Want to feel like you're getting old? 10 movies turning 10 in 2016

Time certainly has decided to move faster, don’t you think?

Want to feel like you're getting old? 10 movies turning 10 in 2016

This is my original artwork.. it’s my nostalgic Christmas postcard to you.

The scene I drew in this picture, several years ago actually, is gone now. It is of the former St. Ignatius Church in Centralia, PA, a place I attended Christmas midnight mass for several years when my life began. The road signs are indicating that a highway was closed, most likely because of the Christmas blanket of snow causing mine fire fumes to overtake the highway.. The footsteps? Could be mine walking around .. could be my father, as he was the caretaker of the property for 20 years..

But it’s all gone now.
So often, we are greeted yearly with cards of this nature–places that are now gone or changed for good.

My Christmas memories hold this scene in high esteem.
They always will.
Times were simpler then–even though my hometown was being bulldozed over and people were being forced out. Still simple.
A quiet blanket of snow..
This year, 2015, it’s about 60 or so degrees outside of my house.
This scene is a memory.
As is the town and all buildings that were in it.

Spring gets about 30 seconds shorter every year

Thanks to astronomical quirks, spring will end, and summer will begin, just a little bit earlier in the year.

But we get an extra minute this summer.

Explain that.

Spring gets about 30 seconds shorter every year

Call me dorky but of all the facts presented on this page about time, the John Tyler factoid got me the most..

Even more than the Pizza Hut bit.. go see what I mean here: http://higherperspective.com/2015/02/understanding-time.html?utm_source=cleo&ts_pid=2

Leap second to be added to the clock in June

Prepare yourself for one extra second of summer

The amount of time and influence that went into this 1 second decision is amazing..

​Leap second to be added to the clock in June

If anyone wants a real scare, look no further than reality

Namely this documentary on Netflix: FORGOTTEN PLANET: ABANDONED AMERICA. It’s another example of why reality scares me much more profoundly than any work of fiction.

The documentary isn’t new.. But as a busy adult, I only watch things when I get the chance.. It was produced in 2011, and is a graphic account of how once booming towns in the United States often become abandoned ghost towns.

There is something brutally frightening to me about decaying structures and silent facilities.. I have near me a hospital that was active for over one hundred years, and now sits idle as bankruptcy took the legs out from under the workers .. the building, in only two years, has become overgrown with the earth and is already appearing as though it was forsaken over a decade ago.. It’s so amazing to see how quickly our planet makes us forget people ever lived in certain spots. Abandoned buildings serve as a reminder: We are dust and so are the places we inhabit.. They’ll be gone just as we will.

Also near me:  Centralia, the town I grew up in and have written about extensively on my site. Anyone visiting that town wouldn’t even know that it was once filled with homes stacked on top of each other, taverns on every corner, and churches active every Sunday.. A mine fire swept away life and the earth, again, took over.

So give this 40 some minute documentary a chance—if you’re like me and chilled to the core by abandoned structures, try out FORGOTTEN PLANET: ABANDONED AMERICA.. turn off the lights.. lock the doors. The zombie is time. And it eats.

Expect to see this cover of TIME magazine everywhere.. it may sell as good as their mother breastfeeding from a bit ago.

I credit TIME with one thing: They are able to still give us some provocative covers to keep themselves relevant. It’s journalism, sure, but it’s also about the bottom line. They are trying to make a profit in print during the age of Internet.

This is the type of cover that may help them..

The actual text and subject aside, this magazine will sell. Maybe not like hot cakes, but lukewarm pouches.. Or something.

And the real question: How many tough men will take a second or even third glance before they realize what they’re seeing?

101 Things You Cared About 10 Years Ago (But Don't At All Today)

There are times when thinking back to 2004 seems like just ‘yesterday’.. most likely because I am constantly freaked by how fast time goes.

But when you see the list of what pop culture said mattered in 2004, it feels like a generation ago.

By 2018 we will be so 2000 and late..

And my God, I did have a Cingular phone. Flipped.. 

101 Things You Cared About 10 Years Ago (But Don't At All Today)

mothernaturenetwork:

Mystery solved: Why clocks seem to stop ticking the second you look at them
It turns out that the perception of time passing is as much in our heads as it is a part of reality.

Cool story.

Do people still have analog clocks…??

No, the summer is not over yet.

There will still be heat and humidity before the autumn, as Accuweather points out.

But is it not just somewhat amazing how fast this summer has rolled by? It’s almost August..like days away.

I wrote about this before back in June, prior to the mid-summer nightmare of massive heat across America. July is the worst month when you’re a kid.. after 4th of July, it’s all downhill. School clothes, back to school sales.. reminders of the coming horror of September as you see buses being tuned up and painted.. Ugh.

And now here we are. July is over. Four weeks until Labor Day, and apples in the early fall. Where did this time go?

The only theory of where time vanishes that makes sense to me comes from Stephen King: The Langoliers eat it. I sure wish they’d slow down.

No, the summer is not over yet.

Stroll down amnesia lane

So I looked at yearbooks from my past last night. Amazing how much changes, isn’t it? I read some of the words people wrote in my yearbook.. Pages aren’t yellowing yet but they sure feel older than ever..

From yearbooks to Facebook. 
The old days to the modern age.

I’d love a chance to relive a few events.. but maybe not all.

The clocks are changed. The time is new.

Spring is in the air.

Happy Sunday all.

Looking at the calender, time appears to be fleeting.

The seconds hands on the clocks fly around in a circular motion.. after all, summer time is about halfway through.

Yes, it’s only July. And sure summer extends well into September, but by then kids are back in school and colleges campuses are less than sober. Every July, around this time, I get that gut feeling. Then the whole “Christmas in July” shopping experience malls used to try back when people went to them only added to the childhood misery of knowing that the clock was ticking.

There is something interesting about the summertime and how it trickles slowly into autumn.

Even with this year’s heat, we can be aware that cooler breezes will blow in two months.

And despite the fact that many of us are long gone from hallowed hallways of high schools, we all get that same pit of the stomach feeling as August winds to a close, and as the summer sun bakes the landscape in one last vibrant attempt to keep things hot.

Summer comes and goes..

The same in 2012 as it was in 2001 and 1991. Enjoy these moments while you can. Be alive … take in some rays.

Wear sunscreen. (I never liked that song.)

A stroll down amnesia lane

My wife and I looked back through old photos tonight.. Way back to those retro days of *gasp* 2005. Yes, it doesn’t seem like a long time ago.. but wrinkles add to the days and stress and weight add to our ways.

It is just strange when you stop for a brief moment and look back at yourself.

Sometimes the events captured in pictures isn’t even fresh in the mind anymore..

Time sure can be fleeting.

I think a new goal, as of now, is to live a little more like every day is the last. Strolling through photos illustrates just how rapidly it all goes.. but where does it go?

I picture Langoliers happily eating the past.

An ode to the past

There was a very cold spring wind that blew tonight, and it made me think of two things.. First it made me think of late night trips to Perkins with friends.. and secondly it made me think of a cold spring day in April 1996 at my friend Katie’s house, swinging around pool tools at her house.. not sure if she remembers, but I do.

It’s amazing to me how fast time goes. It often makes me wonder where exactly it goes… Does time exist as an element? Is there a way to measure time? …maybe by the wrinkles on the face, or the amount of stress someone has during a lifetime.

I just wish it didn’t go so damn fast.. so fast.

An excellent article from TIME magazine: Why the US is still fighting the Civil War

I have to admit, I couldn’t put this article down.. Very interesting, informative, and troublesome..

An excellent article from TIME magazine: Why the US is still fighting the Civil War

I realized how quick life can go by..

But I may have found a way to savor the moment: Mental images. Take in the entire room, entire scene, and everyone in it. Tonight I watched my mom and dad talk to my son.. I took it all in and kept in my mental album, hopefully for the rest of my life.

Interesting TIME cover this week..

Not sure what Reagan would think of it.

Heck, not sure what Obama thinks of it.