The Royce Files

Merry Christmas from Lehigh! It's a balmy white Christmas here. It even snowed a little this morning. Christmas tradition has eroded over the years as my family got older (and some may even suggest grumpier). Actually, I never really thought we had much tradition in the first place. For us, we gathered on Christmas Eve with the extended family and ate a little, drank a little, and opened presents all while the television blared. Most would sit around. Not my ideal. My immediate family would open gifts on Christmas and do more sitting around at home. Perhaps we would eat something special. Then a few years ago we began to go to Christmas Eve services at The Harbor . I let out a sigh of relief- at last we would have an honorable tradition. Nostaglia is okay. Family is good too. However, without the One who the season is meant to honor, Christmas seemw banal and pedestrian: a trite excuses to spend money and create a myth about a jolly fat man from the North Pole. Just look at Holid...

It is the middle of December and I still don't know where I am going. There have been 2 interviews and only 3 temp jobs since the previous posting. Freezing rain came. Then the snow arrived. The city shut down. Sub-zero arctic fronts badgered the area. Busted out the bike only twice. You are probably surmising that I am either real busy or rather depressed. Although the wise will discern that it is some of both. Hey, I wrote the stuff, you just have to decide if I am honest when I am talking about myself. What has not kept me busy is work. Pretty slim the last 3 weeks. No, what has kept me busy is passion for audio drama. This is the third year I have written, directed, and produced a radio drama for my church although I had more help this year. I spent many hours searching for music, creating sound fx, and revising the script. I got a good return on the investment. One audience member commented that the show was 10 times better than his church's Christmas program. And that c...

The past 2 weeks in football saw an Irishman land a leading story and both stories happen to include Manchester United. Cork native Roy Keane ripped himself out of United's season. Although hoping to return to the line up after injury, Keane pulled out of the club and then had his contract voided. Details were sketchy on what made the oft critical captain Keane pull out early but there has been speculation that he may not have approved the direction United were going this season. So now the hunt begins. Will Keane play for another side once the transfer window opens in January? I think he will but I have no idea where. Celtic has always been a possibility. Belfast born George Best died this past week. He has been considered the most talented player to from the home countries and rightly so. He spent a majority of his career with Manchester United and indeed helped the team to glory during the 1968 European Cup. He made his way to play in the states a few times as well. With the arr...

It has been almost a decade since I've been stormed in by the creeping hand of winter (which of course does not begin for another month). Freezing rain began it and then came the wind and snow. Interstates closed. Schools closed. The whole city closed. I went out to move my car to discover almost a 1/4 inch of ice on it. I spent nearly 2 hours working on it. I would never venture out on the bike in this weather. It was miserable and impassable. Today I cleaned my room and wondered if I would be called upon to work. I did however land an interview with the Dakota Clinic. Oh what an extended weekend.

Thanksgiving salutations. Hope your turkey is well done and the cranberries are not too tart. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving probably because of the food but I also like it as a time to reflect and realize that all good things don't come from ourselves. It is a good attitude to have especially as entitlement continues to drive our culture towards complaining. Hey we may be better off than many others but it is prideful to think we are deserving of it and if we don't get it we have a right to complain. I've heard a lot of complainer working through employment agencies. I'm thankful that I do get to work from time to time. And I'm very thankful when its something I really enjoy. Here's a list of Thanksgivings for 2005 1. I am still alive- this year I have been hit by cars twice and thrown off a motorcycle. Whoa! 2. Bicycling- I have enjoyed a good year in the saddle. Started to tour too. 3. Ireland- I am thankful I got to the island this April. I am always h...

Although it appears the Go area has the lowest rate of unemployment in the nation for September, I am still sinking to the bottom in what I am told is a good job market. However, I did get an interview the other day with one of the local colleges which was encouraging to say the least. The interview went okay but I came out of it thinking "I really don't know much about computers anymore." I kept a good conversation about viruses and spyware but it seems everything else I just said "No, have not done that." So I think my prospects are rather low for landing that position. Now am I in gap land with the agency. There is a continuing anxiety about what assignments they proffer. The last 2 weeks I was back at the mill. It was easy and I think it will pay the bills. Waiting can be more difficult now that I've got others wondering if I am looking for jobs every hour of the day. Do I just say "Yah, I'm doing something" or snap back? Then there's...

The employment cycle continues to churn. Today I returned for another stint at the Mill (Roman Meal Milling). It was a very simple day. It included plenty of waiting. Congeled coconut oil held up the start of making granola in the giant toaster. I ended up playing with the "larded" oil until it liquified to add to the recipe. And some recipe it was. Ah granola smells much better than donut crunch. The granola ran through the toaster and into hoppers overhead and then into a gargantuan sack. During production the bin that let the granola into the sack became congested. At first I only felt a few pieces fall on my as I was aiding the granola's distribution into the bag. Then a torrent rained down upon me. A flash flood commenced. So it was a pretty interesting Monday.

Cute stories have been floating around the Net for years. It seems my sister collects them and then forwards them onto me. I usually dismiss them. However, this one is particularly interesting although I would debate the worth of pumpkin seeds- in actuality they are very healthy. Of course seeds of doubt, hate, greed and all that jazz are not healthy if you desire to be a follower of Jesus. A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?" The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin." God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

This past week my picturesque and quaint hometown of Hastings had been mared by a tragic murder . This is not the way I want Hastings to be known. Horrible. Yes very horrible. A Shakespearan tragedy could do itself well based on the facts of the crime. A son kills his parents to get at the inheritance. There are hints that it was motivatived by some arguments too. What went wrong? All but one of the accused had been model students. My only guess is they had tasted religion but had not accepted the implications- the spirit lead life. Our only hope now is that through these circumstances and probably grave consquences these young men will find hope that rests on nothing less than the Cross. This is not the only crime to have brought attention to Hastings. There have been others in the 20 or so years I recall- an accidental shooting brother, a bizarre electrocutuion, an underage drinker dying in the cold. So Hastings is not so spotless. I'm sure I could dig a few more up but I won...

It has been dullsville out here. With the exception of a strange occurance at the Forks, nothing terribly stands out to me these days. Just look at the blog gap. Because of this I this I decided to embark on an extraoridinary task. Something challenging. Bike to Wilmar. Sure it's not Seattle but do I really want to cross the Rockies at this time of year. I am more confindent I can cross the prairies. In other news, the vicious employment cycle put me back folding shop towels again. Yep. The bottom rung of temp work. Although this time around I had a better attitude and survived. I even thing I might go back- I'm a bit desperate. To culminate my week at Ameripride my co-workers gave me cheers. Unheard of anywhere. It made it all the more enjoyable. I was also thanked numerous times that day from others. Incredible. Well, got to hit the road.

