Archive for January, 2007

My previous entry takes my daughter to task for having public convesations filled with private references.  I should be ashamed of myself. I’m not, but thinking back, I was party to a few noteable inside jokes myself.  My cousin, Mark, and I were pretty close, and we thought we were pretty funny when we were... more »

Watching my kids grow up has been a hobby of mine for over seventeen years now.  Lately, however, as my daughters have wandered into their teenage years, it hasn’t always looked like progress. Last night was case in point.  My eldest’s school band was hosting the Gustavus Adolphus Wind Orchestra for one stop on their whirlwind... more »

Ahem!  As I was saying, here are a few good moments you can hear for yourself (see end). Could it really be this simple?  Let’s give a listen… Kansas City That was nice.  Let’s try another. Spoons Maybe I’m reaching, but I think there are a few good moments in there. more »

Some guys and I have been playing together off and on for several years now.  After one of our recent sessions, Greg offered up the obvious question.  “Why aren’t we any better?”  No one had any answers. My goal was to somehow post an mp3 file of us playing Kansas City.   It didn’t work.  Time... more »

I’ve never read any true crime.  For my first one, I guess it was fitting that I should pick up Truman Capote.  It was pretty darned good. It’s the story of the Clutter murder in Holcolm, Kansas in 1959.  I’m not spilling the beans here.  There’s never any mystery as to what happened.  Four Clutters –... more »

I whipped through this 1997 Tony Hillerman in two days.  I don’t think I’ve read a Hillerman for ten years, so it’s fitting that I picked up this decade old work. I lived on the rez in Shiprock from 1986-91, and Hillerman definitely makes me nostalgic for the high desert and Navajoland.  Fallen Man in... more »

My wife brought this Willa Cather classic home from the Peace Church library recently.  I’d just finished another book and it was handy, so I read it. The only other Cather I’ve ever read was Death Comes to the Archbishop, which I’d found to be a very dramatic title for a pleasant and unmemroable little... more »

First I must correct factual information in my previous entry.  I don’t know what blogger etiquette is, but instead of actually editing the entry, I’m doing it this way.  I thank my mother, Phyllis, and my brother, Karl, for filling me in on this early period of my life beyond the scope of my... more »

Yesterday I spent some time with my eye doctor, Dr. Herbert Cantrill.  I live with a congenital condition called juvenile retino-schesis.  Among many things, this means I visit Dr. Cantrill annually.  To be honest, it had been three years.  My condition is pretty static, so I’ve been lazy.  My laziness was rewarded with a... more »

I remember first hearing a reference to “blog” on MPR several years ago.  Some minor Washington staffer was blogging, revealing inside information about Washington somebodies, and everyone was reading it…everyone but me, of course. Several years later, I’m writing my innagural blog entry.  Few will read it because I have no valuable insider information of interest... more »