Time to get some traction
Time to get a handle on some personal projects, new and ongoing. Thanks to a recent course I took at BCIT in Systems Analysis, I have a licensed copy of the project management application “Microsoft Office Project 2007,” which is a great application for managing projects. I may use it for some of my own little projects. Here’s a list:
- Finish my ASD from BCIT
- Better organize the brass tubes website’s music library
- Fill out chrom.ca with more resources
- build a database management system (DBMS) for my wine making activities
- The Hymn Project
- Music ed. program at Redeemer (confirm buy-in from some key stakeholders)
- Plan the October wine-making event
- Plan the summer wine-making event
- Summer Brass at Redeemer/Father’s Day?
- Pender Island Cottage project
- Design and build the 21st Century Organ
- a new fundraising DBMS for mi
- mi board role definition project
- Redeemer 2013 centenary project
- Intelligence Augmentation: lifelines
- Intelligence Augmentation: smart dog collar
- Intelligence Augmentation: choral plugin
- Social Networking: musicians’ hookup
- Restore airstream
- Summer picnic for friends
Random act of kindness
A random stranger called me on the telephone tonight to let me know he once played trombone in my father’s band at The Cave supper club, back in the 50s or 60s.
This fellow, a retired BC Hydro engineer, attended last week’s VCC brass ensemble concert and noticed my name on the program, and wondered if I might be related to Dave Robbins. So he looked up my name, somewhere, and called me. When I confirmed I was Dave’s son, he told me a bit about himself. He took trombone lessons, while a university student, from Ted Lazenby. One night one of the trombonists in my father’s band couldn’t make it (for a few nights) and Ted recommended Gerhard to my father, who asked him to sit in. There wasn’t much more to tell, but the memories of those gigs muse have been strong and important to him.
I thought it was nice of him to call. Unexpected, welcomed, and a sort of blessing.
Here’s a photo I took of my parents, in our kitchen on Balfour Avenue.
beautiful day…so much to be thankful for
Woke up with a scary dream, one that has occurred before (but thankfully not very often). A really big StarWars-ish space-ship like airplane, traveling slowly across the sky, barely visible, crashes just beyond the horizon.
It’s nice to wake up and feel relieved, knowing a nightmare was only a dream. I just finished reading Elaine Pagel’s latest book, which was on the New Testament Book of Revelation, and she sketches the political reasons behind the decision to include that book in the New Testament “canon.” In some ways her take on the Book of Revelation is like a parent’s reassuring voice to a child when the child has woken from a nightmare: The book of Revelation does have a nightmare-ish quality, and seems quite different from the other books, which riff on love, peace, forgiveness, and getting along.
It’s generally a good idea to forget nightmares. Enjoy the morning cup of coffee and let light and life surround the soul. =)
Feeling a little hung over
Probably drank too much beer last night; ate too many pepperoni sticks. But here I am on Pender Island with my wonderful wife, about to check on the first building I’ve ever designed. Just enjoyed a massive latte and two peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in a warm cafe. Moment of happiness!
Waiting for the fun to begin
Sitting in an empty church hall, dressed in my undertaker suit, waiting to go to my “gig.” Playing trumpet in the VCC/Mount Pleasant Brass Ensemble at the Odd Fellows Hall on 8th St. In Vancouver. How many years ago did I, living across the street from this church hall, watch my dad go out to jobs, dressed in his undertaker suit and carrying his trombone? Would be about 40 years ago or more, and for a duration of perhaps 15 or 20 years.
I don’t know. Is this something I need to do for reasons other than the joy of playing? Not that that would make any difference. I will no doubt continue to play as long as I am able.
Apropos of nothing; finished my Systems Analysis & Design course last night. Now I’ve completed Java 1 (Comp 1409); Database & SQL (Comp 1650); Systems Analysis (Comp 2831); and I’ve registered for Java 2 (Comp 1451).
Then I’ll be half-way through the Associate Software Developer credential from BCIT. But I think I’ll start looking to get back into the workforce this Spring.
My mother and my maternal grandfather
I estimate this photograph was taken between 1935 and 1940 in Kerrisdale (in Vancouver). My mother is the girl in the middle. Their house was on West Boulevard. I think it’s still there. My maternal grandmother is standing to Alexander’s right, in the light print dress. It’s one of the few photographs capturing her image.
This photograph was found by Windows Live Gallery, which has indexed photos on several computers; it has some facial recognition technology built into it, and thought my grandfather’s face was similar to my own, and placed them side by side. The resemblance was remarkable, purely in terms of eyes, cheekbones, mouth, and to some extent, nose. And width of face. Eyebrows very similar too. Maybe I get my technical facility from him; he was the classic Scottish “engineer” of his time. The sort of man (there must have been many like him) who was characterized in the Star Trek character “Scotty”.
Beauty All Around Us
[slideshow]
Four good articles on relationships and community
Occasionally the Globe and Mail newspaper (or another newspaper) will publish an article worth sharing. I sometimes make PDF copies of those articles, and here are four of them.
When Harry and Sally Met Dick and Jane – Creating Closeness Between Couples
Digging the Friday afternoon
