23 hours later. Same table. Different noises. Feeling a bit stretched tonight - odd week catching up with me finally. Crashed hard after school today - Friday night hard - and woke with a start, disoriented. At first I thought the clock said 6:15, which would have meant I was screwed. But it said 5:15, so I snagged a quick shower, grabbed a couple of Wendy's spicy chicken wraps (no ranch), fought rush hour traffic and made it to the theater only five minutes late. I even managed to parallel park while talking on my cell phone, a minor miracle.
Hey, it's the little things.
Meant to print out the lectionary today at school so I could work on my talk tonight. Forgot. Will have to wait until tomorrow I suppose. While I'm glad to be doing Tartuffe, it has complicated my schedule a touch. No Wendell Berry Sunday (sad) and I'll probably have to miss The Seedy Seeds instore at Shake It tomorrow night, though I did score permission to not show up until 8 PM, so we'll see.
Sarah called on my way to the theater (hence the parallel parking miracle). We seem to talk at the oddest times. This weekend is Paul and Shannon's post-wedding Philadelphia extravaganza, so they all had been talking about me. Flattered. Somehow (I'll leave it to those wiser than me to figure out how) they were talking about my inability to flirt. Maybe inability is too strong. Reticence, perhaps? Definitely not a skill I practice often or excel at. Opportunity rarely presents itself anymore. I suppose I don't actually mind, though I do wonder occasionally if I developed it if I might not spend so many weekends alone. Though I feel maybe it's like getting your ear pierced - after a certain age, it's too late.
Expectations again - maybe I don't foresee a positive response to flirting, so why bother? Defeatist, definitely, but I can't say my experience has shown me any different. Honestly, not trying to fall in to my usual "woe-is-me." Only trying to make sense of why I act - or do not act - in certain situations. Pavlov wasn't far off - we repeat those actions for which we're rewarded.
I often think I should challenge myself, throw caution to the wind and get my flirt on. But where would I even go to do that? And who would take me seriously? Or even play along? The image from Lewis's The Great Divorce keeps appearing, of the skeletal woman smeared with make up, still attempting to be alluring. Like Cyrano, I fear the laughter behind a woman's eyes.
Hmmm. Didn't come here to talk about this. But it's where I've ended up.
Tomorrow my students turn in their persuasive letters to their parents. Taking a cue from last year, I'm going to have them self-evaluate (not to be confused with self-medicate), force them to look at their own writing and give reason why they give themselves the score they did. Need to set the tone early, help them take it seriously - at least as seriously as they can on a Friday after a crazy week. Not sure how focused I'll be myself tomorrow. Guess I'll find out.
Supposed to karaoke tonight and while I want to join, it seems unwise. We won't be out of here until 10:30-11:00, so by the time our names are called to sing, it will be well after the witching hour. Of course, with my nap this afternoon, I probably won't sleep anyway. We'll see how I feel in two hours.
Time to read some. If I keep writing, I'll never transfer all of it to my blog. Awww...Phil Collins is singing "Groovy Kind of Love" and the nostalgia comes roaring back. More on that later...Æ
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
thoughts from a picnic table, part 1
The Cure drifts through my headphones - yes, I'm still overdosing on nostalgia - as I sit on an old picnic table behind the Monmouth Theater. Our run through has begun and I'm out here whiling away the time until intermission, when I'll finally put on eye liner and get into costume. No need before then. Plus, I'll be in the way otherwise.
The worst of the power outage is over, though I still know people without. I'd like to think I could go days without power, but in truth I'd go stir crazy. I'm too dependent on my electronic luxuries now. Maybe if I weaned myself off them I could do it, but cold turkey would be too painful. OK, not painful. Uncomfortable. Inconvenient.
Look, I'm out here on a balmy September night, listening to "When Love Comes to Town" and waiting for my nightly cell phone alarm to remind me it's time to go to Compline. I can't even allow myself to sit and listen to the sounds of this almost autumn night. Of course, the smells wafting across are another matter entirely. They sure do smoke a lot of weed down here in Newport. Only way to survive such a hell-hole.
Sorry. Guess I'm still a bit bitter.
Cowboy Junkies are singing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Die." Fits the feeling of the evening better than the revving engines and slamming doors around me. Not because of the lyrics - can't say I'm feeling lonesome at this particular moment. But the soft melancholy feels like autumn. The morning air the past couple days caused a rush of memories, those inextricably tied to the season. Marching bands and harvest moons, fall plays and rustling leaves, love letters and inverted sunsets, whispered rendezvous and river trails. I love the change of the air - crisper, cooler, the last drops of humidity wrung out. The calendar won't know autumn for another five days, but for the atmosphere and my heart, it's already here.
Expectations. It's what I'm speaking on this Sunday. The brilliance of the lectionary shines this week - every passage tells the tale of thwarted expectations. Israelites wishing they'd stayed in Egypt, Jonah watching God forgive the Ninevites, the workers in the vineyard all getting paid the same. How dangerous our expectations can be, blinding us to the love and grace of God because it doesn't fit into our picture of what should be. What we want to be. What we wish. Hope. Expect. Æ
The worst of the power outage is over, though I still know people without. I'd like to think I could go days without power, but in truth I'd go stir crazy. I'm too dependent on my electronic luxuries now. Maybe if I weaned myself off them I could do it, but cold turkey would be too painful. OK, not painful. Uncomfortable. Inconvenient.
Look, I'm out here on a balmy September night, listening to "When Love Comes to Town" and waiting for my nightly cell phone alarm to remind me it's time to go to Compline. I can't even allow myself to sit and listen to the sounds of this almost autumn night. Of course, the smells wafting across are another matter entirely. They sure do smoke a lot of weed down here in Newport. Only way to survive such a hell-hole.
Sorry. Guess I'm still a bit bitter.
Cowboy Junkies are singing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Die." Fits the feeling of the evening better than the revving engines and slamming doors around me. Not because of the lyrics - can't say I'm feeling lonesome at this particular moment. But the soft melancholy feels like autumn. The morning air the past couple days caused a rush of memories, those inextricably tied to the season. Marching bands and harvest moons, fall plays and rustling leaves, love letters and inverted sunsets, whispered rendezvous and river trails. I love the change of the air - crisper, cooler, the last drops of humidity wrung out. The calendar won't know autumn for another five days, but for the atmosphere and my heart, it's already here.
Expectations. It's what I'm speaking on this Sunday. The brilliance of the lectionary shines this week - every passage tells the tale of thwarted expectations. Israelites wishing they'd stayed in Egypt, Jonah watching God forgive the Ninevites, the workers in the vineyard all getting paid the same. How dangerous our expectations can be, blinding us to the love and grace of God because it doesn't fit into our picture of what should be. What we want to be. What we wish. Hope. Expect. Æ
Monday, September 15, 2008
i've dropped trou and bent over. time to take advantage.
Turns out my "violation" on Friday was not for not having a city sticker but for a simple meter violation. Unlike 97% of the cities in America (I'm guessing here), the City of Newport forces you to feed their meters until midnight. Because obviously the increased prices at the stores around this hell-hole they call an entertainment district don't bring in enough revenue. The kind lady at the finance desk said this was a decision forced on the city by the local merchants who felt having the meters expire at say 6:00 PM like most places robbed them of the turnover needed to keep their businesses afloat. And obviously not enough people have been screwed and stopped going to make them change it.
I'd like to believe business and bureaucracies listen to their customers and do what is in the customer's best interest. But my experience has shown me the opposite - if they can line their pockets with money by screwing their customers, it saves them the hassle of being decent and forthright. Institutions, whether they be corporations or municipalities or governments or even churches, exist only to keep the institution alive, no matter the cost. And I have a hard time seeing any way to affect change. My not going to Newport isn't going to get them to change their meters. I doubt a letter to City Hall will be taken seriously either. So I'm left with the choice of going and putting up with their petty robbery or not going at all. But neither choice will change anything.
Feeling sore and violated...Æ
----------------
Now playing: The New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude
via FoxyTunes
I'd like to believe business and bureaucracies listen to their customers and do what is in the customer's best interest. But my experience has shown me the opposite - if they can line their pockets with money by screwing their customers, it saves them the hassle of being decent and forthright. Institutions, whether they be corporations or municipalities or governments or even churches, exist only to keep the institution alive, no matter the cost. And I have a hard time seeing any way to affect change. My not going to Newport isn't going to get them to change their meters. I doubt a letter to City Hall will be taken seriously either. So I'm left with the choice of going and putting up with their petty robbery or not going at all. But neither choice will change anything.
Feeling sore and violated...Æ
----------------
Now playing: The New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, September 14, 2008
unplugged
Ike sent some nasty wind our way today, wreaking havoc on weak trees and vulnerable power lines. I was down in Newport, helping with the load-in for Tartuffe, watching the winds throw shingles and branches down the street when Amy, the director, decided the chaos was too much to chance and canceled our run through. Strangely enough, the power was still on at the theater, an oasis of electricity surrounded by a desert of lifeless lights and useless electronics. I called the 'Wood and discovered we were sans power as well. I toyed briefly with staying at Monmouth if only for the A/C, but decided I should go home, make sure all was well.
A maelstrom of swirling branches and far too many fallen trees brought visions of my ancient oak lying prostrate over what remained of my house. I needn't have worried - she's a hearty old lady and has seen far worse in her century of life I imagine. I had to pop my garage door opener to get Lorelei out of danger, but other than my trash can and recycling bin trying to escape down my front yard, not much damage I could see. Definitely glad I didn't spend time yesterday doing yard work only to have it obliterated.
Shannon texted me and invited me over to her place for cards by candlelight. Probably should go - haven't spent time with them in far too long (I think I always say that) - plus her beau from Columbus is in town and I could finally meet him. My only options here are reading or writing some more and soon the light will fad too much to do either of those. Luckily, I'm not hungry because I have nothing to eat in my house and no way of getting anything. I'm not sure how the Amish survive. Less than four hours off the grid and I'm bored out of my skull. And I still have my iPod and phone to help keep me occupied. And a car to get around. I wonder if we reach a point of no return, when our lives can no longer be as simple as they once were. Perhaps we're too dependent on our gadgets to live without them for more than hours at a time. We'd lose our minds in such simplicity.
