There are still a few costume ideas that I would like to try in future Halloweens (a personalized Ghostbuster jumpsuit with a proton pack comes to mind), but I didn't want to spend the money this year. This meant that I was likely going to fall back on one of my three already assembled costumes (Star Trek science officer, Star Wars Jedi, and Renaissance festival attendee). However, for some reason, I thought about dressing up as John Wick this year. I wavered back and forth on the idea and was leaning towards no (especially after not finding an appropriate wig at Spirit Halloween) when I mentioned the idea to a friend of mine who thought that it was a good idea.

Thus, I put on a comfortable set of dress pants, a dark grey shirt with a narrow black tie, my dress shoes (with black socks), my black suit coat (unbuttoned), and my youngest grandchild's stuffed toy puppy. Oddly, at no point did I take the time to examine my costume. It just felt right. I had two main responses when people saw me: "Hey! You're John Wick!" and "Who are you supposed to be?" To the latter, when I replied "John Wick" (sometimes adding "if the dog lived ... he let himself go") the responses were either, "Yes! John Wick! I should have realized; that looks great!" or "I never saw the movie."

I was amazed at the quantity and quality of costumes at the school this year. We had one student wearing a traditional Scottish outfit while actively playing the bagpipes! We had the Addams Family! We had Deadpool wearing a Nemo costume--with a group of other Finding Nemo characters! We had a T-Rex! We had a Dorothy with her ruby slippers (but no Toto)! We had a plague doctor! And many, many others.

Meanwhile, Katrina and Peter's family were dressed up as characters from Sleeping Beauty in costumes that Katrina made. Katrina was Aurora, Peter was Prince Charming, Irene was Maleficent, Alistair was Maleficent's dragon form, and Julian was her pet raven (crow?). They went out for a short bit of trick-or-treating in the snowy weather before heading to an All Hallows Eve party. Rowen also went out trick-or-treating with a group of friends. As for me, with the grandchildren out of the house, I took the opportunity to watch Deadpool and Wolverine at home for the first time (I had seen it in the theater three times previously).

It was a nice Halloween--even if Janelle has hidden all of the good candy.

I had done a little bit of shoveling on Monday night and woke up on Tuesday with my back and right hip shooting pain up my body. Some ibuprofen seemed to ease the issue, but I was out shoveling and plowing again during and after the large storm that hit us. Thus, my back decided to increase the level and frequency of the pain it was communicating to me today. For the most part, the ibuprofen kept the pain manageable, but it was a struggle to not snap at people today.

We've had our current mattress for over eight years at this point. Lately, it's felt that its memory foam has been giving up on keeping its form. I've felt the beams of our box spring on more than one occasion. When we bought the mattress, we had upgraded from what we had before, but we had still stayed in the lower end of the middle range in terms of price. I really wouldn't mind a better upgrade in the near future.

I don't believe that will solve all of my back, hip, and shoulder issues, but I think that it could a long way in alleviating some of them.

Well, the weather turned in such a way that we received the high end of the predicted amount of snow: over a foot. Peter, Katrina, and Connor have been in the habit of getting up and leaving the house about 5:15 AM to go to the gym for a daily workout. They took Janelle's Pilot due to its all-wheel drive, higher base, and heavier build. By the time they got back, we had learned that there was a 2-hour delayed start to school. Peter got out Scarlet (our ATV) and started plowing before I was even out to join Katrina in shoveling. We were nearly ready to head in when we received the calls that school was canceled. As the drive had clear paths out even with the snow still coming down, we decided to come back to finishing the drive after the storm came to an end.

Thus, I was out plowing with Scarlet this afternoon. That was after I drove Trevor to work since Mera (his Prius) was not going to make it up our road today [This reminds me; I still have to pick him up tonight]. I saw multiple vehicles stuck in snow berms along the highway. It was certainly not a day for most vehicles to be on the road. I was once again grateful that we purchased Tifa (my all-wheel drive Kia Sportage) last year. She handled fine even through the roads that had not been plowed at all (like our road).