"What are you guys doing?" "Justing looking at a barbeque."

I have been experiencing a lack of employment lately. Ever since the big July crash its been a sporadic route in and out of temporary positions. I've got return visits to Kaye's and AMS and ABC Seamless. Then I got to work at Roman Meal mill. That was tough. My fingers felt arthritic for a week. Alas with only 2.8% unemployment in this town I am wondering where in the world is this leading me. Did I miss my cue for something? I am what one of my favorite verses says? (John 3:29-30) "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less ." From how I feel I seems like a time to go back on the shelf. But that seems like retreat. What am I to do? Let the downward trend continue? If there is anything I have learned through these times is to persevere through them and have faith there ...

Making camp at the site in the BWCA I affectionately call pork camp because Phil made one of the most delicious meals of the trip here- pork helper delight. Also was my pick for best campsite of the 2005 trip.

The Loss of Localization- the local church is spurned The very medium I use to write this is part of the problem. So ironic. I must be hypocrite. However, the Internet has aided (for better or for worse) the delocalization of much of the world. This generation has grown up with it, harnessed its power, and are virtually living online. My home is not considered Zeeland, North Dakota anymore (hypothetical of course). I am a citizen of the world! This attitude has its good and bad points. First the good. We no longer can keep a narrow view of this world. Zeeland is just as close to Berlin as Warsaw or Munich. This generation wants to go places. To the distance lands, to the exotic isles. Missions are booming. They want to see all nations come to worship the creator of the universe. On the flip side, they become so globally minded that the local church is ignored or even spurned as not being a vital link. This is a terrible thing. Although I agree the body of Christ extends beyond b...

In the evening of my state fair visit, I was entertained by Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion show. My father bought tickets for all of us and we had great seats on the infield. Garrison was at his best that evening. The show was superb. It featured some New Orleans tributes and 2 groups. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a stranded New Orleans jazz group that also sang harmony. They were a blast. Then there was a Candian trio of ladies called the Wailing Jennings (a play on the musician, God rest his soul, Waylon Jennings). These ladies were fabulous as well. One played an accordian. The all sang heavenly harmonies reminiscient of the Indigo Girls. At the break Garrison lead the audience in a sing along. We sang "Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies", all the verses of "Amazing Grace" and the Elvis tune "I Can't Help Falling in Love." During the sing a long Garrison was about 20 feet from us. I did not ask for his autograph. The second half of...

The beginning of September found me back at home in order to enjoy a long overdue visit to the State Fair. I was glad to be relieved of working at Roman Meal where I heaved 50lb bags of Dolly Madison Donut Crunch unto pallets for 8 hours the past 2 weeks. I left feeling sore, especially in my fingers. We arrived at the fair early but not as early as we had to when we worked there. Back then we were on the fairground at least by 6 AM. There was so much to see and unfortunately I did not see it all. I did get to return to the 4-H building- a big white ediface with a central tower which accents the evening skyline of the fair with its green lights. As a younger person I spent much time in the structure; In particular the 3rd floor dormitory. The place has changed little since those days. The stage I performed on is still there and Arts-In continues to put on its productions albeit without Art in the Park. This year's show was OK. Nothing like the glory days of the late 80's. ...

Worship What?! This entry continues the ramblings I have been pondering considering this generation. Today I take issue with the worship of this generation. I find that we gravitate towards the large and the extreme and especially the famous. Hey, God is all three of those. That's really good. Probably what is not entirely good is that we think worship is what we do when we sing God a song- possibly a very emotional experience. We desire worship experiences with the lights, the music, the whole emotive display. Great. But what about at home. When no one is watching. Do we dance with all our might before the Lord or do we excuse ourselves. I think we've got a mixed up view of worship. It's not songs, dancing, emotion. Those can be part of it but worship should be the sound of devoting our whole selves to Lord. There can be events but if that's all we entitle worship we are sorely missing it. All these things -music, song, dance, lights, incense whatever are the a...

Evidence of fire in the distance. Smoke churls up into the skies just west of the Gunflint Trail between Alpine and Seagull Lakes and the end of the trail.

My canoe comrade, Phil, and I ate lunch at this deserted campsite just before fire consumed it. Not really . In fact we did not even notice this sign until we began to make our lunch. It was hung on the other side of the site. However, smoke had been noticable around the lakes we were coming through (Alpine and Red Rock). Although we were in the vicinity of the fire for a few days we never saw anything but smoke and planes flying overhead. Phil had first seen the smoke on August 6th as we were heading east into "O gosh it's gumbie" Lake (Phil's rendering of the lake name). We never met the flames.

The other day I revisited the eery locale I call The Lord of the Flies. A friend and I rode our bikes south to this "ghost neighborhood." I christened this place "Lord of the Flies" because when I first visited all sorts of winged pests were bustling about especially around an area that looks like an altar. On this visit the bugs were missing but there were quite a few skeletal remains of varmints. We explored the premises carefully. My friend appeared to be awestruck by the strangeness of it all. Time ran out on exploring and we needed to head north to go the RedHawks baseball game. A friend of mine gave me some really good tickets and I had wanted to go see the 'Hawks play for a while. A cool autumn evening began to descend as we made our way to the stadium. However as we cruised the empty sidewalks, suddenly a white Saturn came out of a blind alley. I braked hard but ended up hiting the automobile at about 15 mph. Fortunately I was not injuried. The car susta...

I hustled out of town last week into the wilderness for a few days of canoeing in the Boundary Waters with the ever quotable Phil, his Volkwagon Rabbit, and his Kevlar Canoe. It was a bustling time in the Boundary Waters. We went at peak season and did not even reserve a permit. At the Cook ranger station, Phil and I learned there were only 5 available permits left! Pretty bad for a million acres. Most of the available ones were on or near Lake Vermillion. I wanted more wilderness. The only one close was at the end of the Gunflint Trail and a 3-4 hour drive through backwoods roads. We took it. We stopped in Ely for gas and get a few supplies. What we failed to get was bread. This tripped proved to me that the BWCA is a bit crowded in places. However, those sturdy enough to put in some miles will find it well worth passing through the congestion at the entry point. Our entry point also happened to have motor designations which proved distracting although tolerable. I will detail th...

I have been pondering as of late the weaknesses/problems/shortcomings/opportunities of my generation and hope to enumerate them. Number 1 is loyalty. In continue to see loyalty failing to take hold in us. We flutter from job to job, experience to experience and never appear to give a solid commitment of more than a year or 2. We tend to be of this mindset-- if it doesn't work find something that does. My generation will change jobs and even vocations more times than our parents. What created this occupational migration? I think a few things have contributed. First dissatisfaction has driven us to find those things which satisfy us more. I was taught in school you should do what you enjoy. Second, mobility and freedom. We are more single, marry later, and branch out more from the nest. Third, the world is changing faster in the information driven age. Even among Christians I wonder who is committed to the church. Isn't being part of his people part of being "in Christ....

