Tag: life

A positive message to start your weekend

Carl Setzer

Peter Dinklage, currently famous for his role as Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones spoke at Bennington College’s commencement in 2012. Here’s a nice highlight reel. 

The basic theme: Don’t Wait. Don’t wait to pursue your dreams, to take risks, to be fully alive. I also appreciate his incorporation of Beckett: “Ever tried, ever failed. No matter, try again. Fail again, fail better.” 

Now, this advice scares the crop out of me. But i know it’s true. Greatness is never achieved without facing fears, without taking risks, without facing failure. The only real failure in life is giving up, or it’s mirror image: never starting. So, don’t wait. 

https://youtu.be/aCnB9lgaCd0 

Enjoying the cherry blossoms at UW 

Carl Setzer

We wandered around campus last weekend. Stunned by the masses of tourists…I heard that there were tour buses. Very cool l guess. But out wasn’t the most lovely thing. Still, the blossoms were a lovely site. I always enjoy walking campus while they bloom. 

Another thing I enjoy about the U district: food. An interesting blend out food types, styles, ethnicities. No matter what you like, some one the ave,  most likely,  serves it there. 

I experienced so much life there, learned so much. A let part of development centred there. And I didn’t study there much. Yet I still love it, and expect I says will. 

The Evolution Of Everett 

Carl Setzer

Funny ol’ Everett. When I was a kid, I didn’t too highly of the town. Downtown felt so run down, south was over cluttered with bad signage. Not am interesting nor inspiring place. Well, it was fun to come up on the weekends and cruise. Yes, it was me and my cohort that got the cities of Everett and Edmonds to institute cruising bans. 

Today I was in the northern part of town. I now love those old homes, even with their crazy, quirky problems. 

But the town has changed, well since my teen years. That should be expected over a couple of decades. Id argue that it’s for the better. Personally, I believe Everett’s Navy Homeport is the root. Also there’s been serious effort to bring up the buildings in the downtown core. 

Seems that it’s a much more dynamic and interesting city now. Maybe not as funky and hip as parts of Seattle. And it’s a rather quiet place, especially after normal business hours. 

As I noted earlier, I think Everett has a lot of potential. There are a number of challenges ahead, but I think the city is well suited to not only “weather” them, but to thrive. 

Thinking about mortality 

Carl Setzer

This weekend I helped out at a memorial service. This was sobering for me. A young woman, a few weeks younger than me. Technically, I guess, middle-aged.

Buried a friend’s teenaged son earlier this year. Other kids, one degree of sepration from me, lost to violence. An acquaintance, who’s son is my son’s age, has a massive heart attack. Some friends fighting cancer. Powerful reminders of how fragile we actually are. How tenuous is this thing, life? So terribly precious.

Guard it well, but don’t let it squander, buried in fear. Find that blend of a well lived life and a long, joyous one. For we all end up in the box.

Make these days count!

Man, What a Weekend

Carl Setzer

This one was pretty full. Graduation parties, that was both delightful and alarming. I’ve known these kids since they were quite small. And I know that the next few years will be filled with these moments. The main shift that’ll happen going forward, though: I’ll have known the kids since they were even younger. Pretty soon, they’ll be kids that I’ve known since babies. Which will be really cool, and a big honking clue that I’m getting older…or just old.

Father’s Day was fun. One nice thing about living this close to both halves of my family; we were able to visit both sets of dads. Or, in my son’s view, grandpas.

With both elements, both days laden with hyper-sweet stuff. This morning I really felt the effects. Almost hangover-esque. Fuzzy head, weirdly tired. I gotta cut back, way back on the sugar. And, yeah, thought I need to get out and exercise more, I did manage to get some walks in. So, I really shouldn’t get too cranky.

But, yeah, I need to eat better. Now that summer is starting, I’ll start planning out meals again. The end of the school year has been nuts. Hopefully, things will settle back down.

Next up: I have some ideas of things to get done this summer. I haven’t been to the San Juans, and I’d like to ride the Centennial Trail. And a bunch of hiking. Anyway, more on that soon. If you have any ideas, though, leave notes in the comments. I’d love to hear your ideas.

