Love will find a way.
Darlin', love is gonna find a way,
Find its way back to you.
My long-time friend, a lifetime bachelor, married a beautiful woman yesterday. She, radiant in wedding-white silk and satin, and he, beaming and brimming with love and pride, accepted my small family in their reception line.
I know her only through him, but well enough to heartily approve of this union. I don't give my friend away to marital bliss to just anyone! Him I know from years of friendship and shared joy and pain; the buddy bond, so to speak.
Watching them brought to mind the greatest gift that we share with each other. The gift of love.
Love takes many forms, and often forms that we fail to expect. Love of brotherhood, or sisterhood. Love of passion, or compassion. Love for our children and pets. The deep abiding love of a soul-mate. Love for God or nature.
Love portends good in the world. It serves as an indicator of harmony. Love shines a light on darkness and hard times. Love covers my heart and soul like a familiar blanket.
I'm in love with love.
The precious moments we share with love in its many forms are the pillars that buttress our lives. Share your love with others - give them the gift of strong support in their lives.
She received the polite "I'm happy for you" hug that part-time strangers give at these occasions. He, the handshake-turned-backslapping tight hug of true friends. Love was in the air, for certain.
The heart-felt man-hug I gave my buddy last night reassured me that the world is okay. That despite the conflict, pain and disasters that plague us, love provides the buoy for the spirit. That true love prevails despite the trials, troubles and tribulations of this world.
That love will find a way.
Love will find a way.
Love is gonna find a way back to you, yeah,
I know. De-do-doo-te-do. I know.
17 October 2009
14 October 2009
Out-of-Date Update
Its been a long time since I rock and rolled,
Its been a long time since I did the stroll.
Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back,
Let me get it back, baby, where I come from.
Time rushes by like a bottle in the rapids; one filled with people, places and events! It's known as the beginning of the school year, and this ride is rock 'n rollin'.
This tumultuous year shows no signs of slowing down. We meet often (oh, meetings!), I find students to learn with and love, we travel on wild trips across the state, and my life fills with more than a little bit of chaos.
My desk is clean (again, for the twentieth time) only to be swamped with tests and essays. This is the life!
One of my yearbook editors, out sick for the last several days, visited my desk to conference about the photography test she made for the staff. We made eye contact and smiled, feeling dis-acquainted due to her illness, and it brought her up short. Her eyes fell quickly to my desk, normally awash in books, papers, passes, techie toys and other debris. It was at this point that her mouth fell open.
"Mr. D - your desk is clean!"
As if this were a revelation of the greatest proportion.
As if the biblical storm just ended and the waters receded.
I quickly pointed to a my in-box on the side table, full-to-brimming with newly deposited detritus from the vanishing flood. Today marked the end of the unit, due date for essays, and unit-test day. I'm so smart to ask for all of it at once, neh?
She smiled, handing me the stack of tests she graded.
Thanks, kid.
Once this flood is cleared away, maybe I'll gain a clearer vision of where we've been. Hopefully this crazy boating trip proves worthwhile. Perhaps I'll even catch a glimpse of the beauty of a stretch of silence. It may even happen before the next wave hits . . . on Monday.
Its been a long time, been a long time,
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time.
Yes it has.
Its been a long time since I did the stroll.
Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back,
Let me get it back, baby, where I come from.
Time rushes by like a bottle in the rapids; one filled with people, places and events! It's known as the beginning of the school year, and this ride is rock 'n rollin'.
This tumultuous year shows no signs of slowing down. We meet often (oh, meetings!), I find students to learn with and love, we travel on wild trips across the state, and my life fills with more than a little bit of chaos.
My desk is clean (again, for the twentieth time) only to be swamped with tests and essays. This is the life!
One of my yearbook editors, out sick for the last several days, visited my desk to conference about the photography test she made for the staff. We made eye contact and smiled, feeling dis-acquainted due to her illness, and it brought her up short. Her eyes fell quickly to my desk, normally awash in books, papers, passes, techie toys and other debris. It was at this point that her mouth fell open.
"Mr. D - your desk is clean!"
As if this were a revelation of the greatest proportion.
As if the biblical storm just ended and the waters receded.
I quickly pointed to a my in-box on the side table, full-to-brimming with newly deposited detritus from the vanishing flood. Today marked the end of the unit, due date for essays, and unit-test day. I'm so smart to ask for all of it at once, neh?
She smiled, handing me the stack of tests she graded.
Thanks, kid.
Once this flood is cleared away, maybe I'll gain a clearer vision of where we've been. Hopefully this crazy boating trip proves worthwhile. Perhaps I'll even catch a glimpse of the beauty of a stretch of silence. It may even happen before the next wave hits . . . on Monday.
Its been a long time, been a long time,
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time.
Yes it has.
07 August 2009
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year.
