The essential substance of life

One of my big passions is giving blood through the Red Cross. (I think this is because there are so few things I can do now to make a positive contribution to society, that this is one clear way. It's easy for me to do, and I've established a track record.) They allow you to donate every 56 days, and I try to keep to that schedule like clockwork. I missed quite a few times in the wake of my accident (unsurprisingly), but I first gave at the age of 18, and my donation today will be the 88th time (11 gallons worth). I was happy to receive my 10-gallon pin in January 2006, and I have set for myself a lifetime goal of 30 gallons and was encouraged last year one time when I asked at the Red Cross and was told they have no age limit. My daughter Christy finds it all "gross," and likes to speak of my being "poked and drained." A few years ago in email, she called it the "essential substance of life," so I've now adopted that phrase. (I think she credits me with it now and forgets that it originated with her.)

My laptop

It's funny, but before my 1993 accident I had done only very minimal work with computers. However, now the laptop by which I communicate with others is an absolutely vital and indispensable part of my life. The current one I have I got in February, after my previous one died. I've had 6 or 7 in the 14 years since my accident ... I seem to use them so incessantly that they wear out quicker than would normally be expected. Though I have had friends try to talk me into getting a PC, I am one of those Macintosh users whose loyalty is legendary. (I told one PC friend who was trying to convert me, "I'll never go over to the Dark Side!") And it is wireless, so I especially enjoy being able to sit in my La-Z-Boy at home and email, surf the Net, or update my blog like this.

Nicknames

When my younger brother John was in high school, his baseball coach hung on him the nickname JB, which stuck like glue. Nearly everyone knows him that way, even today (at the ripe old age of 48). By extension, I am 'AB.' When my son was born in 1986, my then-wife Deb and I named him after my brother, as JB and I are close. But Deb proclaimed, definitively, "He will never be 'JB.' " However, when he got old enough to choose for himself, that's what he chose, and in high school he was known as 'JB Borton.' (Though I think he has largely abandoned this now, in college). My wife Michelle has for years called John "John Bon," so now I usually address him as Bon, and he seems to like this.

Meanwhile, when my daughter Christine Elizabeth first got email back in the early nineties, she chose to use her initials in the screen name of 'cebgirl.' This reminded me of her mother, and so I called her 'Cebbie' ... and I was pleased when she said that she liked the nickname, and wanted me to continue to use it. And so I do. And not long after this, she began, out of the blue, calling me "Dadders." That also continues, and warms my heart.

Meanwhile, when they were very young, my wife Michelle's younger siblings called her "Mimi" ... and that, too, has stuck. Christy and John refer to her almost exclusively that way.

The changing seasons

We have recently finished winter ... a curious one, which one on the whole was quite mild, and with frustratingly little snow, but had also stretches of bitterly cold weather. Now we are into the season of "spring" ... but it is not yet consistently springlike. Opening Day for the Tigers was gorgeous, with brilliant sunshine and near 70 degrees ... but since then we have had many days which were quite cold, even dipping down near freezing on occasion. And while yesterday was very pleasant (sunny and mid-sixties), today has turned colder and overcast. Oh well ... at least they say this is supposed to be a temporary downturn, and beginning tomorrow each of the next few days should get better and better. It's curious, because I used to absolutely love cold weather ... the more extreme the better ... but in the last couple of years since losing so much weight, I find my temperature preference has changed too, and now I have come back closer to the majority of humanity.

More reading

This is a follow-up on the entry I posted a few days ago. I continue to enjoy very much the books of Nicholas Sparks. But recently I have also indulged myself in a couple old favorites, from my teens. At the library recently, when I was unable to find a Sparks book I hadn't read, I fell back on science fiction (a lifetime love), and got Sphere by Michael Crichton, whose The Andromeda Strain I first enjoyed back in the early seventies. And right now I am enmeshed in Contagion by Robin Cook, a doctor turned novelist who is described as "the undisputed master of the medical thriller," and whose prophetically-titled novel Coma I read in my teens also. Ah ... variety is the spice of life!

Composing

Before my accident, I never composed (other than a few meager student exercises), never trained for it, and never thought I would. (Had I known I'd end up this way, I'd probably have paid more attention and worked harder in music theory classes!) But now that it's the best way for me to stay connected to music, I am quite avid about it. Starting basically from scratch in 1994, I've taught myself (with a bit of help from others) how to use musical notation software, and have written 581 works (as of this writing, 4/14/07). Since I was a choral director, the thing that is my highest goal is to break into choral publishing. But it's evidently a tough nut to crack ... I've not been able to interest a publisher yet, though I've written plenty of examples and sent many of them to publishers.

