All the Graduations – Part 2

No selfies. No TikTok. No phones at all. Of course, my high school graduation was nearly 30 years ago so none of those things were even possible or invented yet. I don’t even think there’s a video of the event anywhere in existence, at least not that I know of. Comparing that to the graduation last Saturday that probably has dozens, if not hundreds, of videos of the students walking across the stage and there are probably a few on YouTube as we speak! The only thing I remember from my graduation is something I did that’s right in line with my Enneagram 4 personality, though I didn’t know that at the time. I wanted to stand out… but at the same time I don’t love attention. So affixing “Hi Mom!” on the top of my graduation cap was an expression of my individuality and a way to show my mom I love her, of course.

At my niece’s graduation there wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary in how the kids expressed themselves apart from little gestures they did as the crossed the stage, knowing they were on the big screen for everyone to see. Also, and this was very cool, students weren’t allowed to have their phones. So just like my graduation in 1997, there were no selfies and no TikTok. Kudos to whoever made that decision for the students. Instead of the distraction that phones can cause, students got to be fully present at their own graduation. If they don’t already, they’ll appreciate this as time goes by. They’ll actually have memories of the moment, go figure! Of course, the only memory I have is the “Hi Mom!” cap so maybe it would’ve been good to have some kind of documentation of it… besides still having it stored in a bin in the shed outside.

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-Out of the Wilderness

All the Graduations

It was a whirlwind weekend when I was in Orlando for a graduation featuring 599 people plus one amazing person– my niece. Six hundred in total walked across the stage then celebrated as streamers cascaded down from the roof. In fact, this was the crescendo of a busy weekend celebrating this particular niece starting with a grad party two days before. There’s definitely more to say than I’ll include in this post but here’s a quick look at the class of 2025.

I thought about my graduation. Or how I recorded everything but my brother walking across the stage at his college graduation. People do flips. Dab. Wave. Look lost. Many different reactions to that moment they stepped up to shake the principal’s hand in front of thousands of people. I also wondered if I’d go back to high school. You know the question people always ask, would you go back if you could? Knowing what I know now, I still don’t think I would. Sure, there are things, probably LOTS of things I’d change if I did go back, but aren’t I exactly where I’m supposed to be now? So what’s the point in going back? How about you, would you go back and if so, what’s one thing you’d change?

-Out of the Wilderness

Song Titles That Are Just Numbers

Hey there! Clearly you stopped by to check out a new list (I love lists) featuring songs that are only numbers. I just saw that Brandon Lake has a new video for a song called “SEVENS” so I thought it would be fun to think about other titles that are only numbers. Can you think of any that aren’t included below?

There are quite a few more but these are the few that came to my mind right pretty much right off the bet. What are some of your favorites you’d add to this list?

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol Names a Winner and Drops the Ball During the Finale!

And the winner of American Idol is… Lights dim. Arena goes quiet. The entire season’s been building to this moment. By now you know the person taking the title of American Idol is Jamal Roberts. He arrived on the scene without a ton of fanfare but as the weeks went by, he became a gem. His final full performance was a repeat of a song called “Heal.”

John Foster was gracious in his 2nd place finish and had time to prepare a reaction since he peaked and saw the name written on the “winner” card. I don’t blame him, though. Host Ryan Seacrest should’ve shielded that info for a few seconds longer but in the end it doesn’t really matter that John knew before the rest of us.

Does it even matter that my favorite singer didn’t win?? Slater was and is a great singer, Thunderstorm, too. In fact, the top 10 was so strong. Top 15, top 24… not so much! But I enjoyed this season of Idol: Tracking the episodes, transcribing original songs lyrics. Good times. Eventually I’ll get over the part where they didn’t let Sophie Powers move on to the Hollywood rounds. 😵‍💫

The only negative thing I’ll say about this episode, and it was a great lineup of guest singers, is Jamal’s song after he was announced winner. The season crescendos as the winner is named and the song they had him sing was a sappy break up song? Such a missed opportunity to have Jamal sing “Shout,” one of his best performances from earlier in the season! Aren’t we supposed to be in a celebratory mood?

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-Out of the Wilderness

The craziest, coolest sports court floor I’ve ever seen

I happened to catch a news segment about the most innovative thing I’ve seen in sports since quarterbacks started wearing wristbands with plays on them. It’s a new floor that could change sports forever. Take a look at the news piece, then scroll down for more…

This floor totally would have helped me get more playing time when I rode the bench in JV basketball! Instead, coach put me in the game when the score was so lopsided even Steph Curry couldn’t have tied it up. But I digress. I was glued to the TV watching Chris Thornton explain the court and its tethering to the iPad. He didn’t say if Android users can participate, but just calm down all you anti-Apple people!

All kidding aside, I think it will have a huge impact on basketball practice/training in teams’ private facilities but the integration of the court in public settings might be more difficult, especially in arenas that share space with hockey teams. Plus, isn’t there always “that fan” who throws stuff on the court? If the glass court gets shattered or cracked, does the game end right then and there? But for practices, what an amazing tool to be able to draw on the court. It opens up an entire new world for the players, and back to the fans… it has the potential to enhance game day experiences with animations on the court and even changing court colors often. It can also be used for volleyball, tennis, and more, and I love the idea of not having all those boundary lines overlapping each other. We’ve all been there, right? When you’re playing a sport and its boundary lines are one color but there are lines in blue, red, yellow, green, and it takes 21 minutes to figure out if your sweet volleyball shot was in or out.

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-Out of the Wilderness