Cello

Getting back into the swing of posting (really, I promise) and to start things off I have to say how much I am enjoying learning to play the cello. I love how it sounds. So far I have gotten nearly through book one with the help of my teacher, Ally, but have realized that the student cello I've been playing on is not going to be a keeper. The neck is too thick and it's just not the quality I'm going to want if I will ever be good enough to play in the WSB's orchestra.
After much research, I stumbled upon Andy Fein's handmade instruments available through his store in Minneapolis, created in the Stradivarius style. After reading about his instruments, I was intrigued enough to look further, and I was able to email back and forth with Mr. Fein himself to come up with what we believe will be the perfect instrument for me.
An excerpt from the website:
"Stradivarius structured his cello making workshop so that six to ten of his apprentices and master artisans worked precisely to his cello forms. Stradivarius then did all the final work and ensured the highest quality in every cello. We use the same system today in all our hand crafted cellos from the cello making workshops of Rigidio Riva in Sardinia, Italy, D. Albert in Markneukirchen, Germany, and Francois Costa in Corsica, France.
Every hand made cello that we offer has been meticulously cut from aged high altitude Spruce for the cello’s top and rare, high altitude Maple for the cello’s back, sides, and neck. The cello’s fingerboard is cut from premium quality black ebony. We make sure the cello’s pegs, end pin, and tailpiece match the beauty of the cello with fine quality fittings."
I have ordered a 7/8 size cello, and it should arrive next week. According to the site.....
Wonderful Artisan Made French Cello. Handmade in the F. Costa workshop in Corsica, France. Hand finished by Andy Fein. Air dried, select quality tone wood. Nicely flamed Maple on the back, sides and neck. Deep, rich tone with good timbre and dynamic range.
Mr. Fein is so confident in his instruments that he is giving a 10 day approval period, and if I'm not satisfied I can return it for a full refund. Check out the photos - it's a gorgeous instrument and I can't wait to play it!

Devon's Violin

Devon has been having a great time learning the violin at the Wausau Conservatory of Music. Here's a photo of him with Michael Keelan, his instructor - and one of the cats, who love to hear him play.

OK Go - Here It Goes Again Granbury High School

Truth in Advertising

Well, you've gotta give him points for honesty.

STATE OF THE UNION - WANNA PLAY?

In case you didn't know it, the President speaks to the nation tonight in his State of the Union Address. There's a new drinking game that goes along with it, which you can find on the net at http://www.drinkinggame.us/
Basically, it goes like this.
The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or other beverage). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the speech and play along.

* If W. says "the American people" - 1 drink or gulp
* If W. uses the word "troops" - 1 small drink
* If W. says "freedom" - 1 drink
* If W. says "nukular" - 1 drink
* If W. says "addicted to oil" - drink one shot of extra-virgin olive oil
* If W. says "education" - 1 drink
* If W. says "education" and mispronounces it - 1 drink + 1 more
* If W. says "the First Lady" - 1 drink
You get the picture. Pass the Vodka.

Attention Mr. Fartypants

An underwear manufacturer (in the U.S.) has invented pants designed to hide the smell of farts. Under-Tec's anti-flatulence UnderEase underpants have an in-built multi-layered, replaceable filter, made of felt, charcoal and fiberglass wool. To prevent gases escaping without passing through it, the underpants are made from air-tight fabric and completely sealed with elastic around the waistband and legs. Under-Tec's president and inventor, Buck Weimer, says, "We get a lot of jokes -- but we don't doubt that this is a serious product that serves a purpose.

Daddy

My father passed away in the early morning hours of January 14, just hours after my last post. He died in his sleep, completely at peace.
The last week has been a whirlwind of activity. The funeral, however, was beautiful, and exactly what he would have wanted. Traditional Catholic with all the trimmings. The response has been overwhelming.
My cousins came up from Milwaukee, and the night of the wake we gathered afterward at my house to reminisce. My stomach hurt the next day from laughing so hard. It was an appropriate way to honor my father.
The grief is overwhelming, but it comes in waves. I feel as though he is still here with me somehow, watching over me, still guiding me. He was such a wonderful man......if I am half the father he was to me, I'll still be better than most.
Rest in peace, Daddy.

