Happy New Year

I saw a quote from Barbara Eden this morning (remember her? She played Jeannie in 'I Dream of Jeanie'. Anyway, she said 'Every New Year's, I resolve to have a better year than I had before'. What do you think? Is that a New Year's resolution you could keep? Isn't it really all just a mental attitude that makes our year happy and bright? Let's do that in 2015.

I saw something yesterday that is clever in a project management kind of way. I will not subject you to every verse of 'The Twelve Days of PM Christmas', and will just show you the twelfth day. Be sure to read it in a way that let's the rhymes fall into the song's cadence.
On the twelfth day of my project, my clients sent to me:
12 signed changes
11 interfaces
10 screen designs
9 form revisits
8 stories added
7 new sub-systems
6 scope additions
5 new stories
4 new features
3 epics
2 use cases
And requirements verbally

Funny, right? If you don't think so, it is you who have missed the humor in it and not me. No takebacks.

I cannot see if I shared this before or not, but this is a really clever way to view famous movie quotes. As charts. You know me and those visual cues.

Have you taken down your Christmas lights or are you the last one in your neighborhood to keep them up? Maybe through New Year's? Well, in celebration of the ending of the lighting season, check out this whole block that has synchronized their lights together.

Here's what we grandparent's think this funny. I cannot imagine the grandkids agreeing, though.

Here's what I think is funny. I really do listen to the news during my morning commute and see if anything sounds like an idea to share with you. This story happened yesterday and the comic immediately followed.

No photos today, but how about a short video of the nightly Disneyland fireworks show? I captured it with my iPhone, so it sometimes has trouble focusing. The scenes with the cartoons is displayed on It's a Small World exterior. That is a great (but kind of secret, don't tell anyone) place to watch, even though the castle is very picturesque.

Which president said 'This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men'? Do you know? Many historians believe Andrew Johnson was the worst of all the presidents. Do you agree? You can read about some of his policies and beliefs here. Modern historians may be ranking another as equally bad. Here's a quote from the above linked story. 'Among historians today, James Buchanan is the one president who is consistently ranked as low as Johnson. Buchanan’s seeming indifference to the onset of the Civil War, and his own failings as a president, were monumental.' I am glad no one is ranking me like that.

Great! After this story, I can no longer safely wave to family or friends in photographs. They can copy fingerprints from a photo? Unbelievable.

As my parting comment, I wonder which of you have considered why a dry spaghetti strand ALWAYS breaks into multiple pieces when it is bent. If you have, science has provided an answer.

Have a Great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I'll see you on the other side (of the year-end, I meant. I am not thinking that either of us will pass away, God willing and the creek don't rise).

One Day Left in 2014

I had a worrisome moment last night when Dad called. "Uh Oh, what could be up?" Luckily, he was calling to recommend that I watch or record a TV program he and Mom were enjoying. Have you ever seen (or heard of) It Takes a Choir on the USA Network? We did watch the final episode of the night and it was interesting. The director is kind of a motivational speaker/team builder that uses music instead of the spoken word.

We are down to tomorrow being the last day of the year. How has it gone? Did you reach the goals you set at the beginning of the year? Did you enjoy life like you could? I hope so. We had a good year.

Have you ever conjectured who would win in a battle between Star Trek tech and Star Wars tech? Wonder no more. And while we are on a Star Wars-related kick, check out this clever remake of the trailer for the newest movie, The Force Awakens. They actually did a good job.

Let's enjoy a few more holiday pics before we move on. All were captured during the annual Christmas brunch we saw yesterday.

Salvador Dali Christmas cards from 1960, anyone? They apparently enraged the public when these were first released. Even now, some of them are a bit disturbing.

Sometimes, photo angles can be awkward and change the look and feel of a picture. However, sometimes, you WANT that oddity, that distortion. Here are some funny shots where what you see is not what you get. Here is an example.

Here is an interesting visualization demonstrating global warming. They have shown where temperature anomalies have occurred from 1964 to 2013.

No ideas popped into my head for a new Clarity of Vision, so I will go back to my creative past. Way back to 2009. I bring forward one that still works in today's political climate.

I do have a few more links saved up, but I think I will save them for another day. Maybe even another year (if I don't them tomorrow). So, go enjoy the penultimate day of 2014.

Just 361 Shopping Days Until Christmas

I did not have a holiday for the day after Christmas, but I did have a "Personal Holiday" that had to be used by the end of 2014 or I would lose it. So, I took it last Friday. And we had company holidays for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The only remaining holiday is New Year's Day. That puts me back in the office for most of this week. How about you? Are you off for the rest of the year or are you having to work, also?