So, running a 102 temp over the past two days has kinda sucked. Nothing better to do with my time than mess around on the computer - and I finally got signed up on Facebook.
First, my best friend wanted me in. Then, a friend from work. Finally, after an old college buddy suggested it, I broke down.
Already have a MySpace. Guess it's passe (don't know how to type the accent mark thingy).
So, I get on Facebook, and find a friend from high school that I haven't been able to track down for something like 18 years. Have I been around long enough to even say that? Must be true.
It's good catching up to old friends. Social networking and blah blah blah.
Did NOT get the fish tank set up in the classroom yet. Now I'm having second thoughts. I foresee gum, garbage, or worse making it into the tank. Once something goes in, it never really comes out. We'll see.
My 55 gallon is doing well at home. It's quite nice. Has 3 large angels, some newly-acquired tetras, and various others. Been a while since I've had a fish tank. Swore I'd never do it again.
Guess I have no principles.
I do have scruples, though. Found one under the fridge in 1998. Man, was it delicious.
Well, it's been good to catch up with some old friends, and to find ways to connect with the new ones. For those whom I haven't yet, I'm still
Runnin' over the same old ground,
Have you found the same old fears?
Wish you were here.
Year after year.
So, running a 102 temp over the past two days has kinda sucked. Nothing better to do with my time than mess around on the computer - and I finally got signed up on Facebook.
First, my best friend wanted me in. Then, a friend from work. Finally, after an old college buddy suggested it, I broke down.
Already have a MySpace. Guess it's passe (don't know how to type the accent mark thingy).
So, I get on Facebook, and find a friend from high school that I haven't been able to track down for something like 18 years. Have I been around long enough to even say that? Must be true.
It's good catching up to old friends. Social networking and blah blah blah.
Did NOT get the fish tank set up in the classroom yet. Now I'm having second thoughts. I foresee gum, garbage, or worse making it into the tank. Once something goes in, it never really comes out. We'll see.
My 55 gallon is doing well at home. It's quite nice. Has 3 large angels, some newly-acquired tetras, and various others. Been a while since I've had a fish tank. Swore I'd never do it again.
Guess I have no principles.
I do have scruples, though. Found one under the fridge in 1998. Man, was it delicious.
Well, it's been good to catch up with some old friends, and to find ways to connect with the new ones. For those whom I haven't yet, I'm still
Runnin' over the same old ground,
Have you found the same old fears?
Wish you were here.
06 August 2009
Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt
Therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Ok, so there's no hunting in Agricola, just lots of harvesting and lamb-taking. But it's still a damn fun game. Of course, it was more damned and more fun the more I drank. And, apparently, if your starting characters are both men, it's even easier to win!
My early strategy of plowing and gathering grain to sow went well, but not so well that I won. I definitely had plenty of grain for food, but lacked some of the high-score items at the end because of it. Nic had plenty of cattle and a large, large family (don't ask how they got started with two males...), and came out with the win.
I'd say Agricola is a good game. And Guys Game Night was a success! So, it was time well spent.
I wouldn't say Agricola is my favorite game. For depth and complexity I still think I'd take Arkham Horror or Magic. However, it is an addicting little bugger, and, as Nic said, it's "accessible" for new players. One thing I noticed was that even if you were forced out of a strategy in a round, you'd find yourself engaged readily in another lucrative venture. The addition of some on-the-fly trading also lent itself to some fun and interesting wheeling and dealing. Trading isn't a part of the official rules (it's more like 'guidelines'), but isn't explicitly disallowed; I'm not sure if the trading was born out of desperate necessity or drunken rules-lawyering, but it was fun.
Endgame, Mitch had an itty-bitty farm. I managed to finagle some cows and a boar out of someone (possibly the gameboard - it's all a bit hazy). Casey had more cattle than you could shake a stick at (or even score), and Nick had a burgeoning family and a gazillion occupations. But Nic came out on top with his large family and mansion-filled estate. His cowpens also runnethed over.
We'll have to see if we play the same game next GGN, or something different. My concern is that Agricola only plays up to 5 players, while a game like Arkham can take more (although it gets fairly nuts at that point). We had 5 last night but I invited 2 more, so we'll see. There's also an excellent game called Khronos (5-player), and a 'Spiel des Jahres' called Zooloretto, which is a sort of Zoo Tycoon boardgame. So many games, so little time!
Well, enough about gaming. I'm tearing up just thinking about all the games that got away. . .
On to fathering.
Ok, so it's not about fathering - more like fatherhood(ing).
Last night, Nic brought the professional pictures of Daphne he took a couple of weeks ago. He says maybe he wasn't on his "A game", but like Klag said, Daphne wasn't either. It's amazing to me now that, two weeks later, she can smile when she wants to, and not by accident. She has found her hands - and they have found her mouth! She has grown so much.
A couple of days ago I was standing in the hallway talking to Abby and holding Daphne, when I noticed the picture on the wall of Abby as an infant. It was taken when she was three months. Daphne is two-and-a-half months right now, and I took the picture down and walked up to Klag holding Daphne in one arm and Abby's pic in the other. I asked her "Which one is yours?"
They look uncannily similar. But I guess I believe that the eyes are truly the windows to the soul, because their cosmetic similarities do not extend to the eyes (or ears - Abby has my attached lobes, poor thing). I feel so blessed that Daphne waited to come along at this point in my (our) life. Her smiles are deep and true, sent from heaven to warm my heart. That is what I love about being a father!
I spent most of the day with my daughters at work, moving boxes and books to my new classroom. Both girls are beautiful beyond belief! Abby was able to find some friends to play with for some of the time, and I'm constantly amazed at her ability to find and make friends. Not that these kids were totally unfamiliar to her, they go to her school. But they were in an unfamiliar play setting and thrown together by chance, and she was just shining brightly!
Daphne was a very good baby, and let me work. However, she made some friends, too. Apparently I have a high tolerance for babies crying. Every time I'd go from one room to the next shuffling teacher memories around in cardboard, I'd return to find someone holding the baby (that's not as bad as it sounds, since I could see from one room to the next as I was working). Maybe its that she's so cute everyone wants to hold her, or maybe it has to do with her little sounds of distress that I'm used to but others aren't. Whatever the reason for her rescue, it appears that I'm somewhat immune to her cries.
Or, I could be losing my hearing.
At any rate, it was a joy taking my two little girls to work with me. It made being there seem somewhat easier (except there was more poop). I'm planning on setting up a 10-gallon fish tank on Friday, and I'll probably take the girls with me again. One more day and I'll be ready for school.
But that's a post for another day . . .
I hunt
Therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Ok, so there's no hunting in Agricola, just lots of harvesting and lamb-taking. But it's still a damn fun game. Of course, it was more damned and more fun the more I drank. And, apparently, if your starting characters are both men, it's even easier to win!
My early strategy of plowing and gathering grain to sow went well, but not so well that I won. I definitely had plenty of grain for food, but lacked some of the high-score items at the end because of it. Nic had plenty of cattle and a large, large family (don't ask how they got started with two males...), and came out with the win.
I'd say Agricola is a good game. And Guys Game Night was a success! So, it was time well spent.
I wouldn't say Agricola is my favorite game. For depth and complexity I still think I'd take Arkham Horror or Magic. However, it is an addicting little bugger, and, as Nic said, it's "accessible" for new players. One thing I noticed was that even if you were forced out of a strategy in a round, you'd find yourself engaged readily in another lucrative venture. The addition of some on-the-fly trading also lent itself to some fun and interesting wheeling and dealing. Trading isn't a part of the official rules (it's more like 'guidelines'), but isn't explicitly disallowed; I'm not sure if the trading was born out of desperate necessity or drunken rules-lawyering, but it was fun.
Endgame, Mitch had an itty-bitty farm. I managed to finagle some cows and a boar out of someone (possibly the gameboard - it's all a bit hazy). Casey had more cattle than you could shake a stick at (or even score), and Nick had a burgeoning family and a gazillion occupations. But Nic came out on top with his large family and mansion-filled estate. His cowpens also runnethed over.
We'll have to see if we play the same game next GGN, or something different. My concern is that Agricola only plays up to 5 players, while a game like Arkham can take more (although it gets fairly nuts at that point). We had 5 last night but I invited 2 more, so we'll see. There's also an excellent game called Khronos (5-player), and a 'Spiel des Jahres' called Zooloretto, which is a sort of Zoo Tycoon boardgame. So many games, so little time!
Well, enough about gaming. I'm tearing up just thinking about all the games that got away. . .
On to fathering.
Ok, so it's not about fathering - more like fatherhood(ing).
Last night, Nic brought the professional pictures of Daphne he took a couple of weeks ago. He says maybe he wasn't on his "A game", but like Klag said, Daphne wasn't either. It's amazing to me now that, two weeks later, she can smile when she wants to, and not by accident. She has found her hands - and they have found her mouth! She has grown so much.
A couple of days ago I was standing in the hallway talking to Abby and holding Daphne, when I noticed the picture on the wall of Abby as an infant. It was taken when she was three months. Daphne is two-and-a-half months right now, and I took the picture down and walked up to Klag holding Daphne in one arm and Abby's pic in the other. I asked her "Which one is yours?"
They look uncannily similar. But I guess I believe that the eyes are truly the windows to the soul, because their cosmetic similarities do not extend to the eyes (or ears - Abby has my attached lobes, poor thing). I feel so blessed that Daphne waited to come along at this point in my (our) life. Her smiles are deep and true, sent from heaven to warm my heart. That is what I love about being a father!
