As we come to the end of 2012, how did you do on your resolutions and goals for the year? Mine were:

1. Read one book a month: read 2-3 during the year.
2. Live by The Four Agreements: I did most of the time.
3. Continue to volunteer and be of service to others: did quite a bit of that.
4. Get a better job: worked at becoming self-employed. It was marginally successful.
5. Sing better and learn m

No, I'm not thinking of the song on the Disneyland ride.

A couple of guys stopped by the Ituri Hut where I was working last week and they were wearing a shirt and hat that showed they were fans of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. As I am originally from Minnesota I always talk with the folks who represent the state when I am working at the San Diego Zoo. As they were purchasing their drinks/snacks I asked where they were from. A couple commented they were from the northern part of the state between Grand Rapids and Hibbing and that 17 of them had traveled to San Diego for a wedding that weekend in Escondido. I replied I was from Coleraine which is 5 miles east of Grand Rapids and 22 miles west of Hibbing.

All of a sudden it was like old home week as many of this group was also from Coleraine. I started to ask if they knew my mother or any other relatives that had lived in the village. I commented too that I had graduated in 1976, one of the women responded she had graduated from the same high school in 1975. One of the women mentioned that she knew Mary Nyman and I asked if she meant Mary Donna Nyman (my grandmother) or Mary Nyman, my mother's cousin. She meant Mary Nyman. Another woman mentioned she had graduated with Karen Nyman, Mary's sister and another of my mother's cousins. The few minutes of "old home week" was a lot of fun and one of the reasons I really enjoy working at the San Diego Zoo.

During the time I have worked there I have met people from all over the world. When I hear an accent I will usually ask where the guest from where they are visiting. Brazil, Italy, Germany, China are just some of the countries I remember. Of course, people from all over the United States too. It's been a fun summer and I'm sorry to be leaving the job on Labor Day. Hopefully I will be hired back there again next year.

This past weekend I had the chance to have breakfast with my friend Joseph who was visiting from San Francisco. He was born/raised in the Philippines and originally settled in San Diego when his family came to the USA. He was in town to visit his family and run in the AFC Half-Marathon last weekend. We originally met in Miami three years ago when we were both there for the quadrennial meeting for the GALA choral event. He is now heading off to London, England for a Master's Degree program. All the best to you Joseph!

Several weeks ago a dream came true. While he still lived in Oklahoma I had admired Guy Tang, a very handsome Asian man. He moved to Los Angeles just over a year ago and I thought there might be the chance to meet him after I moved to San Diego. That dream became reality when he and his best friend Almar visited San Diego at the end of July for a day. I offered them passes to the San Diego Zoo. We met for breakfast and got to know each other. It was a lot of fun to finally meet these guys. I had only known Guy through his YouTube videos and Almar in pictures. They are a couple of very sweet guys and I'm privileged to know them.

L to R: Almar, Rick, Guy

Dreams do come true and it really is a small world after all.

More later!

As I write this it is almost six months since I arrived in San Diego. This particular blog entry has been smoldering in my head since I realized I missed the five month anniversary of my arrival here. A lot of things have happened, some good and some not; but that is life. There has been a lot more good than bad, so I'll highlight the bad first.

The Bad--
No job yet! 'nuff said. A lot of applications and a lot of leads, but nothing firm and no calls back. I have even gone so far as to apply as the janitor at a Romantix Store in Hillcrest. Romantix is an adult store that sells adult novelty toys and rents videos. I did attend a really good job fair and got a lot of great leads from that. I have followed up on all of them and need to start making return phone calls to see what type of hiring they might be doing. I check several job sites often including craigslist.

The Good--
I performed my first concert with the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus. That is part of the reason I missed the five month anniversary as it came during tech week. The concert was titled friend me and the second act included the West Coast premiere of Through A Glass, Darkly which was originally commissioned and premiered when I sang with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus in Minneapolis. The work is about meth addiction in the gay community. The production was much darker and because of that more powerful than the original. It is easier to do production work like that in southern California than could be done in Minnesota.

