Nest Truly Empty

In the 1981 movie, Excalibur, Merlin utters a line which has stuck with me down the years.

For those of you who don't know the film, you might expect it is a version of the King Arthur / Camelot story.  And it is.  So, if you know anything about the Arthur lore, you might know this -- the wizard Merlin was said to live life backwards.  As Arthur explains to Guenevere in the musical version, Camelot, Merlin "doesn't age; he ... 'youthens?'"

In any case, when Merlin sees the completion of something, he knows it is complete, because he has seen the future.  In any case, Merlin's line is simple.  He sees something complete and he says:

"That's it."

This phrase ran through my head several times over the past weekend.  Sherry and I accompanied Leah out to New York City to help her move into her first apartment in Manhattan.  She's been officially graduated for several months now, and she moved into Sarah and Troy's place in Brooklyn Park.  But the address she gave most people for her "permanent address" was our house, and we all knew this day was coming:  she would leave Minnesota to start her life in New York.

Of course, each of our children has done something similar.  Yes, the boys are still in Rochester, but they are on their own in their own places.  And, true, Sarah is not that far away, but she has a very busy life in her own house, too.  They have moved on.  And now, finally, Leah has done the same.

Our house, which despite its generous size, sometimes seemed  to overflow when our family of six was younger, is now a truly empty nest.  We are "empty nesters."  As Merline would say: "That's it."

As I flow down this river of life, it becomes easier and easier to see why people look back on the past so much more as they get older.  There are so many good memories!

So, as we enjoy the empty nest, and relish the times when our grown children can visit us, I will definitely always remember the earlier times, the younger times, when the nest was full and bustling and none of our kids had yet learned to use their wings.






Kids, I am so proud of each of you!  Keep living your wonderful lives.  Just know you are welcome to come home now and again so we can get some of that energy and life back into the nest for a little bit.  The house misses you!

And we do, too.

===================================








(I wonder what a 4000+ square foot 'house' would cost in Manhattan.)

When Cometh Normal?

I was recently asked to describe a normal week in my life. I was stumped.  It's past mid-October.  And I still have not had a "normal" week this fall.

A "normal" week, during the school year, is certainly different than it once was.  After all, Sherry's up in St. Paul, so it's hard to think of that as "normal."  But go with me here.

Criterion #1: A "normal" week should have me in Rochester, all week.

Since the beginning of the school year, I don't think that has happened yet.  If it has, I don't remember it.


One week, I didn't travel for work, but I spent the weekend at the apartment in St. Paul.  Is that normal?  It was relaxing, that's for sure.  (There is no lawn to mow at the apartment. Big plus!  But not normal.)

Next week, I think I will be in Rochester all week.  But while being in Rochester is necessary for a week to feel normal, it's not sufficient.  You see, one or two of my evenings will be tied up with work commitments, so I will not have to get dinner for myself.  So that's not normal either.

Criterion 2: A "normal" week includes meals I have to plan for, shop for, and prepare.  That almost happened this week -- I can count the D&D group feeding me as "normal" now, since I plan for that meal, even if I don't prepare it.  It occurs regularly enough.  But, I will be eating dinner outside of Rochester Thursday through Sunday, because we get to fly to NYC to see Leah perform.  Which is wonderful!  It's just not "normal." 

Criterion 3: A "normal" week has a five-day work week, Monday through Friday. 

I'm thinking I will not get a "normal" week until sometime in January.

And so, if "normal" is that rare, it can't be "normal" can it?

I just have to face it.  I don't do "normal."

Well, normally, I don't.

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.

William James 

Looking Forward

Ross is great at conversation.  He can sit there quietly and listen for a while, but when he engages in the discussion, it always gets more interesting.

And he has great "conversation starter" openings.  Yesterday, he asked me this:

"So, Steve, what are you looking forward to?"

Notice, it's not "How's work going?"  It's not "How have things been?" This is nothing against most of us who start with these sorts of questions -- you have to start somewhere, and most of us know how to respond to the typical.  But Ross, he starts with a question that makes you think.

