the darkness has not overcome it

but i have a lot to say.
first and foremost a very happy 80th birthday today to my father, jim hall, who in many ways is the cornerstone of who i am. many happy returns dad.

my family all gathered in va last friday from our various parts of the country, minnesota, north carolina and connecticut in order to celebrate this important birthday. we surprised him. :)
my father is the kind of man who ALWAYS underestimates how important he is to others. he would NEVER have asked us to come together to celebrate him, a  mere 2 months before we will see one another for xmas. all he asked for from us was a letter. but we all wanted to do it. and we all did it. and my sister scrap-booked the letters, and she did a great job.
if you have parents you love/get along with, my advice is to tell them now, while they are still around. it feels good to them and to you. i am blessed beyond words to have the relationships i have with my parents.

in other news, this is (finally) my last week at 3M. there is a piece of me that is looking forward to change even though i'm anxious about being jobless. at least one of my co-workers wants to take me out for lunch on friday.  it has been mostly a good experience working here, and adds a lot to my understanding of how businesses work. we'll see where it gets me. next week i expect to drive out to montevideo to help my father in law assemble stills that he has to ship out to the US embassy in mexico by the end of december. it is a huge order and he needs the help, and we borrowed some money from him back when i had my car accident and needed a new car. so maybe i can work off our debt to him. it does mean that i will not have much access to lj next week. i have still not heard back from the u of m, but there are other jobs i've applied for, both there and elsewhere.

i am very proud of the way my country, and my county voted yesterday. obama is not my perfect president. but keeping a fundamentalist (sarah palin) out of the white house was a priority for me, and i believe obama will do a good job. i am pleased that there will be a re-count on norm coleman's win. i am pleased that betty mccullom continues as my district's representative. i am proud that my county voted strongly to put greater protections on our water resources. i doubt the democrats will keep their lead in congress. i think the anti-bush trend had a huge impact on this election and the powerful force against continuing his policies was a drag on mccain/palin.  i don't think we will see this kind of momentum in 4 years. but i am glad we see it now.

a very happy birthday to my sister, cam.
who doesn't have or read lj.
but who deserves a happy birthday anyway.

i am thoroughly disgusted with ticketmaster and it's crazy pricing. i am SO happy to give good musicians for providing me with stimulation and enjoyment, but $30 of added charges onto $25/ea tickets adds up to $80/ticket. ridiculous and unreasonable. they are shooting their own industry in the foot. i am driving down to state theater to pick up my tickets for GBS today (and get my free cd!). it makes me angry out exploitative and opportunistic our capitalistic system can be. i'm in favor of capitalism. i think it's the best system we've come up with so far. but "what the market will bear" gets a bit out of control sometimes and i wish we had more balance.

my dad is turnin 80 in november. that's kind of a big deal. and something nice is that i'm not the only one who thinks so. all of us kids and my mom are planning a surprise party for him. he didn't even ASK any of us to come, because we are all coming for xmas roughly 2 months later. all he wants from us is a letter.
i am posting about this here in part to remark on my father's incredible humility and selflessness - while he, himself is the most generous man i've ever known - but also because this is a great idea for a gift that is inexpensive, personal and meaningful.
the letter he wants is about why/how we love him.
my sister is going to scrapbook all the letters into a book for him.
and then we are all going to show up the weekend before his birthday to surprise him. :)