Ring out!

This New Year's Eve, as every, the old railroad steam engine bell in the front yard gets rung at midnight (plus or minus a few...)

Exactly five rings on the bell. Not four, not six: five.

I'm hoping that this bell will joyfully ring out what turned out to be a traumatic & difficult (yet hopeful) 2008, and ring in a happier, brighter year in 2009, with hopes realized.

And it's now that time, so... I gotta go!

D-donnnnng.

D-donnnnng.

D-donnnnng.

D-donnnnng.

D-donnnnng.

For those of you living close enough to hear it ringing out hope... and for those of you far away, but still close enough in your heart to imagine...

Here's wishing you the same. :)


in darkness a light
hope saying this year may be
all merry and bright

movement

.

giving and taking

life ebbs and flows we react

our choices add up

.

Music Reviews: Stars, All-American Rejects, Ingrid Michaelson, Colbie Caillat

Here we are at the close of 2008, and I finally have caught up with my backlog of albums to review.  Yay, I'm current!  :)

Stars - "Set Yourself On Fire":  Pretty straightforward emo music here, but done well.  Besides the usual wall of guitars, they add strings and some synth.  It comes out nicely.  And having both male and female vocalists adds some spice to the otherwise routine lovestruck & heartbroken numbers.  I first heard these guys do "My Favorite Book", which I love, so when Amazon features them, cheap... well...  it's hard to pass up.  Favorites:  Ageless Beauty, Your Ex-lover Is Dead, What I'm Trying To Say, Soft Revolution, Calendar Girl.

All-American Rejects - "When The World Comes Down":  J2 has liked these guys for a while, so when their new CD came up on Amazon.mp3 for like, two bucks... I bit.  Yes, again.  Man, this is a hot album, too - great sound and excellent production values, right up there with Maroon 5.  I can see why J2 likes them (and why he might be jealous that I have this... and he doesn't!  Ha.)  Favorites: I Wanna, Damn Girl, Mona Lisa (When The World Comes Down), Real World, Believe, Sunshine.

Ingrid Michaelson - "Be OK":  Okay, this one is from the library.  :)  I don't buy them ALL.  She was great in concert this fall when I saw her with SQ.  Such fun on stage, and got real silly with her ukulele (you hear it on several tracks, incl. the title.)  She's definitely someone I'd see again.

Several of her songs are cleverly arranged, with acapella parts in the middle, or done in a round, or with changes in tempo or rhythm, or working across her falsetto break.  Interesting to listen to; you hear a little Fiona Apple or Tori Amos in her from time to time, but always sweetly delivered.  Favorites:  the title track, Giving Up, Lady In Spain, You and I (duet with Jason Mraz), Keep Breathing (a hit from Grey's Anatomy), The Way I Am (not the original hit version, but a jazzy live acoustic version.)

Colbie Caillat - "Summer Sessions":  A little 8-song EP just released as a followup to her smash "Coco" CD.  She doubles up with that CD on only two songs, "Magic", and "Bubbly", but the rest are new.  Like the Coldplay EP followup, this one is a great little set and stands on it's own.  It's easy and summery, not pretentious, just laid-back.  I'm starting to think that these 6-8 song low key EP releases are a good idea (especially at the Amazon.mp3 $1.99 price.)  Favorites: Tell Him, Somethin' Special, Hoy Me Voy (duet with Juanes from his "La Vida Es Un Ratico" CD, which is also just great).

Post-Christmas Gifts

I know full well the sentimental value of a CD burned for you by someone close to you. Somehow the music is that much sweeter. :)

So it was pretty sweet for me that, in the last 48 hours I wound up:

1) seeing J2 playing in his car the new Augustana CD I had burned for him a few months back,

2) having V, one of my nieces, ask me for a "mix CD" of things I like ("surprise me with stuff I haven't heard", she says), and

3) fulfilling J1's request for CDs of my best Sinatra, Clooney (Rosemary, not George), and Martin (Dean, not Ricky) tunes, as well as my LaMontagne, Feist, Stereolab and Gnarls Barkley.

Aww... glad to be of service to you, kids. ;)

To do this, though, I had to go out and get a spindle full of blank CDs (I had used my last one just recently recording some French Jazz...) Found a good price on a stack of 100 TDK blanks at Office Max, $14.95. :)

But while I was out, I found a few other bargains and also solved my music storage problem (I think). My iTunes library is up to around 75 Gig now and... it's clogging up my iMac's hard drive. So... off it goes to a new external drive to play from there and give me that space back on my main internal drive.

It's been copying over now for about 3 hours... hope it plays back faster than it copies. So I guess this was a "To: Me / From: Me" gift, huh? Sort of like this "gift of self" blackberry/pineapple sherbet I'm making from the leftover buttermilk... mmmmm.

I love this website for figuring out what to do with leftovers in your kitchen. :) Just enough buttermilk left over for pancakes New Year's Day, too. But after that, it's back to normal! (For both food and exercise, hopefully. Walking again tomorrow. Maybe running??)

Sure was great to see everybody and hang out with all three generations of family. But Christmas is past now, so it's off to the airport now to send J2 back to California.

Safe travels, Kitten. Nice cooking with you! Thanks for your "gifts of self", too, and bringing my words to life. :) Can't wait to get the illustrations to the printer...

peace

.


loved ones all around
lights and songs and presents too
christmastime is here

.

Night lights

Extra lights seem so appropriate at this time of year. The nights are so long, and it's so cold. Even if the lights don't provide any real heat, they do provide warmth. :) To the spirit, anyway. And speaking of lights and spirits...



We went to the Dakota Jazz Club for the CD release party for Christine Rosholt, a local jazz diva. Cute and energetic, but a bit shy of the mark in both pitch control and stage patter. I'll see if I can find her used at Cheapo instead of new retail. ;)



Still, it's a favorite club now, and my French Fries a'la béarnaise were great as usual, as was D's squash bisque. The Hogue Columbia Valley Late Harvest Reisling dealt well with both, as well as with the desserts (maple cornbread pudding and apple/cranberry crisp with candied ginger. Oof.)

The club is just across from the big Target store in downtown, and even the store logo on the way to the parking ramp looked festive! :)



And more of the same to come this weekend, with J1 in town for a few days! Fun! Daddy-O & Kitten, bright lights, big city. ;)

Then the next night: a different kind of night lights. The kind you put on the tree; festive in a whole different way! :) It's so fun to dig out the ornaments and try to figure out where this one came from, etc. And getting new ones each year mean that some old ones have to go! The tree is only so big, you know.

