I AM STILL HERE ON THE BLOG

Eeek! It's been a few weeks since I posted anything here. I have been remiss, won't take so long next time!

Here are some pictures from the past several weeks.

Ichiro enjoyed climbing in the Christmas tree when we went to take it down.

This is the "before" picture.

This is "after"!

And Phinney doesn't know what to think of my "new look"...

Mrs. Snave and I enjoyed watching "Coraline" in 3-D on our Blu-Ray player.

One of my favorite teachers of all time, Erros Osterloh, passed away in early January. She taught Earth Science classes at La Grande High School, and was legendary to anyone associated with her. She had a true enthusiasm for learning and for life itself, and took large groups of us on amazing field trips. My best memories of high school are of her class and of those fieldtrips. In the above picture are two of my classmates, her son Doug Osterloh (L) and Mark Kester (R) at the Osterloh's house the night before Mrs. O's memorial service.

Mark visited at our house that evening, and he and Ichiro took a real liking to each other!

The memorial service was Monday, January 18. Here I am that evening, taking a nap on the couch with Ichiro and Zeva:


Our band had a good show at the Mt. Emily Ale House here in La Grande last night. The first couple of times we played there we drew about 30 people, then only about 20. Last night we had roughly 50-55 people! Lots of fun. I am playing the keyboard while standing now, and it's a blast. I have better breath support for singing, I can move around more, and I have more energy and confidence. Last night was our first job with me doing it that way. All of us played well, and I believe everyone who came out to hear us had a good time! Our next show there will be March 6.

Other stuff coming up includes a family trip to the Elton John-Billy Joel concert in Portland on Feb. 10, a trip by me to Eugene for an Oregon Ducks basketball game in February, and then possibly another trip for a speech seminar either in Portland or Eugene around March 18 or 19.

Work is very busy-fying. May be able to retire from the schools in about 5 1/2 years, need to start investigating that option. Working with the kids in the schools is still fun, but with continuous cuts in funding, the workload keeps increasing each year... besides, I find I am having lots less patience these days with cranky parents who expect more service when we have fewer people to provide it than we did a few years ago. This can lead to school administrators getting cranky, and sometimes to teachers getting cranky. Time to look into what it will take to retire on a pension, and then work with adults part-time at the hospital, at the nursing home, as a traveler for an on-call agency, and maybe to offer my services at the local VA clinic. I want to retire from school work, but I don't want to completely quit working! 8-)

I get a spring break, but have no plans made for it at this time.

The Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater is coming up on Memorial Day Weekend in May, and I have my tickets for that.

A number of us on Facebook have been talking about some outdoor adventures in the Wallowa Mountains this summer. I am working on getting my legs and back in better shape so I can handle some hiking. I need to take off 10+ pounds and build up some muscle tone. Have to be careful with my surgically-repaired spine, so will mostly do aerobic stuff with light lifting at the hospital gym, go for more walks, and eat a more healthy diet.

So I'm starting at 194 pounds. Goal? Let's try 180-183. I will keep you posted on that!

I won't take so long to put up a blogpost for next time!

BLOGSTUFF + THE FACEBOOK PHENOMENON

"We are all made of Blogstuff!" - Karl Saygan

I will still be doing the weblog thing about once a week, for my own enjoyment and hopefully for yours as well. My blog didn't die a few months back, and it won't die now. It was kind of like it had a serious illness, then was reborn into something else as it recuperated. I would prefer it remains a random collection of snapshots and glimpses into my life, rather than the fun but negatively-focused thing it used to be.

I still have plenty of opinions, mostly leftist and agnostic, but I feel no need to try and convince others (particularly those who will never agree with me anyway or who consider me stupid for what I believe) that my way is the only way. An argument is not a real argument when someone's purpose is simply to show off or lecture, versus actually listening to and learning from the other person. And most of the arguing I have seen on internet blogs is not arguing, but rather a contest where the animals see who can do the best job of marking territory.

So while my blog is reduced to where it will be about me and my little world, I have discovered Facebook in recent months... and Facebook seems to (at least potentially) be about a lot of people and a lot of things.

I have been spending most of my online recreational time with Facebook lately. I find Facebook to be a great social networking tool. I am finding all kinds of people I had lost track of for the last 30-40 years, discovering people I went to high school with and about whom I now ask myself "Why didn't I know this person back then, or pay more attention to him or her back then?" There are so many REALLY GREAT people I'm finding, as I make new friends from among those with whom I have been merely acquainted until now. It is an expanding kind of experience, and it is helping me learn more about other people, that my life is not the end-all and be-all in the world.

From talking with other "Facebook friends", I find that "Facebook friends" are often kind of in several groups. These are mine:
1. Family
2. Friends I have known for years
3. People I know from work
4. Local people I have seen frequently at our band's shows, and who have made positive comments about our band
5. The aforementioned people I should have known years ago and are just now discovering... my "lost friends", if you will.

Sometimes these groups bleed into one another, and my hope is that some of my friends from one area can find friends from one of my others... that my FB page can serve as a tool for some of friends who don't know each other getting to know each other!

I haven't gotten into the Facebook games and apps, and don't really plan to. I spend enough time on Facebook as it is, just keeping up with everyone on my "friends" list.

If you aren't already, I would like you to be my Facebook friend!

My Facebook page is much like my blog nowadays in that I avoid the heavy stuff and mostly just want to have fun there. If I want "heavy", I can go look at the TV news or at online news sites.

Search for me under "John Evans", and since there are thousands of those (!), refine your search for "Tri-Cities, WA". (I live about 120 miles from the Tri-Cities, or the Dry-Shitties as they are sometimes known, but I guess with Facebook it uses regions rather than specific towns for refining searches.)

And in case you use a name other than your own when you post on blogs, please send a message along with your friend request to let me know who you are.

And for those of you whose names I already know... I might find some of you first! 8-)>

Cheers!