Humpday Once Again!

     First, I have to say that I love the new editor Blogger.com has given us.  Way to go, Blogger!  It's just like using Microsoft Word^©!

 

     Now, on to the;

 

Humpday Quote of the Week!

 

     In the phrase topsy-turvy, what exactly is meant by turvy?

                            -----George Carlin

 

Waiting for the Mail

It's been a few months since I've applied to return to college. I was supposed to have gotten something in the mail that told me when to meet with some sort of conference, but I haven't gotten it yet.

So, after having waited on needles and pins for the past couple of weeks, I've decided to poke around and find out what's been holding it up.

Problem is ... I don't even know where to start poking around!

Humpday Quote of the Week!

In at least one respect Barstow was a wise man; he knew that another man could oppose him and not be a villain.
Robert Heinlein. From his book, Methuselah's Children

I wonder how many people take this saying to heart in this day and age? …Or in any other, for that matter…

Must ... Blog ... Faster!

 

     I've got to run.  I've spent the better part of the afternoon working out.  (Yes, I've returned to that.  I had gained all but five pounds back, and my clothes aren't fitting right anymore.)

     So, now you know about my physical condition.  (I stand 5' 8", and now weigh 245 lbs. ... I had been down to 219 lbs.)

    See you folks later!

Ok, So I Was a Little Tough on a Politician in My Last Post

But, I couldn't help it. Everyone who knows me also knows my leanings, and I think I've spelled them out pretty well here (even if I haven't been as verbose about it as most folks can.) Allow me to phrase it as a question. A long, run-on of an interrogative statement.

"What is someone from a place called the 'Rust Belt' doing talking about an issue that will affect only an estimated ten percent of the population, and it isn't going to do one bit of good for the other ninety percent of us living in places like the 'Rust Belt'?"

I have heard people say that we all need to stand up for what we believe in. I suppose it's a lot easier to sound like a preacher in a government position than to try and remove any rust from any of the belts in this country.

"But, David Aaron," you ask, "do you have any ideas how to go about that? If you do, why don't you run for Senate?"

My answers to those questions;

"Yes"

"You've watched the news at election time, you figure it out."

*** ** ** ***

Now, I didn't set out to write about economics or politics today. Those two things create what I like to call "instant hangover." What I was going to write about is returning to music.

Like I've said before, I haven't been known for playing an instrument since I put the viola down for the last time back in the sixth grade. (For those of you keeping track, I graduated back in '93, so it was seven years before that since I last played my viola.)

It's a strange feeling these days to sit down at a keyboard and record with people who've been playing music since the early '60s. I thought I was going to feel intimidated by that. I'm not.

Sure, these guys are immensely more skilled than I. Perhaps they're even more talented. However, since I've been paying attention to the music scene for the past twenty years, I've adopted a motivational saying ... "Don't let a silly little thing like lack of talent get in your way!"

(By the way ... Anyone doubting the veracity of these posts about music because of that little Toronto thing a few months back, remember ... I don't pull pranks like that twice in a row, and I don't pull them at all in July!)

Humpday Quote of the Week!

If you support ... a mother and a father for every child, you are a hater. If you believe that men and women for 5,000 years have bonded together in marriage, you're a gay-basher. Marriage is hate. Marriage is a stain. Marriage is an evil thing. That's what we hear.
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa

(Can anyone say ... BULLSHIT?)

I'm Still Here

I haven't forsaken my writing ... Just yet, anyway. I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been watching a lot of news for the past couple of weeks, and there is quite a bit that I could comment on. But, I figure, "What's the use?" I'm still hearing this nonsense about a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, meanwhile we have soldiers dying in a war that was preposterous to begin with ... I'm just far too outraged to even comment on it. All I have to say is that we're living in sad times if a country can be so easily divided over something I wouldn't even call a non-issue.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (many more times), that my parents' marriage didn't need defense from gay folks getting married. My parents' marriage needed to be defended from my parents!

Now, I know the argument that we're just trying to defend a culture. So what? The culture has gotten along just fine up to this point without marriage defense acts. (By the way, I do only have one thing against gay people; the soul-dead music I heard at the club those friends of mine took me to. Then again, lots of music that heterosexuals are into lack a great deal of soul, too. So I don't really hold that against any one group of people.)

