Money

Finding a large sum of money is like recovering a fumble in football. It is a very wily thing to come across and it could lead to many outcomes. There is always the possibility of completely changing the direction of the game, which is always what everyone hopes for when a fumble takes place. All of the sudden, players are filled with delusions of grandeur. They all want to be the one player who picks up that fumble and runs it into the end zone, winning the game for the rest of the team. They dream of scooping the pigskin up off the ground and waltzing into the end zone, with fantastically wide strides, pretending to open the football up like a can of soda and drinking its sweet, sweet juices of victory, laughing all the way to the bank.
It could be the one play that gets your team out of the slump it has been in, sending it on a winning streak all the way into the playoffs. But it's not as easy as all that. It's very risky to pick up the football and run with it all of the sudden like that. Perhaps the reason the ball fell out in the first place is because it was slippery, and perhaps it would do the same when you decide to put your mitts on it and try and carry it away. Perhaps the ball has been sighted by other players on the field, and amidst the confusion, any number of 22 players on the field would all be going for the same thing at the same time, so if and when you do eventually come up with it, they are all going to be aware that you have it, and will do the best they can to knock it from you again. Picking up a fumble could be a game-changing play either way, and it could indeed cost you the game as well.
Any coach or financial adviser will tell you that the best thing to do in a situation like this is just to fall on it. Fall on the ball. Cover it up, and make sure you are down and nobody can reach in and grab it. This is to ensure that you retain possession of the ball, no matter if it was yours before or not. At least if you grab a hold of it, you can be sure that you will keep it, and you'll have at least three fresh chances to do something productive with it. You can buy a lot with that fumble: any number of first downs, a field goal, maybe even a touchdown, maybe even a touchdown and an onside kick that results in another touchdown.
A fumble could mean victory. It could mean loss. It could just mean setback. It could mean nothing.
But the most important thing to remember when recovering a fumble is not to waste it. Don't start running with it before you have control of it. It's like taking that jackpot and putting on Red 27 right away. It's too risky. If you dive on it, you can be sure that you'll be able to keep it and spend it in a wise manner and you'll have a whole team to help you do it. So when it comes to fumble recovery or winning the lottery, play it safe, and play it with the whole team in mind, not just yourself.

Gatorade in the Shower

After a work out, I like to bring my Gatorade in the shower with me, because sometimes, I'll spill it on myself, and it'll look just like I'm in one of the commercials where the athletes are perspirating Gatorade. It looks cool. I wish I could sweat Gatorade.

Overnight

There is an old saying that is used when someone expects something too quickly, that "it doesn't happen overnight." But this saying is not entirely true. Working overnight the past five days has given me some insight into this occurrence. And that is it does happen overnight.
A lot of things happen overnight that a lot of people take for granted. Years ago it was not customary to work overnight. Labor was meant for the day and the sunlight, and night was for sleeping and resting up for the next day. Our society has moved in such a direction, that in order for advancement to take place, working in the day is just not enough, so we have the night shift for operations that are too big to devote only twelve hours to.

It has become such a way that we have expected things to happen overnight, for convenience's sake.

When I'm up at 4:00 in the morning taking a break, chowing down on McDonald's I look across the sky at the city of Quincy and I realize that most people are asleep in this town. But there is a handful of people who are up and working at this hour of the day to serve the community better. And now I'm a part of that handful. It's something to be proud of.
There's something glorious in the night shift. It's a group of unsung heroes who sacrifice their daylight for the betterment of human life around them. Whether it be helping put in a new floor at the local mall, delivering packages, sorting mail, manufacturing wheels, printing newspapers, working the drive-thru, or making sure the air base is secure, the people who are working the night shift may be making money for themselves, but they are working for you. And it all happens when you're fast asleep. It happens overnight.

To Chew

I don't care what anybody says, if you chew chewing tobacco, you're just a bad-ass. It doesn't matter what anybody says about cancer or breath problems, you may die five years earlier or be stinky your whole life, but at least you'll do it with attitude. I've seen cigarette smokers and I know cigarette smokers, but not one of them has told me that they actually like the taste of cigarettes.
I know I can't stand the smell of them, and even when I smoke the occasional cigar, I do so ever so slightly, never inhaling, and spitting the stale tobacco-flavored saliva from my mouth every chance I get. There's just no way around it, putting that chew in your mouth and having the juices soak up in there all day long says a great deal about your personality. I'll tell you, if you see some guy walking around with that pouch in the side of his lip just sitting there while he goes on doing his merry business, that is a sure-fire sign that that guy is one tough mother fucker.

