Guitar Tapping

I enjoyed this a few days ago. My hands are way too stiff to ever do that on a guitar.

Happy New Year!

Yes, it's been a long time. I make no guarantee that I will post faithfully in the future, but I do appreciate the few of you who have continued to check back occasionally. You're either persistant or bored.

In the past weeks, (okay, months) my family celebrated three birthdays, reacquainted ourselves with a traveling family band, enjoyed a visit from my grandparents, and many other fun activities. We also found a church which we intend to join.

On the work front, I've had a few outdoor projects lately. I built a deck, and I've started a gazebo. The gazebo is actually a replacement for an existing gazebo which was beginning to fall to pieces. A feng shui advisor told the homeowner that a wooden structure was one of the best things he could have in that quadrant of his property, so he figured he better have one that was in better condition. I hope he doesn't blame me if he gets sick or has a car wreck before I get the new one built.

Gems

Last Tuesday, our family went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. There are many great things at that museum, but the highlight for me on this trip was the new gem exhibit. We saw all manner of exquisite necklaces, rings, earrings, and other jewelery, including the brooch above. Some stones were cut but not set, being too large (as in egg-sized) to ever be worn. Many of the pieces were brand new, while others were centuries old. There were a few that had been part of the Russian crown jewels. Next time you're at HMNS, be sure to visit the gems.

Jury Duty

Last week I went downtown for jury duty. It was my first time to go, but most of the experience was what I expected. There were long periods of doing nothing, I was told lots of things I already knew, I was herded from place to place with only a number for identification, and I was asked probing questions by an attorney. What I didn't expect was for my entire jury panel to be dismissed because there were not enough people willing to apply the law. Out of sixty perspective jurors, thirty-six said they were unwilling to give a guilty verdict, regardless of the evidence, knowing what the minimum sentence would be. Each side was to be allowed ten preemptory strikes, so twenty-four was not a large enough pool to choose a twelve-member jury.

It would have been hard to maintain a belief in the basic goodness of man after watching all those people say they couldn't follow the law, knowing from what I heard that most of them were just trying to get themselves sent home. The charge was evasion of arrest, so it's not like the law was controversial or immoral.

Double Curse

Here's a thought I heard today:

Men never have to bear Eve's curse, trouble in childbirth, but when women become breadwinners, they take on Adam's curse as well as their own.

I'm not sure I agree with all the potential implications of that statement, but it is an interesting way of looking at male abdication of responsibility.