…time making things better…

Hello everybody.

First off I want to thank all of you.  From those of you who have simply stopped by once or two.  To those of you who have been in, around and have followed the ‘wordplay‘.  It hasn’t been that long since I first threw this site together, crazy to think how young the site is.  But with youth, comes a bit of maturing  and I think we’re about to see some of that here very soon.

They’re are some really cool things in store.  And to be honest, I can’t wait to get them out of my head and onto the web so you guys can enjoy them.  At this point the recent brainstorming has taken on a whole new life of it’s own; and that in itself has been very interesting to see.  I just hope you’ll like where we’re taking it.

But this is really just a quick note to let you know that ‘wordplay‘ is alive and kicking.  At present we’re setting up for the next step of it’s growth and when I say ‘we’re’ I mean all of us.  So much so, that if you guys have any comments or suggestions as to where the site should go, or maybe just an idea for a posting; send me a message at ghatton.jr@gmail.com. Let me know your thoughts and we’ll see where it goes from there.

Remember, this site is about all of us.  This site is for all of us.  So get into it.

Cheers,

g h

do something amazing today

Today’s Hero

This is today’s hero.  Actually, this could be tomorrow’s hero as well.  This kid has a gift and it’s plain to see.  I don’t know the back story.  I don’t know this kid’s name.  From what I heard about this clip, it’s from a Sixth Grade Festival that he went to.  You can clearly see his age in this video.  Okay wait. Let me stop talking, just sit back and be amazed.  I came across this video on youtube today and I can’t get enough of it.  But again, I’ll let you watch now.  Enjoy.

‘The Beautiful Game’

How amazing is it that the title to this post, ‘The Beautiful Game‘ is actually a proper synonym for the world wide game of football.  Okay, here in the states we call it ‘Soccer’, but everywhere else you go, if you speak of ‘The Beautiful Game’ people will know exactly what you’re talking about.

Actually people are going to be talking more and more about this game in the coming months.  Every four years (like the Olympics), an international tournament takes place and like the Olympics, it’s pits the best athletes of each nation against one another.  The only catch is that this event is solely dedicated to this game.  ’The beautiful game’, the game that’s loved by so many people the world over.  The FIFA World Cup is what it’s called and in 2010, the tourney will play itself out in South Africa.  Please forgive me for writing this out like I am, but I want to make this clear to those of you who don’t know what the World Cup is.  This is a huge event, the biggest event.  Forget about the SuperBowl and don’t even try to compare this to the NBA Playoffs.  The level of excitement and fan enthusiasm that is about to be put on display is rivaled by no other sporting event on this planet.  The nations of our world will be descending upon South Africa or tuning in to the watch the games unfold as they unfold.  I’d actually go out on a limb and say that the World Cup is the pinnacle of sport as we know it and/or have known it.

If you don’t believe me when I say that, just wait and see when the games kick off.  You’ll see the monumental playing fields.  You’ll see crowds at capacity.  You’ll hear the chants and singing of the winning side.  Or the curses and sharp whistles of disgust from the opposition.  The emotion is tangible.  The atmosphere surreal.  It pulls you in without you knowing it. If you’ve never followed the sport and somehow wound up at a World Cup match…being there in person could quite possibly change your life.  That’s the level of intensity I’m talking about.

The World Cup is up for grabs again ladies and gentleman.  The cool thing here is that it seems when this time rolls around, everything else in the world takes a backseat in a lot of ways.  The new commercial prepping us for the tournament takes on that concept in a real way.  And I like it.

play the spy

Sir Sean Connery as James Bond

Here’s a challenge : play the spy.  Be overly observant.  See everything that’s around you.  But do so without anyone knowing you’re doing it.

There’s always a scene in modern spy movies where the star enters a crowded room, one where he’s mostly disregarded.  The room is usually alive and the scene is quite busy.  The perfect opportunity for the hero to examine his surroundings, identifying his threats and targets.  And also to learn how to blend in with the environment without bringing attention to himself.

You should try this – just for fun.

The next time you go out with friends to dinner, to the club, to the beach, to the movies, whatever.  Go through the motions like you’ve done a thousand times before.  But this time do it with a purpose.  Try to ‘see’ what’s around.  Move in, out and around the scene that you’ve seen so many times; but try to pick out things you haven’t noticed before.

Look at the building your in, note the interior/exterior stylings, figure out it’s floor plan.

Look at the people around and see if you can read their current condition through their body language and facial expressions.  How many of them are genuinely having a good time?

Excuse yourself to the restroom or to answer a false phone call.  You can do this just to get away from where you were to view the entire environment from a different perspective.

