That Time The Beatles Sucked

Ok, first off, go watch to this clip.  You may want to listen multiple times, if only to John's slightly-off mic comment.  Listen to the sound of his voice and watch the expression on his face.  There is nothing but seething hatred as he hisses "Shut up, I can hear you!" at the frenzied crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP6Qki8mWc&spfreload=10

This was filmed on 1 August, 1965 at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool.  They performed for an audience and were recorded live for a television broadcast, only days before leaving for their second tour of the United States.  Their soon-to-be-record-breaking Shea Stadium appearance lay just two weeks ahead of them, and their previous European Tour had just ended about a month earlier.  This performance was just six songs, and performed at a theatre the Beatles had played before.

Beatlemania was at a fever pitch in England at that time.  The screaming adulation had already taken a great toll on the band, and by this point they felt as though it didn't even matter if they played well anymore.  The recordings of the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl from that same U.S. Tour are actually infamous for the impossible to ignore volume of the crowd.

So in this miserable theatre in front of these deafening fans and just before heading back out on the road (across the ocean, in fact), and after having toiled through "I Feel Fine," "I'm Down," "Act Naturally," "Ticket To Ride," and "Yesterday," John exasperatedly began to introduce their final number, "Help."

Stepping up to the mic, he began "The next song we'd like to sing..." The audience noise swelled, and a young woman, seemingly from the upper balcony, screamed his name above the noise.

[Here's where you're going to have to use your imagination a little bit.  The actions and tones are so subtle, you have to look for them and believe they are there.]

John's facade drops completely, and the deep, underlying rage he's feeling seeps through.  In a frustrated and abusive tone, he says it almost like he's about to strike someone: "shaddap, I can hear you!" "Hear" isn't only meant literally.  "Hear" in the sense that this noise is in his head, inescapable all hours of the day, shutting him up inside his house.  He has simply had enough of this. This life as the center of a hurricane.  He needs everyone to just shut up.

His expression lingers momentarily on an angry mock smile before he catches himself and snaps back to reality.  He brushes the hair from his eyes, glances nervously over at his bandmates, and continues "--is our latest record!"  He then does a little song-and-dance, trying to shake off the bad vibe that just settled over the stage.  He thinks he hears a chuckle from Paul or George and puffs out his chest and looks over at them, only to notice their backs to him, preparing for the next song.  He continues with his pre-planned punchline, "or our latest 'electronic noise' depending on who's side you're on."  He delivers it flatly, defeatedly.  He shifts anxiously from side to side, adjusts the hems of his pant-legs, and trudges on.  "Anyroad! We'd like to carry on with it, it's our last number. We'd like to thank you all for being so wonderful," he said, not noticing as his sarcastic smirk transformed into a mocking posture, and finally punctuated with an overtly-facetious chuckle.

Looking once more to his bandmates for support, he nervously chuckles as he announces, "and it's called: 'Help!'"

Here, after what felt like an eternity, the band launches into "Help!"  Only,  John's vocal is flat, George's trembling fingers are finding all the wrong tones on an overly loud guitar, and Ringo's drums, having not been mic'd for the recording, aren't coming through strong enough to drive the beat.  To make matters worse, right as George and Paul sang the second "help!", Paul's acoustic guitar - which had been resting against Ringo's drum riser - succumbs to gravity and the vibrations from Starr's kit, and crashes clangorously to the stage, right behind George. But this is the Beatles, and they've survived far worse mistakes than this. They quickly pull it together, George gets his guitar turned down just in time for his interlude, and they head down to the verse.

Paul, though, is feeling the downward dragging of his band mates and attempts to liven it up a bit by shouting one of his patented "hey!"s a split second before the downbeat.  John, however, was not prepared to do much more than slog his way through this one and call it a night, and gets caught slightly off guard by Paul.  He glances over briefly as he needs to begin the verse.

