Still Alive, Lol

Yes, I'm still alive.  I spend a lot more time on Facebook these days, but I think I'm going to post some things here that are a bit long for FB.

Quick summary... moved to Chandler 10/1/09.  Found a nice house to rent that's really close to work and very convenient to everything and not too expensive either!  Moving was very stressful and it was hard to say goodbye to the many wonderful people I had met in Portland.  Also I re-injured my foot and though the podiatrist here said it was not broken, I had an extended period of being off the ice and trying to take it easy.  To be honest it still doesn't feel exactly normal even now and it's been a year.  Oh well.

I've been really enjoying being close to my family and my Arizona friends.  I have been singing with the Schola at Ss. Peter and Paul down in Tucson. The drive is pretty tiring (it's about 100 miles) for rehearsals but I love getting to sing quality music.

I bought a digital piano (Kawai Digital Piano 500, an older model) in November (?) and started taking piano lessons in January with Stephanie Koogler in Chandler.  That's been going really well and I played my first recital last Saturday (she has recitals for her students in June and December).  I played a setting of the theme from Dvorak's New World Symphony, and I also sang.  It went really well!

Skating has gone quite well, I have found a freestyle and a figures coach and with lots of convenient ice time available I have been skating quite a lot, preparing for my first competition since PCAS '08 next month (Cactus Classic).

I have been back to Oregon a number of times.  I am back about once a month for work, for meetings and facetime with my team.  Those trips are usually a one day up-and-back on the Intel shuttle -- pretty tiring but worthwhile.  I was up for a weekend in December for the Oregon Chorale concert and also the holiday show at SIA -- it was great to see my homies skating!  Then I was up for a weekend in early May and also early June, the last for the Oregon Chorale 25th anniversary concert.  It was terrific, and the Chorale invited alums to sing 3 songs for the occasion which was really great.  They are such an amazing group!  I will be up in August again for a figures competition and some hangin' with the homies.

I will try to post more often and I know I need to fix the comments on this blog.  I'll see what I can do.

A day of celebration, a day of remembrance

Yes, I'm still alive.. it's been a long time since I've posted and I'm sorry for that.

Today is my 46th birthday, and of course it is the 8th anniversary of the horrific attacks on our country in 2001.

Since I posted last... I went home for Christmas and had a great time. Just before Christmas Portland experienced a couple of awesome winter storms that dumped several inches of snow on the city and mostly shut it down from about December 14 to the end of the year. I managed to get out in between storms and it was mostly over by the time I came back.

I finally passed my Adult Pre-Bronze Moves in the Field skating test in April.

On May 20th I broke the 3rd metatarsal on my left foot while working on my spin trainer. I thought it was just sprained, but when it didn't improve I went to the doctor on June 5th and the x-rays showed that it was broken. I was off the ice and in an air cast until about August 5th all told. I had to withdraw from the Cactus Classic skating competition that I had planned on. I wound up still going to Arizona for that time (I had already purchased plane tickets) and had a good visit.

In August I went on a road trip to see the Grand Coulee Dam.

The big news is that I am going to moving back to Arizona at the end of September. My boss has worked out an arrangement for me to work remotely from Intel's Chandler campus. I'm really excited to be going home at last, but it is hard to leave behind the many wonderful people I've met here in Portland.

CNN is reporting that Obama is going to pick Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano for secretary of Homeland Security. Wow! While I certainly disagree with the Governor on a number of issues, she's a very smart and capable woman who would do a terrific job at DHS. Good for her!

Here's a transcript of John McCain's concession speech from last night. I thought it was extremely gracious, and vintage McCain.

I would not -- I would not be an -- an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

So... Obama won. As I had predicted, the market took a dive of almost 500 points.

Miscellaneous stuff -- here's a cool article about my friend Rae's grandson who was miraculously healed through the intercession of Bl. Alberione.

Small stuff...

I bought gas yesterday for $2.219/gal! That's compared to just 3 days earlier (Tuesday) when I paid $2.559! Crazy stuff, but I'm not complaining.

