2006-03-18 - 5:05 p.m.

Well, I got an email from David last week saying he'd made it to Afghanistan. I haven't heard from him since, but the FRG contact says they're at their base camp, safe and sound. Some soldiers from another battalion were killed, and they cut off all communications to home until the families are properly notified - they don't want anyone learning of a casualty through the grapevine. Once the families are notified, the soldiers will be able to email and call again.

I spent a couple of hours today helping a bunch of people clean up a building which will house a local charity. Is charity the right word? They provide adult daycare and other services for people with disabilities, like Down's Syndrome. Anyway, they got this building at a steal, but it's been empty for a long, long time. There's not just dust, but mold, too. We spent a lot of time wiping down walls with a bleach solution. It's a big job, but it looks like the volunteers and parents made it happen. They're moving next week, but I'm already booked that day, for my canoe trip.

I signed up for a pottery class at the local community college. It's eight weeks of Saturdays, three hours, starting on April 8th. I was reluctant to sign away my Saturdays into June like that, but I decided to try it anyway. I've taken a pottery class before, and I'd like to learn how to throw pots. It's not as easy as it looks, I can tell you that!

I know I will have to miss at least one pottery class: I also signed up for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica in May. Then I was conscripted, I mean elected, to be the team captain for our office's team. Okay, then. These walkathons used to be ten or twenty miles, but they changed the format and the length. Now, instead of pledging an amount per mile walked, you pledge a set amount. This walk is three miles. That's an hour and a half, tops. (For me and Dolly, it would be 45 minutes to an hour, but I'll have to stay with the team, I'm sure.) I may take the dog, depending on the weather. If it's hot, I'll leave her at home. In a week or so, I'll have an online pledge page, where you can make a donation online with a credit card if you like. I'll let you know when it's ready, and pester you for donations later. Heh.

Here it is Saturday, and I have done nothing towards creating order out of the chaos. I don't feel too bad, though. Sometimes I'm just too wiped out after work to get a lot done at home in the evenings. Last night, I picked up Vietnamese takeout on the way home, and watched The History of The World, Part I on DVD. Mel Brooks is a genius. "It's good to be king."

I got thinking about comedy, and how much of it still goes back to vaudeville. Vaudeville's been gone so long, there's hardly anyone left who even remembers it, much less performed in it. Flipping through channels a couple of weeks ago, we stopped and watched a few minutes of Funny Girl. I spent a few minutes acquainting David with Fanny Brice, because, of course, he'd never heard of her. He'd also never heard of the Zeigfeld Follies. Well! That's it, I'm officially old.

I also told him how I've been listening to the soundtrack from Funny Girl since I was old enough to sit up. Jules Styne wrote the music, Bob Merrill wrote the lyrics. Those songs are in my DNA.

(Actually, the fact that I can call up those lyrics instantly might explain certain aspects of my personality.)

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