Friday 5 Questions with Dane Jackson, the guy in charge of this blog

While you may see this as a thinly disguised attempt at covering for the fact that I don’t have an official Friday 5 lined up for today, the truth is it’s been a while since I’ve interjected my own voice on the blog. So, without further delay, here’s my Friday 5.

…awesome, I think they bought it…

Instead of asking myself questions about writing and the like, I’m going to rely on this week’s questions from this website.  Before I got the idea to use Friday 5 to interview authors, musicians, artists and the like, I was originally going to answer weekly Friday 5 Questions.  If you like that route after reading my answers, let me know in the comments below.  If I get enough traction, I may rotate each week.

I’ve delayed this blog long enough, so here goes nothing.

…and Lily makes three

Friday 5 for February 1st, 2013

Witness

1)  What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever witnessed in a public restroom?

As a teenager, I used to go to a concert venue in Pontiac, MI called Clutch Cargo’s.  When my wife and I went there for bigger concerts, there was always a guy in the restroom selling cigars, chocolates, potato chips, and other snacks.  I can understand having a bathroom attendant who gets you soap and all (but not at Clutch Cargo’s), but I never understood why we would sell this kind of stuff in the bathroom…or why Clutch Cargo’s let him do it.

2)  What’s the single most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen?

Well, aside from my wife of course, I would have to say the birth of my daughter.  In fact, we’re a couple days away from her third birthday and my wife and I have been doing a lot of reminiscing about that day lately.  Aside from her birth being the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, it was also my proudest moment as a human being.  It’s amazing how much she’s changed in three years.

3)  What random act of kindness (not perpetrated by you) have you recently witnessed?

This actually happened on Wednesday.  My wife and I were kid-less for the evening, so we went out to dinner and came home for a bit of a Breaking Bad marathon.  We pass my wife’s work on the way home.  When we did, she noticed that one of her co-workers was still at work.  It was pushing 9:00 and she decided to head in and check on him to see if he needed anything.

4)  What are the best and worst tattoos you’ve ever seen in person?

With the amount of outdoor concerts and festivals I’ve been to over the years, I’ve seen my fill.  Sadly, none that are really cool (or horrible) enough to remember.

5)  What’s the coolest act of daring you’ve ever seen in person?

Probably a Cirque du Soleil performance.  Those performers are absolutely amazing and always find a way to make me feel like a kid again.  Absolutely awe-inspiring.

A Quick Thought on Black Friday

As spending time with family, friends, and being thankful for what you have fades away with the turkey comas throughout the day, and the desire to get the best deal on Christmas presents replaces it, take a moment and remember the folks who lost everything when Hurricane Sandy hit.  As we get further removed from when it happened, I fear the devastation and aftermath gets further and further from our thoughts.  I don’t want those folks to be forgotten.
It’s fine to go out shopping tomorrow, but just remember to put things in perspective as you push and shove your way to that $100 Flat screen.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

31 Days of Lessons Learned: My Wife is one Supportive Lady

31 Days of Lessons Learned:  Day Thirty One

My Wife is one Supportive Lady

Short, sweet, and to the point tonight since all of you are either in sugar comas or tired from chasing after kids in sugar comas.

I’ve been with my wife since August 24, 1997.  I was 17-years-old and about a week away from my senior year of high school.  Due to all the moving around I did in my younger years, this was my third high school in four years.

Ten years after our first date, I married her.

Five years after that, we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary.

Through our entire life together, I don’t think I’ve had a bigger cheerleader.  Even if she thinks I’m making a bad decision, if it’s important to me, she’s 100% behind me.  This support isn’t just for the little stuff either.  If I need help, support, or just a word of encouragement, I can count on her.  That’s a cool thing to know you have.  I hope all of you can find someone just as supportive because it helps when the major decisions come up.

I’m mentioning all of this because my wife realized how important my 31 Day Blog Challenge was, so she made sure I had time to write.  Hell, she even came up with the main idea.  I was going to do 31 Days of Top Ten lists.  Instead I went with Lessons Learned, which I think resulted in compelling reading.  There were a lot of lessons I didn’t get a chance to write about, so you may see this feature come back from time to time.

Now that the blog challenge is over, it’s time for my next great adventure.  This year, I’m making a return to NaNoWriMo for the first time in about eight years.  I’m rusty when it comes to creative writing, but I need a good swift kick in the pants, and the pressure of finishing in 30 days is an intense motivator.  Plus, I know that whenever I’m missing that inner motivation, my wife is one word of encouragement away.

I may have just saved the best lesson for last.  Thanks for all your support.

Thanks babe!