I have been odd jobbing since end of my Well Fargo ride. One I got to assemble computers from 6PM-6AM. I got terminated after 2 days because I was too slow. I then returned to Kaye's Printing and the friendly confines of the web room for a few days. Then yesterday I was on 2nd floor assembling baseball cards for distribution at the Red Hawks game. Later that day I assisted Phil in creating a driveway. We did not drink beer but had a lot of watermelon in the evening. In between all this activity I have been hard at work writing and researching a movie script for late summer and early fall production. No title has been given to it. It is a detective mystery based on the "mute" detective Mark Time I had created for the Kevin Myers Show years ago. Mark Time is not really mute, he just choses not to use words. However, you can here him think. Well, I got to get researching.

It began as a relaxing normal day. One, in which I should have taken more advantage. However, I rested. Then there was the bathroom ordeal where the toilet connection broke causing water to flood a portion of the basement. However, that event is not nearly as predecent or historic as the announcement that the IRA (Irish Republican Army) have official disbanded a a para-military organization. To me it is good news because I have been praying for peace in the "North of Ireland." This announcement is certainly a further step in that direction. Gerry Adams even alluded to Ecclesiastes when he stated: "There is a time to resist, to stand up and to confront the enemy by arms if necessary. In other words, unfortunately, there is a time for war... There is also a time to engage, to reach out and put war behind us. This is that time." No doubt many are skeptical of such rhetoric. Actions do speak louder. Even after the Good Friday Accords enacted a cease fire, the IRA still ...

I did get a chance to retreat to the Sheyenne Grasslands this Friday previous. It was not what I expected it to be, for good and bad. First the bad. The bugs were very dense. Opening one's mouth caused one to get a mouth of squito. It was hard to be outside of the tent in the evening. Fortunately not one bug was found in the tent. The most excellent part was a terrific camping site in a grove nearby to a water source. Plus, no cattle surrounding me in the morning. The moon gave some great light and there were trains in the night. One of my favorite sounds is a train passing in the night. My site happened to be situated by some tracks. However, the trains were fairly silent. I had planned to do some writing and reading but did not get to do either. Also I had planned to brainstorm my latest movie idea but that got waylaid by the squito and fatigue. Instead I hiked. One interesting thing happened as I was hiking to the site. Coyotes had surround me. They were cowards and refuse...

I never heard the Dylan tune but I suspect that it may give some theme to these days. I have lost 2 jobs in 2 weeks in addition to being given less than thrilling news about what I believed to be a potential relationship. Now, I am wondering what other sorrows can fall upon me. What shall be my end? The 2nd job I lost was building computers from 6PM unitl 6AM. Interesting but the hours were long. I got the axe after only 2 days. Oh, how the times they are a changing......

It is kind of fun to be free of work. Yet it takes discipline to stay disciplined when out of work. Lead worship at SIMT and took in the missions sessions these past 2 days. Buddy Walker told some interesting missions stories. One in particular about a missionary and a special aircraft called a Super Helio . This aircraft was fitted with speakers and was used to preach while flying over areas of Central America. Now that is my kind of propaganda. One statement stood out to me about being a world Christian: That we are pilgrim’s camping between God’s purposes for this world and their fulfillment. This seemed to verify what God communicated to be in Ireland- “You are a pilgrim.” Home has never had a strong pull for me. Just in viewing circumstances of my life I see an itinerant calling—being here for a time and then elsewhere. Anywhere He'll lead me, huh?

Seems like my stint on the wagon has been cut short. So now I must trust in someone greater to provide for me. Farewell Wells Fargo, again! Until we meet again :) Slan Abhaile.

The Royce Files got a bit of a makeover. I just changed templates. I should probably do some proofreading but I assume my readership is not hankering for improved grammar, spelling and stylistic choices. Perhaps I need to think of self-promotion of this thing. In the aftermath the incident I called " Independence re-Emerged "-see previous entry- I felt I needed to re-evaluate, re-cover, and re-imagine too. I need a whole self redux but have no liberty to take that personal retreat, yet. Rejection is never simple to deal with . Even near rejection is not a piece of cake. Why is that so? Well, I think a lot of it has to do with perception. From one incident our minds and our hearts perceive things that are not actually there. I may think I am cut off from the land of the living but really it is just a realization that my romantic intentions (no matter how noble) will not be realized. Is there freedom from this syndrome? I am not sure we can avoid the dreaded rejection. It is...

It was not the best of weekends. No, it ranks near the bottom of the barrel. Even my tire blow out weekend was better. At least I did not lose sleep this like during "firework." I had premonitions of inevitability seeping from my head. Something was awry. As it turned out my Independence Day foray reaffirmed my own independent status. There I was parting ways on the most delicate of emotional connections while strolling through a generic part of the neighboring town. It seemed expected. It was the day I dreaded. A numb feeling sort of engulfed me as I took in the conversation. It was by no means what I desired. Far from it. I believed that this was the missing piece. I pursued it silently and it ended silently. A mere blip on the map I suspect. Passion dies a cold hard death. I felt like crying but could not. It was not until the next day that I actually lost it as I was listening to some music. I had to leave work. The emotions gushed out. I felt abandoned, rejected, failure...

Hope waits patiently for those who plan to breech the heights of Lehigh . Hope is an Austrlian Shepherd of no reputation. There are rumors that she is a wily chaser of coyotes.

Came accross this website that addressed some hot button issues concerning Christianity. It is not comprehensive but did provide some insights on the controversial issues addressed. It is published by Mercy Church in Sioux Falls, SD, a new church start-up. They appear to have a trendy appeal judging by the website. They seem to know who they are and what they want to become and they've only been around for about a year. What troubles me in our group is that we do not quickly pursue that identity through sorting out our vision, values, and mission. It's been almost 4 years and I have no idea what our specific purpose is as a church. It seems that our focus is on the Downtown of the 'Go but what is the how? I think this lack of cohesive vision stems from the ideal of not wanting to be limited but be open to every opportunity. This "shotgun approach" keeps us from being pigeon holed as this type or that type. Personally I don't like be pigeon holed but as a chur...

And now that Sandra Day O'Connor plans to step down from the Sumpreme court, who will fill her shoes? Some extremist, right? Apparently NOW feels that way. It is as if the extremists (in their minds) have taken over. It is all relative I suppose. One's extremist is somebody's rational centrist. More rhetoric. More marches. When is anybody going to find common ground? Of course there is the big one that perhaps we will never have middle ground on- abortion. It should be an incredible battle. The nomination showdown that has been building up for years. It's possible there could be 2 of them in this term. Oh how fickle Americans are.