So, hmmm, exactly what AM I looking forward to?

Great question.

My response was "I know a person shouldn't live his life this way, but honestly, I'm trying not to 'look forward' much right now."  His facial expression showed I needed to give him more.

"In just about a week, Leah will be back in New York, and Sherry will be up at school, and I will be alone in this house again.  If I look forward, I see that looming over me.  And though eventually last year I got used to being alone, and I found fun things to do, I wouldn't say I'm 'looking forward to it.'  Right now, I really like having the kids and Sherry here.  I like spending time with my wife."

Adam made some sarcastic comment about how lame that was.  We all laughed.

No need to pull out the little violins and make it seem as if my life will be tragic.  I know it won't.  But for the next few days, I am living in the "now" and enjoying every moment I can get with Leah and Sherry.

June - Time must Slow

June, 2011.

Sherry is home for the summer.

We will get to spend almost two weeks on vacation with our children.

Grilling and eating meals outside is now possible.

Light lasts until well into the evening.

For all these reasons, it is very important to slow down time for the next three months.  We must savor every minute.  We cannot let these experiences speed by.

Perhaps, just perhaps, there are things in our Fall future which will be good.  OK, certainly there will be.  But for now, we will not look toward them.  For now, we will live the moments we have.

For the next few days, Sarah & Troy will be with us.  What a treat.  Without classes & homework, Sherry is able to spend a little time in her kitchen.  It is my responsibility and joy to relish both of these things! 

Next week?  That's not until next week.  I will enjoy it when it comes. 

Usurpo diem.

Quote - Progress

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
- Robert Heinlein

Find the humor, then find the truth behind the humor.

Inventions are sometimes the result of progress towards discovery, but far more often they are the result of making life easier.

It's all about Time and how we want to use it.

I Don't Have to Answer That

My kids will tell you -- I never get phone calls. The phone may ring, but it will not be for me.

Now, I'm not like some people who never get phone calls. I will answer the phone. But when I am the only one in the house, the phone is pretty quiet.

Or it should be.

Lately, after work, I've been getting on the treadmill, putting on an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 ^[1] and running.

Guess what happens when I am on that treadmill. You got it.

The darn phone rings!

The world these days seems to think that a ringing phone must be answered. But I tell you that some of us grew up knowing that a phone is a convenience, not a master.

So if it rings, and I am comfortably running 6.2 MPH, I'm going to keep running, thankyouverymuch. I don't have to answer!

And if you're calling to ask me for a donation, well, put this number on your 'do not call' list now!

Because I'll be eating supper soon, and I don't want to answer the phone then either!





^[1]Halfway through season 5; Gul Dukat just made his big power move; Dr. Bashir's secret is out; Kirayoshi has been born.]

Glee - As If I Need Another TV Show to Love

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably already know -- I broke down.

All last year I heard about this TV show, and everyone who had seen it who knew me told me I would love it. It's a "feel good" show. It has great music. For a guy who loves watching the end of "Sister Act 2" over and over again, it's a clear choice.

The show, is, of course, Glee.

I resisted watching it last year. Why? Well, for one thing, it plays opposite NCIS, one of my favorite shows. And we don't have TiVo or any other DVR capability. [Someday. When all the tuitions are paid for...]

For another, Sherry didn't seem all that interested. [Weak excuse - had we watched it and she enjoyed it, we'd still be back to reason 1.]

One more reason -- I have too many shows I want to follow already. [I count 7 shows I followed regularly last year which are returning, plus 4 new shows I want to try, and 3 returning shows I think deserve a shot.] Can I really afford to like another show?

But finally, to be honest, I resist crazes. If something gets a lot of buzz before it comes out, or just after it does, I have a tendency to avoid it. I missed the first season of Lost this way [caught up on DVD - the best invention since sliced bread.] I skipped season 1 of Survivor [not that I am sorry to have missed Richard walking around naked] partially because I thought the concept would just show people at their deceptive, greedy worst, without any real strategy [I was wrong, but ultimately they made The Bachelor to fill the void] but also partially because everyone was going to watch it. [Yes, it's a bad reason. A flaw in my character, or at least in my reasoning.]

