I've had a lovely time but no time to blog. Last weekend we did the sabar workshop in Walberswick - Suffolk - where it all began in 2005. It was wonderful going back there. Modou (our teacher) has been sick though and had to go to hospital but he's coming out today.

I'm in P's van by the canal which is frozen solid - I've never seen that before. There's no running water as the source is frozen so they've gone with some containers to get water from the village!

I'm going back to Bristol today for a couple of days then off to Scotland for someone's 50th in Inverness - it'll be bitterly cold up there so I'll have to go very well prepared - I'll be playing a set for them at the party.

I played a small gig in a local pub in Hook Norton last night - it was good to do something in this area for a start although there was hardly anyone there - which strangely made me feel more nervous than a larger crowd ha ha!

Next week I'll be off with P to see a boat he's been working on in Belgium then we'll call in to see my daughter and lovely new grandchild again.

Anyway - that's it for now.

[FONT="Georgia"]
Last Friday morning, I covered the last football game of the season.

Tuesday night, I covered the first basketball game of the season. Four days later. So I guess you can see I'm not going to have too much idle time on my hands. At least for the next few months, the trips will be a lot shorter.

Facts about this trip:

--The only driving I had to do was to and from the school. From there, I rode buses down to Detroit and back.

--Hardly saw any snowflakes during the days we were gone. A few flakes on the way back, but not enough to get the road wet. Mr. Lake Effect was taking a few days off.

--Our team lost 40-0. It was expected. I won't get into everything, but they went up against a powerhouse private school. There is a basic unfairness when small public schools go against large private schools. I could say more about it.

--I road in the bus with the JV team and the cheerleaders. It was a fun time and a good experience. The kids are fun to be with.

--We stayed the first night at the Comfort Inn in Mount Pleasant. We stayed the second night at the Crown Royal Hotel in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit. The Crown Royal is a much more opulent place--but the beds at Comfort Inn were wider and the room a little larger.

--My wife stayed home--and yet I had someone else in my bed both nights! I'll let you ponder that for a minute or so.

--My older son was able to come over for Thanksgiving--he lives about 20 minutes away from the Crown Royal. We arrived about 3:30 p.m., and he came over about a half hour after I called. We had a pizza together in the hotel's bar and talked for about two hours. It was a good visit.

--On Thursday morning, the wake-up call came at 5:30 a.m. On Friday morning, it came at 4:45 a.m. We had to check out, get breakfast downstairs, get on the bus and ride to Ford Field in downtown Detroit. You will be happy to know that they had eliminated the big stink at the field left by the Detroit Lions the day before.

--There was a welcome-home celebration when the bus got back to town--at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday morning. Three police cars and two fire trucks, sirens blaring, escorted the buses back to town, and there was a crowd of about 100 welcoming the players back. From there, the bus went back to the school, where my car was parked. I got back home about 1:30 a.m. The next morning, I was back at the office, working on my story.

--I had my cell phone along, of course, and called home either twice or three times a day. My younger son spent Thanksgiving with my wife, and they watched a couple movies together.

--We had four people in our motel room: a team trainer, the athletic director, a statistician and me. I think the trainer is the youngest of the four, but not by much. One night (in Mount Pleasant) we sat around the coaches' room, enjoying pizza and beer (in most cases) and talking football. I shared the bed with the athletic director.

I'm glad I didn't have to do all that driving, even if the weather conditions were pretty good for Michigan in late November.

Anyway, I'm back now and getting into basketball season. The girls started tonight; the boys begin next week. I have to write preview articles for them--I did the girls on Sunday.

And it's nice to be back home again.

[/FONT]

http://www.thebigp.net/2008/12/what-ever-happened-to-having-class.html

Holy schmoly shittoli, it's been a long time. Truly my intentions were to be online by now and writing more frequently than this. Sometimes life just takes some funny turns and twists.

Thanksgiving has come and gone once again. I hope those of you who celebrate this holiday had a wonderful day. My own holiday was fantastic as was the madness and fun of venturing out on Black Friday.

As for the rest of things...

Family - All seems to be right with the world there as well. Yeah, there have been ups and downs with the crew, but things are okay. My oldest daughter is getting married, my oldest son got married, Boycub had a pretty serious sprain and crack to his growth plate, but seems to be recovering well. Babycub was a mite ticked that I vetoed her becoming the youngest member of a downhill ski racing team. She will get over it. Way little family member - the baby is now crawling all over, pulling herself up, and adorable with two new teeth.