One of the vocab words this past week was nostalgia (which my students continually pronounced noh-stahl-ah-gee-a). Been indulging in a little nostalgia overload lately - listening to my 80s playlist, catching up with old friends. I've even toyed with venturing into the basement to pull out my box of old letters, specifically some special ones from 20 years ago. Yes, I'm one of those who keep everything. Why? Nostalgia, sure. But I also hold these delusions of people sorting through them after I'm dead and piecing together the patterns of my life.
That's probably enough to find myself institutionalized sooner than later.
All that to say, autumn is nearly upon us (even if the weather refuses to agree) and my nostalgia binging will most likely slip into overdrive. And honestly, I'm looking forward to a little backward glancing, as long as I don't get lost down memory lane. We'll see.
Temperature's arising. time to blow this popsicle stand. Here's hoping the power stays out in Mason long enough to cancel school...Æ
----------------
Now playing: The Magnetic Fields - California Girls
via FoxyTunes
A maelstrom of swirling branches and far too many fallen trees brought visions of my ancient oak lying prostrate over what remained of my house. I needn't have worried - she's a hearty old lady and has seen far worse in her century of life I imagine. I had to pop my garage door opener to get Lorelei out of danger, but other than my trash can and recycling bin trying to escape down my front yard, not much damage I could see. Definitely glad I didn't spend time yesterday doing yard work only to have it obliterated.
Shannon texted me and invited me over to her place for cards by candlelight. Probably should go - haven't spent time with them in far too long (I think I always say that) - plus her beau from Columbus is in town and I could finally meet him. My only options here are reading or writing some more and soon the light will fad too much to do either of those. Luckily, I'm not hungry because I have nothing to eat in my house and no way of getting anything. I'm not sure how the Amish survive. Less than four hours off the grid and I'm bored out of my skull. And I still have my iPod and phone to help keep me occupied. And a car to get around. I wonder if we reach a point of no return, when our lives can no longer be as simple as they once were. Perhaps we're too dependent on our gadgets to live without them for more than hours at a time. We'd lose our minds in such simplicity.
One of the vocab words this past week was nostalgia (which my students continually pronounced noh-stahl-ah-gee-a). Been indulging in a little nostalgia overload lately - listening to my 80s playlist, catching up with old friends. I've even toyed with venturing into the basement to pull out my box of old letters, specifically some special ones from 20 years ago. Yes, I'm one of those who keep everything. Why? Nostalgia, sure. But I also hold these delusions of people sorting through them after I'm dead and piecing together the patterns of my life.
That's probably enough to find myself institutionalized sooner than later.
All that to say, autumn is nearly upon us (even if the weather refuses to agree) and my nostalgia binging will most likely slip into overdrive. And honestly, I'm looking forward to a little backward glancing, as long as I don't get lost down memory lane. We'll see.
Temperature's arising. time to blow this popsicle stand. Here's hoping the power stays out in Mason long enough to cancel school...Æ
----------------
Now playing: The Magnetic Fields - California Girls
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, September 13, 2008
it's a small world, but i wouldn't want to paint it
When we last saw our intrepid hero, he was on his way to Below Zero for a little late night karaoke action. He arrived a bit after ten but could not find anyone, so he called Chris. They were hiding in the corner. 'Twas supposed to be a cast bonding for Tartuffe, but turned out to be more of a BATB reunion - Charlie, Sarah and Nicole were there, with Ben and Andy showing up a bit later. The only other Tartuffe member (other than Chris, of course) was Kaitlyn. I didn't feel much like singing, so sat back and watched others show off their talent or extreme lack thereof. Over the caterwauling, Kaitlyn and I began chatting - turns out she went to OU. I then asked where she came from before that. She said a little town in northeast Ohio, about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. East Liverpool. My mouth dropped open and stared impolitely for a second before informing her of my family connections there. Turns out she graduated from Beaver Local, my dad's alma mater and lives down the road from Grandma Allen. Small, tiny, wee world we live in. What are the odds?
The rest of the evening was fun, but I was out far too long, mostly because I wanted to hear Chris sing the Tenacious D class, **** Her Gently. Well worth the wait, though it meant not getting to sleep until 1:30 AM. Made for an interesting Friday, and by interesting, I mean most of my day was spent trying to stay awake. Which I did, only barely, and then crashed hard in the comfy chair when I came home. Which was good, because I had quite the evening ahead of me.
A few weeks back, I found out Tift Merritt was performing at the Southgate House. I immediately put it on my list of things to do (or would have, if I actually kept such a list). I love Tift's voice and enjoyed her Austin City Limits performance (which I no longer have because my DVR died. Bummer). I thought of trying to find someone to go with, but couldn't think of anyone that knew who she was or would be interested. So last night I headed down by myself, arriving around 8:00 to a line out the door. First time I've had that happen at Southgate. But the show itself wasn't overly crowded and I finagled a chair not too far from the stage after finally getting around to changing my voter registration to Norwood (there was a booth). Show started closer to on time than any other Southgate House show I've been to - only a half hour after the posted time. First opening act was Daniel Martin Moore, a singer/songwriter from somewhere near Eastern Kentucky. His first song was his best, but not a bad set. Then came Matthew Ryan vs Silver State. I'd heard good stuff and it was good, straightforward roots rock from Philly. Didn't make me want to run out and buy a CD, but 'twas fun, especially when he worked Elvis and U2 lyrics into his song.
Then came Tift. She's a petite little thing with a lovely smile and a gentle Carolina drawl. She started at the piano and let it rip. Such power in her voice, such energy to performance. The crowd was responsive and she fed off our energy. And unlike many shows, there was little talking going on (I'm sure the ticket price kept those looking to get drunk with only a passing interest in the music upstairs). Her and her band owned the stage, giving one of the better performances I've seen there lately. Didn't hurt that she was so easy on the eyes. Remember the Friends episode when Ross makes a list of celebrities he'd sleep with? Tift Merritt is now on mine.
My favorite moment - the band unplugged and sang "Supposed to Make You Happy" at the front of the stage. Stunning in it's simplicity. Will definitely be downloading her latest CD once my emusic subscription refreshes.
The night ended poorly, however - I got back to my car to discover a ticket on my windshield. I was parked at a meter and the only sign around said you couldn't park there from 8-12 on Saturday. And I'm pretty sure the meters aren't in service at 8PM at night. The ticket itself says No City Sticker. I have no idea what this means. Now I get to drive down to Newport to contest it on Monday. Otherwise, the concert doubled in price. Needless to say, I was not pleased.
Art Walk was today. We started with a passage from Job 38 - "Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? " You know, the passage where sarcastically blasts Job, asking him if he was there when he created the universe and if not, then he should shut the **** up (I'm paraphrasing). With that as my impetus, I decided to visit parts of the museum I don't understand, to try and see past my own ignorance. I meandered through the Asian art and then up stairs to the contemporary. Most contemporary art does nothing other than frustrate me because I a) don't get it or b) don't see what others see (which I guess is the same thing). So I went to the Rothko - one of Rob's favorites - and read the blurb and stepped back. Nothing. So I stepped forward a bit, changing perspective. Nothing. So I stepped back. Nothing yet again. All I see is rectangles of different colors. No heartbeat, no sign of the emotion Rothko speaks of, no tears that others have experienced. I only felt frustration, probably much like Job did. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?/Tell Me, if you have understanding" No, I wasn't there when Rothko created his piece. And I don't have access to whatever he was experiencing through the act of creation. I'm an agnostic when it comes to contemporary art - I don't dismiss it completely, but I haven't experienced enough to truly believe.
Saw Burn After Reading this afternoon. It was...an occasionally funny mess. The end almost redeemed the film. It's a middling Coen Brothers film - not as bad as Ladykillers, but not as good as Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski. The individuals were good, but not enough funny all the way through. I think the previews and trailers ruined some of the best moments.
Speaking of trailers, anyone seen the trailer for Towelhead? I'm not so interested in the movie itself (gee, another Alan Ball script about an older man having a relationship with a teenager), but the song during the trailer caught my attention. Anyone know what it is? I did a quick Google search to no avail. Information appreciated.
Finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal today, mostly out of necessity since I borrowed it from the library and I couldn't renew it because some put a hold on it. Enjoyable read. Moore walked the fine line between the sacred and the profane well. I kept thinking while I was reading that you'd never see a similar book about Mohammad. I'm sure there are those who would be offended, but as Moore points out in his afterword, "if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do." Excellent point.
My, I do go on tonight, don't I? OK, time to catch up on my House backlog. Thanks to USA, I can now catch up on the seasons I've missed. Fun. Tech week starts tomorrow - we'll see what it does to my week. Night. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Son Volt - Caryatid Easy
via FoxyTunes
The rest of the evening was fun, but I was out far too long, mostly because I wanted to hear Chris sing the Tenacious D class, **** Her Gently. Well worth the wait, though it meant not getting to sleep until 1:30 AM. Made for an interesting Friday, and by interesting, I mean most of my day was spent trying to stay awake. Which I did, only barely, and then crashed hard in the comfy chair when I came home. Which was good, because I had quite the evening ahead of me.
A few weeks back, I found out Tift Merritt was performing at the Southgate House. I immediately put it on my list of things to do (or would have, if I actually kept such a list). I love Tift's voice and enjoyed her Austin City Limits performance (which I no longer have because my DVR died. Bummer). I thought of trying to find someone to go with, but couldn't think of anyone that knew who she was or would be interested. So last night I headed down by myself, arriving around 8:00 to a line out the door. First time I've had that happen at Southgate. But the show itself wasn't overly crowded and I finagled a chair not too far from the stage after finally getting around to changing my voter registration to Norwood (there was a booth). Show started closer to on time than any other Southgate House show I've been to - only a half hour after the posted time. First opening act was Daniel Martin Moore, a singer/songwriter from somewhere near Eastern Kentucky. His first song was his best, but not a bad set. Then came Matthew Ryan vs Silver State. I'd heard good stuff and it was good, straightforward roots rock from Philly. Didn't make me want to run out and buy a CD, but 'twas fun, especially when he worked Elvis and U2 lyrics into his song.