His voice is flat and intentionally lazy-sounding. He moves towards the mic so close his lips are brushing the grille and the treble is dampening from the proximity effect. He seems to spot an audience member to his left that for one reason or another has earned his fixation.  His voice seems to take on a seldom-glimpsed (at this stage, anyway) raw power that emotes through the hoarseness.

Ever the competitor, Paul is not to be ignored.  As the song moves to the pre-chorus, he offers another "hey!" slightly less confident in tone. To him, this band needed to have its act together if they were about to perform for the largest audience in rock and roll history in two weeks.

John acknowledges the encouragement by drawing out his vowels even longer against the rhythm.  He's not quite ready to surrender yet.  But Paul feels satisfied, as now John's sneering attitude has injected a new spirit into his performance.

The band finishes the first verse and jumps to the next one, ready to head home.  Only, while performing his interlude again, George had stepped back to inspect the fallen acoustic guitar.  He misses the opening "now..." he's supposed to be singing with Paul to start the second verse.  The two flash knowing grins at each other as George reaches the mic and picks back up where he's supposed to be.

The beat begins to slow again a little as they get back into their comfort zone.  But John gets a little too comfortable and completely flubs the line "But every now and then I feel so insecure," replacing it with something that sounds like "and then these pla-vah days and I not so self-assure" before recovering to finish with the proper  "I know that I, just need you like I've never done before."  He strains the words harder, hoping to recover the momentum he'd just lost.  Paul looks up, seemingly to the heavens, for a little relief to just make it to the end of the song in one piece.  Without even thinking, he instinctively shouts another "hey!" suddenly noticing that his reaction to the band needing some pepping up by now had become a conditioned response.

But George, Ringo, and most fortunately, John are not phased by this, and continue the ball rolling into the next pre-chorus.  Paul considers this for just a moment before he finds himself standing too still, and wiggles his hips.  Again, another conditioned response surprises him as he sneaks in a quick, left-handed wave in the direction of the nearest, youngest-looking group of girls.  This had become a trick all of the guitarist Beatles had adopted over the years to create a little extra frenzy in the audience, and - as a result - cover their poor performance.

The third verse begins with John singing and playing his guitar unaccompanied by the rest of the band.  He gets through it okay,  but his voice is flat again and lacks his usual, unmistakeable swagger.  The group join in again, and Paul is pensive. Had performing started to get as routine and lackluster as the others had begun to claim? Were they ready to take this act out on the road again?  You can see though, those thoughts are only fleeting and his usual, upbeat, live-in-the-moment performer persona flashes back on his face and he's ready to take this one home.

So now, right as Paul has found his resolve again, John flubs another lyric.  This time, instead of "And now I find..." he mumbles out "I know that I..." but recovers quickly enough to finish the line correctly.  But this is unheard of for the band. Sure, they all had forgotten lyrics from time to time, and John had been the worst offender, but never before have they forgotten them as a result of nerves.  It wasn't too uncommon at this point that they had zoned out and missed a line or two before catching themselves for their laziness. But this wasn't one of those moments.  John, their fearless leader, after all this time and all these shows, having been caught off his guard and off his game, John fuckin' Lennon was having stagefright.

Paul - and I'm unsure as to whether he meant to or not - shouts one last "hey!" before the final pre-chorus.  But this one is different than the ones before.  This is no longer a command you shout at your army buddies; a sort of "Hey, let's get a move on, lads!" This is an encouraging, we're-deeper-friends-that-we'd-care-to-admit "Hey, everything is ok!"

If you compare their final round of shouting "help!" to the intro, you hear two completely different mindsets in the band.  They had shaken off the rust of a month long break from performing (which felt a lot longer), and shaken off the dust of their previous tours, which they hadn't noticed until now had become a weight on them.  They were ready to re-conquer the States, which had previously left them with a taste for something more.

John triumphantly leaps back toward his amp, striking a pose perhaps reminiscent of a great Shakespearean actor having just completed his final scene.  He realizes, though, that this act is presently more of a mocking one; his disdain for the shrieking audience had come to color his view on his role as an artist.