Some "keep or toss" decisions are easy, but then there are some ornaments that don't look like much, are really simple, but... oh... you'd never, ever part with. Never. Can you spot one here? :)

naps (and other fleshly desires)

"...daytime sleep is like the sin of the flesh: the more you have the more you want, and yet you feel unhappy, sated and unsated at the same time."

----- Umberto Eco, The Name Of The Rose

Ha - I take this as proof of the point yesterday that delight of any sort provokes desire for more of that same delight, regardless of how it comes. Some people delight in sleep, but take it during the rightful time for wakefulness, a clear abomination against nature. ;)  I, of course, do not nap.

In the prior post I spoke of "delight in the Beloved" as potentially being found in several different kinds of objects, some of which are, I suppose, more "noble" than others (God being the most noble of all choices for the Beloved.)  Along the same lines, I suppose there are some ways of taking delight that are better chosen than others, even if the object itself is noble.   Naps, um... would not be one.  ;)

Well, the joking tone of the opening quote notwithstanding, the real admonition in it is that if your delight is in a noble object, and is legitimately experienced, then there is no unpleasant "aftertaste", as it were, no lingering tinge of frustration or disappointment or regret, no smiting of the conscience afterwards.  Both are needed.

Hm.  I get that.

In the prior post I also spoke of substitution as a way to avoid despair in the face of a seemingly permanent loss of delight in the Beloved. And since then, I ran across this quote:

"Always you renounce a lesser good for a greater; 

the opposite is what sin is."

----- Flannery O'Connor, The Habit Of Being

Hm.  I get that, too.  But... always?

I don't know.  I'll have to think on that some.

Can you always discern which good is the greater one?

Especially in the midst of a dilemma, at the moment of choice?

Desire vs Delight

Thoughts from a couple of different books in my "recreational reading" stack.  I love being between terms in grad school.  I can actually get to this stuff.

Nearly 5 years ago now I began reading a book by John Piper on how to fight for joy. I struggled with it, got about halfway through, and by Fall of 2004 I'd stopped reading it, just couldn't keep going. :( 

But since October I picked it up and am trying again. Maybe I'll make it through this time. :)

You regular readers know that I have posted a lot here in recent months about joy, and what a mystery it is for me, both to get it and keep it. I'm still not sure what it is, but from John Piper's angle what it's not... is a state of being that one achieves and then maintains.

Instead it's a spontaneous gift that comes your way. It's like the "Ah!" reaction one gets from seeing something truly beautiful, the sharp intake of breath that comes with the wonder of seeing such a lovely thing. Your desire for that wonderful experience to repeat causes you to "put yourself in the path of where delight (joy) came before", hoping for it to come again, but never being fully assured of having it.

Now, on to Piper's argument about the relationship between desire and delight:  he argues that the two are related symbiotically & experientially.  Here's how:  Let's begin with the premise that you love someone or something dearly, and that you take great joy in that person or thing. We'll call that "the Beloved." Joy, then, for Piper, is spontaneous delight in the Beloved, hoped for but never assured.

For purposes of Piper's discussion, the Beloved is God. But the concept works equally as well if the Beloved is a vocation, an avocation, a destination, an addiction, a goal/achievement, a lifestyle, an experience, a parent, a child, a lover/spouse (or some combination of all these!) So, with that as a premise,

Delight is: experiencing the Beloved (what/whomever that is to you.)

Desire is: anticipating the experience of the Beloved, looking forward to more of that same delight.

Delight is: the experience... of desire being satisfied by the Beloved.

Desire can only truly anticipate a delight that was once previously experienced.  The initial delight is always a wonderful surprise, and helps make the Beloved ... beloved.

Delight, when it finally wears off, creates even more desire. It is both cause and cure.

Now if the experience of the Beloved is over too soon, perhaps interrupted or interfered with, stopping short of satisfaction... 

desire continues unabated. 

Unabated desire, without the longed-for satisfaction of delight, leads inexorably by slow stages from dissatisfaction to disappointment to discouragement to disillusionment to despair.  The Ds.

Unless, of course... the Beloved comes and satisfies our longing once again, and turns our desire into satisfying delight as before.   :)

Or unless... we cause the Beloved to become no longer beloved in our hearts. This is one way that people cope with unfulfilled desire, a way to stop short of despair, to get off the "D" train at some earlier stop:  

convince yourself you no longer love.   :(

Or unless... we continue to love, yes, but... with a substitute in place of the Beloved.   :(

How much better, then, for desire to be met - in the Beloved! 

Even if it doesn't happen often. If it happens spontaneously at least occasionally, hope will still remain for desire to turn into delight again.  Sometime.  Maybe not soon, but sometime.  And your desire will not go unfulfilled forever.

But when the days turn into weeks, the weeks to months, the months to years, and no delight in the Beloved comes to you, what do you do?

(By the way, this is what I'm reading about in Mother Teresa's biography, Come Be My Light, her experience of the decades-long discouraging silence of her Beloved, and her struggle against despair.)



So, dear reader, what (or whom) is it that you love, such that in the Beloved you've tasted delight and have been satisfied (only to find that after the delight fades, you desire the Beloved even more?)

If you have such a Beloved in your life, and you have chosen well in that, then whatever (or whomever) the Beloved is for you... 

may you find delight in the Beloved again.. 

and again.. and again..

Music Reviews: Coldplay, Jamie Lidell, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Gosh, I suppose this should be a holiday music review, shouldn't it? 

Oh well. :)  By this time in the season, I've about had my fill of endless variations on "White Christmas" and "Little Drummer Boy." It's plenty white around here, thanks, so go sit on your rump-a-bum-bum, kid. Take a load off, and stop with the drumming already.

Coldplay - "Prospekt's March EP": Great little EP, serving as a followup to their "Viva La Vida" CD. I think I like this one better. :)  Eight songs and no clinkers, a solid coherent set.  When I have it playing, I sort of "set it and forget it", don't feel like changing what's on.  Favorites: Glass of Water, Rainy Day, Lovers In Japan (finally a remix that improves over the original!)

Jamie Lidell - "Jim": Amazon.mp3 strikes again. $1.99 for his latest CD, and yeah - great stuff. Blue eyed soul.  I first heard him doing "What's the Use?" from his CD, Multiply, and was sold. on his neo-soul style  So cool.  This CD is more of the same.  Favorites:  Another Day, Out Of My System, Little Bit of Feel Good, Green Light, Where D'You Go?, Rope of Sand.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights", "Naturally": Boy, here is where Amazon.mp3's marketing pays off. They give away a sampler from DapTone records (a neo-soul label), and wow! Who is Sharon Jones? The Dap-Kings? Man, what a sound!

