Misc Chatter

Nothing of importance to say today, other than the stairs from my bedroom to the first floor are BRUTAL when you first wake up in the morning.

I think I might install a slide this weekend.

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I also would like to say that I wasted a decent portion of my life this year reading Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters and a small portion of Methuselah's Children. In a long-ago past post I listed Heinlein as one of my all time favorites, due fully to my memories of the books I read in my teens.

If the trite dialogue and overall crappy writing is indicative of his catalogue, then I kindly rescind my recommendation.

* * *

A sincere thank you to my Dad for coming over close to midnight to show me how to relight my hot water heater and furnace. I'd shut off the gas to the house to complete some work on the dryer (more on that later) and hadn't realized it killed the appliances until my wife stepped into a cold shower hours later.

* * * *

My knee hurts. Did I mention those stairs suck in the morning?

* * * *

We upgraded to standard cable yesterday, which is a big move for yours truly.

For years we went with broadcast TV, but reception became so poor over time that we moved to 'basic' cable. For $12/month we got the local stations, a host of Christian channels, and a home shopping network or two.

Eventually they added Bravo, the Food Network, Style, and National Geographic - thereby rounding out our viewing experience.

Well in the latest move none of the Big Four showed up, with the cable company claiming - bait and switch if ever there was - that none of those stations should ever have been on our line in the first place.

So we went with a bundle. Road Runner Lite (aka AOL), our phone, and standard cable for a bill a month, which is just a MOCKERY of every ideal I hold dear.

$48/month for TV? Ugh.

So now we have Nickelodeon, ESPN, and God help me, HGTV.

* * * *

True tale: we had the cable company out three times for this installation, never getting it done the way we wanted it because, as the tech said, "We aren't magicians. We're cable guys."

The yahoo  said this like a rosary, over and over again. When my wife heard the back door close she said, "Typical a**h**e cable guys. 'I"m not a magician my a**"

Thing is, I'm the one who had closed the door. The cable guy was still there, and I spent the next hour wondering how badly he was going to maim my house in retaliation.

 

Tags: Robert Heinlein, Cable, Hot Water Heater

Man I suck

So I missed Tuesday's Angels-Indians game because of other obligations, and yesterday's because of the snowstorm. I still intended to go tonight, only to pop on MLB.com and find the final game in progress while I sat at work. I hadn't realized it was a day game.

Damn.

* * * *

Over at Inc.com Leigh Buchanan composed a very entertaining and well-written piece denouncing emoticons aka smileys. Her means of destroying them: substitute language for the smiley until people are sick enough of it to stop. An example:

Picture if you will a colon: one tiny, perfect dot poised above its brother. Now imagine that colon transformed into a pair of eyes, bright and sparkling with mischief. From between those dots extends a hyphen. Yet screw up your eyes and…do you see it? A nose! Yes, a nose! Patrician in its straightness it dips toward the generous curve of a closing parenthesis. That parenthesis is a mouth, corners up-tilted in mirth. Viewed in sum, these marks compose a face whose expression of gentle amusement suggests the good humor intended in the previous remark.

You can find the article here.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, here's a disturbing bit about Keith Richards.

In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME.

"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

Read the rest here.

 

Tags: Keith Richards, MLB, Smileys

Snow in Bleepin' April

You know, on the first day of spring my wife and I saw a robin in our backyard. The first robin of the spring, on the first day of the season. How poetic.

Today, April  #@&^ 11th, I am staring out the window at a swirling, nasty SNOWSTORM that is threatening to dump up to a foot of snow here in Milwaukee.

My junior year in high school we had a blizzard in May, but that was a rare exception  . . or so I thought.

* * * *

I've never listened to Don Imus, and could care less if he has a job or not. But I think that in a culture where profanity and mockery are commonplace, and African American comedians/musicians use the word left and right, that the use of 'ho's' shouldn't get the man fired.