But Marion likes it. And Pete. And now, even my parents are into Glee. So, since Netflix has the first season available, I put it on my queue to start watching before Season 2 begins. I watched episode 1 (the director's cut of the pilot) last night. Yes, it's somewhat formulaic high school, but we need a template around which we build, and they are taking this thing well past "Freaks & Geeks plus Music" [which is not too bad a description....] It was so good. I care about the characters already, and they ended the show with an awesome version of "Don't Stop Believin." C'mon! Journey!

I'm hooked.

750

I have been at this -- Snippets & Wisps blogging -- for over three years now, and this entry is number 750. It has been over a year since I reached 500. I guess that means that, at this pace, in a bit more than another year I would reach 1000.

Lately I've been thinking about why I (still) blog, contemplating if "daily" is really the right frequency, and wondering whether I should prepare for an end to this piece of work. [I have my final entry written -- it's been there for almost a year now -- but I keep scheduling it for later and later...]

It's funny, but over the past year (in particular, since NaBloPoMo ended last year) I have found it harder to keep up the daily schedule. From a purely logical point of view, this does not make sense. By some standards I have more "free time" than ever before, so time should not be an issue. And NaBloPoMo got me to blogging on topics I had not considered before, so I should have even more options than ever.

And starting today, I will have even more time to myself. Taking this as an opportunity to develop some new good habits, I want to find some constructive things to do with that time. Plus, I know I'll want to spend some of it writing to and speaking with Sherry, not writing for public consumption.

And then there's the question of what I really want out of Snippets & Wisps. It's not as if I'm like Tia, who has 2300 followers and clearly derives some income from it - and even Tia only blogs once or twice a week. Nor am I a focused blog like Letters of Note - and I certainly hope Shaun Usher makes some money out of that blog, it is so well done. Nathan Bransford is also focused, and I think uses his blog about the publishing/writing industry as part of his networking. Since I don't have as clearly defined a goal for my blog as these bloggers do, when inspiration fails me, or time gets tight, I simply no longer feel the need to publish five times a week.

All the above is meant to say that, while daily blogging has been the goal for more than three years, things are changing. I would like to reach 1000. But it might take a bit longer than another year.

For those of you still reading, thank you. It's nice to have someone on the other end of this monologue. I'm not done yet.




[750]

25 years

As we all know, I don't blog about work. [Here at Snippets & Wisps.]

But today I have to skate along the edge of that self-imposed rule. Why?

Today marks my 25th anniversary working at IBM.

Twenty-five years? Really? Already?

Oh sure, there are things I've done for 25 years or more. I've been married for over 27 years. I've been a father for over 25 years. Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men and I have been friends for longer than that. I've been a Viking fan for my whole life.

But working at one place for 25 years? Do people do that any more? Well, I have.

This weekend, IBM is treating me and my family to a nice dinner. I get to select a cool "Quarter-Century" gift for myself. And now it's pretty clear that, no matter how I may feel, I'm one of the "old guys."

How do we each spend the time we have? Well, most of us spend a good percentage of our lives at a job. In return, our job exchanges our time for the money we use to support our families, habits and entertainments. If we're fortunate, the jobs also provide some level of fulfillment, satisfaction, and opportunity for personal growth. Additionally, we encounter people who become our acquaintances, colleagues, and friends -- and sometimes foes, though we hope not many of those show up. Some of my best friends come from working here, and I've certainly been challenged enough to keep growing and contributing. All-in-all, this job has been a good basis for a career. And, though I would not have pictured it in 1985, there is plenty left to accomplish after 25 years.

So today, I will pause and be thankful for the opportunity to have this job for the prior twenty-five years, and hopefully for many more.

Jet Lag is WEIRD

So, I'm in Japan.