Segue and I made our way to the 11 o'clock meeting at Woodland Hills Church after an extraordinary night in the club part of Minneapolis. Woodland Hills is one of those massive community reach churches. It's big. It's modern. It's multi-cultural. It's slick. It works hand in hand with other expressions of the body of Christ. It mixes suburban tastes with urban values. This morning we were treated to some R&B gospel flavored music to worship God. The place was jumping. We even saw one of the wedding party from the previous day. Reminded me a bit like the Cincy Vineyard . Preaching duties fall to Greg Boyd. He finished a series on parenting that morn. Mr. Boyd is an incredible speaker. He even show us a picture of himself when he had an afro back in the Sixties. Here's three points that I found important: The wouded wound others That which you despise clings to you Let children inherit your faith To clarify the 3rd point- he meant that our faith should not ...

Found a decent website that has a bit of a nationalistic slant that contains Irish Gaelic lessons, Irish news, and some history. My two bits on the North- The British appear to have built this political state as a pawn between them and the Republic (Eire) Peace will come through forgiveness and not continued anger manifesting.

So if Rick Rickert was behind me and he refused to play miniature golf should I have gave him a round house like K.G? An intriguing story concerning this unheard of event of 2004 featuring K.G. and Rickert.

Hit the Twin Towns this weekend with Mark a.ka. Segue. First we did a gig but once it got done we hit to the streets. It was an ideal night to be out on the streets in Minneapolis. With the Target Center hovering over us we hit Club Three Degrees . Although there were huge crowds at the other clubs in the area, such as The Quest, 3 degrees was very empty. On Main was DJ Smoove spinning some hip-hop. Downstairs Mark and I met DJ Free-T and had a long chat. Later I got to shake DJ Smoove's hand. He was a happening kind of guy- cheery and encouraging. After we cleared out of the 3 degrees we walked around. We noticed an outdoor party at some place that started with Bella. Nearly everyone one there (all behind a fence of course) was wearing white. And we saw Sam Cassell of the Timberwolves. In fact we were roughly 5 feet from him while he was talking to some woman on the other side of the fence. Also at the part was Quincy Lewis, formerly of Gopher's basketball fame. His hair was h...

DJ Wazitz Naim in action in the Saintly City. Could it be heaven? 

It sort of frustrates me why celebrities break it off. Why? Because I am a fiercely loyal guy. (I am also picky I guess because I am not hitched yet.) So when Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise go find new flames it it upsets me. How can they be successful actors when relationships are not successful with the ones to whom they were supposed to be faithful. Maybe what gets my goat is this Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise thing. Perhaps it is my subconscious desire for Katie Holmes. For one I did not want her to get hooked into whatever that system of thought Cruise adheres. She's too sweet to go down that path. Or maybe she just appears too sweet. Don't eat the camel, Katie!

A Pontiac from 1951 appears mysteriously. I drive it to the Boondocks with my friend Mark. It is classy. 

I have returned from some of the hottest and most explosive work that any person can attempt to do. No, it's not putting out wildfires in Montana. Nor is it playing hurly with some beautiful models. It was setting up TNT Fireworks super stores (a.k.a circus tents) in various locales around the state. It was a long sweaty, dirty, nearly sleepless 3 days. My journey started in Morris and weaved around from Rochester to Alexandria to Bemidji. I am still exhausted. Driving when one is exhausted to the degree I was should be illegal. I kept blanking out and losing my concentration on the road. Plus I had 2 kids sleeping in the car. Nothing seemed to keep me awake. Not coffee. Nor that Mountain Dew Amp energy drink. Only thing that seemed to work was cold water on my face. My kudos go out to the team that helped assemble to Bemidji tent. Ross, Mark, and Bobbi-Jo were excellent as was Jon. We had that tent looking real good in about 10 hours despite wind and heat. Usually it takes upward...

The TNT Fireworks tent at Bemidji, MN 2005 

Next few days I will be doing a limited engagement with TNT Fireworks in Minnesota. I will be setting up fireworks super stores in parking lots of 4 retailers. This year I get to work in Rochester. No word on any new fireworks but" the plan this year is to use the phrase "Could I interest you in a multi-stage grand finale piece?"

Lord have mercy on us when we find ourselves out at the Boondocks. Reminds me of the Boar's Nest of Dukes of Hazard Fame

Red River of the North overtakes the bike paths at Lindenwood Park. These two riders wonder how they will get across. 

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance Psalm 16:5,6. I think that a Christian life should not stink, but hey at points it does. I get restless, harbor jealousy toward others' glory, and often despise myself for not attaining some remarkable standing in this world. I ask myself- "What am I doing here?!" It is a question that goes unanswered. I keep up doing what I am doing and see others prosper. It is a difficult byway I tread. Why you may ask? Well, it concerns favor and particularly God's favor. I wonder if I have it. It becomes a great comparison game- "That person has it and so and so but why not me?" The question then should be asked- what is God's favor and how does God bestow it? As far as I know the the spine of a Christian's life is that God loves, accepts, and forgives him/her. There is no ands or ifs or b...

Being a rather lean day, I took in the recap of the football season from around the world. Here is my brief rendition of the important events surrounding football- particularly focusing on Europe. Man U snatches English teenage phenom Wayne Rooney from Everton for big ching at start of season. Chelsea exihibit dominance in the English Premiere League. It's probably a "told you so" kind of event but Chelsea final kicked it in gear and won the silverware. John Terry is proving his worth and grabs a spot on the national squad. Kevin Keegan quits. Being a Man City fan of sorts I read a bit about this development. It's not out of the ordinary for him so why bother. Well, City finished in the top 10 this term. Goodbye to Fowler, Macca, and bunch of other older "wiser" guys. Wright-Phillips arises to the occasion. So does Joey Barton in some unusual way. Liverpool outduals the Italian s for the European Champions Cup in one of the greatest finals of all tim...

It's been about a few months since I left the byways of County Mayo but I finally discovered the name of the castle ruins I visted near Kiltimagh. It was not Rathroe as I thought but instead Ballylahan Castle. It dates back from the 12th century and was occupied by the MacJordans. Much thanks to this discovery goes out to castlebar.ie for the extraordinary collection of images of County Mayo, Ireland. The site has some fantastic pictures of places I was near or at but had no opportunity to snap a photo. Slan.

