Musings on Life and Living

My father-in-law recently blogged about music, and lamented that Western society does not produce music except for the purpose of providing entertaining diversions. While I am sorely tempted to link to his blog, I will refrain. Rather, I wish to simply present my own thoughts on why I consume music. And consume it I do. I love music. I devour it. It is a part of my being. Gretch and I almost always have music playing in our home, in the car, and when we are working (and can get away with it). I do not know when my love of music first emerged, but I would argue that it has always been with me. My own father is a talented musician, although I fear there are times when this talent has been hidden from the world. Yet some of my earliest recollections of my childhood include Dad breaking out his amazingly awesome Martin D35 acoustic guitar and playing songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens, "Boogie" by John Hartford, and various songs from the world of classi...

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com

All LIFTB comics can be found at www.lifeisforthebirds.com

7 It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and children, who have been made to bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under themost damning hand of murder, tyranny, and oppression, supported and urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts ofthe children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity. 8 It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell. 9 Therefore it is an imperative duty that we owe, not only to our own wives and children, but to the widows and fatherless, whose husbands and fathers have been murdered under its iron hand; 10 Which dark and blackening deeds are enough...

Life is for the Birds can be found online at lifeisforthebirds.com

My name is Alex T. Valencic. I don't know exactly when this started, but I am fairly confident that, at lest by the time I was in the fourth grade, I had been writing my name in this format. My best friend would write his name is a similar format: first name, middle initial, last name. For me, the middle initial has become part of my identity. When I introduce myself in person, it is as either Alex or Alex Valencic. I rarely speak my middle initial. But if I am writing, I find it looks weird without that ubiquitous capitalised letter and period between my first given name and my surname. I have almost succeeded in this endeavour. There are still a few places where the T is left out, most notably on the programs for the Parkland Wind Ensemble. Each semester I request that my name be printed as Alex T. Valencic, and each semester I am disappointed. Some day, though, I will be victorious. The strange thing is that I am so used to writing my name as Alex T. Valencic that I never think ...

Dear Family and Friends, I regret to be the bearer of bad news, but I am confident that I will not be an emotional mess as I write this. On April 22 Alex and I found out that I was pregnant. After almost a year of trying and mentally preparing for a child we were lucky enough to find out this joyous news. We had suspected that I was pregnant more than two weeks before, but were excited to see the evidence from the pregnancy test. Unfortunately God has other plans for our child. As of last Friday I started threatening miscarriage of the baby at six weeks or so into the pregnancy. On Monday we went to the emergency to see if the baby was all right. The tests and the ultrasound were all inconclusive. Today we went back to the doctor's office for another blood test and eight hours later got a call that I was miscarrying or had miscarried the baby. I am pretty sure that at this time, I have miscarried the baby, but I have not yet recovered from doing so. I am still in immense pain physi...