Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Getting Up to Date

I thought I'd post a few comments concerning topics about which I've commented before:

1. Music from the 60s. I continue to be amazed at the variety of old video available from the 1960s showing old rock and pop artists at the height of their popularity. A Youtube user with the moniker "nyrainbow" has uploaded a boatload of old footage from the mid-60s music program Shindig, which footage apparently only exists today as a series of kinescopes. Her "channel" is not to be missed!
2. The Gym. We are still going to Planet Fitness on Eubank Blvd. It has become a lot more popular since we first joined in October of last year, meaning one has to wait for a treadmill at times of peak demand. I'm having issues with my usual exercise routine due to the constant dizziness I've felt since our cruise in January, but I think I may be able to get by with some kind of interval training.
3. My Every Day Lunch. I now get an apple every day instead of a banana! That's the only change, however.
4. National Public Radio. I've finally grown weary of listening to NPR in the mornings. I find I have almost zero interest in anything they have to say, about virtually any topic, and consequently I've started listening to the local classic-rock station in the mornings instead. (Frankly, Ozzy Osbourne -- not to mention Ted Nugent -- is a greater voice of reason than Steve Inskeep, Renee Montagne and a thousand left-leaning NPR reporters! I've also stopped frequenting the "SuperTopo" climbers forum for the same reason: as fascinating as it can be to listen to people whose values and perspectives are completely different from my own, at some point I always conclude they're nuts, pure and simple.)
5. The Temple. I'm now almost 18 months into my two-year calling as an ordinance worker in the Albuquerque Temple. It seems almost preposterous to refer to a "two-year" calling, since most people stay on much longer than that -- and, in fact, the temple simply couldn't be staffed if that didn't happen -- but somehow I think I'll be ready to stop when I hit two years, especially if my mal de debarquement symptoms haven't abated by then. I still like going to the temple, but the notion of devoting every Wednesday afternoon and evening to it has become a little tiresome. (It's difficult to believe that the Albuquerque Temple has now been open for ten years!)
6. The Albuquerque Youth Symphony. Kiley is about to finish up her tenure in AYS -- the 2009-2010 season ends with the "Gala" concert (which features all of the orchestras in the AYS program) this Sunday evening at Popejoy Hall. It has been a good experience for Kiley, and we hope that it will inspire her to continue to develop her musical talents.
7. My Favorite Movies. I've gone back and embedded clips from Youtube for all fifty of my "favorite" movies that I first wrote about in April 2008. The list might be slightly different if I were making it today, but it's still pretty reflective of the movies I like most -- even if "R"-rated films are disturbingly over-represented.
8. Camping in New Mexico. It appears we might actually get to do some family camping this summer. Devery and Easton would like to go back to Villanueva State Park; Kristy and Chris reportedly want to so some overnight trips; and I'd like to go back to White Sands National Monument and Oliver Lee State Park. (With that many people pulling Dorine out the door, she just might agree to go!)
9. Hiking in the Sandias. I don't have very many specific hikes that I want to do in the Sandia Mountains this summer, but John Brewer and I have the goal of hiking the entire Crest Trail in one day. I can remember wanting to do that in my late 20s, although it never quite happened. I think I'm still capable of it, even at 50/51 years old -- the question is how will I feel afterwards (and whether I'll ever be able to walk again). We will almost of a necessity go from north (Placitas) to south (Tijeras), simply because the principal elevation gain occurs earlier in the hike that way, although I'd prefer to go south-to-north just for something different. I've told John that I will brook no shortcuts: we must stay on the Crest Trail the entire way.

[Photo is from the summer of 1992 -- about the time I quit being a lawyer and went to work at Sandia National Laboratories -- and shows what our family room used to look like. Check out that old IBM AT personal computer!]