The Beatles bow in unison as they did so many times, but John lingers face-down for a moment longer.  He knows what awaits him once he stands up again.  The curtains will close before him, George and Ringo and Mal will begin to break the stage, Paul probably won't say anything, just flash that grin he does so well, and Brian will have some stern words that he's surely already practiced in the brief minutes prior.

It's perhaps surprising, perhaps telling, that the Beatles chose to include this performance in their Anthology television series and the accompanying cd.  They must have felt this moment was a bit of historical importance.  This was the time when the audience finally broke the invisible wall that the Beatles had come to feel separated them from the masses.  And in a way, it's the first crack in the edifice of the monument that had become the live Beatles.

That this has nevertheless become cherished as dynamic performances by fans worldwide is a testament to the mythos that surrounds the Beatles still.  The professional sheen the Beatles had perfected, the passionate vocals from John, and the strong finish are powerful enough to convince the listeners (then and now) that it was a quality performance.  But in reality, what you are seeing here is video evidence of how the madness of Beatlemania had worn on these artists.

The Greatest Troll In The History of Ever.

July 3, 2016, former president Barack Obama addresses the American people.  It is broadcast live on all major news networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and, on a short tape-delay to censor any possible "communistic propaganda", Fox News...

"Good evening America, and congratulations on the eve of your 240th birthday. I understand President Warren has settled comfortably into her new role as 'Leader of the Free World' and is already nominated for her first Nobel Peace Prize for her integral role in the 'Feminist Revolution' in American politics.  Michelle and the kids and I have also settled in comfortably; to our new home and secure compound in a secret location in or around Geneva, Switzerland. Bo has already found his favorite places to frolic and run along the tightly patrolled perimeter.

"America, it is time for me to be completely open and honest with you.  Only after extensive research, and already well into my first presidential campaign, in 2008, were Michelle and I informed that I was not, in fact, born in the United States of America."

[pause.]

"It was honestly a surprise to me, too.  I had always believed that I was indeed born in Honolulu on August 4th, 1961.  I had a Certificate of Live Birth stating as much, which I employed when enrolling for college, applying for my first loan, and submitting my candidacy for my first elected position.  Never had I any reason to suspect that it may have been improperly filed.  But as the issue arose during my 2008 campaign, the research unit of my staff took it upon themselves to discover if any of these rumors had any credibility.  It turns out, they did.

"I was born in Mombassa, Kenya."

[long pause.]

"Taking stock of this newly discovered evidence, Michelle, my most trusted advisors, and I debated whether or not to suspend my campaign.  I mean, I was American through and through, right down to this one tiny, nearly insignificant technicality.  A technicality spelled out in the Constitution specifically prohibiting me from ever being eligible to achieve the highest office of the country I loved and served.  Eventually, we figured, did it really matter where I was physically born, when spiritually, I was a native son?

"And America, did it matter?

"Did it matter where I was born when I swore to protect this great nation?  Did it matter when I pursued and brought justice to our most dangerous enemies?  Did it matter when I guided the economy patiently through unemployment and recession to jobs and prosperity?  Did it matter when I returned our brave men and women home from the frontlines and combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Does is still matter, now that I have retired and retreated from your shores?

"The answer is no.

"Anything and everything I accomplished as President would have been identical had my mother returned to Hawai'i before my birth, rather than immediately after.  Every decision I chose, and every mistake I made, would have been exactly the same, and led to exactly the same outcome we see today.

"But alas, the law is the law, and I should not have been eligible for election.  I defied the Constitution at the very same instant I swore an oath to uphold it.  Now, having been granted immunity by the Swiss government, I can never again see my beloved home country again.

"So I bid you farewell.  So long, and sorry for all the prosperity, peace, security, health, and clean air I have burdened you with.

"Oh, and while we're being candid, check this out. I was originally raised in the Islam faith! Allahu Akbar!"

"Kiss my ass, y'all.  And goodnight."

