uh - oh. a snowstorm. a swirling whirling snowstorm.

Does the rest of the midwest hate me right now because i think that this is the best winter EVER!?

A hazy thin sheen of snow is perpetually turning the outdoors into an impressionist rendering of white on white. And I LOVE it!



Yesterday the world (mine at least) was sunny and bright yet incredibly cold. The most perfect winter days of all, these! Nothings melting broad white blankets have been generously tossed over the ugly roofs, overly-landscaped-lawns, and (most beautifully) cemeteries and the wide open fields in the middle of the highway entrance loops.

I always said that people in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan had a different brand of personality than the trolls below the bridge. More hearty, emotionally insulated, yet friendly in a Hey There, You! kind of way -- and my theory is that this particular field of personalities is established as an evolutionary response to the social facts of hibernation - modified - by - the - need - to - borrow - your - neighbors - chains - and truck - at - least - once - in - the - winter - to - pull - your - own - truck - out - of - the - ditch.



This is what the backyard will look like after the snowfall abates and the sun returns. But for now, we'll just celebrate the snug joys of being Snowed In.

Top Five Conversations

I had lunch with Joe & Rachel today at Pataya. Two of my favorite alumni, who *are* friends.

It was very chill. Very enjoyable. At the end Joe made a meta-conversational observation. Something along the lines of how he would've liked to talk about a bunch of other things with us. I couldn't have agreed more.

Some people, some moments seem just perfect for *holding* ideas together. Good With-ness.

He juxtaposed this to the (far too common) sensation of being five minutes into a conversation with someone and thinking.

How long can this possibly go on?

So I tried to get him (unsuccessfully) to name the top five conversations we should've had.

And so I was thinking as I was mixing supper together.

What would be my top five conversations i would've liked to have today?

Kind of a regret-modified-by-hopefulness-and-honest-reflection:

1. I'd love to have engaged Lynn (my partner) about whatever she's thinking about. She's in Chicagoland observing a literacy center. But her conversations about literacy are never *academic*. they're always rooted in her passionate interest in developing people -- integrating learning and living -- and finding new vocabularies that help her / us / them grow.

2. A character arc conversation with Gary. We're revising a screenplay and I love the process of LIVING WITH characters...coming to know them gradually -- as you invent them.

3. Having either of my parents tell me their entire life story. Long form. While taking long walks by big bodies of water.

4. Sitting in a booth in Josephs, my favorite Canton bar swapping stories with some of my storytelling friends.

5. Talking about theology and anthropology and psychology all dancing around the idea of *hospitality* with a small group of people who care as much about the topics as I do. I think you know who you are....

I'm glad for the conversations I had.

I'm glad for the with-ness that's sewn my whole life together thus far.

peace~

Big Bouncy Ball

One of the professors down the hall from me has a joke posted on his door: "There are ten kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who do not."

I do not get this joke even though I thought I had a rudimentary understanding of binary.

And don't get me wrong, I am happy to be the punchline to somebody's joke. But sometimes, I have to admit, I want to sneak into his office, when he's got his back to the door, diligently attuned to his computer monitor screen, surfing along the nuances of the matrix, and I want to

YANK

his big HUGE blue bouncy ball that he sits on, apparently for orthopedic reasons (?) out from under him and play a wild game of indoor hall soccer in the absurdly narrow hall.

Now don't misunderstand me, I really like this professor. He's very quirky in the best of all possible ways,

So this wild urge on my part has no real basis in malevolence -- but rather my wild attraction to that HUGE bouncy ball -- don't huge bouncy balls engender this sort of reaction for everyone?

It has nothing to do with my bitterness at being the butt of a joke posted on a door that taunts me day in and day out every time I walk down the hall to urinate. Because I'm not bitter!





this blog, like all other back burner entries, is fiction. any resemblance of any of the characters depicted herein is purely coincidental.

Almost Blew My Cover

Jaelyn woke up inordinately early this morning, and I panicked. If she didn't go back to sleep -- when would I make the exchange.

I soothed her back to sleep with my words and by rubbing her back with my right hand...

meanwhile my left hand is slowly creeping along under her pillow. Where IS that tooth?

flexing my hand muscles to grab the bag, I'm sure she'll feel my sleight of hand. But she says nothing...

It's a good thing I'm not Kevin. Otherwise, I'm sure my hand muscles would be much more noticeable.

She's fully awake now, and its confirmed. She still believes...

strongest man in the world...

Conversation in the van as we drove the other night.

J: Meghan's dad Kevin is so strong that he can pick anybody in the world up on his shoulders.

A: Really ? Who told you that?

J: Meghan.

A: Did you tell her how strong your Daddy is?

J: (laughs) no!

A: Did you tell her how your daddy is so strong that he can pick up any car and put it on his shoulders.

J: (more laughter) Daddy, no! For real! Meghan's daddy is really stronger than you.

*WHA!?!*

I thought the point of having children was to gratify my ego....