Absent and Preoccupied

One of the challenges (and continual sources of wonderment) I see in bloggers is the amazing dedication have in keeping their baby alive. Especially in those that post every day, with the amazing regularity of the post office. I held off on joining this club unless I knew I could post more than once every two weeks. Nothing worse than a stale musty website, my thinking was.

So here I am, with my last post about two weeks ago, leaving me humbled. Alas, it's been crazy, don't doubt me. Leö somehow became the least of our problems. (You're hungry? Look in the fridge and find a bottle, buddy.) No, Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and there was a momentary scare that it had spread into other areas, so for several days we were really concerned. That makes for a big elephant in the room when you spend a weekend together hunting. Then, Grandpa got a blockage in his gall bladder and had to come down for treatment. His heart's too weak for any sort of operation, so naturally nothing else worked and they needed to operate. Amazingly, he's pulled through, and is recovering with remarkable pluck. Oh, and on top of that, Brenda broke her foot and is somewhat hobbled by that.

As a result, I've kinda laid low on the blogging thing. It's taken a low priority. Hell, my screenplay, which was progressing at a nice clip, is now practically stillborn. But I'm hoping to resume both with some manner of consistency here, I promise.

Oh, and how is Leö, you ask? He's still a true joy. Better than that, he had two appointments this week, and in each he had gained five ounces from the previous appointment. The cardiologist said he's now big enough for the surgery, but we're still waiting until he begins to show some of the symptoms of heart failure - flushing, sweating, heavy breathing. Thankfully we haven't seen any of that yet, so we know he hasn't been suffering. It could be going so much worse, and we're all incredibly grateful that we are where we are.
---
In the meantime, I'm even more behind on my music. There's a ton of great stuff out there, music I have fallen in love with quickly. But I never listen to it in one sitting - a bit in the car, a bit at work, a bit at home. The only thing I've taken in all at once is Van Morrison - The Bang Records Contractual Obligation Sessions. Astral Weeks it ain't. 31 songs, 36 minutes. As titled, it was written and recorded under some duress, which becomes immediately apparent. Maybe 3 different melodies amid all these songs. And lyrics without much more variety or cleverness. Actual titles - Twist and Shake. Shake and Roll. Stomp and Scream. Scream and Holler. Jump and Thump. Walk and Talk. Wobble and Ball. Another? Blow In Your Nose. Nose In Your Blow. And finally - Hold On George. Here Comes Dumb George. Goodbye George. Dumb Dumb George. The only humor might the the title of track 13 - Freaky If You Got This Far (we'll put you in a jar and sell you, as a freak). Other than that, it's like anti-music - things composed as songs, performed as songs, but only in terms of numbers to satisfy a contract, and satisfy nothing else. Not the composer. Not the record company. And not the buying public. They've since been leaked, but I bet Van assumed they would never see the light of day. He might be right. They're an interesting musical archaeological dig, but nothing more.