It was later determined that the entire speech was false. Obama would go on to comment that he'd delivered it solely "to fuck with people."

Navajo Mountain, September 2014

Sometime around our Guatemala trip - when and how exactly, I still don't know - the Hope Alliance agreed to return to the Navajo Nation with the Moran Eye Center to do another joint vision screening/glasses dispensing mission.  Now, it's wonderful to work with Moran, and I always enjoy helping the Navajo people, but the situation comes with its own challenges.  Well, one challenge really: they don't need us.

Sadly, poverty is a widespread problem on the Reservation, and the assistance provided by the government is woefully inadequate.  However, a mix of Medicaid benefits and a cultural respect for basic vision care means that the majority of the people there who need glasses already have them.  They may be old, but a pair custom made for them even ten years ago most likely still suits them better than anything we have in our 6,000 pair collection.  The Moran provides a much more critical service with their screenings, and so after our initial attempt last year, they decided to continue, and we decided to focus internationally.

Saturday pretty much confirmed that we made a wise choice.  Of the 198 people who came to the clinic, only 70 were deemed to be in need of glasses.  And only about 55 of those 70 actually left with a pair from us.  Now, don't get me wrong, having helped 55 people to see is a wonderful thing.  But when you're used to dispensing glasses to more like 99% of the patients you see, this feels a little underwhelming.

But still, being with the Navajo is a cool thing.  They generally remain pretty straight faced, and have what comes across as a "serious" demeanor at first.  But when they smile, they have the widest, most genuine, most infective smiles.  It's more beautiful than the landscape.  And that's saying something because the landscape is truly breathtaking.  Nothing man made ever compares to the wonder of nature.  It was hard to keep my eyes on the road on my long, lonely drive down there.

I had hoped to reach Monument Valley by before dark, but my hopes of that happening faded as the sunlight did.  It was already dark as I reached Bluff, on the edge of the Reservation.  Between there and Mexican Hat, I was all alone in the dark on the road.  No cities, no streetlights, not even moonlight, as the crescent hung very low in the sky over a distant electrical storm.  Both the moon and the lightning shone through the desert dust and acquired a red tinge.  Once, a lightning flash silhouetted a towering monolith not far from the road, that was otherwise shrouded in complete blackness.  I don't believe in the paranormal, but it was fun to recall the tales of skinwalkers and try to scare myself a little.  I did see a pair of glowing eyes off to the left of the highway.  As I came closer, my lights finally illuminated the coyote to which they belonged.  Besides him, a hare, and a desert kangaroo rat, there was no other sign of life.

I would love to return again to help, but I think I need to devise a better approach next time.  I guess we'll see...

Time going backwards

When I was a boy, I'd read World Book Encyclopedia articles on galaxies and rockets until I was no longer reading words on pages, but traveling through space in the distant future.

Now as a man, I read wikipedia articles on Romans and Incas until I'm no longer reading words on a screen, but traveling the ancient trade routes of the past.

Co Incidence

This morning a patient told me completely out of the blue that she had found my music on myspace and enjoyed it.  (WOW!)  And then Maddy sent me a text a few minutes later telling me that she loves my music.  Wha?

And then I found a book written by an Ophthalmologist about international humanitarian vision missions, and I wanted to contact him, only to learn that he is giving a speech for my charity next month.

I've always been a victim of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, where I learn a new word and then hear it employed with improbable frequency immediately afterward.  That and the fact that the turn signals of every car I've ever owned blink faster than every other car on the road led me to believe that the incidences in my life were not perfectly random.  Therefore I must be either the center of the universe, or pretty close to it.

I think there's a blog in here about that somewhere.  Don't go looking for it.

Anywho, I'm brought back to that phrase that had directed so much of my post-5/11 life which is that every event in this life has the most profound meaning in the next.  Only, my current philosophical status on the afterlife is that it does not, in fact, exist.  At least not in the conscious, spirit-world, clouds and angels way of picturing it.  Whatever it is, my eyes, ears, and other sensory functions will not be observing it. The neuron functions of my brain will not be storing information and reflecting upon it.  However, the very molecules of my corpus will not cease to exist, and like the Ship of Theseus, I will continue to "be," even if I'm not being me.

