bookmark_borderno, not yoga

I can’t concentrate for long stretches of time but earlier this week I stretched myself far more than I ever thought I could.

No, not yoga. Nor did I solve a bunch of equations using nothing but a pencil and my fingers and toes.

So what did I use my newly honed Kreskin-like abilities for?

I came in fourth at my regular poker game. This is huge since I’m usually one of the first ones out and the players (for the most part) are quite serious.

So what about that, eh?

An unrelated thing:

I just finished reading The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture by Andrew Keen.

This guy certainly has a lot to say about the how horrible the internet is: Porn! Gambling! Uninformed nutjobs! PR infiltration! Music theft! One thing’s for sure — he certainly covered a lot of ground.

I didn’t like it that much but he did (I’ll admit grudgingly) make a few good points.

Here’s an interesting piece about his book at Crowdsourcing.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to contributing to the mess created by millions of amateurs.

bookmark_bordercrash, crash/rattle, rattle/crash, BEEP BEEP

Today when I was going out for lunch with my colleagues, we walked by a day camp and the conversation turned to choosing camps for kids. Being childfree, I don’t have camp things to think about each summer (but I once did).

So what did I do this evening?

I looked up (and sang) camp songs. (The internet does allow me to pursue my myriad interests on a whim.)

Usually, I only remember the first (and maybe the second verse) of a given camp song but I can’t sing the whole thing — I used to know quite a few very well — and this kinda bugs me (since I have very little to worry about in my day-to-day life).

I’m happy to report that this evening I found a great site with a lot of lyrics to Canadian (very different than American) camp songs.

Mind you, I did not find all my favorites — does anyone remember the words to something that goes like: I’ve got four wheels and a running board/I’m a four-door/I’m a Ford/Crash, crash, rattle, rattle/Crash,/BEEP BEEP?

The best thing I found today is the song that’s the reflection of my personal philosophy.

Sing, Sing a Song

Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud, sing out strong
Sing of good things, not bad
Sing of happy, not sad

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last your whole life long
Don’t worry that it’s not good enough
For anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song

Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love that could be
Sing for you and for me

I did — I sang quite a few in the privacy of my home!

I chose to ignore the small voice (not in my head) that asked me if the kids at camp could stand my singing.

For the record, I always told the kids, “I know I can’t sing but I enjoy it. Maybe some of you think you can’t sing well either but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the singsong. It doesn’t stop me.”

…we all have a song to sing.

And that’s the corny post for today. I miss camp (and my faded youth) but maybe I can relive those feelings after I get the Bambi for my birthday.