Last night, we all got together at Tio Rigo’s (second from right) house to wait for Kelly’s arrival from Baltimore. Rigo prepared an amazing carne asada and everyone helped prepare for our niece Valeria’s (the girl in pink at the left) quinceñera which takes place tomorrow. There was lots of music and talking. It takes an even like this to remind me how noisy are these special Mexican events.
Tios Lauro and Tio Lynn and his family spent Christmas Eve with Lorena, Conchita, Christian, and I. Lauro and Lynn, did all the grilling while the rest of us sat around and talked. Christian downloaded some music he wanted to learn and it was just nice to watch him start to work through that. This was as nice a Christmas Eve as I have had for years. The only thing missing was Kelly, but she will be here later today.
Lorena had a ball at the opera last night. It all sounded quite interesting. One innovation that is new to me, but probably not to anyone else in the world, is the digital sign above the stage that provides real time translation of the lyrics. It was so good of Rich and Julia to take her along. She has been listening to opera since she was a little girl, but this was only the second opera she has ever attended. Grandpa Lauro was a huge opera fan. She said the singing was just incredible, the costumes were amazing, it was a great opera (Faust) and she wants to go again soon.
Lorena went to the opera tonight with my brother-in-law Rich, Aunt Julia, and our beautiful niece Mariah. The opera is Faust and I KNOW they are having a great time. Kelly was supposed to go with them but had a work event so we asked if Lorena could go in her place. We are very grateful that they graciously said yes and Lorena is like a kid in a candy store. This is her second opera. She went to one other with her father, Grandpa Lauro, who was a huge, huge opera fan. We hope you have a great time.
It was nice to have Christian back in the house for a few days doing his guitar exercises. He says this is not music–just exercises, but we like to listen to it anyway. Click here to see another one we captured.
I count this as a birthday gift from one of the blogs I read. The guy who writes the blog does not know I exist, but he is a fellow traveler, transplanted to Texas whose blog I visit at least a couple of times per day (h.t. Bayou Renaissance Man). To my friends in Klamath Falls, Southern Indiana and parts of North Carolina, this video needs no explanation (I did not mention Texas because that goes without saying). What is not to like about Ode to Joy on Glock 22’s, especially when Russians are involved?
For some reason this video came to mind today. I forgot how excellent it really was and thought I would put it up again because it is so fun. From the date of the video, this must have occurred right after he turned sixteen during his Junior year at NCSU.
Christian and I talked last night about avocation. There were lots of things we tried when the kids were growing up as part of our homeschool and just as part of life. We focused hard on specific academic paths that gave the kids as many options as possible when it came to career choices. The reality is we did not do so bad at that part–the kids are now in a place they can go virtually any direction they want career-wise. At the other end of the spectrum were things that would be characterized as life skills and or avocations. We had varying degrees of success with things that were not the central focus of our homeschool academics, but at which we invested time, effort and a fairly large amount of our resources. I thought I might make a list of some of that stuff. I say only some of it because there was so much that I know I will miss a bunch of it. So what am I talking about:
The thing that was great about all that stuff is we got into all of it and got excited about it at the same time we did not over emphasize it. We wanted this all to be something for which the kids could have lifelong enjoyment without it consuming their lives. We will have to wait awhile longer to see if we had any level of success at that goal.
Kelly pointed this out to me this last night. It is an amazing version of the theme song for Civilization 4, one of the few games Christian played growing up. The lyrics of the song are a translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Swahili and the lady singing the song is singing remotely from Monterrey, Mexico (Lorena’s home town). There is a very nice explanation of the composition of the song on Wikipedia here.
Betty Blonde #176 – 03/19/2009
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While my family might think I spend ALL my time working when I am in Prescott, it is not entirely true. This video WAS taken while I was at work. Every Thursday (the day is actually malleable–sometimes it falls on Friday) is called “Software Thursday” and we spend it eating dinner and talking shop at a place called the Raven. If we hang around long enough, there is live music and sometimes it is pretty good.
Betty Blonde #163 – 03/02/2009
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Day 985 of 1000
Betty Blonde #109 – 12/16/2008
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Day 634 of 1000
My buddy Warren of the Truth has a chance blog and lived together for several years when he was in college and I was a recent college grad working for a robotics and machine vision company in the mid-1980’s in Corvallis. We lived in a couple of places, but by far the best one was an apartment on Applegate Street in Philomath. It was there that we held the once in a lifetime Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative GatheringTM. That is a blog post for another time. What prompted me to write this post was an impulse purchase decision I made a couple of nights ago that brought on a LOT of good, but nostalgic, almost melancholic thoughts. It was a great time for the both of us. Warren was gathering some of the technical skills that culminated in a high-level computer consulting career and I was just starting my dive into the world of Machine Vision where I joyfully make my living thirty years later.
We lived in a fairly rundown apartment complex next to a working class couple who had two kids named Jimbob and Megan who were both under six years old. We had told them that Warren’s name was Mr. Bone and that my name was Sir. They were very sweet kids. Warren and I loved to talk and play with them. We had lots of visitors in those days. Jimbob and Megan impressed everyone with their politeness. Whenever we came home from school or work, the kids would run out yelling “Sir, Sir, Mr. Bone, Mr. Bone!” I would love to know what happened to them.
At that same time, someone tried to sell Warren a C Melody Sax for $200. He could not afford it at the time so he asked me if I wanted to buy it. On a whim, I said, “Yes”. We both loved to play the thing and took turns trying to figure the thing out. Warren is a lot more musical than I and did much better than I, but I loved it. When we moved out and went on to other things, the Sax disappeared. I never knew where it went, but always regretted not having it. I always told myself I would get another.
I was sitting in my room feeling sorry for myself with Lorena, Kelly, and Christian in California on Thursday evening. For some reason I got to thinking about the old C Melody Sax. I looked around on Amazon and eBay and found an Alto Sax that looked good, was cheap, and had pretty good reviews so I bought it. Eat your heart out Giles.
I love the seriousness with which little Rowan sings Caitlin Rose’s Own Side Now. She is only five years old.
Here are some shots of Kelly and here buddies singing at Wake Tech.
About three quarters of the chorus
The Mexican small group sings “Somos el Mundo”
Take the A train
Mom and Dad wait for the concert to start
Day 102 of 1000
Lorena, Christian, and I made our way to the Community College last night to see the final performance and art show for the fine arts program. Paintings, pencil drawings, charcoals, and sculptures were displayed outside the music performance room. The chorus and the story-telling classes provided the performance arts. It was wonderful. There was a pretty good sized crowd to see it all. They dynamic of the community college is very fascinating. It is obvious that Kelly’s chorus professor and the story-telling professors take their jobs very seriously and derive great joy from them. Kelly sang with the chorus and with one small group of Mexican students who sang “We Are the World” in Spanish. Christian got some great pictures–I will put up a few of them this evening. Wake Technical Community College has an impressive facility, the student body is eclectic and fascinating to watch. It was all pretty impressive and very, very fun.
Day 90 of 1000
Andrew posted this on his Google+ account. I like it a LOT.
I listened to some of his other stuff on YouTube. If you like this genre Justin Townes Earle is definitely worth a listen.
Update: Should have known this was Steve Earle’s kid. He sounds like he has had a rough life. He surely is talented, just like his Dad. I hope Justin’s politics are not as misinformed (I am trying to be gracious here) as that of his father, even though I love his music when I do not listen too closely to the words.
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