Roll a D6 from Connor Anderson on Vimeo.

My dad’s stories taught me about him but also about life. It was through his stories that I learned about music, art, history, and literature. His stories introduced me to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and to how classical music has stories of its own. He brought me to museums and inspired my early artistic endeavors such as drawing and photography. My political education started with my dad’s stories of Roosevelt, Kennedy and others and of the war stories he would tell.

Later in life, we comforted each other with stories of woe as we looked to the politics of the day and the state of Minnesotan pro sports teams. Ever the storyteller, my dad began sharing his stories with the world through his blog. All of those stories were true, give or take a lie or two.

My dad, never the picture of health, overcame a bout with nearly debilitating rheumatic fever as a child to go on to join the Air Force and travel the world. He made a home away from home in Turkey while in the service and I couldn’t get enough of the tales of adventure there. When he returned home he moved onto the business fast track and may have still been there today had heart troubles not derailed him onto a more slow-paced way of life. However much my father inspired me to professional success with his career accomplishments, it was with his embrace of a simpler life that he taught me the most valuable lessons. He understood what is important in life and has shown me ways to be more appreciative of my family and friends. It is a lesson, I am sure, that he will continue to provide me even now.

I know we are all currently grieving, but we have to remember that this grief is ours. It is for what we have lost, and what we remember, and what we will not experience again. I will miss his stories – just sitting and talking with him about any of hundreds of topics he could go on about. I will grieve the loss of those stories. But it is my grief. It is not my dad’s. My dad lived a great life, with few regrets. He shared his love with many and touched countless lives. His advice to us, with how to deal with our grief, was simple – in a letter written just 7 or so hours before his death, my dad made it clear:

Just, just, just get over it!

Now that’s what I’ll have to try to do.

Underwear by FM Belfast (Music Video) from Daniel Scheinert on Vimeo.

It is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the surf,

And he cuddles in the swells.

There is a big heaving in the Atlantic.

And he is part of it.

He can rest while the Atlantic heaves, because he rests in the Atlantic.

Probably he doesn’t know how large the ocean is.

And neither do you.

But he realizes it.

And what does he do, I ask you.

He sits down in it.

He reposes in the immediate as if it were infinity – which it is.

That is religion, and the duck has it.

I like the little duck.

He doesn’t know much.

But he has religion.

-Donald Babcock, The Lyfe Poems of Donald Babcock

Some have commented that they think he is lip syncing. This video, where he shows some dance moves too, should dispel that.

Sasquatch Music Festival 3 hours outside Seattle at the Gorge has an amazing lineup. These are just the acts that I know I will love and it isn't even half the list!

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Vampire Weekend
The National
MGMT
Band of Horses
The New Pornographers
The Middle East
Nada Surf
The xx
Freelance Whales
Tegan and Sara
Camera Obscura
Brother Ali
OK Go
She & Him
Passion Pit
Broken Social Scene
The Posies
My Morning Jacket
LCD Soundsystem
Dirty Projectors
Local Natives
Martina Topley Bird
The Mountain Goats
Dr. Dog
Aziz Ansari

Here is what multitasking support will open up:

Getting closer to a done deal for me. I wonder if their second rev will be lighter. I really would like about a half pound shaved off.

Dead Man's Bones (aka Ryan Gosling's band) in conjunction with a children's choir. Really a lot of this is very good in an Arcade Fire sorta way. Check out this video too: