Back In Black

So I was listening to a little AC/DC while walking to work today. It's not my usual thing, but I do enjoy them on occasion.

I've talked before about how different songs are good for walking. Well, those of you who know me know that aggressive is probably not the first word you would use to describe me. I get "intense" sometimes (almost as often as I get "laid-back", oddly enough), but I don't think I have ever been called aggressive. But when this song comes on... man, stay out of my way. It's a good, good tune to strut to, and makes me feel rather unstoppable.

And I've been thinking, too, about black shirts. I have a couple that I really love, beside the standard mass of black concert tees and the fitted black tees that are de rigeur under a sweater or jacket most days. Both collared and long-sleeved, one is a fairly traditional dress shirt, the other is more synthetic-y but still good... open collar and it just drapes really, really well. I think I have gotten more compliments in those two shirts than I have in any others I own.

Well, when I wear those shirts, I also feel pretty unbeatable. When I go into a meeting wearing black, there is no question which way it's going to go. It's not even a matter of time - I'm ready to drive, and we're going to go. Now.

It led me to wonder... what would happen if I tried, at some point, to wear the black shirt while actually listening to Back In Black? I can see it leading to trouble... or getting me elected president of something. Could easily go either way.... I may have to give that a shot.

Hooray

When I got home tonight, I did some dishes.

Usually, this is not a reason to celebrate.

But tonight was a good dishes night because I live alone, which is, oddly enough, also not always a reason to jump up and down. But the good thing about living alone and doing dishes is that you can put your mp3 player on, close the door to the kitchen and know that not even the neighbours can hear you sing.

So I put my mp3 player on, closed the door, and sang.

I sang lead. I switched over to harmony and back - mid-phrase - as the urge took me. I sang low, I sang high. I sometimes sang almost high enough. And it was all good.

And here's the thing - not only was it much, much funner than the regular kind of dishes-doing, but my range is getting better. Except for the top couple of notes where she goes into her head voice, I can comfortably sing all of Natalie Imbrouglia's "Counting Down The Days". That's pretty cool.

And my dishes are clean, which is also cool. It's going to be a good night.

Blue Rodeo

While we're on the Canadian music kick (am I ever really off it?), I'd like to quote a classic Blue Rodeo tune:

And, if we're lost... then we are lost together

Well, except for the "together" part being a bit spotty, that seems to sum up my life. I get lost a lot.

The little chick and I went to Germany to visit friends this weekend. It was a wonderful visit, great to see them - it had been more than a year and a lot has gone on in all our lives since then - and TLC was very, very well-behaved in the car.

Until we were on the way back.

As we drove, I could see this mist rolling over the hills in the distance. It was amazing. And it was one of those things that I thought, you know, the pictures will never look like that looks. But then I figured, hey... I'm here, it's beautiful, it doesn't look too far from the highway, and the little chick is in good spirits. So, I pulled off towards a little town called Estaveyer du Lac and started chasing the light.

Well, in the end it was tough to get a good spot... there were trees at most of the good vantage points, and between having to find a place I could drive to and park at (or near), as well as make sure TLC was happy and safe (wandering along the side of the highway is okay if it's just me... different rules when she's along...), I'm not sure if I got the shots I wanted.

But I did learn an important lesson: looking for a way to get good sunset pics means two things:

1. Time is not on your side - if that sun is going down, you better already be where you need to be
2. Finding your way somewhere during sunset means finding your way back in the dark

So, between the fact that I was driving all over trying to find the perfect shot, the roads in the Swiss countryside are anything but orderly and the signage is... well, let's say of limited use (great if you happen to want to go to one of the towns on the sign... completely useless if you're trying to find a specific road), the little chick and I spent a bit of extra time driving around.

And there was one point where, after I turned around, she actually said, "No, Daddy, not this way." She's not even three years old. I don't know if she actually had a better feeling than I did of where the highway was (unfortunately, not out of the realm of possibility) or if she was just tired of her car seat, but it kind of freaked me out. Eventually, she did just get tired of sitting, not being able to reach her toys... so I did what a man should always do when faced with an unhappy, frustrated woman: I gave her some food and rubbed her feet until she was happy again.

Anyways, we're home now... safe and happy after an absolutely wonderful weekend. Lost, maybe; but, at least, lost together.

I'm A Soul Man

[EDIT] Version 2 is online. Same link, much better arrangement, I think.

Okay, my music collection reads like a stereotypical white-boy playlist: a lot of rock, some metal (for nostalgic reasons only, really), and a bunch of country and bluegrass (note to self: don't invite Ozzie friends and Rascal Flatts friends over on the same evening, again). The only thing I'm missing is Ice-T. Yeah, it's kind of sad, and I know it.

