I’m making sure that the internet access and printer are hooked up for my youngest at college. If this posts, I know everything works.

So the drive was very damp as rain fell during the entire trip. It is sometimes fun to drive on the expressways when the rain falls. The trip today was uneventful.

Yesterday’s trip to and from Toledo were not as uneventful. I saw two semis driving erratically. One on the way in and one on the way home. The one on the way home bothered me enough that I pulled into the rest stop to let him get farther ahead.

Well, I made it home so that may have been a good decision.

Or at least 8-10 actors on stage and some behind the scenes performers.  My review of The Village Players opening show of the 2010 season will be brief so as to not give away to those who have yet to see it.  And if you have not then definitely try to make the final performance tomorrow afternoon!  Most asuredly an ensemble piece led by the hilarious Mary as Mrs. Savage.

I have to say that another actress on stage (who I take full credit for) also was fabulous.  Courtney, who played Mr. Potter’s little seen secretary in It’s a Wonderful Life, amazed me as Mrs. Savage’s greedy daughter.

A real life father/daughter duo whom I have worked with before also had fine chemistry especially in one bit!  I saw a lot of built up emotion in that ironic moment 😉

A fine job by all that I got to share with my brother and his kids!

Also fun was a survey the audience was asked to fill out.

• Is this your first time seeing a VP show? (No, but I’ve been in more than I have seen).
• How did you hear about the show… check all that apply.  (An X on each line including “Other”… cast members forced me to come… HAHA!)
• Finally, the shows you would like to see on the stage… (No less than 10, two provided by Joshua.  Our Town and Twelfth Night both of which he has read in his 7th grade gifted class.  The rest were 8 that I have wanted to be in.  Including one that will probably be tossed.  But if another group can attempt to persuade their board to do a show full of blood and gore then why can’t another do a show based on real people that actually has some intelligence behind it? Just a suggestion…)

A good way to kick off the season and a chance to sit back and be entertained.  But not too long… three months is too long to be off stage 😉

Today was a big day indeed! It began at 6AM… about an hour and a half earlier than necessary, but I woke up and could not go back to sleep… UGH!  The family hit the road for  Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral for Joshua and Shelby’s confirmation.  The cathedral is a marvel of architectural design and was the model for my own parish’s church.  A gorgeous place to worship… not in the safest of locations in the city but beautiful nonetheless.  If you ever have the chance to visit it… the pictures on the website do not do it justice.

Upon arriving at the church, I was surprised to see one of the youngest members of our game nighters.  Since I know he is in high school, I had to ask… “Aren’t you a little old?”  To which he replied… “Oh, no… this is all for me!”  On the contrary, he and his sister are members of our twin parish and she was being confirmed and sat a few rows in front of Joshua and I.

I found Bishop Blair’s homily to be quite timely and very well delivered.  Aimed chiefly at the confirmands, he stated that they were about to state on their own that they were ready to become part of the larger Christian community.  And like Father Flanagan (founder of Boys’ Town whose motto is the title of this post) must be tolerant and compassionate to all who are part of that community.

I have been teasing my godson a bit throughout his preparation.  If he goofed in front of the bishop, he would be slapped… HARD!  I dunno where I heard this but I remember the same as I began preparing for my day.  However, he did just fine as he stood in front of the bishop with me behind him with my hand on his shoulder.  So happy to stand behind him as he took a major step on his Christian journey.

I forgot to grab my camera this morning.  I had it in my hand, ready to go.  Then, my brother came to the house and asked if I had a shirt he could borrow.  I went, grabbed one, and we then went out the door with the camera on the desk.  So… here is a picture taken of Joshua and his sister and little brother in what looks like a criminal line up.  AH, well… next time he’ll think before his mug is shot.

I still say with his new glasses, he looks like a famous boy wizard.  Especially with that mane of unruly hair!  In total, 120 young men and women from 6 parishes in the diocese were confirmed.

Whew. Okay, I have now gone through my junior high yearbooks and will soon have a post or two on that topic. Several memories, some forgotten mysteries, and general strangeness. More on that to come. I still have four high school band yearbooks (yes, the band had its own yearbook) and my one surviving yearbrickbook from my freshman year, but I won’t wait on those books- they will be a post or two all by themselves.