Then came Tift. She's a petite little thing with a lovely smile and a gentle Carolina drawl. She started at the piano and let it rip. Such power in her voice, such energy to performance. The crowd was responsive and she fed off our energy. And unlike many shows, there was little talking going on (I'm sure the ticket price kept those looking to get drunk with only a passing interest in the music upstairs). Her and her band owned the stage, giving one of the better performances I've seen there lately. Didn't hurt that she was so easy on the eyes. Remember the Friends episode when Ross makes a list of celebrities he'd sleep with? Tift Merritt is now on mine.
My favorite moment - the band unplugged and sang "Supposed to Make You Happy" at the front of the stage. Stunning in it's simplicity. Will definitely be downloading her latest CD once my emusic subscription refreshes.
The night ended poorly, however - I got back to my car to discover a ticket on my windshield. I was parked at a meter and the only sign around said you couldn't park there from 8-12 on Saturday. And I'm pretty sure the meters aren't in service at 8PM at night. The ticket itself says No City Sticker. I have no idea what this means. Now I get to drive down to Newport to contest it on Monday. Otherwise, the concert doubled in price. Needless to say, I was not pleased.
Art Walk was today. We started with a passage from Job 38 - "Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? " You know, the passage where sarcastically blasts Job, asking him if he was there when he created the universe and if not, then he should shut the **** up (I'm paraphrasing). With that as my impetus, I decided to visit parts of the museum I don't understand, to try and see past my own ignorance. I meandered through the Asian art and then up stairs to the contemporary. Most contemporary art does nothing other than frustrate me because I a) don't get it or b) don't see what others see (which I guess is the same thing). So I went to the Rothko - one of Rob's favorites - and read the blurb and stepped back. Nothing. So I stepped forward a bit, changing perspective. Nothing. So I stepped back. Nothing yet again. All I see is rectangles of different colors. No heartbeat, no sign of the emotion Rothko speaks of, no tears that others have experienced. I only felt frustration, probably much like Job did. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?/Tell Me, if you have understanding" No, I wasn't there when Rothko created his piece. And I don't have access to whatever he was experiencing through the act of creation. I'm an agnostic when it comes to contemporary art - I don't dismiss it completely, but I haven't experienced enough to truly believe.
Saw Burn After Reading this afternoon. It was...an occasionally funny mess. The end almost redeemed the film. It's a middling Coen Brothers film - not as bad as Ladykillers, but not as good as Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski. The individuals were good, but not enough funny all the way through. I think the previews and trailers ruined some of the best moments.
Speaking of trailers, anyone seen the trailer for Towelhead? I'm not so interested in the movie itself (gee, another Alan Ball script about an older man having a relationship with a teenager), but the song during the trailer caught my attention. Anyone know what it is? I did a quick Google search to no avail. Information appreciated.
Finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal today, mostly out of necessity since I borrowed it from the library and I couldn't renew it because some put a hold on it. Enjoyable read. Moore walked the fine line between the sacred and the profane well. I kept thinking while I was reading that you'd never see a similar book about Mohammad. I'm sure there are those who would be offended, but as Moore points out in his afterword, "if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do." Excellent point.
My, I do go on tonight, don't I? OK, time to catch up on my House backlog. Thanks to USA, I can now catch up on the seasons I've missed. Fun. Tech week starts tomorrow - we'll see what it does to my week. Night. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Son Volt - Caryatid Easy
via FoxyTunes
Thursday, September 11, 2008
This summer, before I ran off to Colorado, a local company was having auditions for Moliere's Tartuffe. I've never done Moliere (though I student directed The Miser in college) and always wanted to, but I couldn't make an early audition work, so I decided 'twasn't to be this time around. Flash forward to a week ago, when Chris from BATB contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in doing a small role in...Tartuffe. A couple of lines, right at the end of the show, but of course I said yes. Been pretty simple so far - my part of rehearsal rarely lasts more than an hour, so I show up at the end or the beginning. Pretty easy. Plus, the short run up for me means it's tech week next week and we go up a week from tomorrow. Crazy. But fun.
Of course, it's also stolen away any spare time I might have to blog or check the 'Book or get stuff ready for school, but I think I can handle a couple weeks of this.
I have no coherent thoughts tonight, only a conglomeration of ideas swirling about. And Chris called and I need to be heading to Below Zero for a little karaoke cast-bonding time, so those thoughts will have to keep on swirling for now.
In the meantime, you can check out Steve's take on our Columbus to Cincinnati bike ride on the CityBeat website. He also posted my account, making sure to let everyone know I blog about my "adventures as a single fellow in Cincinnati." Hasn't helped yet, but hey, there's always a chance.
Off to do a little karaoke. Sorry for the briefness. Æ
----------------
Now playing: iDEoLA - Hold Back Your Tears
via FoxyTunes
Of course, it's also stolen away any spare time I might have to blog or check the 'Book or get stuff ready for school, but I think I can handle a couple weeks of this.
I have no coherent thoughts tonight, only a conglomeration of ideas swirling about. And Chris called and I need to be heading to Below Zero for a little karaoke cast-bonding time, so those thoughts will have to keep on swirling for now.
In the meantime, you can check out Steve's take on our Columbus to Cincinnati bike ride on the CityBeat website. He also posted my account, making sure to let everyone know I blog about my "adventures as a single fellow in Cincinnati." Hasn't helped yet, but hey, there's always a chance.
Off to do a little karaoke. Sorry for the briefness. Æ
----------------
Now playing: iDEoLA - Hold Back Your Tears
via FoxyTunes
Thursday, September 04, 2008
the ride
All summer, my friend Steve had been asking me to join him on a long bike ride between Columbus and Cincinnati. He had discovered the joys of bicycle commuting and wanted to put his re-kindled love for riding to a serious test. None of this tooling around the neighborhood or short jaunts on the bike path. Steve had a dream, and when he dreams, he dreams big.
He is also relentless. At least twice a week he would ask me if I was still up for riding from Columbus to Cincinnati and at least twice a week I would say it sounded great, but I would have to check my schedule, which, while honest, wasn’t exactly the truth. That’s not to say I wasn’t interested; three years ago I had followed my own desire to do a century – riding a 100 miles in a day – and it was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had recently. But as the summer dragged on, I realized my goal of losing the extra 20 pounds I’d packed on since my last ride remained only a goal and by the time Labor Day rolled around, I hadn’t been on a bike since I’d had my gall bladder removed – in July.
He is also relentless. At least twice a week he would ask me if I was still up for riding from Columbus to Cincinnati and at least twice a week I would say it sounded great, but I would have to check my schedule, which, while honest, wasn’t exactly the truth. That’s not to say I wasn’t interested; three years ago I had followed my own desire to do a century – riding a 100 miles in a day – and it was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had recently. But as the summer dragged on, I realized my goal of losing the extra 20 pounds I’d packed on since my last ride remained only a goal and by the time Labor Day rolled around, I hadn’t been on a bike since I’d had my gall bladder removed – in July.
So I looked for ways to get out of it. I hinted at my lack of training. I pointed to the stress of beginning a new school year. I alluded to the logistical problems involved in biking between cities. But Steve would have none of it. He was determined and I had made a promise, and though logically it was stupid for someone as out of shape as I was, I was taking this ride, one way or another.
After crashing in Columbus at the home of two kind and generous souls, the alarm went off at 5:00AM and we loaded up our bikes and hit the streets of Columbus well before the sun began to rise. Riding through the darkened neighborhoods in the cool of the morning got my adrenaline going and by the time we stopped to take a couple of pictures along the river, I was actually looking forward to the rest of the ride. I felt good. I felt rested. I felt ready to conquer the trail and emerge triumphant at the end.
And then the pain set in.
I don’t know if you’ve ever felt the burn of muscles not used to being used, but in many ways it’s similar to eating especially hot salsa – you’re better off if you keep going because when you stop, that’s when the real ache begins. We were just past West Jefferson when my body began to revolt. I had hoped it was temporary, but while Steve moved ahead at a comfortable pace, I was struggling to keep my bike moving forward. This was bad. No, seriously, this was really, really bad.
By the time we coasted into London and found nothing but fast food restaurants open for eating, I was a wreck. Steve could tell I was hurting and so could the bikers (motors, not pedals) who pointed us toward a restaurant in the next town, South Charleston. Hard to hide the fact that your body is ready to curl up into a fetal position until the pain goes away. But in the interest of finding an eatery with local flavor, I agreed to wait to eat until we went a few more miles down the path.
This, too, was a mistake. See, I hadn’t eaten anything all day, other than some trail mix. I figured out later this was why my legs were burning. But those few miles from London to South Charleston was the worst. pain. ever. I kept alternating between cursing and saying the Jesus Prayer over and over again (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me and my stupid legs). By the time we pulled into the Blue Point Café, I was ready to give in and admit I was too out of shape to go any farther. I’d figured it all out – someone could come and get me and the bike, drive me back to Cincinnati, and I’d be recovering in my bed before the sun set that night.
Luckily, I decided to see how I felt after eating before announcing to Steve my plan to abandon him. The protein from the burger and the pitcher of water I drank soothed the burn in my legs and after a break down by the head of the trail, I felt human enough to pack up and ride again. I popped on my iPod, determined to make it to Xenia before dark. I wasn’t going anywhere fast, and the burn got bad a few times, but I was able to push through the pain and even began to enjoy the ride a bit as the sun beat down on us. Unfortunately, this part of the ride wasn’t so kind to Steve’s bike – he lost three spokes and his back tire wobbled like a drunken clown. So we loaded his panniers on my bike, called ahead to find an open bike shop and took it easy the last few miles to Xenia.
While Steve’s bike was fixed, I called my friend Candice and got the phone number for the Xenia Holiday Inn. The thought of a bed and a pool excited me in ways I wasn’t completely comfortable with. We got one of the last rooms available (stupid soccer tournaments) with no discount, but I probably would have paid any price at that point. We walked the bikes up and I collapsed on the bed while Steve took a shower. Lying there, I was sure there was no way for me to make it any farther. I could be proud of my ride – 65 miles with no training is nothing to be ashamed of. And I knew my parents would be in Beavercreek for church the next morning and could come and get me with little hassle. But again, I kept it to myself because, well, I hate confrontation and I didn’t want to spoil Steve’s mood.