This from our Intel Singers practice on Wednesday (neither of these was me):

• "What does 'rall.' mean?"
• "It means 'watch the conductor!'"

We all laughed :-)

My prediction... if Obama wins, the market is going to take a big dive on Wednesday. like 400 points. The market doesn't like change and doesn't think Obama is its friend so it's going to tank. Check back and we'll see if I'm right!

I've long been concerned about euthanasia and the slippery slope down which our society is sliding. Here in Oregon, of course, while we have rationed health care, you can legally have a doctor help you kill yourself. So much for compassion.

Anyway, thanks to Mark Shea for pointing out this good discussion on the truth about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

The notion that certain patients lack worthwhile lives is a judgment which Western law and medical ethics have long rejected and which no civilized society should accept. This is, moreover, no "private" decision. The question whether some citizens (doctors) should be allowed to kill other citizens (patients) is a decision with profound ramifications for the safety and well-being of the whole community, not least its most vulnerable members. The community, rightly, jealously guards its power to decide when human life may lawfully be taken and it has, again rightly, strictly limited those circumstances. The decision to allow doctors to kill patients who consent to have their lives ended is no more "private" a matter than a decision to allow plantation owners to buy and sell slaves who consent to be owned. There are, indeed, few questions which are of greater public import than the question whether to permit VAE/PAS.

Energy Independence

I've been doing a lot of thinking about "energy independence" since it's been in the news and a large part of the campaign cycle.

I'm really amused by the ads and hype that talk about this subject while showing pictures of... power plants!! It's nuts.

According to the Energy Information Administration, petroleum makes up 39.8% of our available energy. 70% of our petroleum is used for transportation, 24% goes for industrial use, 5% for residential and commercial (heating oil, propane) and 2% for electric generation. 2%! That says that power plants and petroleum have almost nothing to do with each other!

If the Chevy Volt and other electric (mostly) cars sweep the market, it would be possible for us to eliminate oil imports eventually (we currently import 52% of our oil). While this is a good goal it will take a while to get to that point, especially since the Volt's power train is aimed at cars (the biggest target), not trucks and other big vehicles that require lots of horsepower (bulldozers, diggers, etc.).

Natural gas is another story. We import about 15% of our natural gas consumption. This area is ripe to be replaced with renewable energy, except for one problem. Much of the natural gas consumption for electric generation (30%) is used that way because natural gas-fired power plants are good for peak power generation. (Natural gas plants can ramp up power output much more rapidly than coal plants or nukes, about the same as hydropower). This is a hard niche to replace with wind or solar, both of which work better as supplements.

A reasonable mix would be coal/nuclear (working to elimination of coal) for base load, with renewables to supplement, and natural gas/hydropower for peak loads.

End of an Era

After 24 years, Lute Olson has retired as UA basketball coach.

I have to say, it seems to me that (not surprisingly) things were never the same after Bobbi (his wife of many years) died. Thanks for the memories Lute!

Just got back from Courtney and Geoff's wedding down in Laguna Beach... it was beautiful! Stephen and Sissy went all out for the wedding (of course) and a wonderful time was had by all. I'm so glad I went! The weather was wonderful, and there's nothing like seeing old friends and hearing them say "I'm really glad you came!". All I could say was that I wouldn't have missed it for the world, and it's true. After the wedding I got to hang out with Stephen & Sissy and some of the family for a few hours -- so good to catch up with them.

While I was gone I also had the pleasure of hitting up a local In-N-Out Burger (of course). Mmmmmmm. The flight back (Southwest) was on a plane painted to look like Shamu! It was so cool! I also had the "pleasure" (as I found out when I got home and opened my suitcase) of having my luggage inspected by TSA! Fortunately nothing was lost or broken, and of course I didn't have any contraband!

Yes, I'm Alive

Sorry I've been MIA. Let's see... had a nice birthday -- many cards, emails, texts, etc. from family and friends -- I felt very loved! Almost makes up for being so darn old now! Grrrr.