Work - It's been a really hectic year so far. I've discovered I really do love the challenge of working with the "difficult" kids that have been tossed my way via the tutoring program I am running in my school. I still teach the classes I used to teach, but now I have this added challenge. It does make me ponder those old thoughts of getting my PhD in child psychology, but that's another blog.

In the meantime, I am happily "parenting" a whole new crew of kids. I am cheering for their accomplishments, going to bat for them when I feel they are being treated unfairly, kicking ass when they are being stinkers, and crying when things go badly for them. It reinforced my belief that there are way too many idiots out there calling themselves "parents". Do they have any clue how much damage they are doing to their kids? I think not. It saddens me.

Weather - Oy is it starting to get cold! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and shiver! I am thinking of a quickie trip to someplace warm and balmy would be a good thing this month. It's what I am asking Santa to bring me this year!

I do hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

One of these days I will really and truly be back online - really!!

Until then -

Ciao!

sense of whimsy - i don't know if i ever posses this charachter trait or whether i want any.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][COLOR="Teal"]What I Know for Sure About Women~
By Mark Leyner


1. Even little girls, in all their blithe, unharrowed innocence, have a presentiment of sorrow, hardship, and adversity...of loss. Women, throughout their lives, have an intrinsic and profound understanding of Keats' sentiments about "Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu."

2. This sage knowledge of, and ability to abide, the inherently fugitive nature of happiness somehow accounts for the extraordinary beauty of women as they age.

3. Women have an astonishing capacity to maintain their equilibrium in the face of life's mutability, its unceasing and unforeseeable vicissitudes. And this agility is always in stark and frequently comical contradistinction to men's naïvely bullish and brittle delusions that things can forever remain exactly the same.

4. Women are forgiving but implacably cognizant.

5. Women are almost never gullible but sometimes relax their vigilance out of loneliness. (And I believe most women abhor loneliness.)

6. In their most casual, offhand, sisterly moments, women are capable of discussing sex in such uninhibited detail that it would cause a horde of carousing Cossacks to cringe.

7. Women are, for all intents and purposes, indomitable. It really requires an almost unimaginable confluence of crushing, cataclysmic forces to vanquish a woman.

8. Women's instincts for self-preservation and survival can seem to men to be inscrutably unsentimental and sometimes cruel.

9. Women have a very specific kind of courage that enables them to fling themselves into the open sea—whether it's a new life for themselves, another person's life, or even what might appear to be a kind of madness.

10. Women never—no matter how old they are—completely relinquish their aristocratic assumption of seductiveness.

And here is one last thing I know—and I know this with a certitude that exceeds anything I've said before: that men's final thoughts in their waking days and in their lives are of women...ardent, wistful thoughts of wives and lovers and daughters and mothers.



[IMG]http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/kaberle77/mark-leyner_220x312.jpg[/IMG]

Photo: Courtesy of Greater Talent Network, Inc.
Mark Leyner, a husband, a father, a son, and a brother, is the author of eight books and a co-writer of the movie War, Inc.


I hope a few men out there will contemplate those words...

Have a great day!
[CENTER][IMG]http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/kaberle77/goodmorning.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]



[/COLOR][SIZE="2"][/SIZE][/FONT]

http://www.thebigp.net/2008/11/so-its-end-of-long-weekend-and-man-what.html

[FONT="Century Gothic"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]

I told you that I would tell you what I am thankful for today.
I got up feeling great today and I had a free 12 lb turkey defrosting in my fridge. I started it around noon and made some stuffing and other goodies. I finished it all around 5 pm and sat down by myself for turkey, mashed taters, homemade gravy, cranberries and homemade sweet potato pie.

It was great but I am used to feeding a lot of people and there were none.

Anyway, I am still grateful to Lonnie and his wife Alison for giving me the turkey. And here is my list of other things I am grateful for not just today, but always:

1. My kids and family. Even if they are not around, I know I am loved by someone out there at least and that is worth everything.

2. My friends. I don't have many but some of them really do care about me. The ones that don't are drifting away anyway.

3. My work and my health. I know that is two things but I wouldn't have one if not for the other. My back is shot and my health isn't great but what I do have I am very grateful for.

