Rick-Rolled

I just got "rick-rolled". A few minutes ago, Joe called my cell phone. The ringtone that plays when he, and everyone else, calls is "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, a 1987 ballad that is pretty much one of the worst songs of all time. My mother-in-law, Kathy, told me that she used to do step aerobics to it back in the day. Now the song is used to prank people. Including me. Everyday. Every time my phone rings. Here's a Wikipedia link to the meaning and practice of "rick rolling":

And here's a You Tube video of Rick performing his song. It's pretty bad.

I'm too lazy to change my ringtone, just in case you were wondering.

The new BLUE vs. GRAY

So I blame not posting for a month on our leaving town for 10 days, me starting Inorganic Chemistry, and job hunting. And then there are those wonderful winter blues. Not exactly "post-holiday slump", but just putting the hand to the plow to face yet another day of gray skies. I've lived here in the Northwest since 1987, and I've become accustomed to the fact that we are famous for our rainy, gloomy days. In fact, I've even grown to APPRECIATE them because there are so many types of rain: misting, showering, downpouring, sprinkling... it's never just raining outside and it's truly a spectacle to watch the rain fall as one would watch snowflakes. But, like the Midwest has to face months of long, dark nights and days of freezing winds and blustry snowstorms, we have to endure the GRAY. Needless to say, I'll take the rain over GRAY any day. At least something's going on outside my window besides the GRAY that suffocates our atmosphere and blots out the BLUE.

I always forget that there is BLUE waiting to be beheld, lingering above the GREY. I am reminded of this when the plane I am in takes off and while gaining altitude, eventually has to penetrate through it. At that moment, my eyes are filled with the sight of golden SUNSHINE mingling with BLUE. While others are dozing off around me with their headphones in ears, it's a rush I look forward to every time. On GRAY days when I am not on an airplane and my feet are planted on the ground, I look up at the sky and close my eyes. I attempt to comfort myself with memories of the last time I saw BLUE and how it warmed my face and not GRAY when I woke up that morning. You really have to develop a good imagination and a whole lot of faith in order to even attempt this, because when you open your eyes again, all you see is what you started with, GRAY. (I do realize people from regions when sun is more plentiful might think this a bit daft. Even I do sometimes, I'll admit. But when it serves as a spark of hope when it's well needed, it's worth it. I generally loath to take things at face value anyway.) It helps to, if not subconsciously, transcend the environment around you even for just a few minutes.