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So what have I been up to?  More of the same, really.  A couple days a week are dedicated to just looking at and fixing photos online, usually adjusting the color when they are too blue or brightening dim or dark photos.  I also report photo problems I cannot fix like photos taken at bad angles or ones so dark (or bright) that they can’t be properly fixed.  The other days I am still out in the field taking pictures at my own stores (soon to be given away so I can be free to fly out at any time) or helping another photographer who has been inundated as of late.  Just Tuesday, she did over 50 cars with the assistance of the co-owner.  She wants to give up some of the stores, but the owners like her too much apparently- for good reason as she is a very good photographer.

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Besides that I have been rehearsing for Easter choir.  I finally got the music I need to practice at home.  For some reason they thought it would be a great idea to distribute the private link to the music over facebook instead of just emailing it to everyone, so when I realized an email was not forthcoming, I had to finally ask someone in the choir for the music.  No, not everyone uses facebook and I have no intentions of ever signing up, especially after hearing about what’s happening with Myspace and a company called Infochimps right now.

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As for now, it’s a weekend of rest.  Two days off from work, no choir until next week, and no 4th/5th grade ministry.  I do enjoy what I do most of the time (even if fixing photos is a bit tedious), but it’s nice to have a rest now and then.

Another year gone, and the Williams County Maple Syrup day is over. We ate more pancakes, sausage and real fresh from the tree maple syrup. I’m still not sure when we started doing this, but as ia family we’ve been doing it for years. Another ride out to the sugar shack, where they make the syrup and tap the trees. The family seemed to enjoy themselves.

This year additional family friends showed up. My children went off on there own to be with their friends. I had many pancakes, sausages and cups of coffee. Yum. Of course I purchased some syrup to have the rest of the year and some maple sugar candy to have a bit later.

This day of course reminds me of days gone by. We spent many days like this with family and friends. It was a time to celebrate good food, good friends and good family. These days, from maple syrup days to days at the fair, were days to bask in our lives together. The family we had, the friends we made were the good things in life.

And who says there is nothing going on in the boondocks. 😉

Go Off On A Tangent.  It is so fun to see how our little blog group of 4 has grown and  developed in the past 2+ years.  It has been so exciting to not only read each others posts but to come to know each of these great people.  What started as theatre acquaintances has grown into a group of the best friends I have ever had.  That is what has made our little gang of tangenteers so special:

• Taylhis describes her life as a stay at home mom, with her fabulous hubby, and their four wonderful kids and their menagerie of pets.  At times humorous, thought-provoking, but always insightful!  She may not have a great amount of time but I love reading every post she has the time to create.  And with baseball season finally approaching… you can bet she will be going in-depth (as much as possible) on  another season of her beloved Cubbies!

• Derek has documented the many roles he has played as a substitute teacher in the burbs of a great metropolitan area, to youth group leader, and finally to his position in the auto industry.  Postings are a bit spread out but always fascinating.

• The “Old Admin“… well what can we say about him.  I think he last posted way back in October.  I have been waiting on an Office post since da Bears’ season has come and gone once again.

• Justj joined our gang a few months after we started.  His random thoughts center a lot on his family which I find truly endearing but also delve into many of his hobbies as well.

• Somewhere along the road, we picked up a few other tangenteers.  Mare has become a great friend through my involvement with yet another community theatre group.  And with the new admin there are big changes in store.  Not forgetting froggy and our newest Kloe.

Brand new to the site is an interactive page on which you can post a single blerb about anything… much like tweeting (or whatever it is) but I think it will be even more fun.  So why not follow us and go off on a tangent of your own!

WOW!  How could I almost forget dear Carol!  She is also one of our new followers who offers great insight into her everyday life as a teacher and mother…. or this and that!  GREAT FRIENDS ALL!!!

It has been 2 years of blogging for this old man. Sure I like tech stuff, but writing about this or that was never something I thought I would do on a consistent basis. But 543 blog posts later, I guess I surprised myself.

