Well Said Ashton... Well Said

Okay I will openly admit that I was never been a big time Ashton Kutcher fan... I didn't dislike him it's just that I wasn't going to rush out and be first in line to see a movie he did because I was such a fan. He's been entertaining so for me he fell into the category of actors that are entertaining enough that I will watch their movies but I'm not necessarily going to pay big bucks to see it at the actual theater.

I must admit... I am now a much bigger fan. I know this video has made the rounds after the Teen Choice Awards but I want to share it as well just in case you didn't see it or if you didn't watch it because you thought "Meh - why would I care what this guy has to say."

He's speaking to a demographic that is so in need of inspiration and a demographic who is so impressionable... I am really impressed with the way he took to heart that what he says has such an impact on these kids. He's frank.... He's honest... He's just a regular guy speaking from the heart and experience.

I love that he points out that he thinks that "Opportunity often looks like Hard Work." And then points out all the menial jobs he's done over his life... so often in today's "Instant Gratification" society many people forget that there's a lot of hard work to get to where you want in life.

"Opportunities Look a Lot Like Work." - Ashton Kutcher

Next quote I love...
"The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart." - Ashton Kutcher
YES! I would've thought that by now in society we'd be over the idea that it's not cool to be smart but sadly we're not over that idea. Why would you want to look like the idiot? I don't understand it! Thank you Ashton for reiterating that smart is sexy!!!

He then goes on to talk about how we can all build a life instead of just fitting inside the box that society has created. For those of you who've heard my quote from my talk in Glasgow - "Forget just thinking outside the box - throw the box away!" - you can see why this really resonates with me.

All I can say is pay attention people! This man knows what he's talking about. Heed this advice!
Haven't seen it - well check it out for yourself. Ashton says it much better than I can summarize it... (And I hope that maybe if before you didn't want to watch it now after hearing some of my comments you can't wait to watch it!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXwKGZHmDc#at=143

Ashton - you have yourself a new big time fan. I will be heading to the theaters to see your movies (and paying the premium to do so) because I believe in supporting those who make a positive difference in this world... And I am a big believer that you have made a hugely positive difference in this world with your speech.

Thank you Ashton

Bon Voyage Scott! But Guinness is NOT Happy About It!

Guinness has become very attached to many of "his mids" and "his Ensigns" but he is especially attached to his best buddy Scott.

Scott & Guinness have definitely had some fun (well at least in one of their minds it was fun) here in Annapolis.

But alas... now it is time for Scott to flee the nest and head out of Annapolis to EOD school. Yesterday we said our "good-byes" for now which were really more "We will see you soon!" because Scott will certainly be stuck seeing us for many many years to come.  Guinness knew something that he didn't like was up and he was very sad to see Scott go (even pouted extensively after Scott left!) so I promised that once Scott is settled into more permanent housing than the BOQ I will bring Guinness out to visit.

Scotty you will be missed here tremendously by all of us but we will see you soon! We wish you lots of luck! Love ya man!!!

Guinness Loves Visits from Family & Friends

We were lucky to have my "sister" Lisa & family come and visit us for a few days here in Annapolis. Guinness loves them all so much! He was very sad when they had to leave but I promised him that we would work on a visit to go see them in Indiana again soon :)

I love Facebook for the Actual Live and In-Person Connections!

I will admit it - at first I was not a fan of the idea of Facebook... then I got on it and realized that it's a pretty great way to share information and keep up with what is up in people's lives which is really helpful given how little time (sadly) we all have in life to make proper phone calls or visits to catch up. No Facebook will never replace real, live and in-person face to face time but it does help us stay connected... and sometimes it even leads to unexpected real, live and in-person face-to-face time. Let me explain...

Not once, not twice but 4 times now I have gotten to catch up with great friends in totally random places compliments of Facebook.

