Tuesday, 5/10

I wonder what they're thinking about when they sit down on the bench.

Across the street from the station is the courtyard of the First Presbyterian Church. At the back of the courtyard is a bench with an American flag, some flowers, and a few other things that actually make it a little oasis of peace in the middle of a downtown.

You can see the courtyard from the front desk of the station, a place where I spend a couple of hours a day working on a few things and, I have to admit, casting covetous glances at all the people wandering around outside. Yes, I'm a little jealous of them.

But that's not the point of this blog.

Almost every day when I'm working at the front desk I see two things—I see an older woman out with whom I'm guessing is her granddaughter go into the courtyard, where Grandma sits on the bench and the toddler plays in the grass. Then they leave about 10 minutes later. Later on in the day I also see an elderly gentleman who walks into the courtyard and sits on the bench, thoughts to himself. A few minutes later, he leaves.

And since it's an almost daily habit for both of these individuals, that's why I'm wondering what they're thinking about.

In all honesty I really don't need to know what they're thinking about; as it is, I almost feel like I'm intruding on their personal moments when they go into the courtyard. But part of me wonders about the reason why. Does the courtyard give them peace? Are they connected to someone who had something to do with putting it together, and going there reminds them of that individual. Is it just a stop on a walk up & down a hill?

I don't know. And, truth be told, I don't really need to know. Over the past year I've just been noticing these (almost) daily visits, and it has piqued my curiosity, even though it's none of my business. As long as the courtyard brings them whatever peace or rest or escape from reality they're looking for, that's the important thing.

I'm glad they've found it. And now that I've noticed it, I'll try not to pay any attention to it. It is, after all, their moment.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 5/9

I shudder to think what I'll need—or even what the world will be like—in 2030.

I'm starting to think about someday replacing my 8-year old laptop. There's nothing really wrong with my current machine, other than the fact that it's running Windows 8.1 and, I'm guessing, someday soon Microsoft will stop offering updates for it. There's still more then enough hard drive space on it and it runs my video editing software like a charm, so it's not like I need a new one.

I'm just thinking about it.

I'm approaching this thinking that whatever laptop I may next get will (hopefully) last just as long as the one I'm currently using—eight years. Because of that I'd want to make sure that it has everything it'll need to fully function up to 2030 in terms of memory and processing power, but then that leads me to wonder--

Just what WILL computers be doing by 2030?

I'm sure I'm overthinking this. After all, the world hasn't technologically changed that much since 2014, when I bought my last laptop. It's still fully functional after eight years. And I'm pretty sure that whatever laptop I buy now will be just as fully functional in 2030. But there's a small part of me—a very small part, admittedly—that still thinks of a year like 2030 as “the future”, a time when cars fly, robots walk the dog, and you plug a jack into your brain to get the day's news.

Even though I know better than that.

I know computer (and all) technology will advance in the next eight years, but not so much that a laptop I get now will be obsolete by then. If anything, whatever technological advances do come will probably be most felt in the mobile area. That's where things are changing the fastest. Case in point—I'm using an eight year old laptop with no problem. My four year old phone? Not so much. I can't get many apps for it because it's “old”, I can't update the phone's web browser (once again, because the phone's so “old”) and the current browser can't handle some mobile websites, and it needs to get rebooted every few days to make sure that everything it can do is done properly.

So that's where I think technology will be changing the most by 2030. I'm sure whatever laptop I get now, especially because I don't spend 24 hours a day glued to it, will work just fine for the next eight years, and probably beyond. I'll be happy with it, I'll take good care of it and use it to its capabilities, and I'll forget all about the fact that I wondered if it would work that far into the future.

In fact, I'll probably forget all about everything like that until, in 2030 or 2031, I decide to get a new laptop/mobile computer/plug into my brain, and then start to wonder if THAT will last eight more years.

You know, until 2038 or 2039. And just think what things will be like THEN!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 5/6

You know, with everything else going on (and there has been a LOT going on) I totally forgot to update you on something. Namely, this--

The lilacs seem to be a week or two behind schedule this year, perhaps not surprising considering the awful April (at least weather-wise) that we had, but at least they're starting to stir to life. So there's hope. There's really, really hope!

8-)

Speaking of schedules, I have to scoot over to NMU to lay out the schedule for “High School Bowl” for next year in a bit. Yes, we're already starting to think about next year already, much like the lilacs are starting to think about the next few weeks.

Good thing we're all planning ahead like this, huh?

Have a great weekend. And if you can, don't forget to wish your mom a Happy Mothers Day Sunday. I know I plan on it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 5/5

I had no idea the topic would be so popular.

Two days ago in here I posted one of the “Pieces of the Past” videos I make. The same day I stuck it up on Facebook where, as I write this 40-ish hours later, it has accumulated several hundred likes, 60 shares and almost 90 comments.

Who knew so many people liked the Marquette Branch Prison Gift Shop?

And when I say “liked” I really mean “liked”. People were sharing memories about what they saw there, many even snapped and posted pictures of items they had bought, and the overwhelming majority expressed disappointment that it's no longer around.

I'm glad I could share that with them.

Of course, as with everything there's a little twist to the whole affair. As people were sharing their memories with me I realized something that, I guess, I'd never before considered. Remember in yesterday's blog when I shared a deep dark secret...namely, how I've never watched a “Harry Potter” movie? Well, here's another deep dark secret--

Do you know that I don't think I ever went to the Prison Gift Shop? Unless someone brought me there when I was a real little kid (which is, of course, a possibility) I never set foot inside the Prison Gift Shop. I mean, I probably rode past it thousands of times before it closed in 2002, but as far as I can recall I never once set foot inside.

