Do It Like This

The little chick is becoming more and more articulate, and more concrete in her ideas, and it's wonderful to see. In some ways, it's tricky that she's entered that stage where she wants things done just so ("No, Daddy, not like that!"), but I'm really glad that she can tell me about it.

One of the more interesting manifestations has been over the last week and half as we've been visiting my family. She has, at some points, been actually jumping up and down, she's so happy to see them. I love it. There have been a lot of songs, a lot of dancing, and about a bizillion hugs. And while a fair number of them have been preceded by "Awwww, Daddy.....", there has been an interesting new development.

"No, Daddy - go on couch!"

"No Daddy - close eyes!"

"No Daddy - go over there!"

As she's been playing with my brothers, she's decided that, sometimes, I'm just kind of in the way. So she directs me... to go back to the couch, to have a nap, or to stand in the kitchen for a while, so she can play undisturbed. I guess if it was all the time, I'd be a bit disturbed, but as it is, I think it's beautiful. Beautiful to see her growing in confidence, to see her wanting to show that she can do it on her own, and, in the end, beautiful to see her come running back to me with a giant hug.

Beautiful.

Slowing

...to a crawl, in terms of posting. I've been busy - time with friends, time with family, and even managed to get in some hockey and wings. But have a good Christmas, everybody. Consider this a big hug from me.

It's Different

Well, the little chick and I are back in Calgary. It's good to be with my family again, but strange in many ways. It's very, very odd to try to get my head around the fact that, a year from now, I'll be living here.

Everything is so far apart... I haven't even been here a week, and I miss walking. I almost never drive at home, and here, you don't have much choice. I'm really not crazy about that.

Things are so inexpensive. We're about to head out to the grocery store, and I'm looking forward to it. We stopped in for a few minutes before, and I was shocked, again, at how much variety there is, and how low the prices are. There is a lot of variety in Switzerland, too, but in strange ways... there will be 300 kinds of olive oil, but only two types of salad dressing (with maybe 3 brands of each).

The people are really friendly. My parents were commenting that customer service has really gone downhill lately, but when we were in one store and just turning around to go back and get something we had missed, a guy actually stopped and asked if there was anything he could help us with. In Geneva, if you can find someone in a store, they usually make you feel like they're doing you some immense favor just by opening up and letting you in. If you're going to start asking questions, maybe you should just shop somewhere else.

That said, I'm looking forward to going to get some ranch dressing, and good tortilla chips, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn't even know I was missing. I just hope that I don't get hungry for rösti, fondue, and fresh truffles...

Deliverance

The more I hear, the more I realize that I like a lot of music with banjo in it. It's a good thing Korey doesn't read my blog any more or he would be absolutely cringing, but I just dig it. I like it in traditional bluegrass (or even non-traditional, but still very much in-the-genre stuff like Nickel Creek), but even more in new, rocky stuff. Some great examples are Sherié Austin, or Carrie Underwood. It's really, really cool. Next step is to check out Bela Fleck a bit more.

So, time for a straw poll: what's the instrument, artist of musical style you are would classify as a bit of a guilty secret? Time for all you closet Céline fans to step out. Oh, and accordion is spelled with two c's.

You know, just in case.

Republicans

I'm watching a bit of the debate for the republican presidential candidates. I'm not really a republican - I'm not even American (don't tell them), but it's pretty interesting. Here are my impressions.:

Keys - has yet to actually answer a question. He may not be an idiot, but it's not helping his case when it doesn't seem that he's able to actually link up a (long-winded) response with a question. He's much more interested in talking about how his ideas are all being oppressed. I gotta admit, I don't get it. I mean, he's on TV, talking about whatever he wants to talk about. I wish my ideas were that oppressed.

Giuliani - comes across as legitimate. I can't help but like him.

McCain - good, well spoken and intelligent. Just gives the impression of a man who should be in charge.

Huckabee - doesn't seem to have much to say... nice sentiments, but vaguer than... something really vague. Like, a really vague kind of pudding or something. Likes his pet phrases ("weapons of mass instruction", "I can't part the red sea, but I can part the red tape", "we're a polarized country, and that's led to a paralyzed government"), so I guess he'll get votes from people who are into that. I don't have anything to say about what kind of people those would be. I wouldn't have guessed, though, that he's been a state governor for 10 years.

Tancredo - tough to understand... may have some good stuff to say, but he's not a great speaker.

Hunter - okay, I guess, but seems like he's more about good stories than principles, like McCain and Guiliani project.

Thomson - reminds me of a football commentator. That's not necessarily bad, I guess. Just depends what you're looking for. I did find it a little odd that he seemed to think that NAFTA was only between the US and Mexico.

Romney - seems to know his stuff, but just comes across as a little too polished, somehow. Maybe it's just because I'm Canadian.

Paul - everything he says makes it sound like he's trying to pick a fight. There's a fine line between determined and pissed off, guy, and nobody is going to want to listen to that for four years. Is he really that angry? I think he may need someone to help him.

They're all following similar conservative themes... freer market forces, enhanced security, less tax, smaller government. But at least they've admitted that global warming may actually be happening, and that people may even be contributing to it.

Usually

If you're wearing sunglasses and holding an umbrella, one of the two is inappropriate. Usually.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Many of you have probably heard me say that there is nothing in the world that could make me sing songs from The Sound Of Music.

Well, I was wrong.

The little chick has wanted, lately, to sing "Do, A Deer". And so we have spent a lot of time (much of it with her on my shoulders, walking around Geneva) singing just like Julie. She's a little sketchy on the words, and I have trouble remembering if "so" or "te" is first, but we get by. So, yeah... turns out that there is one thing that can make me do it. Or maybe I should say at least one. I've learned my lesson, and there will be no more premature statements from me... ever.

And that got me thinking of a few of my favorite things when it comes time to pack up to go back to the Great White North for Christmas. So, in no particular order, here they are:

• Jeans - I spend a lot of time in jeans, even at work. I like it. I have two favorite pairs: one big, one skinny. I'll take them both with me.
• Red scarf - this was a gift from a friend and TYC reader, and I get compliments on it most times I'm out. I don't wear it much when it's really cold, because my warm coats are really warm... adding a scarf is like putting maple syrup on chocolate cake... it may be kind of nice, but you don't really need it.
• Flaming Chucks - when I first bought my flaming Converse All Stars, I wasn't sure when I would ever wear them. I mean, when is it really appropriate to wear shoes that look kind of like a 40's hot rod? Turns out that, when worn with confidence, they work for almost anything, and I've probably gotten more compliments on these than anything else I 0wn. So, they're coming with.
• Skinny sweaters - I still have a few bulky ones around, but most of the sweaters I wear now are made to fit under a jacket. My favorite is a fitted grey v-neck with disproportionately long arms. I don't have anything else that is quite the same shape, but I dig it.
• Jackets - to go over the sweaters. I spend a lot of time in a couple of nicely cut corduroy ones, one black, one almost-brown/almost green. And, on special occasions, the blue velvet comes out. Look out, baby!
• Tees - a couple fitted ones to go under the sweaters that go under the jackets. And a few other fun ones... my current favorites are a bright green Abercrombie one with Adam and Eve on it, a mustard Beastie Boys, and a gray Ben Harper one with his head with a giant 'fro on the front.
• Big red coat - known to all close to me as "the big red coat", this thing deserves its own name. It's made for going to really, really cold places, but I like wearing it in just kind-of cold places with just a t-shirt underneath. It's like wearing a warm shower. Beautiful.
  

Okay, this one is blue, but you get the idea.

I look like the Michelin man when I wear it, and have had strangers walk up and poke me.

• Black shirt - as I've mentioned before, black shirts work for me, and I love my synthetic one... I couldn't wrinkle it if my life depended on it, so it's great for traveling.

What are your "must-pack" items?

Not Gonna Make It

I was really hoping to have, on average, a post a day for my first year.

I think it may have been a little ambitious.

I started on January 13, and, as of this entry, I have 323 posts. That leaves me just over a month to add 42 more, and, with Christmas in there, I don't think I'm going to make it. I considered taking drastic steps.

You know, like posting this one in three parts. Or writing about Yngvie Malmsteen. Or even just putting up posts with nothing but pictures. But I decided that I won't stoop to those levels.

So it looks like I'll be a little short. Maybe next year.

Flashback

I used to clean blinds.

We would go into a home or business in the morning, take down all the blinds (venetians, verticals, pleated shades...), take them back to our shop, clean and dry them, and then deliver them at the end of the day.

