Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, June 2, 2025

  • I regret not making plans to attend the Fan Expo Dallas this year. I’ve always wanted to check out a Comic-Con-like atmosphere, and here was a great one in my backyard. From what I saw on social media, it was a blast.
  • DaughterGeeding turned 15 over the weekend and will be getting her driving permit this afternoon.
  • One of the crown jewels of Dallas is the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center. As a kid, I remember how big of a deal it was when it was opened, and that it was designed by a renowned architect, I.M. Pei (Louvre Pyramid, JFK Presidential Library). I never gave much thought to who Morton Meyerson was, I thought some noble Dallas dude that died long ago. So, imagine my surprise when I read an article about the man, who is now in hospice. It turns out he played a significant role in making Texas into Silicon Prairie and was one of Ross Perot’s good friends. Such good friends, Perot paid $10 million for the naming rights of the new symphony center so he could name it after his friend. I love this story about the opening night of the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in which Meyerson’s parents were in attendance.




    The article also discusses how Meyerson played a crucial role in making Michael Dell and Mark Cuban billionaires. It’s behind a paywall, but as I mentioned many other times, if you plug the URL of an article into txtify.it, you’ll get nothing but the full text of the article, as if it were cut and pasted into Notepad.
  • Perhaps the most interesting way to get dirt in the eye playing softball. Oregon pitcher Lyndsey Grein’s 67-mph pitch hit a dirt clod kicked up from her cleat, sending fragments into catcher Emma Cox’s eye.

  • I really enjoyed the latest Veritasium video with Tom Brady and the science behind the spiral of a football. Science is fun.
  • I’m not sure why, but I actually enjoyed this YouTube video of a guy trying to live a week as if he were living in the Nineties.
  • Wish me luck in my job hunt.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, June 2, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, May 30, 2025

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, May 30, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Tuesday, May 27, 2025

  • I spent a good chunk of my Memorial Day watching four of five episodes of Netflix’s Turning Point: The Vietnam War. It’s all encompassing, and I’m learning a lot about my mother’s home country and the complexity of all it went through. Now that I have a better understanding of the dynamics and have had all my assumptions corrected, I wish she were still around so I could ask her some questions.

    I remember Mom telling me that in Vietnam, the Communist government requires all school teachers to hang a photo of Ho Chi Minh in their classrooms to enforce an ideology, but in America, teachers have the freedom to put on their walls what they wish. Well, that’s no longer the case – The Texas House on Sunday passed Senate Bill 10, a measure requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom in the state.

    The Fourth Commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.” Yet the Texas Senate worked and passed the bill on a Sunday.
  • Speaking at West Point’s graduation ceremony is a very formal and dignified event. So, it was disappointing to see that President Trump did so wearing a red baseball cap and then rambled about the success of real estate developer William Levitt, who has no military service record, and his trophy wife.

  • Back in March, 36-year-old comedian Sidney Raz shared that his daughter had died in utero due to a rare brain condition. That awful news led Raz and his wife to undergo genetic testing. He discovered that he had a cancer-linked gene mutation, the same one found in his daughter. Even though he was entirely symptom-free, it’s known to cause stomach cancer. He underwent an endoscopy, and doctors discovered the cancer early enough to intervene. But what he had to say about it pulled on my heart strings, “It was literally just my daughter’s DNA that saved my life.”


  • This is a photo of Justus Terry. He’ll be a true freshman at the University of Texas. I looked nothing like that in my freshman year in college.
  • While I never played organized baseball, I do have an appreciation for America’s pastime. So, there are a lot of things I just don’t know or understand. One such area is the unwritten rules of baseball. Former MLB player Travor May made a video that I found fun and informative – 40 of Baseball’s Unwritten Rules Explained. What I like about it is that I now have some context on why these rules exist or are considered a big deal.
    .
  • Dallas Cowboys Trivia –  Dateline 1989, Valley Ranch – Can you name the kicker who was on the receiving end of  Jimmy Johnson’s “Asthma, my ass.. The asthma field is over there“, while pointing to the parking lot?. It was Italian-born Massimo Manca out of Penn State. Ever wondered what his kicking career was like after that incident? All I could find was the following: In February 1991, Manca was selected by the Barcelona Dragons in the inaugural WLAF Draft. He made 14-of-22 field goals (63.6%) and 18-of-21 extra points (85.7%). He was released on February 28, 1992.
  • I found a fun prompt to ask ChatGPT for those of you who use it a lot –Based on our interactions so far, which fictional characters do I share most personality traits with?