You know what you need? A good Christmas-related Clarity of Vision comic strip.

I guess I still owe you a good comic, right? Well, that one is all I have to offer you right now.

Speaking of gifts, here is a poster we gave our Chorale director this year. I think it is clever.

And also, speaking of gifts, here is the haul we all shared at the Christmas brunch at daughter-in-love's house on Christmas morning.

We had a nice holiday break and caught up on some TV that had been queued on our DVR for a couple of months. One dude in Louisiana spent his time calculating the g-forces on the Millennium Falcon based on the trailer for the new Star Wars movie. Top that!

Did you have any eggnog over the break? I used to, but have not in a couple of years due to my change in diet. Even now, as I transition back to a more normal diet, I have not yet introduced milk products. Once I get there, I still would probably buy eggnog rather than make it. If you want to make your own, though, you cannot go wrong with using Alton Brown's eggnog recipe.

One thing we did not do that has previously been a tradition was watch A Christmas Vacation (or at least have it on) during the Christmas Brunch. I don't know what happened. I was reminded of that again this morning when I came across a Rolling Stone article about filming it. n.b. there is some strong language in the story.

Maybe we didn't watch it because we were too busy eating this delicious spread. I do know that I ate waaay too many sweets as I return to a normal diet.

An interesting story I read last night is a Yahoo story about the decline in Detroit real estate as captured by photos takes over the last 6-7 years. Have you seen movies in the past that talk about how the Earth will gradually erode modern buildings and roads back to their natural state? These photos seem to confirm that will happen. I found them fascinating. Here is an example.

Did you watch any football over the weekend? ASU and Dallas won their games (two Dallas players even broke records). AZ Cardinals did not, so now, we will watch on Saturday to see if they advance any further post-season. I will not tell you my personal dire prediction.

Want your own Darth Vader costume (for daily wear or maybe just for Halloween)? Get the details here, and start saving up your $6,000.

Before we go, let's bring in one of my favorite types of stories. Photoshop disasters. Here are 16 Jaw-Droppingly Embarrassing Photoshop Disasters.

Hey, y'all. Thanks for reading this far. I should have more fun and frivolity for you tomorrow. I said 'should', not 'will'. There are no guarantees.

Were Things Darker in the Past?

Some things were, like my hair. Who's that handsome dude who seems to be striking out with the ladies? I don't know, either, but his hair sure is nice and dark. Well, it was back in 1986.

Here's a little older dude finally getting along with a special lady in Concord, MA and Boston, MA in 2002.

And here we are in Maine and Newport, MA.

Those last two are from Dad's scrapbooks.

Are you ready for Christmas now? I told you a few days ago to get going and finish that shopping. I hope you have because the malls are going to be gross and soooo crowded for the next couple of days. If you haven't, here are 35 versions of Jingle Bells, at least one of which is sure to tickle your fancy.

Yahoo put out a story about a UFO on the moon as supported by photographs from the Apollo astronauts. Could it be true? Hey, the photos don't lie. Of course, they also don't confirm it since the enhanced shots aren't any clearer.

Did you hear that Joe Cocker passed away yesterday at the age of 70? Finally, we have an answer as to whether or not someone can "Get By With a Little Help From (their) Friends". No, that was not meant to sound snarky; just silly.

Let's look at some numbers and then, I will tell you how they all relate. 40, 2013, 80, 46%, 15%, 33%. There are a whole lot more numbers, but these give you a sense of the analytical nature of what I am about to share. It is somewhat shocking, so, please, sit down before you read this. Not everything Dr. Oz says is scientifically valid. There. I've said it. And the numbers come from The BMJ (Formerly British Medical Journal). You can read the article here, but the 15% number is that for 15% of what Dr. Oz claims, medical evidence actually contradicts his recommendations.

I am not finding much else worth sharing today. Since it is a workday, I should start doing work. I will say that the commute this morning was very nice since a lot of people have begun their Christmas holiday early. And with school out, there was hardly any traffic, so that was made it easy. On the opposite side of the same coin, though, it will also mean that many of the people I need to interface with will be off, leading to lower productivity. I have plenty of things to work on, though, so I'll find something to do.

Speaking of my commute, I heard an ad this morning about a financial advisor who has a product that somehow protects your investment even in a down stock market. However, it was the choice of words that led to today's CoV.

