Christmas Concert - Olive and Lucy - Lunch Date

Update - December 2 to December 8

-- Paige and the Worcester State University Chorus

Now that Paige is taking classes at Worcester State University she has had the chance to join their chorus. As part of a concert featuring the school Chorale and the Chorus, we attended a concert held at the Our Lady of the Angels Parish on Main Street on December 2. The Concert was titled: Winter's Spirit: A Celebration in Song. The whole event was a project of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at the school.

As a holiday concert, I had some expectations that we would hear a mix of traditional music and some lighter variations as well. But, I did not expect to hear Queen, Cyndi Lauper, and Dr. Seuss! But, they were a definite part of the mix. Also, they featured a guest appearance by Carlos Odria on guitar. Carlos has a Ph.D. in Musicology and is an adjunct professor at Worcester State. He gave a solo performance of his guitar, which was very impressive.

At most performances, either a recital or a play, Paige generally has a solo to perform. On this afternoon, she did not get to give a solo performance. She's very new to the group so we will have to wait for her to develop her repertoire for the Chorus. In any event, it was a fun time and then after the concert, we all went to Antonio's for some pizza, except Paige, who had the Mac and Cheese.

Paige took a prominent spot - Stage Left - Front (as usual)

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READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)

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-- Tuesday Brings Lucy and little sister, Olive for the Day

Paige with Olive

Olive behaved well today, and Lucy continued her fascination with the holidays. She wanted to touch all the decorations that Patti had installed. With a little effort, we have begun to establish the difference between a toy and a decoration. A toy can be dragged on the floor where a decoration can't even be touched. Lucy appreciates the difference once it's pointed out to her, but she always assumes something is a toy first, and decoration second.

Olive has reached the point where she likes to grab various small toys and see if she can stuff them in her mouth. The toys on the playmat are attached, so even when she gets it to her mouth, she can't swallow it. She likes to reach for and kick at the moving items. She also reaches out to grab any stuffed animals nearby to give them a taste-test.

-- Lucy is the Consumate (and constant), Artist 

Lucy and Mask

Lucy is always ready to express herself artistically. Today she wanted to make masks that she could wear on the face. She asked me to make a mask for myself, with me being the sad face and her being the happy face. This was accomplished by drawing the semi-circle for the mouth upright or inverted, depending on the mood we were creating. When she first asked to work on the masks, it was not clear to me exactly what she was asking for. It turned out that if you punch a hole on either side of the piece of paper and run a long paper or plastic straw through it, it's possible to use your teeth to grab the straw and position the mask on your face without using your hands. In this manner, you can then wave your arms frantically to frighten off any invading animals.

-- Lunch with Another Retiree

Richard and Ray

My friend, Ray Mariano and I had lunch Thursday at our usual haunt, O'Connor's Restaurant in West Boylston. For all the many years he worked downtown Worcester and I worked in Northborough, we found O'Connor's a convenient mid-way to meet for lunch. Now, that neither of us is working we still go to O'Connor's for no reason other than we like the place.

Patti has not retired yet, so we still plan vacations and activities around her working schedule. For Ray, his wife Nia has also retired so they can make longer-range plans. This winter they will spend a few months in Florida in the general Cocoa Beach area. It's a location that Patti and I have been to and liked very much. But, we are not destined to turn into snowbirds at this time. Maybe later, we'll see.
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How Flat?

Reading Update: I just finished reading "The World is Flat," by New York Times Columnist and 3-time Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, Thomas L. Friedman. His reference to "flat" is not regarding questions about whether the earth is a ball of dirt circling the Sun, rather it is what we used to refer to as the "shrinking" of the planet; the globalization, if you will. His point, among many, is that as the 21st Century emerged, we entered a phase of the Berlin wall falling, "Windows" (by Microsoft) rising, Netscape, Work-Flow software, Open-Sourcing, Outsourcing, Offshoring, Supply-Chaining, Insourcing, In-Forming, and Steroids. All of which have contributed to the need for the workforce to constantly be looking to upgrade its skills, capacities, understanding of technology and always with an eye to the future, where more change is inevitable.

Phony Prophet

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Reading Update: Another book I finished was "Brigham Young, Pioneer Prophet," by John G. Turner. I'm totally fascinated with the wide, wide range of phony prophets, and how they managed to snag hundreds, thousands, and even millions of passionate followers into believing substantially unbelievable crap about deities and afterlife. He rose to prominence in the Mormon faith after Joe Smith, the founder, was murdered.

He portrayed himself as following in the footsteps of other phonies, such as prophets Jesus and others who sought to place themselves in contact with the ultimate deity on behalf of the flock who followed. If you want to understand how prophets, all prophets, have deceived humankind, this book will help you. He is the archetype.