BoomFlag

Whenever I sign up for a new service– online or otherwise– and they want an email address, I create a custom address that identifies the company. For example, when I signed up for Vonage a few years ago, I used jeff-vonage@neobox.net. The reason? If I start getting spam at that address, I know exactly who sold my information (or whose customer database was compromised).

Behold one of many spam messages I received today:

Yep, there’s the Vonage spam-trap address. Since it’s highly unlikely a spammer would guess that, it’s clear that Vonage either sold my information or lost their customer data. Either way, shame on you, Vonage.

As an aside, if I’m signing up for a new service where I don’t care whether they ever email me, I use guy@place.com. To whoever owns the place.com domain– especially if your name is Guy– I’m really sorry.

One thing that’s nice about getting older* is friends. I just had lunch with my good friend Kendra, who I met during my junior year of college… which would be 1993. I love that I can say “I’ve known her for 23 years, and we still hang out”.

Dirk remains my longest and bestest friend; I’ve known him for 33 years and counting. We still email each other every few days, and I take the opportunity to see him whenever I’m back in Missouri. Other than my immediate family, there aren’t many people in my life who I can say I’ve known for decades, and fewer still who have been good friends for that long.

* Notice that I said “getting older”, not “getting old”. I’m not old. I continue to get older, but I don’t plan to ever be “old”.

Last night Kyra performed in her final concert of high school, and possibly her last time playing the flute. Before the performance, there was a banquet and award ceremony, and Kyra received a “senior medal” (along with 14 other graduating seniors) for her time in band. She was also given the Musicianship Award for her outstanding work; Ms. Texera even mentioned that Kyra was one of the “most talented musicians she’s ever had the pleasure of teaching”. Pretty cool.

The concert was good. Kyra is, as usual, the blond on the right side.

After it was over, Laralee mentioned that she was sort of bummed that she won’t be able to see any more music performances at Skyline High School. I told her not to worry too much, since I’ll be teaching seminary for a few more years (well, at least one more year for sure) and I attend a lot of the activities of my students to support them. There are several in the band and choir, so I’m sure we’ll have an opportunity to see plenty more.

This morning as I left home, Weird Al’s “Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” started playing. By the time I arrived at the office, the song was still going. I sure like having a commute time that’s less than the length of a (somewhat long) song.

Also, what better way to start a Monday than with a little Weird Al?

Twice a year we have an opportunity to talk to Alex while he serves his mission in Lima, Peru: Christmas Day and Mother’s Day (no, not Father’s Day). So this afternoon he “called” us via Google Hangouts and we put him on our 70″ television.

We had a great time chatting about how things are going. He told some funny stories about life in Peru, and it was fun to have more than just a weekly email to communicate. He’s doing really well and enjoying the work. Only 17 months to go!

Laralee and I were cleaning out some stuff in her office this afternoon, and as we cleared off one of the bookshelves I found the script for the first play I acted in during high school: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.

I think it was my sophomore year, which would’ve been 1987. I turned to Zack and said, “I even remember my first line: ‘Mornin’, Doc! Want your paper now?'”

And sure enough…

But my favorite memory was Dirk’s line. He only had one line in the entire play (unlike me, with my vast array of five or six!) and everyone in the cast knew it, so during practices we’d all shout along with him: “Oh, Ma! By ten o’clock I got to know all about Canada!”

Alas, neither Dirk nor I took this promising start in the theater to become famous actors (although he did major in theater in college).

After a beautiful Friday, Saturday dawned cold and grey. It was so dark that even in the early afternoon it looked like dusk. The forecast called for “severe thunderstorms” and although we didn’t hear any thunder, the rain came down in buckets and we even had hail for a bit. I was down in my basement office, watching the hail pile up in the window well where it’s now melted a bit into a sheet of ice.

Apparently there was at least one tornado in the area, too. Ahh, spring!

Yesterday was a beautiful late-spring day (finally!) so Laralee and I took a walk in the afternoon. As we headed out the front door, we could smell the lilacs that grow along the side of our house. They’re in full bloom now. Walking past our neighbor’s house, we saw some huge lilac bushes.

They smelled amazing. I suspect in a few days they’ll be finished blooming, but it was fun to walk past them.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m not a morning person. As such, my calling as a seminary teacher this year has been a bit of a challenge. Class starts right after 6am, which means I’m rolling out of bed at 5:30. For most of the school year, the kids and I drive to class in the dark.

Until now. On Friday I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some doughnuts (a seminary tradition) and noticed that the sun was just peeking above the horizon.

As we approach summer, sunrise is shifting earlier. And as of next Monday, May 9, it will officially be at 5:50am– the time we leave the house. So for the first time in the year, we’ll see the sun on our way to class. Woo hoo!

In our family room there’s a light that illuminates the mantel above the fireplace. I suppose if we were the kind of people who had a beautiful well-decorated home with tasteful coordinated wall hangings, it could be pretty cool to highlight a photo and some decorations.

Instead, we have this.

The photo is by Thom, from a trip we took to Monument Valley. And the knickknacks are, well, just a random collection of stuff gathered over the years, including such things as:

* A Galileo thermometer
* A hollow glass globe with an intricate painting on the inside
* A swordfish we found twenty years ago at a touristey store in Estes Park that was going out of business
* A weird wooden carving of a beaver
* A second swordfish, this one made out of clay, which Alex gave us in second grade or so

I guess every home is different. Ours is… well, just a little more different than most.