4. My humble abode. I live in a mobile home but I own it and my land and I have a roof over my head that I can still afford. The poor thing is falling apart as it is 35 yrs old and its not the kind that was built to last that long. Its a 3 bdrm, 1 1/2 bath that I raised both of my kids in so that they could go all through one school and not move all over that place like I had to do.
My yard is awesome and the neighborhood here is quiet most of the time. We all have a minimum of 2 acres so no one is sitting on top of each other.

5. The earth and all of it's natural beauty and inspiration. I am a child of nature and even as I age I need to feel connected to the ground, the earth and all that is around me in it.

6. I am grateful I live in this beautiful county in a free country. I am grateful that this country is waking up.

7. The career I had for over 25 yrs and still practice to a point. I loved being a Vet Tech and it took me many years of hard work to specialize in all the things I did. I was certificated 5 times over for Small Animal Nutrition and Small Animal Dentistry. I miss it everyday.My career that is!

8. The internet. Without it I wouldn't have a living now. I am grateful to Tim Berners-Lee for that. Not Al Gore.

9. The wonderful people in the Computer Science Dept that I work with. They have inspired, supported, and encouraged me to get my three associate degrees as well as my bachelor's degree. With that I will be able to teach part time and make enough money to live on with out disability.

10. To be alive still, everyday. To be awake, aware and enlightened. To be able to read and learn, to seek knowledge, wisdom and have hope and faith. To be conscious and to BE.
To have loved deeply and strongly.


I am grateful for being.

What are you grateful for today?
[IMG]http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/kaberle77/givethanks.gif[/IMG]







[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

happy thanksgiving guys im having problems getting into ur blogs....but happy thanks giving to u all...love and hugz legs

[SIZE="2"][FONT="Century Gothic"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]

Well after my last diatribe about no one reading my entry I sort of fell of the planet again. I have just been swamped between work, this database site I am still building, homework and trying to get some sleep. I have been reading everyone's blogs, however, then am too tired to post myself.

Well tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am very, very thankful for so many things. Tomorrow I will post what they are. I took half a day off today and slept two whole hours when I got home. I was given a free turkey so I can actually cook myself a dinner now. I wish I had some people to feed but I don't. My daughter is still up in Humboldt and I haven't heard a word from my son even though he lives here somewhere.

I was invited to my nieces but it's a two hour windy drive and I don't have the gas money to get over there and I have way too much work to do. So it's just me and the dog and cats.

I found this on Libertine's blog and took the test for giggles and was surprised how accurate this came out. The funny thing about it that all my life I have been drawn to the moon. My name from the Cherokee tribe that adopted me is Moon Dove. My business name (coined in 1983) is Indigo Moon Arts. And now, this silly quiz says I am the Moon!!
So enjoy and I left the links on so you can take the quizy yourself.

Your result for What Planet are You From? Test...

You are from the Moon!

Take What Planet are You From? Test atHelloQuizzy"

I would like to add that I don't really have mood cycles like that-never have. I never had them when I was younger either. Oh well, the rest of it is spot on. Very interesting to say the least. I will return tomorrow with a list of things I am very thankful for. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

[CENTER][IMG]http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/kaberle77/Happy20Thanksgiving20Wreath5.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]




[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/Chandramoon/2484.jpg[/IMG]


FOUR generations of females........how wonderful!

Wow what a whirl life has been recently - my odometer tells me that I've driven well over 1,500 miles in the last 4 weeks! My drumming, my lovelife and now my new grand-daughter is making my carbon footprint very bad - I'll never be able to accuse anyone else of not being green again without being a total hypocrite!

I've just driven down with my mum to visit my daughter and new baby so she can see her while she's still tiny - she's so beautiful and my daughter and husband are doing very well - of course she's tired out as she's recovering from the Caesarian.

My gig last night went well and I really enjoyed playing - I felt confident despite not having the bass player and Paddy played really well and for the first time he did three of his songs within the set and I played flute. We finished off with one of mine. We had visuals with our set too as Ruth who did the visuals for the album launch came and did them again plus she's done a new set for Shadow Puppets which was brilliant! P came down for the gig and stayed and this coming weekend we'll be away for a long weekend in Suffolk drumming with Modou by the seaside (another very long drive!). The following weekend I'm flying to Scotland to an old friend's 50th birthday party.