It was a mixed bag... it helped pay for a lot of books, classes, and food. It was a fascinating study in business process change, training, and management, because I was leading teams with extremely high turnover and had pretty free reign with how they were trained and managed on-site. It really screwed up my back. It made me appreciate, in a way that's almost scary, how good it is to have a job that doesn't require me to shower when I get home.

Anyway, today there are some guys working on the heating in our office. They're moving the desks that are close to the walls. They're moving shelves full of books. I guess in a little while they're going to start tearing stuff apart. And it's hard to do that discretely.

And it makes me remember that feeling of going into an office, having to take off my shoes and climb on desks to get to windows... struggling with blinds that were big, and heavy, and in awkward spots to reach, trying to do the best job I could... sweating, straining, sometimes really pushing myself to physical extremes that I never would have expected would be required for that job. But I could always tell what the people were thinking.... "I work in an office; he's cleaning the things that no one here wants to clean". I wanted to tell them... I'm smart, I'm capable... I could do so much more than this, if someone would just give me a chance.

Well, someone's given me a chance now, and I'm doing just fine. I'm glad that I had that experience, though, just like I'm glad I've been able to live in a place where I don't understand the language that well... where I sound like a 5 year-old when I try to speak, and make stupid cultural mistakes. Because now I know how to look at the men moving the desks like they're real people. And when I hear people speaking another language on the bus in Calgary, I'm not going to feel pissed-off or threatened. I'm going to remember being in their shoes.

I wish I was more sensitive, more sympathetic. But I'm glad that I've been able to have some experiences that, even though they've been tough, have helped me to learn a little bit of empathy. It's slow, you know? It's a lot slower than I want it to be. But I'm getting there.

Picture Me, Lost

I wrote a while back about getting lost with the little chick while we were coming back from visiting friends in Germany. These are some of the pictures I took.

Sorry, there are only four. But if you want to see them bigger, you can see them here.

Why Is It

Button fly: no problem at all, ever.

Zip fly: "does anyone else feel a draft?"


Rats.

It Makes Me Happy

One of the frequent visitors to TYC mentioned to me a week or two ago that she feels like I hold back here.

It's true. I post some of what's happening with me and the little chick, but certainly not all. I allude, sometimes, to some of the deeper or more challenging things I'm dealing with personally, but I don't (and won't) go into the specifics of the situations. I don't feel like this is much of a forum at all for what is (or isn't) happening for me romantically.

But, at the same time, I can honestly explore how any of these things are affecting me. I talk about what I'm not sure of, what I am learning. I can post about what Christmas really means to me right after I post about listening to an old AC/DC tune; I can put on pictures or words, be funny or serious, self-absorbed or thinking about things much bigger than me.

It makes me happy to be able to have this venue to write, think, and explore. And I deeply appreciate you being willing to join me in it; those of you who subscribe or check in regularly to read, and those of you who click on that little "comment" button. Thanks.

The Holy Season

It's interesting - as we enter the Christmas season I'm always faced with the same realization: it just doesn't feel like a spiritual time to me.

I'm not sure what it is... maybe the fact that it seems to be a pagan festival co-opted by the church. Maybe it's because we have no idea of the actual day of Jesus' birth, so celebrating on that particular one seems a bit odd. But I think that most of it is that I can't help but to compare it to Easter.

At Easter, Christ chose to give up his life. And, more significantly than that, he chose to become sin for us. I don't think most of us can begin to comprehend giving up our life for someone else, but we do know that it's something that some people choose to do. They do it because they love their children, or love their country, or just believe that if they see someone in need and can meet it, they must, regardless of how it may put their own lives at risk.

But I believe that the horror and utter, unimaginable gulf between a perfect God and the sin that he was faced with was like nothing that we can begin to understand. We don't have an equivalent; we can't comprehend what Christ became willing to take on. We can't even come close.

I guess it's in those terms that I think of Christmas. The thought of God becoming man is amazing, and beautiful, and worthy of celebration. But the idea of him dying for man is much more. So if we're sitting together at a Christmas service, singing about joy, and I look somewhat less than joyful, it's not just the carols: I've skipped ahead to where the story gets serious. It's good and it's beautiful and perfect. But it's heavy.