Unrelated Segments

Lately I have neither the time nor the will to do any real blogging. Too busy, too distracted. Work and family are, of course, enough to occupy anyone's waking hours, but recently things seem to have switched into overdrive.
My father-in-law had multiple by-pass surgery the other day, so things have been both tense and busy around here as family members from the countryside/out of town use our place as a staging ground for hospital visits. We're the only ones living "in town," and that's where the big hospital that does stuff like heart surgery is, so...
Don't get me wrong, though. I really wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, if you can't hang for a while at a family member's place because you care about and want to check up on another family member who happens to be getting his chest ripped open by doctors we all hope know what the fuck they're doing, well, what the fuck, eh?
The day of my father-in-law's surgery we were all at the hospital. We were all allowed to be right there in ICU when they wheeled him to surgery. We were there to wish him well and cheer him on. I would in no way be bullshitting you if I told you this was one of the more poignant moments I've ever experienced. It was. I'm not sure if this kind of thing is even allowed back in Canada. It probably should be.
The surgery took about 8 hours. Everyone but me stayed at the hospital for the entire procedure. I just couldn't. I told my wife I was going home to do some housework. I wanted to be helpful, but there was no fucking way I was staying at that hospital for 8 hours. I think this has caused some tension for my wife. Now is not the time, but when her father is in the clear I'll have to tell her about the 3 days I spent on "death watch" at my own father's hospital bedside.
Anyway, that was a couple of days ago. My wife and I went to see him this evening. Visiting hours in ICU are very restricted and, unfortunately, my daughter is not allowed in. This really is too bad because I know that she's the one he really would like to see. He was napping when we went in. As he woke up, the first thing he saw was my wife standing beside a nurse. My wife is also nurse. He spoke my wife and daughter's names, momentarily thinking they were both there. I think I'd go crazy working in a hospital. It looks, though, like my father-in-law is going to pull through OK.

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On top of family-related stuff there's (always) work-related stuff. Some nice folks in The Philippines and in Thailand have deemed some of my half-baked ideas about teaching English to be worthy of presentation at their (ahem!) international conferences. The first presentation is about a month away, and I've got a shitload of work to do on it. Mostly grunt work (the ideas are always in my brain! Hahaha!!!), but I've got to get it PowerPoint-ready and all that crap. And all that crap. My contract's up this school year, so I'd like to get this one paper-ready as well. Gotta put food on the table and all that crap, ya know?

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Speaking of work, did anyone see the first episode of The Walking Dead? Wow! A gritty, gory TV series about the zombie apocalypse! On the same channel as Mad Men! Can't wait for the next episode. And, speaking of TV, does anyone else get the sense that TV may soon (if it isn't already) be better than movies? The best movies I've seen recently suck compared to the best TV shows. Movies have always kinda sucked at telling stories adapted from, say, novels. TV doesn't have to worry about coming in under two hours...

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In my very un-humble opinion, the best rock band in the world today is Motorpsycho. They're from Norway. And man, do they kick ass.

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I want a new camera.

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From the Department of Things I Hate, But Many Friends (Whose Opinions I Respect) and Most of the Rest of the World Seem to Like: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Doctor Who; musicals (film or play). These are deserving of posts of their own but, short version: The first two are related (whether they like it or not). They're neither funny enough to be comedy, nor serious enough to be SF. I don't see the appeal. Yawn. Musicals are, to me, an abomination. I know I'm in the minority, and am willing to accept that I might objectively be wrong. But, singing fucking cats and shit? Gimme a fucking break. And combining drama with music? Please. Like some French guy (I forget who) said, "Things too stupid to be spoken are often sung" (well, whoever it was said something like that).

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Good night.