I am not going to get into particulars on my wife's declining health because that is more a matter for her to disclose as she chooses. I will say that we have had a lot of bad news sprinkled with a little chance of good things happening for her. She has been more active in taking care of herself lately though, and that makes me happier. Also, I want to urge everyone (including all 5 of you that read this blog) to become organ donors and to make sure your family knows about your wishes in this regard.
Syd continues to play well and enjoy hockey. They have a record of 12-2-1 I believe right now. They have won both tournaments they have been in so far, and will be receiving a sportsmanship medal for their outstanding display of sportsmanship during the 2010 Winter Iowa Games. Syd is still clearly behind the other players on her team as far as her skills development goes, but she continues to gain ground on them. As long as she is having fun and continues to improve, I am happy.
Ian recently had his Masterworks concert. This year it was Requiem. It was an amazing performance. I am glad he has stuck with choir as it is about the only extracurricular activity he does. He is excited for the choir trip to Washington, DC in April. I am glad he is going to get to go out there 'on his own' so to speak. Both Heidi and I went to DC in High School and I think it will be good for him to see there is more to the world than Iowa and New England.
I was reading Amanda Palmer's blog and a passage in there really touched a nerve with me, so I wanted to put it here so I could remember it, not so much for myself, but for when my kids ask me such things:
i know a lot of younger people read this blog and i have constant contact with teenagers who are always asking me:I know from past NaNoWriMo atempts I catch myself starting to shy away from areas that the writing was taking me because of how I imagined they would be perceived, especially by those who know me. I think that this kind of courage is a great deal of what separates an artist from a craftsman. Thank you Amanda Palmer.
“how do i get brave?”
a lot of that answer lies in situations like these.
when you are forced to sit down, reckon with a situation, listen to people screaming that they hate you, take stock of what you’ve done, look everyone in the eye, tell them what your intentions are, and know that they will either hear and understand you or they will walk away.
and then your job is to not run after them.
your job is to stay calm. your job is continue on with your work.
and the hardest thing, sometimes, is to continue on with your work in a spirit of love, without letting other people’s hate and anger getting the best of you, and turning you into bitter, angry and jaded fuck.
it’s so easy to be afraid. to do nothing. to not make your art, to not follow your calling, your passion, your impulses, to not take any risks for fear of people cutting you down and misunderstanding you.
most people are CONTROLLED by fear, because they’re convinced they’ll do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, write the wrong thing, sing the wrong thing.
those fears are founded. you can see that, here, now.
shit happens, you can upset people.
and you need to do your work anyway, because the world needs you to.
that, i think, is how you get brave.
(For the record, I am one of the Neil fans. I am in the 'very happy for the both of them' camp however.)
I have started in on 2010's brewing. Last week I made a couple starters for a beer I had hoped to make this week. Since I have not milled any grain nor purchased hops, it looks like this waits until next week. I did however brew up 5 gallons of dry to medium mead at the same time. Yesterday I did a little test on the mead. About a third of the sugars have been fermented so far, making it 3.6% ABV right now. It tasted very very good, even with the strong acetaldehyde (green applish solventish) taste from the early fermentation activity. I am very hopeful for this since I have the materials to make another batch as soon as I get this out of primary.
That's all for now...
