Summer of '16 and confronting monotony

August 01, 2016 by Soul On Ice

Monotony (def) – wearisome uniformity or lack of variety, as in occupation or scenery (1).

For some, the summer of 2016 has been eventful in a number of positive ways. Traveling domestic and abroad, seeing familiar faces, getting acquainted with new ones and taking in new sights provide people with new experiences and additional perspective. For others, it has been not so good with destruction, loss, and grief permeating the atmosphere.

The theme of summer 16, on this end, is business as usual. On one hand, business as usual is cool. Prepare the same, execute the same, then do it again the next day. On the other hand, it has brought a level of repetition that borders on becoming a chore for the exact same reasons that business as usual is cool. The same reasons why the summer of 16 is cool are the same reasons why the summer of 16 is boring as hell. Trying to keep a routine, while incorporating activities to bring some life to the routine and keep days from becoming mundane, is the new challenge.

Evolve

July 18, 2016 by Soul On Ice

Def. – develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complex form (1).

One thing about living life is the opportunity to learn. Whether it is through the pages of a book or through reading the actions of people, structures and institutions, the opportunity to learn is something which was planted and embedded early in life and remains central to the purpose of living. With that, observing recent events, as well as prior events coming into adulthood, has been quite the experience.

The Return: Pick-Up Basketball Edition

July 13, 2016 by Soul On Ice

It is impossible to absolutely and completely absolve oneself from a former love. While it may be easy to forget most things about that love and may be able to move on from a former love, to say the love is completely out of one’s system is not exactly true. When it comes to the game of basketball, the first love of my life, the statement fits the bill. It was the first escape, the first thing that ever gave back without having to ask. No matter what was going on, basketball was there and, for the longest, the goal was to give the game as much as it gave back.

Then I got old and left the game behind.

Book Review: Shoe Dog

July 06, 2016 by Soul On Ice in Book Reviews

The definition of an idea, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is something you imagine in your mind; an opinion or belief; a thought, plan, or solution on what to do. Ideas present challenges in the sense that people can have ideas which are great in their minds, but the people who originate the ideas allow their own doubt to keep them from manifesting into something tangible, into something real, into something legendary. One of the themes in Shoe Dog, the memoir written by The Great Phil Knight, is having a crazy idea and having the determination to see the idea come to fruition.