For Valentines Day Leah bought us two tickets to go and see Josh Ritter. He played at the Knox United Church (in Calgary), which was an incredible venue. You really can’t ask for better acoustics than a huge cathedral-style church.

Before I go on about how great the concert was—it was great—I want to mention that I took that photo. I specifically want to mention this because Leah and I just bought a new digital camera that is fully manual. While at the concert I was using all of the camera’s auto/pre-saved settings and I couldn’t get any good shots. So I switched the camera over to manual and played with the setting until I got some good shots. I say they are good in the sense that I have no idea what I was doing, but I really want to know. That’s why I bought a camera with manual options. So I played with the F-stop (?) and that other option until the shutter and lighting matched up for something good. I put all the good ones on Flickr. I think they came out rather nicely. But I know a few of you (dad and Brenda) know about photography so please feel free to give me some feedback/advice.

The concert

I have written about Josh Ritter before and asked you to listen. I was originally introduced to Josh Ritter via Matthew Good; Matt did a cover of Girl in the War. Ever since then I have been totally blown away by both Ritter’s writing and musical capabilities, so when I went to the concert I expected it to be good. However, I was shattered.

I think, for me, the most amazing thing about the concert was to see Josh Ritter as a person. When he came on stage he was like a kid in a candy store. He was almost shaking he was so excited. And he was so charismatic that it wasn’t the audience giving him energy, but him giving energy to the audience. He certainly has a very powerful presence. I couldn’t help but be excited, because he was so excited. It’s like when someone else laughs, I usually laugh too. It’s contagious. His passion was contagious. The other neat thing was that while he sang (slower) songs he was perfectly still and sang beautifully, but as soon as he was finished he started bouncing and almost prancing on the stage. Like he was awkwardly floating.

It was a true pleasure watching him. It was also very inspiring. Good art is like steroids for a artist. I feel pumped up.

This post is sort of like The Importance of Being Earnest, except that I am talking about taking credit and it’s a blog post and not a play.

I remember (I think) when I was in grade 1 (give or take) a girl in my class drew some really good pictures and gave them to me. Likely, it had something to do with all the blonde hair I had. I can tell you that once the blonde turned brown, the ladies stopped giving me drawings and other colourful artwork. Anyway, I can also tell you that I wasn’t necessarily the smartest kid on the block. I am pretty sure that I photocopied the pictures and then gave them to my teacher and told her that I drew them. I have a feeling that the teacher may have been on to me.

Taking credit for things that you really shouldn’t take credit for is important. I feel it gives me a sense of accomplishment and that I can take pride in how hard I work.

I am happy to spread the news that Leah, who is finishing her BA this semester, has been accepted in the University of Calgary’s masters program. Leah will be working towards an MA in Sociology. There is also some talk of scholarship, but that information won’t be available for a while. At the current time, Leah is thinking about researching/writing a thesis on immigration policies in Canada, but that is subject to change—but aren’t we all? I am very proud of Leah because she is so smart, she worked so hard to excel and for having the courage to seek out her academic goals. A masters is a very daunting thing.

As you may know, I have often thought about doing a masters. Particularly, I would like to do an MFA in Creative Writing. Or I have even entertained the idea of doing an MDiv, like mom. I have been held back for several reasons. I was, I believe you might say, delinquent during my BA. I didn’t work hard enough. I don’t have enough writing credits to my name. And I just don’t know if I could handle going back for more education. It didn’t go so well last time and how much have I really changed? Am I subject to change?

This is what is great about marrying Leah. One of the many benefits of marriage is the union. Curtis, I see where you are going with that last statement and you need to stop. What I mean is: two becoming one. Curtis! What I mean is, because Leah and I are one, that we accomplish things together. Therefore, I can take credit for Leah’s brain, work and courage and brag about them as if they are my own. Plus, I don’t even have to do any of the hard work of acquiring a masters for myself. Did you hear: Leah is getting her masters? I support her and edit her papers. She really couldn’t do it without me.

Yup, being married is pretty sweet.

Photo by David Goehring