Odds and Ends

It's been a while and I apologize for not posting more frequently. Sometimes life has a way of tying your hands, and there you are.

I'm singing with the Mark Twain Chorale this year (Sorry Quincy Symphony Chorus...not enough of me to go around :). With the Christmas concerts coming up (12/11 in Palmyra, 12/16 in Hannibal) I needed to arrange to rent a tux, so I popped in to see Jeff Schueking. He takes one look at me and says "I'll have to measure." He does the job and I'm delighted to discover that I've reduced my waist to 60 inches, pushing 59! I know that's still huge, but it's a full 7 inches less than my biggest. Now just to keep the pressure on and keep taking down the weight and the waist size.

We had some "fun" at the apartment last week--and still are. If you want to call it fun. The boiler in the building where I live basically melted down a week ago Monday. No fire, thank goodness, and no explosion, but though the safety valve properly vented the steam, the safety valve failed to shut off the boiler so it just kept getting hotter until the water was gone, and then melted. PVC piping withing a few feet if the thing was melted too. So, there's no heat in the building. I'm essentially living in my bedroom and bathroom with electric heaters until they get a forced air furnace installed in my apartment. On the plus side, the radiators are going bye-bye which will free up more floor space--an important consideration since I'm getting married and she's bringing her stuff to help fill up the apartment more. :)

I've been following the downtown discussion in the Whig, and among people I know in the business district. I don't think things are as bad as a handful of people are trying to paint the picture, but I also agree there are things that can be done to improve the area and make it more attractive. I suppose my biggest complaint is the apparent attempt to make Karol Ehmen into the fall guy, when she is a driving force keeping the downtown moving, albeit more slowly than some would like. Give her some help, and maybe those who believe there are "ihssee-yooooos" will see improvement. She's only one person, after all.

More music: with my wedding coming in July, I'm finally putting pen to paper once again to finish a set of marriage songs I started writing many years ago. Working with my brother, who creates incredible accompaniments for my stuff, I hope to sing the entire seven-song set for my parents on their 50th anniversary in June. The texts are from the Song of Solomon, Khalil Gibran, and the wedding prayers of the Orthodox Church.

Thanks: for the kind comments from folks who read the two stories I posted earlier. I'm glad you liked them.

Finally: movies. Watched (for the 3rd time) "Andrei Rublev", a film from the late 60s by Russian filmmaker A. Tarkovsky. This is not your Soviet propaganda (I'm surprised they let him make it), nor is it Hollywood. But it is a deep, moving, spiritual work that speaks strongly about life, committment, talent, integrity, and overcoming despair. Check it out, but take a couple of days to watch--it's long and moves slowly.