Florida

We're having a wonderful time in Florida, even though the house is less than ideal (not real clean and the pool has been especially a problem). We drove over to see the shuttle launch Mon. night/Tues. morning. It was a long wait, with lots of traffic but it was pretty spectacular, though short-lived, as the cloud cover was quite low.

Last night we went to see U23D in Orlando and it was not a disappointment. I was really struck with the passion of the band (especially Bono of course), but also the passion of the fans, as they sang along. Man it was like church at times (a very cool church!). I think this is aided by the fact that U2 doesn't sing much fluff, they're promoting ideas like peace and justice and love (agape and philio more than eros).

Today we plan to hang close to the (somewhat murky) pool and enjoy the sun & heat (high of 79).

Road Trip!

Well school is done and we leave for Orlando area tomorrow. Original plan was to already be on the road but with my uncle's passing this week, dad is flying back and we'll have him join us for the drive down after the funeral. We'll try driving it straight through, hopefully with 4 possible drivers it won't be too painful. Really looking forward to just sitting by the pool reading, swim when I get too hot, get back out, read some more, repeat as needed.

Larry Norman

Been reading some interesting things about Larry's death, and watched a few YouTube videos of him (best of the bunch is him playing with Mike Roe). Seen Larry in concert quite a few times over the years (gotta pull out the bootleg tape I made of him once) and have always appreciated his humour and songwriting. Played his "Great American Novel" at a coffeehouse last year - it's still an amazingly relevant commentary on our world. Loaded a bunch of his stuff onto my iPod last night and will have to start relistening. A 2000 performance of "Moses" is on the net, maybe I should work it up.

Working my way through Oliver Sacks' latest book "Musicophilia" about the brain and music. Some fascinating stories included. We have such limited understanding of the intricacies of how the mind works. What if we could use our brains' full potential?

Picked up David Wilcox's new release "Airstream" through iTunes. Bound to be excellent. 

Bats in the Belfry

Well, we had another bat in the house Saturday morning. We've had over 2 dozen over the 12 years at our house but this seems the earliest they've come out. I don't get it (but I did get it!)

Never got to see U23D this weekend because it no longer seems to be playing in Toronto. Hope I can catch it somewhere sometime. 

Didn't sleep well last night but was able to finish a lovely book called "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy". It's meant for older children I imagine (won a Newberry Honor) but I think adults would get way more out of it. Lots of layers, and very creative imagery.

Good news this morning - our niece is (finally) off of the respirator. It's been just over 2 weeks so it's an important stage in her road to recovery. Last night I did some video of the children for her.

Joel and I went to see "Jumper", which was passable mindless entertainment. It was a nice break from reality I guess, but nothing special. We've seen quite a few good movies together over the last few months, including "Into the Wild" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".

Starting Up

It seems to be time to begin some (perhaps) regular posting on the web. Mostly for myself, mostly as a record of my thoughts and experiences. It's a crazy time to start this in some respects because there's really no way that I have the time to devote to it. Report cards are looming and our niece Tina is in intensive care. I seem to still be a little sore from my hernia operation 3 weeks ago today. Maybe it's because I've put in a full week at school, though it wasn't real stressful with skating on Tuesday and Valentine's Day and Winter Carnival yesterday. 

I'm looking forward to this long, Family Day weekend and hope to accomplish a lot of school work. I'd really like to take in U23D on Monday in Toronto if possible. Everyone seems to be just raving about it. Friends should be arriving shortly for a relaxing evening of games and snacks. I considered taking in the Black Walnut Folk Club tonight but feel the need to just hang. Worked on memorizing Dylan's "Every Grain of Sand" the last few days as I've walked back and forth from school. It's a great song but I wouldn't pretend to understand all of the poetry in it. It was mentioned by many who posted on The Rabbit Room (www.rabbitroom.com) thread about favourite song lyrics.