The Tempest in Lost

Okay, last July I pointed out the striking parallels between Lost and The Tempest. Now we find out that the island's power station is called The Tempest!!! Coincidence? I think not!

It's Okay to be Amused

It's Okay to be Inspired

The List

My friend and co-blogger, goes by the moniker troll, recently blogged about his List. I like the term Bucket List, even though apparently the movie wasn't that great.

Quite a while ago, I created my own list of things I wanted to accomplish before I die; I still have the list, on 2 8.5x11 sheets of lined paper, 52 items. I wasn't clever enough to put a date on the list, but I'm pretty sure it was made after I was married (at least after I was engaged), and before the birth of my first son (who is now 20, so that gives you an idea).

Of course our lists are going to evolve over the years. There's a lot on that old list that I no longer have any desire to do. There are about 10 things on it that I've done so far -- I'm clearly not pacing myself well to finish before I turn 100. I say "about" 10 because some of my entries are pretty vague -- "meet someone famous", "learn to play guitar" -- whether I've done those depends on what the meaning of is is.

I'd create a different list if starting today.

For two items on the list, it's too late. Here are those items, with comments:
#11. Visit the Soviet Union (not sure why I put this on the list in the first place)
#23. Have three children (we stopped at two, so I get partial credit, right?)

Next post, I'll talk about the things on the list that I have already done, the things yet to do, and the things I don't want to do any more.

SNAP!SHOT

Okay, so I've been back home for a while now. Here are some pix from the trip. I haven't added any posts about the rest of the trip because I don't know if anyone is interested. If I get some requests, I'll post about more of the trip. It was amazing.

Special: We Are All Just Fine -- Part II

I am skipping ahead to today, even though there is over a week of backed up stories I still owe you. But just in case anyone is concerned...

At 6:05 pm local time today, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi in downtown Minneapolis collapsed. Jake and I were several miles away in Champlin, watching our cousins play basketball, when the tragedy occurred. We are okay and our family in Minnesota is okay.

We are of course praying for the families of those who were not so fortunate.

24. Goal Ball

I know what you are pondering. "Why did they stop in Bemidji?" you are asking yourself. Ponder no further, I will enlighten you.

We went to Bemidji to see my friend Rob. Rob is a teacher at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind in Tucson. Among his many talents, Rob is a goalball coach. One week out of every year, he coaches goalball in Bemidji at a camp for visually impaired students. Although we've had plenty of chances to see him at work in Tucson, for some reason we never managed to make it to a game until we got to see Rob at work in Bemidji.

We started with a tour of Bemidji State University, where the camp takes place. It's a really beautiful campus, on the shore of Lake Bemidji (they use the lake as a parking lot during the winter). Then we went to the gym to see the students play goal ball. We were there at the very end of the camp, so we were seeing the tournament that determined the camp champion goalball team. The game is fascinating, though like soccer, I think goalball would be more fun to play than to watch.

We had dinner with Rob at a lakeshore restaurant, and I also got to join Rob for breakfast Saturday morning before we headed off for a short 100-mile drive to Bay Lake.