieing each other. In the third, they didn't score, we did - seven to be exact. As I pitched in top of the fourth, no soup for them. Then we blasted off for three more runs. We were winning by 10 and I thought the game was over with the mercy rule. I was one inning early, and the other team has to score at least one run. So now I know.

The opponents scored two, then shut us out, then scored two more. We buckled down and scored three more runs to make it 13-4. One more run, and the game would be over. One more out, and they would have another chance.

Rewind to last season, when we faced the top team, and gave up 9 runs in the last inning to lost the game.

Back to the present and I am up. I had struck out once doing an Ichiro impersonation trying to save my shoulder and go left. I was back to the right, and should I say proper stance. Somewhere, a bolt of energy flew through my body and I smashed the ball, driving in the "game winning" run. My teammates gathered around me and gave me lots of congratulations. It was the single best sports moment of my competitive life. Nothing in high school ever matched it.

As I got into my car, I opened up my e-mail as I usually am compelled to do and there was an e-mail from my former colleague Tiffany. I had written her to send best wishes about her baby, and to let her know about a business lead.

I thought Tiffany had left her Seattle life behind, and me with it. She was the most talented person to ever work for me, and I have never been able to replace her. I thought she had gone on to her own life, and just moved on.

The note I got said something a lot different. She called me a mentor, although she taught me much more than I thought I taught her. She was extremely grateful, and had not left me behind. I had made an impact on someone who was looking to see her dreams. The same tear that had popped up earlier in the day came back.

Making a difference in people's lives is what I live my life for. So to have so many experiences in doing just that made it a good night, and one that I will put in my pocket for those days when life doesn't seem to make sense.

Good night, fellow players. I look forward to the next chapter.

Yours truly,

Johnny Blogger

On the subject of The Facebook News Flash

The Train of Thought Sketch Comedy people have nailed Facebook properly. Not with hammer and nails, but rather in their own comedic way.

John Boyle, Kaci Aitchison, and Ryan Miller are all members of Jet City Improv, and are talented comics as well. I wanted to share the old version and the new version that just debuted on current TV (Al Gore's cable network.)


The Facebook News Network
and the new and improved Facebook News Flash.


Thanks you guys for making me laugh again.

Good night, oh wait. I have been tagged in a photo!


Yours truly,
Johnny Blogger