Mid-October Musings

Interesting day, being back from vacation. So many emotions and very little time to collect them. Already I feel three days behind and that's maybe because I didn't work on school work. Then again, I'm feeling in a rut with a couple of classes and am wanting to shake things up a bit with some of my major lesson plan units.

My little son is trying so hard to be a big boy. He's using words, spelling with his foam letters in the bathtub and doing all of the things that lit'luns do that sometimes lead to trainwrecks. Today, for instance, he was pretty tired as his schedule isn't fully re-adjusted from our trip. He tuckered out pretty early this afternoon and melted down when I wouldn't give him a cup of water as I had just given him a cup of juice. As he began crying, the look on his face was of absolute pity; tears were rolling down his cheeks, his eyes were nearly shut from the intense rush of emotions and the look on his face was one that drove home the need and want of little ones for their parents. After a while, he didn't seem to know what to be mad at and when I picked him up and showed him his juice, he immediately calmed down and rested his head on my shoulder. I can't imagine being able to love another child with the same amount of love that I do for my firstborn.

I received a visit from a former student who graduated last year. He graduated early in order to enter the Marine Corps last winter. Now completed with basic training and entering specialty school, this young man shows the excitement and discipline that the military instills in young people. He's a demolitions expert and in March is being sent to Ramadi, Iraq. We both expressed concern and trepidation about his assignment and yet as the young man left my room, I wondered just in fact how someone willingly puts him or herself in danger for other "bigger" causes that may result in the loss of his or her life.

Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip has turned out to be a fantastic show. The West Wing for SNL as many have called it and probably rightly so. I enjoy seeing Bradley Whitford retain a role similar to the Josh Lyman character and it's great seeing Matthew Perry in a role that utilizes his acting abilities. Friends was a pretentious and nitwitted sitcom that used contrivances to become "America's sitcom" of the '90s. In fact, that show espouses so much of that decade's values that it makes me wonder how quickly one generation (based, of course on its art and commerce which do reflect the values of the nation) became so vacuous. Could you imagine knowing any of those people? Those were the people that I graduated and moved away from in order to not have to ever see them again.

The Gov't Mule show last Saturday night (Thank you, Chris) was another skull-splitting exercise in heavy metal by the four men "making music for your ass". Two and a half hours of career-spanning tunes, the Mule (Warren Haynes and whomever can keep up with him) showed itself to be a new band; after losing its original bass player six years ago, Warren needed to reinvent the band in order to maintain some spirit of the original yet press ahead in ways that have successfully kept the band from sounding like a nostalgia act for former self. While the keyboardist doesn't really do much for me, he does act as an all-inclusive rhythm instrument holding the bottom end down when it's time for Warren to solo. Andy Hess on bass more than holds his own and keeps the band from constantly being compared to the original power-trio lineup. While I have listened to enough Warren Haynes' guitar playing to anticipate portions of his improvised solos, I love watching the guy make music. As the Mule is pretty monolithic in the type of sound it creates (think Sabbath; not in a comparative sound but in the lack of deviation from its signature sound), I still enjoy the occasional head-pounding that is the live performance. Great tunes and while I was exhaused by the end of the evening (or morning), I appreciated the show and wonder what they'll be like when I see them again, another two and a half years.

Chris Brown held my feet to the fire and yet I still can't answer his question: What is Elton John's best album? Better yet, how's this: What are his best five songs? Maybe I can do that: 1. Tiny Dancer 2. Rocket Man 3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 4. Levon 5. Roy Rogers. I know I'm only plucking from three albums but those albums are his best, in my opinion.

Time for bed; it's quarter after midnight.