I just added a Facebook “Like” button to the blog.  Look at the top of the right sidebar.  If you like my site (and also have a Facebook account) you could, if you wanted to, click the “Like” button too.

If you’re wondering how to put a Facebook “Like” button on your website, it was extremely easy.  Just click here and get your code.

Every Friday The Internet Archive has “Friday Cartoons” in which they post an old vintage cartoon on their Facebook page, usually something obscure from the 1940s or 50s.  I never remember that they’re coming but they just unexpectedly show up in my Facebook feed every Friday evening.  I can’t explain why but for some unknown reason I always end up clicking on them and watching.  These are all cartoons I’ve never seen before.  For example, today’s cartoon was “Naughty But Mice” from 1947.   It seems to be a Tom and Jerry knockoff but that’s okay.  Last week was a weird one from 1950 called “Tarts and Flowers”.

Today, completely by accident, I stumbled upon a website called BarefootList.com. The website helps you come up with and track your own list of things that you want to accomplish in your life – a “before I die list”. Sort of a neat idea but I have no interest in creating a list like that. Sure I would like to travel out of my time zone again, hopefully overseas one day, but that’s about the only thing I could even think of putting on a list. Anyhow, the website has several lists of some of the most common “before I die” goals written by other people, so I thought it would be interesting to read what others wanted to accomplish in their lifetime. What I found interesting was how many “simple” and “ordinary” things I have done in my life that other people haven’t but wanted to do before they die. I guess I should still be glad for all the things I have done in my limited travels.

Here are just some of the common “before I die” goals that other have posted that I have been fortunate enough to accomplish:

Common (but apparently not for everybody):

• Climb a Mountain
• Climb to the top of a lighthouse
• Ride a Horse – didn’t like it
• Throw a Surprise Party
• Whale Watching
• Attend a Broadway Play – Les Mis – I fell asleep
• Create a Personal Website – well duh!
• Go geocatching
• Win a Photography contest
• Plant a Tree
• Find someone with the same name

Travel Related:

• Go to the top of the Empire State Building
• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge – Technically I walked halfway and then walked back
• The Liberty Bell
• The Lincoln Memorial
• Tour the Washington Monument – many times, but I’ve never been inside
• Tour the White House- I got a private behind the scene tour in 1987 where public tours aren’t allowed to go. My relative was a Congressman.
• Tour Hearst Castle – part of that 1988 teen tour
• Visit Alcatraz – same as above
• Visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame – same as above
• Visit Universal Studios – same as above
• Disneyworld – many times
• Boston – Fenway was cool

Sports:

• Rock climb
• See a NASCAR race
• Visit the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown – visited many times but I also interviewed to work there and got to go behind the scenes and downstairs to see their rare non-public collection. Awesome!
• Watch a game from a suite/skybox
• Kayak

Family:

• Marry my Sweetheart and raise a family together
• Research my Geneaology – I have hundreds of family members in my family tree program
• Research the origins of my Surname – Suss is german for “sweet” (as in candy)

Relatively Rare:

• Attend a Movie Premiere – Cars
• Be a Film Extra – Even I’m tired of mentioning this
• Be on Television – many times in promos and commercials
• Appear on the front page of a newspaper – no photo and definitely not the front page, but I have been the subject of a newspaper article

Not yet but I will:

• Attend my High School Reunion
• Be Debt Free

Last week I created my own Facebook Application using Gift Creator: SUNY Plattsburgh Gifts.

I wasn’t sure if anybody else would be interested in a Facebook application where all you do is just send little photos of SUNY Plattsburgh to your friends – an admittedly niche interest. But it turns out that many people were interested. After just one week, over 400 people have installed my SUNY Plattsburgh Gifts application (mostly alumni I presume) and have sent over 2,000 gifts so far, and counting. Cool.

In case you’re wondering, the most popular gifts (photos) sent are:

Downtown Plattsburgh – 465

Woodstocks & Pizza Bono – 242

Cold Cheese Pizza from Pizza Bono – 206

Trudging to class through the snow – 171

Hawkins Hall – 158

Burghy – 143

I think I’ll make another Facebook gifts app.

Yesterday, out of nowhere I got an email requesting to connect as a friend on Facebook. It was Scott, one of my very best friends from elementary school! Holy crap! I had gotten connection requests from old high school and college friends before, but I was pretty surprised to hear from such a good friend that I hadn’t seen or heard from him since he moved away around 1983 (age 11) around 1985 (age 13). I accepted his invite and just finished sending him an email.

So many old memories. I dug out a childhood photo album which is literally falling apart and found this ancient photo from August of 1982.

To protect the innocent, I’ll not use full last names. Yes, that skinny dork wearing the green 32 and 1970s-style short-shorts is me. Scott W. is the one in the blue adidas shirt giving me rabbit ears. Then across the top is Will A., John Paul L. (I think), and Eric F. In the middle is Dave F. and Ryan B. (dig those knee high socks), with Jon M. shirtlessly flirting to the camera. Except for one name, I remembered everybody else in this 26 year old photo. Not bad.