SolitaryRoamer

Rockin' Robin and Michael Jackson

So it seems as if I’ve made it a habit of blogging on Sunday nights. But at least I’m blogging.

It was yet another busy week. I’m beginning to think those are the only kind of weeks that exist now. But I am hoping this next one will be a little slower-paced. I kicked off Tuesday with yet another impromptu interview with my branch president. Since I’m often sitting outside his office during interviews I usually end up getting called in for an impromptu discussion at some point in the evening, especially if one of the schedule interviewees doesn’t show. So, of course, my dating life was a topic of concern for him (I’m quickly approaching the magic age of 31 where you are not supposed to attend the YSA branch/ward anymore). I think he’s just as confused about my dating life as I am.

Wednesday took me north to Cedar City where I interviewed director/actor David Ivers for a story I’m working on for the fall season of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. I’ve admired Ivers’ work for a number of years (he directed last year’s “Cyrano de Bergerac”) so it was a neat opportunity to meet him. And later that night I had dinner with a Muslim family for a story I’m writing about Ramadan. I’ve been trying to track down a local Muslim family willing to talk with me for about five year now, so I’m pretty excited.

The next day I continued Shakespeare interview in Cedar before returning to St. George. And that night I took my friend Jana with me to see a concert at the Kayenta community featuring songs from musicals. I was expecting some good music, but the entire performance was actually very entertaining. There were great moments of both comedy and drama — though most of it was funny. Yet a few of the more dramatic elements were among the highlights, including “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables,” “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera” and “Johanna” from “Sweeney Todd.”

Friday night brought a different kind of concert as six friends and I traveled out to Springdale to see the amazing Janet Robin in concert. She’s probably the best guitar player I’ve ever seen live. She does things on the acoustic guitar that you didn’t know were possible, often playing it like an electric. Plus she’s just a nice lady. I’ve interviewed her a few times and she’s always fun.

Friday also marked the day that my Peter Frampton story and blog ran in The Spectrum and on our Web site. And I wrote about the night hike with Jeremiah. So check them out.

I was supposed to rise early Saturday for a hike but was exhausted from the week. But I did manage to get up for a picnic at Sand Hollow Reservoir with Jen and a few others. It was a beautiful day with clear water and cool puffy clouds in the sky. You can see my photo gallery from the lake on my Facebook page.

Saturday just got better as the day progressed and it came time for my friend Brent’s Michael Jackson party. Brent had tickets to see MJ in London before the King of Pop passed away, so the party was in honor of that missed opportunity, and the chance to host a rockin’ BBQ at his pleasant backyard/patio. I tried to replace Michael by playing a thrilling version of “Beat It” on the guitar and, of course, many sported white gloves. Here is my iPhone gallery and Brent's Facebook gallery.

Plus, I got to rock my fedora for the first time.

But with the picnic and the party, I was distracted Saturday from my church calling and forgot to do a few things, which left me scrambling for much of my 6.5 hours at church today. But it all turned out OK and I even ended up joining the branch choir, just in time to perform in sacrament meeting a few hours later.

Southern Utah by air

Yes, I realize I haven’t updated my blog in quite a while again. But the last couple of days were so cool I had to get something up. Being the brilliant journalist that I am, I figured the readers of St. George Magazine would love to read about seeing Washington County, Utah, by air. And since I suggested the idea, I figured I should be the one to subject myself to a few flights, one by plane and one by helicopter, in order to tell the story.

So on Friday I went up with Dean Cox, the local emergency management coordinator, in his small plane to fly over the eastern edge of the county, which mostly comprises Zion National Park, by the way. We saw the sights from West Temple to the Kolob Canyons area (pictured at left). As we flew over the Kolob Reservoir area Dean mentioned that we were pretty close to Bryce Canyon National Park in case I wanted to see that. So off we went to the east. Then we weren’t too far from Boulder Mountain and Capitol Reef National Park so we went there as well. Once we were in the middle of the state, it was just as easy to fly over Lake Powell on our way home so that’s what we did. It was a great experience — one I’ll remember for a lifetime.

Then on Saturday it was helicopter time, thanks to my friend Jeremy Johnson who I’ve flown with twice before. Accompanying me for a second time was Jeremiah, the boy I work with in Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Alisha, the girl I’ve been dating for two months now. This time around we were hitting the west side of the county so we took off for Snow Canyon State Park, flying over the red rock canyons and peaks, many pocked with little pools of water (see picture at left). From there we flew over the Gunlock and Motoqua areas, landing in Motoqua to visit an underprivileged family that Jeremy helps out. Then it was off toward the Virgin River Gorge to look for bighorn sheep. Jeremy said he only sees sheep one out of three times he flies over that area but Jeremiah has pretty sharp eyes and spotted a group of five bounding along the rocky cliffs. Soon it was back to the airport and the end of another memorable flight.

I love my job.

"Loose Ends"

I’ve been lazy about blogging for some reason lately so I’m going to include various topics under a single blog.

