Why we care about AMBER Alerts

amber1n-3-webOne of the top stories (at least in Nashville) is the recent disappearance of a girl under the age of 17, which drew an AMBER Alert warning. She’s reportedly with one of her school teachers and they’ve both been missing for a few weeks now. For more information and the history of the AMBER Alert click here.

There are a few reasons news like this makes headlines. The most important, obviously, is that a child is involved. When some poor innocent soul is preyed upon, it makes anyone with half a heart outraged, and rightly so. It’s just sick what adults will do sometimes. I think most people get that. Don’t mess with kids!

Another reason these types of stories gain attention is that just like in the movies, people want a rescue. A happy ending. A hero.

There’s something wired deep in the human soul that longs for a hero.

When a hero rises, the child is returned safely to their family, and the guilty party receives justice, that’s when everyone can exhale a sigh of relief, and by golly, give the hero a standing ovation! Unfortunately it doesn’t always end that way because the world we live in has evil in it, too. There’s disappointment. Heartache. Despair. And villains like this guy in the news who probably thinks he’s a hero.

Recent updates show that the two haven’t even been spotted in the last few weeks. And now her mom has filed for divorce from her dad. Talk about drama. Talk about mystery. The story has it all.

It has a main character. It has intrigue. It has a villain. Now all it needs is the hero or heroes to show up and save the day. Let’s hope and pray law enforcement is making progress every day to solve the case. Meanwhile, the hero could be you so keep your eyes pealed for the pair, you might be part of the happy ending everyone is hoping for!

-Out of the Wilderness

I’ve loved you all over the world…

I first laid eyes on her in 2007. Great curves, light, and sporty. My Nissan Versa is nearing it’s 10th anniversary as my main squeeze when it comes to getting me from A to B, and I gotta say, what a ride it’s been! With her CVT and her auxiliary input and all 4 of her cylinders, she’s made zipping around the southeast something to write home about.

And although I’ve never literally written home about her, I did jot down some landmarks in the first year of our relationship. They honeymoon phase, if you will. Here ya go…

mile 10 got the keys.

mile 110 drove to Percy Priest Lake for wakeboarding and cliff jumping.

mile 340 bought the first tank of gas.

mile 655 returned home from a Nashville Sounds baseball game.

mile 684 sneezed in the car for the first time.

mile 747 returned home from a couple garage sales.

mile 1,623 trip to Cincinnati, OH to visit family.

mile 2,300 drove to corn maze in Whitehouse, TN.

mile 3,717 rock hits windshield, crack begins to spread.

mile 4,265 fighting to stay awake on 231 returning to Nashville from Tallahassee, FL.

mile 5,263 first oil change, location: Action Nissan in Nashville, TN.

That’s just a glimpse, but I’ve had a lot of good memories thanks to my car. She’s nearing 180,000 miles today. That’s probably 93 in car years! I know I won’t have her around for a whole lot longer so for now, this post is for you Black Pearl!

-Out of the Wilderness

When I dreamed of being an artist…

When I was a young’un, I drew pictures all the time. I even dreamed of one day being an artist. I wasn’t thinking like an adult at all. Because an adult would think: OK, I want to be an artist. Can I make a living with this? What kind of artist? Who’s the audience? Still images or animation? Photography or free hand? Pencils or a mouse? Of course, back then, the computers were not equipped to do artwork. We had an Apple IIc and about all I remember doing on that was playing Dig Dug. I can hear the music from that game in my head!

All I knew is that I loved drawing. Here are a few drawings from late high school/early college:


I drew all through middle school, high school, and a few drawings here and there in college. But in college is when my creative side found a new path. It was shooting and editing videos. I would sit in one of the school’s production rooms with 2 VHS tapes and put together mediocre videos, having so much fun doing it. Actually, I’m particularly proud of this one:

Around my junior year I bought my first video camera. That summer, I decided to record something every single day. Good times! I captured some pretty random clips, mostly involving my roommates, friends, and a miniature R2D2 figurine. Of course, R2D2, right? I’d post a clip but the tapes aren’t even… well, they’re actual videotapes so that should explain it.

As the years went by since that summer, I developed a real liking for this creative outlet. Like drawing as a child, it was a way for me to make something that I liked to look at or watch. It made me happy, and I really loved when it made other people happy, too.

As a grown adult it’s become ingrained in my life, and that doesn’t surprise me, actually. I should’ve known when I got my first video camera in 4th grade (a Fisher Price video camera) that something deep down was being stirred.

To this day I still shoot video, although I feel most effective when I’m editing. Another outlet for my creativity nowadays is this… writing! I love getting thoughts out of my head and onto the computer screen. Not just for people to read, but it’s a way to organize different thoughts I’ve been having, express things I believe, and practice the art of writing.

Pretend the words are a dancer, and you’re writing a dance.

