I've been talking about him on Facebook and all that. And yeah he's cute and has incredible eyes and all that stuff. He's endearingly and refreshingly shy and insecure. At the beginning of the season, painfully so.

And there's the fun part. Watching all of that change. Not entirely, mind you, but enough that we've all been brought along on Lee's confidence-building roller coaster ride. Each week he's sounded more secure in his vocals and looked more comfortable on stage. He now smiles.

And there's the best part, too. The guy's truly an artist.  And the judges see that. It's a pretty powerful thing to know you'll likely always have Simon Cowell as an ally. And Harry Connick, Jr. And Shania Train. And pretty much anybody he's worked with.

And we've gotten to see all that happen.

Break the wrappers off them cigars, kids. 'Cuz "It's an Artist."

The story was mainly about the 4th and final servicing mission last year that breathed new life into the amazing machine.

But most amazing were the 3D images that had been constructed from Hubble data.

In particular, the final image of the billions and billions of *galaxies* that exist and how scientists have now seen that those galaxies are connected like strings, and that those strings make a web, and this same *web of life* exists on a cosmic scale.

The web of life -- DNA -- existing at such a level I can barely comprehend.

It is amazing. It is inspiring. It is to have but a glimpse of understanding of what this all might mean that gives meaning to life.

Go see the film!

I have this sinking feeling that if we were all ever really able to pay real attention to what politicians at the federal level have done to damage and disrupt our lives, I'd be searching for an exit door pretty quick.

At least the Republicans didn't sit on their bums during last night's State of the Union. To not show any sign of unity or agreement is just what divides us even further. Get out of your chairs! Act like adults who give a damn! I would have given *anything* to see one Republican stand up and applaud when no one else in his/her party was doing so.

What turns the tide is unity. What turns the tide is people reaching out and shaking hands -- making connections however they can. Become the better man. Become the better woman. 

What lifts spirits and energizes hearts is acting from a place that you weren't before -- the next level, the one where the "I" becomes "i" and the "Me" becomes "We." When courage pushes you from behind and pulls you ahead.

That, and Barack's smile.

As many times as I've tried to stay on the periphery, it doesn't work.

And with it come all the requisite headaches, stresses and occasional high moments when everything runs well.

It's worth it, though. As a medallion embedded in the wood of my first harp says, "Music Will Save the World." Not only that, music shapes it, defines it, soothes and heals it.

Got music? :)

And then nothing happens. For a long time. Little thoughts and ideas come up but they come up when I'm driving or when I'm jogging or when I'm doing other work. And it's too hard and it's too inconvenient and it's too time-consuming to log in and write them down. And it's easier to write a Facebook status or a Tweet because there are all kinds of other people there, too. And I know they'll read what I wrote because they kinda have to.

So, this blog canvas remains blank for longer than I like. But I'm here now. 

And that's something.

This means a lot of research and visioning and planning and scoping things out. So I ventured for the first time to a nearby Lowes to dive into the world of countertops and flooring. Just to see what's out there.

I discovered something else. That, in the land of home improvement -- at Lowes or Home Depot or wherever -- everyone becomes one in confusion, searching, deciding between options. You're all in it together. Strangers talk to strangers. Strangers help strangers find something. Strangers stand next to each other and trade ideas or opinions or a "hey, I never thought of doing that!."

Strangers pass each other and smile at the mirrored bewildered look on the other person's face.

It happened to me a few times at Lowes.

I found the place an unexpected and odd nexus for camraderie. Ad oddly reassuring feeling as I know I'll have to go back again.

Nice to know my fellow renovators have my back as I head for the front line.

One of those evenings when the air feels like it's part of your own being. It's not too hot or cold or windy or stinky or sticky. It's right there and it's a pleasure to move through it.

The sky was that Maxfield Parrish blue. I've mentioned that before because it happens a lot in this part of the country at this time of year.

People were moving more slowly and smiling more often.

And the wonderful little yellow-and-black Smart Car buzzed past me on the way home. It always makes me smile.

A little metal bumblebee flying through the late summer night.

After a life spent growing up on science fiction or mystery or adventure, why does someone shift entirely to stories taken from real life?

What shifts inside a psyche that causes it to no longer find escape or inspiration in characters of other times or worlds but in the characters of the World?

It's not that one is "better" than the other. Or more "real" than the other. Or more "substantive" than the other. Not at all.

I so rarely pick up a fiction book any longer. Only when written by the few remaining authors I follow and trust.

Instead, the bookshelves are bending under hardcovers (easier to read the bigger type with these older eyes) about advocates and journalists and suffragists and immigrants and Native Americans and essayists and senators-now-presidents.

Just wondering.

Just makes you smile your a** off.