Out of my comfort zone

Today... I was definitely out of my comfort zone. I got the call... Not an inner call from soul though. This was a call for jury duty. And I had to go downtown and sit through jury selection process for a civil court case. I wasn't selected... but it was an experience. I was impressed by the court employees efforts to make it a more or less pleasant experience. I was even impressed by the judge who made an effort to connect with the jurors during the questioning part of the selection process. The lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant... KISS UPS.

The most interesting piece is this - the defendant was Coca Cola. I was shocked. I love coke. I have many coca cola memorabilia. Even Coca Cola Christmas ornaments (I kept wondering if I should mention that). It was so surreal. The odds of me being considered for jury duty for a case involving my favorite soft-drink.... they have to be incredibly slim.

At any rate, the prospective jurors were asked a wide array of questions. Mine included... what I thought about lawsuits and what kind of art do I make. Cuz I put "Artist" for occupation. The lawsuit question was one I stumbled on. The way the lawyer asked me what I thought of lawsuits... it was so strange I didn't understand what he was asking. The third question I was asked was how I make my decisions. Which is mostly by intuition, and the times I took more analytic approaches didn't work for me. And it's over. I wasn't selected for the jury. I guess an unemployed artist who never bought a house or a car and follows his gut isn't a fit for a lawsuit. I was sent home and thanked for my service.

On the drive home the "Low Coolant" light lit up on the dashboard. That on top of a flashing "Service Engine Soon" light. Which means... a trip to the mechanic is around the corner. Specifically, I'm calling them in the morning with the hope of being able to drop it off tomorrow before they close so they can work on it on Wednesday. Another day of out of my routine... though not as dramatic as a civil court case involving my favorite soft-drink.

In awe of the Acropolis

(Photo by Jeffrey Fillion, January, 1990 Acropolis, Athens, Greece)

I went to Italy & Greece during the month of January, 1990. I saw soooo many incredible things I'd only read about or never thought about. Lately, I watch the Travel Channel... and there was a recent episode about Athens, Greece.

I remember going to the Acropolis. Standing in front of the Parthenon. My mouth open in awe. The two professors who were leading the college group I was part of... calling me to come back and listen to their lecture. Yeah. Right. I'm in front of a building thousands of years old... and they want me to listen to them flap their lips. I never took my eyes off the Parthenon as I backed away and toward the professors.

I don't have a photo scanned of the Acropolis. I did take photos... just didn't scan them. I did scan this photo. A broken statue of a male that I saw in piles of ruins around the Parthenon. If you look you can also see a horse's head on the left side.

So, the Acropolis... I'd say that it definitely ranks as one of the top ten of my own personal list of wonders of the world that I've seen.

Added a couple things to the side

Over on the right, you can see two lists I added. One is a list of my favorite comics that I currently read with links to Wikipedia articles about those comics. The other list is of books I recently read.

Just a bit more for you to know about the extraordinary fAiRy CaT...

Frightful, delightful... SNOWWWWW DAY.

Tis snowing. Tis Freezing Raining. Tis Snow Emergency.

Several inches of snow/freezing rain has fallen and continues here in Indianapolis. Schools, libraries, universities, businesses... closed. News shows few cars on the roads. Good. That makes it easier for plows and emergency vehicles. The city even retro-fitted garbage trucks with plows to keep streets clear. That makes sense since garbage pick-up would be more difficult.

I was out shoveling earlier and it was soooo quiet and serene. Just the sound of the shovel and crunch of snow/ice under my feet. It's still coming down, so more shoveling later today. But it's heavy stuff, so better to do part now and part later.

I was walking by the front living room window and something caught my eye. A squirrel's tail sticking out of the snow. Then a squirrel's head popped up, looked around... kinda like it was taking a breath before diving. Then down goes the head. Few seconds go by with just the tail... and out pops the head again. With a nut in its paws. Amazing sight. The squirrel didn't seem fazed by the snow. But it was still amazing to see. Seemed like it was perfectly natural for the squirrel... dive into the snow and come up with a nut.

My other blog...

I've added a couple posts on my other blog called Organizing Tidbits. Check it out.

Coming out... as a die-hard, anal-retentive fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes

Yup. I'm a Legion lover. It's a love affair that started way back in 1975 with this Superboy comic.

Superboy #212, October 1975.

I have managed to get virtually every comic the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared. Which is a lot. Since they've been on the comic stands in the comic stores for almost 50 years. They first appeared in the Superboy story of Adventure Comics #247, April 1958 which makes 2008 the 50th anniversary.... YIPPEE.



And now... the 10 year old boy in me who discovered the Legion back in 1975 is sooooo happy because there is a SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON starring the Legion of Super-Heroes. It started in Fall of 2006... had a few episodes followed by weeks and weeks of repeating those few episodes... AND today... less than 40 minutes from now... FINALLY... a new episode.

I woke up with a bad headache... but now... after finding out there's a new episode... life is damn sweet.

February

It's February 2, 2007. And most of the time, when a new month starts... it takes me by surprise just a bit (and often more than a bit). But... not... this... time. For some reason... this year, the end of January did not surprise me. And that... is nice.