We got on our bikes one last time (much to my chagrin) and headed down to the Mexican restaurant next to the bike shop. After a filling and tasty meal, we went back to the room. We both toyed with hitting the pool, but sleep won out and we crashed – Steve around 8:00, me and my insomnia around 10:00 PM. As usual, I woke up five hours later at 3AM and practiced in my head how I would tell Steve I wasn’t going in the morning. I knew he’d be disappointed, but I also figured he’d understand after my misery of the day before. I had it all worked out – he could take my phone and I would take his extra weight so he could make it back to Norwood quicker than having to wait on me all the time. For me to go on would just be to save my ego and I knew that was a stupid reason to risk serious harm.
But then we walked to Bob Evans for breakfast and it never came up and we got back and the next thing I knew Steve had his bike all loaded and ready to go. It was now or never. I told him I didn’t think I could make it, that I would wait here and my parents would come and pick me up. It was for the best. He looked sad and simply said maybe I was just in a food coma after breakfast and would feel better once we got on the road. That’s all it took – I sucked it up, put on my riding clothes, loaded up my Camelbak and we hit the road for the final 55-60 miles.
Day two was rather uneventful compared to day one. I was far more familiar with this stretch of the path from my earlier rides. Plus I did a much better job of staying hydrated and fed and while I had serious saddle sores, my legs and conditioning did much better. At least until we hopped off the bike path just south of Loveland and headed into Indian Hills. I should have known I was in trouble because of the name. It felt like all we did for the next several miles was climb and climb and climb some more with no downhill on the other side. I think I spent more time walking my bike than I did riding it. It didn’t help that it was the middle of the afternoon and close to 90 degrees. When I started getting chills, I knew we had to stop before heat exhaustion set in. So we stopped at the Kenwood Chipotle where I drank some juice and water and Steve ate a burrito and tried to convince me to get my picture taken with the Red Bull Girls who had walked in. I barely escaped the embarrassment.
Thirty minutes later we pulled into Norwood, and though exhaustion seeped out of every pore of my body, the thrill of having ridden 124.44 miles reminded me that sometimes you can do far more than you ever imagined, though it might mean you have to go through severe moments of pain to get there. And never underestimate the power a friend’s encouragement can give – even if you didn’t want to hear it. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Two Cow Garage - Come Back to Shelby
via FoxyTunes
Monday, September 01, 2008
quite the weekend
Sitting here, waiting for my clothes to dry, exhausted from the weekend and yet no closer to sleep than normal. I had hoped to get all my laundry done earlier, but instead of lying around comatose all day, I decided to keep my promise and head up to Bethany's for a cookout. Certainly am glad I did (more on that later).
Also glad I kept my other obligation for the weekend. Sometime early this summer, Steve began asking me if I would be up for taking a ride over Labor Day weekend from Columbus to Cincinnati. At first I was all for it, thinking I would get the chance to ride plenty over the summer and thus would be in good shape for the ride. Unfortunately, I didn't ride as much as I hoped and the closer we got to Labor Day, the more I began to feel perhaps I had cashed the proverbial check my body couldn't keep. Sure, I had done a century before, but that was three years back after a summer of riding. I hadn't been riding since my trip to Colorado back in July. I probably should have told Steve I wish I could, but my body just isn't up for it. But either ego or fear of confrontation (most likely both) kept me from saying anything.
So there I was, Friday night, after a tasty meal at Buca di Beppo, hitching a ride with our friend Mandy to be dropped off somewhere near the OSU campus to begin our adventure. Trepidatious doesn't begin to describe how I felt. But I had made a promise and I intended to keep it, even if it meant my corpse lying somewhere on the bike path between London and Cincy (I figured I'd make it at least to London, though as it turned out, I was almost wrong). Sleep stayed away, per usual, and even as we got ready at O'Dark Thirty in the morning, I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.
I'll spare you the details for now, mostly out of respect for Steve (without whom I would have indeed ended up in a fetal position on the path), who is writing an article for CityBeat. But I will say we did indeed make it, 124.44 miles in two days. And other than some excruciating spaces and a brush with heat exhaustion, I had a great, great time. Two thoughts:
OK, laundry should be done and then I need to get to sleep. Practice OGT for the students tomorrow - should be really, really, really boring. Maybe I'll jot down my thoughts on the ride for later sharing. Betcha can't wait... Æ
----------------
Now playing: R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
via FoxyTunes
Also glad I kept my other obligation for the weekend. Sometime early this summer, Steve began asking me if I would be up for taking a ride over Labor Day weekend from Columbus to Cincinnati. At first I was all for it, thinking I would get the chance to ride plenty over the summer and thus would be in good shape for the ride. Unfortunately, I didn't ride as much as I hoped and the closer we got to Labor Day, the more I began to feel perhaps I had cashed the proverbial check my body couldn't keep. Sure, I had done a century before, but that was three years back after a summer of riding. I hadn't been riding since my trip to Colorado back in July. I probably should have told Steve I wish I could, but my body just isn't up for it. But either ego or fear of confrontation (most likely both) kept me from saying anything.
So there I was, Friday night, after a tasty meal at Buca di Beppo, hitching a ride with our friend Mandy to be dropped off somewhere near the OSU campus to begin our adventure. Trepidatious doesn't begin to describe how I felt. But I had made a promise and I intended to keep it, even if it meant my corpse lying somewhere on the bike path between London and Cincy (I figured I'd make it at least to London, though as it turned out, I was almost wrong). Sleep stayed away, per usual, and even as we got ready at O'Dark Thirty in the morning, I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.
I'll spare you the details for now, mostly out of respect for Steve (without whom I would have indeed ended up in a fetal position on the path), who is writing an article for CityBeat. But I will say we did indeed make it, 124.44 miles in two days. And other than some excruciating spaces and a brush with heat exhaustion, I had a great, great time. Two thoughts:
- Just because you could doesn't mean you can; and just because you couldn't doesn't mean you can't.
- Sometimes life turns out far better than you could have hoped, even if it's quite painful at times.
OK, laundry should be done and then I need to get to sleep. Practice OGT for the students tomorrow - should be really, really, really boring. Maybe I'll jot down my thoughts on the ride for later sharing. Betcha can't wait... Æ
----------------
Now playing: R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
the first week
The 2008-2009 school year did not start well. There's always some struggle to transition from summer mode to school mode, but this year, when that early alarm went off Monday morning, it took all I had within me to just get out of bed, forget trying to muster up an iota of excitement for the school year.
I started the day with my final trek to morning prayers for the summer (sadness) and then drove up to Mason. First on the agenda - a meeting with the AXA representative from the school. This sounded like a good idea a the time and then I remembered why I tend to avoid those kinds of meetings - my brain implodes whenever I think about financial matters. I know it's important and vital and poor Alex did an excellent job of presenting my options, but about ten minutes in he turned into the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoon. He attempted to get me to sign up right then, but I told him I had to look it over first, which was true, since I had no grasp whatsoever on what I was signing.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of my torture via financial planning. My second error of judgment was agreeing to meet my insurance agent that day. You know, get all my meetings out of the way at once. Yet what I thought was going to be a brief look at my coverages turned into two hours of being sold more things I didn't understand. I had hoped to finish the meeting and have about an hour before my next meeting to eat lunch. Instead, I ended up being walking in late and being challenged to find a seat for the next three and a half hours of my life - diversity training.
This I was not looking forward to.
Don't get me wrong - I think diversity is a great thing and I am all for teachers and staff being more sensitive to other staff and teachers. But I usually leave meetings like this crushed under the burden of guilt for what I have done and what I have left undone. Which I suppose is the point, but I've gotten to the place where I've decided life is too short to feel guilty all the time. The "training" went faster than I had thought, which was good and the group presenting did an excellent job outlining the challenges. But after three hours thinking about finances and no lunch as an opening band, I was not a happy camper by the end of the day. And I didn't get to spend nearly enough time getting my room and everything ready. Which meant I had to do it all on Tuesday. I still don't have a firm grasp on just how long it takes to get everything ready for the first day. At least I don't seem to be alone.
Then Wednesday. I was the teacher everyone hates - I gave a writing assignment the first day. 20 sentences on writing - what they thought of it, what they liked, didn't like, etc. It meant for once I didn't spend the first day talking for hours at a time, but it also meant that after day one, I was already behind on my grading.
Day two came- I gave a "pop quiz" over my syllabus to see who had read it. No one got all the answers right. Since I was using it primarily as a means to go over my policies, I gave students full credit if they starred the correct answers for the ones they missed. I still had students who didn't get all the points. This was my fourteen hour day because the powers that be thought we should have Open House the second day of school and it seemed silly to drive all the way home only to turn around and come back. At least I had one parent in each of my classes - that doesn't always happen.
Finally, Friday was the summer reading test (Tuesdays With Morrie). I've decided summer reading is not accomplishing its purpose. We ask them to read to keep their brains from completely atrophying over the summer, but the majority read it the night before the test or not at all, and so I end up with students getting 18/60 on an easy, easy test. My solution? We need year-round school. But I don't see that happening for at least another decade, so a trip to the drawing board is in order methinks.
There's lots of other stuff that happened - Rob Lewin's birthday party, fighting with Old Navy and losing miserably, a spirited talk during house church about the body of Christ, catching up with old friends to name a few - but I've used up all my writing energy for the evening. Here's hoping once school finds it's groove that I'll be able to be a bit more consistent. Night! Æ
----------------
Now playing: Two Cow Garage - All Sins Forgiven
via FoxyTunes
I started the day with my final trek to morning prayers for the summer (sadness) and then drove up to Mason. First on the agenda - a meeting with the AXA representative from the school. This sounded like a good idea a the time and then I remembered why I tend to avoid those kinds of meetings - my brain implodes whenever I think about financial matters. I know it's important and vital and poor Alex did an excellent job of presenting my options, but about ten minutes in he turned into the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoon. He attempted to get me to sign up right then, but I told him I had to look it over first, which was true, since I had no grasp whatsoever on what I was signing.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of my torture via financial planning. My second error of judgment was agreeing to meet my insurance agent that day. You know, get all my meetings out of the way at once. Yet what I thought was going to be a brief look at my coverages turned into two hours of being sold more things I didn't understand. I had hoped to finish the meeting and have about an hour before my next meeting to eat lunch. Instead, I ended up being walking in late and being challenged to find a seat for the next three and a half hours of my life - diversity training.
