"What Is This New Devilry?"

The end of another week - and things loom closer! Easter, Tax Day, wifey's 40th birthday, our trip to New Mexico - mixed feelings about all of them... well, except for Tax Day - that one is pretty much universal dread. The others I'm at once excited and nervous and uneasy about, in different combinations.

I'm sorta of the opinion that the build-up to Easter (and Christmas, for that matter) should be positive and not tense and saturated in angst and foreboding. On the one hand, putting on holiday programs at church has a nice pay-off at the end. People appreciate the "show" usually, and you get the kudos and the "I was touched" and the "that was great" and all that. But then it immediately is filed under "forgotten" and all those many tense weeks of rehearsals and chaos and misunderstandings and hurt feelings and private complaining are brought to a sudden end. A temporary end... until the next holiday rolls around. 

I don't know... you could get all spiritual about it and say "the enemy attacks it because it's effective," etc., but I don't know. Maybe he doesn't have to attack it. Perhaps we all simply make it a lot worse than it needs to be, just being ourselves. Technically, it's all "volunteer", but really, participation is quite expected. I'm not sure the fruit is positive, that's all I'm saying. Is dreading the holidays merely an unpleasant but small side effect? Or is it a signal that something in the foundation is amiss? Is it worth all of the accumulated angst and toe-stepping so that someone in the audience can walk in and plop down and enjoy the show, then go out for a hamburger?

I can't say.

Wife's 40th birthday approaches - by all rights an important birthday. I want to make a big deal out of it, but I don't really know how. We're having a party, which is a good place to start. But I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to buy her - which is a big deal, since gifts are important to her. It's the way she receives love. I don't mean that in a negative way, don't misunderstand. I love her and I want her to know it... still, the 40th is a biggie, and I want it to be special. I'm open to suggestions - many of you know her. What would you suggest?

I slept so soundly last night, I don't think I moved at all. That happens so rarely, it borders on crazy. I always toss and turn and wake up throughout the night. I sleep in fits and starts. So to drift off, then wake up 7 hours later in the same position, uninterrupted, is crazy. I'm going to interpret it as a sign of great days ahead! Somehow, it means wonderful things are headed my way! Things that would make my ears tingle if I heard of them! Unfettered unreasonable enthusiasm will be my response to this! Think of it! I will probably end up rich, in great physical shape, have better posture, straightened teeth, a smaller nose, and a new Porsche! Yes, that must be it! That's the only possible interpretation of this staggering event - that I would sleep for a half-dozen hours so soundly that I didn't move! The implications of such a thing truly shake me to my very core!

Yeah, stupid, I know, sorry. While I was initially writing about, it dawned on me what a completely lame and uninteresting thing it was for me to talk about, so instead of erasing it, I decided to be stupid with it. Well, it made sense at the time! Sheesh!

Made a good initial dent into Greg Cook's The Chronicles of the Black Company last night. I think it's a keeper. Also, I got back The Name of the Wind from Abbie and Rebecca, to whom I had enthusiastically loaned it. Neither were too impressed, which makes me believe that my love of the book was mostly a case of the right book at the right moment in my life, and it just clicked in the right way for me. Guess you can't duplicate that willy-nilly. I'm almost afraid to read it again - what if I find out it really is merely a shade or two above mediocre?

Ah, who cares. I loved the book. 'Nuff said.

Todayve In History: April 4th

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- April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. 

- April 4, 1960: Ben Hur wins Best Picture at the 32nd Academy Awards. 

- April 4, 1974: Hank Aaron hits his 714th home run, tying Babe Ruths record. 

Sorry, no post-trivia quasi-amusing parenthetical one-liners tonight. Hope you brought your own. It certainly wouldn't be appropriate after the MLK reference, and the other two, meh, my brain isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment, caffiene notwithstanding. Maybe I'll be back in form tomorrow...

To make up for it, here's a funny video. While I certainly don't advocate alcohol, I find this advertisement for Carlton Draught to be very cool...

I can't imagine how long it took them to film that ad. Well done.

And I might as well toss in a funny picture as well...

That goat is either illiterate or an anarchist...

By the way, 10 points if you can guess the movie I quoted in the thread title...

Gonna turn in and go read some. I hope your weekend is a good one. Until tomorrow, remember, 5 out of 4 people don't understand fractions.