My kids in 1999

In 1999 this picture of my kids John and Christy was taken at their home. Later that year, my sister Marianne, who had majored in art in college, painted a portrait from it, which now hangs proudly in my home.

The passage of time

It is a Friday evening, and Michelle is gone (spending time with her mother today), so I am sitting here in my recliner chair watching the Tigers (currently tied with Toronto 1-1 in the 4th inning) while I work on my laptop. And it is a lovely, sunny spring evening ... I enjoyed a brisk walk just before the game. Tomorrow my "little" brother John (JB) turns 48, which means that I am 50, and I find it almost impossible to believe we have gotten that old! It's not that I'm distressed about it, but it hardly seems real.

Weight

Before my accident, I weighed about 190 pounds and ran. However, following that trauma, I stopped running, and got heavier and heavier. When I hit 300 pounds at the beginning of 2005, I was disgusted and decided I had to do something about it. So, that year I walked over 1050 miles, and, combined with watching my diet, was able to drop a lot of weight. I set the ambitious goal of getting down to 200, and never got that far, although in the late fall of that year I did drop to 220 for a time. In 2006 I resumed running, and continued most of the year, but haven't been able to run since December 18 due to foot pain. I've put some of the weight back on since then, and do not feel good about that, but still have my goal in my sights. I'm trying currently to get it going back in the right direction again. It was a heady feeling in 2005 to lose that much weight, and one which I want to experience again. And, as the Apostle Paul notes in Philippians 1:20-21, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ ..." So I want to glorify God with my body and my life, and keep it in control.

Reading

Prior to my 1993 accident, I was an avid reader, but then for many years I did almost no reading at all. In recent years I have been working to rebuild this ability, though. Starting with the recommendation of a lifelong friend (we met in Kindergarten - 1962), I began reading the works of adventure fictionalist Clive Cussler, and read 23 of his books from late summer 2004 through early 2007. Then, in a drastic change of direction, I began reading the books of Nicholas Sparks, a contemporary novelist who deals, masterfully, with themes of love and loss. This year I have enjoyed several of his books. And most recently, I have returned to an old love, science fiction (which I have enjoyed since boyhood), most recently completing the gripping Sphere by Michael Crichton, whose early book The Andromeda Strain I first read in the early nineteen-seventies.

Baseball

The Tigers' second game of the season, on Wednesday, was a study in contrasts from Monday's Opening Day. For one thing, the weather Monday was gorgeous, while yesterday was cold (37 degrees at game time), gray, and extremely windy. And for another, the Tigers lost on Monday, but yesterday they won ... although this was by no means a sure thing! They sped out to an 8-0 lead on the strength of a big 8-run third inning, aided by a grand slam home run, and later increased it to 10-2. But, after surrendering 7 runs in a tense 8th inning, they managed ... barely ... to hang on to a 10-9 victory. Well, it's a long season -- but it's good to get that first win out of the way!

Musical tastes

For several consecutive summers in the late eighties and early nineties, I took my young daughter Christy on a Daddy-Daughter backpacking trip to S. Manitou Island, in Lake Michigan. These trips made for wonderful memories, beginning when Christy was only 5. Sadly, they were interrupted by my 1993 accident. However, in 2001, we went again, with my brother John (JB) joining us. During the several-hour road trip, having me as a captive audience, JB told me he wanted me to listen to a recording of a group he likes, Diamond Rio. Though he now disclaims all responsibility for my conversion, listening to this recording several times had the unintended consequence of turning me into a country music fan. This is especially unusual ("bizarre"!), because I have three degrees in music (BA 1979, MM 1982, DMA 1988), and served as a classical music professor for several years. Previously I disdained country music completely, but this was a judgment made out of ignorance and total unfamiliarity.

At the Tigers' Opening Day (Monday, April 2) at Comerica Park, my friend Doug and I had a GREAT time. After parking on the roof of Cobo Hall, and taking the People Mover over to the stadium, we had Standing-Room Only tickets. The weather was gloriously sunny and pleasant, so we spent the game on the "Pepsi Porch," the area in right-center field. As games go, it was a good one, although not entirely to the liking of us Detroit fans. The Tigers surrendered 3 runs to Toronto in the first inning, but then came back and eventually tied the game. However, they then gave up 2 more in the top of the 10th inning, losing 5-3. Ah, well ... it's a long season! As renowned longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver said, "This ain't football! We do this every day." So now we settle in for the marathon which is the baseball season.