I’ve rambled on about many things. Life, family, friends, movies, food, theater and the list could go on.

As the background of our little blogging world is changing (Not a bad look either), I’m wondering what direction to take my own blogging efforts in the next year. I’m sure I will continue to write about things I find important or interesting (I wouldn’t do this otherwise), but I wondering about content. During the first 2 years I said very little about two subjects. Part of that is something I learned in my youth. “Every topic is fair game except Religion and Politics”. These two subjects seem to bring out the best and the worst in some people. In like minded people, the discussions can be calm and rational. In other groups, the discussions tend not to be so rational. Provoking confrontation was not something I wanted in my blog. So I tend to avoid those two subjects. Is this good, bad or indifferent? I’m not sure, but since I usually avoid those subjects in real life, I guess it is me. So that is not a direction I will be taking.

What is left? More of the same? I’m not sure at the moment. I guess we will see.

It is a cool, wet, dreary day. I have a fire going and the house is warm and comfortable. As I sit and watch the clouds gray thoughts find their way into my mind. I have thoughts of little gray mice and large gray elephants. Gray skies and gray tree trunks. It is spring time, but the green has yet to bloom forth, so I am here with gray.

I have a picture of a sunset. I’ve talked about it before. It is of a sunset in these very woods. I’m not sure if that was a spring time sunset or not, but there are no leaves on the trees, so I will ‘assume’ it is spring. Since I was the one who took the picture, I know the day was cool, but not too cold. So either spring or fall works. That picture is full of reds, oranges and yellows. That is not today. Today is a gray day.

Gray can describe a mood, or just a color. Today is all about the color. In the early day of computer screens and graphics our displays were in gray scales. There was the same type of thing in early TV, movies and films. Black and white mixed give us various shades of gray. In a colorful world those shades of gray are often missed and ignored. But in the black and white world of old graphics and the new world of e-book readers their are gray scales. Those scales brought realism in a time of black and white movies and TV. They are not the color of life, but they are the shadings of life.

Gray had me thinking a bit today.

I am pleased to relate that EHS’ production of Your A Good Man, Charlie Brown was a hit.  Several people have asked me if I was able to attend last weekend… regrettably I was not.  Apparently, it went very well.  “Charlie Brown’s” mother was in today and she related that she was a bit apprehensive until her son got through his first song.  She did not know he could sing.  That comment took me back.  Prior to my duet of “Summer Nights” my junior year in high school, few people knew what kind of voice I had.  When auditioning for the bit, Emily herself was taken aback!

However, I am also pleased that the director is already making plans for next year’s musical!  HOORAY! It is so neat that we finally once again have a music teacher who is committed to not only building the band and choral programs but also reinstating something that has been lost at the school of a good many years!  Now only if the administration can manage to hold on to her!  Seems that the last few years the school had an array of music educators who have been poor influences.

Bravo to Ms. Reardon and to the young adults who have begun the work of making the arts once again flourish!

A while back now, I made a blog post about a site called mentalfloss.com, which is a collection of interesting, somewhat useless but incredibly entertaining tidbits about pop culture, history, travel, and a bunch of other topics.  Here are some links to other articles on mentalfloss I found interesting, and since I collected this list a long time ago and left it in my drafts, forgotten, I went back to check the links.  While I was checking, I got so sidetracked on mentalfloss again…  their miscellaneous info about anything and everything is really addicting!  I collected some of the best ones for you, so that you don’t have to risk hours and hours of your free time by going to mentalfloss.com yourself and clicking on link after link after link 🙂
See if any of the following capture your interest, and if you make it back here to tangents, leave me comments to tell me what you like!

An airplane graveyard in The Mojave Desert

Abandoned hospital in East L.A.

31 unbelievable high school mascots

10 unusual playgrounds from around the world

10 technologies we stole from the animal kingdom

7 crafty zoo escapes

And last, but definitely not least…

A collection of videos of dogs welcoming home their soldier owners – this is unbelievably sweet; these are the happiest dogs in the world!!!  (I cried)