If I don't see you again before Christmas, Remember the Reason for the Season. I'll see you on the other side of the holiday (but likely, before New Year's).

It's Christmas Week

I did not upload any photos this weekend. We stayed busy playing with the GRANDS including Christmas lights, McDonald's playground, Monopoly Cards, and walking the dog. I also had my final Chorale concert of the year. So, I played with an older photo today and posterized it a bit, and added a title. Here you go.

How about using Legos in your actual work environment? Here is a person who used them to display their daily work activities. I like it.

Do you love synchronized Christmas lights? I do. Maybe someday, when I have the time (post-retirement?), I will make our house do it. For now, I will watch it on youtube. Here is one using Let It Go as the song.

I watch a lot of TV procedural dramas (you know, CSI, NCIS, etc). On those programs, they can take any image and refine it until you can see every detail. A legible license plate. A clear face. A reflection in a car window. Anyway, haven't you sometimes wondered it that is really possible. This article confirms that you can only recover as much as the original image captures. Read more information here.

We had Sunday lunch at Bass Pro Shops yesterday. As we entered, an employee was handing out those sales flyers and I took one. I saw an ad for a camouflage blanket. My mind went into overdrive and I wondered how well they work. That led me to this.... No explanations on what you see; you'll have to figure it out.

Here is a story even geeks and nerds and any sensible person might ignore. As SS used to say about learning algebra, "Who's ever going to use this knowledge in their everyday life?" Today's (apparently) exciting news is Mathematicians Make a Major Discovery About Prime Numbers. They have a formula on How far apart can consecutive primes be?

Do you ever worry that, if you ask for a raise, your company might decide to let you go? Apparently, that is what happened to the costars of Mythbusters. I hope it makes the show stronger as they refocus on Jamie and Adam. Do you even still watch it?:

Oh, last night while we were out looking at the lights, we can across a park where these cool looking little neon rocket-looking things were being shot into the sky. When we investigated, we ended up buying 3 for $10. GD#1 launched hers a few times (after hurting her hand by releasing the wrong part of the rubber band launcher). GD#2 would not try. Their grandfather ended up launching it for them to catch. You can see more about it in this ad video.

Oh, my. It is way into tomorrow and I have just be lollygagging around looking for stories on the web. I need to get ready for a 9am meeting. Have a 'Mazing Monday.

How Many Shopping Days Left?

I have different birth dates in the various social media sites. None of them are accurate, just in case. It is possible that someone might actually target me. Well, it is possible. This comic has been cued up since the birthday wishes I got in early November.

Let's look at a Christmas card, because we do know when THAT day is.

Have any of you heard of a pop group from the 60s called The Beatles? Probably most of you, right? You must admit they changed the musical landscape in a way no one else did, either before or since. Could anybody ever be so influential the same way? Huffington Post writer Candy Leonard gives six reasons why it will never happen again.

Want to hear a clever one-liner you can use at any party?
"War doesn't decide who is right - only who is left".

Once upon a time, I found a nice, leafy spot for a still life photograph. This is in Mountain Village, CO.

Pretty, right. Then, people started coming along.

And more....

And more....

And even more....

Luckily, they seemed not to mind all being in the same photo.

How long does it take the TSA or the airline to return lot luggage. One day? Two days? Maybe even a week? Twenty years? Yup, that's what a Tucson woman found out recently.

Have you ever heard of a Murphy Bed? It's a bed that folds up into a shelving unit during the day. Those are well known and have been around for years. Something I had not heard of until now is a Murphy Door. It is a bookshelf that hides a doorway. Where else can a Murphy product fit? Are those refrigerators with paneling on the front actually Murphy Fridges?

Want to see some Christmas lights timed to Star Wars? They even depict a light saber fight. Enjoy it today.

Aren't all of us proud of our state? I am sure that NY residents and TX residents want to duke it out regularly. Yahoo has decided to make us examine what every state is WORST at. You can see the full list here. What does your state stink at?

Is it cold where you are? We are only a couple of days away from officially entering winter, so break out the hot chocolate. When you do that, which brand will you pick (assuming you are making it from a package and not from scratch)? Go to this article to see if Yahoo likes your brand the best.

Hey, that's an odd looking boulder. Oh, it is actually a tiny, one-person cabin?

That wraps up a week's worth of blog posts. It included three original Clarity of Vision comics and two excellent repeats. There were 17 personal photos. There were twenty-six different links shared. I'm tired just reminding you about everything. All in all, a pretty good week. This Sunday is our final Chorale concert of 2014, and the break will be kind of nice. Have a good weekend, y'all.

