Matthew will be five tomorrow. He was born on a Monday, and his birthday falls on Monday again this year.

He is such a great little guy. He loves being read to, playing with K’Nex & Legos & Duplos, and playing games like Uno & Trouble. In the summer he is a superb insect & amphibian wrangler. Much to our surprise, he even caught a live bird bare-handed last fall.

It’s been amazing to see him grow from a tiny baby, through toddler-hood, and on to being a polite, thoughtful, creative, imaginative, precocious little boy.

I am so proud of him and I love him dearly.

It was five years ago this coming Saturday that my Grandmother passed away unexpectedly. She died the same day that pictures of Matthew arrived in the mail. She never saw them.

Grandma was the story teller in my extended family. She loved telling stories about her life. When I was very young I loved her stories. When I was a teen-ager the stories became un-cool and repetitive. By the time I began to appreciate them again, she was starting to forget them.

What can I tell you about her?

She had a horse named Beauty, she loved to dance when she was young, she won poetry contests in high school, the first time she kissed my grandfather all the lights in town turned off, her father beat her mercilessly, she carried herself with a sort of regal elegance, she loved Lucille Ball, she wore high heels very late into life, she was always cold, she loved to laugh, she liked word games, she was the quintessential pastor’s wife and she loved her husband dearly.

I miss her.

Matthew and Jeannie stayed home, and didn’t attend the funeral. Neither of them was in any shape to travel and I didn’t want to risk either of them with the trip.

I gave the eulogy and her body was committed to the cold, sandy soil of the cemetery outside of town, where so many other family members are buried.

Matthew appears to have inherited her story-telling gene.

I asked the author, of the previously referenced how to slice things in the kitchen link, how to slice a mango. He responded with a link to “Basic Knife Skills”, which has pictures and instructions for dealing with mangoes about 3/4 of the way down a very, very long page.

Perfect, I can’t wait to try it.

Really nice diagrams of how to cut up things in the kitchen. i wish they showed mangos.

[Link Courtesy of Dave's Picks]

I was out for a walk around Langton Lake in Roseville over the lunch hour today. When I asked one of my co-workers for more detail about an interesting dream he happened to mention in passing, he responded with “No, you’ll just blog about it.”

Moi, I would never do that … or would I.

So I’m not going to New York, thanks to a last minute change of plans. I’m very happy to be in town for Matthew’s birthday and Valentine’s Day of course, but I feel a little disappointed at not being able to see “The Gates.” Maybe I’ll get a poster.

I’ll be in Manhattan next week for business. I’ve never been to New York before. New York in general and Manhattan in particular are so enshrined in my consciousness from movies, music, television and books it’s going to be thrilling to experience it in person.

If anyone has any suggestion for my short trip, drop me a line or leave a comment.

I’m definitely going to check out The Gates which is an art project opening at Central Park.

The Gates is exactly the kind of art I’ve come to really enjoy lately. This installation is by design short lived, beautiful, and has no specific purpose beyond its own beauty.

Art like this reminds me of what it is to be human. It reminds me of fireworks and the brief after image of the pyrotechnics you see when you close your eyes. It reminds me of summer and summer love. It reminds me of poetry that no one writes down. It reminds me of a fabulous joke that no one can remember the next day and which even if recalled wouldn’t be the same. it is the swirling of dresses and the feet of dancers moving to a tango. It reminds me of a kiss, though fleeting is long remembered. It reminds me of you.

It also reminds me of some poetic verses from the bible on the topic of human mortality.

I’ve always thought there is a kind of beauty and artistry in short lived but exquisite creations like this. For similar reasons I’ve always wanted to see a Mandala Sand Painting. I’ve always wanted to see one of these in person, particularly at the moment when they sweep it all up.

Saturday Jeannie and I went to see a live performance of A Prairie Home Companion at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul. The show was great. It was a lot of fun to see this radio show, which I’ve listened to for so long, performed in person. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing Garrison Keillor in person, you really should see him. My favorite quote from this love themed show was this.

After the show we headed over to the St Paul Grill for a nice quiet dinner. The earliest reservation I could get was 8:30 P.M. so we sat in the bar until our table was available. The bar was full; the only place to sit with room for two together was a table for five. I figured someone might sit down with us, which would be fine with me, as I like meeting interesting people. A few minutes later a threesome composed of elegantly dressed women, asked us if they could sit with us.

After a little small talk I learned that I had the pleasure of sitting with the mayor of Burnsville, Elizabeth Kautz and city council member Teresa Daly who recently ran for congress, albeit unsuccessfully, against incumbent congressman John Kline. It was fun to have even a relatively short conversation with such interesting and passionate people.

When I fired up iTunes today, I discovered a new feature of the music store. Called iTunes Essentials, it’s like a list of really cool songs in a particular genre, by a particular artist, or related to a certain theme, for instance “00′s Alternative Rock”, “Stevie Wonder”, “70′s One Hit Wonders” or “Valentine’s Day Alone.”

The title of one of these collections caught my eye, “Gay Pride: Girls”. I clicked on the link to check out what the “girls” might like. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I share a remarkable musical affinity with demographic targeted by this Essentials Collection.

I’ve been accused of liking girl music; it turns out that perhaps what I really like is music that girls who like girls like. This explains a lot.

Here is an interesting first person account of Iraqi Out-Of Country Voting.

I love voting. I hope this election forms the basis of a democratic and peaceful tradition in Iraq. I hope it wasn’t propaganda.