One downside of the snow day is that Tuesday's are my main day to catch up on grading. Usually, I stay after school until I get them done. There are quite a few more distractions at home which made the grading take longer than it normally would. At least we have a robust enough of an Internet connection (through Starlink) that I could get it done. On a side note, our Starlink satellite dish stayed fairly free of snow throughout the storm even though I kept the "snow melt" feature off.

I also had to cancel tonight's Japan Trip meeting. I sent out most of what I needed to talk about through email, but it's not the same as meeting in person. Thankfully, we have another meeting scheduled about a month out.

Almost as soon as I arrived at school, I had students asking me if I think that we will have school tomorrow. At the time (as now), we were (are) under a winter storm warning and were (are) already experiencing a significant amount of snow. The forecast is currently calling for 5 to 8 inches of snow tonight on top of the several inches that we have already received and the 1 to 3 inches that is expected to accumulate in the morning. 

In short, I doubt that school will be cancelled. Depending on the efficiency of our road crews and the way the weather turns, we might be facing a delayed start. Peter was already out on Scarlet (my ATV with a plow attachment) by the time I arrived home from school. I would be surprised if the snow that accumulates tonight ends up making it difficult to get out of my driveway this morning.

I will say that I am grateful for Tifa's (my Kia Sportage's) higher clearance and all-wheel drive. I didn't seem to have any problems on the way home even though I noticed plenty of vehicles slipping and sliding around me. Still, the secret is taking it slow and giving plenty of time. I should also make certain that I get plenty of sleep so that I'm nice and alert tomorrow.

After all, I love driving in snow.

As was pointed out in today's homily, the blind man named Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak when Jesus called for him. That cloak, beyond being necessary for warmth, was probably one of his main ways to receive the food and coin that would be given to him while he was begging. Even before being healed, Bartimaeus is so certain that Jesus can heal him that he throws away his livelihood. When his sight is given to him, Bartimaeus, having thrown aside his former life, follows Jesus despite Jesus telling him to "Go your way."

Jesus offers us the choice of following Him even if we have received healing from Him. His offer of salvation is not transactional. In fact, there is nothing that we could do to gain salvation--it is given freely, just as He gave up His life to purchase it. Feeling such unlimited and unconditional love hopefully allows us to share a similar love with others.

May God also allow me to see, lifting the spiritual blindness that often clouds my thoughts and soul.

Our students had another great showing today! Every student managed to get into the final rounds of at least one of their events. There was some disappointment with some of the outcomes, as well as some mighty celebrations. In the end, I think that all of them had fun, many of them building relationships with students both on our team and with other schools. The parents who attended (either as chaperones or just as spectators) seemed quite impressed with the students and the overall program.

I ended up being "pulled" to judge for about half of the rounds that were held today. This meant that I had the chance to see some interesting (and sometimes excellent) performances by students from other schools, but it also meant missing out on a couple of victory celebrations that my team had as results were posted for their events. I also seem to have an unfortunate reputation, as I heard one student from another team refer to me as "the angry judge"--I had reprimanded the student for entering a room while another student was performing. I guess that I cannot make everyone happy.

Still, I had a great time overall, and I'm looking forward to having even more of my team ready to compete at November's tournament at West Anchorage High School.

I’m tired enough that I almost went to sleep before writing this post. There have been some set backs (one of my chaperones discovered a nail in a tire), but the positives have definitely outweighed them. The drive up was much better than I expected with areas of fog and rain, but not much in the way of ice and snow. Meanwhile, I also got to spend a little bit of quality time feeding my friends’ granddaughter while we were at the Dimond Center for lunch. 

The tournament is also going well. I have eight team members on this trip, and they all reported having a positive first day. My chaperones are new and seem to be quite enjoying the experience. However, my favorite part (in a day full of great moments) was seeing that the Homer team was able to come up, having found a new coach due to a parent who wanted to give her daughter (and her friends) a chance to compete. They are a great group of kids who have been supportive of my team since we started DDF back up two years ago; I’m so tremendously glad that they can be here. 

