Easter

Easter is very early this year.....I can't believe that tomorrow is Good Friday already. Meanwhile, the roads were covered with slick freezing rain this morning. Odd juxtaposition. For a long time I didn't get Easter -- it sure didn't compare to Christmas in terms of excitement, meaning....but now I see it as the season of hope, the holiday of growth and renewal. It's great that it comes in Spring (even if the spring here still thinks it's supposed to be cold). Something magical and wondrous about the rebirth of the land.

Easter Prep

Yesterday, I worked, then rehearsed with the bell choir at church. This being Easter week, there's a lot of music to spiff up. For us, as it happens, "spiff up" means "learn to play in the most minimally acceptable fashion." Still, it's a lot of fun (and much harder than it looks (especially when you, like me, have to play several bells with lots of accidentals (in one Good Friday piece, I have to play 8 different bells, sometimes very quickly or together))). I'd rather be singing, of course, but since I can't sing any more, this (almost) suffices. At least it is making music (assuming you define "learning to play in the most minimally acceptable fashion" as "making music").

Choices

I have no idea what is worse -- going along, gray and tidy.....or climbing up steep hills only to tumble back down into the valley. The hilltop is nice -- the view can be spectacular! -- but doesn't the hill require the valley?

My mother had an episode, several years ago. She ended up in a geriatric psych unit, and eventually underwent electroshock. Now, I am a believer in electroshock. I know it can be a miracle. For her, though....after her second treatment, she was no longer herself. Most of her pesonality (along with about 2 years of memories) were gone forever. When she died, it was hard to grieve....my mom had died years before.

The thrust of this thought is not about electroshock or modalities....it is about the choosing between the plains and the mountains. I wonder if she would have made the trade.

Task List

Here are some of the tasks and projects on my current and upcoming schedule:

* Re-write my Pinewood Derby Software.
* Paint the kitchen ceiling.
* Re-write my novel.
* Design the set for the spring show ("Deathtrap").
* Coach baseball (April through the end of July).
* Finalize next season (three plays) for the Strongsville Community Theatre.
* Help plan summer theatre for the church.
* Make the program for "Deathtrap".
* Compose three videos for Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
* Start hiking the Buckeye Trail (I'd like to do at least 100 miles of it this year).
* Build that hammered dulcimer that I've put off for so long.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but that list is kind of daunting, ain't it? Sheesh, I'm a maroon. I will probably paint the ceiling this weekend, so that can be knocked off the list.

I'm still a maroon.

Spring??

Not much new to report here....weather sucks. Last year was the 4th snowiest Cleveland winter ever...the year before that was the 3rd.....and this year is 5th. 2 more inches (which is expected to come tonight) and we'll be in 3rd place. It's the worst three consecutive years ever.
I heard a report today that Cleveland is one of the most depressed cities (based on sales of antidepressants, suicide attempts, other criteria) in the nation. Gee, I wonder why?

NOT "The Da Vinci Code"

In the course of building my profile, I had to ponder my list of favorite books. I read mostly fiction, and about a book a week (give or take), so this was a hard one (which sounds like I'm talkin' dirty, but I ain't). I listed a few that, eclecticly, have delighted me in one way or another.

Thinking about my books sent me spinning about books in general, which sent me contemplating the best seller list (which juuuuust possibly might have as little to do with good reading as a Big Mac nutrition list has to do with good cooking).....which sent me to "The Da Vinci Code"

Sheesh. This book has been near the top of the list for WAY over a year, which is remarkable in that it may well be the most over-rated book in the history of publishing. Besides a convoluted plot that was less engaging than it was befuddling, the guy filled the book with deus ex machinaish resolutions. F'r example....after travelling the world to figure out the double secret probation password (I paraphrase) to an ancient container owned by the female protagonist's uncle, they finally discover that the password is.....the daughter's name. Now, besides the obvious breakage of all password security standards, did they really have to globe-trot to figure that out?

Hell, the author thinks that Leonardo's last name was "da Vinci", which actually means "of Venice"....yet some cottage industry has sprung up trying to explain all the deep secrets this guy seems to know.

Gimme the kool-aid.