IJ Update

 

Long term reading update: I've gotten bogged down with Infinite Jest. Even reading just 3-5 pages a day has become a chore. I started reading this massive tome almost exactly a year ago.

Some context: A couple of years ago I began reading books that are long and notoriously challenging in a new way. I would read 3-5 pages a day during my lunch hour and just keep plugging along until I was done. No hurry, no rush. This would allow me to keep reading other books at the same time that I actually enjoyed without shutting down all my reading by focusing on one long, hard to read book. 

This all started with Joyce's Ulysses, continued with Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Proust's In Search of Lost Time, and Bolano's The Savage Detectives. The process worked. Keeping my daily reading program short allowed me to plow through dense material in a slow regulated way. 

But my enthusiasm to continue reading 3-5 pages of Infinite Jest has waned. I'm still going...but admittedly not every day. I got to amp up the effort. But I find IJ overrated and tedious. It's supposed be one of the great works of my generation but I find it so pedantic. I am aware that this could be due to my intellectual deficiencies. Maybe David Foster Wallace is just too smart for me. I like his essays. And I like parts of this book. But a lot of it is meandering filler. Maybe I'm just too short-sighted to see the over-arching plan. But spending 40 pages on a simulated war game using tennis balls on tennis courts just wore me out man. 

The work is obviously the work of a genius. Maybe a mad genius who's ideas came out rather sporadically in this case. I don't wish to speak ill of a great writer who suffered from mental illness. But I'm not really enjoying this as much as my other long term reading projects. 

I had projected to be finished by January 2022. But I'm only on page 610. I still have 400 pages to go! This may take awhile. I got to get back to reading it every day. 600 pages in, and I cannot recommend this so far even if that makes other Gen X'ers upset with me.

Bistro

 

Prom!?!

Prom?!? Already? Well, my son was invited by an upperclassmen so yeah he went. Here, he and his date get photo posing advice from his little sister.

Bluebonnets 2022

When I moved to Texas in 1997 I discovered many interesting and unique traditions that are a part of Lone Star State culture. One of those traditions is taking pictures of your kids or family in a field of bluebonnets in April during the height of the blossoming season. I will say, that driving in Texas in mid-April and seeing an explosion of color on the side of highways is something I greatly enjoy. The bluebonnets can be spectacular. 

You always try to avoid stepping on the bluebonnets!

Rather than having to find a different spot each year on the side of an interstate or highway, we have found a park nearby that year in and year out has spectacular bluebonnets. It has been our go-to bluebonnet place for photos the last few years.

Uh oh...

 

The madness begins. The learners permit has been attained. 

Texas Dune

 

During Spring Break we headed to Odessa, Texas for a family obligation. We actually had fun in the deserts of West Texas, except for the cracked windshield due to a rock flung at us in a dust storm on the way there. 

 On the trip we tried to stop at as many roadside attractions that we had time for. We saw a giant Campbell Soup can painted by Andy Warhol in Eastland. We saw Ol Rip, the legendary (and now embalmed) horned toad that once met Calvin Coolidge...google it, the story is pretty crazy. We ate at Big Boys BBQ in Sweetwater and stopped to see the Settles Hotel in Big Spring. 

 In Odessa we stopped by a replica of Stonehenge. Took photos around town at odd sites like random Jackrabbits. We also went bowling just because. Went to the Monahans Sand Hills State Park and slid down massive dunes in the desert. Saw the Odessa Jackalopes minor league hockey team get beat by Wichita Falls. Had good food at Teak and Charlie's Pizza and Keith's Hamburger Station. 

 We didn't spend much time in Odessa...about a day and a half. But it was fun. Not sure I could live out that far in the desert. But it was a nice visit. 

Dylan

 

A couple of weeks ago I finally got to see Bob Dylan live in concert. He came to Irving and performed at the Toyota Music Factory Pavilion. It was a quietly spectacular show. 

At 80 years old, Dylan still has it. He performed from behind an upright piano the entire show, only occasionally coming out front to acknowledge the applause of the crowd. He and the band were dressed all in black and were standing on a lighted floor in front of a traditional stage curtain that changed colors depending on the song. There was a mystical feel to the evening. The band was tight and Dylan's vocals clear. You felt a part of something larger than yourself.

 

 

The set list was mainly songs from his most recent album "Rough and Rowdy Ways." He threw in a few older tunes including a rousing fast paced version of "Gotta Serve Somebody." One of my favorite moments was his cover of "Melancholy Mood." There was an ethereal quality to the band's rendition that transported me beyond the confines of just being an audience member at a concert. 

 

Here was the night's setlist...

• Watching the River Flow
• Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
• I Contain Multitudes
• False Prophet
• When I Paint My Masterpiece
• Black Rider
• I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
• My Own Version of You
• Crossing the Rubicon
• To Be Alone with You
• Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
• Gotta Serve Somebody
• I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
• Melancholy Mood
• Mother of Muses
• Goodbye Jimmy Reed
• Every Grain of Sand

They apparently have played pretty much this same exact set list at each show on this Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Another highlight for me was "Goodbye Jimmy Reed." That's one of my favorite Dylan tunes period. 

