Skip to main content

Hangin Out

Julie and I are spending the weekend in San Diego, visiting our friends Michelle and Mike. Michelle is the lead pastor at a local Methodist church and Mike works for the postal service. Outside is surprisingly cool and drizzly. This year the weather in Southern California has been  incredibly mellow. I don't want to jinx what we've been experiencing, so I leave it to you to surf the net and find out what the temperatures are like.

I credit Michelle for helping strengthen my spirituality, and really for helping Julie and I find the people who've become some of our closest friends in Santa Clarita. Michelle formed a small group (I think) in 2013 that included us and the same folks we now consider family. They are our people. Michelle and Mike moved to San Diego a year ago when she was appointed to lead this church. While we were all very sad to see them go, we were all so proud of her in achieving a goal that she was called to do and that she worked so hard to get.

Michelle and Mike have a daughter who happens to be my daughter's best friend. She's getting married this fall and she and her fiance asked me to officiate their wedding. I couldn't be more honored to take on this sacred role in their wedding day. Coming to San Diego to get wedding ceremony tips was an excuse to visit our friends.

While it truly sucks that Michelle and Mike moved away, the blessing of this technology age is that we communicate on a regular basis, as if they never moved. I believe that email, mobile phones and especially texting have kept me close to those of my family who live throughout the country. There's a lot of bad shit on the Internet, which is a shame, but the way it has kept people connected is something I'll always appreciate.

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Aloha

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MARATHON FOOTNOTES (for those who didn't think I would really footnote a stream of consciousness thought): Footnote #1 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Films from 1969 to the Present: Midnight Cowboy, Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Footnote #2 Members of the band YES, from 1969 to the present: In 1969, Yes is formed with Jon Anderson on vocals Peter Banks on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards and Chris Squire playing bass. This group records...

100 and Counting: Introducing The Epic Playlist

It started as all playlists do, an occasion that justified music for entertainment. In this case, it was a couples weekend getaway back in February. Super Dave proposed that he and I provide the tunes and we started a Spotify playlist: three songs at a time, no song repeats, no artist repeats. Dave would add his three, then text me that it was my turn. I would then add my three text him back. This cycle repeated until three hundred songs were compiled, and we drove off to Mammoth with our wives. A funny thing happened, though, it turned out we both enjoyed the challenge of trying to surprise or outdo the other so much that we continued building the playlist. We made a new rule of just three songs each a day and still no artist repeats. Soon, we came up with amendments to allow duets (The Emmylou Exception), multiple songs by the same band if said band had multiple lead singers (The Beatles Exception), or if there was a lead singer replacement that changed the artistic direction of ...

A Trip Through the "My 90's Tapes" Collection Pt. 6: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts "Up Your Alley"

Column 1, Row 6: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Up Your Alley In 1988, hair metal was on the rise and straight forward rock and roll was losing radio airplay. If the music wasn't a little slick and the mix didn't sound like the record was recorded in a sports arena, there was little chance of getting heard. There were exceptions, of course (Tracy Chapman comes to mind), but for the most part, loud and echoey was the sound of the day. At that time, Joan Jett and her latest version of the Blackhearts had been together for a few years and were clicking. The band members were Ricky Byrd on lead guitar and vocals, Kasim Sulton on bass and vocals, and Thommy Price on drums. Jett was coming off of co-starring with Michael J. Fox in Paul Schrader's film, Light of Day . Although the film wasn't a hit, it was high profile enough to bring the rock legend back into the public eye after years working the road and trying to rebuild the success of her early 80s albums, including the s...