On 9/27 I finally made the other trip for the summer I was hoping to make -- up to Mt. St. Helens. As it happened I got a beyoooooooooootiful day for it! It's an awesome sight and as it happened it was National Public Lands Day so I got in to the vistor center for free! Amazing stuff and highly recommended. The other trips I wanted to take this summer were to the Evergreen air & space museum (or whatever it's called) in McMinnville -- they have the Spruce Goose there now along with lots of other stuff (I saw the Spruce Goose back in the late 80s when it was in Long Beach); a boat trip on the Willamette River; and a trip to see Grand Coulee Dam. It doesn't look like the last will happen now that fall's here and the weather is ukky. Which it is..

Just busy with work and choirs and skating and so forth, staying busy. A week from Saturday I'll be in lovely Laguna Beach for my friend Stephen's daughter's wedding. Fun!

Here's a cool video from CatholicVote.com, check it out (thanks to Mark Shea for the link):

R.I.P. Greg

Today is my brother Greg's birthday -- he would have been 52, or as we say in my family, "Freakin' ollllllllllllld!".

Rest in peace, big bro. I miss you.

This is sad.... She's happily married, dreaming of divorce. Actually I think that headline is really misleading. She doesn't seem at all happy to me, and has no respect for her husband. The conclusion the article reaches (that the availability of divorce makes her able to stay in her marriage) seems ludicrous to me. Other studies have shown that the majority of divorces are originated by women. The easy availability of divorce has produced this unexpected result -- instead of settling in for the long haul and working to improve (not just tolerate) their marriage, apparently many women are constantly looking over their shoulders so to speak -- wondering if they made the right decision. It's really sad. If I were this woman's husband and read this article I would be discouraged beyond belief.

Yes, I'm still alive!

Busy, busy busy. A week ago (8/14) Oregon Chorale was the demo choir for a workshop for the Oregon chapter of the ACDA. The clinician was composer Vijay Singh (not the golfer!). It was a lot of fun. We had four pieces we sang, then he worked with us to demonstrate different techniques. We're all self conscious about our group breaths now! eeep.

Went to Crater Lake 8/2 - 8/3 with my high school chum Zoe. It was beeyoootiful! Weather was great and the lake is... awe-inspiring.

Was reading a great interview with Archbishop Chaput of Denver... here's a great quote:

We don’t serve our country by abandoning our religious convictions in public debate in the name of good manners or a mistaken idea of pluralism. Democracy thrives on the competition of ideas, and it dies without that healthy conflict. We need to stop being embarrassed when we talk about our faith, and we need to insist that others respect it — including our political parties and leaders. Everyone can make telephone calls, and write emails and letters. And everyone can simply shut off the TV and computers one night a week to read, pray, talk and share time with the family. That’s a rebellion — the best kind.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

That's about it for now... summer is running down. Where did it go?

Water found on Mars!

The Phoenix Mars Lander has found water on Mars!

Friday was the 40th anniversary of Paul VI's encyclical on human sexuality, Humanae Vitae. Two wildly different viewpoints:

• National Catholic Reporter once again demonstrates why it's not worthy of the title "Catholic".
• Catholic News Agency has an essay by James Francis Cardinal Stafford,
  
  Humanae Vitae: The Year of the Peirasmòs - 1968. Check 'em out.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the second link.

In other news, if you've not been following things Catholic, Rod Dreher weighs in here and here on the controversy over P.Z. Myers's deliberate desecration of the Eucharist.

Texts from B16!

Apparently the Holy Father texted the pilgrims at World Youth Day in Sydney:

"The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles and gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! - BXVI."

RIP Greg

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my oldest brother Greg's passing. In some ways it seems like just yesterday, and in other ways a million years ago.

Rest in peace, Greg. I love you.

I'm back... returned safely (if exhausted) July 6th. Work has been a bit hectic since then but it's calming down this week. Busy prepping for my skating test July 27th. Whee!

On a *very* sad note, it appears one of my fave restaurants back home, Shari's, has closed. Waaaaaahhhh! This stinks.