decade

i used to blog with nothing in mind; i'd just type and see what came out. then it got to the point where i wouldn't blog because i had nothing specific to say. so i'd go days, weeks, months without adding anything. so today i thought i'd go back to my original plan... write with nothing in mind.

people often use this time of year as a time of reflection, and they like to evaluate their lives and make resolutions they know they won't keep. i feel like i am constantly evaluating my life, so i have no specific need to do so at this time of year. and in recent years, my only resolution has been to NOT make any resolutions. i think i'll stick to that one again this year... oops, there it goes. broken already.

despite the fact that i haven't been blogging much, i have been writing in my hand-written journal every day. my first written journal entry was december 31, 1996, so i've been at it for a decade! i'm quite proud of myself for this achievement, and i intend on keeping this up. i just started a new journal book - it's number 36. i now have an entire shelf of filled books, and i sometimes flip one open and read what i have written. in the early journalling days, i wasn't very insightful, but i still scribbled down thoughts. only recently have i felt that i've added some depth to my thoughts and my writing. and yet i still feel like i'm just scratching the surface. the surface of what, i don't know. i try to write every single day - i missed a day last fall when i stayed over night at my brothers and forgot to take my journal with me. back when i started a decade ago, i didn't write every day - i only wrote when i felt like it, so it might have been once or twice a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. but now i feel like i'm missing out if i don't scribble something down each day.

this blog has been going for over three years. i'm glad i started it. i recently encouraged a friend to get started here too. i think people should write more. i think humans, by nature, are story tellers (and story readers or listeners). i look forward to reading stories, so keep writing!

Two more days

I was asked what concert i went to last week - the musician is a guy named Ron Hawkins (not to be confused with Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, please!). You can find out more about him at myspace.com/acousticrevue

I think we're pretty set for xmas. My goal was to avoid stores on this last weekend before Christmas. I will have to run out to the grocery store this afternoon, but otherwise, I'm done shopping. I try not to get too stressed out about shopping - in recent years, I've done a lot of my shopping online - it's great - things are delivered right to my door, free of charge (the shipping is free, not the items!). I think it's easy to get all negative about the hustle and bustle at this time of year. Whenever I talk to my mom, she just complains about all the shopping she has to do and all the preparations for xmas dinner, and how people are just going to have to be happy with what they get. It's not just passing comments either; it's a whole whiney conversation about the whole ordeal. I think that's their nature though - when stressful things occur, we can choose how we deal with it - in their case, their response is very negative. This is the kind of environment I was brought up in, and I know I can get in these moods too. I am, however, trying to overcome these habits, and simply be more positive.... on that note... Happy Holidays to anyone who may read this!.

The good news is that my boss sent a little Christmas bonus with my pay cheque, so with that, plus some Xmas money, I should be able to buy a mandolin. I have no idea how to play one, but I figure I can learn. I may check out ebay too, although I have no clue what is a good mandolin and what isn't. ... I just checked... there's a vintage 1911 Gibson Mandolin that I can buy for $2000!! I imagine this one falls in the "good" category. There's another for about $70. I was in a music store a week or two ago, and they had 2 mandolins on their shelf, the cheaper one was about $150. That'll be my goal for next year (I refuse to call it a 'resolution'): to learn to play a mandolin.

I hope you all have a good time, whether with family, friends or whomever. I also hope you're all positive rather than negative :-)

Cheers!

will you be my penpal?

i was at my mom and dad's last weekend, and my dad gave me a box of stuff i'd left there years ago. most of the box was file folders of old notes from my first and second year of undergrad. but there was one folder that contained birthday cards and letters that were sent to me - mostly from the summer i turned 17, and spent 8 weeks at a camp. the camp was located some 10 hours north of where i lived, and there were 24 17-year-old guys there for the summer. i corresponded with a number of people while i was there - i have letters from my mom and dad, my younger brother, my sister, (none from my older brother, which is no surprise), my best friend at the time, a girl i liked (but we weren't dating), and a pen pal. the pen pal letter is interesting, and when i read it, i was taken back to the letter i'd written to her previously. one of the senior guys at our camp knew someone at a girls camp near north bay (about 5 hours away), and he got her to send him a list of names of girls at that camp. when he got the list, all the guys at our camp picked a girl's name, and wrote them a letter. most of the guys wrote these horny letters (as most 17 year old guys would probably d0), and they never got a response. i guess i wasn't like most 17 year old guys, because i remember my letter to be more civilized. the letter i found last weekend is the reply to my letter, and it's a long one. the girl i wrote to was about my age, and she was very grateful that i didn't get all pervy with my letter, as she had read other letters sent to the other girls. she talked about herself, and how she would like to meet me one day (even though she mentioned that she had a boyfriend!). i seem to recall that we exchanged letters into the fall, after summer camp had ended, but i only found this initial letter. we never did meet, but it's interesting to find a letter from someone i'd never met. this, of course, predates the internet, but reading the letter kinda felt like i was reading an email from someone i'd met online. the penpal has been replaced by chat and email, apparently!