This I was not looking forward to.
Don't get me wrong - I think diversity is a great thing and I am all for teachers and staff being more sensitive to other staff and teachers. But I usually leave meetings like this crushed under the burden of guilt for what I have done and what I have left undone. Which I suppose is the point, but I've gotten to the place where I've decided life is too short to feel guilty all the time. The "training" went faster than I had thought, which was good and the group presenting did an excellent job outlining the challenges. But after three hours thinking about finances and no lunch as an opening band, I was not a happy camper by the end of the day. And I didn't get to spend nearly enough time getting my room and everything ready. Which meant I had to do it all on Tuesday. I still don't have a firm grasp on just how long it takes to get everything ready for the first day. At least I don't seem to be alone.
Then Wednesday. I was the teacher everyone hates - I gave a writing assignment the first day. 20 sentences on writing - what they thought of it, what they liked, didn't like, etc. It meant for once I didn't spend the first day talking for hours at a time, but it also meant that after day one, I was already behind on my grading.
Day two came- I gave a "pop quiz" over my syllabus to see who had read it. No one got all the answers right. Since I was using it primarily as a means to go over my policies, I gave students full credit if they starred the correct answers for the ones they missed. I still had students who didn't get all the points. This was my fourteen hour day because the powers that be thought we should have Open House the second day of school and it seemed silly to drive all the way home only to turn around and come back. At least I had one parent in each of my classes - that doesn't always happen.
Finally, Friday was the summer reading test (Tuesdays With Morrie). I've decided summer reading is not accomplishing its purpose. We ask them to read to keep their brains from completely atrophying over the summer, but the majority read it the night before the test or not at all, and so I end up with students getting 18/60 on an easy, easy test. My solution? We need year-round school. But I don't see that happening for at least another decade, so a trip to the drawing board is in order methinks.
There's lots of other stuff that happened - Rob Lewin's birthday party, fighting with Old Navy and losing miserably, a spirited talk during house church about the body of Christ, catching up with old friends to name a few - but I've used up all my writing energy for the evening. Here's hoping once school finds it's groove that I'll be able to be a bit more consistent. Night! Æ
----------------
Now playing: Two Cow Garage - All Sins Forgiven
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, August 23, 2008
last days of summer
And I'm wasting it! Why am I here, typing away on a computer when I should be out enjoying the weekend and the break from the mounting work load of school? Why aren't I sucking the marrow out of life? Carpe Diem!
Oh right. Because it's 90+ degrees with 780% humidity out and the second I step outside of my climate-controlled house I will turn into a disgusting, sweaty mess. This does not appeal to me.
I do need to make a library run - Never Let Me Go is nearly past due and my copy of Lamb : the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal is waiting to take me on a near-blasphemous trip through Christopher Moore's mind. I can't wait. Here's hoping I don't sweat all over the books, warping them and spoiling the reading experience for some future borrower. Maybe I'll walk really, really slow.
Catch up time. The end of summer was marked by several wonderful events, which for the sake of time will only get a cursory mention instead of the in depth treatment they deserve. Again, blame it on school. The King's X/Extreme show rocked. Couldn't have asked for better weather or better friends to share it with. KX put on a great set, a mix of old and new that if there is any justice in the world won them a few more new fans. Doug was in excellent voice and Ty and Jerry played well. They were missing a touch of showmanship, but oh the sound. Definitely helped being only a handful of rows from the front (thanks Brandon!). I'd never seen Extreme before and they put on an excellent show as well. Gary Cherone is an entertaining showman, though he teetered on the line of self-parody at times (and bore an odd resemblance to Ben Stiller with his hair short). Nuno still has fingers stolen from the devil himself and his playing was stellar. I got some pics, but haven't found a place to post them yet. Maybe I'll do that this afternoon while I'm pretending to be agoraphobic.
I got to make a quick trip up to Canton/Stow/Kent the next day. Met Jenna and Courtney at Jen's house and we lounged around the pool for the afternoon and shared tales of the school year past and anticipation for the one upcoming. Adorable rugrats kept us entertained, which is probably how most of our get togethers will go for the next few years. I also was interviewed for someone's doctoral thesis - she's studying second career teachers and how education programs may better serve them. Interesting to revisit the transition again, do a little evaluation of my experience, see how much cross over there actually is between what I do and what I used to do.
I also got to see Candice one last time before our respective worlds blew up with the start of school. We met at Barnes & Noble and shared our vacation stories and then met Aimee at The Chang for dinner. Always good to catch up, especially since I walked away feeling encouraged as usual. Everyone should have friends like that. I hope you do.
Last weekend (geesh, was it only a week ago) was the Garey family reunion up in Columbiana. Dad is still on bedrest, so I drove up early Saturday morning to drive my mom (and her carfull of items for the auction) up to my cousin Elaine's house. Made for a long day - eleven plus hours of driving once I finally got home around 1:30 AM. But worth it. My Aunt Mary (my grandma's sister) was there and shared the history of the family, which was great. I'm hoping to procure a copy so I can keep it somewhere. So much I've never realized. Was great seeing all the cousins and their spouses and kids. Strange to think I'm the same age my parents were when I remember going to reunions. There was talk about passing on the responsibility to "the next generation" and I realized they were talking about us. Wait, I'm not old enough for that yet, right? Right?
Good to spend some quality time with mom, too. Wasn't sure how it would go, but we had a good time on the drive - I even got her to watch Juno on my iPod. We had hoped Jen would join us, but the night before the reunion her next door neighbor pounded on her door at 12:30 AM, accused her of sideswiping her car and then punched her in the face (?!). I am not making this up. She ended up with a black eye and was in court this past Tuesday for it. Only my sister.
Last Sunday I met with the pastoral council of VC to talk about ordination. Not mine specifically, per se, but the idea of ordination and how it fits in this community. Traditionally ordination has been saved for those earning their livelihood by working in the church. However, since VC doesn't pay its leaders, that criteria doesn't really work. Ordination has also been the mark of those ordained by the church to administer the sacraments. But with our house church set up, those are not reserved only for the ordained. So the question has become, "What does ordination mean in this context?" with a side order of "Should we even be ordaining people?" I gave a brief account of my journey and talked about my own feelings and then we discussed some of the issues facing us as a community. Was good to be part of the discussion and though nothing was settled, it's comforting to see us wrestling with this and not rushing in willy-nilly so to speak. More conversation lies ahead and I'm looking forward to seeing what we decide.
Which brings us up to the beginning of the school year, which I believe I will save for a separate post since this one is already on the lengthy side and there are events from this past week I am still trying to sort through. Nothing too terribly serious, just my entire financial future. Even typing that much makes my head throb.
Off to face the heat. If you're walking in Norwood and see a book floating in a hairy puddle of sweat, you'll know my worst fears came true and I have indeed melted away. Be careful where you walk - would hate to ruin your shoes... Æ
----------------
Now playing: King's X - Goldilox
via FoxyTunes
Oh right. Because it's 90+ degrees with 780% humidity out and the second I step outside of my climate-controlled house I will turn into a disgusting, sweaty mess. This does not appeal to me.
I do need to make a library run - Never Let Me Go is nearly past due and my copy of Lamb : the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal is waiting to take me on a near-blasphemous trip through Christopher Moore's mind. I can't wait. Here's hoping I don't sweat all over the books, warping them and spoiling the reading experience for some future borrower. Maybe I'll walk really, really slow.
Catch up time. The end of summer was marked by several wonderful events, which for the sake of time will only get a cursory mention instead of the in depth treatment they deserve. Again, blame it on school. The King's X/Extreme show rocked. Couldn't have asked for better weather or better friends to share it with. KX put on a great set, a mix of old and new that if there is any justice in the world won them a few more new fans. Doug was in excellent voice and Ty and Jerry played well. They were missing a touch of showmanship, but oh the sound. Definitely helped being only a handful of rows from the front (thanks Brandon!). I'd never seen Extreme before and they put on an excellent show as well. Gary Cherone is an entertaining showman, though he teetered on the line of self-parody at times (and bore an odd resemblance to Ben Stiller with his hair short). Nuno still has fingers stolen from the devil himself and his playing was stellar. I got some pics, but haven't found a place to post them yet. Maybe I'll do that this afternoon while I'm pretending to be agoraphobic.
I got to make a quick trip up to Canton/Stow/Kent the next day. Met Jenna and Courtney at Jen's house and we lounged around the pool for the afternoon and shared tales of the school year past and anticipation for the one upcoming. Adorable rugrats kept us entertained, which is probably how most of our get togethers will go for the next few years. I also was interviewed for someone's doctoral thesis - she's studying second career teachers and how education programs may better serve them. Interesting to revisit the transition again, do a little evaluation of my experience, see how much cross over there actually is between what I do and what I used to do.
I also got to see Candice one last time before our respective worlds blew up with the start of school. We met at Barnes & Noble and shared our vacation stories and then met Aimee at The Chang for dinner. Always good to catch up, especially since I walked away feeling encouraged as usual. Everyone should have friends like that. I hope you do.
Last weekend (geesh, was it only a week ago) was the Garey family reunion up in Columbiana. Dad is still on bedrest, so I drove up early Saturday morning to drive my mom (and her carfull of items for the auction) up to my cousin Elaine's house. Made for a long day - eleven plus hours of driving once I finally got home around 1:30 AM. But worth it. My Aunt Mary (my grandma's sister) was there and shared the history of the family, which was great. I'm hoping to procure a copy so I can keep it somewhere. So much I've never realized. Was great seeing all the cousins and their spouses and kids. Strange to think I'm the same age my parents were when I remember going to reunions. There was talk about passing on the responsibility to "the next generation" and I realized they were talking about us. Wait, I'm not old enough for that yet, right? Right?
Good to spend some quality time with mom, too. Wasn't sure how it would go, but we had a good time on the drive - I even got her to watch Juno on my iPod. We had hoped Jen would join us, but the night before the reunion her next door neighbor pounded on her door at 12:30 AM, accused her of sideswiping her car and then punched her in the face (?!). I am not making this up. She ended up with a black eye and was in court this past Tuesday for it. Only my sister.
