BagOfNothing.com

• If you think my writing style has changed or looks dramatically better, it’s only because of some new AI writing tools I’ve been playing with. Maybe this is an example of working smarter and not harder. Hopefully, I’m learning something as I see why the AI tool is modifying my writing to be clearer and grammatically correct. But at the same time, I want to keep my voice or writing style unique.
  • Well, that last sentence makes me want to share a few writing-related stories. I hate saying I was a poor test taker because I’m afraid it comes across as an excuse, but my SAT scores were low. When I registered for classes at HSU (they will accept anyone, I tell ya), the advisor boldly told me I had to enroll in an uncredited English course before I could take any credited English classes. My new friend Daniel, who also had to take the class, would call it Dumb English. “Hey Keith, I also have to take Dumb English.” That gave me a good laugh and a fun memory.
  • I walked into Dumb English and was given a writing assignment that had to be turned in at the end of class. If we finished early, we were asked to stay so the instructor could provide feedback. I sat down, watched the instructor read my paper, and saw the occasional brow go up. She had this puzzled look on her face. I didn’t curse back then, so my internal monologue said, “Oh crap!” She called me to her desk and asked why did I enroll in the class because, with what I just turned in, I shouldn’t be in there. I explained what happened when I registered for courses with the advisor, and she said, “Tell you what. If you write one more paper like this, you’re out of this class. You can go ahead and leave, but complete this new writing assignment and drop it off at my office before noon tomorrow.” I left class, looked for potential girlfriends on my way back to my dorm, and completed the writing assignment. The paper was put on her desk before the end of the workday. The next morning, I received a phone call asking me to go to the registrar’s office. They told me I was no longer in Dumb English (my words, not theirs), and I had to select a credited English course to attend. Only the dreaded 8:00 AM classes were available for me, who has never been a morning person. Hmmm. I just realized something as I wrote that. I often focus on the little things, maybe even make a mountain out of a molehill, that go wrong instead of all that goes well.
  • The following morning, at the ungodly hour of 8:00 AM, I’m in Mrs. Pepper’s class. No matter how hard I tried all semester, I could never get an A on any paper I wrote for her class. It didn’t matter how many times I had friends look over it or take it by the folks in the English Lab. The best I could do, and I’m serious, was a B++. She said that paper wasn’t written well enough to be an A-, but it was better than a B+, and it was the first time she ever gave a paper a B++. I think that translated to an 89.48 grade-wise. She also labeled my writing as “too folksy.” That’s one reason I hated and still hate English: it’s too subjective. Let me correct that; it’s subjective. Give me math where there is a very specific answer, one that I can work backward or use an alternative means to verify it’s correct. Wasn’t Mark Twain “folksy” yet considered one of the greatest writers?
  • You’d think I’d be done with Mrs. Pepper, but those who really know me can totally see this coming. I was so determined to prove to her I could write a paper worthy of an A that I chose to take one of her classes for my final English credit. I feared that woman would retire before I could claim victory. And did I ever get that A? You bet I didn’t. It was a hard and expensive lesson I learned. I don’t always have to prove myself to others.
  • One other story about Mrs. Pepper. She started class by reading from the newspaper. Recently, there was a terrible plane crash, and she read the transcript of the pilot and co-pilot’s last words before their peril*.
    
    She followed that up, saying, “One man’s last words was a curse word.  The other man’s last words were, ‘Oh, God.’ Would you rather your family and the entire world know your last words were a cry to God or an expletive? Live a life so pure that won’t be an option.” Hey, I chose to school at a small Baptist university. I knew what I was getting myself into, and that’s what I wanted back then. Along with an A.
• I’ve never seen the movie – Kevin Bacon says he’ll attend ‘Footloose’ high school’s final prom
  • Bacon announced this week to a gym full of students from Utah’s Payson High School, where his iconic movie “Footloose” was filmed that he will be making an appearance at the school’s final prom.
• Maybe I’m wrong, but I think a majority of Republicans dislike MTJ. She wants the new Speaker to be ousted. If that happens, I say they nominate her for the position. Of course, she’ll accept. Then, after several weeks of poor performance, they can oust her. But I doubt any of that would happen due to her party’s small majority in the House. But hey, sometimes it’s fun to think about certain scenarios.
• I don’t have much sympathy for billionaires. But sometimes people attack them for not building more wealth. I say, compare that to your own life. Is your goal in life to increase wealth or feel fulfilled? I’d say most of us, especially those who have been through major life events, will choose the latter. True or not, some folks attack Trump by claiming he hasn’t increased his wealth when you compare what he received from his father to today’s dollar. As much as I don’t like the man, he didn’t just stay home and play video games. He had fun in real estate and other ventures and was able to employ people who were able to provide for their families. When he takes his last breath, I bet he will feel he lived a fulfilled life. Isn’t that what we all want? Now, if you want to brag about something you are great at and evidence proves otherwise, the attacks are warranted. But in the end, it doesn’t matter what others think.
• Here’s something else from 1994.
  