But I learned this week that the coolest Canadian band of all time (with The Hip falling in a close second place), The Philosopher Kings, have a new album. Okay, maybe not new - it's from 2006, but it's one that I didn't know about and haven't gotten yet. So, it's new. That's exciting.

They are fantastic. I've never heard anyone else mix jazz, pop, soul, and funk like they do. And those boys can play... oh, it just about makes me cry. And their music has soul just oozing out. Very, very cool. So, to celebrate, I wanted to sing with them.

Now, this isn't my usual procedure. Usually, if I decide to doctor a track and add some vocals, it's because I've listened to it and thought that something was missing. There isn't much missing on their stuff, and they use a lot of interesting chords that are so, so cool to listen to, but don't always invite a lot of additional vocals. Anyways, I decided to take a song I love - Lay My Body Down - and see what I could do with it. If you're going to buy one of their albums, I prefer this one, which is self-titled, to their second, Famous, Rich, and Beautiful, even though that's one of the best album titles of all time, as far as I'm concerned.

It's a bit different than any of the other stuff I've done... not much twang here. In fact, it's almost all falsetto. This is the first mix, and since doing it last night and listening to it on the train this morning I've already heard a couple things I'll change and a line or two I'll just take out, but I figured I'd give you the link and if you're interested you can check it out. Oh, and there were already some BGV's on the chorus, so that's not all me.

Oh, and for those of you who know him, I think my voice kind of came out sounding like Charlie Peacock. Could do worse, I guess.

Hope you like it. You can download it here.

Speakerphone

It is okay to use speakerphone when multiple people need to be involved in the same conversation, and you're not in an office where they can simply all be conferenced in on their own handsets.

It's not okay to:

1. Keep trying a number that's busy
2. Use it just because you're too lazy to actually reach down and pick up the phone
3. Pretend that the dialing sound is like music, and everyone will be happier if they can hear it
4. Share a fabulous "your call is very important to us..." on-hold message with the entire office

This is what triggers workplace violence; I just don't want to be the guy who illustrates the point.

The Highest Compliment

... in the little chick's arsenal is, "nice". It may not sound like much, but when she says "Awwww, nice Daddy..." it melts my heart. It's not a descriptor I would particularly welcome from the world at large, but from her... it's different.

We had a couple wonderful daddy-daughter-days this weekend. A lot of playing and singing, a lot of laughing, but my favorite part was a lot of cuddling.

One of the things I'm enjoying about this age is that she rarely stalls when I'm putting her to bed, and when she does, it's pretty transparent. "Go out there? Play with toys?". She hasn't yet decided to use the "I'm thirsty" weapon, and I'm glad.

So last night, when she told me she was still hungry, I was happy to get her a granola bar just to fill in any cracks left by dinner. And, while she seemed to enjoy the granola bar, I don't think it's what she really wanted. She cuddled in on my lap, and, as she ate, turned her head right into my shoulder and put her arm - granola bar still in tow - around me. And she just stayed there. And I don't know how it may impact her sleeping habits, long-term, but making my daughter feel beyond any doubt that she is loved and treasured is a whole lot more important to me than getting her to bed 15 minutes sooner. So I cuddled her, and it was good for both of us.

It made me wonder - what is it in that physical proximity that is so powerful, that she seeks it out and longs for it and that I want so deeply to give it to her? And how is it that, in the love I have for her, and she has for me, holding and being held can be so similar and yet so different from how it is in romantic love? I don't understand it... but I know it's important. And so does she - I can tell, that's part of what "nice Daddy" means.

The Wedding, Part II

Well, I had a chance to show the wedding pictures I took to the bride and groom this week.

They liked them. That makes me happy.

I was reflecting over the last couple of days about the joy I feel in creating, but how it is amplified so much when I can share it. It's funny - I used to think I was in introvert; I used to feel pretty content living a very internal life. But I've discovered that even a very solitary kind of experience - taking pictures of wildflowers at dawn in a deserted park - is not truly solitary for me.

I love the sight that inspires me to try and capture that beauty in the first place, even when my eyes are the only ones that see it. I love the activity of waiting for the light, finding the angle, getting the focus, and making the shot. I love the feeling that comes when I look at it and know that, somehow, what I have is more than a reproduction of what touched me, but that the beauty is truly there, and that, sometimes, it's even magnified in the act of being captured.

But what I love the most is sharing it. I love it when a picture or song or piece of writing moves someone... I want to be a creator, but not just a creator. I want to be a participant in people's lives, and whether it is through a talk, a meal, or a piece of art, that's what I'm really longing for.

