Christmas Albums

A couple of must listens during the Christmas Season. My Dad’s 1964 Beach Boys Christmas Album and the 1980 Star Wars Christmas Album: Christmas in the Stars. 

 

Cats and Christmas

 

Christmas Eve!

 

A Day in Fort Worth

Spent yesterday in Fort Worth. Went to the Stockyards. Went to the rooftop cinema and watched Elf under the open sky. A good day.

 

Last Day of the Semester

 The First Semester is done!

CiCi's

My daughter and I were invited to a Friends and Family soft opening for the new CiCi's. It is the biggest CiCi's I have ever seen. It's right across from the high school and I've never seen my students so excited about a restaurant opening. 

 

The Little Corporal

The goal in the AP European History curriculum is to get to Napoleon by Christmas. Today my class celebrated this achievement by having a funeral for The Little Corporal. 

The Problems of Philosophy

Finished another one of my Long-Term Reads this morning during breakfast. The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. Two or three pages every day which was good because I found it pedantic. This is due to a couple of factors. One, I'm just probably not intellectually up to snuff for Russell's insight. And secondly, I often find philosophy too abstract to be meaningful in my daily life. In my younger days I had a greater appreciation for the study of philosophy. But as the days have been added to my life, my patience for esoteric quibbling has lessened considerably. Arguments that seemed so important in the dorm rooms or campus quads now seem trivial or a waste of energy. Now, Russell does address these issues, particularly in the last chapter but it was not enough to convince me. Some philosophy I do find interesting. Camus, Sartre, Robert Solomon etc. But so much of the discipline relies on highly specialized vocabulary and intricate thought paths that I tire of quickly. Guess I'm just getting old and cranky! 

Smashed

Came home one day last week, walked into the kitchen and found this. One of our decorative plates smashed on the floor. Only our cat Lola leaps up above the cabinets where this plate was located. And our other cat, Athena, had thrown up in the middle of the living room floor, obviously anxious about the whole incident. Typical day. 
 

Letterman

My Mom gave me my Dad's old high school letterman jacket this week. Perfect shape and actually fits. Tulsa Will Rogers High School, Class of 1969. You can see guys wearing this jacket in the movie The Outsiders. My Dad went to junior high and high school with the author SE Hinton. They called her Suzy Hinton.

Christmas on Main

Last week also walked downtown to the annual Christmas on Main  

 

Dubliners

I re-read Dubliners this past week.  This is my favorite of James Joyce's works. Although written in the early 20th century and meant to describe life in a particular place, the stories ring true with the modern experience. Each short story is an entire world. It had been over fifteen years since I had read these stories. They meant more this go-around. 

Loss of a Maverick

I found out a couple of days ago that the great Raul Malo had passed away on Monday. I was shocked and saddened to hear this. He had been fighting a battle with cancer. Both as a solo artist and as a member of The Mavericks he never ceased to surprise me with his breadth of musical talent. It's hard to describe his genre. He melded country, rock and roll, Mexican, Cuban, Tejano, blues and many more influences into a unique and fantastic sound. His voice was amazing and he always seemed to play with a joyous spirit. He will be missed. What a spectacular presence. 

Tao

I finished up reading this translation of the Tao Te Ching yesterday. This version was translated by Ralph Alan Dale. Often attributed to Laozi (Lao Tzu) in the 6th century BCE, scholars now believe many of the sayings go back as far as the 3rd century BCE. Eighty-one sections, I usually read one a day during lunch during the school year. Very calming during stormy days. I'll start up a different translation of the Tao tomorrow. 

Pancakes at the Ranch

Last Saturday morning was the annual Pancakes with Santa at Jake E's Riding Ranch. Ava rides horses here for equine therapy. Below is Ava and her horse Autumn Sky. The pancakes were great!

 

A Good Kind of Chaos

Last Friday was our school's annual Adopt-a-Kid Christmas Parties. Each homeroom class "adopts" a student from our Pre-K and Kindergarten campus who is in need and showers them with Christmas presents. In some cases, these may be the only presents the child will receive during the holidays. The day is chaotic but once you embrace the chaos it's a lot of fun. Good food. Tamales and brisket! In the afternoon we have our Freshman fundraiser, the all school Dodge Ball Tournament. My daughter played on the yearbook team. I am always roped in as an referee. I was indeed pretty tired that night!

 

Replay 2025

You have to take these Apple Replays and Spotify Wrapped lists with a grain of salt. I do listen to a lot of artists on vinyl that obviously won't appear on digital lists. I also do discography experiments throughout the year where I listen to an artist's entire released catalog which can skew the numbers. And sometimes I'll accidentally have artists on repeat. I do listen to a lot of radio (91.7 KKXT). But overall, this is a pretty good representation of my listening habits for 2025. I am always surprised weezer isn't on the lists. Guess I save them for special occasions, quality over quantity. And I listen to a wide variety of jazz artists that don't appear in the aggregate. Was surprised to see Sinatra make the top 15! Pretty accurate list. 

 

Northman

This marching band jacket stayed hidden in the back of my closet for over thirty years. Last year I decided to break it out as a kitschy retro piece. Still fits great.