Pickle-ickle-ickle

It has been a while since I posted a blog entry. The times that I've had an idea in my head, I haven't been near a computer with time to enter. The times that I've had time and access to a computer, I haven't had any ideas.

I've got both. Actually, I've got time and a lot of ideas, but instead of making each one an entry, I'll just put some of them out here...

I've been listening to my mp3 player at work a lot lately. I keep going back to a few albums. Warren Zevon's The Wind and Chuck Mangione's Fun and Games. The Wind was Warren's last release before he passed away 4 years ago. He worked on it as he battled cancer. Some of the lyrics are wonderful. From the song, Disorder in the House...

Disorder in the house
All bets are off
I'm sprawled across the davenport of despair

Disorder in the house
I'll live with the tosses
And watch the sundown through the portiere

And from the song, Keep Me In Your Heart...

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile

The CD was very starkly produced. If you listen, you can hear everything. Joking during songs, a missed note here or there, the sound of a man dying, but willing to go on with life.

On the reading front, I'm over halfway through with Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude. I have read that people either love this book or hate it. I don't know that I love it, but I find it very interesting. A new movie is being released next month based on one of his other books, Love in the Time of Cholera.

Game 4 of the World Series is being played tonight. Before the season started, a few of the guys at work put in their picks. I called a New York subway series. I was wrong. Just before the Series started, we revised our picks. I chose Colorado in 6. I'm half wrong. We'll see tonight if I'm all wrong. - Update - The Red Sox have swept the Rockies. I'm all wrong.

Since the sale of our house, we've been able to get back on track, financially. Our credit cards are paid off, there's some money in the bank, and we purchased some new furniture. An entertainment center and a computer desk/hutch. A nice, simple look in pine. They should be delivered this coming Saturday. After buying them, I went a different store and I think I found our new kitchen table. I want Angie to look at it, though. I took photos and described it to her, but...

I've also been playing with IRC, the Internet Relay Chat. Basically, it is an instant messenger / bulletin board / private messenger thingo. I use it to communicate with other players of my Luser Game, as my loving wife calls it. Thanks to Mitch and Tali for helping me understand the cryptic commands of the protocol. Late last night / early this morning we also looked at making Google Talk work with more than one user. Using a GoogleGadget, we were able to do it, but it was late and I know that I had other things on my mind. I'm sure that we'll try again.

Regarding the game, I now have something to mock her about. She received a book as a gift from her parents. It is a science fiction novel written by one of their doctors. I don't think that Angie's ever read any real science fiction. I'm guessing that it is okay, but she said that some of the alien's names started with a !. That will make for a nice audio book.

Today, at church, we celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the start of our congregation. A local women's trio, 2 or More, came and sang in service, then again after the dinner. I didn't stay around for the dinner or the program. I took Caroline home, thinking that she probably needed a nap more than she needed to stay in the nursery. We fell asleep watching an NFL game, and then I put her in her crib while I retired to our bed. It has been a while since I've had a chance to take a Sunday afternoon nap. I enjoyed it.

And the Title of this blog entry is from The Wind. I'll let you find the song that it came from.

Shameless Plug

This is a link to get you to the JustGive.org website so you can make an online donation to the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of East Tennessee.

JustGive.org is a non-profit organization to assist other non-profits to more easily accept electronic payments. JustGive.org deducts 3% of donations to cover the transaction costs. This is as good (or better) than many credit card fees.

Remember to put Caroline's name in the Designate my donation and/or in the Dedicate my donation box(es).

When it asks for an email address to send a message to, please use: shccangie at yahoo dot com . You know how to do the anti-robot replace the at with an @ and the dot with a . thing.

On behalf of Caroline, and the other individuals and families that DSAG serves, thank you.

Off bass

On Friday we closed on the sale of our house. This has been a long 4-1/2 months. But, God has been faithful and has made resources available to us and saw us through.

It is much easier, at a closing, to be the seller. We signed a few papers, initialed others and then sat back and watched the buyer run out of ink in their pens. Twice. Not really, but you understand what I mean.

After the closing, Angie had to go to Best Buy to get some things for church. Since the Best Buy just happens to be next to Guitar Center, I went in there after we were done at Best Buy. Angie went to Jo Ann's fabric store. She bought something. I didn't.

I went in thinking that I might like to get an acoustic/electric bass guitar. I looked around the electric bass room. Some pretty ones to look at. But I like my current Fender. No need to change. But I thought that it might be nice to have an acoustic. So I looked. And played some. Here's what I looked at...

It is a Dean Playmate. Their price was about $200. Very much a Jumbo body. Uncomfortable for me, as the Precision that I play is much thinner. The sound was very tubby. Much slack on the strings, therefore much buzz. I really liked the feel of the neck, though.

The next one I tried was...

a Michael Kelly Club Deluxe. Their price was about $450. Workmanship was a little nicer. But still a tubby sound.

Finally, I tried ...a Fender Victory Bailey Signature. A much thinner body. The craftsmanship was super. Their price was about $900. A bit rich for my wallet. The sound was better, not as tubby, but I thought that it would cut through a bit more.

Now, to be fair, I did not run any of them through an amp, so I'm guessing that their tone would be different. But I thought that an acoustic bass might be useful for playing without an amp. I either had my expectations too high, or I'm just confused.

I'm not going to get one now. Maybe ever.

What I'm Reading

About six or seven weeks ago, I blogged about Savoring Books. I thought that I'd post an update.

I read some Mark Twain. Witty. Pointed. Darn funny.

I've been reading Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham. A delightful story in which... You go read it. It is often combined with Smith of Wootton Major. I'm not planning on re-reading that right now.

I picked up Marjorie Rowling's Life in Medieval Times. A nice, semi scholarly and very readable on social history. I've read a few chapters, including: "Women and Wives" and "Townsmen and Traders." Nice.

I also picked up a copy of John Donne's Poetry (Norton Critical Edition, selected and edited by A. L. Clements). Donna Mo commented on my wanting to read some Donne by saying:

And let me know how you make out with John Donne!

Donna, I don't want to make out with him. There are too many reasons why. But he was a randy fellow. Elegy XIX: To His Mistress Going to Bed (sometimes referred to as Elegy XX). Very good writing. He was quite the punster in some of his other writings. I'll let you find them yourselves.

I've also been going through Walter Wangerin Jr.'s The Book of God. I'm still reading about the prophets.

I have been reading for the details. They are so important. A good friend of mine recently said:

If you give me a month, I can make you a whole new world. You can give me all my life, though, and I won't have finished the first person to live in it.

Creativity at its finest.