And sometimes I'm lucky enough to get it.

Once Again

I didn't make the list.


I think I may need to do more sit-ups.

Infiltrated

I've been infiltrated.

I don't know if Apple specifically planned it that way, but a covert agent has been working on me, trying to get me to buy an iPod.

And it almost worked.

I got to thinking - 160 GB would be pretty cool - I could put all my music on it at a pretty high bit-rate. And even some movies. And the new ones have a battery life that a lot of people are pegging at 40+ hours on a charge for music. And there are programs other than iTunes that you can use now to manage the music you play... meaning you can actually move it around however you want, without Apple telling you which computers you're allowed to use to listen to it.

And then I started to read.

It turns out that Apple has changed a few things with the new ones (called iPod Classic, or sixth generation/6G). They have a new algorithm that they're using for the digital/analog conversion. And the hardware has changed, too - the DAC is coming from another manufacturer. And in the hi-fi community, people are not happy.

Turns out the sound is, to a critical listener, nowhere near as good as it was for previous incarnations - less natural, less punchy and vibrant, with harmonic overtones missing. Which is all I need to know for now, until either a firmware fix or a version with better hardware (or both) is released.

Whew.

Close call.

Would You Like Fries With That?

I went for fondue with a couple of colleagues today. As we were eating, I decided that it would probably be pretty tasty to chop up some jalapeños and spice things up a bit.

Other things that I haven't tried or seen that might be good in fondue:
1. Beer
2. BBQ sauce
3. Bacon Bits
4. Fresh dill
5. Apple sauce

Any other ideas?

Cover Me

This morning I was playing with the little chick - we were playing catch with a balloon. She came over and bonked me on the head with it, so I tumbled over onto the floor. She started giggling and came over and jumped on me, giving me a big hug. "Oooohhhh" she said in a voice that I can't hope to capture in writing, "Daddy-daughter day!" (that's what we call it) and just snuggled right in.

After a minute, she got back to her feet and looked a little concerned... then walked over to her little pink chair where Mrs Cow (who is almost the same size as she is) lives. She pulled her out of the chair and brought her over to me; lifting my head, she pushed Mrs Cow underneath. "Daddy needs pillow," she explained. I'm not sure how it was for Mrs Cow, but it was a whole lot more comfy for me.

Then she realized something was still missing - she ran off to where all her supplies are for her baby, and came back with a blanket... a blanket that is more symbolic than functional, even for her baby: it's about one foot square. "For Daddy's feet," she said. She stood by my feet and considered. Then, straddling my legs, she decided against the feet and waddled up until she was at my belly, and spread the blanket out over me. "Now," she said, sitting herself in her pink chair next to me, where she could keep an eye on my condition, "close eyes and go to sleep."

Well, the sleep only lasted about 15 seconds before it was time to play again, but it was wonderful to see her learning to stop and get outside of herself, to think about what I (or anyone) might need, and to want to care for those needs. That's the kind of little chick I want to raise.

I'm a pretty happy guy.

I Am A Political Activist

Okay, I'm not really. But I did have my first picture published, in an AIDS-awareness advent calendar put out by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

You can see it here.

So, I wasn't completely aware that it was an AIDS-related calendar when I agreed to let them use the picture. Actually, I was just kind of stoked that someone had noticed and liked it enough to want to publish it. I guess, though, that it's good that it's being used to draw attention to something important.

I use the word "publish" loosely, in the sense that someone is putting my picture on paper and making it available... the monetary aspects that one may associate with publication don't really come into play, but I do know that the creative designer makes a killer raspberry trifle, and I'm hoping that will become part of the equation at some point.

Anyways, I'm pretty excited about December, now: especially the 4th. Hooray!

I Have Something To Say

So why won't they let me say it?

I was at a retreat this weekend with a group from my church, and the speaker started out one of the sessions talking about an idea he had... and how we may have a different perspectives, and he wanted to hear about them.

Only, I don't think he did. Because he started to talk, and then he didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.

You know, I don't have a problem with people just doing their thing. But it pisses me off like you wouldn't believe when they say, "let's have a discussion" or, "I'd like to hear your thoughts on this" and then refuse to actually stop and listen. I mean, if you want to get my input, then I'm happy to give it. But if you don't want it, don't ask for it and then just refuse to listen to it.

Please.

Faces

Okay, for Lori and anonymous, here are a few more of my favorite shots from the wedding. You can see the full set (not all 400 I took, but the ones I like the best) here.




Not the groom, but a friend of mine, and I like the shot.




I love this one.




One that's actually wedding-ish. The bride.




At the aperitif







The dress.




The bass player. Not Chuck, the MNB bass player, though.