Sand volleyball for the win

I’ve been playing sand volleyball probably an average of 4 times a month since the summer started. It’s quickly become one of my favorite things to do here in Nashville.

vball
photo courtesy of Brandon Sommers

I was first introduced to it by my friend Bill who played a lot of sand volleyball here in town. I only went a handful of times in all of 2014 and 2015. But this year I’ve fallen in love. It’s so fun to play, though I’m probably only slightly above average as far as skill level goes. I think a big part of what makes it fun is the attitude of most of the folks that play there. It’s a friendly environment. Most disputes are settled with some sort of joke and laughter coming from both sides of the net.

If you’re in Nashville and have a hankering to get on the court before winter sets in, do it! You won’t regret it.

-Out of the Wilderness

Better off in a pine box…

I was an 11-year-old living in Stafford, Virginia jamming out with my yellow Sony Sports radio_cassette_player_sports_1598016Walkman, probably listening to artists likely Wilson Phillips, Roxette, Janet Jackson, oh, and of course, Vanilla Ice, Ice, Baby, MC Hammer and his pants, and who can forget Milli Vanilli? All favorites with this Starter-jacket-wearing 6th-grader.

Country music wasn’t even on my radar in 1990 and I can’t say for sure why. Maybe it was a product of the environment, although I’d guess that there was a fair share of folks listening to country music in Stafford. Maybe not amongst my friends, though.

It wasn’t till 26 years later (gasp!) that I heard the song by Doug Stone that inspired the title of this blog post. That’s right, summer of 2016 and I was honestly thinking it was brand new. Hoping it was brand new. I guess I’m a crotchety old man now, now that I think country music isn’t what it used to be.

old-man That’s OK, though. Country music can only be as successful as fans will let it be, and right now fans want pop country. But soon enough fans will start craving something different, and artists will follow their lead. By the way, have you heard Jon Pardi, “Head Over Boots”? Sounds like old country and I bet there’re some crotchety fans really digging it.

Twelve million views and counting shows promise 😉 Check out the YouTube comments, as well, and I think fans are into this classic country sound.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep listening to Pine Box until I discover another song made two decades ago that I never heard because I was too busy playing Duck Hunt or watching Kevin Costner as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Roooooobbbbiiiiiiiinnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Out of the Wilderness

 

Is Superstore a super hit?

I keep seeing commercials for the NBC show Superstore. My impression is the show isn’t very good. Does anyone reading this watch the show? The season premiere airs in a week or so, and it’s an Olympic-themed episode. The Olympics ended about a month ago. So I’m guessing they shot the episode during the Olympics and thought, “Perfect timing!” But then, oh yeah, it’s not airing during the Olympics. Seems like a glaring error to me on the part of the producers/writers, etc. maxresdefault
But in a more broad sense, it just doesn’t make me laugh. The setup reminds me of the office; a bunch of employees who work in a setting where stuff goes wrong, with a boss that is not qualified to have that position. Only thing is Steve Carrell as Michael Scott nailed it, and I’m not  sure Superstore matches up with that level of humor… at least pre-Michael-Scott-leaving-The-Office.

So do you think the show will make it, or will it suffer the same fate as shows like The Muppets, Extant, and Undateable? Feel free to chime in below!

 

Do you still like me?

It was somewhere around 6th or 7th grade and my girlfriend was a cute curly-headed girl named Wendy Binstead. In the early 90s when this relationship blossomed, there were 3 ways to talk to someone. Only 3. In person, on the telephone, or through mail. So for me, there was a certain excitement when the phone rang. Usually the call was for my parents, but for the few seconds before someone answered there was always a chance it could be her. There was an air of wonder when the mail came, as well. Oh, I got a Valentine’s card from her once and the front said, “For my special guy.” Wow. I was over the moon about that one. I was a guy. Not a boy. Not a 7th grader. A guy.

She and I talked on the phone a few times a week, I suppose. And to this day I remember asking her pretty much every phone call, “Do you still like me?” I’m not sure why I asked her that, but my suspicion is that I believed at some point her answer would be, “No.”

I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thinking back to those conversations makes me laugh, but also a tiny bit sad that I was so shy and not so confident. Why can’t a good thing keep going? Why did I think it would come to an end sooner or later?

The 7th grade Ben is all grown up now. But even at age 37, I still want to be liked. That’s part of my personality. I’m still shy. I have more confidence, but I also still care about what people think of me. It affects how I think about myself, whether that’s totally healthy or not.

On these phone calls with Wendy, I also remember long periods of silence. It sounds awkward now, but it wasn’t awkward to me back then. Maybe there was comfort just knowing that I was “with” her, like that lone fact was enough, whether we talked or not. This common occurrence was an early sign that quality (or quantity) time was something I valued.

Someone wanted to be with me, and even today, that’s more valuable than gold… and words, too.

-Out of the Wilderness

The stop sign stopped me


How many people have been literally stopped by a stop sign? Well, now I can raise my hand as a response to that question.

It was a pretty predictable day until this happened! A little rain and low tread on the tires made this right turn more than I could negotiate. I’m so lame!

Light damage to the front bumper, light damage to my ego.

-Out of the Wilderness