Somehow in between I manage to get my various essential work and home commitments done!

Anyway - we had loads of photos taken at the gig last night so I'll try and get some decent ones posted soon.

Bye for now!

[FONT="Georgia"]
All this fall, I have been wondering whether I would have a normal Thanksgiving this year.

On Saturday, I learned the answer.

The answer is yes.

Yes, I will have a normal Thanksgiving--normal for me for the last four years, at least. Each of them has been spent down to Detroit, where I went to cover state high school football championship games, played Friday morning.

For the fifth straight year, I will be doing that again. On Saturday, our team won its semifinal game 8-6. It wasn't a big win by any means, but a win's a win, and our team will make the 500-mile trip to the state title game again. Alas, so will I.

I have resigned myself to my fate for some time, realizing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it one way or the other. Would it happen again? I won't have to go down there five straight years, would I?

What a dumb question: Of course I would.

So on Sunday I worked on the article about the semifinal game. Then I start looking at maps, reminding myself where things are located relative to each other, what exits to take off the interstate, how to get from one place to the other and how to get back. I also have to make motel reservations.

Mind you, I don't mind going to Detroit when I can do it on my own terms. Like last summer, when all three of us visited my older son for a few days. But now the weather isn't so good. It's colder, and maybe there will be snow (though this week's forecast sounds pretty good).

My wife made the trip with me last year, but she will stay home this time--her training for her seasonal call center job starts Wednesday. But my younger son still wants to come along. So you don't have to worry about me not being well chaperoned throughout my trip. The chances of me slipping the leash and getting out somewhere for some fun are less than zero.

Let me say it plainly.

It. Is. Not. Fun.

I. Don't. Want. To go. Certainly not for the fifth straight year.

Especially this year. I wanted to spend part of Thanksgiving with my mom, since she is continuing to fade away. Every single bloody Thanksgiving since she went into the nursing home, I wanted to spend part of Thanksgiving with her. It hasn't happened, and it won't happen this year. God just doesn't want it to happen, I guess.

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house back in 2001. Nothing elaborate, but we had venison and gravy, brown-and-serve rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple pie (somewhat mashed) and (not pictured) pumpkin pie. We ate well ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/T-daydinner-11-01.jpg[/IMG]
(Of course, such a Thanksgiving isn't possible any more, because my mom has been in the nursing home since late 2005. Sigh.)

Another thing about driving to Detroit for a title game is that I don't control the clock. We leave for the 11-hour trip south Wednesday morning and arrive in the Detroit area long after sundown. On Thursday, it's Thanksgiving: Everything in the States is closed. Everything in Canada is open, and I'm hoping we can cross over to Windsor (Ontario) for a little shopping and a nice dinner. That means I have to find my birth certificate.

We'll spend all of Thanksgiving with my older son. On Friday morning, my younger son and I get up really early so we can get on the freeway for Ford Field and the football game, which kicks off at 9 a.m. Central Time. This year, our team is a massive underdog, and I'm realistic about such things.

After the game, I get back on the interstate and can spend the next 11 hours thinking about what I'm going to say in my article as I drive home. We'll get home about midnight. I've got to bust my ass home right away so I have time to write about it Saturday and Sunday. The paper gets put together Monday morning, and all my work has to be done by then. I can only imagine how my neck and lower back will feel once it's all over. Maybe this year I finally call that massage therapist after it's all over.

But stop the presses: Now it appears I may have another option:

I have learned (from the coach) that I may be able to ride south with the team in their bus--and it's not a school bus, either. Right now, I am weighing the pluses and minuses.

Among the pluses: Since my younger son stays home, he can keep my wife company on Thanksgiving. I don't have to drive for some 20+ hours, with all the wear and tear on the car (and the driver). In a real rarity, I would go somewhere and not have to do 100% of the driving. I could get used to that. Don't have to book a motel room. Someone else is in charge and gets to make all the decisions.

Minuses: I'm not in charge and don't get to make the decisions. No chance of a side trip to Canada--so keep my loonies at home. Probably won't see my older son. Disappointing for my younger son--he can't come along for once. Waiting around during several football practices. And I don't get paid the mileage money--and though we only get 30 cents per mile, it's still works out to a nice profit on a 1,100-mile round trip if your car gets 35 mpg.