The New Star Wars

Never before in the history of man has such a culture been set in place by mass media than with George Lucas' wonderful creation of the Star Wars saga. Star Wars has encompassed generations. It has been so well received over so many generations that it has become timeless. It has brought imagination to those who lacked it beforehand, it has given inspiration to creative introverts young and old, it has brought science-fiction fans right out of the closet, it has turned non-believers into active promoters of the nerd lifestyle. And for those of you who don't care about Star Wars or any kind of supernatural, "sci-fi"-type anecdotes, boo on you, because it's just a great story.
Now when George Lucas created Star Wars, he introduced it in such a way that no other director had. He started from the middle of the story. He had the idea for his cinematic spectacle all mapped out in his head, and didn't reveal his plot until it was absolutely necessary. The initial Star Wars endeavor was a huge success. It became bigger than George could imagine it, or any movie studio executive or critic could, either.
After finishing the third movie, the thrilling climax and happy ending, the tale was over, but the saga was left unfinished. With the first three Star Wars films, George Lucas left a mark on the film making industry that was unmatched by any other storyteller in cinema. He had triumphed. His movies quickly became classics and would be passed on to future generations to cherish forever. They left nerds analyzing the mythology of the story, wondering what happened before that let these amazing things take place in this mystical galaxy far, far away. And really, George Lucas could have left it as it was. He could have left people guessing and wondering without ever satisfying their curiosity. He finished the story. Everybody was happy, and he ended up with more money than God.

But, like all happy endings, they don't take place without some sort of tragedy preceding them. And in George Lucas' case, the tragedy was the last three movies that he made, which are actually the first three in the series.
When George rereleased his films in the late 90s with the special edition extras, he claimed that he had been waiting to update his movies until the technology caught up with the ideas in his head.
Personally, I love the special editions of the first three Star Wars films. I've never seen them without, and they are how I got to know and love the series. They are, I feel, in just the right state because they keep the essence of the story that everyone has come to know and love, without making them look dated.
BUT, when George Lucas released his 96% digital versions of the first three movies, he went over the line, and thus ruined his saga. With the release of the highly-anticipated Episode I, he set the precedent for what would end up being one of the biggest collective disappointments in cinematic history. He used nothing but digital cameras, introduced a 100% digital character that everyone ended up hating, disposed of the Yoda puppet that everyone loved, and essentially ran away from the roots that brought him so much success in the first place, for the sake of technology and getting his wily imagination harnessed and brought to the silver screen.

It was a big mistake for George Lucas, and Episode I quickly became the biggest letdown moviegoers would witness, that was until his latest and final installment was released earlier this year. Episode III was the biggest chunk of one the biggest stories ever told. And George had made five movies leading up to this one. There are not many filmmakers out there who are willing to make six movies all about the same thing. George Lucas is exclusive that way, his whole career is essentially based on this one story that his fans have been waiting thirty years for him to finish. Presumably, he would have put A LOT of thought and effort into the signature of his masterpiece. But, I feel like I was cheated out of the third episode of Star Wars that I feel was really necessary.
Lucas used way too much computer animation, and way too many fantastic drawings, creatures, and sound effects to satisfy the simplicity of what Star Wars once was. George Lucas turned his masterpiece, his legacy, into a proverbial Saturday-morning cartoon show (Yoda in an Air Conditioning vent? What the heck was that?!?). Star Wars, which was fantastic and wonderful and somehow relative to life on earth became totally outrageous and unfathomable. It's hard to believe that George Lucas would believe that his fan base would accept a Star Wars that ended up so far away from where it started.
It has left the films gaping with inconsistency and with far less relativity than before he finished them. The children of this generation who grew up with the Star Wars of computers and outlandish special effects will never know how Star Wars came about. They will never know how gracefully Star Wars pulled away from every other movie of its time and conquered them all. They will only know the raw sensationalism that overwhelms them in every other Hollywood movie that they see, which is quickly becoming every TV show and video game they see as well. George Lucas waited for the technology, then ran away with it, and he left the necessary facets of storytelling somewhere in the distance.
George Lucas ended his masterpiece, his crowning achievement. He ended it with gusto, with pizazz, and with millions of people watching. But what he ended up with left lots of those millions feeling empty-handed. And with a little more care, I feel that George Lucas could have left everyone with a little something, a little something that would have felt like what they already had before.