Yup. Even though I was born here and grew up here and lived here for decades while it was open, I never once visited the Prison Gift Shop.

I'm also the only person living in our apartment that never visited the Gift Shop. Loraine has memories of stopping in there with her parents when she was young and they were driving up to Houghton to visit her aunt. She grew up 400 miles from here and visited the Prison Gift Shop. Me, who grew up four miles from the Prison Gift Shop?

Not so much.

So while a whole bunch of people are sharing their fond memories of the place with me, I've now shared that deep dark personal secret with you. I'm glad that I allowed everyone who checked out the video the chance to relive that small part of their life, even if I can't relate 100% to what they're saying and what they're feeling.

That's what these videos are all about, after all.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 5/4

Happy Star Wars Day!

Wait...you don't celebrate Star Wars Day? But it's May the 4^th...you know, as in “May the force (or, in this case, the 4^th) be with you”. You really don't celebrate?

Oh, that's right. You're normal.

8-)

Every so often when I ask a movie trivia question about a “Star Wars” film I'll get someone who has never seen one. Several times, I've had TV-6 people in the studio to shoot my “What's Up” segment and they'll admit not being a fan of the films. And over the years on “High School Bowl” I've even had one or two of the brightest young people on the planet say that they just don't get “Star Wars”.

And that kinda blows my mind. I mean, I know I'm a dork and I grew up with the original films, but in a macro sense I'm also aware that they're a cultural phenomenon. Even if you're not a fan of the films—and, apparently, there are a lot more people out there like that than I ever imagined—you're at least aware of the significance of the movie series.

You may not celebrate the holiday today, but at least you're aware of it.

But I get where some people are coming from. Obviously, I'm a “Star wars” geek  Like me, there are people who are also geeks for a series of films, but in their case they're “Harry Potter” geeks. They grew up with the books and the films, and they'll drink butter beer and play Quiddich. And when I tell them I've never seen a “Harry Potter” film and could care less about ever seeing one, they give me the very same look that I'm sure I give people who say they're just not interested in “Star Wars”.

To each their own. And, by the way, I hope you don't think any less of me because I really don't care about Harry Potter. We all have our deep, dark, secrets. I guess that's mine.

So if you celebrate today, enjoy yourself. If you don't, that's fine too. Just don't be surprised if you do hear “May the Fourth be with you” a time or two today.

Some of us just can't help ourselves.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 5/3

I'm done with them for the season, even if it (at times) seems like I've barely started yet.

I know I've been writing in here a lot about the most recent batch of “Pieces of the Past”, the history video shorts I do for the Marquette Regional History Center. Well, last night I finished putting together the 18^th (and final) one for the season, and it's engendered two feelings in me--

Yay, I'm done with them, and wait...I'm done with them already?

As I've mentioned, these little two or three (or more) minute vignettes take some work to put together. I have to figure out a topic, do research on it if need be, find visuals, write it, record it, edit it, and post it. Some of them I've done in a hour, some have taken a week. But when I look back at a calendar and realize I've been working on them since the end of January, it kind of blows my mind.

It hasn't really been three months, has it?

Yet it has. It's been over two months, in fact, since I posted the first one for the year. And in that time I've got to discover some amazing stories, interview some wonderful people, and then share the end results with everyone.

The previous two years I did these I didn't get the same feelings. I was starting to run out of ideas and was just more glad to be done with them than anything. But not this year. I don't know if it's because I've spread them out more (instead of two or three a week just doing one every five or six days) or because I've had other people on as special guests (talking about their area of expertise), but it's not the same this year. I don't feel like I'm ready to wrap up the season. I'm guessing that's a good thing, and I'm guessing that's why, when I clicked the “render” button on my editing software for that final video, it took me by surprise.

I'm actually ready to make some more.

Because I work ahead there are four more I've yet to share with the world, so I'm going to give you a sneak peek of the one that goes up later today—a very unique, very specifically Marquette story.

In fact, you may even have visited it yourself once or twice.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 5/2

Have you noticed the change?

I noticed it while walking around over the weekend. I saw moving trucks everywhere, and I also noticed that the parked cars on every single Marquette street are (slightly) fewer in numbers, as well. And over the past few nights, I’ve noticed less ruckus from noisy parties up & down my normally noisy block.

Guess that means that some NMU students are leaving for the summer, huh?

I’m always a little bummed when that happens; nothing seems to amp up the energy quotient of a city more than having thousands of college-age residents swell its population. It’s one of the things that makes Marquette Marquette, after all. I mean, can you imagine the city without all the students around? It’d be quiet, it’d be dead...

It just wouldn't be the same.

I know I’ve written in here before about some of the noises I’ve heard late at night, some of the college parties, and some of the just bizarre activities I’ve witnessed, all thanks to NMU students. But I (and don’t tell anyone this) actually do kinda miss them when they’re gone. You know how residents of places like New York or Chicago say they have trouble sleeping without the sounds of sirens in the air? It’s kinda like that with me and college students, I guess. It’s like it’s part of the area’s background noise; it just doesn’t sound “right” without it.

That being said, there will now be something about the next month or so that also makes Marquette a special place. We’re in those few “transition” weeks, the weeks between when the college students leave and the tourists start descending on our fair city en masse. It’s a few weeks for us to enjoy the fact that we have city just to ourselves. It’s a few weeks for us to do what we want when we want, and to know the only people we have to clean up after is, well, “us”.

Before you know it, it’ll be Memorial Day, when one set of our guests start showing up again. Then, in another blink of an eye, it’ll be the end of August, when our other set of guests return for another year on campus. So enjoy these few weeks. They may be fleeting, but they’re ours.

(jim@wmqt.com)