So now that I have been thinking about it, I am leaning quite a lot towards riding the bus. Even though I found the birth certificate. That's OK--my wife and I have been talking about applying for the new passport cards, so we can visit Canada next summer.

I have another adventure to tell you about, but I'll post that in a day or two (assuming our motel has wireless internet).

[/FONT]

http://www.thebigp.net/2008/11/nyc-or-bust.html

[URL="http://bitzky.blogspot.com/2008/11/possible-turning-point-in-my-life.html"]http://bitzky.blogspot.com/2008/11/possible-turning-point-in-my-life.html[/URL]

Thankyou thankyou and thankyou again..lol..gdamn i havent been able to get on here for a couple of days...but i can see that efx2 has a few kinks atm that need to be fixed....i just got a bit worried in case you all thought i had gone again.....well this week has seen 2 funerals..go figure.....kims grandad and damos nans husband have passed...damos nans husbands funeral was yesterday and was a catholic mass then cremation..it strange because the first hymn that was sung was a very beautiful hymn and was the hymn that was sung at mother dears funeral...i am at peace with my feelings for pat now, i have no anger or dissapointment i just miss her like a child misses its mother and i have spoken to all my siblings who are more than happy to welcome me into the family with open arms...so at last i feel i belong of course this is tinged with sadness as to what could have been but i firmly believe i was sent down this path in life for a reason.......i wish i could go back to bein the legs u all no and love..but i guess nothing stays the same......my home life is wonderful...my eldest PAUL is at college and is going to uni to study to be a lawyer!!! talk about proud oh my god i am so proud...and hey WINDY he says he is goin to emigrate one day to america where he is goin to buy me a house..lol..LEE is now a good kid once more no running away smoking ect..just a normal 14 year old..KIM well she is 12 going on 21 beautiful and funny and quite frankly a biatch!!!..lol....DAMO is still my loving laid back fella and i love him dearly...as for LEGS ..lol..she still writes with crap puctuation and lots of dots..lol....I havent spoken to my folks for a while but im going to take a deep breath and go visit them tommorrow, they will probably still critisise me but hell i have learnt one thing life is to damn short for regrets so im going to just grin and bear it.....they r in their 80,s now and i cant survive losing them and not sorting things out first....well thats it for now...thankyou again my dear friends for standing by me and understanding....i must have done something right for you to still be there for me...will be posting pics and stuff over the next couple of days so you can see how we all look....lots of love hugs and kisses ....LEGS...xxxxx

I've been fretting a bit about a gig I have on Monday. I've had a bass player and a keyboard player in my little band for some time and the bassist has let me down a couple of times recently. At the last proper gig we had he actually went off before we played and left us in the lurch - this was because we weren't exactly sure of the time we'd be on and he had to listen to some of the other music first. It was a benefit gig and the other music was mainly African stylie and a really good atmosphere. We had to play only ten minutes after he'd hoofed it and I had to re-jig the set on the spot and it was very disconcerting.

And he's missed a couple of pratices including this Wednesday evening even though we have a gig on Monday with no explanation - I've sacked him leaving just me and the keyboard man who's really good.

I feel bad about it as he's a bloody good bass player and seems a nice guy - but even if he was the best in the world he's no use to me if I can't rely on him!

Grrrrrr - life is never simple. I'll have to try and find a new bass player in the New Year but it takes ages for someone to learn all the tracks........

http://www.thebigp.net/2008/11/day-trippin.html

I'm back in Bristol for a few days after visiting my daughter and her hubbie and the lovely new grandchild Lucia - she is absolutely beautiful. Here's a link to some photos..

Lucia[URL="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70318&l=232e5&id=637503707"]http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70318&l=232e5&id=637503707[/URL]

They went home today after a few days in a lovely unit where her husband was allowed to stay while they learnt all about breast feeding etc - we're so lucky in the UK - the NHS were absolutely brilliant - she had to have a Caesarian in the end and the treatment was excellent and the aftercare good too. They get so much of a knocking but compared to other countries we are still very fortunate.

And here's one for those who haven't clicked the link above

[IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/Chandramoon/2482.jpg[/IMG]

http://www.thebigp.net/2008/11/twists-and-turns.html