Talk about a double standard - not only do comedians and rap artists adore the word, the very 'politicians' who oppose Imus are guilty of perverse [reverse] racism of their own.

My opinion? Imus is an idiot, mainly because his use of the term was offensive to WOMEN. That's my strongest objection to it, and even that isn't enough for me to take away a guy's bread and butter.

In other news, charges were dropped against the Duke lacrosse players. Something stunk about that case from the get-go; a DA mad for publicity, it sounds like.

Now a woman had her reputation dragged through the mud front and center, college players were wrongly put through hell, and no doubt the city will be stuck with lawsuit settlements for years to come.  

Sigh. What a bleepin' world.

Ultasound pics

On my Mom's 60th birthday (April 5th) and the morning after our first night in the new house, we took both of our girls to view the 20 wk ultrasound of the baby.

LuLu was squirmy and noisy, but YaYa behaved herself - purely a matter of being 20 months older, I'm sure.

Still, I'm glad they both had the opportunity to see their sibling in utero, and even at her worst LuLu was still better than 80% of kids would have been.

They couldn't determine the gender, even after some intense searches . . guess he or she wanted to surprise us. It'll be the first 'surprise' birth for us, tho' the safe money is on another daughter.

Here's one of two ultraound pics from that day. I'll try to add the second at a later time.

Tags: baby

AL teams to play in Milwaukee?

News today on mlb.com that the three game Angels-Indians series scheduled for Cleveland this week will be moved to Milwaukee due to winter conditions in Ohio.

Well, hot dog! A chance to see two AL teams compete, and I don't even have to leave Milwaukee? If I can arrange my schedule, I'm there!

One of the reasons I'm so eager is the presence of future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero.

That got me thinking: in my years of watching baseball, how many Hall of Famers have I seen on the field?

[warning: this list will almost certainly be expanded over the coming months as my memory improves]

Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Rollie Fingers for sure.

Don Sutton almost certainly.

Big Mac (should he make the Hall) I saw on Sept 10th, 2001, if not at other times.

I saw the '04 Yanks and  White Sox in Chicago, which means I saw A-Rod, Mussina, Jeter, Posada, Giambi, Shefffield and Rivera. At least three of those are HOF.

I've seen Griffey, Bonds, and Kent.

Frank Thomas (man, did he inspire fear!)

I've seen Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersely at the old County Stadium.

I saw Cecil Fielder, and his son Prince.

I've seen Pujols (yawn), Sosa, and Edmonds.

With reasonable certainlty of memory, I've watched Maddux and Ryan pitch.

That's not a horrible list, considering I started watching the game regularly only in '92. I'm sure I shorted myself by a score or so, but it'll come in time.

Tags: MLB, baseball, Miller Park

Kurt Cobain

With yesterday being Easter and all, I figured it wasn't the right time to go ahead and post a tribute to a guy who committed suicide (officially at least).

Anyway, here's a link to an article I wrote in '05 about Kurt.

To quote my '06 entry:  The tribute I wrote last year [2005] strikes me as a little too dramatic and formulaic in retrospect, but the sentiment holds true [and what I wrote in the comments sections is some writing I'm pretty proud of, imho]

RIP Kurt

Tags: Cobain, Nirvana, Grunge

Update

Hey guys, I'm still around.

In the last three months (while I've been ignoring this blog) we've: had two Xmas concerts, had Parker turn two with a great party, had YaYa lose her first tooth, gained back all my weight in return for quiting smoking since November, bought a house, completely remodelled said house from the foundation to the gutters, moved, had a tooth pulled, got into a car accident on the highway, pulled LuLu out of school, blew a transmission twice, became enchanted again with Lost, had a second ultrasound that could not conclusively prove gender, and generally just lived a high stress/no relaxation life as of late. . .

I've thoroughly documented everything with our camera, tho' I'm LOATHE to modify and upload the hundreds of pics I have to show the transformation. I'll get started soon enough.

BTW - Thanks Astaryth for the birthday card for Parker :)

Oh, and a Happy Belated 60th Birthday (on the 5th) to my Mom! Love You!