A few days ago the potato based flaky, thin, tortilla-like, food known as lefse made front page news in the Go! It appears that the sale of Lefse was prohibited (quite mistakenly) at local art fairs. This is not a contentious issue because black market lefse abounds in these parts. I assume the authorities who had enforced the lefse ban were swayed by the swell in public opinion. Who would want to go the art fair or bazaar and be denied the right to eat lefse? Not I. As it was it seems the ban was enforced by misinterpretation of some Department of Food and Health documents. Now we are free to sell the stuff anywhere. I, however, prefer boxty .

Archs of Rosserk Abbey near Ballina in County Mayo. Occupied and built during 13th or 14th century. It was a 3rd order Franciscan, so famlies were engaged in the work here. Had a bit of lunch there one evening.

Hopped on the Wells Fargo wagon for a 3rd tour of service at the operations center. It had been about a year and a half since I stepped foot into the place. Once again it is a migration project but I am working with a team of 8 other people from the agency. Still quite a few familar faces. Some even recognized me. Others were probably thinking in their mind "Where has he been?" Let me postulate on that last thought. Where have I been? I could tell the long and arduous tale of my flight from Wells Fargo in December of 2003 - about the time this blog started or I could spin a drama of having been moved to the farthest end of the building until now. Another option could be that I just woke up and found myself here, again.

Upon Down Patrick Head near Ballycastle, County Mayo. Winds were brisk and the sea churned.  

Viewed the Revenge of the Sith this weekend. It was good but not incredible. Plenty of eye candle but still the lack of character cohesion. True, these movies are just to set up for Obi-Wan and Darth Vader but it still lacked a decent verbiage. The following are the my kudos for the this chapter: Hayden does improve. More believable. Yet I sense a missing link in the characterization as he moves from Anakin to Darth Vader. Ewan McGregor is still fantastic. His Obi-Wan is superb, again. Light saber duels abounding. This is the what we wanted to see. Obi-Wan and Anakin's duel is incredible Keeping the serial motiff. Although I could easily jeer (in chorus with a thousand others) the awkward romantic elements, Lucas knows how to lay the pipe and turn up the heat and leave us lurching for more. The Obi-Wan beast of burden chase was a bit over the top. There are some sour points too that I will enumerate here: Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu. Not as bad-ass jedi as in Clones. A blah...

Met up with one of the actors from Flowers for Algernon- see previous post. It was the girl who played Dr. Strauss. Apparently she works at Moorhead Hornbachers . She looks nothing like the character she played- must of been a whig. So I told here I'd cast here in Grease as Frenchie. She thought I must be some casting agent. "Nope." I said. "I'm just a dreamer." Then the tea fiasco ensued...but that's a rather hopeless tale.

T ogether with cohorts KT, Gjervold, and Tranasaurus, I returned to Moorhead High School to partake in an evening of trivia to benefit the debate team. Our team, of which I did not captain nor show much leadership initiative, was the smallest of the dozen or so participating. Fargo Dan and Phil had been unable to fulfill their commitment. So Trip Trotsky, as I secretly christened the team, began at a slight disadvantage. But not to fret, we held our own. The contest of 5 rounds required each team to answer a series of questions in a alloted amount of time. There was no buzzer beating - just fill out the answer sheet and hand it in at the round's end. Our collective minds fused to create a combatting force contending for the evening's championship title - cash. Along the way there were other contests and door prizes interspersed which KT won a few times. There was also food, not that we needed any because Tranasaurus made dinner for Gjervold and I. Coming into the final round, w...

I’ve been reading a lesson plan on the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1848) the last few days. It is quite moving and in depth. It uses quite a few primary resources to describe the time leading up to the famine. I am very impressed with it. It has really helped me to understand the deep seated animosity the Irish have toward the English. It is shocking to see how the Irish were viewed as an inferior race. The curriculum draws parallels between the black slaves and the Irish. The English saw each as no different except their skin pigmentation. What is even more shocking is that Ireland exported enough food during the famine that would have fed 18 million people. Because of powerful interests in England and the underlining theories of free market economy, none of those food resources were used to improve the plight of the Irish. Indeed, the English dominance of Ireland created protectionist policies that favored England. During the Industrial Revolution, England de-industrialized Ireland. ...

A jocular marathoner takes a moment to be enshrined near mile 12 

Waking unexpectedly but necessarily I noticed snow on the windows. “Great, just great, the first Fargo Marathon and it snows. Can we ever break the arctic gulag stereotype?” I had hope the other day when the sun began peak out of the west in the evening. Surely this will dry us off. Unfortunately it did not last. I prayed for better weather. When I awoke at around 7AM to take up my volunteer traffic control post. It was cold. The temperature hovered somewhere below 40 yet definitely above freezing. A cool breeze and some light rain filled out the rest of the picture. Not ideal conditions but not arctic tundra. Between 2000 and 3000 runners participated in the races and probably around 300 volunteers were assisting. [The results actually give a much smaller number, just under 1000 so maybe it was the combined count with half marathon and 5k] This marked one of Fargo’s largest outdoor events. I arrived at 2nd St S and 8th Ave at 8AM. I set up the barricade and bedecked myself in ...

Fargo Marathon is just a day away so I decided two days ago that I'd volunteer. I "forewent" the running in this inaugral year mostly due to obligations in the Forky city to the north. Nonetheless I'll be controlling a little traffic between mile 11 and 12. Should be fun and familar. If any of you remember I was once hired to be a stop sign. I think there must be a post about that someplace on the blog. This marathon is certainly emerging faster than anyone anticipated. At the traffic control meeting the other day, the race director said there would be upwards of 3000 runners (a record for any running event in this neck of the woods)! Now that's incredible. The inaugral Sioux City Marathon I ran in about 2 years ago had about 400 participants. What makes this town's race so much better? I'm not even sure. We have been a media darling as of late- the Today Show likes to feature us. Are we trendy, cool, irrestible? I guess that yet is to been seen. Hopefull...

No I did not see Bono or the Edge. They were on tour someplace. Of course I came to a better understanding of their music while in Ireland. New meaning sprang forth for the song Where the Streets Have No Name. Because literally in parts of the country the streets have no name- the houses have names. Then in Dublin the streets are crazy. They change the name of the streetabout a half dozen times in the matter of 2 miles. Then the song I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For came to mind as I searchedfor a Fish and Chips place in Dublin. We got directions a few times but just kept wandering around, wondering if we took a wrong turn. Then Walk On always come to mind- I did quite a bit of walking. Summer Rain also fit in too as I walked in the rain on numerous occasions and wondered where I was. I could probably apply quite a few U2 songs to the trip but I'll leave that for another time. Need I even mention With or Without You.