I recently wrote about my trepidation regarding the chance of snow this week--especially in regards to my drive up to Anchorage tomorrow with my DDF (competitive speaking) team. That all disappeared when I saw snowflakes falling outside my classroom window this afternoon. I was immediately reminded of my love of these crystalline beauties. As I had a short break between parent conferences, I immediately ran to a couple of my friends' classrooms to express my joy. 

This joy was only compounded when I saw that the snow was more than just our first flurries of the year, but was actually sticking. It then became clear that we weren't just getting a dusting, but an inch or so of this heaven-sent blanket. While it made for treacherous driving and likely was the reason for the significantly lower-than-normal turnout for our evening conferences, this snowfall brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart.

Certainly, we are going to need to be extra cautious on our trip to Anchorage for the DDF tournament, but I'm still gladdened by this first snowfall of the season.

It's okay to have negative thoughts, to feel depressed, or to not be happy all of the time. Sociopaths are the ones who feel happiness when they are confronted with terrible events. It's important to acknowledge the wrongness of portions of our lives so that we can address them rather than covering them up. 

Granted, we have to be careful about wallowing in such emotions. We especially should avoid using them as an excuse to treat other people poorly--particularly those who are not contributors to those feelings. While allowing ourselves to feel "negative" emotions can be an important step toward healing, they can also create a sort of diseased rot to well up within us. 

In short, acting happy all of the time in the face of the negative aspects of life can be a dangerous form of denial. We need to need to be true to ourselves and to the situations in which we find ourselves. Sometimes, that means being "negative"--I'm positive about that.

I've been at the computer for much, much too long and written myself into two solid dead ends. Thus, I'm giving up the search for the perfect topic and dropping here some of the possibilities. As normal, these are not in any particular order.

-It's that time of year when our high school seniors are looking for letters of recommendation.
-I have not played around with AI enough lately to feel confident in using it to help with my communications.
-I have to work against my own personal prejudices (and possibly even vendettas) to make certain that my views (let alone any guidance I might provide) is not blinded to aspects of the truth. 
-I understand why people choose the path of least resistance (and frequently do so myself), but it doesn't stop me from feeling disappointed when people are falling away from their potential (myself included).
-I don't like that my voice and manner often make people more resistant (rather than amenable) to arguments that I make.
-When in Michigan, the night classes that I taught didn't end until 9 PM (sometimes earlier, sometimes later), leading me to often stay up until 11. I' m still not sure how I did that for so many years. 
-Trump is a danger to America should he get elected again, but the damage he has done is considerably more far-reaching even if he does not get elected. The distorted view of America that people have to believe in order to justify voting for him is everything that America's enemies could wish for. 

I'm in the strange position of hoping that we aren't going to get snow this coming week. This is not a normal feeling for me, as I usually cannot wait for snow. However, when I saw that there was a possibility of snow by Friday, I found myself wanting that not to be true.

The issue is that I will be driving some of my DDF team through the pass on our way to Anchorage, and I would prefer that one of my first times driving in the snow this season was without having other people's children in my vehicle. This feeling is also odd for me as I normally love driving in the snow--I know; I'm weird. It also doesn't make a lot of sense that I would be concerned about snow this time, as I will likely need to drive the team through the snowy pass for one of our other tournaments (which we have through the end of February).

I don't know. Maybe my desire for snow will kick in again once I see it. It just seems bizarre that I'm feeling this way right now.

I was recently asked, "If God exists, why doesn't He come down right now and tell me that He's real?" I didn't get the chance to give a complete answer, so I'm putting it here. Ironically, the answer can be found in today's Gospel reading when James and John ask Jesus to seat them at His right and left when He attains His glory. Jesus responds by saying, "You do not know what you are asking." He then talks of His suffering and death as well as explaining that "whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all."