My Girls

Now, a little housekeeping.  Since this a stream of consciousness type blog, expect my posts in November to be focused on NaNoWriMo and Movember (I’m doing that for the first time too).  Once we get past November, anticipate a potential format change here.  I know I won’t see the type of numbers I did in October, but I’d love to have as many of you as possible stick around now that I’m done with the blog challenge.  Use the poll below to let me know what you want to hear about the most.  I’ll put that under

For now, I’m headed to bed.  A good night’s sleep right before the first day of NaNoWriMo seems like a good idea.  Thanks again for following along these last 31 days.  Hope you stick around for my next adventure.  You can bet my wife will be right by my side…that’s for sure…

31 Days of Lessons Learned: I Can Run a Mile!

31 Days of Lessons Learned:  Day Twenty Two

I Can Run a Mile!

To most of you, running a mile may not sound like a big deal.  That’s okay.  Just know I’m extremely proud of myself.  If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’ve been struggling with my weight and I’ve recently lost 30 pounds and started a Weight Loss Class sponsored by the University of Michigan MHealthy Department.  It’s more than Weight Watchers – it’s a structured three pronged attack that focuses on exercise, nutrition and psychology.  I’ve been learning a lot in that class (and hope to share my wisdom with my family soon) and because of it, I’ve also gained some confidence.

On my way home from tonight’s class, I started thinking…  “You’re running a mile tonight.”

Not quite sure why that thought popped in my head.  The closest I’ve got to that lately are my lunchtime walks.  I couldn’t dismiss the thought though.  By the time I got home and had dinner, it was settled.  I was going to run a mile tonight.  I told my wife during dinner, then played with my daughter a bit before she went to bed.

It was time.

I grabbed my running shoes, which are stained from volunteering to be a color thrower during the Ypsilanti Color Run and went on my way.

I had my friend’s exercise mix from 8tracks playing in my ears and off I went.

I tried to keep a steady and manageable pace, but I definitely slowed down a bit towards the end.  The important thing is I never stopped and I never transitioned to walking.  Towards the end, I may have been able to go faster if I walked, but it’s the principle of the thing.

So, after 25 minutes, I did something I haven’t done in 15 years.  I ran a mile.  After my cool down, I came back inside and checked my route and found out I actually ran 1.2 miles instead of one mile.  Boo Yah!

Hopefully, this can motivate you to try something that you’ve been hoping to accomplish in your life lately.  It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

31 Days of Lessons Learned: You Haven’t Learned Your Lesson if it Keeps Getting Repeated to You

31 Days of Lessons Learned

Day Eighteen:  You Haven’t Learned Your Lesson if it Keeps Getting Repeated to You

 

Today’s lesson is short, sweet, and self-explanatory.  Remember it and you’ll go far in life, love, and all things in between.  I know this lesson well, but sometimes I just need a reminder (or a kick in the ass).

I’m not perfect, but I’m trying.

My name is Dane Jackson and I am Watching Movies in Support of Children’s Leukemia Research

When I first heard about the Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan (CLF), I thought it would be a great organization to work with.  I was always reminded of the girl in my third grade class and the hardships she had from her battle with Leukemia.  Kids are so innocent, that when I see sick kids or kids in need, it really gets to me, so I’ve always gravitated towards children’s charities.  Anything that can help a kid be a kid again is alright in my book, and the CLF does wonders for these kids.
I’m not in the best of shape (yet), so the walks and runs and such aren’t up to my speed, so the annual Fall fundraiser the CLF hosts is perfect.  They work with the Emagine Movie Theatre in Novi to put on a 24-Hour Movie Marathon.

Hollywood Nights Movie Marathon

That’s right.  To help raise money for the CLF, I’m going to watch 24 hours of cinema.  I’m not doing it alone either.  Joining me on my journey is my wife, my daughter’s Godfather, and his wife.  This will be the second time I’ve done this charity event since I heard about it in 2010 (I had to skip 2011 unfortunately).  Because I had to skip 2011, my donation goal is pretty aggressive.  I want to raise $500 for this charity.  I’m currently almost half-way there, but with less than four weeks to go, I’m starting to get nervous that I won’t reach my goal.  With all the folks who visit my blog on a regular basis, and all the folks who subscribe to it, I’m hoping you can help me with my goal.  Share my blog on Facebook; tweet my link on Twitter; +1 it on Google+; take a retro picture and tag it on instagram; share it on your Linkedin newsfeed.  Or, if you have some extra cash, you can always donate too.
Even though watching movies for 24 hours sounds like a walk in the park, let me tell you from experience that it’s a test of endurance and a constant battle to convince your mind to stay awake for one full day.  Sure, watching movies is a pretty fun way to pass the day (I am a freelance movie critic after all), but the highlight of the day was getting a tote bag with a hand-written note from one of the kids that I helped by being there.  It was a very emotional moment that my wife and I still talk about two years later.

The event is Friday, October 12th and once I recover from it that weekend, I’ll write an entire recap of the event on my blog.

Thanks much for all the help in spreading the word.  I appreciate it.  And most importantly, the kids and families in Michigan who are fighting Leukemia appreciate it.
If you’re interested in finding out more information about the event, or what your donation will go to, please click on the banner below.  Also, if you’re in Michigan, why not sign up to participate as well?  See you at the movies!