Added some backdated material that I have been keeping on the laptop. Nothing incredibly new or amazing. Occasionally I have found myself sleepwalking. I believe the other day I was being hounded by some Irish parish priests and I just felt I needed to leave the room. I did this twice. Once going all the way down stairs. Now that's incredible! On Sunday gave my Ireland presentation at the church meeting. I was up until 2:30 AM perfecting the slide show on power point. I think it was well received. I know I liked it. One of these days I'll need to post some pictures I took. One of the things I regret about my trip to Ireland was I did not take enough photos. The battery on the camera went dead in the middle of the trip and I did not get it charged until 3 days later. Nevertheless I got some great shots. I am sad I did not get a photo of my comrades all together, but that leaves open the door for another adventure. Slan lat.

It was a marvelous tour by automobile on the northern coast of County Mayo. The scenery was impressive. It seemed to be right out of a book or calendar. It featured incredible views of the Atlantic spotted with sheep on hills in and in vales. Steep hills abound around Mayo. In addition to Croagh Patrick , a rather holy hill to some folks, there are numerous high hills around North Mayo. Nephim was one of the closer ones but I did not have the opportunity to climb it. We were at the base of Croagh Patrick in Westport but had not the time to hike up the 2000 plus feet. One acquaintance I met in Mayo, Ian O’Shea, has run up Croagh Patrick. That’s incredible! 2 of my other friends took four hours just to walk up.

When I returned from Ireland it was a balmy 86 degrees. Then a week later it snowed- three times. Fortunately there was no accumulation. The Fargo winds have been intense out of the north. Now the weather is beginning to improve. Only slightly In Ireland there is a saying - “If you don’t like the weather wait five minutes.” It was generally true. The weather does change rather quickly. There were only 2 days of purely great weather where it did not rain during the day. The rain can be soft or it can be soaking. Soft is very nice. I ran in the soft rain. Winds in Ireland were not as biting as they are on the Plains. They were occasionally the same speed but not as chilling. For North Dakota we should say “If you don’t like the weather, either wait a few days or get out of town.”

Not surprisingly I kept up my running regime while in Ireland. Should I attribute it to good discipline? Perhaps but I also had the time. I felt a bit odd being the only runner in these parts (although my friend has claimed she runs sometimes) but the people appear friendly. Every driver waved at me. The terrain is medium to difficult but provides a good workout. I just don’t get to run up that many hills back in ‘Go. I ran in the mornings and actually did part of my prayers while running. Occasionally it would be a little wet. It was never too cold. I only got soaked once because I kept running in a steady rain. I only encountered problems twice: Once with an ornery border collie and another time with some maverick dairy cattle. Overall my running around Ballycastle was very enjoyable. I like it when there are empty roads because I do not need to be watching for traffic.

My house became a taste testing centre for Tastefully Simple products today. There were some wonderful dips, wild rice soup, and that incredible beer bread. I first encountered the stuff a number of years a go. My father received some of their mixes as a gift. I found them to be very good indeed and simple. Oh simple indulgence.

While in Ireland I had the opportunity to do quite a bit of soul searching. It can be retching at times, but catharsis, like a good cry, cleanses the soul. Fortunately I knew how to encourage myself lest I throw myself off one of the 300 foot cliffs into the Atlantic. It never got that far. Indeed it was something to overcome. The fear in the back of my mind was that I would be spat out of Ireland like lukewarm water. I desire acceptance and I came to Ireland believing there to be a kinship with this land of my ancestors. Being “spat out” would only verify that I am one without a place of my own, a lonely wandering spirit, unwanted and unknown. Again that was something I needed to resist and let my emotions be put in the right place. I am amazed at how God used me there. I think I had the some of the best fellowship with God than I have ever had. I prayed a lot. I also ended up prophesying quite a bit. To me it just sort of turned on and I could see things in the spirit. I just exercis...

Jaunted to Morris mostly because I made a promise I would to some dear friends. It was May 1 and it was snowing. How incredibly wrong? The weather was dreary and unwelcoming. In Morris I visited the church and then proceeded to prepare lunch for my friends- a smattering of spaghetti, green beans, oranges, carrots, and garlic toast. Needless to say some of my assistants got sauce on the walls and ceiling. Goes to tell you that a good can opener is a cook’s best friend. Inspiration for cooking came from Jim, a guy that was staying a Western Shore while I was in Ireland. Jim is a brilliant cook, a culinary genius who weaves a delicious meal each time takes to the kitchen. He was a real inspiration- both culinary and spiritually.

After a brief jaunt to the lonely hamlet of Morris (more on that later) I went to Moorhead High School’s presentation of Flowers for Algernon . I was floored by the acting and technical execution. This was perhaps the best play I have seen since my high school days. The acting was top notch. Not a single weak link in the cast. Technically I really like how video was fused with the live action. A poignant script realized with a brilliant collage of actors and technical verisimilitude. Bravo to Moorhead High. Kudos deservedly go to Ben Gunderson for his portrayal of Charlie Gordon. It is a difficult role to pull off naturally with the various changes that need to be expressed in the character but Ben hit the mark. The technical crew also deserves much praise for their fine execution of transitions and brilliant use of video and sound. So how did this show affect me? It reminded me of what I feel I have lost in the course of four years. I feel I have lost that jocularity and spontaneity...

Back at the old Net haunt - West Acres. After a hiatus of over a month I decided I need to catch up on the Net dragons. So far none have been slane. What a shame (or sham perhaps). Now for another bit from my Ireland trip. Aer Lingus brought me to Dublin. I had a great seat. Just behind 1st class on the right hand side. So much more room! I have to say Aer Lingus does have some good looking employees. I never really hit it off with any however. As a side note BMI has the best uniforms. Thinking I would be getting something really good I ordered the Kosher meal. For the life of me I never knew what I was eating and I know Kosher. It seemed like something with matzo meal. Anyways I get to Dublin and go to the city centre. I spend hours just walking around and seeking sourvenirs, which I realized I needed to appease the people back in the states. Went to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College and did not even know I had seen it. I thought I was looking at another illumintated text. So...

Returned from Emerald Isle on Monday last. I took approximately 24 hours after awaking at 4AM Ireland time to step back on the soil of Dakota. What was even more bizzare was that the temperature was something like 75 degrees! People ask me how the trip was and I hesitate a moment and say "Good." Of course that does not begin to break the ground of what encompass my 2 weeks abroad in Maigh Eo. Good is just polite way to say I did not die and I am back with all my limbs attached. It does not even give a hint of the passion I went through. The ups and downs. The highs of feeling near to God and the lows of loneliness and melancholy. It was absolutely...normal. I felt at home even though those fears of being spit out of Ireland like a wad of dull chewing gum knawed at me. I kept up my running regime and even daily spent some splendid time of prayer. Put a guitar in my hands or any instrument for that matter and I would come alive. Dissapointed? No way. Would I do it again? Yes. ...