Last Sunday I met with the pastoral council of VC to talk about ordination. Not mine specifically, per se, but the idea of ordination and how it fits in this community. Traditionally ordination has been saved for those earning their livelihood by working in the church. However, since VC doesn't pay its leaders, that criteria doesn't really work. Ordination has also been the mark of those ordained by the church to administer the sacraments. But with our house church set up, those are not reserved only for the ordained. So the question has become, "What does ordination mean in this context?" with a side order of "Should we even be ordaining people?" I gave a brief account of my journey and talked about my own feelings and then we discussed some of the issues facing us as a community. Was good to be part of the discussion and though nothing was settled, it's comforting to see us wrestling with this and not rushing in willy-nilly so to speak. More conversation lies ahead and I'm looking forward to seeing what we decide.
Which brings us up to the beginning of the school year, which I believe I will save for a separate post since this one is already on the lengthy side and there are events from this past week I am still trying to sort through. Nothing too terribly serious, just my entire financial future. Even typing that much makes my head throb.
Off to face the heat. If you're walking in Norwood and see a book floating in a hairy puddle of sweat, you'll know my worst fears came true and I have indeed melted away. Be careful where you walk - would hate to ruin your shoes... Æ
----------------
Now playing: King's X - Goldilox
via FoxyTunes
Friday, August 22, 2008
friday afternoon crash
Year six has begun. Three down, one hundred seventy-seven to go. One of the aspects of teaching I always seem to forget is just how exhausted I am come 3:00 Friday afternoon. I got home today and crashed. Hard. No movement from the comfy chair. Woke up around 5:15 completely disoriented. Of course, that means I'll most likely be up 'til the wee small hours of the morning tonight, which is why I've agreed to go see The Dark Knight again. Might as well do something if I can't sleep. Plus I've been meaning to see it a second time, see what I think experiencing it again.
Will try to do a longer post later about the end of summer/beginning of the year, but for now I need to catch up with some Facebook peeps. Just wanted to make sure people who actually come here didn't think I'd completely abandoned them. Blame it on the school year. I know I do.
Æ
----------------
Now playing: Violent Femmes - Black Girls
via FoxyTunes
Will try to do a longer post later about the end of summer/beginning of the year, but for now I need to catch up with some Facebook peeps. Just wanted to make sure people who actually come here didn't think I'd completely abandoned them. Blame it on the school year. I know I do.
Æ
----------------
Now playing: Violent Femmes - Black Girls
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, August 09, 2008
reasons why I should keep a calendar, #546
There it was, Thursday afternoon, and I'd just returned from my lunch catching up with Bea, looking forward to a little time before I had to run down to Dr. Crafton's office for my follow up appointment. I checked my email, as I always do, and found one from Ted at Falcon Theatre. They're producing The Boys Next Door this fall and hadn't cast all their roles during the first round of auditions and were having a second round that night and wanted to know if I was interested. Now I had heard they were doing Boys while doing The House of Blue Leaves, but didn't see any audition information until right before they occured - and they were happening the day I was having my surgery, so I wrote them off. So I emailed Ted, asked him when auditions were and made plans to go down, see what would happen.
Unfortunately, my doctor's appointment ran late (4:30 appointment - in to see the doctor at 5:40, out around 6:00), which left me no time to prepare or change clothes like I had hoped. So I headed down to Monmouth and waited for auditions to begin. Only a handful of men were there, some who probably had already been cast, others called in to fill the remaining roles. I knew a little bit about the play, but not much and looking at the script it looked like a great time would be had by all involved. Ted had mentioned they were still looking for a Norman, which is the role I came in to read for (we'll save psychological barriers to auditioning for the "fat guy" role for some other time). I didn't nail the audition, but felt pretty good about it, considering the late notice and the lack of prep time, and knew I had a good chance of getting the part.
Since I'm rarely in Newport (and I had been cleared by my doctor to eat anything again), I decided to grab a steak hoagie. While I waited, I called the 'rents - dad had been released from the hospital and was home. While we chatted about his recovery and such, I told them about the auditions and as we talked, it finally struck me - the show would go up weekends in October, 10-25. The back of my brain began to tingle...something was going on then. And I then realized what it was - Grandma Allen's 80th birthday party would take place on closing night. Devastation. I'd just done something I despise - auditioning for a role I could not play. I thought about contacting the director that night, but realized I had no contact information for him. I suppose I could have emailed Ted, but no guarantee I'd catch him before the director called me.
So I decided to think about it overnight, hoping beyond hope I'd find some solution, but knowing I was just going to have to tell him I couldn't do it when he called. Having directed before, I know how hard casting is and how frustrating it is when you think you have everything figured out only to have it come tumbling down. But better now, at the beginning, than once rehearsals started. Was tough talking to him, my guilt in overdrive, but I explained the situation and apologized profusely. I know I can justify all this - last minute notice about auditions, family obligations, etc. - but I still feel bad. Leaves them in a bind and me looking unprofessional.
The moral of the story: I need a calendar. That I use.
Off to see X-Files this afternoon with Julie. Reviews have been less than glowing, but it will be good to see Mulder and Scully again. We're driving to Florence since they're the only theater still showing matinées. A little more nostalgia for my summer - will remind me of Sunday evenings in Lansing when we'd watch new episodes, what, ten years ago now.
I need to stop having thoughts like this - makes denial much harder.
Off to see King's X/Extreme tomorrow. Sounds like we may have a good crowd, though I've yet to hear from my out-of-towners - looks like I might need to make a phone call find out what's going on. Then Monday I'm off to Canton/Stow/Kent/Cuyahoga Falls to see the gang and participate in the first of several interviews for someone's masters (doctoral?) thesis. We'll see how it goes. Then it's time to start thinking about the "S" word again. Bleah. Not quite there mentally yet. Better come soon - only a week left. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Rhett Miller - Meteor Shower
via FoxyTunes
Unfortunately, my doctor's appointment ran late (4:30 appointment - in to see the doctor at 5:40, out around 6:00), which left me no time to prepare or change clothes like I had hoped. So I headed down to Monmouth and waited for auditions to begin. Only a handful of men were there, some who probably had already been cast, others called in to fill the remaining roles. I knew a little bit about the play, but not much and looking at the script it looked like a great time would be had by all involved. Ted had mentioned they were still looking for a Norman, which is the role I came in to read for (we'll save psychological barriers to auditioning for the "fat guy" role for some other time). I didn't nail the audition, but felt pretty good about it, considering the late notice and the lack of prep time, and knew I had a good chance of getting the part.
Since I'm rarely in Newport (and I had been cleared by my doctor to eat anything again), I decided to grab a steak hoagie. While I waited, I called the 'rents - dad had been released from the hospital and was home. While we chatted about his recovery and such, I told them about the auditions and as we talked, it finally struck me - the show would go up weekends in October, 10-25. The back of my brain began to tingle...something was going on then. And I then realized what it was - Grandma Allen's 80th birthday party would take place on closing night. Devastation. I'd just done something I despise - auditioning for a role I could not play. I thought about contacting the director that night, but realized I had no contact information for him. I suppose I could have emailed Ted, but no guarantee I'd catch him before the director called me.
So I decided to think about it overnight, hoping beyond hope I'd find some solution, but knowing I was just going to have to tell him I couldn't do it when he called. Having directed before, I know how hard casting is and how frustrating it is when you think you have everything figured out only to have it come tumbling down. But better now, at the beginning, than once rehearsals started. Was tough talking to him, my guilt in overdrive, but I explained the situation and apologized profusely. I know I can justify all this - last minute notice about auditions, family obligations, etc. - but I still feel bad. Leaves them in a bind and me looking unprofessional.
The moral of the story: I need a calendar. That I use.
Off to see X-Files this afternoon with Julie. Reviews have been less than glowing, but it will be good to see Mulder and Scully again. We're driving to Florence since they're the only theater still showing matinées. A little more nostalgia for my summer - will remind me of Sunday evenings in Lansing when we'd watch new episodes, what, ten years ago now.
I need to stop having thoughts like this - makes denial much harder.
Off to see King's X/Extreme tomorrow. Sounds like we may have a good crowd, though I've yet to hear from my out-of-towners - looks like I might need to make a phone call find out what's going on. Then Monday I'm off to Canton/Stow/Kent/Cuyahoga Falls to see the gang and participate in the first of several interviews for someone's masters (doctoral?) thesis. We'll see how it goes. Then it's time to start thinking about the "S" word again. Bleah. Not quite there mentally yet. Better come soon - only a week left. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Rhett Miller - Meteor Shower
via FoxyTunes
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
idle hands and all that
Today I had nothing planned. I woke up at the usual 7:10AM, walked down to St. E's for morning prayers, walked back to my house and then didn't leave the house again until I went to evening prayers at 9:00. So what happened in the 13 hours between? Very, very little. Watched TV. Uploaded some pics to Facebook. Sent an email or two. Fixed lunch. Read. Took a nap. Fixed dinner. Nice to have a day to do nothing, though too many of them would drive me crazy.
Tomorrow will more than make up for it - prayers, Half-Price Books grand re-opening (I'm hoping to score a free tote bag), lunch with Bea at Panera, doctor's appointment, flash fiction. Feast or famine I suppose.
Dad's back to eating solid food and will probably get out of the hospital on Friday. He won't be able to drive for a while, so either Jen or I will have to drive mom up to the reunion in a couple of weeks. I wasn't sure I was going to make it - it's the weekend before school starts and I have an important meeting on Sunday afternoon, but the reunion itself is on Saturday and we can probably do an up and back, though we're talking 9+ hours in the car. Zoinks!
Doing nothing all day has left me brain dead. Enough trying to find stuff to write about. I'm bored just writing it. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Stevie Nicks - Edge Of Seventeen
via FoxyTunes
Tomorrow will more than make up for it - prayers, Half-Price Books grand re-opening (I'm hoping to score a free tote bag), lunch with Bea at Panera, doctor's appointment, flash fiction. Feast or famine I suppose.
