Inconsequentials and Trivialities

I watched The Break Up last night. It was a little too real. I identified with both characters as I saw familiar traits and motivations in each of them. It made my heart hurt. One thing that continues to elude me is the peace they had with each other at the end of the movie. Hopefully one day.

As an aside, I like several actors in this film. Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Favreau, Justin Long.

The MJC Community Orchestra had it's fall performance on Tuesday. There are some photos from the event on my flickr page.

Let me just say that it was quite nice to have the extra day off work yesterday. The weekend was, on the whole, good. On Sunday, I attended a Veteran’s Day event at the Gallo Center. It really is a very nice place. I took several photos that I rather liked. Of course, I then promptly accidentally deleted them. Ah well.


The planned day of LOTRO that was to happen yesterday didn’t come together as I’d hoped. Suzanne, Danny, and I did some playing in the morning but Lance was nowhere to be found. Suzanne had to stop playing in the early afternoon to take her son to a doctor’s appointment, so Danny and I continued play with just the two of us. Mid-afternoon, Lance finally rouses himself from bed and is available to play. So now all we’re waiting for is Suzanne to come back. But that never happened. We cut her some slack, of course. She has a husband and two kids; one of which is a newborn. Lance, however, has fewer excuses.

But in spite of not being able to work on the specific tasks that I’d wanted to, there was a silver lining. Danny and I both hit level 38, and I made enough money to purchase my horse.


The MJC Community Orchestra has its dress rehearsal tonight. Then we have our performance next week. I took my tux to the dry-cleaners today. Modesto High instead of the Gallo Center. I expect you all to make the effort to be there!

Tomorrow, I have a Knights of Columbus thing in Escalon. Shouldn’t go late but it comes smack dab in the middle of the evening.

Thursday and Friday evenings I have music practice for the Thanksgiving Day Mass. It’s good to practice, but sometimes, I resent how much time it can take. I guess I’m not a real musician.

On Saturday, I am playing for a wedding. I still don’t know what I’m going to do for the psalm nor for the bride’s procession. I have to find something that will sound triumphant and interesting and all I have to work with is the chord progression. This will not be fun.
But, I do not have the evening Mass on Saturday so that frees up some time.

My dad’s birthday is on Sunday so I plan to call him in the afternoon.
Speaking of my dad; I have been, for several months, planning on traveling to Anchorage for Christmas. Goodness, gracious! but the prices have gone up significantly since I last made this trip. I sure hope that as the date draws nearer, there will be some last minute deals.


The Amazing Race remains difficult to watch. I get really agitated when the teams are stressed out and yelling at each other. The team to go was one that I wasn’t rooting for so that part was ok.

The Big Bang Theory has gotten a bit better. There were several moments that made me laugh last night.

Heroes last night was really good. Great scenes of Nathan and Peter flying and many questions were answered about what’s been going on for the past four months.

In the week since my camera arrived, I’ve constantly been on the lookout for opportunities to take pictures. I have found precious few. The thing is, I’m sure they’re all around and a better photographer would have trouble not seeing them. Now, obviously, much of that is innate, and a lot comes from practice, but what about training? I’ve never taken any sort of class that would give me any clues as to how to go about selecting a shot. I really want to.

The photos I have taken are unspectacular. Nothing I want to make a point of showing to anyone although I have no problem with anyone seeing any of them. Danny has been attending some seminars which sound pretty cool. Of course, there’s nothing like that around here. Nothing I know of anyway.

So for now I guess I’ll have to take thousands of photos to get a few good ones. This is starting to seem familiar. :)
At least with digital, I won’t be wasting film.


So it turns out that the Gallo Center isn’t going to happen. Bummer. We will be performing at Modesto High School instead. Ah, well. I must remember to get my tux dry-cleaned.

It seems that I was missing some information on my application to the College District in Sacramento. Maybe next time.

In other news, a classmate here at MJC made some noise about recruiting me into the History Honor Society at Stanislaus State. She thinks I’d like it. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. Thanks, Adria.
I’ve submitted my application and transcripts, now I just need to pay the fee.


What am I doing this weekend, you ask? Well, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you.
Tonight I have a bit of a music planning session at the church. After which, I will play some LOTRO.
Tomorrow is an undefined day. I have Mass in the late afternoon but naught else. Updates to follow.
Sunday, I have the usual slate of morning Masses and in the afternoon, I plan to attend a friend’s dance recital.

But wait, there’s more! This weekend I also get…
Monday is a holiday for Veteran’s Day. I hope to spend the day online with Danny, Lance, and Suzanne.

Well, I have purchased my camera. I ordered it on Tuesday morning and I picked it up from UPS on Wednesday. I love it. I am taking lots of pictures and one of these days, I’ll take a good one. I’m in the mode where I don’t want to go anywhere without it so I can always take a shot at a moment’s notice. I guess I’ll get over at some point.
Anyway, it’s nice to put pictures up on my flickr page that I’ve actually taken. Before this week, I think all the photos there were taken by other people.

I also purchased a doumbek and a couple pairs of bones from Lark in the Morning. But I haven’t received those yet. Maybe when I get home...
I will be using the doumbek for the MJC Community Orchestra performance on November 20 at the Gallo Center. You’re all invited but it may be sold out already.

I applied for admission to Stanislaus State for the spring. I have to take one lower division class then 30 units of upper division work. I think I can be done in the spring of 2010. Maybe fall of 2009. We shall see. I guess I will go for a teaching credential after that.

Today I applied for a job at Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento. It was a spur of the moment thing and I don’t think my chances are very good, but nothing ventured….


And now, because I know you’re waiting for it, I will tell you my plans for the weekend.

Tonight, I will be meeting with some folks to discuss the music they want for a wedding on the 17th. Yeah, this isn’t very far ahead of time, but I was just asked to play the week before last. After my meeting, I will head home to get in some LOTRO time.

Tomorrow, I will be going on a nature walk along Dry Creek. This is something organized by the La Loma Neighborhood Association. For me, it will do 3 things. First, it will get me out of the house and walking around a bit. Exercise is good, right? Second, it will give me an opportunity to use my camera. Even though I’m not into nature photography, right now, I’ll take pictures of anything. And third, I may get to meet some neighbors.
In the afternoon, I hope to watch an episode of Survivor with Mary.
Then, in the evening, I will be going to P. Wexford’s for the monthly Irish sessuin. Several of my classmates are supposed to attend as well, so that should be fun.

Sunday, I only have one Mass, the 8:30. I’ve asked my former roommate’s step-father, Bob if he and his wife, Judy would like to go out to breakfast following Mass. I will find out Sunday if the answer is yes. In the afternoon, I will be attending the Journey in Christianity Fourth Day. More opportunity to see people and to take photographs!!
Maybe, just maybe, Mary and I will get to watch another episode of Survivor that evening.


Somehow, I still manage to be busy on the weekends…