Throwing Back to 1986 or So

I heard that it is Throwback Thursday on Facebook. Well, even though this isn't Facebook, I do have some throwback photos to share. Here are TD and SS at a state park a few years ago.

Unusually, I am even in a shot with them.

Since we are looking at the kids, let's remember how they liked the characters at The Dis.

And here we are with the grandkids on this year's Christmas card.

Let's share another funny Christmas card from the interweb.

Did y'all watch the end of Season 20 Survivor? EXCELLENT blindside for the final Tribal Council. I did NOT see it coming, and neither did the recipient.

There are three kinds of people: those who can count, and those who cannot.

Sometimes, I have a follow-up idea about a previous CoV that leads to another related one. This is one of those times.

Did you see the sneaky wish for a Happy Birthday to Dad in the final panel? No? Well, take a second look.
And feel free to wish him a Happy Birthday yourself. I think I will. Happy Birthday, Dad.

I am not finding anything else to add in today. So, we all get a break from the endless droning  of my normal link-crazed, photo-sharing self. Go out for a Thrilling Thursday and return tomorrow, refreshed and ready for a new A Legend In My Own Mind post.

A Little Too Bright on Top?

The other day, I showed this photo of me playing a game with my oldest granddaughter on our trip up to the mountains. She is the one that plays the most games with me. I think we are playing Play Nine.

I mentioned that she beat me fair and square at least once. And she was a good winner AND a good loser. The same cannot always be said about her grandfather. I imagine that I was saying "In your face", but I might just have let my face say it all. That was probably the only one I won all weekend.

How about this from Richard Estes?

Can you tell Richard Estes' image above is actually a painting. He is from the photo-realist, or hyper-realist, school of art. There are more examples in this article.

When you write a list like "apples, pears, and bananas", do you include the final comma between 'pears' and 'and' or not? That is a big grammar brouhaha. I enjoyed the story about it from Richard Mueller. So, which way do you write lists? Personally, I like the extra comma.

Time for today's Christmas card.

Hmm. What if there were no hypothetical situations?

It's time for another trip back to 2009 for a strip I call 'Like Hannibal'.

The other day, MBH and I were eating somewhere (I think it might have been WhichWich) and she said she liked the song that was playing in the restaurant. I whipped out my trusty smartphone and fired up Shazam in time to find out who was singing. It was The Wilderness of Manitoba. Oh come on, you've never heard of them? No, I hadn't either. The song she heard was 'Leave Someone' and you can hear it on youtube.

Take a look at this photo and form an opinion before you read my commentary below.

I looked at where the sun is shining from (it appears to be coming in from the far right based on the glow of the rocks) and wondered if the trees weren't brighter than they should be. What do you think? Is this a little too processed?

And now that you have seen this photo, was the title of today's post referring to these trees or my hair in the first two photos? I'll never tell.

Do you like to see those autocorrect fails that happen sometimes? Some of them are a bit risque, but some made me laugh. Take a look at this site to see some examples.

Want to see some movie posters that never were? What does that mean? DC Comics has mashed up some real movie posters with some of their superheroes. Aquaman in Free Willy? Batgirl and Purple Rain? The Flash in North by Northwest? Check out these clever posters.

Thanks, Consumer Reports, for evaluating some name brand products to store brand and telling us which is a better value. Thanks for letting us read about it here.

I am not seeing so many stories today, so I will cut you a break. I will NOT cut you 'off a piece of that KitKat bar', though. Have a Wonderful Wednesday.

A Ton of Tuesday Topics

Is it laziness that made me not think of a new Clarity of Vision last night? I suppose it was. I was watching the final episode of The Newsroom and just decided to bring back comic #3. After all, it is still pretty clever.

Do you like the Christmas song 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'? I learned something interesting about a line in the song - "hang a shining star upon the highest bough." In the original version of the song written during World War II, the line was "Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow." When Frank Sinatra recorded the song in 1957, he asked the writer to "jolly up that line for me." And that's how the shining star line came to be! Although I'm all for muddling around, I like the starry version better! How about you?

There was a Christmas-themed light show at the World of Color in Disneyland. I snapped a few shots of it, but as I feared, it loses something in the translation from live to photoland. Still, I wanted to share it with you.

When I was at the Mayo a couple of weeks ago, I wandered around between medical tests and found photos posted on the wall taken by staffers. This one won an award. Was it a major award? I'm sure it was to the photographer. Anyway, it was black-and-white. Do you like B&W or color? If you see a B&W, does it look better with an Ansel Adam's-style landscape or can anything work?