She was born one year after me, and began her singing career in her late 40s. She sounds like she is right out of the 60s R&B scene.  This girl is good (for an old lady...)  Lots of relationship songs, done with sass as well as heart.  Oooh - just like good coffee, baby, she's dark, smooth and hot.  Mm, mm, mm.

So Amazon's giveaway turned into two albums sold (to me) at their regular price. And I may go back for the third. :)  Favorites: from "100", the title track, plus Be Easy, Keep on Looking.  

From "Naturally" (the better of the two CDs, I think), Natural Born Lover, You're Gonna Get It, How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?, Your Thing Is A Drag, and How Do I Let A Good Man Down? (a unique lyric about a girl saying goodbye to a guy who gives her steady love, so she can  be with a guy who thrills her soul instead.)

Each one of these CDs would be a nice surprise in your stocking.  :)

moderation

.


eat without excess
but not without enjoyment
drink similarly


.

Let's all remember this during the holidays, eh?  :)  I speak to myself here as well, given that I have a three-track party (holiday edition) to go to tonight and we're hosting a holiday open house tomorrow afternoon, and all during a winter storm advisory. Let it snow! 

(just in moderation)

Ponzi, schmonzi.

Bernie Madoff is in the news for bilking investors out of some $50B, including several charitable organizations who promised donors nice retirement incomes in exchange for their donated assets, then turned them over to people like Madoff to manage. Oops.

"I have no sympathy for Madoff," writes the NYT's Thomas Friedman. "But the fact is, his alleged Ponzi scheme was only slightly more outrageous than the 'legal' scheme that Wall Street was running, fueled by cheap credit, low standards and high greed. After all, it was legal for banks to give risky mortgages to people who couldn't afford them, bundle a group of them into bonds, and then receive premium ratings for these bonds. If that isn't a pyramid scheme, what is?"

Thanks, Tom. Couldn't have put it better myself. And if that's unregulated capitalism at work, it's time to impose some discipline from without. It's obvious they have none within.

Nor do we, who borrow beyond our means for better lifestyles, or seek "too good to be true" investment returns on blind faith.  We the people are complicit in this.

Does this hurt? (part 2)

My first post-op discussion with the knee surgeon was this morning, and it went well. Except when he insisted on pressing on a puffy spot that he thought ought not to be puffy.

Aaaaaaaa! Stop that!

He did seem remorseful, which is something, anyway.

The steri-strips came off last night. Boy, did it feel good to not have those things pulling against fabric. And to shower without them. :) The incisions are so teeny, to have caused such pain!



As to recovery, he thinks I'm ahead of schedule as to range of motion, walking without a limp, weight bearing, etc. The only concern was the size of the bruising. Must have been some internal bleeding at the upper incision (which is the only one that went through muscle.)

There is some pain still on the inside edge, so I am to keep up the double-strength Aleve, and take care to NOT to twist the knee, but keep it aligned with the leg and foot. Straight is good, twisted is not.

I've been on an exercise bike twice now, and he suggested that I try both an elliptical trainer and regular walking around the track. After Christmas I am cleared to try jogging a few laps.

Ooh! I never thought I'd be excited to be cleared to run!

good haiku is

.


stark vivid moving
picturesque symbolism
hypotyposis


.



(not the kind i write
by the way, although i think
you may have noticed)


.

:)

klister

.


crystals glittering
powder delicate and plush
prototypical


.

it's not supposed to snow when it's this cold!!

(The temperature numbers have minus signs in front!) [shiverrrr]

Yet we got 2 inches overnight, and oh - so pretty. :)



the pictures really don't do it justice.



This is the kind of snow that has such low moisture content that it simply evaporates in your hand. When we used to cross-country ski (before I got sick of hitting trees because I could never figure out how to turn), this was when the "klister wax" came out of the fanny pack.

But the snow... it's what the craft suppliers fashion their "fake snow" after, fluffy and soft. :) Except it's the real thing.

Demotivation

I'm sure this image is now making the rounds of the blogoshpere. At least for those of us bloggers who don't take themselves too seriously.

(Which I take medication for, incidentally. My body doesn't naturally produce lightheartedness, apparently, so I have to take supplements. And in my case, they really should be given to me intravenously. If I forget my daily lightheartedness dose, I tend to go off on uncontrolled binges of horribly misplaced self-importance of the maudlin self-pity variety. Not pretty.)

;)



Props to E for the idea, and to despair.com for the image. Clever.

Music Reviews: Jessie Baylin, Calexico, Copeland, Meiko

In this review, a couple of new artists (specials on Amazon.mp3) and a couple of new releases by established bands.  All good stuff.

Jessie Baylin - "Firesight":  Kind of an easy alternative country flavor to this newbie.  Not as hard-edged as Neko Case, not as poppy as KT Tunstall, not as expressive as Sheryl Crow, but probably more like the latter than anything else.  Think of the easy strum and modest rhythm of the Eagles, but with a pleasant solo female vocal instead of male harmony.  Favorites:  Was I On Your Mind, See How I Run, Not A Day More, I'll Cry For The Both Of Us.

Calexico - "Carried To Dust":  Part Gypsy Kings, part Eagles, part Iron & Wine... I love these guys.  :)  In their live show that we saw a while back, they talked about doing a song for the soundtrack of "The 3:10 to Yuma", kind of an updated version of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" theme song.  

They sure can do that style ("El Gatillo"), but a lot of other things, too.  Sometimes they sound like the soundtrack to Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" novel, if there ever was a soundtrack ("Bend To The Road").  In addition to the songs just mentioned, other favorites are:  Victor Jara's Hands,  Writer's Minor Holiday, House of Valparaiso, Fractured Air, Red Blooms.

Copeland - "You Are My Sunshine":  Kinda sleepy.  :)  Good, easy-going, chill music for a not-doing-much-day.  Their sound hasn't developed much from their earlier CDs, but... does it need to?  Favorites: Good Morning Fire Eater, To Be Happy Now, The Day I Lost My Voice, On The Safest Ledge.

