A Little Folding

Here's the next song from the poetry CD project. This one was inspired by a poem called "Beginnings" that Cheryl wrote about the beginning of her relationship with her husband.

Everything else in life is great, too.

Newman (and a song)

So, we've got this dog now. We've actually had him for a while, but we were still deciding if we were going to keep him or not. We've decided to keep him now, so here he is. Some of you may have already seen him on facebook. He is a four year old Shih Tzu from the Humane Society.



So far, things have been going well. He doesn't bark, he doesn't jump on people, he doesn't demand attention all of the time (these were the three main character traits I was hoping for in a dog), and though we were told that he was not housebroken, he caught on in about three days, so we think he has probably had some training at some point.



He has no idea what a leash is supposed to be, but he's learning. I don't think he had ever seen stairs before coming to our house and they freak him out.



The first few days we left him in his kennel while we were at work, but we started feeling guilty so we decided to try leaving him out. We expected the worst, but so far he hasn't destroyed anything or soiled anything. I'm having a hard time hating him.



Here's the latest song I've finished for that poetry CD project. It's called "Go the Way Of All Earth". Basically it's just a short chord progresssion that repeats and repeats and I improvised other parts over it. So it might sound repetitive, but on the CD it will either be a short clip, or else it will be in the background behind someone reading a poem.

I didn't make a video because there were too many parts and it would have taken too long.

There are mistakes...

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Home for the Holidays

Ben and I went to Winnipeg for two weeks and had just a wonderful time.

We got to spend lots of time with our nephews.

It also happened to be my Opa's 80th birthday on December 19th. So besides our regular Christmas family gathering, we also spent one evening at a Country Club for an exquisite dinner, and we surprised Opa with 2 days of skiing with (almost) the whole family!

We played lots of ping pong.

And Sonja and I played a mean game of Connect Four.
Apparently Ben had a really great time playing krokeno/knipsebratt.

And spent some good quality time with Jake and Christy.

Asessippi, Manitoba. Skiing paradise! Me and my dad, taking a break in the lodge. I actually didn't take any pictures on the slopes.

These are poutine fries. Fries with gravy and melted cheese. Believe it or not.

Happy New Year!

South of the Frostline

Here's the second song that I've finished for the poetry CD Cheryl Denise is working on.

This song is based on a poem called "Spirit Friends", which has a lot of metaphors involving things that move in unpredictable ways. I tried to reference this by putting the song in an odd meter and trying to make the melody a bit unpredictable as well.

Here's the video:



After I recorded it with the mandolin, I decided to see what it would sound like slightly slower and with the octave mandolin instead. If you're interested in hearing it, just click the "Play" button below. I still haven't decided which version I prefer, so feel free to weigh in.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

And on another unrelated note, I know I won't be biking anymore this year, so I can say that in 2009 I biked 1,373 miles (2,210 km).

It felt farther than that.

Andrea and I are both very excited about our trip to Winnipeg. We'll see you guys soon!

New Door

Very exciting stuff around here! We just got a new door that is both energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing. We still have to stain the trim and paint the door red, but for now I'm just enjoying it.

Loving Little Luke

Some entertaining videos of our sweet little nephew, Luke.
This is Ben's oldest sister's (Laura's) son. He 1 and a half now. We took these videos when they were over visiting this past weekend.
Luke loves wearing hats and getting all wound up before his nap.
Video 1: Thumbs Up!
Video 2: Crashing Before Burning (Nap time!)

Sunday Afternoon Stuff

We had two potlucks this past Sunday, and somehow I figured that warranted bringing my camera. I figured it was high time to take some family pictures, and pictures of some church friends.

This is Chuck and his first grandson, Luke. They adore each other.

I told Wil that if he smiled really cute for this picture, I would get him a spoon. It worked!

Greg and Wes.

Bev, Tim, and Ben.

Ben's aunt and uncle, Alyce and Larry.

Above: It was Grandma and Grandpa Bartel's 56th (I think?) Anniversary. (Betty + Laurence)

Below: In the evening, we had a goodbye party for Greg Regier, Ben's cousin. He recently graduated with his Agriculture degree, and he's going to Nicaragua with World Vision to do Ag development there. He is a very cool guy.

Ben and da boyz.

Some a Da Grlz: Amanda, Diana, and Katherine.

Katherine and Laura.