So, if these coincidental occurrences are not meant to be stored and analyzed once the oxygen has stopped reaching my brain... how can that phrase be true?  Only if I act upon them while I still have the capability.  So, two coincidences today spurred me into action.  Whereas I would like to say that Fate is telling me something, I would quickly follow that with self admonishment for entertaining the notion that Fate exists.

But I suppose, if you were to read my history backwards, you could maybe, possibly, trace future events back to this day.  In that case, nothing more than sheer randomness did indeed spur me into action.

Weird.

Oh and I started listening to Frampton Comes Alive! again, but nothing coincided with that, so the album has had no further impact at this time.  C'est la vie.

Liam won't go to sleep on his own anymore, so my night time schedule has completely changed, therefore disrupting my blogging schedule.  So I've fallen completely behind.  What have I missed?  Nine days in October, let's see...

Monday we decorated for Halloween!  Tuesday was routine.  Wednesday I had to take my cars to two different shops to get them repaired, then Emily and I got some tombstones and other outdoor decorations.  Thursday I watched the Utes lose to USC.  Friday I took work off to watch Liam play soccer (so cute!), and returned my car for further repairs (which they still didn't get totally right).  Emily and I bought a new dining room chandelier and a bedding set.  Saturday we went to Cornbelly's with my whole family, then pretty much relaxed that whole afternoon.  Sunday we decorated outdoors, then Emily and Maddy went to Sarah's, and Liam and I went to Mike's and watched the Bears game with him and my dad and Emily and Lainey.  Then Liam and I joined Emily and Maddy at Sarah's, and Cyndi came over and we had dinner and watched "On Time."  And yesterday was routine again.  Whew!

Each of my family members needs me to be awake in close proximity to them in order to fall asleep.  Sunday night, Liam slept in a little bed on the floor next to me, and in the night Maddy joined me too.  Last night I had to sit in the hallway while Maddy fell asleep, then sit in the chair while Liam did.  Fortunately, Emily can sleep just knowing I'm awake.  But I'm getting worn out!

My parents took the kids out to some parks this morning while Emily and I relaxed.  Then, as Liam napped, I disassembled my driver side door and tried to fix the sticking lock.  No luck.  Emily and Maddy went craft shopping with Emmy and Lainey and Liam helped me on my next car project: installing the spoiler.  I can't believe it was so easy; I had been so nervous for so long.  I also replaced the antenna and touched up the paint.  I feel like a car guy now.

The girls picked us up and took us to Mike's house.  They crafted while the boys watched football.  Then we headed over to the Kings' house for the premier of Dexter.  All in all, it was a great day!!!

Work was quiet today, and seemed to go by quickly.  I went and got lunch from Bruges and ate it while I watched Baylor @ West Virginia end 63-70 on my computer.  Then I realized that I didn't have my office key with me for some reason, so I had to wait for my mom to come in before I could leave.

We were supposed to go to the Hope Alliance's silent auction in Park City, but our babysitter had to cancel.  Emily still isn't feeling that well from the new sleeping medication, and I was exhausted too.  So we slept while Liam napped and Maddy was at a tea party at Anastasia's house.  When she came home, she played outside all evening until we all fell asleep in our bed.

I had breakfast at the Blue Plate Diner with Brooke and his sister Alison.  I tried unsuccessfully to convince him to move his family back to Utah.  It would be so amazing if they lived nearby.  Oh well.

I just barely had enough time at work to fix a pair of glasses before I had to leave again to pick up Maddy from school.  She played outside almost all afternoon, while I stayed inside and relaxed.  It was a pretty good day.

I dropped Maddy off at school, had a coffee at Starbucks, picked up donated glasses from Riverton Family Eye Care, and went grocery shopping.  Then I was unproductive for the rest of the day.