Meiko - "Meiko":  Debut album from yet another young female pop vocalist, singing somewhat beyond her life experience.  She sounds a bit like Ingrid Michaelson, Colbie Caillat, etc. etc.  You know the type.  I like the type.  :)  

Poppy, fluffy, little emo-relationship songs that are sort of summer-afternoon-kicking-down-the-sidewalk sort of fare begin the album.  Nice.  Later, the keys go minor and the lyrics more thoughtful.  Also nice.   Favorites:  Reasons To Love You, Heard It All Before, Sleep, Said and Done, Under My Bed.

courage

.


determination
pressing forward in hardship
fear notwithstanding


.



"Alone of all the creeds, Christianity has added courage to the virtues of the Creator. The need for such courage began with Jesus' first night on earth, and did not end until His last."

----- G. K. Chesterton

Dealing with the Ds

to wit:

... darkness
... disappointment
... discouragement
... disillusionment
... despair



Pastor Kev, and Nate (a sometime artist, and the worship leader this week), both talked today about light breaking into darkness - which is so appropriate for this time of year as the days grow so short and the nights so long, and especially appropriate as we approach Christmas.

Kev suggested that people have two main ways of dealing with the difficulties of life, of handling the hard things that inevitably come our way (either externally through circumstances or internally through our own choices.)

One kind of person sort of refuses to think about them, tries to avoid living Thoreau's "examined life." This kind of person tries to ride above it all, not look too deeply, think positive thoughts. They are full of self-will, and are determined to make the best of their situation, even if they have to do it all themselves.

They rarely ask for help. They rarely admit shortcomings. They pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, take responsibility, and take pride in self-sufficiency. They focus on the what of life, not the why.

Another kind of person thinks to excess about the hard things in life, examines life continuously. This kind of person tends to sink under the weight it all, thinks too deeply, wallows in despair. They are full of self-pity, and wear their despair on their chest like a badge of honor, convinced they will never make it, that life will never be good.

They are painfully aware of their every single shortcoming, and think that they must pretty much deserve what has happened to them, and so search for the reasons. They focus on the why of life, not the what.

I certainly know which end of the spectrum I tend toward.

How about you?



What Kev suggested is that there is a third way, a way of balance that is neither self-willed nor self-pitiful, in fact not self-focused at all. And that third way comes into clear focus at Christmas, when God broke into a hard, cold world with a message of hope, with a light that drove off darkness (and still does.)

This third way does not deny the Ds... I can admit to my weaknesses, shortcomings and discouragements. I can say that they're real, and beyond my ability to handle. I can ask for help.

But at the same time, the third way does not give up and give in to the Ds. I can say that there is hope and help; there is light and love; there is justice and joy. I can say that life is good - worth living.

The third way says that I don't need either self-will or self-pity. I see myself accurately, and the world for what it is... I neither dwell on it, nor deny it, because I have access to (and trust in) Someone greater than me to help me make sense of it and deal with it.

I have light to help me see, and hope to help me live.

Christmas: the third way.

Healing up

...slowly but surely.

{WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES AHEAD! NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH!}  

:P



It's 5 days now since the surgery, the wounds are no longer bleeding, the swelling is down a lot. Time to take off that nasty Ace bandage and sterile dressing and go to regular Band-aids.

And a normal shower this morning! Yay! :D

I feel human again. Bruised... but human.

Going out last night (shopping, dining & a movie in Uptown) was okay.   I managed without crutches, including stairs at the theatre.  And I only had to consent to a wheelchair once!  :P  (at this massive garden center where walking the grounds would otherwise have sent me back to the hospital for sure...)

Range of motion is coming back, too. Although the inside part is still "pulling" in certain positions. But I'm going to go down to the gym today and see if I can get it to go around on an exercise bike.

Whatever that iodine-based soap is that they wash you with, it's just awful to get off. It stains your skin yellow, and is sooo sticky. Yuck-o. Makes you look jaundiced and more bruised than you really are.

Wanna see??

Of course you do.  ;)

This is the wrapped-up version, suitable for children.

Oh, but here's what's underneath... Yikes!  I think I look like one of Dr. Frankenstein's experiments. ;)

In the post-op conversation the surgeon said:

"You have a pretty good-looking knee for a guy your age."

Aww, gee, thanks, doc. I guess I have been told that they're cute, in a ruggedly masculine and hairy sort of way. :)

"No, I mean, there's no arthritis or age-related wear and tear."

Oh.

That way.

Well, I suppose it's still a compliment of sorts...

Although I have a feeling I'll never have my normal knees back again. One will have scars. :(

Accommodations

Last night was the first time I used crutches in public (and, I hope, the last.) So I happily took advantage of every available accommodation:


dropped off at the curb,

rode the elevator with the other gimps,

sat in the section for those with "special needs",

had help from the ushers,

let people open doors,

etc, etc.



The concert was terrific. :)

Harry Connick, Jr. is as smooth and hip as ever, and quite the showman. His Christmas tunes swung with his 11-piece band, but he was at his best on the 100-year-old upright grand, pounding out barrel-house blues along with a bass and a horn.

The man just IS New Orleans. :)

And weren't his sets pretty?





Love the theatre district here. Such great venues.

And it was even more fun than watching the Packers get effectively knocked out of playoff contention two days earlier. ;) Even though Lambeau is also a great venue. Wonderful seats (and good company.)



And of course, at the Orpheum you can't get a "missing man" flyover on the last notes of the national anthem. That's pretty cool.



So at least I was able to sandwich the surgery between two fun things! Makes it easier to take; not to mention memorable for something other than the pain.

And one more thing. I came back to work this morning mostly coherent, and ... what do you know? I have a new boss! (You'd think they could accommodate my temporary disability and wait until I wake up before they rearrange the furniture. But ha.. the front-line workers are rarely consulted on these matters, so just as well that I slept through it.)

That'll teach me to go into the hospital.

surfacing

.


feeling in my legs?
nothing yet but it will come
thirsty as can be


.


The last thing I remember before surgery was someone washing my knee (I suppose before they shaved it), and that the operating room was sooo cluttered! Looked like a storage room, with tables full of equipment all over. I suppose they knew what it was all for. :)

Next thing I know, a nurse is checking my vitals and asking if I was comfortable, did I want some ice chips. Yes! Please! So thirsty. mmm.

She kept pressing me on whether I was alert. I told her that a good test of that would be if I could write her a haiku on the spot about how I was feeling.

So I did. :)

She stopped asking.

Pass the painkillers, please

After undergoing a partial leg-ectomy, I'm home recuperating,
doing the crutch/ice/bandage/take-it-easy-and-elevate thing.