Dad's back to eating solid food and will probably get out of the hospital on Friday. He won't be able to drive for a while, so either Jen or I will have to drive mom up to the reunion in a couple of weeks. I wasn't sure I was going to make it - it's the weekend before school starts and I have an important meeting on Sunday afternoon, but the reunion itself is on Saturday and we can probably do an up and back, though we're talking 9+ hours in the car. Zoinks!
Doing nothing all day has left me brain dead. Enough trying to find stuff to write about. I'm bored just writing it. Æ
----------------
Now playing: Stevie Nicks - Edge Of Seventeen
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
do you believe in coincidence?
This morning I watched an episode of The West Wing and it ended with a montage over Ryan Adams "Desire." Then as I got out of the shower this morning, "Desire" was playing on my iTunes, which I leave on random. I have 14,801 songs on my iTunes - any math wizards out there able to tell me the possibility that that song would just happen to play? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Am hating the rain. Hope it doesn't cancel Jake Speed and the Freddies. But I'll go down anyway, just in case. At least I know my tire's fixed.
Æ
Am hating the rain. Hope it doesn't cancel Jake Speed and the Freddies. But I'll go down anyway, just in case. At least I know my tire's fixed.
Æ
here is what I don't understand
I really don't want to belabor this point, but here it is, nearly one in the morning and I am more awake now than I am in the middle of the day. I took no nap today, I had no caffeine, yet once again I sit here knowing I should be heading to the land of slumber, but not particularly excited about staring into the darkness for another hour or so. Machines haven't helped, neither have drugs, neither has advice. And in two weeks' time it becomes vital I'm in bed before 11:00. I'm not giving up hope yet, but I am getting a little....tired of this.
Last day of self-imposed recovery. No more lying around doing little tomorrow (he says, knowing full well he'll probably do plenty of lying around tomorrow). Up early for prayers, off to Tire Discounters to get my tire looked at and my brakes checked and anything else they can help me with. Hoping if I get there early I won't have to wait too long, but we'll see. Need to be out by 11 so I can go hear Jake Speed down at Piatt Park. Free show. How could I not go? Then to the store to pick up salad for house church and home to clean up before the gang gets here. And I need to try and get details together for this weekend's King's X/Extreme excursion so I can e-mail everyone that expressed interest. Sometime soon I probably should think about cleaning up the downed limbs in my back yard from the storm we had while I was in Colorado.
Sometimes I think I blog just so I have a list of things to do the next day.
Drove up to Dayton Sunday to see dad in the hospital - he'd been experiencing some pain in his stomach while I was in Colorado and then was home when I returned, then went back into the hospital Friday and they did surgery on Saturday. I'll probably screw this up, but had something to do with a hernia and his lower intestine and some petrified vegetable matter clogging up the works. So they went in, fixed the hernia, took out the affected area and reattached the intestine. Sounds fun, no? He had a fever Sunday morning, but by the time I got there, it had gone down and he was doing well. He was a bit on the grumpy side and I can definitely see where I get my aversion to visitors when I'm sick. He'll be in for a few more days, until they're sure everything is flowing smoothly. Was supposed to start fruit juice today, but I guess he wasn't ready, so it will be tomorrow. Doctor said nothing was normal inside - my mom said she could have told them that without opening him up. My mom, the comedian.
Pop culture watch: I tried watching Mad Men tonight since everyone's been raving. None too impressed with the season premiere. Have another episode DVR'd, but not sure it's my kind of show. Am now through season six of The West Wing - I stopped watching during its initial run in season five once Sorkin left. Been fun catching up. I've decided I'm Toby, without the hot ex-wife. I worried a bit it was going to end up over-dramatic like ER with Wells taking over, but while there is some of that (how miserable can we make our favorite characters?), the writing hasn't been too bad. Not Sorkin, for sure, but at times Sorkinesque. Not sure I'll get through season seven by the time school starts and not sure I should. Summer's almost over and I should be outside. But it was good to have them while I recuperated from surgery. And much better than the real-life politics going on nowadays.
Oh yeah, the surgery went well, by the way, other than some minor weeping around one of the constellation of incisions on my midsection. Little bit of panic following surgery when the doctor asked who would be staying with me overnight. I kind of lied and told him Andy, who picked me up, would be with me. See, this seems to be something you should tell someone before surgery, not after. Not all of us live in normal households with other human beings. But all went well with no complications at all. My follow up with the doctor is on Thursday afternoon, so hopefully this will end my organ donation for quite a while. I did get more pics - Leah suggested I should post them for all to see. Or maybe I could frame them and hang them on my walls, kind of like people do with their kids.
I worry about me sometimes.
Gee, so much for typing making me tired enough to sleep. And I don't even have anything to rant and rave about this time. I did post the stuff I wrote on my trip, so you can go back and see what randomness went through my head on my vacation. No pics - that will have to come later. Maybe with my gall bladder shots. You can barely contain your excitement, I'm sure.
Time to at least try to sleep. Maybe reading will help me fall asleep - in the middle of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, recommended by Jenna to go along with my adventures in organ "donation." Such a clever girl that one. To bed, to bed, to bed.
Æ
----------------
Now playing: The Black Crowes - Jealous Again
via FoxyTunes
Last day of self-imposed recovery. No more lying around doing little tomorrow (he says, knowing full well he'll probably do plenty of lying around tomorrow). Up early for prayers, off to Tire Discounters to get my tire looked at and my brakes checked and anything else they can help me with. Hoping if I get there early I won't have to wait too long, but we'll see. Need to be out by 11 so I can go hear Jake Speed down at Piatt Park. Free show. How could I not go? Then to the store to pick up salad for house church and home to clean up before the gang gets here. And I need to try and get details together for this weekend's King's X/Extreme excursion so I can e-mail everyone that expressed interest. Sometime soon I probably should think about cleaning up the downed limbs in my back yard from the storm we had while I was in Colorado.
Sometimes I think I blog just so I have a list of things to do the next day.
Drove up to Dayton Sunday to see dad in the hospital - he'd been experiencing some pain in his stomach while I was in Colorado and then was home when I returned, then went back into the hospital Friday and they did surgery on Saturday. I'll probably screw this up, but had something to do with a hernia and his lower intestine and some petrified vegetable matter clogging up the works. So they went in, fixed the hernia, took out the affected area and reattached the intestine. Sounds fun, no? He had a fever Sunday morning, but by the time I got there, it had gone down and he was doing well. He was a bit on the grumpy side and I can definitely see where I get my aversion to visitors when I'm sick. He'll be in for a few more days, until they're sure everything is flowing smoothly. Was supposed to start fruit juice today, but I guess he wasn't ready, so it will be tomorrow. Doctor said nothing was normal inside - my mom said she could have told them that without opening him up. My mom, the comedian.
Pop culture watch: I tried watching Mad Men tonight since everyone's been raving. None too impressed with the season premiere. Have another episode DVR'd, but not sure it's my kind of show. Am now through season six of The West Wing - I stopped watching during its initial run in season five once Sorkin left. Been fun catching up. I've decided I'm Toby, without the hot ex-wife. I worried a bit it was going to end up over-dramatic like ER with Wells taking over, but while there is some of that (how miserable can we make our favorite characters?), the writing hasn't been too bad. Not Sorkin, for sure, but at times Sorkinesque. Not sure I'll get through season seven by the time school starts and not sure I should. Summer's almost over and I should be outside. But it was good to have them while I recuperated from surgery. And much better than the real-life politics going on nowadays.
Oh yeah, the surgery went well, by the way, other than some minor weeping around one of the constellation of incisions on my midsection. Little bit of panic following surgery when the doctor asked who would be staying with me overnight. I kind of lied and told him Andy, who picked me up, would be with me. See, this seems to be something you should tell someone before surgery, not after. Not all of us live in normal households with other human beings. But all went well with no complications at all. My follow up with the doctor is on Thursday afternoon, so hopefully this will end my organ donation for quite a while. I did get more pics - Leah suggested I should post them for all to see. Or maybe I could frame them and hang them on my walls, kind of like people do with their kids.
I worry about me sometimes.
Gee, so much for typing making me tired enough to sleep. And I don't even have anything to rant and rave about this time. I did post the stuff I wrote on my trip, so you can go back and see what randomness went through my head on my vacation. No pics - that will have to come later. Maybe with my gall bladder shots. You can barely contain your excitement, I'm sure.
Time to at least try to sleep. Maybe reading will help me fall asleep - in the middle of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, recommended by Jenna to go along with my adventures in organ "donation." Such a clever girl that one. To bed, to bed, to bed.
Æ
----------------
Now playing: The Black Crowes - Jealous Again
via FoxyTunes
Thursday, July 31, 2008
vacation's over - time for surgery!
it seems my blog has been having an averse effect on some people, so i put a warning up. just trying to be a conscientious blogger.
leaving in about an hour for the hospital to have another useless organ removed, this time by choice. say goodbye to my gall bladder - we hardly knew ye (except for those moments you caused us excruciating pain).
stuck in a post-vacation hangover - will have to wait to update my blog for this weekend when i'm recovering. but my vacation was amazing, thanks to the great hospitality of alexa and ryan and shannon and paul. i couldn't imagine having a better time. i got to do everything i wanted and then some. stories to follow, as well as some pics.
be back soon!
Æ
----------------
Now playing: Mugison - Mugiboogie
via FoxyTunes
leaving in about an hour for the hospital to have another useless organ removed, this time by choice. say goodbye to my gall bladder - we hardly knew ye (except for those moments you caused us excruciating pain).
stuck in a post-vacation hangover - will have to wait to update my blog for this weekend when i'm recovering. but my vacation was amazing, thanks to the great hospitality of alexa and ryan and shannon and paul. i couldn't imagine having a better time. i got to do everything i wanted and then some. stories to follow, as well as some pics.
be back soon!
Æ
----------------
Now playing: Mugison - Mugiboogie
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Somewhere over a bunch of red states....
Joy! I'm in a row by myself - the businessman assigned to the seat next to me moved to an empty row. I was toying with the same, but being by the window made it a bit trickier to offer. Amazing how much better a trip can be when you can cross your legs.