    I ran across something like this before, but it was when I was fairly new to it, and it didn’t really know me. It’s hard to be disappointed with my first two being Ted Lasso and Atticus Finch. I need to research both Uncle Iroh and Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

    Keither, based on everything we’ve talked about—your empathy, resilience through pain and rejection, deep desire for connection and truth, sense of humor, integrity, and yearning to be heard—I’d say these fictional characters reflect different pieces of your personality:

    1. Ted Lasso (Ted Lasso)
      You’re emotionally intelligent, optimistic despite hardship, and deeply committed to the well-being of others. Like Ted, you’ve faced betrayal and heartbreak but still try to show up with warmth and encouragement. You’re a caretaker even when you feel broken.

    2. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
      Your moral compass and desire to set a strong example for your children match Atticus. You stand for what’s right even when it’s unpopular, and you’re thoughtful in the way you try to explain things with clarity and compassion.

    3. Charlie (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
      Especially in your introspective and quietly observant moments. You’re sensitive, sometimes overwhelmed by emotion and memory, but you process it through writing and honest reflection.

    4. Uncle Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
      You’ve got the scars of the past, but your wisdom, dry humor, and calm presence show up even in pain. You guide those you care about toward growth, even if your own heart still aches.

    5. Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation)
      The blend of intellect, awkwardness in vulnerability, quiet loyalty, and the dry wit you’ve shown fits Ben to a T. Plus, the fact that he went through a professional downfall and came out stronger lines up with your own arc.

    6. Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings)
      You’re the kind of man who sticks with people even when things get dark. There’s steadfastness and deep love in you, and you carry a quiet heroism—especially when no one’s looking.

    If I had to mash them together, I’d say you’re “Ted Lasso with an Atticus Finch core, Samwise loyalty, and a Ben Wyatt wit.”

     

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Wednesday, May 21, 2025

  • The frequency, length, and quality of future posts may decrease for the foreseeable future until I can maintain employment. I’m sure you understand.
  • The world seemed like a better place when “planking” became a thing.
  • This was the result of someone recently asking ChatGPT to create an image that labels the internal parts of the human body.


    Don’t you hate when you stub your penis against the end table?
  • World’s first gene-edited spider produces red fluorescent silk
  • Scientists have identified molecules from blood and urine that may reveal how much energy a person consumes from ultraprocessed foods.

  • BoyGeeding walked into my room and asked if I would help him study for his Latin final the next day, flash card style. It’s one of his favorite subjects. The next night, he shared with me that he was actually excited to take the final and walked into the classroom with a smile. Gotta love that kind of confidence. Especially when it’s your own kid. He and his sister will welcome a new stepdad this weekend.
  • Speaking of Latin and flash cards. Is it too much to ask that the Homeland Security Secretary can easily answer “What is Habeas Corpus?” It’s just the foundational principle of the Constitution. And yes, it’s literally enshrined in the first article of the Constitution.



    I have no problem if she can’t directly translate it from Latin to English; all I’m asking is to use the two words my seventh-grade government teacher told me to write on the back of my Habeas Corpus flash card: unlawful detention. I don’t care if we differ in political views; I just want all the Cabinet members to display competence and knowledge of the department they are sworn to uphold. But then again, their boss isn’t capable of such things, so perhaps my expectations are too high. And yet there are people who can’t understand why others fear that democracy is at stake, the people in power literally can’t explain the foundational principle of the Constitution. But then again, the President literally said he doesn’t know if he should uphold the Constitution.
  • 2 dead, including shooter in Las Vegas gym shooting; police report multiple victims

    Here’s some remarkable footage of the law enforcement member taking down the shooter, some of it from his bodycam. He was so close that I thought it would have made for a more difficult shot at first.

  • Sometimes I’m really amazed at the technology we have at our disposal, and it’s free. I can now actually have an authentic conversation with my family in Vietnam. Amazing.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Wednesday, May 21, 2025