Random Thoughts with Will

     In the classic Pixar film Monsters, Inc. , Randall, one of the movie's villains, boasts to Mike and Sulley that he's going to break the all-time scaring record. When Mike declares that he and Sulley are going to break it first, Randall tells him to listen because the "winds of change" are coming. Although those "winds of change" never come to form for Randall, they do make a cameo in the prequel Monsters University years later (or years earlier, since it is a prequel to the original).      Change. There's just something about that word. Some say change is good, some say change is bad and they don't like it. I tend to be in the latter group, one that prefers the status quo who gets scared by the thought of change. After all, aren't things fine the way they are? Is there really a need to change something that's not broken? I mean, even for people that embrace change it what it means, there still is a tinge of uncertainty associated with ...

     As far as cartoon dads go, Francine's dad from Arthur is one of the best. In the words of Arthur himself, he's "pretty cool just the way he is" - he's funny, caring, a great coach, and just an all-around great guy. He once joked to Francine that his middle name is Rotten Stinkweed Spit (for context, Francine was mad at her friend Muffy and gave her that name). However, in an early episode of Arthur (you know, before they were approaching Season 22), Francine fears that her friends will think less of her when they find out her dad is a garbageman. When they do visit the dump and Mr. Frensky shows them around, the kids learn that being a garbageman can actually be pretty fun - you get to drive a bulldozer, crushing junk into small pieces, and finding all sorts of cool items. As the saying famously goes, one man's trash truly is another man's treasure.      At the end of said Arthur episode, Mr. Frensky mentions that people may one day make cities out ...

     This summer, Disney is cashing in on people's nostalgia and love for the 1990s - a live action remake of Aladdin , Toy Story 4, and a "live action" remake of The Lion King are all being released. It's a little odd to call a movie starring CGI animals live action, but I digress. Like many people, I am looking forward to all 3 movies - and for the record, Aladdin comes out May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend), Toy Story 4 comes out June 21, and The Lion King comes out July 19.      If one excludes the "Circle of Life" reprise, the final line of The Lion King (1994 film) is this: "Remember". As Simba walks up Pride Rock to claim his rightful place as the new king, Mufasa, Simba's deceased father, tells him to "remember". While Mufasa may no longer be with Simba in the literal sense, the wisdom and lessons he imparted live on with Simba, including to remember, something that we can all apply to our own lives.      There are all sorts of...

     There's a new "challenge" on the Internet lately, one that's been popping up over just about everyone's social media news feeds: the 10-year Challenge. People are posting a photo of them from 2009 versus a photo of them from 2019. I still have to remind myself that it's 2019, let alone that we're in the last year of the 2010s. It feels like the 2010s went by a faster than the 2000s, but that's another story.      Seeing all the "10 Year Challenge" posts got me thinking about how much has changed in the past. In the spirit of the 10 Year Challenge, I'll do one myself - but with a twist: a "Dear Younger Me" letter that the Will from today would tell the Will from January 19, 2009: Dear Younger Will,      As you read this, you are halfway through 8th Grade at Hungary Creek Middle School. In just a few months, middle school will be thankfully over. There's no way around it, Will: middle school stinks. I'm not writ...

     Growing up, there were 2 big shows about science geared towards kids, shows that we'd sometimes watch in school: Bill Nye the Science Guy and The Magic School Bus . It's hard to think of two more fun people to learn science from than Bill Nye and Ms. Frizzle. While Bill Nye was great to learn science from ("Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill"), today's post is going to focus on the latter, mainly because Ms. Frizzle had a memorable catchphrase.       The Magic School Bus originally started out as children's book series and later a television show on PBS (and has since been rebooted on Neftlix with The Magic School Bus Rides Again ). The show was filled with great field trips - to outer space, a haunted house, a volcano, even the inside of a student! The show was also filled with some star power - Little Richard performed the theme song, Lily Tomlin voiced Ms. Frizzle, and the likes of Dolly Parton, Dan Marino, and Alex Trebek guest starred (err, voiced) ...

     As 2018 comes to a close and 2019 quickly approaches (side note: next year is the last year of the 2010s - how crazy is that?) , I thought it best to look back on the year that was 2018 and reflect. 2017 ended with me hanging out at Dunkin' Donuts and drinking coffee...and 2018 is wrapping up with me hanging out at Dunkin' Donuts and drinking coffee. And if you've read my blog long enough, you know that I made a similar joke to that last year. Nonetheless, here are the life lessons learned this year: Life comes at you fast: Don't you wish there were a way to schedule when things would happen? That when multiple events pop up at once and require your attention, that you could postpone some of them? I found myself wishing this multiple times this year. In January, I took a quick trip to Kansas and as I was waiting for my flight to Wichita to take off, I learned of news from a friend that created sudden uncertainty for me and our other friends. It didn't help th...

     Over the past few months, I've found myself coming across songs new to me that I keep playing over and over again. That's something that I  tend to do - find a song I like and keep playing it over. At one point, this was "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 65 and more recently it was songs from La La Land . Now though, the song "How You Live" by Point of Grace has been at the top of the list.      The song "How You Live" is about, well, the importance of how we live. A lot of the lyrics talk about doing small things like using good dishes, seeing our folks more than just Thanksgiving and Christmas, or going to ball games. As someone who's a fan of the small things in life, it probably comes as no surprise that I enjoy this song. The chorus talks about take chance, a sentiment the legendary teacher Ms. Frizzle would love. Her catchphrase, of course, was "Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy". The chorus then goes on to say that when ...