Isolationism

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few days. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

I ended up working a fourteen-hour day on Wednesday to add MSIE 5.5 support to our application at work (went from 0 to supported in that span of time, too, which isn’t bad considering how many style definitions we had and how much JavaScript could have gone wrong but most thankfully didn’t).

Thursday I spent part of the afternoon preparing Chinese food for a big family meal. It went well and everyone seemed to have a good time; it was also a historical first for me where every last bite of food got consumed at the table (I usually prepare too much food, but I guess Thursday was the exception). Of course, I would have been happy to have some leftovers to eat on Friday for my trouble, but c’est la vie.

On Friday Bex sent her mom on her way home in the wee hours of the morning, then in the evening we bundled squeaker off to Oma’s after a quick supper ourselves, then dashed out to see Gordon Lightfoot on what just happened to be the 31st anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which I wasn’t yet conceived yet alone alive to experience second-hand, but the story is a sad one and well-known in the area; some have even remarked that Gordon’s ballad on the subject may well be the de facto state song of Michigan. Well, of course he sung it for the audience after he pointed out the sad anniversary of the event, but that was an hour after Bex mentioned it to me after observing that he had better sing it and why.

Gordon’s show of two full sets was great and I enjoyed it quite a bit with a couple exceptions: First, the nose-bleed section seats (in the second-from-furthest row from the stage—Bex slept in the morning they went on sale, but in the end I didn’t mind, we still heard him just fine) and second, I could have done without nearby audience members singing along to their favourite songs.

To those few: I respect that you like Gordon. I understand that one likes to tap a foot or hum along or even sing to a tune they like. What I can’t abide is someone performing those activities to the detriment of everyone else’s experience when we’re paying $60 a head for the privilege of listening to the man sing in person for an hour and a half. If you really must sing along to his music, please do it in the privacy of your own car; if you can’t control yourself in public, then please stay at home instead of coming out to the show. Okay? Thanks.

Moving along: Today we unloaded the tot at Oma’s again for the second time ever then went to see the Lipizzaner Stallions at the Scorelladium Placentre—Courtesy of Bex’ dad—which turned out to be a nice treat. Not only were the horses and riders both professional and very entertaining (I confess to having had a big grin on my face for most of the performance) but their announcer was good too—and the crowd was on better behaviour than for Gordon’s performance the previous night. If you have the opportunity, you might want to see them in person for yourself some day.

After a nice supper at Oma’s while picking up Squeaker we’re back at home again, but I don’t feel much like spending the rest of the evening in front of the computer; what I’d really like is a nice cup of French-pressed coffee and maybe a movie or something to unwind with a few laughs. Hope everyone else has had a great week!