And oh, yeah... pain meds. :)

Soooothing pain meds.

Nighty-night.

Winter driving

... does lend a certain excitement to a road trip.


Like heading into snow nearly all the way home from Green Bay, in a rear-wheel drive car with not the greatest tires on the front. :(


I'm ready to be sedated.



Oh, yeah.. I will be. Tomorrow.

Surgery. Yikes!

insiemi

.


giorni e miglia
non possono separa
i nostri cuori


.

R.E.M., Umberto Eco, Found Magazine, M&Ms

... these were my touchstones for the last class tonight in BT501-Hermeneutics, the best session yet. :)

Finally we got around to an example of application of hermenuetics, in Mark 13. Fascinating discussion. An R.E.M song, "The End Of The World As We Know It", figured prominently in the interpretation of this apocalyptic passage (or so it's popularly taught). Connecting Mark's gospel with Isaiah as the predominant source of quotations (and interpretation) certainly led to a different view of the whole book, as well as this chapter. Hm. This needs more thought.

Then, the prof recommended an Italian literary critic and author, Umberto Eco, and his best selling novel (made into a movie in 2003), "The Name of the Rose", as an example of proper interpretation of the events (which confront and confound the protagonist in the novel), in a murder mystery set in a medieval monestary. Okay, public library, here I come! :)

Following that, during a class discussion on the use of imagination in interpretation, I suggested that the professor's ideas in this regard could be over-emphasized, and used FoundMagazine.com as an example of imagination taken to an extreme, where the reader fills in all background details (because the communicative items found are so completely disconnected from any known context.)

A couple of students immediately began browsing the site on their laptops, and wound up whispering, giggling or going "aww..."

When the prof shushed them, guess who got blamed!! Then on the break, I ran into a couple of the same classmates at the vending machines. They gushed about the website, wondered how I found it, and then asked me about the packages of M&Ms that I bring to class (one plain and one peanut package each week), my sorting them by color and writing down the numbers of each on a chart.

Apparently, the whole upper right row of girls in the class ("the girls", as they called themselves) now go buy M&Ms on the break because they see me sorting (and eating) mine, and can't stand it. They just have to have some. So they hold me personally responsible for stimulating, and causing them to give in to, their chocolate cravings. They refuse to share any guilt in the matter. It's all my fault - again!

And they were very curious about my sorting by color and my writing notes on a piece of paper. When I told them I was doing a statistical analysis of the color distribution, they said "no way!" And I said "oh yes. I'm a statistician by trade. You'd be surprised at the things I keep track of." Not that I'd ever tell them. ;)

So, back in the classroom I showed the Excel printout with the means, standard deviations, and coefficients of variation by color. They offered to buy more M&Ms (and consume them, of course) if only I would let them join the research team. Um, sorry... I work alone.

By the way, so far orange leads in the "plain" category, while green leads in "peanut", but orange shows the least amount of variation in both. Very stable color, apparently. :)

Solidarity

... took on a new meaning for me today.

The attacks in Mumbai, India were a shock, certainly. Tragic. "India's 9-11", it was called in the press (patronizingly, I think - as if India hasn't had terror attacks and bombings before 2001. They have.)

But it suddenly occurred to me Monday that - hey! We have people there! Yikes!

My company's intranet the last few days has had a terse message scrolling across the top of the home page: "Travel ban to India in effect!" Okay, yeah, but... what about the locals?

We outsource some actuarial support work to a fairly large firm there, and I'm on the phone with these people every week, I give them direction on projects. There's Jitendra (we call him Jeetu), and Mitasha, and Bani, and Nishant, and Vish(wanath), and... gosh, I KNOW these people, you know? I don't know what they look like, but I do know their voices.

Now like most Americans, I don't know Delhi from Mumbai from Bangalore from my left cheek (yes, that one.) The geography there eludes me. So I worried about them all since I heard the news. Even more since they were not on line yesterday. Why??? What's wrong???

I remember when the 35W bridge collapsed here and people I know got hold of me urgently wondering if I was okay, even though I never drove that way. But they didn't know that - they just worried, you know? Wanted to know I was all right. It was sweet, really... :)

Me too - worried about all my peeps in India (who make me get up early once a week to talk to them while in my pajamas, right before they go catch the last cab home for the night! Crazy time zones.)

Turns out that Delhi (where they are) is about 2 hours from Mumbai, and they're all fine. Good, good.

I caught Jeetu on line this morning (we have an in-house Instant Message application) and expressed my relief that he's still around! Then I asked how things were. He said people are shocked and scared, wondering if their town would be next. :(

I told him that it was just like that here after 9-11. No matter where you lived, you were scared. But their country is a big place, I said, with lots of people so probably not a lot of reason for any one person to worry, right? He agreed, and hoped their government would invest more in intelligence gathering to beef up domestic security.

Hm. Sounds familiar. Didn't seem like the right time to ask about the potential loss of civil liberties. :( That'll come soon enough.

He seemed really touched that I even cared, and even more that I could relate to his shock, anger and fear. So I wished him well, and said I hoped he could sleep okay tonight. Tomorrow AM (waaaaay too early for me) I'll talk to him in person.

Amazing how a small contact like that can bridge the gap between people, cultures and countries. Literally halfway around the world,

I have a friend - whom I've never seen.
I have a friend - who knows I care about him.
I have a friend - whom I can encourage during a crisis.

All because of technology.

Pretty amazing.

And pretty darned cool.

Wonder if he's on Facebook? ;)

Music Reviews: Ra Ra Riot, The Accidental, Snow Patrol, Derek Webb, Girl Talk

New stuff this time.  All new.

Ra Ra Riot - "The Rhumb Line":  Another bargain from Amazon.mp3.  I love these practically free CDs.  :)  And this one?  I suppose you could say that they sound like a lot of other Brit indie-pop bands, but... I like 'em. 

Wall of guitars, a cello, some thin but earnest vocals, mostly uptempo driving beats, enough minor chords to be sure you know they're not overly sappy...   like that.    :)  Favorites:  Each Year, St. Peter's Day Festival, Dying is Fine, Can You Tell, Too Too Too Fast.

The Accidental - "There Were Wolves": This is like Bon Iver meets Fleet Foxes... somewhere in Ireland.  An ethereal folk sound, coupled with decent vocals.  Not as romantically lush as Fleet Foxes, but not as gratingly spare as Bon Iver, either.  Listenable.  :)  

Favorites:  Wolves, I Can Hear Your Voice, Jaw Of A Whale, Slice Open The Day, Dream For Me, The Killing Floor, Time and Space.