Changes in Lynnwood: Bye Safeway?

Carl Setzer

A couple of years ago I noted that Albertsons acquired Safeway. And here in Lynnwood we have an intersection with one of each kitty-corner to the other. I had a hunch that one of them was doomed, most likely Safeway. To me, the store always seemed to be struggling, always rather empty.

Then I noticed “guys with signs” (a modern incarnation of the town crier?) recently. They were sharing the news the they were liquidating the whole store. So, I guess my projection was accurate. If you’re a Safeway fan, there’s the store in Edmonds off of 99 and 236th (pretty sure it’s 236th). And the one off of 148th. I don’t know about the Edmonds store, but the north Lynnwood one is a busy and vibrant place. With its relatively recent remodel, it’s a rather pleasant place to shop. Good since it helped keep it competitive when Fred Meyers opened their Alderwood Store.

I find the Lynnwood Safeway’s migration to be interesting. My first memory of the store, it was located a block east where Big Lots is now. In the 80s (I’m pretty sure) it moved to its current location. What’s interesting to me is that Office Depot went into the old Safeway building. Then a decade or so later, it moved west into the retail space right next to Safeway. So I expect Big Lots will move to the space vacated by Safeway. Well, not really, but it’s a fun conjecture.

Driving up 196th is always telling for me. I remember many old businesses. Like where Shakeys Pizza used to be. Or Pizza Hut. Then I look and try to remember what was “in that spot”. Then there’s the sadness of the now long vacant Alfy’s. A place with many memories for me, and a study in bad management. But that’s a post for another day.

Realizing I have decades of this region’s history tucked into my brain is both rather cool, and a bit alarming. I don’t feel that terribly old! But I can talk about how this city was thirty/forty years ago. I guess it’s clear this place is home for me. No complaints. Nope, not one.

Tonight and Ken Burns’ The War

Carl Setzer

Saw that it was on Netflix and, as I love Burns’ work, thought I’d watch it. Well, as it came up to Bataan, and bedtime, I opted to bail. Facing the worst humanity offers us not something to delve into before bed. For me, at least, my anxieties will go gangbusters and my sleep will be poor, at best.

This raised several memories. When a boy, living in San Miguel and later Subic Bay in the Philippines, I met several Bataan survivors. The horrors they faced aren’t academic. I saw the scars, the missing toes, the wounds. I see faces pained, decades later, when recollecting their stories. Perhaps these tales reach deeper into me than they do for others. Perhaps I’ve done well with absorbing the tao of the Buddha; compassion living deeply within me. Either way, I prefer to face the worst if humanity earlier in the day.

Last days

Carl Setzer

Sixth grade graduation fills my gaze, upon the edge of these last moments of elementary school. Then this building, about to transform, getting erased and re-written; radical transition. Changes. Our lives, constantly evolving. Sometimes these changes challenge, stress, inflicting pain.

My life brings me to this place of acceptance, I see the change as good; at least inevitable. Children excited, feeling the possibilities within their grasp. Perhaps adults long for that time of undefinedness: possibility felt boundless. Perhaps the illusion of boundlessness is preferable to the doom of definition. Only when we forget our gifts, though. Losing sight of what we give, what our community needs fills us with sadness and pain.

This future excites me, even watching elements of my youth vanish. Time absorbs all things, given enough time. Expanding over all, gently at moments, explosively at others, it always wins. Tranquility exists within, awaiting the patient grasp.

A response to When Good Enough Becomes Never Enough

Carl Setzer1 Comment

Ah, very wise words; ones which I should embrace as deeply as I can. Often, I’m absorbed into the trap of comparison, and lose sight of “enough”. Losing sight of MY goals and dreams.

This also reinforces the importance of having your own goals and dreams. Vision gives you something to focus on, pulling you forward. That’s critical to avoiding a self-pitying spiral of misery.

Here’s the original post: When Good Enough Becomes Never Enough