Random Thoughts with Will

     When it comes to board games, Chutes & Ladders may not be quite as iconic as Candy Land or Monopoly or have as funny of a name as Don't Wake Daddy, it is a board game that just about every child has played at one point or another. With Chutes & Ladders, getting to the top to win the game is often filled with the highs of moving on up and the lows of moving on down. Landing on the right square can put one at the top in an instant. Conversely, one can work one's way all the way up to the top and land on the wrong square with a chute that sends one back to the bottom. At the end of the game though, each player is further along than when they started, even if they didn't win.      Over the course of this year, I've found that life and improvement are more like Chutes & Ladders (or most children's board games) than I realized. With life, we can be taking steps in the right direction and feel like we're growing...only for us to hit a "chute&quo

     When you watch enough Disney movies, you'll notice that most inevitably feature a "villain song". Sometimes this song is more lighthearted, like when Le Fou sings "Gaston" to cheer up his friend. Other songs are about the villain deceiving the protagonist, like Ursula's "Poor, Unfortunate, Souls", Kaa's "Trust in Me", or Mother Gothel's "Mother Knows Best". Come to think of it, there's even the rather dark and disturbing song "Hellfire" sung by Frollo which is...well, different. Then, of course, there's the epitome of Disney villain songs (in my opinion), one that cuts to the chase and explain the villain's plot: "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. In "Be Prepared", Scar outlines his plan to kill Mufasa and Simba to the hyenas and enlists their help. As the song suggests, he's telling them to be prepared for what's to come: a coup that will make him king.      While

     In a classic early season episode of Arthur , Arthur and his fellow classmates partake in "TV Free Week," agreeing to go a week without watching television. Over the course of the week, Arthur, his family, and his best friend Buster find it really hard to go the week without watching any television (I suppose if this episode were made today it would be about going a week without using social media or a streaming service, but I digress). As Arthur and Buster are on the final night of TV Free Week, they both happen to find themselves outside a friend's house so that they can watch a TV movie special. Just as Buster approaches the doorsteps and is ready to knock, Arthur realizes how close he and Buster - not to their friend's house, but to going a whole week without watching TV. They resolve to stay true to their pledge and go the park instead.      Arthur and Buster found that it was really hard to go a week without TV, but found it gratifying that they were able

      Over the past 2 weeks, I've found myself feeling a sense of nostalgia for the final month and a half of college. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since I was finishing up my time at Baylor (not to mention all that has changed since then). When I look back on my final semester at Baylor, it was a semester of changes, of reflections, and a race to graduation. The final semester of college for me meant making a few defining changes in my life. Those changes included switching the track/area within my major, changing how I was spending my Saturday mornings, and changing how I was spending my Sunday mornings.      For the majority of my time in college, I was on a sales track within my major (there were also tracks in sponsorship and in CRM/analytics). Following a sales project in college and a summer internship in group sales, it became abundantly clear that sales was not the right role for me. That meant talking to my professors about it at the start of the semes

     On this day 18 years ago, Pixar's  Monsters, Inc. first premiered in theaters. I can fondly remember seeing it in theaters on its opening night at the Regal Cinemas in Short Pump. We even saw it in theaters a second time when they added outtakes to the end of the movie, which included them putting on the musical "Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me. All of that may help explain why I've been experiencing nostalgia for this particular Pixar film, one that's improved with age. Considering that I've had blog posts about fellow Pixar films A Bug's Life  and the entire Toy Story series, it only made sense to reflect on another early Pixar film (at this pace, you're up next, Finding Nemo ). Monsters, Inc. does a great job of delivering laughs (more on that later) and lessons along the way, too.      Before diving into the lessons from Monsters, Inc. , I have to give it a shout-out for its awesome opening sequence with the doors and jazz mu

       In one of the first episodes of Spongebob Squarepants  (titled "Ripped Pants"), Spongbeob's having fun with his friend Sandy at the beach. That is, until some other friends come along and make Spongebob feel inferior. When Spongebob attempts to be like them and impress Sandy, he ends up ripping his pants, leading to a chorus of laughter. Spongebob proceeds to make an act out of constantly ripping his pants, drawing laughter each time. He may not be as strong as Sandy's friends, but he's got their laughter and attention every time he rips his pants. However, as time goes on, Spongebob's act starts to wear thin on others and loses his crowd when he goes too far (he pretends to drown). Suddenly, the same act that got Spongebob laughter and attention leaves him alone on the beach, feeling like a loser.      With his ripped pants, Spongebob ran into the mistake of failing to quit while he was ahead. However, Spongebob's problem goes beyond pretending t

     This past Wednesday, I celebrated my 25th birthday. It was a nice day filled with friends, cookies, and references to Spongebob Squarepants (after all, 25 is funnier than 24). When I told people that I was turning 25, some would remark that I was turning a quarter century or that I was halfway to 50. Suddenly, 25 seems a lot older when it's framed as the quarter century mark or even as halfway to 50. With all of that in mind, it only seemed natural to offer quarter century reflections, especially on the year that was 24.     It's funny how one of the best ways that we can reflect, learn lessons and see our own growth is through our writing. We can write letters to ourselves with things we wish we had known at the time. There's a true value to remembering, something I've been reminded of all year.  We have to remember that God got us to where we are today and He will lead us to where we'll be tomorrow. We also have to remember where we came from and all that w