Engage in brief conversation with a stranger – try to judge their reasoning for being there.  Keep it brief, ask for the time, or what’s good to eat if you’re in a restaurant.  Better still if you notice someone watching you doing this, act overly interested when speaking to the stranger.  The person watching may think you’re in familiar territory, which puts that person at ease with you being there.

Try to find 15 things that stand out about your visit to this place.  About the people there.  Maybe even about the group of people you’re with.  Do it all and don’t let anyone see you at work or know what you’re motives are.  The fun in this exercise is quickly realized.  Not only does it give you a new respect for something that’s long been your routine.  It emphasizes the diversities that we tend to overlook, while at the same time trains you to observe your surroundings more and more each day.  In that, everything is new again and can be more fun than the day before.

So play it cool, walk around with a bit of confidence in your step and take notes of the world around you.

silver lining’s

earth - doing more than we know

Lately on the news all we’ve heard about has been the earthquakes, the crazy weather patterns (did you know that spring has arrived 10 days early in some places…) and now Iceland’s volcano.  The volcano, epically named Eyjafjallajokull (epic because… well, try to say it correctly…one time) has caused a monumental amount of drama for the modern world.  The volcano single handedly shut down all of the air above Europe.  No air travel of any kind was to be operating until the International Air Transit Association deemed the skies safe to travel through.  The danger is in plain sight; the huge dark clouds of volcanic ash that was sent into the atmosphere by the volcano.  To put it simply, we as humans can’t breathe in the ash.  Our systems aren’t capable of doing that without violently failing.  The same too can be said about airplanes.  The plane, at speed, at altitude, fully loaded with passengers is something that you can not put to risk against failure.  With that logic, all planes were grounded.  I don’t know if this has ever happened before, on this scale it couldn’t have.  So think about that quickly. Think about the scale of what that means.  An entire continental airspace closed for DAYS.  Flying machines of all shapes and sizes on the ground and not going anywhere. Travel plans, thrown out.  Getting home on hold.  Money lost.  People upset.  Frustration building.  Impatience growing.  More money lost.  Nobody liked the situation, and it’s understandable why the wouldn’t.

But something else was happening…right in front of everyone’s eyes.

While the world was focused on how much money was being lost, and how many people where left to wait; the world (or should I say ‘the planet’) was busy conducting an experiment.  An experiment so big, that given our current lifestyle, we as a financially based and indulgent people wouldn’t ever consider trying.

With the absence of air travel, the atmosphere over most of Europe was without its daily doses of jet fuel exhaust and other pollutants.  Given the amount of planes that fly each day, you could only imagine how much of the wastes gases are produced and expelled.  So now that the she’s got us out of her air, mother earth had a chance to do what what she does.

- Have you ever noticed that after a good rain or strong wind the air is at it’s cleanest?   Yea well, some say the still air after a volcano eruption is that type of clean x10.  And I now think you know where this is going.

Today, the airways were mostly re-opened for business.  The ash levels in the atmosphere have dissipated enough to allow the planes to fly.  And so people started the process of getting there travel plans in order back on track.  But as all of this took place, reports came in from all over Europe about…the sky .

The days without air travel, met with the winds and the ash it carried through these regions, served to not only clean the air.  But to polish the sky to a point that hasn’t been seen in some time.  Click the sky a few sentences back to see Yahoo’s write-up on the topic.  This is amazing, some people cried at the sight of the skies.  Some people were mentally sent back to a simpler time.  I’m sure it was a humbling site. I mean I can only imagine what it must have looked like.  I wonder if it’s something that people are trying to conserve?  Actually I wonder how seeing that sky got into the minds of each and every person that saw it.

just an example

Let’s laugh together – the joys of creative marketing

A beautiful lady friend put me on to this commercial.  It’s an instant classic and probably a little bit old at this point.  But that’s irrelevant, this is hilarious.

HAHA, LOL, ROFL, LMAO and all that other stuff too!  Love this commercial and stoked that the bathroom is currently stocked with Old Spice.

a fly on the wall

St. Louis, Missouri.

At the airport this morning and ‘People Watching’. Seems to be the sport of choice at airports these days doesn’t it?
Yea, it does. And with the fact that the St. Louis airport has a small allotment of rocking chairs placed throughout it’s terminals; it appears I’m people watching from one of the best seats in the house.

This setting easily lends itself to these sort of quiet observations. You never really get to see this many people, from so many backgrounds in the same place. Sure, you’ll see gatherings at sporting events, at the mall, etc. But aside from the basic gathering of people, airports tend to encourage a certain eagerness in us, allow the time for us to observe and in alot of ways we seem to be on display. So while we’re waiting to take our turn in the sky, we’re almost forced to sit back and watch the endless flow of humanity. New faces from different places and the flow of this keeps it’s pace with each arrival and departure.