  Deleted scene from Forrest Gump pic.twitter.com/sRoI2xoCpf

  — Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) March 24, 2024

*Yes, I specifically used “peril” because I thought it sounded folksy. Fuck you, Mrs. Pepper! And, of course, that’s not her real name. Don’t be offended; lighten up.

• A funny bit of parenting advice from a listener to the Ticket when trying to decide what a child can keep when it comes to spring cleaning – if you can tell me what is missing from your room, you can keep it.
• My streak of never filling out a March Madness bracket continues. But I do get a kick when Obama releases his every year. But have you ever wondered when filling out a bracket started or became popular? I guess it depends on how you look at the question. When was the first time a sports or competition bracket came to be, and when did the NCAA March Madness bracket become popular?
  • According to Slate, the very first bracket in a sports tournament came in 1851 at a chess tournament in London.
    • With the city hosting the Great Exhibition for British technology, English chess master Howard Staunton set out to organize the world’s first international chess tournament. In order to whittle the 16-player field down to one winner, Staunton decided to make eight pairs, with the losers of each being eliminated from contention. Instead of seeding players to decide pairings (like the modern NCAA tournament), Staunton had each draw a random lot. After the first round, the eight winners drew tickets again for fresh adversaries, all the way to the championship match.
      
  • As for NCAA March Madness, here’s a ten-year-old Smithsonian article about it:
    • The first NCAA bracket pool—putting some money where your bracket is—is thought to have started in 1977 in a Staten Island bar. 88 people filled out brackets in the pool that year, and paid $10 in a winner-take-all format. At the same bar, in 2006, 150,000 entered, and prize money exceeded $1.5 million. So much money was exchanged that the federal government took notice, and the bar’s pool went on a hiatus*. But its history serves as a concrete example of the metoric rise in the NCAA bracket’s popularity from the mid-70s to today.
    • Have you ever wondered why the idea of filling out a bracket didn’t start until the late 1970s? Basically, there are two reasons: UCLA’s John Wooden and the structure of the tournament’s complexity.
      • By the 1950s, the tournament included 23 teams and nine byes, making the prospect of filling out a bracket even more confusing than it is today.
      • Through the 1960s and the 1970s, anyone with cursory knowledge of college basketball could predict the tournament’s winner. The UCLA Bruins were the tournament’s masters, winning 10 championships in 12 years, with their first coming in 1964. “The dominance of the Bruins was so powerful that no one was talking about seeding or anything because UCLA always won the tournament, so it didn’t matter where other teams were seeded,” explains Ken Rappoport, co-author of The Big Dance: The Story of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. With the tournament a virtual cinch for UCLA, people weren’t interested in trying to predict how the tournament would go.
      • “It changed for UCLA when John Wooden retired.” In 1975, Wooden hung up his clipboard, but that wasn’t the only major change to the NCAA tournament. The tournament expanded that year to 32 teams, creating a much more user friendly, symmetrical bracket.
• Regarding what I just wrote about bracketology, I wonder if stuff like this is why you choose to keep up with this blog. Basically, something piqued my interest, so I researched it and wrote what I found most interesting. It’s a peak inside my brain and how I think. Some people are interested in that. Subconsciously, I think one major reason I created and keep updating this blog is I wish I had someone in my everyday life who cared about what I thought, and was interested enough in me that they look forward to me sharing my thoughts with them. I guess it boils down to loneliness, and this blog is my imaginary friend. Upon more reflection, I may have created this blog because it filled a need I thought others would have helped with. The blog’s name came about because when I opened up and shared with a person or two, interest in what I had to say was a little more than nothing. And thus the tagline that’s been with the blog from the start, “Because this is all I have to offer…………a whole bag of nothing.” I remember asking these people if they had ever read my blog, and they said no, which hurt my feelings because it felt like what I had to say was of no value to these particular people I sought value from. I finally asked that they keep up with it, and they did, but begrudgingly. At least I know what I now want from someone who values me.
• Ohio congressional candidate accidentally concedes race hours before the polls closed
  • The campaign for Derek Myers, a MAGA-loving House candidate in Ohio, accidentally issued a concession statement four hours before polls closed in the state on Tuesday. “Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but as we know, this race is decided in the primary,” the email read. “I want to give my congratulations to the Congressman-elect. I’m looking forward to uniting behind him and working with him to get President Trump re-elected to the White House and evicting Joe Biden.” The statement was also accompanied by a pre-recorded concession speech in which Myers declares, “As I’ve told everyone on the campaign trail, ‘I’m in my 30s and if I don’t win this race, that’s OK—because I’ve got 30 or 50 more years left.’” The Myers campaign retracted the premature announcement about 10 minutes later, subject line: “DISREGARD CONCESSION EMAIL.” In a followup state
• This is one of the major reasons why I left the Baptist, Bible, and other Evangelical churches. A few times, it cut like a knife. This one time I was visiting a very close friend and his wife at the parsonage they lived in. My friend mentioned something about my left-leaning politics and his wife gave me this confused look and said, “I didn’t think you could be a Christian and be a Democrat?” I gave her my usual response when things like this happen: a half-smile, head nod, and a silent prayer that the subject of conversation will change quickly.
  https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1770160218975949123