the soundtrack of my life

I have a strong affinity for music - not that I have any talent in music, I don't play any instruments and can only sing when my iPod is at full volume so I can't hear myself sing - rather, many of the significant events and emotions of my life are associated with particular songs. I was talking with a friend about this just today. Here's a brief list of those songs that have provided the soundtrack to my life, in chronological appearance in my life, youngest first:
Surrender - Cheap Trick (my first kiss as I remember)
Pressing On - Bod Dylan
Synchronicity - the Police
Get Off My Cloud - Rolling Stones
Doors of my Heart - English Beat
Hollywood Nights - Bob Seger
I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
Young Americans - David Bowie
Let my Love Open the Door - Pete Townsend
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Under Pressure - Queen
What I Like About You - the Romantics
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Yong Cannibals
Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds
Sledgehammer - Peter Garbriel
Mr Big Stuff - Jean Knight
How Bizarre - OMC
Losing My Religion - REM
Slit Skirts - Pete Townsend
It's the End of the World As We Know It - REM
London Calling - the Clash
Train in Vain - the Clash
Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth with Money in My Hand - Primitive Radio Gods
...and the list continues.

long time gone

Has it really been a month since I blogged? Time flies when you're having fun they say but the same is true even if you not enjoying it. The past month has not been enjoyable. I taught a class and took a class at University of Phoenix, kept up the standard 50 hours at work while trying to be a good husband and father. I don't think I did well at any of it. I'll be lucky to get a B, I was late returning grades to my students... not sure work or home went much better.
The storm has passed though. I'm finished with my classes, both as student and teacher, and won't take my next class till July. We're taking a vacation for two weeks so work is on the back burner starting Monday. It should give me some time to reconnect with the wife and kids so all should be improved shortly.
Clearly I need to manage my commitments a bit better. You can never predict work pressures nor family needs so I guess it comes down to school. It probably wasn't wise to take and teach at the same time and I will try and avoid that going forward. The pressure is what takes a toll. The older I get the longer it takes to recover from a pressure wall, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Five solid weeks of mounting pressure is too much.
So I'll spend the month of June relaxing by watching all the Euro 2008 games I can.

i got an A+

My first class in Project management ended last Monday and I have been anxiously waiting for my final grade. Really I knew what it would be as the instructor gives out a weekly grade each of the five weeks and it's not too hard to figure out the trend. And yet I checked every day to see if the instructor had posted it.
I always claim to have a liaise faire approach to formal education. I was lackadaisical in my attendance way back when in my undergrad years. At the MBA I took attendance more seriously but viewed the reading assignments as more recommendations than requirements. And yet, I always fretted about that final grade, checking daily to see if it was posted.
I am pretty good at the whole school thing. I view learning as a separate activity from school - you can learn without formal schooling and not learn in formal schooling. The goal of school is to make the grade. And I am very good at figuring out what must be done to earn the points that add up to that final letter. Sometimes it's class participation, sometimes it's homework, most of the time it's taking exams. Fortunately I have the God given talent that enables me to read the entire text the night before the exam and synthesize it enough to ace the test the next day. Whether or not I retain the information is another matter, after all, schooling and learning are not the same thing. And so far, in my project management program I am making the grade.

mowing the lawn

The quintessential American suburban white noise of lawnmowers has returned to the sound scape in my neighborhood. And this year I am joining the ranks of homeowners in the weekly summertime ritual of mowing, edging, blowing and general lawn tending. Rather than paying someone else to do the work I am stepping into the breach. I don't own a lawn mower, nor a weed whacker, although my wife did buy a leaf blower a couple years back.
So where to buy the requisite equipment? The major home improvement chain stores have entire mile-long isles of gleaming lawn mowers. Judging by the sticker prices these behemoths should not only mow my lawn effortlessly but BBQ my hamburger at the same time while keeping my beer cold all the while. I think I'll go the used route at the thrift store. My lawn is small and I don't think it warrants a second mortgage.
I'm thinking a nice little electric job would be just the ticket. Al Gore will be proud of me. No doubt he'll nominate me for some kind of statuesque award... I can picture it in my mind's eye. Walking down the red carpet pushing my gently humming lawn mower in my jet black tux. Have to go with the bow tie, keep it understated, none of this wild color stuff for me. Maybe a subtle pinstripe of black velvet. My beautiful wife on my arm in a flowing cream, backless gown, a string of pearls around her neck. Yes, I can see it now.
"Excuse me sir, do you sell used extension cords, really long ones?"<

in like a lion, out like a lamb

While intended for March, if April had ended on Sunday it certainly would have been true. We basked in the unfamiliar warmth of a sunny day in the mid 70’s. After being cooped up all winter we couldn’t wait to get out and spent the entire weekend outside. Disparaging the weather reports and frost warnings predicted for later in the week we bought an assortment of annuals and planted them in the garden. We were none too particular buying whatever caught our fancy without bothering to look for particular plants. While the air was warm the dirt was still chilled and caused us to cringe as we deposited our newly purchased drops of color into fresh dug holes.
We ate dinner outside on the patio even as the wind crept up and took the warmth from the air. It grew colder as the sun went down but I still left the bedroom windows open. I love taking a minute to listen to the birds singing as I tuck the kids in to bed. It got colder as the night began and I had to close the windows up for fear that the kids would wake with sore throats or runny noses.
It’s turned cold again yesterday and today but not so much that you can’t tell spring is come. Winter’s spell is truly broken again and while she may still try and throw a frost on the grass at night, the days are warm and filled with sunshine.

vineyards...in Idaho?

We were treated to a wine tasting seminar Friday night. The subject for the evening was Idaho wines. Turns out we have an officially recognized, government sanctioned appellation (wine growing region) right here in Idaho: the Snake River Valley Appellation. Who knew? We tasted both white and red wines, eight different varieties all grown, fermented and bottled here in Idaho. The appetizer plate consisted of Idaho foods including a local goat cheese, the obligatory smoked salmon, and elk sausage to list the items I remember.
It was a pleasant evening swirling wine around in a glass (be careful not to spill!), sticking your nose as far as possible into the goblet (I still can't smell ripe cherries or whatever fruit I'm supposed to) and generally acting like wine snobs. It was a small group with no one taking themselves too seriously which made the evening quite enjoyable. The wine steward presenting the wines to us was very young, in his mid twenties which prompted the tongue in cheek question of just how long have you been drinking wine? He took it in stride and chuckled along with us. And as we laughed at ourselves we did learn a little bit about wine and the varieties of grape grown local here in Idaho.

we live in a political world

Our daughter's school program is in a bit of a turmoil. She's attending a special program piloting a classical approach to education within the Boise school district. It's one class right now and while the school board has approved two classes for the fall, the administrators seem at odds with the board. They are recommending to us parents that we stay with one class next year and aim for the 2009/2010 school year to expand the program. It seems to be coming down to space - the administrators are having difficulty locating two empty classrooms at a school that wants to host this special program.
The administrators thought they had found a home at a different campus than the one hosting it currently but there was a nasty backlash. Three dozen parents of the target school showed up a a school board meeting and the board panicked, punting on the decision. The administrators were tasked with finding a home for the program and polling the parents, teachers, and school administrators to make sure everyone was happy. Recognizing a losing hand when they see one, the administrators are hoping the parents will opt for the status quo for this coming fall and start planning for the 2009/2010 school year.
The parents of the students in the program seem to be caught off guard by the politics. Seems rather naive to me, we are dealing with the school board after all.