I had to fly in one plane, for twelve or thirteen hours to get here. I'm not quite sure how many because time just doesn't make sense. When I arrived, it was 5:30 AM according to my PC, but the local time in Tokyo was 7:30 PM. What time did my body think it was?

Who knows!

I was tired, but not quite as tired as I'd normally be after staying up until 5:30 AM (which I don't think I've done since, what, I was 19? Unless I did it once for a kid being born. [Adam? Don't think so. Lucas, absolutely not. Sarah - again, not possible. Leah - no.] Or for some other health-related family thing. [Lucas's surgery - possibly. Flying back from CA when Adam had his - possibly. The girls never had surgery like that, thank goodness.]

Anyway, the point is, I had gotten some fitful sleep sitting up in a crowded coach seat, so I wasn't quite as tired as I might have been. But then I went to bed at 10:30 PM local time, which would have been 8:30 AM in my normal time zone, and wonder of wonders, I actually fell asleep.

But I awoke at 3:00 AM.

And I've been up since then. Almost 15 hours now. And I need to make it another 3 or so.

And then tomorrow I have to be on a train at 7:00 AM, and then coherent enough to speak, and listen, to people a few hours later.

Time is weird enough. Add jet lag, and the weirdness multiplies.

Stress Relief? First Start. Then Stop.

Lately much of the stress in my life is caused by the long list of things that have to be done. Most of these are lengthy projects -- and since my days don't often provide me with long periods of time to attack long projects, I have a habit of moving on to short tasks and leaving longer ones until later.

Then, at night, I wake up stressing that I have so many big projects to complete.

So, what have I learned about myself? To relieve the stress, I just have to START.

Once I get a project started (typically, this is writing something -- and often it's a presentation) my mind begins to grasp how big the project will really be, and stress about it turns into planning it. It seems I can spend 30 minutes on a task that will take me several hours, and then my mind can relax. {I think it keeps working on the project in the background. Sometimes my mind does things without me asking it to. Ever have that experience?}

Then comes the hard part. With so many big projects to complete, I can't afford to spend too long on each one. Though I might sometimes tend toward perfectionism, I can't afford the time. I need to STOP and move on.

{And that's where I am now. I would prefer this entry to be a bit more clever. I'd love to find a cool graphic to add. But, as it turns out, I have some other tasks to complete. So, here I go.}

Start. Stop. Repeat.

Wedding Weekend - Part III

The weekend is almost here. Once I leave work today, I have a four-day weekend to prepare for, celebrate, and bask in the glow of Sarah's wedding.

This has been an amazing year. In just over 12 months, I will have attended three weddings for my first three children.

It's hard not to get nostalgic. I have indelible images in my mind of each of these young adults from their childhood and their youth. They were sweet and innocent, and they were challenging and independent. We had some scary times, but more often we had wonderful times. I don't imagine I'd have the energy to do it again, but I would give quite a bit to relive some of those experiences as a young father.

Reading to my children. Rocking them to sleep. Playing catch. Singing along with the music on car rides. Celebrating Christmas. Splashing around in a lake. Lying on blankets in the grass, gazing up at a meteor shower. Going to see them in basketball games, plays and concerts.

I've written about it before, and I'm sure to write about it again, but here's the truth: Time keeps going, and I'm transitioning to a very different part of my life. I love the experiences that got me here, and while I'm looking forward to the experiences to come, I will always relish the memories.

So, as the wedding weekend begins, I am dedicated to capturing more happy memories, so that I can revisit them for years to come.

Congratulations, Sarah & Troy. Let's get you married and start new chapters in our lives.

Ten Days and Counting

I feel as if I'm holding my breath. Anticipation is mounting.

Time is so strange. Our experience of the passage of time is so subjective. This week, it's crawling -- like the slow ride up the slope of a tall rollercoaster.