BIG BOOM UPDATE — Now that the feds are basically admitting the huge bomb they want to set off 150 miles west of here will mimic the effects of a nuclear weapons, there are talks of possibly delaying the test because of safety concerns, according to my latest article. And the national media is finally taking notice. A CNN producer told Congressman Jim’s office that The Spectrum (not just me, but reporter Patrice St. Germain and the great Eddie K, my city editor) has been taking the lead in covering the blast and that our parent paper, USA TODAY, should take notice because it deserves national coverage.

IMOGEN HEAP

SAY GOODNIGHT AND GO — I had a wonderful, but short, trip to Las Vegas on Friday. First I stopped to visit my grandpa, Papadoc, and his wife, Karen. We had a nice talk as we caught up on the last six months or so since I had visited them. And they took me out for dinner to Pei Wei, an offshoot of the amazing P.F. Chang’s Asian bistro. And then I saw an amazing concert featuring British electronic artist Imogen Heap and cellist Zoë Keating. See my review of the concert at What Do You Here In These Sounds?

BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION — Saturday morning, only a few hours after I returned from Las Vegas, I attended the baptism of my little brother from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. And I had the opportunity to confirm him a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the first time I had performed that ordinance since I was a missionary in the Philippines seven years ago.

This Perfect Day

Perfect … well, not entirely perfect. But close.

I just had a really great day. I woke up to nearly eight hours of sleep, which is a rarity for me lately. Since I was in Cedar City to visit Grandpa, I spent some time talking with him. I found both new CDs I’ve been looking for at my favorite music store, Groovacious. Then I had a pleasant 45-minute drive to St. George, leaving the snowcapped mountains of Cedar surrounded by clouds and entering the sunny valley of Utah’s Dixie.

My first full activity of the day did have me somewhat skeptical. It was my first baby shower. I was worried about being the only guy there, but I wanted to support my friends Kelsey, who had planned it, and Emily, who was having the baby. I still think she should call him “River,” since that’s to whom I dedicated the mix I made for the shower featuring songs either about babies or with the word “baby” in the title (“Baby One More Time,” “Hey Baby Hey” and “Run Baby Run” among others). But there actually were more guys there than womenfolk, so it was a pretty fun party with great food.

Then I met Jeremiah, my little brother from Big Brothers Big Sisters, with his family at the St. George Arts Festival. He took me around and showed me some of his favorite pieces of art. But really he was in a hurry to leave so we could go play pool. As we walked past an exhibit of beautiful photography, another thing of beauty caught my eye. Could it really be her? In case it was, I asked Jeremiah if I could look at the photography for a minute.

The little guy was impatient and kept trying to wander off, but I just had to wait for the petite blonde girl to turn my way. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I had stumbled upon Deputy Gorgeous. But without the uniform to help me I wasn’t sure. Then she turned and looked at me, smiled and said, “Hi.” It was her … and she even remembered my name. Since I didn’t get her first name last time, she gave it to me this time and asked if I was covering the festival for the paper. I said I was just there with “this little guy,” pointing to Jeremiah. Only later did I realize she might have thought Jeremiah was my son. But he wandered off before I could properly introduce him and since I was worried about where he went I think I probably appeared distracted to the deputy. We did leave with a, “good to see you again,” and we were off.

As much as I wanted to hang around in hopes of bumping into her again, I knew Jeremiah was getting impatient. So we left, played some pool and air hockey, ate at McDonalds (him, not me) and I took him home. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day that I drove around town for a bit, listening to music with the windows down, hoping to somehow bump into Deputy Gorgeous once more.

Then this evening Kelsey and I went to a Peter Breinholt concert with free tickets at Tuacahn, near St. George. It’s a beautiful outdoor amphitheater with the red rock canyon behind. Peter is one of my favorite musicians so it was a great concert, one I shall write about more in What Do You Hear in These Sounds?

Poor Debbie

Poor Debbie (my car) is still sick. She was supposed to be home from the car doctor on Wednesday, but they didn’t have the right parts. But since Jim at Blackridge Subaru is a great guy, he put me in a rental until they fixed my car. So now I’m driving around a brand new Subaru Forrester with only about 400 miles on it. Not a bad trade. But I do miss Debbie.

But at least I had a car last night for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Halloween Party. I dressed as an alien going to prom (alien mask plus a baby blue suit highlighted with duct tape). I will post a picture of my splendid outfit soon.

The Play of the Week

Wednesday I got a little taste of what fatherhood might be like. I attended the flag football game of my “little brother,” Jeremiah, from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Right at the end of the game he had a great run — probably the equivalent of a 50-yard run in 7-year-old flag football terms. They got his flag just yards before he would have made a touchdown. But then on the next play, he caught the ball again and ran those few yards, scoring a touchdown seconds before the game ended. I think I now know — in a way — how proud fathers feel. Go Jeremiah! (And that, my friends, is a very rare exclamation mark. You will not see many of those from me.)