A Bloy and his Blog

It’s the middle of Summerfest (one the the world’s biggest music festivals) and I’ve already been to some excellent concerts. The two that stand out so far are Peter Gabriel (as you would expect, his show was good both theatrically and musically) and Lucky Dube (a reggae singer from South Africa).

At Lucky Dube’s concert last night, a thought struck me in the middle of the show. Whenever I’m at a reggae show the audience is always the most diverse of all the concerts I go to. You seem to see all ages, races and if I may be presumptuous, even income classes. When you’re grooving to the music with such a diverse crowd, you begin to wonder why it is so difficult for all of us in this world to get along with one another.

Last night at Summerfest, I saw what could be the quintessential American band, Wilco. Wilco’s musical mix of rock, folk, country and even punk at times can resonate with an almost magical quality. Both the slow, quiet songs and the loud rowdy songs had this quality last night. The tunes that stood out for me were “Monday,” “War On War” and “Misunderstood.” The band also played some excellent new songs last night (which I hope will be on their next CD).

read the rest of: A great American band

Today I unveiled my latest web creation. It’s a site for the Wisconsin Region of the National Cathedral Association.

If you’re interested in a brief description of how I created it, take a look at my portfolio on www.BloyDesigns.com.

Update: February 9, 2007
As of today, the domain BloyDesigns.com no longer exists. Information about my web development work can be found on my resume.

Earlier this week I got together with an old friend I’ve been neglecting, my guitar. It was the first time I took it out of its case since I moved to my condo last October. Since then I’ve had it out on four different days and thanks to Tab Robot (a search engine for guitar tabs and music), I’ve even learned to play some new songs.

Many years ago I went through some personality testing when I had consulted a career counselor. After examining the test results, one of the things she told me was that I needed to be involved with music in some way or I would not be happy. Having my guitar in my hands this week reminded me how important making music is. It’s funny how when your life is busy and hectic, you can actually forget about the things that make it worth living.

I just got back from a week camping in Northern Wisconsin. One of my favorite things about that area are the bald eagles living there. While camping this year I saw the most bald eagles I ever saw in a week’s stay. On one occasion I saw a congregation of four eagles soaring over the same lake looking for food and twice I witnessed eagles diving down and snagging a fish out of a lake! I had never seen an eagle do that in person before so I felt quite fortunate to have it happen before my eyes twice in one week.

read the rest of: Camping with the Eagles

A few days ago I noticed (and eliminated) a few flies that were in my house. That’s strange, I thought, I’ve never had any flies in the house before. Yesterday morning I found a few more flying around and took care of them. Then I got home from work and caught three more! So that got me thinking, flies come from maggots and we all know where maggots get their start. I started to look in every corner of the lower level. Then I looked in the garage. Nothing. Not even a bad odor anywhere. As I stood in the garage thinking, my eyes landed on the door to the furnace. I grabbed the door knob, opened it with trepidation and got the answer. The mouse had breathed its last breath in my furnace closet, at the foot of the door.

I was glad the mouse wasn’t able to find his way out and chose to spend the last moments of life in a spot convenient for the house mortician, but how did he get there in the first place? After looking around, it’s still a mystery to me. Have a suggestion? e-mail it to me. The first person to send me the right answer will win a free mouse carcass (shipping and handling not included).

Tomorrow I will have worked at the Oak Creek Public Library for fourteen years. When I first started at Oak Creek I figured I would probably be there for five, maybe seven years. Fourteen years have past and I wonder where the time went. As Groucho Marx once said, “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”

In other news, today the planet Mars is the closest it’s been to the Earth in 60,000 years. Head outside tonight and take a look.

I was cleaning out the garage today and it hit me that I never posted any pictures of my condo here. It was just about a year ago that I started looking for a home to purchase. Now that I’m almost to the point where I’m only 29 years in debt, I thought it might be a good time to put up a couple of pictures.

There are four units in the building, each one occupies the four corners.

Here’s a few random thoughts that have been on my mind lately — some are important in the grand scheme of things, some aren’t. I’ll leave you to decide which is which.

America the Beautiful should be the national anthem of the U.S.A.

With the recall election mess currently going on in California, I’m grateful I live elsewhere. I only hope the Wisconsin legislature looking at tax freezes and budget cuts here realize why things in California are such a mess right now.

Is French Toast really French? More importantly, who wants to make French Toast for me tomorrow morning?

How can President Bush call it the “Clear Skies” plan when it actually allows more pollutants and greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere?

When the blacktop sealer they just put on your driveway is curing, it is very stinky.

Last night my sister-in-law called to tell me that the baby my nephew and his wife were expecting was born! It’s hard to believe that the toddler who used to come over to our house, stand and drool over the magazine rack while he intently tried to pull out the magazines with his tiny hands is now a father.

Congratulations to Mike and Kirstin and Happy Birthday to the newest member of the family, Adam James Bloy. May you live a long, happy and healthy life.