Tonight we being our production of guyTunes. It is going to be another awesome show with an awful lot of music. I commented on my facebook page the other day that we had 233 pages of music to learn for this concert. More about this later.

On Palm Sunday weekend the Celebration Choir at Metropolitan Community Church San Diego performed The Living Last Supper. It was a combination of choral works and spoken monologues. It was very, very well done. The actors had learned their parts and delivered them with finesse and sincerity. The soloists and quartet were extraordinary and the choir was outstanding. I am glad to have chosen to go back to the church on Palm Sunday evening to hear the performance.

Earlier in the afternoon on Palm Sunday, the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus appeared and performed at Oceanside Days of Art in Oceanside. We performed a selection of pieces from the first act of the friend me concert and the extrABBAganza! concert from last year. We had a large audience and were well received. There were sixty, count 'em sixty singers who showed up for the appearance. The commitment of the singers to the chorus was evident as they traveled no small distance to get to Oceanside. I had to laugh when the singers who live in North County (region of San Diego county) remarked that they had better show up since the venue was only ten minutes from home.

Easter, yesterday, was another awesome experience at The Met Church. I will admit I was a bit weepy during the early part of the service. RC Haus and the Celebration Choir really drive the music and it is easy for the emotions to flow. Not only did I read the Lesson, but also served communion and was assigned the Altar Guild for the day. It was a very busy and very celebratory day.

Sunday evening I went with my friend EN to the 99 Ranch Market in Kearny Mesa for a bit of Asian grocery shopping. It was an awfully lot of fun, partially because of all the goods/groceries that were available and then because of all the eye candy. I came home with 2 1/2 lbs of baby Bok Choy for which I paid $0.88. I bought a stir-fry sauce that EN recommended as well as the chili-garlic paste that I was running low on at home. When I got home I cooked the bok choy with spinach, bunapi (white beech mushrooms) and a package of ramen. I used the stir-fry sauce as my only additives. I drained the ramen and added it to the stir fry mixture. I ended up with a marvelous bowl of vegetables and flavor. I only two of the eight heads of bok choy in the recipe. EN shops there weekly and I've agreed to go with him when he does. Even if I don't buy anything seeing all of the food available, and the eye candy, will be worth the trip. The picture below was taken with my cell phone.

Finally, today I had a first date with someone who found me through the SilverDaddies website. I won't tell you much about him yet except that he is close to my own age in that he is six years younger and Filipino. For those of you who know me you know that the age is more of a surprise than the cultural heritage. The date was spent walking around Balboa Park in the Rose Garden (I'll never forget the white roses) and sitting and talking and getting to know each other. We both agreed that we wanted to see each other again. He has already asked me for a date tomorrow to which I demurred or next Monday. He wants to take me to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.

During the times I have visited here and since I lived here I have not heard the organ in the Spreckels Organ Pavillion. As I was walking across the park to our meeting site I heard the instrument playing. I couldn't resist to walk to the Pavillion to hear it. When I arrived I realized it was the music being provided prior to the Commencement Ceremony for the California Western School of Law. I was early enough so I was able to listen for about twenty minutes. The selection of music was just delightful. As my date and I walked around we were again in proximity to the Pavillion as the organist was playing Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. A moment later, I realized that the music had changed and the organist had launched...and launched is the right work in to the Toccata from Widor's Organ Symphony #5. I practically ran with my date coming along behind to a place where we could see the instrument to hear the music. I actually got weepy and emotional hearing the music come from the organ. If you're not familiar with the piece, follow this link to Marie-Claire Alain performing the work. I chose this particular version because I have heard Ms. Alain in performance and met her in St. Paul, Minnesota thirty years ago.

All in all, it has been a very good time. Now I'm off to do some more job hunting and then first rehearsal tonight for the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus. Make it a great day everyone.

More later.