Click the banner to get to my donation page and to find out more information about the CLF

Remembering 9/11

I think we all have our own 9/11 stories.  It’s one of those moments in time that everyone will remember exactly what they were doing when those planes hit the towers.  This attack is my generation’s JFK assassination in that it will always be with us until we die.  To this day, I still think about certain aspects of 9/11,  its aftermath and how the ripple effect has been so costly to everyone directly and indirectly involved.

At the time, I was confused, angry, and scared.  I lived about 45 minutes from Dearborn, so there was plenty of speculation and fear about that because of the demographic breakdown of the city.  I wasn’t yet working in the book business, so I didn’t feel the anguish that my new found friends and colleagues in New York did, but I felt something.

While it’s not anything as horrific as others experienced on that day, I thought I’d take some time to talk about where I was when the 9/11 attacks occurred.

I was working an opening receiving shift at the Ann Arbor Kohl’s store and I had Howard Stern on the radio.  He was up to his normal breed of raunch and filth, but suddenly the mood changed and he started talking about an attack on the city.  Because I’ve never really known Stern to be a serious guy, I thought this was a radio bit.  I couldn’t believe he would joke about something like this, so I went into the office to chat with one of my colleagues about it.  Howard Stern had finally gone too far.  When I got in the office though, I knew it wasn’t a bit because one of the office workers was red and puffy around her eyes – letting me know she had just been crying.

For the rest of my shift, I worked in a daze and listened to Howard Stern.  His show turned in to a cathartic experience as he was letting his listeners just call in and talk about it.  It was almost like an on-air therapy session.  When he went off the air, I kept it on the talk radio station and just listened to hours of talk – new developments, new worries, etc.

I was in college at the time and living at the dorms, but after work, I drove home to check on my mom.  The only TV she had in the house was a ten inch TV that needed tinfoil attached to it to get a halfway decent signal.  We had it in the guest room so our guests would have something to watch.  My Mom was sitting on the bed with her face about two feet from the TV.  Her face was just covered in tears.  She told me later that she just couldn’t stop watching it.  She knew it was horrible, but she couldn’t turn away.  I sat down with her and together we watched the North Tower collapse.  We gasped in pure fear as we saw people jumping to their death in order to escape the flames.  We had a sense of utter dread and helplessness.

When I got back to the dorm that night, my girlfriend (now wife) and I slept on an air mattress on the floor.  It was hard to fall asleep though.  My dorm was in a flight path to Detroit Metro, so I was used to hearing planes all night.  There was an eerie calm and quiet that night because the FAA grounded all continental flights.  At one point in the late evening, I did hear a plane and that scared me enough to keep me up for most of the night.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, my story is vastly different than those folks who were directly affected by those three fateful flights that day, but that doesn’t mean the events of 9/11 didn’t affect me.

Today, on the anniversary of this horrible day in US history, I choose to remember and honor those we have lost because of the events of 9/11.

This is my story.  What’s yours?

Quick Update

Greetings!

You’ll notice a few cosmetic changes on the blog over the next couple of days while I work on making it a better experience for you and for me.  I’ll also start incorporating more aspects of my “Dane Reviews the World” blog here as well since I miss reviews.

 

The Lost Art of the Mix Tape

I saw a picture with a cassette tape and a pencil on Facebook the other day and it made me think about all the amazing mix tapes I made as a teenager.  There was definitely an art to the mix tape:  managing theme throughout, track lengths, making sure a song didn’t cut off mid way when you were getting closer to the end of the side.  And, if you needed to do a little mix tape surgery, then a #2 pencil and scotch tape could be your best friend.

With the digitization of music, the art of the mix tape has been lost.  Sure, you can make “playlists” but that sense of song discovery when someone gives you an unlabelled mix tape is basically gone.

Until my friend show me a website called 8tracks.  It’s about as close as you’re going to get to the joys of mix tapes.  In fact, I’ve even found my love for mix tapes renewed.  I’ve made four so far, I have one almost done, and I have another brewing.  I feel so passionate about music again.

If you want to check out my 8tracks mixes, here’s my user profile link – Dane’s 8tracks mixes

A Quick Note on My Hiatus

As some of you may have noticed, my posts have become sparse as of late.  The truth is, I started a new job in October and I’ve been so geared in to being an amazing employee, that I haven’t been blogging as much.

I also think the fact that my kid is now past two and in total toddler mode is playing a factor as well.  Never underestimate the power of an active two-year-old to tire you out at night.

Never fear though, my blog will be back up again soon.

Until then, you can find me in the following places:

Twitter

cinemanerdz.com

And…coming soon, a Horror Blog featuring former Borders employees!

Also, if you are here because of Babel Clash, have no fear…it’s back!  Thanks B&N!

 

‘Til next time…