Well, not really.  I did get our shoe shelf done, and put up curtains in the music room.  But I took the curtains right back down again, since my idea didn't work so great.  I have a new idea though.

This evening, Liam and I rode all around on Maddy's electric scooter.  He stood in front of me and directed me where to go.  We went around the school, the pool, the garden (and stopped and ate a tomato), Nainey's house, and then back home.  He is seriously at the cutest age right now.  We are getting along so well!

I took two ritalins today, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.  I got lots of work done, like frame inventory and setting up the visual fields machine.  But it did kindof give me a headache.  I picked Maddy up from EDP and we got Wendy's on the way home.  Then I called about 30 people to follow up on their invitations to the Hope Alliance's silent auction on Saturday.  Not a lot of people sound like they're coming. :|

Back to work, but no more studies.  It was an uneventful day as far as work is concerned, but at least the weather was very fall-like.  Tonight Maddy and Liam played out front with the neighbor kids while Emily and I looked for dining room lights online.  Boring.

We woke up to find Mike making crepes from scratch for everyone.  We all sat around the table for breakfast, then packed up to go home.  We headed straight over to the Kings' house.  They weren't home yet, and had changed their garage opener code, so I slid open their garage window, and let Maddy in.  She opened the garage for us and we went inside.  Sarah came over soon after.  Liam went down for a nap, and we played Scrabble out on the back deck while waiting for Dennis and Cyndi to get home.

When they did, they gave the kids some Halloween presents and Sarah an iPhone 5.  Then we went to dinner at Spice Bistro and went back to watch the Emmys.  But it got too late to watch the whole thing, and we went home.  I was so tired and sore and stiff, I really wasn't much good to anyone.

Today was the Dirty Dash!  I was so nervous the whole week leading up to it, and even when we set out, I thought for sure I would run out of breath and my heart would explode.  But we made it up and around the first hill just fine, and leapt easily over the hay bales of the first obstacle.  From that early point, I was encouraged that my body was keeping up with my spirit.  My dad and sister stopped about a mile into it, but I was still feeling good, so I kept on.  I decided that I wanted to give it my all and not skip anything, if possible.  Mike and I continued and looped around to meet my dad and sister again, and I was honestly shocked that I still had plenty of energy.

It basically continued on like this the rest of the way.  I kept expecting my muscles to give out, or my sides to start aching, or my lungs to start burning.  They never did.  I made it all the way to the end, and still had energy to spare.  I have absolutely no idea what to make of this.  I was utterly convinced that I wasn't in the shape to handle it.  How did I do it?  I don't know.

The rest of the day was an exhausted haze.  I mostly laid on the couch and watched football.  We went down to the carousel at Zermatt resort, and Liam was ecstatic.  Literally shaking with joy.  Then we fed the goats, which Maddy loved.  She pet them all gently and named them "Sweetheart" and "Snowflake."  She was sad when we had to leave them.

We're not able to get the Utes game on TV here, but that's probably for the best.  Listening on the radio, it sounds like they're going to get blown out.  I'm not even staying up for the second half.

I'm so glad the study is over!  It was grueling.  But I got the last three patients to come in early, so I was able to leave early.  I picked up some food from Saffron Valley, and we relaxed while Liam napped.  Then we drove up to Midway and stayed at the same house we rented last time.  Mike made us all chicken tacos, and we played until we were all exhausted.  I thought I fell asleep peacefully with Maddy and Liam laying by my sides, but I found out the next day that the rest of my family had a hard time falling asleep.  Sorry.

Exhausting day.  9 studies.  The last three are tomorrow.

A couple days to catch up on here:

Monday was a normal day at work, nothing big, but when I got home, Sarah was over to hang out with us.  That was a nice surprise.  We had take-out from Greek Souvlaki and watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Rope."

Tuesday I got to start acting like the vision clinic mission leader as I made a flyer asking for glasses donations and sent it with my dad to the UOA meeting.  Emily was productive too, ordering all the clothes Liam needs for his Halloween costume: Marty McFly!