Snow Patrol - "A Hundred Million Suns":  Oh yeah.  Just what you'd expect from Snow Patrol as they continue to mature.  Catchy songs, appealing pop vocals, wall of guitars sound.  More "Coldplay-ish".  Good, good, good.  So is the cover art.  :)  

I really like the whole album, but for favorites, I'd say the standouts are:  Crack The Shutters (great lyrics), Lifeboats, Please Just Take These Photos, Set Down Your Glass, The Lightning Strike (a cool track, and symphonic at over 16 min. long.)

Derek Webb - "Mockingbird":  A timely re-release of an older politically-themed, and morally-driven folk record.  This guy has a solid folk voice, and an appealing style.  The CD worked well this year because of election fervor and the multitude of moral issues of all kinds that were in play, which he somehow could credibly address.  

Favorites:  the title track, A New Law, A King & A Kingdom, My Enemies Are Men Like Me, Love is Not Against the Law, Rich Young Ruler, Zeros and Ones.

Girl Talk - "Feed The Animals":

This guy is wild-looking!  In one popular picture of him, he has 60's-long hippie-hair complete with headband, crazy wild eyes, and a mouth in an open yell so big you could get a grapefruit in there whole.  If he had a beard, he'd look like Laura Palmer's stalker in Twin Peaks.  Not a guy you'd want as your roomie.

While the music is pretty fun, and the concept is clever, I wish he'd skip his over-dubbed rap vocals.  There's no socially redeeming value in the lyrics.  At all.  The opposite, in fact.  :(

The concept is essentially high-amp DJing, creating "mash-ups":  

a crazy variety of songs, old and new, strung together with the same underlying beat structure.  Sort of an updated version of Richard Simmons' Sweating With The Oldies.  :P

Missed the concert.  Too bad for me, huh?  ;)  Guess you had to be there to understand the appeal.  Sounds like everybody got sweaty, though.  (and gettin' sweaty isn't a bad thing... as long as it's not just YOU that's gettin' that way.)  

So, favorites??  Hahahahaha.   You must be joking, right?

Stay away from me with that thing!

Hey, it's just a scope, right?

Right. A scope with a knife inside!

And another knife to make the holes so the scope can get in.

Still, I don't think I should be waking at night with visions of scalpels dancing in my head, circling 'round my left knee, sharpening themselves against each other and cackling maniacally... should I?

It wasn't too much Thanksgiving turkey or sweet potatoes, either, I'm pretty sure. Guess I'm getting nervous about knee surgery. :(

Or maybe it was the limoncello. Now THAT could be.

Which grew on people, by the way. As did the wild rice casserole. :) Plus, the wild rice passed the true test of every good casserole - it tasted even better the next day, warmed up. :)

So my offerings for Thanksgiving this year were better received than last year's Moroccan carrot soup. And there's enough wild rice casserole left over to freeze and toss into a batch of chicken soup later this winter. Yeah.



Um, back to the circling, laughing knives..

They're set to descend Monday 12/8 at noon. I really am getting nervous. Never had a surgery of any kind before. I suppose it's just the fear of the unknown.

And I know I have to do it. Ran today and it pulled the whole time. It's just been getting worse. :( Oh well, the doctor says the discomfort will be gone immediately (replaced, of course, by swelling, crutches, bandages and post-op pain.)

Got my packet of pre-op instructions in the mail today, and whenever they tell you not to eat or drink after midnight before the surgery, stop all your meds a week before, get a pre-op EKG, wash with antibacterial soap the day of, wear loose fitting clothing, have someone there to drive you home, arrange for crutches when you get there, watch for signs of addiction to the narcotics they'll give you, etc, etc., it does give one pause.

And then there's that thing about the spinal tap...

I thought that was a rock band. Um, guess not.



So here's the "before" picture.



In the "after" picture, there'll probably be one leg missing. :(

thankful

.


life runs swiftly on
take a day for gratitude
breathe a prayer of thanks


.

Sex, Greed and Apple Pie

... all came together for me yesterday.



And in case you're wondering, no! I mean all of this conceptually...

Although I will admit that the pie part was not conceptual.



Okay, you see, I'm on my way to the Seminary campus to return a couple of library books (that I actually finished. woo! I love recreational reading!), one of which was "Sex and the Soul". And as I'm driving there, I'm listening to an NPR program talking about the financial bailout and all the greed on Wall St.

Then, I get to Sem and, what's this?

A Pie Social for Thanksgiving week? You don't say! ;)

How fortuitous for me that I happen to be on vacation and can get there during the day and I happened to finish up my library books just in time for the pie soci.., I mean before the library closed for the holiday and all...

So I survey the spread and note the preponderance of apple pie. The phrase "as American as apple pie" occurs to me, and I think: yeah, just like greed and sex - part of the American cultural fabric.

Sex

This book I just read was all about how college students today deal with sexuality and spirituality, how they reconcile them (or rather... don't.) It was a fascinating (and sad) research project by Donna Freitas. She surveyed roughly 1,000 college students at various types of universities about their sexual practices and their religious practices and how they dealt with the two. The main question was: "are these two areas of your life integrated, distinct, or at odds?"

The answer is - no, not integrated (except in very rare cases). And the other two options break down cleanly by type of college. For students at Evangelical colleges (like Bethel), sex and religion interact constantly - because they are at war with each other!

For students at all other types of schools: private (like Macalester), Catholic (like Marquette) and public (like UW or U of M), the sex and religion spheres are deliberately kept separate - they have nothing to say to one another, no grounds on which to interact.

At Evangelical colleges the "purity culture" rules the day. Students are encouraged by their peers to NOT have sex, since it is seen as detrimental to relationship (with each other and with God).

At Catholic/private/public colleges the "hookup culture" rules the day. Students are pressured by their peers to have MORE sex, as hookups are seen as potentially opening the door to relationship development.

At Evangelical schools, sex is the enemy of religion and vice versa - it is a battle for purity, for both men and women.

At Catholic/private/public colleges, sex and religion don't mix. There is a sort of dissociative disorder that blocks recognition of one by the other in a person's life.

Interestingly, no interviewee who participated in the "hookup culture" actually LIKED it. Rather, they bemoaned the fact that it even exists, were personally disappointed in themselves and their participation in it, but shrugged and said "what can we do? It's how it is."