Here is a group of six near the above shot. Do you like the one in the upper right of the spines of a cactus? I can't decide if I do or not.

Let's see something inspirational, something seasonal like a baby and a reindeer.

Maybe that was not quite as inspirational as I had hoped. How about a more soothing image, taken from a painting that intrigues me.

What do you think? Do the non-traditional colors distract or enhance this art? I think it helps because then you look at the shapes presented instead of immediately classifying it as trees and grasses and dismissing it.

A cereal-only cafe just opened in London and The Guardian wrote about it last week. As you can see from the photos in the story, they offer cereals such as 'Special Kates' and Wills' Royal O's. Of course, Cereality has been around in several US locations since 2004, starting with the ASU campus (that location has since closed, but I ate there more than once and really liked it). Those Brit's are just copying us.

Another of those unique Christmas cards, this one from someecards.

I read this the other day. "I wondered why the Frisbee was getting bigger, and then, it hit me."

Let's get practical here in the final week of school before the holidays. Get a jump on January with this article, Five Things Your Kids Should Do to Ace Their Exams.

This stupid cough just keeps hanging on. It is worse in early morning (like right now as I write this) and bedtime. I would rather get worse than this (of course, I say that now since I am not worse). So, I'll just keep on with cough drops during the day and cough syrup at night.

Morning Has Broken around me, so I Will Awaken the Dawn and start my day. Thanks Cat Stevens and Steve Green for the music. It's Tremendous Tuesday, so go out and claim it.

Big D and Big Red Both Won

If you cannot understand the title of today's blog, turn in your NFL pennant and start watching air hockey.

Let's start today's photo sharing with an artsy shot of bocce balls from my game with D-I-L's brother while on our trip to the mountains. I don't remember who won, but we had a good time.

And from the same trip, an artsy shot of a bridge made of knotty branches (not naughty, which would be bad around Santa time).

And a final artsy shot from the other side of the bridge.

This would only work if your last name is Murray, but then again, I am not sure it really worked anyway. Would you do this?

I saw a lot of articles about this topic last week. So, IF you should get a Keurig 2.0 under your tree, read the story before you decide that you must pay the high prices for the official Keurig refills.

There are all sorts of ways to look at NBA stats. However, if you are a visual learner, you need both the raw data and a way to make it clear what the data implies. Go to the Buckets site and look up your favorite player. Does he prefer the right or left side? How far away does he prefer to shoot from? How well does he do against the other teams? You can learn all of that, and more!

I think I got this idea from a conversation with a coworker about thinking I was wrong when I was not wrong. Does that sound right?

When I first decided to become a vegan in August, 2013, there was a huge struggle with knowing what to eat, how often to eat it, where I could find it, etc. It took several months, but finally, I worked out a diet that seemed to provide me with sufficient sustenance and protein and energy. Now, with the finding by the Mayo Clinic that being a strict vegan is not possible with my body chemistry (it is pretty carb heavy), I am almost in a worse position. What foods should I reintroduce? How quickly should I transition? (Pretty quickly according to my doctor who said my high cholesterol is pretty bad). So, I have had fish with a couple of meals, chicken once, and peanut butter once. I am really struggling right now.

So, I am not sure what I will eat at today's company Christmas Party. No, I don't know what they are serving, but I doubt there will be much diet-friendly fare. Remind me to tell you about it tomorrow.

We had our final Christmas concert with the orchestra last night. It was a lot of fun, but I always kept a cough drop in my mouth and backed off when I needed to so I would make it through the show.

For some extremely odd reason, I was thinking about being 'bemused' on some topic in the shower this morning. Who says 'bemused' anyway? Which then led me to thinking about being 'betwixt and between' on thinking of 'bemused' in the first place. Then, I realized I was thinking of words beginning with 'be---'. Immediately, the song 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' pooped into my noggin. What is wrong with me? Are you as 'befuddled' as I am? I hope not.

Is the Elf of the Shelf teaching kids it is OK to spy? That's what one author proposes. However, haven't we been singing about Santa doing the same thing for years in the song 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'? 'He sees you when you're sleeping'. That's not creepy?

While not creepy, this home is certainly unique. I don't think it is a style I would seek out, you might consider it if you have $3 million and live near Joshua Tree monument in CA.

I think we've both suffered enough by reading this far into today's blog post. Let's have a trial separation and see what happens tomorrow.