My proposal; Let's all get over ourselves, try to realize that generally this country is in pretty good shape, and fix the things that have really wrong. (Health care, homelessness, and war analogies.)

P.S.: You'll Never Guess What I Just Came Back from Doing!

I've just come back home from a recording session. We did a cover of the song "A Change is Gonna Come" done by a lot of people (but, primarily by Sam Cooke.)

The last time I played in front of a crowd was at a very small bookstore about seven years ago (I was in a very short-lived band called "The Three Former Kings of America." We were a quartet.) I recorded one track with that group. Since I had absolutely no confidence in my abilities to play, I backed out of the band (so they could actually become a trio!)

Tonight, I recorded a keyboard and backing vocal track for only the second time in my life. And, I was surrounded by three other guys (one of which is my dad) who've been playing for about forty-two years.

I started in the Kindergarten chorus in '79. I played Viola (if you could call what I did "playing") for only a couple of years. But, all that time, I had remained active in the chorus. So, I think I went from '79 to '91 with my vocal training. (It is a sad thing, however, how quickly talents/skills can tarnish. It was like riding a bike tonight, though. It all came back to me.)

As far as the keyboard goes ... It's a fairly new addition to my repertoire. I had an old Hammond organ and a Wurlitzer electric piano when I was in High School, but I didn't play either one often enough to feel comfortable doing what I did tonight.

But, the guys really helped out. They were making goofs of their own, and no worse than mine. It was comforting to know that even after forty years of playing, even they had false starts and misplaced notes.

Well, Hey! Oops!
The vacation’s over. While on that vacation, I was taking a break from my usual routine of work and writing. I had planned to resume writing to the blog every day starting this past Monday, but I suppose I’ve missed the boat on that. Really, I meant to get back to it. But, I think I might have needed a little time away from the keyboard just to regain my appreciation for what I’m doing here. (I still haven’t figured out what that might be, but I suppose making friends over very large distances is a very good start!)

The First Day Back Is Always Hardest

That's what my mom's boyfriend told me yesterday. My vacation wrapped up Monday, and as I was leaving the house, that's the last thing he said to me. "Your first day back ..." (well, you read the title.)

I've left my workplace a mystery on this blog, for good reason. If I were to ever get mad enough to write about what's going on out there (like a team leader being demoted over the phone while she's out recovering from surgery), no one will know what place it is I'm talking about (other than a couple of people out there who already know where I work.)

Suffice it to say, for those of you out there whom I haven't told, I work in a hospital-like setting. Lots of medical stuff going on ... and a lot of equipment that would be used in a hospital. Like latex gloves.

I'm allergic to latex. I've known this already for several months, perhaps a little over a year and a half now. What I didn't realize, though I have read about it, is that latex allergy can manifest as a respiratory problem. I've had a tightness in my throat that hasn't gone away in a very long time. Over my vacation (gross out warning), I coughed up a wad of phlegm about the sized of a golf ball. (Ok, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I did hear the sucker hit the floor. And, that's exactly what it felt like while it was still in my system.)

At that point, the tightness that I had come to accept as a way of life ... Faded away! I had about four days of relief as of yesterday afternoon, and less than four hours into my workday yesterday, it ... Came ... Back!

To give you any idea how it's affected me for the past year or so, I've made fun of the situation by impersonating Gollum.

"*hack* *kaf* We're *wheeze* allergic to *hackkafhack* latex, my prrrreciousss! Gollu-um! Goll-um! Goll-uuum!"

*** ** ** ***

You have a cough? Go home tonight, eat a whole box of Ex-Lax--tomorrow you'll be afraid to cough.
-- Pearl Williams

My CPC (Cheap Plastic Cup) Collection. Front row L-R; Four (of forty) small Coca Cola glasses I bought at Kroger's (Ralphs), a glow-in-the-dark glass from White Castle (No WCs in the OC?), and one I've forgotten where I bought. Second Row; every one is from Taco Bell. Back row; Two more from Taco Bell, six large Coke cups (probably from Subway), and two non-descript blue cups (one holding sippy straws) I bought at War-Malt on a clearance rack for well under a dollar. The last two cups a sturdier, but cheap enough to be lost during, say, camping trips (which is the only time those two get used.) 