Today we went to Ikea and got a new shoe shelf and some other home decor.  Liam and I took a nap while Emily went to see Dr. Jennings.  Then Dennis and Cyndi came over after watching Maddy at dance class ad we had pizza and hung out.

It's been a great week so far!

Today was such a fun day with my kids!  We woke up and ate chocolate muffins in the loft while playing with toys.  Then we went to the park at the school across the street so Maddy could show me how she goes on the monkey bars backwards.  Or "monky PARS!" as Liam calls them.

We were only there for about an hour, then we came back to cool down before we went to Wheeler Farm.  Poor Emily was still feeling too sick to come.  She missed us, but she did enjoy a quiet house.  Madeleine sketched each animal we saw, and Liam told me what the animal says.  Cows, horses (they say "YEE-HAW!" according to Liam), rabbits, chickens, turkeys (they pecked at sticks the kids held out for them), goats, ducks, geese, swans, and sheep.  The pigs were hiding in their homes.  After walking around forever to find a restroom for Maddy, we ended up at the huge playground they have there.  The kids played on that for a while before we stopped at a little tent where we could pet a sheep, a goat, and a donkey.  They had just stopped giving pony rides, but Maddy was able to sit on one for a picture.  She also got to hold a bunny.  It was $1, and although I was out of cash, Maddy was prepared with her wallet in her purse.  That was pretty awesome.

After the farm, the three of us ate dinner at Hoppers.  They were very well behaved and ate well.  I was a proud dad.  We brought home some dinner for Emily, and then took a big bath to get all the farm dirt off of us.  It was a wonderful day!!!

Oh man, I had such a migraine this morning.  I ate too many of their cookies last night, and the sugar did it.  I just barely survived work, then I went up to the Westminster campus for the Hope Alliance's Global Health Seminar.  The campus is beautiful.  I wish I had gone there, or new more people who went there.  I wanted to just sit around.  But I also felt like I looked more like a professor than a student.  I was wearing my red vest (for Utah) and my glasses, and I had not trimmed my beard in a few days.  When I had picked up some breakfast at Rocky Mountain Grill, Lori and Margie both commented that I look older, more of a dad and less of a boy.  And Melissa and Cynthia at the Hope Alliance both commented on it as well.

I learned that maybe somebody involved with the Hope Alliance seems to think I'm not qualified for the job.  Since this is a public blog, I'll leave it at that.  But I was very hurt, and I chose to defend myself via email.  That seems to have only made them hate me more.  I shouldn't have said anything.  Darn it.

I couldn't stay at the conference though, because Emily was ill, so I hurried home to her.  I stopped at Bruges again to get her a Machine Gun and me a waffle.  Oh man it's good.  When I got home we just laid on the couch together.  I watched football and tickled her feet.  Maddy played outside almost the entire day.  We went out to get some sunshine later, and I (hopefully) fixed our sprinklers from soaking the dirt next to our house.  Time will tell on that one.

Then Maddy watched the Utah-BYU game with me until she fell asleep on my lap.  I put her in bed at halftime and stayed up to watch the Ute fans rush the field three times, once for each time the clock appeared to hit zero.  It was an awesome end to the game.

We began closing out our study at work today, so yay!  And Bruges opened across the street, so I finally got to try the Machine Gun sandwich.  I seem to have come down with this cold-like thing that Emily and Liam have had, and it makes me exhausted.

Tonight we went to pick vegetables from our garden, and while we were there we heard corn stalks rustling at a nearby plot.  We watched as a stock shook and sunk into the ground.  There was a mole or something underneath!  We spent a long time watching and waiting and trying to see whatever little creature was there, but nothing happened.  Nevertheless, it was fun!

Maddy and Emily made Nutella sugar cookies when we got back.  Then we turned out the couch-bed in the loft and stayed up watching Monster House all together.  It was a good night.