I spent most of the day with my daughters at work, moving boxes and books to my new classroom. Both girls are beautiful beyond belief! Abby was able to find some friends to play with for some of the time, and I'm constantly amazed at her ability to find and make friends. Not that these kids were totally unfamiliar to her, they go to her school. But they were in an unfamiliar play setting and thrown together by chance, and she was just shining brightly!
Daphne was a very good baby, and let me work. However, she made some friends, too. Apparently I have a high tolerance for babies crying. Every time I'd go from one room to the next shuffling teacher memories around in cardboard, I'd return to find someone holding the baby (that's not as bad as it sounds, since I could see from one room to the next as I was working). Maybe its that she's so cute everyone wants to hold her, or maybe it has to do with her little sounds of distress that I'm used to but others aren't. Whatever the reason for her rescue, it appears that I'm somewhat immune to her cries.
Or, I could be losing my hearing.
At any rate, it was a joy taking my two little girls to work with me. It made being there seem somewhat easier (except there was more poop). I'm planning on setting up a 10-gallon fish tank on Friday, and I'll probably take the girls with me again. One more day and I'll be ready for school.
But that's a post for another day . . .
05 August 2009
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door . . .
I hope this spaceship knows which way to go! First blog post, who knows what can happen?
Since I list gaming first, we'll tackle that topic!
The latest game obsession of mine is Agricola. I found it at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260 while looking for something new to play for Guys Game Night.
Ok, so Guys Game Night does not exist. But it WILL! First try is tonight. And, we're playing . . . Agricola.
So the theme of the game is that you're a 16th century farmer. You and your wife (I suppose it could also be you and your husband, to avoid offending the femerati) are subsistence farming after the plagues. The goal of the game is to expand your family and farm in the next 14 rounds. You do this by gathering resources, planting and harvesting, raising livestock, and other such fun and wholesome activities. I particularly enjoy the 'Family Growth' action. Especially after getting wood. Actually, you have to get wood first - which isn't as dirty as I'm making it sound.
This game is the top rated game on boardgamegeek.com. Since I'm not sure of the hardcore-ness of the guys I've invited to Guys Game Night, we'll see how well it pans out. Agricola can be a pretty simple game. I've played a few rounds of the family rules with my 7-year-old daughter, and she loves it. It can also be fairly complex when not using the family rules (which we won't be).
Did I mention that I'm obsessed with this game? The game comes with a thousand little wooden chits, some with nigh-indistinguishable colors. My family (wife, daughter and self included!) have spent at least 20 hours modeling characters, food and animals out of sculpey for this game. Crazy, eh?
The green team are ones I made, klag made the red team and wood. Eggs, cows and steak are mine, too.
Online, I've been playing a free Risk knock-off at strategygamenetwork.com. Ya it's Risk, and my rating stinks because of so many times I've dropped games due to not checking daily. But, it's fun. I still have my Brute at windybot.mybrute.com. Bring it on!
We'll let you know how GGN goes!
TTFN
I hope this spaceship knows which way to go! First blog post, who knows what can happen?
Since I list gaming first, we'll tackle that topic!
The latest game obsession of mine is Agricola. I found it at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260 while looking for something new to play for Guys Game Night.
Ok, so Guys Game Night does not exist. But it WILL! First try is tonight. And, we're playing . . . Agricola.
So the theme of the game is that you're a 16th century farmer. You and your wife (I suppose it could also be you and your husband, to avoid offending the femerati) are subsistence farming after the plagues. The goal of the game is to expand your family and farm in the next 14 rounds. You do this by gathering resources, planting and harvesting, raising livestock, and other such fun and wholesome activities. I particularly enjoy the 'Family Growth' action. Especially after getting wood. Actually, you have to get wood first - which isn't as dirty as I'm making it sound.
This game is the top rated game on boardgamegeek.com. Since I'm not sure of the hardcore-ness of the guys I've invited to Guys Game Night, we'll see how well it pans out. Agricola can be a pretty simple game. I've played a few rounds of the family rules with my 7-year-old daughter, and she loves it. It can also be fairly complex when not using the family rules (which we won't be).
Did I mention that I'm obsessed with this game? The game comes with a thousand little wooden chits, some with nigh-indistinguishable colors. My family (wife, daughter and self included!) have spent at least 20 hours modeling characters, food and animals out of sculpey for this game. Crazy, eh?
The green team are ones I made, klag made the red team and wood. Eggs, cows and steak are mine, too.
Online, I've been playing a free Risk knock-off at strategygamenetwork.com. Ya it's Risk, and my rating stinks because of so many times I've dropped games due to not checking daily. But, it's fun. I still have my Brute at windybot.mybrute.com. Bring it on!
We'll let you know how GGN goes!
TTFN
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