No photos were allowed. I got a few blurry ones off. The ushers were serious about enforcing the no phones and I respected that. But this was a long awaited moment of my life and I wanted documentation for future reference. So I snapped a couple of poor photos. 

What a great night. A night I'll long remember and cherish. 

Everything is Spirtual

 

I had the great opportunity to see one of my favorite writers/theologians/speakers last night at The Majestic Theater in Dallas. Rob Bell has had an enormous impact on the way I view the world. Last night he was in town for his Everything is Spiritual tour. I took the book just in case I ran into him for a signing. But, alas it wasn't to be. But the show was moving and inspirational. Rob Bell is one of the great communicators of our day. 

And The Majestic is a great venue. A great night all around on Elm Street.

Almost...

 

Last week some of my friends made me this trophy. It was over ten years ago when a colleague dubbed me "the Susan Lucci of KHS" because of the many times I was nominated for Teacher of the Year but never won. I actually treasure this award more than the real thing. Once again this year, I fell short. I've probably been nominated 10 times over the years. It will almost be disappointing if I ever were to shockingly win Teacher of the Year. I'm proud of the work I do in the classroom. Knowing this "award" was created and signed by my valued colleagues means a lot to me...much more than the "real" thing.

An Afternoon at the Opera

 

To celebrate the third anniversary of our daughter's adoption (Gotcha Day), we went to the Dallas Opera. We went to one of the family events. The show was Jack and the Beanstalk and was tailored for younger audiences. It was a delightful experience. 

These family events are less formal than a normal opera production and the run times much shorter. Seats are first come first serve general admission so we got great floor seats. It's an excellent introduction to the opera and the magnificent Winspear Opera House. 

It's Cold Out There

 

Winter storm predicted to hit our area tomorrow night. Most are guessing school will be canceled Thursday and perhaps Friday. I will take it. 

The other night my wife and I had an evening to ourselves, the kids were at Grandma's. So we went to the Bishop Art's District in North Oak Cliff. We had reservations at a restaurant at Lucia's and it was indeed excellent eating. We then wandered the shops and boutiques. 

We hadn't been to the Bishop Arts since covid hit two years ago. I was surprised by the transformation. The area has expanded over several blocks since our last visit. New massive condo complexes and large gaudy new bars filled with the noveau riche. The place has gentrified spectacularly and depressingly.

We enjoyed ourselves walking Bishop Ave. But I was sad to see how Disneyfied the place had become. People always ruin everything. A lot of the character of the area has just been ruined by these high priced developments. Same old story.

I saw the above DeGarmo and Key album at a record store on Bishop. Was surprised to see a CCM record there. My sister was a big fan of D&K. Their records are pretty rare these days. 

Bishop Arts is still a cool place to visit. But you better visit soon before it becomes another West Village. It's almost there.

Brothers

 

This past holiday season I got to visit with both my Dad's brothers. It was the first time in two years that I had seen them together at the same time. They always looked very much like my Dad and had similar mannerisms so it was a special time. Gotta hold on to family despite distance, covid and busy schedules. 

Tennis New Year

 

My son and I spent the first morning of the New Year 2022 playing tennis. We figured we better get some time on the courts since a cold front was rolling in later that afternoon.

The Grass is Greener on the other side of the Red River

 

It has amazed me how quickly CBD and cannabis dispensaries have spread in Oklahoma. Twenty years ago I was similarly amazed by the rapid growth of the casino industry in Oklahoma. But every time I drive across the Red River I'm surprised by the Sooner State's fast embrace of "medical" marijuana. Ironically, while we were in Oklahoma last week, the New York Times featured an article about Oklahoma's new marijuana economy. The rapid rise of this industry has created some serious issues in the state.

Personally, I believe that if alcohol is legal it's hard to argue against pot legalization. I personally believe it's a dangerous habit to start, associated with all kinds of negative physical issues but pot seems no more dangerous than alcohol. I could be wrong. Still, it seems you can find a cannabis shop on every block in Oklahoma. That didn't surprise me when I saw that phenomenon in Fort Collins, Colorado 15 years ago. But in a red, law and order, conservative state like Oklahoma? Very surprising.

The Outsiders

 

 

 

So during the Holiday Break we went up to Tulsa to visit family. While there we stopped at "The Outsider House" where they filmed the movie adaptation of S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders. The house was rescued from demolition a couple of years ago and turned into a museum. 

 

 

 

The Outsiders is a beloved novel read in junior highs and high schools across the country. But I always felt a deeper connection because my Dad actually went to high school with Hinton. My Mom lived just a couple of miles from the neighborhood depicted in the book and movie. They both went to Will Rogers High School where the characters in the novel went. The movie was filmed in Tulsa and I grew up visiting many of the film's sites whenever we came to visit both sets of my grandparents and uncles and aunts who lived in Tulsa.  

So it was pretty cool to see this place. The museum is only open on the weekends and were there in the middle of the week so we didn't get to inside the Outsiders House. But it was still pretty cool to see the place.