The planning for Sarah's wedding has been completed (almost completely by others, of course; the Father of the Bride does little in that regard.) Now we sit, knowing that the last couple of days before the wedding are going to be busier than we can imagine, but unable to accomplish any of those last-minute tasks right now.

The house is quiet. Especially today. Leah is off canoeing in the Boundary Waters. Sarah will leave soon for two interviews in two days. (Good luck!) Sherry and the girls finished painting Leah's room last week, and we've sold the bunk bed and replaced it with a new double bed, giving us our third "guest room" when Leah goes off to NYU.

I think the pace will pick up this weekend as we prepare the house for the rush of visitors. Once it starts, time will rush by, and suddenly, Sarah will be married.

Time to start memorizing that toast, Steve. (But then it becomes more real.)




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(Is it possible to be more real? If perception is reality, then, yes. Absolutely.)

A Magic-al Time is Coming

Each vacation I have is exciting, in its way. My work is mentally challenging (does that mean I'm mentally challenged?) so when I get away, I really like to get away. That doesn't mean I need to leave town, as is evidenced by some of my favorite family vacations which were "staycations" before anyone even coined that phrase.

Still, removing myself from the familiar Rochester surroundings is a good way to trigger my brain to think of other things, and I'm about to embark on a retreat of sorts. I'll be heading to visit Paul, six hours away, for a few days in far northeastern Wisconsin. When some people hear me say that, they assume we'll be enjoying the great outdoors. That's a natural conclusion -- the area is very beautiful. Sherry and I saw many nice areas when we visited Paul in 2006.

But that's not the itinerary this time.



This time, it's Magic.

Though I initially was not impressed with the Conflux set, the Alara Reborn set reignited my interest. This was very good, considering my imminent trip to Paul's, and my desire to have fresh Magic decks to play. (Alara Reborn and deck building, did give me a greater appreciation for Conflux, though I still think that the set does not stand on its own as well as it should, and as well as most other sets do.)

Consequently, I have some new decks to play, and we will be spending a significant amount of time in Paul's three-season porch. He has a very nice setup there, with a great environment for calm, strategic thinking. We will play Magic, chat, play Magic, eat, play Magic, play Eurorails, and play some more Magic.

This sort of vacation is not for everyone. There is no camping, there is no large expenditure of money, there is no seeing of major sites. But there is a chance to play, to put my mind into solving fun tactical problems, to chat with a good friend. Earlier, I used the word "retreat" and I guess that's a pretty good word for it. The word conjures up images of seclusion and meditation. Well, Peshtigo is pretty isolated in itself, and certainly the porch at Paul's provides a further level of isolation. I won't be "meditating" in the traditional sense, but I can tell you that, to my brain, hours of playing a strategy game can be extremely relaxing and mind-clearing.

I don't really look at vacations as being "productive." But they are useful in the sense that a good vacation removes stress and helps recharge my internal energy for other parts of my "real life." It's why I can't quite understand people who insist that every vacation be filled with constructive endeavors, or with expensive trips. These types of vacations have their place in my life, but they cannot be the only vacations I have. Even more incomprehensible are people who don't take their vacations. I'll never give up vacation -- I need them too much.

And I need one now. I'll be away for a bit, recharging myself, enjoying a friend.

And playing Magic.

Gone to NYC

In 1909, a trip from Minnesota to New York would have taken many days. I will be there seven hours from now. Incredible, yet "normal" in 2009. Now I wonder whether another 100 years will reduce that even more, or if virtual travel will make such business trips unnecessary.

Holodeck meetings, anyone?

Sign me up!

Where is my cave?

We have had a stretch of weeks with lots of people around, and being around lots of people. And it hasn't been limited to "real" life -- work has been the same way. [But I don't blog about work. {Not here, anyway. I might start somewhere else...}] The "real life" stuff has been great fun! Still, I'm a bit over-stimulated with it, I think. My small talk meter is nearly on empty. I'm not sure I can squeeze much more out.

Anyway, tonight Leah graduates, so we'll be in a large crowd of folks. Tomorrow, we have at least one grad party to attend.

