NOT A LOST WEEKEND

SAT 02 APR 2011  11:03am  Took Jackie to Lynedoch for her Qigong class. I went shopping. Needed a new camera bag, got a nice one that will hold another lens when I get one. Also cat food and a couple of movies and the big one – new nose pads on my glasses. And it was so easy. I've been suffering with no pad on one side for a long time now. And here for 3 bucks I get two installed and have 2 more to keep for the next time I need them. Sometimes the modern world is just too much for me. Saw some frames I like also. There are ones without any frame at all. They are more expensive but look good and are very light. But, there are some metal rim ones that are cheaper and I like. Might look into this soon.

Sitting in the Walmart parking lot, a foreshadowing of what it will be like starting next week, when I'm back at work.  I'll stop long enough for a coffee or a bite from my lunch. And if it's the end of delivering I might take a ½ hour for my lunch break. We get docked for it anyway but sometimes the day is so long and hectic you just want to head for home. Or, if you're on the wrong side of Toronto, you want to get out on the highway and get past the congestion as soon as you can. So, you grab a coffee and go. Sometimes I forget that I had bought a coffee and will be sitting in stop and go traffic on the endless pavement and think what I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee. Then I look down and see I have one.  That's what a miracle feels like, I'm sure.

Spring is putting spring in my step. Is that why it's called spring? Spring is melting the snow, tossing the branches of trees, exposing holes in roads, opening the gates to millions of birds, squeezing trees until leaves pop out, turning frozen fields into lakes, loosening tongues and collars.

Rain clouds rolling across the heavens. Rain is always a good thing, unless you have 4 years of it like in 100 Years of Solitude. That can get to be a drag. My favourite book by the way. Someday I would like to get a good hard cover copy of it. Might be hard to find though. It's a very popular book. I had a time just finding a good paper back.

SUN 03 APR 2011 10:10am Had some good comments about my blog from J's chi-buddy who she emails each day to keep both on track with their Chi-Fusion practice, sort of like an AA friend who you can call in the middle of the night if the bottle is coming closer to your hand all by itself. She said my writing puts pictures in her head and she enjoys the stories. Very encouraging words to hear.

We're leaving soon for the  gem & mineral show in Paris. J had a really good class yesterday, almost all attended. After, Kimberley gave a short tune-up workshop, which everyone enjoyed, and then they bought lots of our jewellry, which Jackie took to show them. They seem to like my chain maille  earrings, so I'll have to get at making more.

1:34pm  Good gem show. You might be excused for getting the impression that the ancient past is littered with dino-droppings. Everyone had a few for sale. In an odd way, it does bring the past dramatically to life.  Very well attended show. Tables of gems, stones, jewellry; displays of petrified wood, gem polishing and for kids, scooping stones out of sand and, with pick and brush, slowly releasing a fossil from it's stoney shell.


A group is trying to save the old Town Hall in Paris. They were encouraged by a visit to the OTH in Waterford.  I wish them lots of luck. You have to be very determined to fight for City Hall.

Last night I did some more on the electronic song I'm composing. It needs a bit more attention but it's coming. Also learning some new songs to play and sing.  If someone wants me to play at a party or something I need to be ready. Besides, learning new songs is fun and keeps one interested. There's no shortage of songs to choose from, but only certain songs are good for my voice. First of all I have to like the song, then I have to be able to handle it. I can't usually sound like the original so I have to make it my own. Sometimes it is a surprise which ones make the cut. And often I have to give up on ones that I really like, but, there's just no way. But, what I'm saying mostly is bringing in new songs takes time. I also have to play them many times to begin to feel comfortable with them. Which isn't a problem because if you really like the song you want to play it.

It took me many years of horrible singing to finally find my range and realize I needed to stick to it. It's ok to stretch at times; in fact, that's the only way to increase your range. But, don't be all over the place all the time. Learn to breath and learn to stay in your range. That's my hard-won advice, children.