 

My creativity is expressed differently now than it was 30 years ago, or even 20 or 10 years ago. But I’ve loved every stage of it. Every once in a while I’ll go back to that first love of mine, getting out the colored pencils to draw. It might be a butterfly. It might be a maze. (I’ve had a weird obsession with drawing mazes for a long time. Here’s one I never finished from a long time ago)
img_20170403_151420208.jpgNo matter what it is, it does my heart good to sit down with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper.

-Out of the Wilderness

April Fools: That time I pranked my mom, and she pranked me back

It was right around 8th grade and I got the bright idea to do an April Fools prank on my mom. I had thought of it days before and just knew it would work out perfectly. The morning of April 1st, it was all systems go.

Operation Daring Dairy

0900 At the most opportune time, I snuck into my parents’ room and stealthy slithered into the bathroom. Stage 1 complete.

0903 Stage 2: Find my mom’s Lubriderm lotion. Complete. Exiting the site of the future prank, I went to the kitchen. The clock was ticking, I knew I had to operate efficiently to pull this off.

lubriderm0906 Unscrewing the top of the lotion bottle, I emptied the contents into a bowl, replacing it with your ordinary skim milk. Complete. I then restored the bottle to it’s original location and waited.

0912 I was so proud and couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she realized it was milk and not lotion!

It all worked perfectly! She squeezed the bottle and to her surprise, skim milk came pouring out. Everyone knows milk has no exfoliating qualities, so the joke was on her!

Operation Lactose Invisible

1209 I didn’t see this coming at all but after my little prank, my mom had a trick up her sleeve, too. It was a few hours later when lunch time came around. It must’ve been a Saturday because I wasn’t at school. My mom asked what I’d like for lunch and like anyone who loves cheese, I requested a grilled cheese sandwich. I could just taste the melted cheese, the toasted bread, the glass of milk to wash it all down! It was going to be glorious.

1220 She called me to the kitchen when lunch was ready so I sat down to eat, stomach growling I’m sure.

1224 Biting into my favorite sandwich, I thought, “Something’s wrong here.”

grilled cheese1224 I looked to the sandwich for some answers and discovered there was a key ingredient missing! THE CHEESE!!

She totally got me! That was a good one, Mrs. Wilder. I love my mom for her willingness to play along with her kids!

Happy April Fools Day, may your grilled cheeses be warm and cheesy,

-Out of the Wilderness

How to tell if someone is left-handed, and other information on left-handedness

watch on rightIs there a way to determine if someone is left-handed without asking them? Yes! Just check which wrist their watch is on. In general, left-handed people wear watches on their right wrist, and righties will wear it on the left wrist. There are a (left)handful of explanations for this:

  1. It’s easier to do things with the dominant hand (write, throw, etc) without wearing a watch on that wrist
  2. It’s easier to read the time on the wrist not already doing something.
  3. A person would probably use their more dominant hand (more skilled, more comfortable, etc) to do the work of strapping the watch on the opposite wrist.

I know for me it’s easier to latch a watch on my right wrist, using my left hand to work the clasp, than using my right hand to latch it on my left. Oh yeah, I might as well tell you now, I’m left-handed! I know there aren’t a lot of us around. Statistics show that only 10% of the world’s population are left-handed… so you’re welcome, world, for gracing you with our presence! Just send cards and gifts to me directly, you should already know my address.

Just the other day I was playing sand volleyball and was 1 of 3 lefties on a 6-person team. It was awesome! We won every single game, even the games we lost! I love being left-handed. Partly because it draws attention, and because I feel like part of an exclusive club. Other members of the club include Prince William, Angelina Jolie, Kurt Cobain, Keanu Reeves, Terry, Nicole Kidman, Mary-Kate Olsen, Lady Gaga, Ben Stiller, Ava, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, former President Obama, Jim Carrey, Paul, and Deion Sanders, just to name a few.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 05: Deion Sanders of the NFL Network watches warmups on the field before the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 5, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

But it’s not always glamourous. Can you imagine Ben Stiller searching for a lefty-friendly desk in school? Deion Sanders going to three different sports stores to find a baseball glove? Mary-Kate not knowing which thumb to raise when she said, “You got it, dude!”? President Obama finding a smooth-writing pen to sign all his executive orders? It’s so sad to think about.

To be hated cordially, is only a left-handed compliment.
-Herman Melville

There are a couple of dated words that represent lefties, as well. The word “southpaw” is thrown around on baseball fields, referring to left-handed players. The term is still used today, although the origination is up for some debate, as stated here. Another word, and this one might surprise you, is “sinister.” It’s incredible to me that a word now mostly associated with horror movies, evil characters, and harm had anything to do with left or left-handedness.

We can’t help it, we were born this way!

sinister
-Out of the Wilderness

*Terry- my mom, Ava- my niece, Paul- a guy who plays sand volleyball on Tuesdays.