2019 Additions And Projections

I has been a busy year.  So much so that you haven't seen much written here lately.  I would make a New Year's resolution to do more but I can't predict anything.  But I do expect more activity with new projects.

We don't do a lot of birthday or holiday gifts between the wife and myself.  Usually, we just buy things throughout the year.  We decided that our big purchases this year would be kind of like birthday gifts.

Our second year visiting the Utah town of Duck Creek we found ourselves signing papers on July 4th on a .67 acre parcel with intent to build on it.  I don't know if you know the area but it's a beautiful mountain location with wild turkeys and deer running around.  There are lakes, trails and lots of snow (well, seasonally... it's not far from Brian Head and Zion National Park.)  The lot is pretty much a bunch of overgrown grass and I forsee that there is going to be a bit of yard work over the next few years.  Here's a photo of us after we cleared a small spot and had a picnic lunch.

I think one of the most fun parts of picking up this piece of land is that we can put whatever we want there.  Currently, it's empty but I've been watching tons of cabin building videos, episodes of Barnwood Builders and Building Off The Grid-type shows.  The wife is probably getting sick of them.  It's exciting to me but I know that a lot of physical work and landscape design is in my future.  It could be a vacation home or retirement spot... who knows.  But, how to use it in the meantime.  That is a big question.  We resolved that with our next purchase.

We figure that you have to sleep somewhere while building and why not pick something up that doesn't have to stay year-round.  So, just around Kerry's birthday, we found a great deal on a 30 foot travel trailer.  We hit the road with it to test a few things out and now we are just waiting for spring.  Then we can start configuring a driveway and trailer pad.  Yes, I see a steep learning curve coming and I think that is why I am filling my head with all sorts of information that I might never use.  But... it's fun.

Otherwise, I am already excited about the new year and hope you have had some good fortune yourselves.  Other than that, there has been a lot of concerts and festivals that we've been attending.  Have a great year, my friends!

Podcast Post-Script

A few months ago, I decided to look and see how a few of the show links were holding up.  As anyone with a blog knows, anytime you put a link up, it is bound to get changed on you.  Well, what I found was sad.  Talking 80s Music is missing.  Any link to shows or interviews on the blog here are what they call dead links.  Talkshoe, which hosted the show, seems to have deleted all 5 years of content prior to becoming Ning.  Could it have been because of copyright issues?  Could it be that someone complained?  Could someone have notified me about this?  I don't expect to get an answer because my account there was also deleted.  Thankfully, I downloaded and burned all 208 episodes.  So, as upset as I can be about the situation, it has opened a window.

I've been thinking about taking the interviews and posting them to YouTube in video format.  This would be quite an undertaking but I think the time the artists gave up warrants it.  So, expect some information here during 2020.  If the project goes well...maybe a new interview or two may pop up there.  You never know. 

11 Years Of Bublé And Bliss

I don't know if it was anxious or nervous energy but, at 11pm on the day before my wedding to Kerry, I had to get out of the house.  We hadn't moved in together yet and I think I had too many thoughts running through my head...even though she had planned every detail.  She's amazing like that.

I decided to go to Wal-mart and burn some energy wandering around.  I threw some clothes on so I wouldn't join a future "people of Wal-mart" post.  The place was pretty empty.  Of course, I'd wind up in the music aisle.  It's just home to me or was back then before they made it a small nook in area surrounded by cables and TVs.

So much to look at, to hear the songs in my head as I look at a CD cover and question its value.  Maybe I was channeling early Marie Kondo.  Who knows?  I'm kind of funny when it comes to a few bands.  I have a few that I really like but am reluctant to buy an album for fear that they aren't as good as I think they may be or that I'll really like them.  Coldplay was one of those, Linkin Park another...and so was Michael Bublé.

I'd been hearing his songs for years and I loved Sinatra for Sinatra, Tony for being Tony and not so big a fan of covers of those songs.  But Bublé's originals like "Lost," "Everything" and "Home," kind of haunted me.  The songs drew me back but were they enough to make me want to buy a full album?  So when I saw a few of the Bublé CDs (3 in total) staring at me, I felt a moment of kismet.  I had to pick them up and wound up listening to them until I passed out.

I left one of the CDs in the car for the post-wedding drive to Teri and Lloyd's for the reception (which was outstanding) to listen to with the new Mrs. Hennessy.  She was hooked.  After we added it to her iPod, she would go back to it often, as would I.  I still catch her singing a few of his songs here and there at unusual moments.

Fast-forward 11 years... yeah, it doesn't seem like it can go that fast but it does.  (Hold your children close and sweetheart closer.)  Our anniversary falls on the same night as Michael Bublé playing in Las Vegas.  How could I not connect the dots there?  So, we are going to spend a day exploring and evening with some crooning.  Whether it was anxious or nervous energy, something special was coming that next morning and has changed the man I am.