E-mail from Brenda today - seems she might be in Cincy end of August and we're going to try and do dinner. She said we'd try and avoid talking about remarriage and divorce, though she did read my post and said I made a persuasive argument. Me, I'm still dealing with my own recent doubts. I wonder what love requires. Brent boiled it down to John 3:16 and love, which raises more questions in my head than it answers. What is the most loving action? Does love mean we can ignore the teachings of Christ? How do we determine if it's God's love or our own desires? We humans can rationalize anything - I know I don't trust myself to know what is most loving in a given situation. I'm more likely to go with my will than God's. Which I suppose is why I'm trying to sort this out now, relying on "religious dogma," instead of waiting until a situation arises.
Or maybe I'm just in avoidance mode.
The sun sets behind me and along with it my journey west. Was tough to leave - though I am looking forward to my own bed, I can't say I'm excited to be coming back to Ohio, with its heat and humidity and bugs and lack of mountains. I wonder how different life would be if I'd ended up in Colorado for grad school. Perhaps I'd have ended up back in Ohio anyway. I think part of my heart will always long to be in the mountains. They heal me and cleanse me in ways I do not understand. I know God can do the same in Ohio - I need to find those spaces. And I need to use them.
Will be interesting to see how sleep goes when I get back. Toward the end I was sleeping seven hours a night, give or take. Of course, I was on mountain time, so I was going to bed at 2-3 AM normal time some nights. Hard to believe I've only a couple weeks to get my act together. Where did my summer break go?
Still, lots to do before the 18th - gall bladder surgery, MST3K party, King's X/Extreme concert, trip to Kent, plus house church and flash fiction and as many activities as I can jam into my remaining time. Have to say though - this trip to Colorado certainly pushed this summer over the memorable edge. Glad I did it. thankful for friends who are willing to let me crash their lives for days at a time. Couldn't have asked for better hosts.
Another hour, hour and a half before we land. Think I'll try to read some and maybe drift off to sleep. Jen and James are supposed to pick me up - dad's still in the hospital. Hope they figure out what's wrong with him soon. He ate yesterday, which is a good sign. Night.
Æ
E-mail from Brenda today - seems she might be in Cincy end of August and we're going to try and do dinner. She said we'd try and avoid talking about remarriage and divorce, though she did read my post and said I made a persuasive argument. Me, I'm still dealing with my own recent doubts. I wonder what love requires. Brent boiled it down to John 3:16 and love, which raises more questions in my head than it answers. What is the most loving action? Does love mean we can ignore the teachings of Christ? How do we determine if it's God's love or our own desires? We humans can rationalize anything - I know I don't trust myself to know what is most loving in a given situation. I'm more likely to go with my will than God's. Which I suppose is why I'm trying to sort this out now, relying on "religious dogma," instead of waiting until a situation arises.
Or maybe I'm just in avoidance mode.
The sun sets behind me and along with it my journey west. Was tough to leave - though I am looking forward to my own bed, I can't say I'm excited to be coming back to Ohio, with its heat and humidity and bugs and lack of mountains. I wonder how different life would be if I'd ended up in Colorado for grad school. Perhaps I'd have ended up back in Ohio anyway. I think part of my heart will always long to be in the mountains. They heal me and cleanse me in ways I do not understand. I know God can do the same in Ohio - I need to find those spaces. And I need to use them.
Will be interesting to see how sleep goes when I get back. Toward the end I was sleeping seven hours a night, give or take. Of course, I was on mountain time, so I was going to bed at 2-3 AM normal time some nights. Hard to believe I've only a couple weeks to get my act together. Where did my summer break go?
Still, lots to do before the 18th - gall bladder surgery, MST3K party, King's X/Extreme concert, trip to Kent, plus house church and flash fiction and as many activities as I can jam into my remaining time. Have to say though - this trip to Colorado certainly pushed this summer over the memorable edge. Glad I did it. thankful for friends who are willing to let me crash their lives for days at a time. Couldn't have asked for better hosts.
Another hour, hour and a half before we land. Think I'll try to read some and maybe drift off to sleep. Jen and James are supposed to pick me up - dad's still in the hospital. Hope they figure out what's wrong with him soon. He ate yesterday, which is a good sign. Night.
Æ
Denver Airport - Third and final time
No idea if this flight will be packed, but it probably will be. Timing's been good - got to the airport, ate a quick bite, moved smoothly through the security theatre, grabbed a Snickers for the flight, emptied my bladder and now am waiting to board. Should have started by now, but no such luck.
Ah, I wrote too soon. There's the announcement to board. More on the plane.
Æ
Ah, I wrote too soon. There's the announcement to board. More on the plane.
Æ
the last day
Last day in Colorado. I'm sitting in the Old Colorado City Library, killing some time before Paul comes to pick me up. And I just decided I can do this outside. And I just got a call from Paul, so this will be a short burst.
Yesterday, I rented a bike at a little place called Colorado Kite and Ski in Old Colorado City, which is why I'm here today, returning it. If you ever find yourself in need of a bike, I highly recommend the place - cheapest rate in town and they were willing to work with me so I could keep it overnight. No credit card deposit required. Made it quite enjoyable. OK, enough with the free advertising.
Took a ride out to Garden of the Gods, then down into Manitou Springs again, then back to the Springs and Paul and Shannon's. Lovely way to see the Garden, though that first hill exhausted me. I always think of Singles and the biker guy who claims "I like the way the world looks from a bicycle." Not even the threat of rain could ruin the ride. Lightning in the mountains made it more interesting. I was last at GotG on my personally infamous trip to Denver a decade ago. I still have pics from then, so I didn't take too many this time. Quite the view - and quite crowded. Glad I was on my bike. I am constantly amazed at how rocks can be beautiful (no offense, Scott). A different kind of beauty than the wooded mountains, but capable of stealing my breath nonetheless.
Am hoping to spend some time writing tonight at the airport, processing the trip a bit, trying to draw a line of story through what happened. Seems so long ago since Ft. Thomas, but it's only been a week. And the flight out even longer. I'm glad. Better than it feeling short.
Sarah wrote yesterday - she had talked to Shannon and knew I was here, but thought I had driven out. She asked if Shannon had done her married duty and tried to set me up. Had to laugh when I read that. I did get the chance to spend a couple of evenings with two lovely friends of Shannon's, but they definitely did not feel like set ups. Perhaps I've been too successful at cultivating the image of the content bachelor....
Paul is here. More later. Æ
Yesterday, I rented a bike at a little place called Colorado Kite and Ski in Old Colorado City, which is why I'm here today, returning it. If you ever find yourself in need of a bike, I highly recommend the place - cheapest rate in town and they were willing to work with me so I could keep it overnight. No credit card deposit required. Made it quite enjoyable. OK, enough with the free advertising.
Took a ride out to Garden of the Gods, then down into Manitou Springs again, then back to the Springs and Paul and Shannon's. Lovely way to see the Garden, though that first hill exhausted me. I always think of Singles and the biker guy who claims "I like the way the world looks from a bicycle." Not even the threat of rain could ruin the ride. Lightning in the mountains made it more interesting. I was last at GotG on my personally infamous trip to Denver a decade ago. I still have pics from then, so I didn't take too many this time. Quite the view - and quite crowded. Glad I was on my bike. I am constantly amazed at how rocks can be beautiful (no offense, Scott). A different kind of beauty than the wooded mountains, but capable of stealing my breath nonetheless.
Am hoping to spend some time writing tonight at the airport, processing the trip a bit, trying to draw a line of story through what happened. Seems so long ago since Ft. Thomas, but it's only been a week. And the flight out even longer. I'm glad. Better than it feeling short.
Sarah wrote yesterday - she had talked to Shannon and knew I was here, but thought I had driven out. She asked if Shannon had done her married duty and tried to set me up. Had to laugh when I read that. I did get the chance to spend a couple of evenings with two lovely friends of Shannon's, but they definitely did not feel like set ups. Perhaps I've been too successful at cultivating the image of the content bachelor....
Paul is here. More later. Æ
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Jose Muldoon's
Decided to do lunch. Could have gone back to the Marchese's but...I've been craving Mexican. And we might go somewhere else later, but...I wanted Mexican. Now. Instant gratification, I am they slave.
TMI moment - I'm a bit moist right now. Shirt is soaked with sweat, which is one reason I decided to sit outside - let the air dissipate any unfortunate odor and dry me off. I just hope the gaggle of girls next to me aren't too disgusted by my presence. Of course, they're to busy discussing the vagaries of the service industry to even notice me.
Listening to Shannon talk about her job in publishing got me thinking again of adapting Summers' Last into book form. It feels like it shouldn't be too difficult - the story is there, I would just need to add some more description. I want to ask Shannon what she thinks, but wonder if it would be taking advantage of our friendship. I don't know the etiquette on this. I've got 3 1/2 days to figure it out.
3 1/2 days of vacation left. Sad.
Mom called yesterday - dad had to go to the hospital - they thought it was a kidney problem, but they ruled that out and now think it's some kind of intestinal blockage. We Allen's and our gastric problems. Next week at this time I'll be recovering from my gall bladder surgery. Joy. Probably trying to squeeze too much in, but that's what breaks are for.
Lunch is done - not too impressed. Probably should have waited. Ah well, that's what vacations are for - taking chances. Æ
TMI moment - I'm a bit moist right now. Shirt is soaked with sweat, which is one reason I decided to sit outside - let the air dissipate any unfortunate odor and dry me off. I just hope the gaggle of girls next to me aren't too disgusted by my presence. Of course, they're to busy discussing the vagaries of the service industry to even notice me.
Listening to Shannon talk about her job in publishing got me thinking again of adapting Summers' Last into book form. It feels like it shouldn't be too difficult - the story is there, I would just need to add some more description. I want to ask Shannon what she thinks, but wonder if it would be taking advantage of our friendship. I don't know the etiquette on this. I've got 3 1/2 days to figure it out.
3 1/2 days of vacation left. Sad.
Mom called yesterday - dad had to go to the hospital - they thought it was a kidney problem, but they ruled that out and now think it's some kind of intestinal blockage. We Allen's and our gastric problems. Next week at this time I'll be recovering from my gall bladder surgery. Joy. Probably trying to squeeze too much in, but that's what breaks are for.
Lunch is done - not too impressed. Probably should have waited. Ah well, that's what vacations are for - taking chances. Æ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