Putting aside the facts that a direct visit from God would make us question our sanity (assuming we are not reduced to cinders on the spot due to being in close proximity to such massive power) and that previous direct conversations with God have led to long term misunderstandings, the simple fact is that almost no one would want God to speak directly to them. Without such direct contact, we have a greater degree of freedom in our lives--a type of plausible deniability when it comes to our actions. For example, were God to directly reveal Himself to me, I would have no choice but to immediately drop any earthly concerns (my job, my hobbies, even my family) to follow Him completely and preach His Word to everyone in the world. To do any less would be to deny that experience of God's direct manifestation in my life--which is certainly an immediate ticket to an eternal fire. 

When people say that they want God to prove to them that He exists, they are asking to have their faith taken away from them. They are asking to have every element of their lives stopped and repurposed in a type of zealous devotion that God does not truly want. He wants us to decide to be good--and has laid out teachings to help us--not to force us to be slaves. This is what Jesus tries to tell James, John, and the other Apostles. God's love is infinite in its patience that we find Him through our love of one another and the world which He entrusted to us. He wants us to love Him and serve one another, but He wants it to be our choice to do so. He's left the clues for us to follow if we are willing to see them.

I wonder if this is how rational Germans felt when they saw Hitler and the Nazi Party gaining power in their nation in the 1930s. We have a convicted criminal throwing out insults and threats during public events, and somehow people are thinking of voting for him. Trump proved himself to be such a danger to America that people who served as his own Secretary of Defense, his own Chief of Staff, his own members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his own Vice-President have publicly stated that he is a threat to our democracy and must not be allowed to take office again. Their voices are joined by hundreds of retired generals, most current economists, and nearly all of the scientific and medical communities. Meanwhile, his diatribes are becoming more and more unhinged.

Meanwhile, Vice-President Harris is showing herself to be extraordinarily competent. Her strength was particularly on display when dealing with a hostile Fox "journalist" in a recent interview. She remained calm and continually put him in his place despite his combative questions, constant interruptions, and multiple attempts to bait her into making a questionable "sound bite." The difference between the two candidates is astounding clear, and yet there is still a very real danger that Trump will be elected into office again.

That Fox infotainment hack tried to bait Vice-President Harris by asking her why 50% of Americans seem to be supporting Trump. He interrupted her answer to ask, "Are they stupid?" She gave a clear-headed and rational response (it was worth watching), but a more honest one would have been, "No. They're voting for Trump because people like you keep lying to them." That's the ultimate truth: Trump has continually been lying to the American people (to the point that he has had to pay massive fines, has been convicted of one felony and is dealing with two other trials--and likely a third), and infotainment agencies like Fox News (and those with even less integrity) have been spinning that disinformation as truth. 

Americans should know better than this.

I once again was calling out "Happy Alaska Day" to people in the hallways. It's amazing that a year has passed since the last time that I had to explain to people the brief history around Seward's "Folly." Secretary of State William Seward had arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia earlier in the year of 1867. The United States was still recovering from its Civil War, and critics of Seward felt that the $7.2 million that he agreed to could have been better spent elsewhere. Thankfully (from my perspective), he pushed forward with this investment and the second largest peaceful transfer of land to America was accomplished (the first being the Louisiana Purchase--albeit at a high cost per acre). Note: technically the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was the largest land purchase, but as it was basically part of the terms to end a war that the U.S. started, I don't count it as a "peaceful" transfer.

Katrina and Peter learned about Alaska Day's existence from a different source as they had planned a trip to the local library--only to discover that it was closed. Different communities celebrate Alaska Day in different ways. Sitka, which is where the transfer was officially finalized on this day in 1867, closes most businesses, has parades, and spends the day in festivities. Here, there's just some loud, crazy guy yelling "Happy Alaska Day" to unsuspecting students in the hallways.

​That would be me. I'm that guy. HAPPY ALASKA DAY!