Grim New Year

It's been weeks since I've posted, but things have been crazy. After three weeks in the hospital, my father has deteriorated rapidly and two days ago was admitted into the hospice program for end of life care. His wish was to come home, so we arranged to have him brought home where we are caring for him as best we can. He is on morphine and is sleeping all the time. He seems relieved to be home, and I am thankful to my sister Wendy for staying and helping with his care.
It has been a difficult thing to accept. My brother still thinks he's going to walk out of here in a few weeks. The reality, of course, is much different. We think we will have days, perhaps weeks, and we're unsure whether he will be any more alert once his pain is managed. Taking it day by day. The kids are doing their best to accept it as well, and are very helpful with his care. Devon has slept at his house the last two nights, too.
With it all, we're trying to keep some normalcy of life. Symphony rehearsal resumes for me on Monday, and I've officially had two cello lessons, which I'm enjoying immensely. Small breaks from the grim reality at home.
You never really know what you're made of until you face these types of challenges and find whether you're able to rise to them.....or not.

Christmas Time, Christmas Time

Christmas is my favorite holiday of all, but this year was tough. We had to call 911 and get my dad to the hospital on Christmas Day - but thankfully he is doing a bit better today. Despite the tears, we managed to have a merry Christmas and enjoy each other very much. Some photos to enjoy are posted.

Dad

No posts this week, as it's been a rough one. My dad was admitted to the hospital Monday. The cancer is kicking his butt. And the chemo knocked him over. They pumped him up with blood transfusions, platelets, and antibiotics, stopped chemo, and sent him home last night. I'm scared this could be it, but am trying to pretend everything is normal. His oncologist said the next few weeks will determine whether they try chemo again, or just let it go. I am clinging to the hope that he will have the strength and will to survive. I have never seen him like this - it's heartbreaking.

Altenburgh Show

Last night, I emceed the 11th annual Altenburgh Christmas Jazz & Blues concert at the Grand Theater in Wausau for the 10th time. It's always a great time and seems to get better every year. John Altenburgh, John Greiner, Otis McLennon, Chris O'Keefe, Mitch Viegut and others are also part of a group called Johnny & the Mo-Tones, a blues group they started about two years ago after driving down to the famed Sun Studios in Memphis, TN to record what would become a bestselling CD, spending 17 weeks at number one on the world Blues Chart. But to me, they're the same old goofy musicians I love to see year after year. They're joined onstage by other greats like Randy Sabien and Janet Planet with her amazing vocals for a sold out crowd every year.

Afterward, we all head over to the annual City Pages party which is always a virtual who's who of Wausau. Everyone who is anyone is there, and it's great people watching. From the mayor to the police chief to our state representative Donna Seidel, the party is an annual event that I have only missed once.

The photo in this post is Dana Greiner, John Greiner the sax player's wife, who is a good friend, with me at the party. I have to admit, that holiday spirit is infectuous!

Elf Yourself

If you're not yet in the holiday spirit, make an elf of yourself. It's hysterical! Go to www.elfyourself.com for all the fun.
Here's one I made of Devon.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=0bf365785c30592e3a3541eG06121516
On another note, my cello lessons are secured and will start on Thursday, January 4th. Can't wait!