After that, I'm looking for my cave. I need some hermit time. Alone with my thoughts. Sequestered.

So, for the weekend, a little "cave" time would be good. [Sherry can share my cave -- I don't need to be completely isolated.] Then, in less that two weeks, I'll get some "cave" time with Paul. That should be enough.

I need to recharge before Sarah's wedding! I'm looking forward to that so much. I want to be at the top of my game, ready to chat and enjoy the people.

Well, that explains a lot

I am listening to the final lecture in Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, {not at this very moment, but you get the point} and I'm impressed. Most of the lectures were quite possible to follow -- some easier than others, but all of them possible -- with my level of education. In fact, there were several points where Dr. Wolfson pointedly stayed away from the math that supports the physics (because the course is designed for non-scientists and hence non-mathematicians) and I wanted to stop him and say "No, please, show me the equations." But, fortunately, the accompanying booklet had some of them, along with his most important visual aids, so any questions I had were answered, at least one level deep, by looking at them.

So now I have a basic understanding of many of the topics in physics which have long intrigued me. I can't explain it all^[1], but I can explain some of it, and I can understand most of it.

The experience has confirmed a few things for me:
1) I really want to learn more about Dark Matter (there's a Great Courses course on that, too.)
2) I want to review this material until I can explain some of the concepts upon request because...
3) People who argue for a "young" Earth (or young universe") simply do not understand the weight of science they are denying.

One of the other two courses I own {so far} will soon be in my car's CD player. I think I will listen to "Books that Have Made History..." next, to give my scientific brain a chance to absorb this course while my artistic brain concentrates on the next. This has been a great use of my time.



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^[1]Honestly, is there anyone who doesn't like Melissa Joan Hart.

Special or General, I LIKE Gravity

So, I'm listening to Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution (one of The Great Courses I talked about a couple weeks ago) and we're in the heart of it now.

I followed the logic quite well through Special Relativity (SR). I think I could even explain it if someone asked and had a while to listen.

The most recent three lectures have been about General Relativity (GR), however, and the mind boggles somewhat when trying to grasp the consequences. Perhaps someday I will undertake the challenge of taking a full course on GR, though I think I'd need to refresh myself on some math, first. After all, Einstein had to learn the math before he could complete GR. (At least he didn't have to invent the math, like Newton did...)

The funny thing to me is that Relativity (both SR and GR) are very easily expressed, and the words we'd use don't imply relativism, in the philosophical sense. I mean, at the core:

• Special Relativity says "The Laws of Physics are the same in any situation^[1] where motion is constant."
• General Relativity removes the phrase "where motion is constant." Hence, "The Laws of Physics are the same in any situation.^[1]"

So, that doesn't sound very "relative" does it?


The strangeness comes in the implications. Time is not a constant. Distance is not a constant. Gravity, as we all learn it in school (and as Newton thought of it), doesn't really exist -- it's the way we describe the bending of space-time.

This last bit is the hardest part for me to get past so far (even harder than a person aging more slowly when traveling near the speed of light, because I can believe that GR accounts for that.) I like gravity! Gravity makes sense to me.

But, over time, the longer I think about it, the more comfortable I'm getting.

The next lecture is the lecture on Black Holes that hooked me on this course in the first place. I can't wait!


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^[1] They say in any "frame of reference" which is more accurate, but honestly, I think physicists try to make things sound more complicated than they have to at times.

The Great Courses

Junk mail rarely affects me. (Junk mail? You know -- the stuff that's like e-mail spam, but it comes in your mailbox, delivered by the fine men and women of the Post Office. I know it's old fashioned, but it's still there.)

Sorry, I'm getting distracted by parentheticals.

Several weeks ago, we received a piece of junk mail that caught my attention. Included in the mailing was a catalog (nothing special there) and a CD (less common, for sure, but not unique.) The catalog was titled "The Great Courses" and the CD contained samples. Something about the material caused me to put it on the table in my den, rather than throw it away.

