iPhone Photo: The Blessing

The Blessing

iPhone Photo: Ophelia

Ophelia

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A moment during my run

The other night I went for a run after sunset around the neighborhood. Along the way I had a moment that I thought was worth sharing.

As usual, I was listening to music on my iPhone. My favorite is progressive rock/metal and my latest infatuation has been the band Tool. Their music is dark, complex, dynamic, moving, thoughtful, and at times disturbing. Maynard James Keenan is a freak of nature. His vocals are aching at times. His lyrics are very intellegent, but frequently strike an emotional chord. The other star is Danny Carey, the drummer. His tracks are as artful as they are technically proficient.

On the Lateralus CD, there is a song called Ticks and Leeches. It’s not the best song on the album, that honor would go to either Schism or Parabola, but it is still very good. It starts out as a loud jam in an odd time signature with Kennan screaming the lyrics. In the middle of the song, there is a stark chage in the tone and tempo to a darkly beautiful and hypnotic interlude.

I was listening to this song, running on a path through some trees. Just as the song dynamically shifted, the trees opened up revealing a long moon lit meadow with high grass and hundreds of lightning bugs twinkling in the dark depths. I stopped and savored this for a moment, letting the music rush over me.

I went on to finish my run with lifted spirits.

New MacBook

So I got a new laptop today, an Apple MacBook. Our other older iBook was broken this summer when my daughter yanked out the power cord. After Hemming and Hawing about getting it fixed vs buying new, we went with the latter.

The computer is great, but I felt like I might have made a mistake in purchasing MobileMe. After my initial fussing, I can only get it to work in my iPhone. I was lured by the 30% off when you buy a new computer and made an impulse buy.

Sitting quietly

Since my daughter had her tonsils removed several weeks ago, she has really had trouble sleeping. After trying every different approach possible, we finally figured out what works: staying in her room until she falls asleep. We just have to be patient. This has taken as long as an hour and half. The rule is that we will stay in her room after we read books, but we can’t talk with her once the lights are off. We just sit quietly across the room on the floor.

This is what I’m doing right now. The iPhone is a wonderful thing! Once she settles, I discreetly slip on my headphones. This has given me the opportunity to listen to several podcasts. My favorites have been “How Things Work” and “The New Yorker: Fiction.” Tonight I discovered that I can also blog!

Alright, it looks like she’s asleep. Maybe I’ll download the podcast that teaches you how to speak Spanish for next time!