Naughty Santa!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It must be the day for frustration, I'll tell you. I know it's the busy Christmas shopping season, but for Pete's sake I'm tired of crummy customer service!
In an earlier posting, I bragged about Buy.com and their fabulous deal when you use Google checkout. It's still a great deal, but WOW, they stink in the customer service department. You tell me why something that is still listed on their storefront as "in stock - ships in one to two business days" is STILL SITTING IN THE WAREHOUSE AFTER A WEEK.
OH, and to try to get a response to inquiries is nearly impossible.
And let me say, the folks at Apple haven't won any points so far, either. Last night I got an email saying they "couldn't find" the bank wire for my new laptop. How does a business like this misplace over 900 bucks? The email said to call their customer service line - which I did - and after navigating through "press one for repairs, press two if you know the party's extension" blah blah blah for 10 minutes, I finally got a real live person who told me.....
"Sorry, that's not my department."
The good news is, they found my money.
The bad news is, they aren't shipping the &$%#@ thing until NEXT WEDNESDAY.
Meanwhile, my Thinkpad is putt-putting toward a slow death and now won't even recognize the PCMCIA slot that my photo card goes in.
Cripes!
So, no photos of the cello - yet.
Is it almost Christmas? Pass the Xanax.

ENGINEERS RUINING CHRISTMAS

Thanks to Christopher Schauder - Bailey, CO:
There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population reference bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, which comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second--3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousands tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them---Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch). 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would adsorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo. Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

Sorry.

MACBOOK on the way!

Thanks to Ed's advice I have decided to go ahead with the purchase of a new MacBook from Apple. I chose the 2.0 GHz model with a built-in i-sight camera. Buying refurbished directly from Apple seems like a good way to save several hundred dollars and get the machine I want. Unfortunately, I went on a Christmas shopping extravaganza today (my day off!) and by the time they did final processing on the order I had gone over my daily spending limit on my debit card, so they can't process and send my new laptop until tomorrow morning. Dangit! I did, however, make a huge dent in the holiday shopping today and have only a few small gifts left to purchase.
My other news is that I believe I have secured a cello teacher for January, and Jerry's Music had a beautiful 3/4 size cello available that I brought home on a rent-to-own basis. The 3/4 size should be perfect for my smaller hands, and is a bit lighter to carry than the full size. It's gorgeous, and I can't wait to begin lessons! I'll post photos shortly.

Discovery Launch

The weekend launch of the shuttle Discovery. Great view!!!

Tsk, Tsk!

So much for my blogging every other day resolution. Life gets away from you.
My dad's illness continues to be the biggest source of concern in my life. It's difficult to watch him get thinner by the day, his hair coming out in clumps. The bloody noses that won't stop, the visible tremors. I'm so glad to live next door so he can be here with me. I make sure he eats three meals a day and drinks plenty of Ensure, take care of his bills and banking, pick up prescriptions and take him to his doctor appointments. My fear for him is growing. The doctor says the lymph nodes are going down, but he's so terribly anemic - even the transfusion on Thursday didn't give him any pep. His oncologist says it's a delicate balance - wanting to wipe out the cancer while preserving quality of life. Right now his spirits are low and he seems ready to give up -but I won't let him. No way.
All the stress finally landed me on my back Saturday - the worst migraine I've had in 20 years resulted in a three hour trip to the emergency room. Dreadful, but I'm better now.
The next post will be more positive - really, it will.

Holiday Savings

If you're doing some holiday shopping, check out Buy.com for some great values, especially on tech gifts for Christmas. As a special bonus, if you use their new Google checkout feature, you'll save $20 on a $50 purchase. Many items are heavily discounted and some even qualify for free budget shipping. I've ordered many things from Buy.com, always with great satisfaction, and just ordered a great new cordless phone with big buttons for my dad and an ipod speaker dock to go with the Nano I purchased for Rowan for Christmas and paid less than $50 combined for both - one third of what I'd have paid at Best Buy. Worth checking out!
I'm also in the process of shopping for a new laptop and can't decide whether to stick with my beloved IBM Thinkpad line or make the switch that everyone tells me is the next step - to a Mac. Ideas, anyone? I don't want to spend a fortune and will likely buy refurbished or off-lease, but I want the most bang for my buck - and I don't want to be buying another one next Christmas, that's for sure.
What to do.....what to do???

The Visit

Krista's visit was a whirlwind of activity. We went to the theater to see the Nutcracker, and Devon did a great job - but after all the rehearsals and performances, he was really beat. We saw the Christmas parade, went out to dinner, took the kids bowling, and stayed up late every night talking. It was a great break from work and reality.