Holiday's Coming On!

I know I'm going to generate some heat when I say this, but when I was growing up, I ranked the excitement I felt for this holiday just behind what I felt for Halloween. But, I have to qualify that statement by saying that, in all reality, they were two different kinds of excitement. Halloween was a close nit, nuclear family sort of thing where my mom, dad, sister and I would carve pumpkins and go trick-or-treating. I love any chance to get out of the house and mingle with strangers, really. (Sometimes I forget this in my video game induced stupors.)

The Fourth of July, however, was more about larger family gatherings. This is where aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins came around for cookouts and fireworks. The true meaning of this holiday has never been lost on me. I would gather, though, that I don't fully understand it. Of course, this might invite many people to explain to me about the sacrifices made by people who fought in wars for this country. (In person I'd keep quiet at this point, but in print I'll say ... "Isn't that Memorial Day?")

On July Fourth, 1776, this country declared its independence from England. (I realize that we've gone so far with this independence as to misspell the word "realise.") It wasn't until a little more than eleven years later that this country came into being as we would (hopefully) recognize it today. There was at least one abortive attempt at a confederacy, but that ended with a Whiskey Rebellion. (Don't ask me to explain that. All I know is that in the 1780s, a bunch of people rebelled against the fledgling government in such a way that the whole thing was scrapped to be redone.)

Enough with the history lesson, though. I'm bored, too.

Adventures with My Niece

I might not have said as much in a post before, but I really am looking forward to the day I can start a family. I've been looking forward to that day for quite a while now, and it's days like these that give me the idea that I may actually be ready.

My niece came up from Alabama this past Saturday, and I've really had a blast around her. I really can't tell if I'm entertaining her or if she's entertaining me.

We've been staying up late watching Futurama and Family Guy (And before you even ask, Yes ... My sister lets her watch them, too.) Last night, during a commercial break, I was up clearing some more of my stuff out of the living room (I won't go into that other than to say I have an apartment full of stuff to move into a house that already has two apartmentfuls in it)and I grabbed an empty garbage bag.

A couple of weeks ago, I had bought my mother a high velocity floor fan (to help move cool air up the stairs.) Well, I took the empty bag and opened it up. I put my hands just inside of it, spread them apart, and moved it in front of the fan. It popped full of air almost instantly, and my niece jumped at the noise. She saw what I was doing and giggled in a manner that only kids know how. "Let go of it, Aaron! Let go of it!" She said. And I did. That bag flew gently across the room and landed on a table. We were both laughing quite heartily. I lost track of how many times I did that. (One time, she even stood up in the bag as I held it in place over the fan. She actually had room to turn around in it without touching the sides. I wish I could have gotten pictures it.)

Today, I went out to get a haircut. A couple of doors down from the shop is a hobby store. I had a half an hour to kill before I could get into a chair, so I went in. I wondered around aimlessly until I saw something that sent me back to my childhood. Little, cheap, stupidly fragile balsa-wood airplanes and gliders. I bought one, got my haircut done, and went back home.

I got home, plopped the little package down in front of my niece, and she said "Oh! How do you put it together?"

"The instructions are on the back. Let me get something to drink, and I'll help you with it."

Before I could even get the refrigerator closed, something hit the door and clattered to the linoleum. I looked down. It was the little plane. Before I could get my drink and sit down, she had already figured the thing out.

She and I went outside and played with that little glider for about an hour. When we came back in, I realized I needed to drop off an audio book at the library.

So, while I was out, I went back to the hobby store and got two (slightly more elaborate) planes. I've just sit down from playing with those to write this. I have forgotten how much fun those little airplanes really are. Next weekend, I'm going to go back and get her one of them that has the propeller and rubber band.

In a way, I'm thankful I don't already have kids. I know it probably would have been nicer for my niece to have had cousins to with whom to grow. For me it means that maybe ... Just maybe ... after she's grown up a little too much I'll get to start this process over again.