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.

 

The Christmas Tamales

 

 

 It is always a good day when a student brings you Christmas Tamales!

She&Him Christmas in Dallas

 

This past Saturday, my wife and I went to the SMU campus to McFarlin Auditorium to see She&Him perform a Christmas concert. Zooey Dechanel (She) has legit vocal range. She is the real deal. Great voice. M Ward (Him) has been one of my favorite guitarists/singer-songwriters for a long time. His album Migration Stories, released near the beginning of the 2020 covid shutdown helped me get through that stressful and weird time. 

 

They performed some of their non-Christmas standards as well. It was quite a concert. They played both with a band and acoustically as a duo. Everything was festive and top-notch.

 

It was a great experience and we got to see the lights on the Hilltop. It had been awhile since I had been on the SMU campus. It was good to be back. The concert was actually in the same auditorium where my masters graduation ceremony happened so that room always has good vibes for me. 

 

But She&Him are the real deal. Being on stage exposes those who are just products of the studio and a good producer and who actually has talent. Zooey and Ward were amazing live. They performed a phenomenal set.

Feast like kings

While the ladies were in Galveston this past summer, me and the boy went to downtown Dallas to the only BBQ joint in DFW that serves KC style barbecue. We ate like kings.

 

The Grading

Once again this past June, the AP World History Grading was virtual due to Covid fears. It has been announced that we are indeed meeting back in person in Kansas City for June 2022. But we thought that about 2021 as well so we will have to wait and see.

I had the house to myself for about a week of the virtual grading. Kim and Ava went to Galveston with some friends. Jackson had summer band camp during the day. Only the cats were around to keep me company. Lola did not like me being on Zoom Meetings. When the family came back for the last few days of the Read I sequestered myself back into our bedroom like I had the year before. The remote reads aren't bad, but I do miss seeing my fellow graders in person.

 

Dad's Day

 

 

Still catching up. I mentioned Mother's Day a couple of posts back. These are pics from Father's Day in June. I was grading AP essays (remotely again due to COVID protocols) but the kids still made time to celebrate. We went to Rodeo Goat for burgers. I'm honored to be their Dad.

 

 

Brownies

In May I made a quick trip to Tulsa to attend a graduation luncheon for my cousin's daughter. My wife and kids had another commitment and couldn't come. It was a quick trip up and back in one day. I did had some time to drive by both sets of my Grandparent's old homes. I only have one grandparent left and she lives in an assisted living center now. Lots of memories in those homes. Makes me nostalgic. I also ate lunch at Brownie's. Brownie's was one of my favorite diners growing up. And it looks almost exactly the same as it always has. It's nice that there are a few things that don't change in this mixed-up world. 

Catching Up

Well, I wasn't planning on hibernating from blogging for eight months. This is the longest I've gone without publishing on here since I started this thing in 2006. The sabbatical was unintentional and I'm not even sure why I paused for so long. 

Guess I should spend the rest of this blog-year catching up. Even though I'm pretty sure no one reads my posts it makes me happy to publish. I find it cathartic. I shouldn't have allowed myself to lapse. May try to catch up a bit. So here's some shots from last Mother's Day as we got breakfast at Snooze A.M. in Oak Lawn...

 

Finishing Swann's Way

159 days and Proust is done. Well, at least this volume. Swann’s Way is only volume one in a seven volume novel called In Search of Lost Time. I’ll get to those other volumes some other time. 444 pages in volume one alone! Anyway, this was my most recent long form read that I started last November and completed yesterday. I read 2-4 pages a day. It’s a system that has worked well for me in conquering challenging works.

 

Swann’s Way wasn’t as challenging as Ulysses or Gravity’s Rainbow. But Proust’s over analysis of every single feeling that passed through his cerebral cortex could grow tedious. So 2-4 pages a day kept a nice limit on his literary neurosis. Sometimes I found the famous Combray section relaxing and almost meditative to read. The section about Charles’s and Odette’s love affair was frustrating and annoying because I found Charles and Odette frustrating and annoying. Maybe that was the point. The conclusion was peaceful and satisfying. 

 

I think Proust used writing for personal therapy which is one of the great benefits of putting pen to paper. This new translation by Lydia Davis was fantastic. Now on to a book I’ve attempted twice and never made past page 80...Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. IJ is over 1,000 pages so I expect to be finished around the end of January 2022.

 

Incidentally my other current reads are Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein both of which have been fantastic so far.

 

Blue Skies

 

The other day was a good day to take the T-Tops off the Jeep and roll under the blue sky.

They Know...

This guy likes to steal bird seed from the bird feeder on our tree in the backyard. And if we forget to fill the feeder, he knows that the food is on our porch.
 

Where's the Button?

 

When you're trying to find a particular camera setting and your daughter comes over to help (because she doesn't think you know what you're doing) and you accidentally take a photo.

BUMC

 

 

Tough whenever I have to visit Baylor Hospital in Dallas. This was where my Dad passed away. Tough memories when I walk around this place. 

#jeepsparkedbyjeeps and Taekwondo

 

 

My daughter did not want to pose by the jeeps after Taekwondo. We always take a pic when a jeep parks by ours. But she did it because she's a good sport!