Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Let’s play a little game called “Have you ever?” And here’s your host… me!
Have you ever:
A. Been really sleepy driving your car
B. Fallen asleep at the wheel
C. Had the car next to you wake you up
D. All of the above
If you answered A or B you are one of 25 people that have done the exact same thing in the last 30 days according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And no, driving drowsy is not a disease, I guess the CDC had budget money to spend or something?
If you answered D, then you would be… me! It happened a few years ago coming home from work. I was really tired the entire week and that day, I was stuck in stop-and-go traffic. I could feel myself drifting off and there for a second or two, my eyes were completely closed.
I woke up to a car of folks next to me yelling to get my attention. Wow. What just happened? I mean, I’ve been sleepy before but never this. So I pulled off the road into a Kroger parking lot.
I’m grateful that:
A. I wasn’t driving fast
B. I didn’t hurt anyone
C. I didn’t buy anything at Kroger and get a 1-mile long receipt
One of my dogs is either asleep, or itching. It’s been so frustrating trying to figure out the cause because she can’t tell me what’s going on with her! And it hasn’t been this way except for the past year or so. There are so many things that could be causing the irritable behavior and I’ve tried everything to help reduce her discomfort. Changing food. Changing protein sources. Vegetarian food. Adding honey. Zyrtec. Baths. Wiping her feet after being outdoors. Aversion. Diversion. This version. That version. Clapping when she itches. Apoquel. We had the best results from the Apoquel medicine but unfortunately, reviews and warnings downright scare me.
I’m pretty much at a loss now as to how to get her back to a comfortable place. Could it be something in the yard? The pesticides from the pest control service I started about a year ago? Dust in the house? And it still could be food related. I’m trying another idea today, switching her food out from dry food to canned food. Fingers crossed that it helps!
If you have any home remedies that’ve worked, I’m all ears!
I’d like to think of myself as a well-rounded, mature man who’s learned from the past, grown from his childish ways, and wears suits on Sundays. A man like this doesn’t have time for silly pet peeves.
This is a picture of a mature man.
Well, I have a ton of pet peeves. And this isn’t the first time I’ve posted about them either. Check this out. Geez, I’m really taking a step back, aren’t I? A more evolved man would talk things out, have a discussion over coffee and a scone.
But I don’t blame myself for this one. I blame the apartment building where I lived before moving to the house I live in now. And hey, don’t try to look up the Roundtree Apartments on Lebanon Road because you won’t find it! They’ve changed their name to something more trendy so they can charge double what I paid! “Only minutes from downtown!” They’ll say, as a giant guitar hangs above the main office entry way.
But back when I lived there it was super shady. Imagine coming home from work and one of three things happening:
The scent of your downstairs neighbor’s dinner wafting up through the floors. Like, so strong you skip dinner because you’re stomach thinks you just ate.
The floor shaking from a loud bang, and you’re not sure it wasn’t a gun shot.
Wanting to jump in the pool but thinking it would just save time to inject yourself with some random disease.
There was also the matter of cars honking their horns at any hour of the day, and this is where I want to camp out for a sec. Say someone showed up to give a ride to one of your neighbors. Who cares, right? But instead of ya know, parking, getting out of the car, knocking on the front door followed by a “Hey so-and-so, I’m here to pick you up. Are you ready? Today is a great day.” No, no… it’s HONK HOOOOONK get your booty out here because I’m not coming up to get you.
How am I supposed to live in conditions like that!!?
Now I’m busy being an adult, with dogs that know I’m the bossdon’t even know my name and a house of my own. I love the solitude of my back yard. The freedom of my own place. No stinky fish head curry cooking below! And honking? That’s a thing of the past!
But if you won’t be too judgmental, I’ve got a confession. I’m trying to be a good neighbor like State Farm wants me to be. My neighbors are making it hard, though. Every day around 215pm for the past couple of months, a car pulls in front of my neighbor’s house and honks the horn. Every. Single. Day. I’ll go ahead and say it: This is my Vietnam.
And I’m a horrible person because, well, the woman that gets picked up is old. So I constantly remind myself that this can’t last much longer. She’s pretty old.
In middle school, one of my teachers asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember timidly responding, “I want to be a baseball player.” Well, it wasn’t for a few more years that I would lose my love for the sport (and haven’t ever regained it :)) but up until then, I believed I could do it.
me in 5th grade sporting a Semper Paratus shirt.
Childish dreams, that’s what it was. I didn’t have the talent, and even if I had the drive and the willingness to work hard at it, I didn’t have the talent. Have I mentioned that I didn’t have the talent? But kids don’t think about what it actually takes to make it in professional sports. Or anything professional, really. It takes time, dedication, and oh yeah, talent.
The last year I played organized baseball was in 8th grade. Something flipped and I didn’t care to play anymore. When I went off to college (I say “went off” like my parents didn’t live right down the street), I played intramural softball for a winning team, albeit we were all students not playing for any school-sanctioned team of any sport whatsoever, but we were the best intramural team at FSU for 3 or 4 years running. #stillhavemyjersey #livinginthepast
As a grown man, yes I’m a grown man!, I love playing softball and even if most leagues I’ve been in fall into the “beer league” category, I’m still competitive and I’ll push a guy if it comes to that. Hmm, maybe I’m just living out the broken dreams of a middle school kid who just wants to come back to his hometown and ask his dad, “Are you prouda me, Pops?” like some dramatic New Jersey school dropout with a strong accent.
It’ll never happen, though, because my dad doesn’t go by “Pops”. Dang it!
If you’ve been listening to country music radio lately, you’ve no doubt heard the refreshing sound of rising star Carly Pearce on her new single, “Every Little Thing.” And pairing along nicely with the new song is a new music video. Take a look!
Carly plays the woman in the video, which makes sense. Hey, who better to help tell the story of a break-up she went through a few years ago, right?
I wrote this song — my debut single — thinking that no one would ever hear it, about a guy who broke my heart a few years ago.
Well, the guy she’s talking about might remain a mystery but for now, the face we’ll see belongs to a 6-foot tall actor from Chicago, Illinois. He’s got a degree in English Literature from the University of Notre Dame–go Irish– and ladies, he’s a Geminiiiiii– that’s right, he’s gentle and affectionate– drum roll, please…
Playing the role of heartbreaker in Carly Pearce’s video is actor, model, artist, photographer, and sometimes bearded Erik Rocca!
images courtesy of wilhelmina.com, for more click hereimages courtesy of wilhelmina.com, for more click here
According to his profile on saatchiart.com, Erik “has been represented by Ford Models and Wilhelmina Models with a client list that includes Barney’s, Nordstrom, Cadillac, Thom Browne, and Moncler. Erik is a self-taught photographer. He lives and works in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee.”
Out of the Wilderness 