Kyle Garza, proposing
I proposed to my girlfriend of the last two blissful years, McKenzie, on November 16th, and she sobbingly said yes (tears of joy, to be sure).
We went out on a casual Sunday after-church date to a monarch butterfly grove in Goleta, a verdant and picturesque spot flourishing with eucalyptus and ivy that most folks imagine is an enchanted forest when they see pictures. I had a handful of friends from church help me out with the proposal. They hid in bushes until a certain point in our walk along the park’s main trail: two musician friends who helped me serenade her with “our song” (All I Want Is You) and two others who worked photography and videography.
Now we will start to endure the stresses of wedding planning and figuring out where to live together in the midst of a busy school year (since I teach and am working on my MA online and she is a full-time student working on her BS in Mechanical Engineering from CSU Northridge).
If you know of anyone who knows a good So Cal wedding venue or realtor, please let us know!
For two days straight, Mom [shone alone in photo] chased me around in the snow sayin', "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies." I helped out and here's her Panda!
Highlights of my month of November included discovering new or enhanced views of the Salt Lake valley from the roof of the City Library, from the actual monument at Ensign Peak (we finally made it all the way up), and from a friend’s high-altitude house in Bountiful, overlooking the Great Salt Lake to the West.
In search of items for gift baskets to be offered in an upcoming silent auction, I also discovered Target’s bargain clearance section, where $1 Hello Kitty items were especially numerous. “But it’s only a dollar” became my mantra that day. Target also provided our fake Alberta spruce Christmas tree, but the outside lights came from Family Dollar.
Just yesterday, a wrong turn took us to Trolley Square, a trolley depot turned upscale mall, where we silently regretted our recent Christmas card purchase at Office Max (but they were only $10) as we perused the exquisite card selection at a Trolley Square stationery store that had us gawking for what in retrospect was really not that long, if you compare it to that excruciating scene in 12 Years a Slave where Solomon hangs by his noosed neck from a tree branch, tippy-toeing for his life on “just another afternoon” on the plantation. Watching that felt like forever. Literally.
Yeah, after Thanksgiving dinner at that friend’s house in Bountiful, we thought it would be fun to check out the Black Friday sale at…Target, and instead of elbowing our way through the line for electronics, we grabbed up reduced-price DVDs. Watching 12 Years a Slave reminded me of how grateful I am for a life full of choices very unlike some of the ones that Solomon was forced to make. Let me cut that movie review short to say only that the trio of love therapy films (reviewed on November 16) made for much more light-hearted viewing, or, if you’re trying to capture the true, non-commercial spirit of Christmas (good luck with that), the Grinch and Scrooge are always at your service!
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| And there was the same ole same ole in America |
My wife Janie went home for a week, but I didn't go back to the States this year for Thanksgiving. But the Saturday before Janie caught the plane back to the States we had a Costa Rican Thanksgiving or BBQ. I cooked out ribs and iced down the beer. Summer fun in November – my kind of a Thanksgiving.
We are entering our summer and the winds really pick up this time of the year, but it feels good in the hot sun. Speaking of hot sun, they are saying the coffee crop has been dropping due to the change in the weather – I guess God is just hugging us a little too close.
–Pura Vida
A few things have transpired with this character lately: Nov.10th was the 1-year anniversary of my Sweet Pa's passing. Sure miss him a lot!
I went on a field trip with my granddaughter Ale and the first graders to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Our first time there! A beautiful place, looking forward to going back and seeing more.
Also my youngest daughter Dulcie just hit teenage-hood.
Busy times and getting busier!
A friend and I recently established a new meeting place for chess players in Memphis. While I already belong to a local chess club, it meets on the other side of town from where I reside (as do most other regularly scheduled chess groups in this metro area). I've always wanted to have an option for finding regular chess play in Midtown Memphis, but because of scheduling conflicts with those interested in starting such a meetup group, it has not come to fruition until a few weeks ago. So, our new group is not a brand new club, per se, as the original members are active members of our club out east, but it is a new location. We hope to attract players who live in this area of town. I've named the group "38104 Chess," paying homage to the zip code that covers a large part of Midtown (38104 is commonly seen on T-shirts and bumper stickers around here). We meet at a local eating establishment that serves healthy salads, a wide array of pizzas, and has a mini-bar. We don't have a website yet or a Facebook page, but hope to develop one or the other soon.
This month, I've participated in performances for the Memphis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists of a members' concert (cello and organ, and organ with piano); for children and families at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (solo piano); and for one of the private local musical coteries in town (piano duet), along with preparing music for upcoming Advent musical events.
This cold winter has me thinking about the fate of the world:Chuck Smythe, entertaining
The Muslims are taking over. And we are allowing it to happen with all this "political correctness" crap. From what I can tell, the majority of the population in America AND Australia are totally against this one-sided slant on "equal rights" that has in fact turned our societies into ones with unequal rights. I lay the biggest blame for this on our government leaders. They are not listening to the people. And pretty soon the "people" will be the Muslim majority, as they are procreating at a rate over 6 times greater than the rest. In a generation they will be in control. Write your congressman!! Make a louder noise!!!
No news of interest except the concerts (which I’m working on for Second Monday Music). In lieu of that, here’s a little entertainment:
Had a happy discovery for November – there's a Skype app for smartphones! (Perhaps I was the last person on Earth to learn this.) But now I have installed it, and I can call and talk with Ed in Costa Rica anytime I want – even see him on his computer cam, and him me on my reversed phone camera. Cool. Maybe Vic, too, in Australia, and Rolf in Bavaria....
| Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean |
Morris isn't discovery a wonderful thing(smile)
ReplyDeleteIndeed so, Ed, and delightful to hear your voice and see your smiling face on my phone's monitor! I've also re-installed Skype on my desktop computer.
DeleteThat comment of mine was an example of the need to copy text to the pasteboard before clicking "Publish," for when I did click "Publish," nothing happened, and I had to paste my comment into the comment box and try again. It worked the second time.
DeleteAnd that one worked the first time (even though I had copied its text to the pasteboard also. I do that routinely now; I've been burned enough times.
Delete