Some of my friends have asked me to let you know of any opportunities to see/hear me playing music at local venues. Here's a chance to catch some good live jazz and support a worthy cause. Mark Klein is a friend of mine and a very talented pianist. He's put together a core trio (piano/bass/drums) and has invited several vocal and instrumental soloists to join him for a fun evening of eclectic music. I'll be playing EWI on a few songs. I'd love to have your support and encouragement. Details on the flyer. Feel free to contact me with questions.
update: Here's a photo from the gig:
Last year I wrote about reading the whole Bible in a year. The BibleInAYear website doesn't seem to exist anymore, but I recently completed a second full read, this time using OneYearBible.net with the paraphrase version "The Message".
OneYearBible doesn't send daily emails like BibleInAYear did, but instead it provides a website login with calendar tracking. OneYearBible also offers a sequence that lets you read some Old Testament, some New Testament, some Psalms, and some Proverbs, every day.
Last weekend my family and I bicycled about six miles in our cycling for schools event. That seemed like a pretty good accomplishment, but then again, my sister is running a full marathon tomorrow. She has run in one before, but she wasn't allowed to finish because they shut the race down due to extreme heat. I have a lot of respect for her determination and discipline. Go Lindy! Go Lindy!
I turned 40 today. Kinda sobering that I'll never be thirtysomething again, and for the next few months my wife and I will be living in different decades (so to speak) but all in all, it's been a good, enjoyable day. My son scored his first run in little league (got walked to get on base, stole 2nd & 3rd, then ran in on the next hit - he is FAST). My daughter & wife baked me a pineapple upside-down cake. A few friends came over for the evening and we enjoyed good food, some games and hang-out time. I actually feel quite a bit better about myself right now than I did a few years ago, so I'd have to say at least for the moment 40 isn't bad, not bad at all.
Windows shareware to-do list manager Tudumo has officially launched with it's 1.0 release.
I've been using alpha and beta versions of Tudumo and have become quite addicted. I have over 400 active action items, but with Tudumo I can slice and dice the list using tags, headings, status and dates so that I can always get the most important stuff into the spotlight and give it the attention it needs. Smart keyboard shortcuts and quick find-as-you-type searching make navigation a breeze.
Congratulations, Richard, on a successful product launch.
Not bad for being shot by a 10-year-old with a cheap 1.3-megapixel camphone ...
My kids and I are enjoying Season One of The Muppet Show on DVD. (fond memories of my own childhood when laughing with Kermit, Fozzie and the gang was a weekly tradition, right after Saturday night bathtime) Show #2 features special guests Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. Bert croons the classic lyric "Some Enchanted Evening / You may see a stranger ... " and my almost-5-year-old daughter Caris pipes up with "Hey, that's not right ... you're not supposed to talk to strangers!"
manamanah
I just finished reading Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See which was recommended to me by a good friend (actually, I went with the audiobook version). The book is about Mike May, blinded at age 3 by a chemical burn and later surgically restored to partial sight as an adult. I found it inspiring, fascinating and compelling.
Robert Kurson does an excellent job in telling May's story. He spent about two years gathering information from May, his family and friends. May comments in an interview that the author now probably knows May better than anyone else in the world. Kurson paints vivid images with words, spanning the spectrum from tactile descriptions of events as May experienced them, to detailed technical explanations of the biology of the eye, to sensual interchanges between May and his wife Jennifer. Kurson's style is both engaging and accessible.
Although I've never experienced total blindness, I have lived with
severely impaired eyesight for all of my life. My RS page has a little
more info about my condition and how it has affected me. Like me, May
is also a technology guy and a musician. I can identify with May in
many ways, but I think the biggest take-away from the book is that Mike
May sets an example for all of us -- not just those with eyesight
impairments or other disabilities. It's about living life to the
fullest, no matter what your situation. Life was already great for May
before he regained his sight. For him, seeing is more like icing on the
cake.