     If you were to watch enough Disney & Pixar movies, odds are you would notice a few tendencies among the protagonists: one, they would feel like a misfit. Two, they would long for something more - and sometimes sing a musical number about it. And three, they would pretend to be someone else. Aladdin pretended to be Prince Ali so he could be with Princess Jasmine. Mulan pretended to be a man  so she could take her father's place in the military and prove to herself that she could mount to something. Ariel pretended to be a human for a few days so that she could be with Prince Eric. Flik pretended that he found warriors for the ant colony even after they admitted they were circus bugs. Remy pretended to be part-rat and part-human so that he could live two different lives (more on Paris' finest chef later). All of this is to say, a lot Disney & Pixar films feature a protagonist wanting something more - and some of them would pretend to be someone or something else to a

     In life, there are states that no one wants to be in, including mediocrity, depression, or misery. These are places that are described as ruts, pits, no-mans' land, or rock bottom when things get really bad. To me, of all these rough states to be in, the worst of them isn't rock bottom; the worst is being in a state of misery - and being comfortable with that.      At first glance, it would appear that rock bottom is worse than comfortable misery. After all, rock bottom is rock bottom because it's the lowest point, when things can't get any worse than they already are. With that, I will concede that rock bottom is a lower point that comfortable misery - figuratively and literally. However,  rock bottom tends be more temporary. Comfortable misery tends to last longer (more on that later). Rock bottom also signals that changes need to be made and/or that help needs to be sought out.. As dark and crushing as rock bottom can be, it means taking a step to improve one&

     Last weekend, I went home to Virginia to see family. It was great to catch up with family and long time friends, not to mention experience that comfort that comes from being in the friendly confines of one's home. One other highlight of last weekend was going to the NASCAR race on Saturday night with my Dad. Over the years, we've enjoyed going to races in both Richmond and Charlotte. It's only fitting that after racing at Richmond last weekend, NASCAR is racing at Charlotte this weekend. While Richmond was short-track racing (the track is 0.75 miles long), Charlotte presents a different challenge for the drivers in the form of a "roval" (Road Course + Oval) with 17 turns and 2 chicanes.      Last year, when I watched the Charlotte roval race, I kept hearing the TV announcers say the word "chicane," not knowing what they were referring to. If anything, it kept sounding like they were about to say something else. Now, the term "chicane" is

     When it comes to finishing second, there's a few phrases that view it as nothing more than an empty consolation. There's the phrases "second is just the first loser" and "the only person who remembers who was second was the person that go". You could take that step further with Ricky Bobby's life philosophy of "if you ain't first, you're last". People want to remember winners, not the person that almost won. It can be hard enough to remember winners at times, let alone remember the runners-up. Simply put, no one dreams of finishing second. And why would they? Being second means you're not the best.      Similar to finishing second, it's safe to say no one dreams of being second, either. It's not as glamorous to be someone's right-hand man as it is to be the one in charge. There's a reason the superlative "Most Likely to Become President" exists and not "Most Likely to Become Vice President&quo

     Growing up, Labor Day was never my favorite holiday -- mainly because it marked the end of summer vacation. The day after Labor Day was always the first day of school. Naturally, when the calendar inevitably rolled around to the first Monday in September, there was a sense of sadness. It felt like I was losing not just summer, but the freedom and joy that comes with it. That sense of loss was heightened as I got older, as this meant diving straight in to homework the first week of school.      Now, in the grand scheme of things, going back to school is a fairly trivial "loss". For some, it's even considered a "win" (especially for parents). Still, it can be hard to find joy in losing - whether that's losing a game, losing money, losing one's job, losing friends, and so on. There's a reason that there's an "everyone's a winner" culture and not an "everyone's a loser" culture. Everyone wants to be a winner, not

     As the calendar turns to late August, schools start up again, and summer winds down, a new season is beginning: college football! If I were to pick a "favorite" sport, college football would hands-down be the winner.  Today marks the beginning of a new college football season, one that's colloquially dubbed "Week Zero". Most schools open up next week, but a few play today -- Florida & Miami (FL) being the headliner.      This season, college football celebrates its 150th season. It's safe to say college football has come a long way since Rutgers and Princeton first squared off in a 6-4 duel. Think about that: at one point,  in time, Rutgers was the winningest college football program! Of the 149 college football seasons, I've only been alive for a fraction of them - and have followed even less (roughly 16). Although I can't fully speak to the first 133 seasons, it's hard to imagine a college football season that's ever been - or ev

     Years ago, I had this great idea of creating a "restaurant" for my family at home and made a meal for them. A case could be made that I was most ambitious around 3rd-4th grade, but that's another story. While the restaurant was a one-off deal, it did make a comeback years later when my youngest cousins visited. My siblings and I took it up a notch this time, making it fancier -- and even performing "Be Our Guest". Between both examples, the most memorable part may have been the restaurant name, one that my sister came up with: Trust Us.      While "Trust Us" would be a horrible name for a restaurant in real-life, a case could be made that every time a person goes out to eat that they are living out "Trust Us". They are trusting that the restaurant will provide them a nice meal (or at the very least a meal that won't make them sick). When that trust gets violated, said restaurant can lose a customer. Come to think of it, maybe "