First instance we were in Scotland... had headed to the UK to do some space talks to schools with ISSET. At the beginning of it a few of us decided to make a stop in Scotland since we had never been. While we were there I noticed that our friends Vicki and Craig (who are from Australia and we had met in Fiji on our honeymoon) were posting about their travels and not only in the same country but were touring the same cities just 1 day ahead of us! Compliments of Facebook we were able to able to connect and meet up in person in London for dinner and a night out on the town. (Note that this picture is not from that meet-up but it is of us with Vicki & Craig!)

Next instance was probably the most bizarre of all. Last fall we were headed to Dublin to see the Navy vs. Notre Dame football game. Even though it was a heck of a trip for a weekend we were no kidding doing it in a weekend. I won't go into the gory details of how much United messed up on this one but since we had to connect in Frankfort we got stuck there for about 16 hours due to a strike by Lufthansa.  Needless to say I was a rather unhappy camper about that so I ranted about it a bit on Facebook. Boy am I glad I did... got a message back from some of our best buds Tonto & Swani that they were in Frankfort for their connection home from Russia. We did a little sweet-talking to get ourselves into the area that they were in and sat around the United Club (whatever the equivalent there was called) and caught up for a little over an hour until they had to fly to Houston.

The third instance happened in New York City. I was in NYC with my mom - Mom had never been there so I thought I would take her there for a new adventure. We had bought tickets to see "Kinky Boots" (which I still need to get off my butt and write a blog about too!) and as we were prepping to head there I saw my dear friend Gary post on Facebook a picture he'd taken and tagged as in New York City currently. I immediately shot off a text to ask if he really was in NYC to which he replied Yep! Knowing that time was of the essence I called to see what he was up to... unfortunately he was extremely busy with some Social Media Conference he was going to and was only in town for about 24 hours so sadly he wasn't going to be able to get together with us to hang out at all. It was further crazy that he was staying at the hotel that is my "usual" Times Square Hotel but we weren't staying there because by the time I had gotten around to deciding that we were going the hotel had gotten way too expensive. We ended the call both lamenting that it was too bad we were both in the same city but that our schedules just wouldn't cross. Not to be deterred I decided that I could manage to hoof it over to the bar Gary was sitting in and would have just about 5 minutes to do a Hug and run in order to get to the show on time. Gary was quite surprised when I showed up and it was great to be able to say Hi "live and in person" even if it was just a quick visit.

The latest instance just happened and it's funny because I was going to "publish" this blog before leaving for London but just never got around to writing the last of it. One of our favorite Ensigns (recent Naval Academy Graduate) was on leave and flying Space Available around Europe. Upon my arrival in London I had a Facebook message waiting for me that he too was going to be here! We had no idea!  So we managed to meet up with him at a London pub for a beer or 2! (Actually we were sad we were too busy to get to do more with him but C'est la vie!)

So while Facebook has helped me to keep up with so many people virtually perhaps what I love the most is that it's helped me connect in person with these dear friends who I might have missed seeing otherwise! Even Ken (who is seriously anti-Facebook) has to admit that it's pretty dang cool for that purpose!

Copyright Question

If there's one thing I know it's that I don't actually understand law at all! Seems like for every point in law there's another point somewhere else that may say something different....

So I have a question for my lawyer friends... or anyone in the know frankly... come to think of it my music friends may know the answer as well...

I know there is lots of sensitivity with Music Copyrights....

QUESTION - If I make a playlist to play as background music at a Mission Discovery (event with several hundred people) for when people are coming in or taking a break etc. - is there any copyright issue with this?

Pardon my ignorance but contrary to popular belief I actually do what I can to stay out of trouble when I can :)

Guinness Pictures of the Week - 7 July 2013

These just absolutely crack me up! I am sure you can imagine how much I was laughing when I took them!!

Guinness - It's been awhile since I've posted pictures

I have been so incredibly slacking lately about posting Guinness pictures... I really apologize for depriving all of you of such adorableness. To be fair I've been behind on all sorts of stuff on social media because life has just been busy busy busy.... but life is good!

Here are a few Guinness pictures to make you go awwwwwwww.....