Saturday, November 25, 2006

not bad aye, not bad at all

Believe it or not Ger is happier than hell. It's a little hard to tell of course. How would you like to wake up to being Ger in the morn? "ger?" "how many persons are you going to kill today?" "Ger?" "Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin are on the phone asking for tips on how to be happy"


And then their is Jim. "jim?" "yes" "why is your cap on backwards?" "are you talking?" "pretty well every Storm person in the history of mankind looks up to you and your not fishing?" "why are you talking?" "in fact people come from far and wide to see you fish" "I wish you would shut up" "so these 125 Japanese tourists are expecting something to happen...as in catching a fish"









I'm not alone

Bob reminded me that Mom passed away forty years ago today. I remember that day as if it was yesterday. If anyone would like to send me memories or pictures of Mom this is where I will post them.

This from Ger on December 01:

"hey there sunshine----after our talk i checked the blog out.Good job,as always!!!! As i scrolled the previous journals i read the one with my Grandmother --Grace Storm. It is really easy to forget the most terrific people in this world.I remember her just like it was yesterday-(yes i know it sounds like a cliche ) But she was truly an amazing woman -- the homemade ice cream, and just the overall love that she showed us was unforgettable--i miss her ..She would be proud to see how well her 3 boys have turned out,and that family is and always will be # 1..The fact is Marlene and Grandma were cloned.I miss my Aunt too..
Gotta go ---to emotional----love ya ----your mother loves you too and we know that she still guides us!!"

Wow, thank you Ger.
Even I have to admit this blog is coming together. I had no idea.

By the way Robin and Karen are going over to Nelson for a RDCK (whatever that stands for, Rapid Ducks on the Creek in the Kootenays?, well you guys know) banquet. He is going to receive a 20-year service recognition award. Clap, clap, clap, clap from the family to our Robin.

And he is learning to play the guitar. I wouldn't sit around any campfires with him in the next six or seven years. I can see Robin doing John Denver.....'country roads, take me home, west virginia'. Make it ten or twelve years before you sit around a campfire with him, and that may be too soon.

Thank you all for sending me stuff, this blog will only be as good as you make it.

News from SFU




Burnaby, B.C. – After a shaky start on Friday night the Simon Fraser University Clan women’s volleyball team came back to defeat the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20). The Clan improve to 2-5 on the season while the Wesmen fall to 1-7. In the first game the Wesmen jumped out to an early lead of 10-4, but kills by Gillian Church (North Vancouver, B.C.), Colleen Douville (Creston, B.C.), and Jennifer Northrup (Surrey, B.C.) brought the score to a tie at 11.
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The two teams traded points and the score was tied six times during the course of the game. Finally with both teams tied at 24, the Clan took the game with kills by Krystyna Adams (Richmond, B.C.) and Sarah McNeil (Prince George, B.C.). In second game the Clan stepped onto the floor with greater confidence and better execution. Although the game saw the score tied six times, after the ten-point mark the Clan managed to stay a few steps ahead of the Wesmen to end the game 25-22.
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Douville had six of her match high 13 kills in the second game. In the third game the Clan let the Wesmen get away from them by having six errors on the attack while the Wesmen’s Nicola Dirks got her grove-on in the air with seven of her match high 17 kills coming in this game. SFU came out for the fourth game more aggressive above the net with blocks from McNeil, Northrup and Keri Philip (Qualicum Beach, B.C.), and 14 Clan kills. The Clan were able to dominate the game, staying ahead from the fourth point and finishing the game 25-20. “We were a little nervous in the first set,” admits Clan setter Philip, “But once we got a flow going we were able to stay ahead to pull out the win. Unfortunately we lost our focus in the third set, but we showed poise by coming back with confidence in the fourth. This year our team is playing much more competitively, and we are having more fun, and when we have fun we play well.”
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Douville led SFU with 13 kills, while Philip had 48 set assists. Northrup led the Clan with 22 digs. For Winnipeg, Dirks led the way with 17 kills, while Courtney Desaulniers had 38 set assists. Shanti Plett added 20 digs for the Wesmen.

Hi

I talked to Kev recently and he said: "I read through the blog and you put me down all the time" "true" "why?" "I don't know, probably because you have no idea about life in general and your outlook on life is askew" "mine?" "yours?" "me'm" "you'm, although you aren't all bad, there has to be one crabby person in every family and you've overtaken me in that regard so now I can be nice, pleasant and work on my sparkling personality" "sparkling?" "what's wrong with sparkling?" "I've never thought of you as sparkling" "under this veneer of stoicism there is a sparkle, although I may kill every bone in your bod if you don't shut up"
I could write about politics. I could write about my job. I could write about the Dow Jones Industrial Average. All so very boring to most.

I could also write about Jesse of the NYT who takes me seriously when I sound even more angst-ridden and jewish than he does. It's not a long stretch for me for some reason. We have a lot in common I think and he is one with whom I can identify with in some small way.

I could write about biking which I've done to death, but tonight was special. Biking home on November 24 and watching the sky turn from an azur blue, to dark blue to darkness while weaving in and out of traffic was sort of special for a Torontonian who is used to sleet at this time of year.

I could write about why I am such a soft touch. I'm not really but I must look like one. I'm getting better. It takes me an extraordinary amount of time to figure this out, it seems I was born to take everyone at face value to my chagrin so many times. I have no regrets, my heart was in the right place even though my head wasn't perhaps.

And above all I could write my family. And I do. That is what fun is all about. It is rediculous isn't it? Unfortunately I'm so old, I think Jim is fairly cute, not really. Can you imagine what I might think of Gail: "gail, you are fairly cute" "uncle don, I'm not that good" "in my wizened years you seem to be up there in cuteness, and Donna is right up there too". "uncle don, we can't be cute anymore, we're over thirty". "huh?" "we are over thirty, we can't be cute anymore, those days are past, long gone". "you look cute to me" "Uncle Don, quit with the cute, we've had kids, raised a family, struggled with jobs" "But you are cute, can I say that?" "I guess so"