Some time later, as I was procrastinating doing financial chores on my computer, I opened the plastic and began to look through the catalog. Hmmm. "The Great Courses" are produced by The Teaching Company, and they are essentially college classes, delivered on audio or video. These courses are purportedly taught by highly regarded professors, and they cover a large variety of subjects. The audience for them consists of people who like learning things.

"Hey!" I thought, "that's me!"

So, I decided I'd try out their sample CD. It contained two lectures - one from a course on the greatest books ever written, and one on relativity and modern physics. I put the CD in the player in my car, initially intending to listen on my way to and from work each day. That intention didn't last long, however, because the lectures were so good I had to bring them with me from my car to a CD player and finish them.

I was impressed. And intrigued. The catalog has courses in history, art, science, math, philosophy -- wow!

As I've mentioned before, I have a certain Renaissance bent. I like learning about, and talking about, and thinking about, many different topics. One of my fondest memories in college is taking the Shakespeare course during my senior year. Why? Because I could, and I was interested. I had long since satisfied all of my requirements for my majors (Math & Computer Science) as well as my "general" requirements. I just wanted to learn about Shakespeare and his works.

Now here was The Teaching Company, offering to give me the chance to consume very similar material. What a great idea!

The catalog indicated that I needed to decide by mid-January in order to take advantage of huge deals on their courses, so I went to the website and browsed. It was so hard to choose, but ultimately, I selected the two courses from which the samples had been selected (Books That Have Made History... and Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution...) as well as a course on Science and Religion.

Each course comprises a series of 30-45 minute lectures, and I believe the shortest of the three I purchased has 12 lectures, and the longest has 36. I have been listening to the Relativity course first, and have completed 8 of the 24, and I am delighted.^[1] I have already grasped the basics of "relativity" and am intrigued to hear the explanations behind how this leads to time and space being inconstant. It's great. Each lecture teaches me something, and leaves me wanting more.

It will take me a while to get through these three courses. But when I do, I will definitely be looking for others. There is a course on Dark Matter that I would love to take -- especially since I started working on that science fiction story around dark matter. And maybe I can finally have a business or economics course intrigue me. Yes, I'll wait for a good price, but since some set of courses always seems to be on sale, I'm sure I can find something. These are an excellent use of my time -- I'm learning and enjoying every minute of it.


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^[1] By the time this entry is published, I may be even farther along than that - it's the result of writing entries ahead of time. (That has nothing to do with "relativity" by the way.)

Sweeping along the river

It's no wonder that people down through the ages have metaphorically described time as a river.

For the past several weeks, I've been floating down the river in a raft with my family, keenly aware that a series of rapids, ending at a waterfall lay before me. At some points, the current was fast, and there were a few eddies and river rocks in the way to distract my attention from the impending fall, but in the last few hours before the wedding, we were floating on almost calm water, being drawn slowly towards the edge.

And then, all of a sudden, it was 1:00 PM on June 21, and the ride began. Whoosh, to the park for pictures. Rush, to the church for more. Quick greetings to arriving guests, as we all tried to catch our breath.

Then, a moment of calm, as the ceremony occurred. Beauty and peace, commitment and song; these gave us the energy for the rest of the day and night. A small still pool before the pull of time led us to the next set of rapids.

It was quite a ride. I don't think things could have gone more according to plan. The weather was wonderful. The wedding party was happy, and didn't seem rushed. The music and slide show went well, and were appreciated. The toasts were excellent. The food was good, and not too filling, so we could enjoy an evening of dancing and people-watching and conversation.

By the time the evening was over, we were all tired, but happy -- and amazed that the time had flown by so quickly.

The next morning, we sat in our raft, having survived the thrilling ride over the falls; wet, tired and happy to have been thoroughly drenched in the experience.

And now, next to us on the river, a new raft is floating. Adam & Marisa will take a side trip or two, in channels all their own, but they'll join up with us frequently as they continue down the river of time we share.

Congratulations, you two. Enjoy the ride.