Just hours away from departing for Eire...err I mean the Republic of Ireland. Once I was feeling pretty depressed about going but now I am in good spirits. However I still need to get packing. I am sorely behind on that. Plus I am only bringing a well packed carry on. It will be an adventure I expect. Not sure if it will be like coming home but I suspect I will find a kinship. There is some of my history on the island someplace. I'll be out west in Mayo and in Sligo. I hope I get to go north. I've been brushing up on Gaelic for a while just in case. Slainte to all you faithful ones. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Phile and I were celebrating the feast of St. Patrick the other day and the topic of what goes with beer arose. Eating ice cream, I suggested ice cream would be a fine compliment to a glass of pilsner. The thought crossed my mind that beer flavored ice cream would bring men and women together as no other food has done before. Phil then proffered an earnest proverb: Beer is good with ice cream but beer with beer is better . An astute observation methinks.

I get to celbrate St. Patrick's feast twice. Yep, I celebrated last night and this evening I will be going to Gethsemane Cathedral's St. Patrick's Day feast. Hopefully Phil will have more quotable moments. Last nights festivities included in addition to food and stout, trivia, music, and a movie. I was the music. I still am not very good at playing those Irish ditties. I need to practice more. Our Irish film for the evening was Angela's Ashes . It was based on the Frank McCourt book of the same title. I never read the book but had read a synopsis summary of it once. Actually I almost bought it at the second hand store once. Anyways the book being a memoir of sorts, the movie is rather episodic. One event after another that shapes Frank. Quite an eery look at poverty in Ireland in the days leading up to WWII. You just hope the family can escape it. Eventually he gets the money (somewhat dubiously) and returns to the United States. And by the way there is nudity and sex....

I have friend in town. He a fairly laid back guy and the kind of guy able to sneak through airport security with toenail clippers kind of sly. If he had not gotten married I'd suspect he form a vigilante anti-terrorist brigade that's only purpose was to sit around and drink beer (not the domestic junk) and discuss means they could use to track down Osama's minions. He bought a whole gross of nutrition bars recently (and gross can describe them: think soft cardboard with flour, wheat germ and chocolate) that I had interest in obtaining a few from him. He brings some over to my place and to my chagrin the were of the female specific type. I was bit dismayed and did not want people to think I am becoming woman. Phil responded with one of his trademark bits of wisdom: "Nutrition knows no gender." I have not eaten any of the bars yet so we will see if this is true.

So you can actully lose your job because you blog. In the case of 2 individuals, their blogs cost them their jobs. Read about it here . This begs the question what is protected speech now. Obviously their blogs must of violated company policy in the sense that as individuals they represent the company to the public. Additionally, speech is not necessarily protected in the sphere of the private world (only in relation to incidences of discrimination, whistleblowing, or in union organizing. Ones are employed at will as I recall from my professional ethics class and thus the private corpus (body) can do what it wants. I am not sure many even realize employers have this "right." Now then what can one blog without violating the company line? Here are my suggestions: Movies. As long you don't work for Miramax or Paramount I am sure the discussion of movie culture can be discussed and dissented with freely. (i.e. I dispised Al Pacino's role in Meet the Fokkers.) Look n...

Been doing a bit of research for (re) developing some web endeavors that have fallen aside in the last year and came across this UK site. It feature an interview with Gavin Peacock , former Chelsea and Newcastle star. He speaks about his success and matters of faith. The website itself is rather well done and accessible yet utilizes Macromedia (but for good effect). Be sure to check out the steps of faith page.

My former roommates and oft time colaboraters came back to town. We decided to lunch at an Indian restaurant in the south of go called Saffron since one of them in particular had a craving for the delictable dishes of the Sub-Continent. This place had opened a while back before we parted ways from our old HQ. It is one of two Indian restaurants in town. However, Saffron has a classy traditional look and seems to be more frequented by both non-Indians and Indians. I think I saw more Indians in that restaurant than I had at the other place 10 times 7. The food of course was delicious and the service excellent. We had the buffet which included a few curries, tandoori chicken, and other things my mouth enjoys with rice and the nan. It's not to everyone's liking but hey a good portion of the world eat this kind of menu. More on Indian food here .

After almost a month of researching and ardent bidding on MP3 players at America's garage sale ( ebay ), I finally eluded the snippers and got a Rio Chiba . A flash player, the Chiba, is upgradable with SD memory. It also is small and ergonomic. Additionally it is pretty tough. It took a few drops but worked flawlessly. I enjoy it. Well, I show this item to my friend and he is hooked on it. So hooked he seeks one out on Ebay. And then he wins one the next day! It took me nearly a month and he snags one in about 24 hours. I guess I am setting a trend. A few days later he won another. He had done some mass bidding in order to secure a Chiba for himself. He might win more for all I know. Price comparison: Chiba in store new is $119. I got mine on Ebay (used) for about $58.

In the last few weeks I have actually watched some movies: Super Size Me (great web site) and Transformers . I sort of got pulled into watching them. It was not my first desire. Super Size Me re-enforced my firm belief that Big Macs and Fries may taste good but they sure can cause some damage. I have continued to avoid the golden arches because they may be the plague. Of course I must confess I ate there the night before I saw it. So I must add that although the guy gained quite bit of girth he still looked good in bikini underwear!!! Tonight I took in Tranformers the movie (on DVD) in rememberance of that child-maddening toy craze of the late 80s. The movie brought me back to the imaginary time when robots fought each other while listening to techno synth and glam. Yes, all they did was fight and die. Oh poor Optimus Prime. I guess there is quite a following amongst fans of the soundtrack in addition to the whole movie. It was totally glam tech 80s. They even had a Weird Al song for ...

As of late I have become somewhat a U2 fan and it is all because of a cheap 75 cent CD I purchased at the local thrift shop. The CD entitled Seven has 7 tracks of re-mixes and b-sides from the All You Can't Leave Behind days. Almost every cut is incredible including a re-mix of "Beautiful Day." Although my buddy DJ Seque is a huge fan I never took it seriously enough to listen closely. Now I am convince there is no band like U2. Everyone else is only trying to sound like them or reach the same peaks without the raw materials. I am not a junkie yet but let's say I'll be seeking more U2 in the days to come. And perhaps I may get to hang with The Edge in Malahad or elsewhere.

Weeks, months, days, I have been hoping to acquire passage to the Republic of Ireland. However, the deals have disappeared. Airlines have booking up to the middle of March and then wham! Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I better start swimming if I want to make it there by April. So why Ireland you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. For one, it's the homeland of my ancestors (a few of them at least). Of course I'll be very dismayed if I am told- you're not Irish you sissy boy. That I pray will not happen. I have been enchanted with this land since my youth although I am not sure how I happened to know the traditional name of Ireland was Eire when I was a wee lad. I'd like to think that it's the Celt in me calling. So second is a bit of a self-discovery adventure of my soul's yearning. Thirdly, I know someone there. Well I think I know someone. We went to ministry school together and were in a band of sorts. Anyways I going to encourage this individual who happens to ...