- The golden girls. Three silver haired ladies over there laughing and counting down to their flight to Florida.
- The elderly business man, tall, tenured, crisply groomed, fully suited, ready – almost as if he’s got an inflight business meeting.
- The athlete, music in his earphones, hat on backwards. Backpack at his feet and he’s dressed for the gym….but he’s at the airport.
- The cougar. She’s by herself, she’s older, her clothes aren’t really telling us she’s ‘comfortable’. They’re telling everyone to ‘look at her’.
- The travelling family. I don’t know the destination, but they look excited. They could be going anywhere. Dad is smiling, mom is watching the kids, all seems well.
- The librarian. She’s a bigger lady. One hand on her starbucks, one hand controlling the pages of her novel. She’s warm, her jackets atop a thin turtle neck. Her carry-on open enough to reveal two magazines, a crossword puzzle and mabye three other paperback novels.
- The co-workers. Business tripping. Excited about the prospect of travel. Visibly over excited I think, they’re talking business but, way too loud. And their outfits could have come out of a National Lampoons movie.
- The OMG. Why are you wearing that. How could you think that’s cute/appropriate. Guys and girls fill this category today.
- The co-workers part II. Professionals this time. One guy is seated, two others are standing. The conversation is quiet and between them. The seated gentleman stands and the conversation continues. This is part of their routine.
- The beauty queen. She is beautiful. She is alone, she is not speaking. The guys around her are nervous beacuse they all want to say hello, but none of them want to look like a loser. They also don’t want to get caught staring at her…like a loser.
- The internationals. Dressed a bit differently, subtlely cool, distinctly foreign. They speak to each other about something; no one around them knows what this mornings topic is. But its cool just to listen to the languge. Under all the distinct differences of this group, the tourist aspect of their time here is evident. You see, the St. Louis stuffed animal matches nothing of what you’re style suggests sir. But it’s all good.
- The rebel. Long hair, dressed to his own standards and doesn’t care how anyone sees him. His headphoens are are he’s unshaven and he finds himself a seat somewhere in the corner.
- The airport employee. Working all day, watching people go places. Some look eager to work. Others look like they’re over it.
- The male model. Or trying to be. Way too perfect from top to bottom. Hair clean and seems like it’s been professionally prepared. Clothes look as if they were purhased before he got here. Muscles decent, the tan is not what you would expect for a land locked state.
- The children. It’s early so they’re moving in slow motion. Inquistive faces still but they are content to just observe. Children learn and with the seemingly infinite stimuli of all these different types of people, watching the world around them really is all they need. Until they wake up.

This goes on all day long. But its time to board now. Thank you rocking chair but window seat 27A is waiting for me now. On the way there we see the flight crew. Seasoned travellers and friendly. They’re really just trying to make this process as easy as possible. Not only for us, but for themselves as well. Walking through 1st class now and you can just see the clean clothes of it all, the upper class as it were. And their eyes are on you as you make your way to your seat. It’s your choice to greet them with a smile or simply keep it moving. To poke fun, be selective when doing this. Or just give everyone a goofy smile and be on your way.

In the end it’s awesome to see all of these people up close and personal. So many faces, different ethnicities, different styles and professions. If you’re into it, you really get the oppurtunity to take a glimpse into the lives of the people around you. People watching is fun that way. But it’s still morning and with yesterdays heavy travel schedule, I’m opting to sleep on this flight. Just a bit further to my requested window seat at 27A and… …..well… It looks like I’m going to be pressed into my requested window for 4 hours. The guy in 27B is about 4x the size of me…

This weekend’s hero

So when you’re at the races you see all kinds of weird and interesting people doing weird and interesting things.  Girls that shouldn’t be wearing the things that they’re wearing.  Guys with tattoos of brands that they have no affiliation with or it could be as simple as a wild hair style the really catches everyones attention.  Thats the norm at the race track.  But as the weekend went on I ran into this little guy and I had to take his picture.

Kids are awesome in a lot of ways, but one thing that’s really cool about kids is that they really don’t need help to have fun.  This world is fun for them and the more we show them that, the more they believe it.  To be honest how they see it is pretty accurate to how it should be.  Okay sure, responsibilities and obligations come into play as we get older but where do some of us lose the idea that living is supposed to be…fun?  Kids bring us back to the purest points of our being because to them a smile is all their after.

So here’s this little dude. Hopping and skipping around all afternoon.  Proving to everyone you don’t need to be wearing shorts on a hot day.  Nope, all you need to do is take your shirt off.

happy as can be