First We Take Manhattan

First off, I should preface this post by saying that I'm a fan of the music and lyrics of Leonard Cohen. Especially his lyrics. Particularly and emphatically his lyrics. The vast majority of song lyrics aspire to doggerel. Occasionally they rise to honest, or thoughtful, or even inspiring. Only rarely, and by rarely I mean almost never, can a songwriter be truly called a poet. Leonard Cohen manages that in spades, but again that is a most subjective ideal to which I happen to subscribe.
Anyway, on to the point. Yes, it's strange but true that I actually have a point in this post. I just watched a movie called "I'm Your Man," a kind of combination documentary and tribute concert movie of Leonard Cohen's music, and my point is that it's very much worth watching. I'm not sure if you need to be familiar with the music to enjoy it--many of the performances are very different from Cohen's own versions of his songs. I myself was familiar with much, though not all, of the songs in the movie. Also, other than Nick Cave and U2, I was not familiar with the artists performing in the movie. Nevertheless, most of the performances were very good or better, and the final song in the film--Cohen himself performing "Tower of Song" backed by U2--was worth the time all by itself.
I strongly recommend that anyone unfamiliar with Leonard Cohen's music check it out, both his albums and this film. His "I'm Your Man" album is a good place to start. He's a fascinating person--a Jew, a Zen monk, a father, a "Lady's Man." It's great stuff.

Did You Miss Me

Woohoo, Shauna is back in Reno to stay. She'll be going to community college in the Fall. She'll be looking for a part time job over the next couple of weeks and we'll be working on getting used to living together again. It's been a year and a half since she went to Utah, and we're both very excited that she's back.
It's going to be an adjustment for Emily as well, now that Peaches will be here permanently. They get along really well so far, playing together and sharing the attention. They've both been used to getting all the attention so I imagine that will be the biggest change for each of them, no longer being the single dog in the house.
I"m really looking forward to the rest of the summer now. It's nice to have someone to share my days with again.

Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family

I've often heard it said that life is a Journey. Personally, I'm not a Journey fan. Oh sure, they have a couple of good songs but overall I think I like their album covers more than their music. I think life is more of a Bowie--you know, ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strain.
I've certainly had a number of different personae over the course of my life. I spent a few years as a space cadet, though maybe not quite as flamboyant as Ziggy Stardust. I can't say I ever really did the androgynous thing, but some things are a little too weird even for me. I would say that the term "misspent youth" would not be far wrong in my case, but I did have some fun. I'd say I also did the Thin White Duke thing, being all angsty and existential. I spent some serious time always crashing in the same car.
All that stuff, though, just contributed to me becoming the person I am today. Regrets, I've had a few; but then again, too few to mention. All in all, the changes I've been through have made me into a skin I'm pretty happy to walk around on the inside of, looking out.

Ramblin' Man

Shauna and I just enjoyed a terrific weekend together, her last visit from Utah. It was her last visit because weekend after next she'll be back in Reno permanently. She took the train this time, instead of driving, and it seemed like she enjoyed this alternate means of getting here. We had no idea that the train was so inexpensive--her round trip ticket between Reno and Salt Lake City was just over $100. It costs that in gas to drive. Unfortunately, it meant that she couldn't bring Peaches so Emily was quite disappointed.
So next week I'll be taking the train to SLC for a visit and to attend my father-in-law's retirement party. He's officially retired from the military this week, so he's having a big barbecue weekend after next to celebrate. He's retired from the Army as a Command Sergeant Major I believe, the highest noncom rank aside from Sergeant Major of the Army (of which there is only one.) He's a great guy and I'm looking forward to seeing him.
So at the end of my visit to Utah, I'll be driving back to Reno with Shauna and this time she'll be staying. She's stressing out about finding a job here when she gets back--we can't afford for her to be out of work for very long. She has a real problem with job interviews because of her size. I've been trying to encourage her, to help her feel positive about the job hunt. Any employer would be fortunate to get her. Also, we'll be getting her registered for classes for her Fall semester at the local community college. We're both excited about her going back to school.
After my days off with Shauna, I was of course very busy at work today. My days off came right after our annual inventory, so there's lots to do to get ready for our busiest time of the year. These are the times that I'm thankful for the awesome student employees we have working for us--they do a terrific job of allowing me to delegate a lot of what I need done, and do the work so well that I don't have to worry about it.
Speaking of student employees, a couple of my former student workers have invited me to the inaugural meeting of the Book Club of Awesomeness. They're planning it as a discussion and social book club centered around graphic novels. I've only read a couple of graphic novels, so I'm thinking it could be a lot of fun. Given my general lack of recognizable social skills and tendency to become passionately eloquent to the exclusion of other's opinions when it comes to certain types of discussions, we'll see how that all goes.