Titanic, The Musical

Another fine performance by the Nashville Circle Players. The 2 hour 40 minute performance (the same amount of time it took for the Titanic to sink) held your attention from start to finish. And my friend, Deb, was amazing once again! She played lots of roles in this production (1st class passenger, 3rd class passenger, girlfriend to a young man heading to America to find a better job). And 4 Engineering students from Tennessee State University won the "sink a ship" contest http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=65344. It was impressive to see how they sunk a ship on a small theatre stage. Even though we all know the tragic story and are prepared for the ending, there were lots of tears shed by the cast and audience.

Looking forward to Once Upon a Mattress where Deb will be the Music Director.

A Somber Morning in Sooner Country

I spent the past couple of days in Tulsa, OK. When I arrived on Wednesday, all the city was buzzing with a possible OU National Championship the following day and now the day following the BCS National Championship game, all is very quiet since the Sooners lost to Florida. Although this area is a 50/50 split of OU/OSU fans (colleges are about equal distances from Tulsa), I have met more OSU fans. And of course our talks revolved around the great Barry Sanders and the 9-4 year the Cowboys had this year (one of their best in years).

I ended up watching the game with some of my new Tulsa friends at one of their houses with their friends. Most of the group (OSU fans) was rooting for Florida so they were happy with the outcome. I must say the highlight of the evening was the food - venison dishes, fresh salmon and bass just caught on a fishing trip, BBQ pork and polish sausage with homemade sauerkraut and coleslaw, and deep fried everything else (pickles, okra, green beans, mac and cheese). At least I did get my veggies in!

What I Did On My Christmas Vacation....

It was great having 2 weeks off.  I did lots of things:

• Detroit Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert
  
• Oakland University Men's Basketball Game
  
• Detroit Institute of Arts
  
• Cross Country Skiing with my new skis
  
• Rochester Downtown Christmas Lights
• GIANT Gingerbread House at Royal Part Hotel
• Shopping at Birch Run
  
• Pewabic Pottery
  
• Crafts
• Lunch with Friends

Now it's back to work on Monday and a busy January filled with lots of traveling.

Oliver!

Last night while in Nashville, I attended the Circle Players' production of Oliver! The Musical. My friend, Deb, had a part in the play which always makes it more interesting to see a performance of any kind if you know someone who is performing. It was held at the Looby Center Theatre, which is a small theatre in Metro Center. Of course a few performers stood out: Fagin's, Nancy's and Artful Dodger's characters were amongst the best. Deb's singing also stood out as she has such a beautiful voice. This was Deb's Nashville debut on stage and plans to do a lot more plays in the future. If I am in town when she performs again I will definitely attend and as Janna says, get more culture in our lives! Great job Deb!

I VOTED

I officially voted today! I mailed my absentee ballot to Tennessee. Didn't have a lot to vote for (President, House of Rep, 2 city amendments). It was very easy so I think I will vote absentee every year now. Now I await the outcome on Nov. 4.

ISSF

is the abbreviation for International Stainless Steel Forum. I was chosen in April to become one of the lucky people from our organization to become certified in stainless steel. What does this mean? It means I get to spend lots of hours reading information on SS and then take about 100 tests with about 50-100 questions on each test. And after I complete and pass all of the tests, I get a nice certificate and of course another line on my resume. I have completed about 80% of the tests and the deadline is 10/31. Since most of my steel background is in carbon steel, I am finding the information on SS to be interesting and SS is derived from carbon steel so I already know more than I thought I would. I will be glad when I am done!

Never Forget

those men, women and children who lost their lives, those brave people who gave their lives, and the Heroes that responded to the emergency.