Similarly, no one embedded in the "purity culture" thought that it was a realistic or even ultimately a healthy view of sexuality (essentially denying that you are a sexual being for the sake your relationship with God and the larger religious community.) But at the same time, most Evangelical schools have no alternative to offer. Grace on THIS issue is hard to come by.

What both kinds of students have in common is this. They all:

1) invest highly in their spiritual identities (even if unaffiliated)
2) experience sexual desire, and long to act on that desire
3) highly value finding a non-sexual, fulfilling romantic relationship

and

4) don't know how to reconcile items 1-3.

Basically, the book ends without solutions. It leaves us (and the students) in tension. All students agree that once married integration is more likely. The hard part is to integrate sexuality & religion... while sexually mature and unmarried. How to do that is unknown.

Greed

It seems there is as much bemoaning in the press these days of Wall Street's "culture of greed" as there is of colleges' "hookup culture". What struck me yesterday is that the bemoaning is very one-sided.

We the people, in order to form a more perfect conscience, pretty much blame Big Finance (specifically) and Wall Street (generally) for the greed part. But we very conveniently forget that the "hookup" of borrowers and lenders is entirely consensual.

The borrowers are very interested in the lifestyle their peers are leading, and want what they have. Lenders merely take advantage of the borrowers' desire. Borrowers will go to bed with whichever lender most enhances their self-esteem and status by putting themselves in homes and cars that they can't afford.

We the people... are our own worst enemy. Greed 'R' Us, baby.

The borrowing populace complaining about the greed on Wall Street kind of reminds me of the girl who eagerly had unprotected sex with the highly desirable boy on whom she had an awful crush. She had a wonderful time and felt great about it - until she missed her period.

Then she has the audacity to blame the boy for getting her pregnant and "ruining her college and career" plans, when it was entirely consensual on both sides. She wanted him just as much as he did her. They both had options, one of which was to NOT "do this deal".

It's like the old Prairie Home Companion skit that had a Norwegian Lutheran pastor counseling a young college girl on her unplanned pregnancy: "Vell den, Yenny, if ya didn't vant to go to Minneapolis... den vy did ya get on da train?"

Borrowers don't expect an unplanned preg... I mean foreclosure, either. But if you leverage yourself right to the edge, and then unemployment strikes unexpectedly (as it did with me last year), there you sit facing the loss of your house, staring at bankruptcy because of your indebtedness.

Oops. Maybe I should have thought about that when his hot breath was on my neck and his whispers were urging me:

"no money down"
"introductory rate"
"interest only loan"
"a three year balloon"
"real estate appreciates"

Mmmhmm. Sure.

Except he didn't stick around for breakfast. Just came and went. :(



So, social commentator, did you go back for a second slice of pie?

Yes. Pecan just wasn't enough. Not with key lime also on the table.

Pecan: hearty, familiar, comforting.
Key Lime: creamy, exotic, refreshing.
Who can choose?

But I did stop at two.

Saturday is...

... concert day! :)

Or at least it was this last weekend.

Two really good ones, too. And verrrrrry different.

First up was an afternoon show at Benson Great Hall on the Bethel campus, of a 60+ voice audition-only male chorus, the Great Northern Union. Holy moly, were they good!




The material was a mix of folk songs (sea shanties, Irish & Sottish tunes), glee club and barbershop, sacred music and gospel, and some pop tunes. Their dynamic range was astounding and they had several smaller ensembles and quartets that also sang. Great, great, stuff. We'll definitely be going back again to more next year.

Next up was a very different group at a very different venue. Calexico at The Fine Line! We had seats at a table on the main floor, and now and then had to ask "standers" to move out of the table area and onto the main floor, but otherwise it was worth the extra cost.



Interesting arrangement. You pay $30 a person above your ticket to sit at a table, but then the $30 becomes a pre-paid food and bar tab you draw down during the evening. So, you just plan to eat out and a have a couple of drinks and you're good. Nice deal. The food was excellent, and large portions, so next time maybe we'll stick with appetizers or split an entree. :)



The opener was a Canadian band called The Acorn. Not bad. Nothing unique, but nothing disappointing, either.



But the headliner! Oh, were they good. Calexico's material is reminiscent of Blood, Sweat & Tears, plus the Tiajuana Brass, plus the Doobie Brothers, kind of that 70s brass/rock sound.

Then mix in the style of music that you hear on the soundtracks of Clint Eastwood and late 50's spaghetti westerns - a lonesome trail sound mixed with a Latin tinge, where the bad guys are saying "head for the border, we'll meet up in Ogales tonight and divide the loot" as they head out across the empty desert and sagebrush...

Plus you add the airy, breathy singing of Iron & Wine and the eerie feel of the Twin Peaks soundtrack, and ... it's infectious and irresistable! :) It's easy to sit and listen to, but you also want to move to it. (or at least several women did near our table. It was a bit distracting. Pleasant, yes, but... not what you came for, you know?)

Going to a couple of good concerts was nice relaxation after working hard to finish my Exegetical paper for BT501 before the deadline, and wrapping up my sermon notes for Sunday morning as well.

And today... vacation! Yay! I love taking off Thanksgiving week.

It worked out nicely that the batch of limoncello I had going downstairs (infusing lemon zest into Everclear and sugar syrup) was ready to strain and bottle today. Just in time to take to Grandma & Grandpa's on Wednesday night. :)

Didn't it turn out pretty??

It is soooo good. Mmmm.

And so good FOR you. :P

Justice

Warning! Soapbox ahead. :)

(and ha - it's not from preaching this morning, either. ;) it's from watching protesters on the street in Seattle and seeing all the "God talk" going on around the issue, with everybody claiming God for their side of the debate.)

Justice is a term that is used quite a bit in religious circles these days to emphasize God's concern for the poor and oppressed. There's even classes for it, to help people know practical ways to do justice right where they live.

Common Bible verses cited for this mandate are: Deuteronomy 24:17 "Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge", Psalm 140:12 "I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy", and Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Justice is also a major theme in the prophet Isaiah, both in scolding the people of God when they don't do justice

Isaiah 1:15-17

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.



and in the example that God will set when sending the Messiah:

Isaiah 42

1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope."




So, okay. You get the picture. God is a God of justice, and expects the same from us.

The problem is that Justice cuts both ways. It is NOT biased, it is even-handed, sometimes even negative.

Check these verses out:

Leviticus 19:15 "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."

