The All-in-One Update

Having neglected this for a little while, I find that I actually have stuff to write about, and not nearly enough time in which to do it. So I'll temporize: I'll sum up everything that's been going on the past little while, but not in any great detail. Quantity over quality? Maybe, but time is precious at the end of March and beginning of April, as any full time student can tell you.

On the 25th of March, I attended the annual UAMC Spring Concert. It's the first one that I've ever attended as an alumnus; when I made the decision to leave the choir, I didn't let myself look back. Now, having heard them sing for the first time in over two years, I find myself toying with the idea of returning, just for fall term next year. Why? Because I miss it so incredibly much; the people, the music, and oh yeah the people. I'm still trying to readjust to having people in my life; after all, I only gave up my quasi-isolation a scant two months ago. But Ninja Stan convinced me to go to the after party with him for a little while, and it was entirely overwhelming, to be back in the midst of that many people. There was more than one awkward moment, as I stumbled for words and repartee, but still. I loved every minute of it. It was wonderful. Will I go back? Not sure yet. We'll have to wait and see.

On the 26th of March, my niece turned thirteen years old. She was eight hundred km north of us for her birthday, so we had our party for her a couple of weeks ago (funnily enough, actually, on St. Paddy's day). The fact that she is now thirteen is in and of itself miraculous; I remember, very clearly, when she was two years old and dying of organ failure in the U of A hospital. Now, she's thirteen, thinking about boys and clothes and music and school, dying her hair, getting facial piercings, and considering a tattoo (my older sister is a liberal kind of parent). Part of me wonders where the time went, but mostly I'm just grateful that she's getting to do all this stuff.

March 30th (yes, I'm skipping a couple of days but I don't really feel the need to write the details of my academic pursuits; I live them every day, after all) I went to see The Skin of Our Teeth at the Walterdale Playhouse. It was lots of fun; alot of silly, and some thoughtful too. I haven't made nearly enough time for theatre the last couple of years; I've only been to a smattering of plays, and there are always so many going on around town. I think that's going on the list.

Finally, last night, I watched as my beloved Oilers absolutely choked in the final chapter of the Battle of Alberta for the season. I say final; there is still the off chance that we'll meet again in the playoffs, but I'm not especially hopeful of that, since there's almost NO chance it would be in the first round and therefor extremely unlikely. What happened last night? I'm not going to make any comments about the coaching, or the skating, the passing, stickhandling, defense, offense, or goaltending. I'll leave that to people far, far more qualified. I did, however, have a particular beef with last night's game, which I will share.

At the opening of the third period, the Oil were down 3-1 - not a great situation, but not hopeless, as long as we could score early in the third. Which we did. But how can that be, you ask? I thought the final score was 4-1, you say. And indeed, it was. Because we scored on a delayed penalty call. But, you say, I thought that was ok? Aren't we ALLOWED to score on a delayed penalty call? And indeed, we are. So long as the call is against the other team. And therein lay the problem. You see, the eternally brilliant referee was actually calling a delayed penalty against the Edmonton Oilers. The problem was that the Oil were still in possession of the puck, so they, along with the 20,000 fans in the stands, and countless more at TV sets around the country, assumed that the call was going against Calgary. So Roli flew to the bench, we got a sixth attacker out on the ice, set up the play, and scored on Kipper (who, despite playing for Calgary, still has my unabashed respect for being a freaking awesome goaltender). However, the ref (having FINALLY realized his mistake) waved off the goal - despite the fact that HE HAD NOT ACTUALLY WHISTLED DOWN THE PLAY. Calgary scored about 20 seconds later, on the power play that Edmonton thought would be theirs, and we were never able to put together a single solid play after that.

Man, I wish the refs would play for MY team once in a while.