The 50th Posting...

Looks like I've reached some sort of milestone, no matter how dubious. That's right, this is the 50th posting to this blog since I began it lo, these many moons ago. I personally find it hard to believe that I've been here for 50 days, and yet time marches inexorably forward, I suppose. So thanks to you for reading, and for sticking it out even through the lean times of no blogging. I appreciate your patronage, and it helps to know that I'm not just typing into empty space. Not that it'd stop me.

The only problem with reaching such an illustrious milestone on a day like today is that I really have nothing to blog about at all. As I mentioned yesterday, Wednesday and Friday are my crazy days at school (8:00-4:35, with a break for lunch), and today I had a meeting at 5:30 as well. Thus the recap of the day's events will be lame, and I just don't want to go there.

Instead, I'll briefly hit back on the whole topic of annoying ads. It's funny how we're such a subjective bunch. It struck me when I read Uncle Dale's comment about the Ikea ad (which I find really funny) that maybe half of you agree, and half disagree with me. How is it that when that ad comes on, I actually want to throw objects at the TV, and yet, others are unaffected? It's so fascinating to me that we're all so different. I'm not even sure why this is something I'm fascinated by, to be honest, because it seems so elementary. And yet, I am. I suppose it's discovering the wonder in even the most inane things that keeps us somehow moving forward as a society, and keeps us from being affected by that general malaise that gets us stuck in the most stubborn ruts of selfishness and indifference to the world around us.

Bachelorhood, day 7 (I'm not counting my travel days in this, by the way). Things continue to click along rather smoothly here. It was garbage day today (aren't you happy you stop by to read such incisive and interesting material?), and I only had one bag of garbage. It wasn't even full. It's not that I long for bags overflowing with diapers; it's just a statement on my current situation. I had nachos for dinner. Oh, but they had cheese on them, which qualifies as a diary item for the day. Plus, I had a fruit and veggie juice that claims to have two servings of said items per glass, so I'm ahead of the game, methinks. Don't worry--the other day I made myself roasted potatoes and real vegetables (although they were the frozen kind). Remember, I actually enjoy cooking, just not on days like today.

The one thing that's driving me the most crazy about being here alone isn't the fact that I go to sleep in an empty bed every night; no, it's the fact that I have no compelling reason to leave the house without wife and child. I do my walks to school, and that's about it. When the fam was here, we'd go walking or out to the happening town of Red Deer, or whatever, but it's just not the same when you're all by yourself and have no further reason to do so.

To remedy this situation, I've decided to take a drive tomorrow. Not sure where I'm going to end up (except that I'm heading in the general direction of Drumheller), so that should be fun. And wouldn't you know it, the time that I can actually take time to stop and smell the roses and take all sorts of photos of random things, I don't have the camera (it stayed in Langley to document Theo, which, I admit, is more important).

You know what I'd really like to document? The small-town cemetary. Seriously, I've driven by several of them (including the large-ish one here in town, and one small one on the outskirts of town that seems to belong entirely to one family), and I'm always fascinated by them. But it's tough to say to the wife, "Hey honey, just wait here in the car with the boy while I head out into the snow to take some random pictures of this cemetary." No, don't think that's a good idea, really. So now I have time, but not the means; the motive, but not the opportunity (or something like that). Oh well. I'm also thinking about documenting the small-town water tower.

Truth is, I'm just fascinated with small town life. It's such a change for me that I almost feel like a tourist in a foreign country. I'm sure all the locals think I'm a nerd with my camera (all I need is the Hawaiian shirt and money pouch, and I'm good), but it's so interesting. I guess that, as a "big city" boy (who actually grew up in a rather small suburb, albeit one that was close to a big city), I always wondered what could possibly compel someone to live in a place like this. But now that I've lived here for a while and found that it's not as bad as I thought, I'm interested in the way of life. It's all about broadening your horizons and learning as much as you can from everyone you meet (and assuming that everyone you meet has something to teach). If you're too interested in what comes next, you miss the moment, and I'm tired of living my life trying to catch tomorrow's moment.

I honestly didn't intend to philosophize tonight, but there you go. With that, it's time to sign off for the night and hit the hay. Thanks for stopping by, have a super day, and I'll see you here again tomorrow.