I have broken the bike out earlier this year. Probably because of my inner self feeling the need to be out. The weather has been below average to fair for biking. Either it warms up and stuff melts causing the build up of resevoirs where there should not be any or it gets cold enough to create jagged iceways on the sidewalks that double as channels when the snow melts. I perfer the colder because I don't like getting wetter than I need too. Plus the water is plenty dirty.

The Super Bowl has become utmost of commercialization and the 60 second spot is its minion. This year attempted to forget the hullabaloo of last year- with sexualization pressing the envelope a bit too far for decency's sake. So things were cooled down a bit. My favorite were the MasterCard spots. Cute and clean. Then there was the Mac's Hardware commercial emphasizing their pallet shelving. Now how in the world does this get put on during the Super Bowl? It was dull. No quirky hooks or celebrities. Just plain. And all those pallet shelf shots.

With heightened expectation most Fargoans looked skyward this morning and afternoon to catch a glimpse of Air Force One. It was as if Fantasy Island was pushed to the northward fringes of existance with many pointing to the heavens and exclaiming as Tattoo did- "The plane, the plane." I was not one of them. My workplace is a mile removed from the airport and is constantly flown over by commecial and military aircraft. Unfortunately Air Force One decided to take another route. I did, however, catch a glimpse of the aircraft leaving for Montana. It was distant but odd. I wonder if George were looking out and pondering the growth of Fargo and my bicycle. For those fortunate enough to get into the marquee event...well I am not sure what happened. I contend he spoke about social security, did a few "that's why this country is great" lines, received a few courteous boos, and shook hands with every important person in North Dakota (that probably took about 30 second...

Coming to you live at UMM in Morris, MN- that is if you are reading this now. I have infliltrated the campus dressed as a typical college student. So far no one has detected me. What brings me to this little hip town? Well, I'm here on business- relational business. I am hanging with some good friends this weekend. I'm off from doing the Grand Forks gig and thus decided to get away from the 'Go. The 'Go? Sounds like a new religion, right? Like the Dao of Pooh. Well anyway, I had planned to co-opt with my friend, let's call him Segue, and do a dance in Mankato at Prepeare Haus but that fell through like stones through wet Kleenex. Besides Seque is a bit injuried. My secret name is Naim as in "Waz Hez Naim." But that's confusing you so I'll cut to the meat of the post. Segue and I were having deep conversations about the state of things. We touched on plenty fo details but a few big things leapt out. Firstly, that we are appreciated for our ski...

The weeks press on. I am at work nearly everyday. I do get some breathing space occasionally. Not enough in my opinion. I am trying to budget time more wisely but I find myself getting further behind. You hate to ask the why question becaus then further things will be unearthed that will demand time and attention. I am fortunate to have some support in this life. The George's have been gracious as has my Dad. I also give props to the West Acres wireless net that I am now using abundantly (at least now.) Next weekend I get a reprieve. No work. Not that requires any major effort. I am hoping to join Seque on a stint doing a dance in Mankato. I hope to see my friend Dustin there, but who knows. I am also in the midst of planning a trip to the Republic of Ireland. The airfare have not been generous for my planned dates. I will wait and see. Prehaps the Almighty may answer my prayers. But back to today. I am feeling weary. It is like there is a huge emotional dike being held back. I...

In the past few weeks my musical tastes have expanded. Admittedly I am a novice fan of techno/synth/electronica fan. It has probably been a few months in the making since I refound my love for making grooves on the MTV Music Maker on the PC. I have actually pondered re-assuming the DJ Waz His Naim (notice the new spelling) mantra and creating dance jazz music. In previous weeks I have really enjoyed listening to a CD I purchased at See You at the Party by an artist known as ShelterShed . A few times a month I head down to old Cheapo Records store on Main and peruse the bargain bin of club music for the new vibes. It has been pretty hit or miss. One CD I picked up was too hip hop for my taste. Then I got another one, The Sound of Electronic Cologne, which took a bit of listening to get used to it. However, my greatest acquisition has been Ultrabeat . He was at See You at the Party in 2001 and he stayed at my friend's house in Morris. How unreal is that? High quality techno synth a...

One of my roommates' sister was honored on television this week. She was in the same wedding I was in in June of 2001. No fooling. Check it out here . No NHL yet so we need to find some grass roots hockey. My hockey person of the week is John Mattson. He's a real Gordy Howe type and even coaches squirts.

reflecting in a local cafe. note the stoic on the left.  

I return to work after the holiday and my computer login problems escalate to the point where I cannot even get into my computer. After a numerous phone calls by myself nothing really improves. The weather was not good either. Eventually IT says it can't do anything tells me to pass it off to security. At this point my manager steps in with full force and has a six way tele conference until it gets completed. By this time a third of the day is gone. My goodness. In other news, North Dakota is frozen stiff and my car still runs. No biking in these conditions. Well that is not exactly true, there was biking for myself this evening. I rode to the bank and back. It was not too bad but the sub zero temperatures do not treat the gears well.

Blizzard like conditions were a featured part of my trek up to the ForX. I had just returned from Alexandria and almost immediatlely boarded the george transport. The trip north on 29 took a bit longer than usually I am told since I was fast asleep in the back seat. Covered with a massive load of white snow, downtown reminded me of the city from It's a Wonderful Life- light, fluffy snowscaping. In addition the sidewalks were a bit icy and we experienced unexpected door trouble with our front door. Besides that it was real good meeting. We had one intriguing and homeless guest that left ten minutes after the meeting began. On the road home we experienced worse conditions since the road had not been plowed. Fortunately we made it home without incident albeit much later than usual.

It has been a busy holiday season. So much to do. Fortunately I am still alive albeit a bit tired. The holiday festivities ended with a rousing New Year's celebration in Alexandria at See Your at the Party . It was great night featuring the bands Falling Up, Children 18:3, Red Cloud, Shelter Shed, and Showbread in addition to inflatible games, dodgeball, a coffee house, pro wrestling, and Wolf's Game Show Fever. Did I mention they gave away a car? Well, I was up until 7:30 the New Year's Day. [I hope I am using the possesive correctly] On the downside, I misplaced my digital camera with a lot of memories in it. I had the bike out for commuting the past week. It is a record of sorts since I had not ridden to work past December 22. It was warm enough too. Who knows if this next week will be good weather for riding? It snowed yesterday and slowed the entire transportation network down but that's another entry.