2 Thessalonians 1:5-8 "This is proof that God is right in his judgment. He wants you to be counted worthy of his kingdom for which you are suffering. God will do what is right. He will give trouble to those who trouble you. And he will give rest to you who are troubled and to us also when the Lord Jesus appears with burning fire from heaven with his powerful angels. Then he will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus Christ."

And of course there's all those verses about the last being first and the first last. God's justice is not partial. Sometimes it's counter-intuitive. He balances things out... His way.

Oh, we prefer to have God be "just", all right, but ONLY IN THE WAYS we want justice to be done.

Watching the protesters in Seattle (both sides!) use the Bible to justify their view of what's just, it made me think:

Some God-followers believe that God executes justice only like this:

condemnation
casting away
destruction
punishment
retribution
anger
exclusivity

Some God-followers believe that God provides justice only like this:

forgiveness

caring for

salvation

mercy

comfort

love

acceptance

In the Bible, both sets of descriptors are true. Except we don't like it like that. We prefer one set over the other. We want God's justice to be like our preferred version.

Like Mark Twain said: "It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that bother me - it's the parts that I DO understand."

When we appeal to the Bible for justice, we really should appeal to ALL of what's said about it, not read selectively from one perspective or the other to suit ourselves.

God is not in the business of accommodating our preferences for a supreme being. God is who God is. We really have nothing to say.

God's justice is positive AND negative. It is:

love AND anger

mercy AND vengeance

comfort AND retribution

salvation AND destruction

caring for AND casting away

forgiveness AND condemnation

open acceptance AND jealous exclusivity

the revealing of truth AND the sending of deception

comforting the oppressed AND punishing the oppressor

There is plenty of Biblical support for all of these. There's just not a taste for all of it in us.

And the protesters on both sides of Proposition 8 showed it. I have this uncomfortable feeling that if God had chosen to intervene that day, what I would have seen was both sides of the street covered with people prostrate and hiding their faces, hearing God say

"Be silent! You call this a cry for justice? None of you are truly eager for justice, though you claim to be. You want to be proven right, and your enemies to be proven wrong. Your cries for justice are hollow and full of self. Listen! Let Me tell you what justice is..."

And someday, that's indeed what we will hear. We will hear God tell us about justice. Only it will be when our lives are in review, with God looking to see what kind of justice we really did... when we were given the chance. (Matthew 25:31-46)

God help us be just... like You.

Seattle (updated)

On one level it's "All Space Needle, All The Time."  :)

Day and night.

On another level, it's San Fransisco North, complete with hills, fog, fish market, street entertainment, coffee shops, liberals and conservatives mixing it up in public... fun!

Both D and I had been to Seattle as grade schoolers (separately, of course) for one day of a tediously long Western family trip, remembering little about Seattle, really, and a lot more about the car breaking down in the desert...  Apparently a lot of other Boomers had, too, at least from conversations on the elevator.  Must have been the thing to do from '62-'66, you know: head West so your radiator could boil over and you could watch Dad splutter and Mom snip.  :P

So, we're riding the airport shuttle to the hotel when the dispatcher comes on the radio and tells the driver "hey, there's a protest march going on by the Sheraton - they're blocking the streets, you can't get to the hotel."  Protesters? Cool!  What about?

Well, here's the weird part.  They were protesting about some other state's problems.  Huh?  Why in Washington are you trying to mobilize people to overturn California's Prop 8?  You can't even vote there!  Nor can the crowd.  It seemed... pointless?  Talked to my friend Scott about it this afternoon while listening to SQ play at Potbelly's, and he thought the same thing. Why there?

Hm, I suppose it was a show of solidarity, but still - the signs made one think that the ballot initiative had happened in Seattle, not 700 miles south.  

The other feature of this protest that struck me is how peaceful and civil it was, despite the strong feelings on both sides.  :)  

I suppose the mounted police helped in that regard...

Plus, it was pretty entertaining - in an off-kilter way. ;)



Okay, the "genderless interpretive dance" (I think?) actually took place at the Space Needle, accompanied by the ubiquitous group of Andean musicians who seem to be everywhere these days,



but it seemed a fitting part of the whole day's atmosphere. ;)

Anyway, at the protest people were having intense conversations, but they actually seemed to be exchanging ideas and trying to understand each other.  Gee, wouldn't that be nice?

The next day in the local paper, there was a quote from an organizer saying that "persuasion is impossible without civility.  If we can move anybody past anger and have a respectful conversation, then you can plant the seed of change."  

Hear, hear.  Agree with you or not, I'm all for respectful conversation about it.  I'd kind of like to put down all the signs, stop shouting, and just talk about this over coffee.  A large breve' with sugar-free caramel for me, please.

Moving on, then...

Ostensibly I was there for a conference, and yes I actually went! Some of the workshops were small (30) and pertinent, others enormous (1,000) and largely irrelevant. But they all count for continuing ed. credits, right? And after all, that was the point.




After the meetings, though, the Pike Place market was pretty cool.



Packed with people and commotion, smelling of fish, flowers & fruit.





There were interesting vendors, too - everything from candle rings from peppers, to engraved pacific ocean rocks, to salmon jerky! Mmmm.







And there was other cool stuff to see as we poked around on the wharf, like an outdoor carousel, the original Starbucks location, and the lights of the ferry as it pulled out after dark. Nice.

It would've been even nicer if my meniscus tear hadn't decided to be offended by my walking up and down the hills. Ow, ow, ow. For once it was actually a relief to sit down in the meetings and rest up for walking around at night.

I guess I do need the surgery. :( Actually getting it scheduled is becoming a challenge. Medical records, insurance pre-authorizations, calendar conflicts. I hope I can get it done before Christmas.

Fortunately the distance from downtown to the Space Needle was covered by the elevated monorail (vintage 1962 - oooh, right out of The Jetsons!)



And in the area of the Space Needle, there was a science museum



and a music museum, co-housed in a building designed by Frank Geary. Except not in his usual white or chrome. This one was more like Frank Geary meets Nickelodeon. :)




When not painfully recreating or dutifully listening, there was studying to be done - for both of us. But the setting was nice. :)



The hotel was a Dale Chihuly showcase.



Love his stuff, and it made the hotel a little more comfortable. Beats "reviewing the scholarly literature" (prep for my exegetical paper in Hermeneutics) in cramped airplane seats with a busted tray table. :(

All told, though, a nice time. And equally nice to be back.

And oh... I think I've discovered a new retirement career. I want to be one of these guys. :P