Today one of my friends from middle school, who I still keep in contact with, got engaged.  I'm excited for him and his fiance, who I've only met once, but she seemed nice and they seemed like a good match.  I'm only slightly surprised he beat my other middle school friend to the punch, as the newly engaged couple has not been dating as long as the non-engaged couple.  I've been wondering when my non-engaged friend would pop the question, but I think this new development will actually delay it a bit, as he's not the type to copy the actions of others.  Anyway, my friend is engaged, and that's awesome.

So, in honor of my friend's engagement, I give you Alanis Morrisette's cover of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It":

Soldier On A Field

A few coworkers and I got together for happy hour at the bar up the street after work today.  One of my coworkers left about 20 minutes before the rest of us, and another coworker mentioned we should head over, as we couldn't let a soldier out on the field by himself.  I immediately thought of "Home" by Live.

3 If By Train

I remember as a youngster learning the infamous poem of "Paul Revere's Ride", and will always recall "One if by land, and two if by sea".  I, however, would like to choose option three, which I have designated as "if by train".

For a long time I've wanted to take a long train adventure.  I've never really thought of an international train trip like the Orient Express so much as just a slow trip across country.  Sort of like a cruise on land.  I discovered today that it'd be relatively inexpensive to take a train from Burbank to Seattle, and then a bus up to Vancouver.  I'm tempted.  Very, very tempted.

I really like Joe Purdy's music.  It's even better on rainy days like today.  "Make It Up" starts with the lyric "When a train comes, I don't know what to do / I'm leavin' town, but I ain't leavin' you".  That's how I feel about that train trip I mentioned.  I want to do it, but I don't think I'd want to come back when I do.  When I finally leave town, it'll be by train I think.  Going somewhere without a car would really cement the deal.

Anyway, "Make It Up", but Joe Purdy:

A decade

Some days it's hard to remember that the choices we made have helped us become who we are.  This coming weekend is the ten year reunion for my class at the boarding school I attended in high school.  I left after my junior year, and while sometimes I wish I'd stayed, I would miss some of the friends I made as a result of transferring.  Interestingly, none of the those friends are from the school I transferred to, but rather from other circumstances of living at home that year, such as former coworkers I still keep in contact with and see on a rare occurrence, but talk to often.

Back in those days, I was really into Jars of Clay.  I still like them, but not to at the same level as I did then.  However, their latest album, "The Shelter" came out today.  I don't know how I feel about it yet.  It's a different sound, and that's fine, as bands need to progress, but it's just not hitting me the way their previous albums have.  It feels tired on the first listen, and that's a bummer.  I suppose that since all but one song feature another artist, and it's actual title is "Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter", I can only think of it as more a compilation album, and that their next "real" album will bring back all that I've come to know and love about their music.

"Shelter", of the album "The Shelter", contains the lyric "In the shelter of each other, we will live", which are old Irish words that inspired this album.  The album jacket states, "These songs are meant to celebrate and inspire small communities of people to care for one another and embody the love, peace and hope promised by God in the life of Jesus."  Thus, it is the song of the day.

Moving Forward

Today I took a step toward the future.  I asked my boss about the possibility of writing some of the short scripts for a very low budget project we're working on.  She said the chances were good, and we'd talk to the writer/producer about it when he starts, which is still to be determined.  So that's exciting.

I feel productive.  Maybe my couple of short vacations have refreshed me, even though I'm still feeling a bit under the weather from the cold I've been battling.  Maybe it was the constant not-quite-rain we had today that's rejuvenated me.  Friends of mine proclaim themselves creatures of the sun; I am a creature of the rain.  I was a bit annoyed with people who were complaining about the rain, as if we had to deal with it so often.  C'mon people, enjoy the changes life brings us once in a while!

Heard a new song today that I liked a lot.  "My Own" by The Perishers was appropriate today.  Why?  Watch/listen, and see:

The Calm Before the Storm?

The past few weeks and weekends have been hectic.  Things will be quiet for a while.  No trips planned until Christmas, although there's a potential Thanksgiving trip that could be interesting, and to somewhere I've never been and never anticipated going.  A year ago I did say that I wanted 2010 to be my year of travel, and it seems to be coming to fruition rather well.

Today's song is Muse - Unintended.  I've apparently heard it before, as it was rated in iTunes, but I heard it again tonight while walking to Starbucks after the long drive from Vegas, and really found myself loving it.  Quiet, melodic, lyrical, and great.  It comes off their 1999 debut album, Showbiz, and is well worth a listen.  It doesn't even sound like it's 11 years old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9LOFXwPwC4

Never The Same

When I worked at Disneyland, I was always asked if being behind the scenes 'ruined the magic'.  It never really did, as I always looked for what made things work the way they do.  I'd look for the controls, the electronics, etc that made the rides go.  So it didn't really ruin the magic for me so much as amplify it.

A week ago today I was touring the sets of Smallville, a show I watch week after week with anticipation.  It's in it's tenth and final season, and in a couple of weeks we'll be treated to watching the 200th episode.  Monumental, really.  Beginning last week, and continuing with this weeks episode, I'm no longer able to watch Smallville the same way.  I've BEEN there, stood where they're standing.  I now see the 'bigger picture' of what's around them.  Is the magic ruined?  Nope.  It's again amplified, because now I get to see how they do it.  How they create the various looks from things that can be so non-descript.

Such a cool, cool experience.  Someday I'll give others that same extended vantage.

I'm off to Vegas for the weekend, and so I COULD leave you with the ever cliche "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis for today's song.  Don't pretend like you don't love it, because you do, and we both know it.  But I won't do that.  Instead, I'll leave you with "Geraldine" by Glasvegas.

God bless social workers.