Take Two

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Last night, while Becky had powderpuff, I was being a jerk face (her term) and took Michael for a night on the town.  In my defense, I bought the tickets in May.  They were front row mezzanine on the aisle.  You would have gone too.

We started the evening at Hoggy’s as Michael had a craving for barbecue.  Who knew?  We had the mini sandwich platter, some brisket and a cheese pizza.  Who doesn’t go to Hoggy’s for pizza?  Michael ate half the sandwiches, ate my macaroni and cheese (which was exceptional), had an ear of corn on the cob and ate more than half of the brownie dessert.  I have no idea where he puts this stuff.

After dinner we drove downtown to the Palace Theater for Rain, The Beatles Experience. I have been a huge fan of the Beatles for years.  Clearly I never saw them live (they broke up in 1969, I was born in 1968, do the math) but they are clearly one of if not the most influential groups of all time.  The band played songs covering everything from the Ed Sullivan Show appearance to Shea Stadium and Sergeant Pepper to Abbey Road.  They were very tight, very authentic (except the bass player was not left handed) and they rocked hard for two hours.  It was amazing to see how many kids there were.  They guy playing Paul took note of how many little ones there were at the show.  Lots of parents who had had the Beatles shared with them from their parents and were now passing it on.

Michael stayed awake almost until we got home at 11:30 last night which surprised me.  He is not a night owl.  He said he loved the music and the lights.  I’m glad we got to have the night together and enjoy some Beatles and each others company.

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I realize that for the vast majority of my readers this is a non-story but for me with 15+ years in occupation medicine and workers’ compensation, it is a delight.  The latest story via the New York Times is that managers have assisted in what is essentially an enormous fraud on the Long Island Railroad and, by extension, the taxpayers who underwrite it.  Shocking!

My guess is when the original story was written about a month ago they did not see this kind of traction coming.  However, in the current climate of corporate guilt by association, someone (or several someones) is going to jail for a long time for this.  It’s a shame too because the LIRR is great.  The New York MTA, for all of their faults, is one of the best public transportation systems in the world.  It would be great if some of this money the government is doling out were used for infrastructure improvement but I digress.  Anyway, click on any of the stories to be brought up to speed.  This is fascinating stuff.

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Book cover via Amazon

God is not only great because nothing is too big for Him.  God is great because nothing is too small for him.

- Mark Batterson, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

I have been reading this book for the past few days and it is probably one of the most spiritually impacting books I have ever read.  Mark Batterson is the founder and pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC.  He talks some about how they founded the church and how God opened doors for them and made provision for them that they could never have done on their own.  It’s great for increasing your faith.  My friend Reg read and did a pretty thorough dissection of it in his blog recently.  If memory serves, he also taught extensively from it (which would not be hard to do at all).  If you are looking for something to feed your soul, I would highly recommend this book.

Ever wonder what possesses someone to put their random thoughts out on the internet for anyone (or no one) to read?  I have been blogging for about three years (about half of that at this site) and have stated that I mainly blog to keep in touch with people, to allow a free flow of thought, and to satisfy my frustrated inter-writer self.  Andrew Sullivan has a great story from the Atlantic about why he blogs.  Check it out.

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• Journaling

It has been a very busy weekend (and previous week).  I had Sunday School Board meetings this weekend in preparation for meeting with the district board in a couple of weeks.  I have a full post regarding that which I will put up next week.  Let me just lead into it by saying it is a good thing to be surrounded with folks you can count on to help you when you are buried and who “have your back” so to speak.

Anyhow, I’m going to head to bed.  I’ll expand this thought more tomorrow.

Rather than opine about the tumultuous stock market (it has been crazy today), I thought I’d share a video.  Either you laugh or you cry.  You might as well laugh.

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I will do a full post tonight.  Allow me to say that the University of Akron was great fun and so unlike when I went to The Ohio State University (you must add the “The”) where we lived like POWs and ate food that was rejected by the hospital patients.  Rock climbing wall?  Kayaking pool?  Stir fry, pizza, or eggplant parmagana for lunch?  No siree bob, we did not have that.

The night at the opera is deserving of its own post.  We saw Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.  I absolutely loved it!  More on that later.  Now, off to Columbus for a meeting and lunch.  Thanks to Opera Columbus for that event.

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• The Pearl Fishers

Tomorrow night, I’m going to a business networking event and seeing a dress rehearsal of the Pearl Fishers.  Fortunately, there are subtitles as my Italian is non-existent.  This will be cool for a few reasons.  First, Becky is coming along with me (as we are going to look at the University of Akron tomorrow).  Second, It involves food which is always good.  And third, it marks the return of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra which had been out of commission due to a contract dispute.  Opera Columbus does a great job of bringing first rate productions to Central Ohio.  I am happy to support them and hopefully feed my cultural brain in the process.

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Last week is a blur.  I left Monday morning and got home Saturday afternoon.  I spent the night in three different states, ate incredible food, met great new friends and caught up with old ones.  I also had a four hour nap yesterday and still slept fine last night (apparently the body needs time to recover).  It was a great week.

This morning, I was back to the grind, kind of.  I sent a number of emails for potential business partners I met at Stetson SNT X and also got some emails from the UPCI General Conference.  But as a whole, I spent today catching up on work.  And tomorrow, I will likely do the same thing.  It is a great thing to sleep in my own bed again and start the day at my own desk.  In a few weeks, I’ll be ready to travel again (got trips lined up for the first quarter of next year to Orlando and New Orleans).  But for now, I am gladly back to reality.

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