Parker is Two!!!

Just wanted to get in a quick post congratulating Little Big Man on his second birthday! We love you!

Lost "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Ratings be damned, I think the first few episodes of the "2nd half" of the season have been superb. That being said, my wife has dropped out of this house's Lost fan club because of the same complaints you hear in the press: the storyline has become too convoluted.

Well, I disagree.

But . .

Tonight's episode SUCKED. I'm bitter as all he** that ABC spent the week promoting this as the week we get 'answers'.

Answers to what?

That the Others didn't kill the captives outright?. Uh, I never thought they did. Why bother going to the trouble of kidnapping them if you're only going to kill them?

Other than that slim revelation,  I can't think of a single question, big or small, that the episode answered.

Oh, my bad. It told us how Jack got his tattoo.

Whoopee.

Be careful Lost. It isn't the episode so much as the false promo, but with me you're on shaky ground, thin ice, ready to jump the shark, etc.  

Pick your cliche - they all apply.

Tags: Lost

Wikipedia

So I was perusing the newsblog over at Baseball Think Factory when I came across this article about a baseball player who intentionally wrote a false entry about himself on Wikipedia.

"If Holdzkom does have a musical past, he won’t admit it, except to say that he and his brother, John, cooked up an elaborate story and posted it on the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia — a site that can be edited by the public.

“It’s not true,” Holdzkom said of his child prodigy story. “We just make things up, and Wikipedia puts it on there. I’ve never been on Johnny Carson. It just sounded good.”

Well, what an a**.  To me, that's no better than painting graffiti on a stranger's wall.

I've only recently become a fan of Wikipedia, but in that short amount of time I've come to adore the site.

Sure, a publicly edited encyclopedia has it's flaws: there's no guarantee the info is correct and there's always the idiot factor (case in point: Ed Gein's entire page disappeared yesterday. It was there at 9 am and gone by 10 that night, with only an offensive sentence left in its wake.)  I've also lost track of how many Digimon and animie entries there are (gag).

But it harkens back to my geeky youth, where I'd joyfully pass time reading random entries in a Children's Encyclopedia we owned. (and boy do I remember my joy when my Dad won a complete set of the adult version!)

So I sit and randomly sift through the site. The wife rents Marie Antoinette? Well, let's look her up. From there, I open multiple windows for different terms and people mentioned in the article, from the Revolution to the guillotine to the Bourbon lineage.

 After that, I might just become curious about the cast of the movie and look up Kirsten Dunst. That inspires me to look up Spiderman, which takes me to Marvel, where I look up Stan Lee, who in turn brings me to Kevin Smith . .

And on and on.

It's obnoxious really. My wife's taken to watching TV with me and saying, whenever some fact presents itself,  "Uh oh, better hurry and look that up on Wikipedia"

And I do.

Tags: Wikipedia, Baseball Think Factory

Follow up on Buddy Holly

The recent coverage (what there was of it) of the anniversary of Buddy Holly's death must have brought some folks out of the woodwork.

Today's Journal Sentinel features a front page article that includes two never before published photos from the Milwaukee leg of that fateful final tour. Up until today, there were thought to be no photos from the show in existence.

Check out the story here.

 

Tags: Buddy Holly

YaYa bows to peer pressure

First, she followed along when the girls in her class ditched pants in favor of skirts (and in the middle of winter). Now she has announced that she no longer enjoys, favors, or idolizes the Disney Princesses that were so important to her for years, right up to our trip in November.

It's horse hockey, but whatever.

That didn't prevent her from being excited about the release of Cinderella III. I'd rag her for days: "Well, if you don't like them anymore there's really no reason to watch . . " and she'd come up with one excuse or another as to why she'd still have to see it.

And one day while driving home from Grandma's, where she saw a preview of the movie, she told me all about the plot. In the movie the Wicked Stepmother gets ahold of the magic wand and reverses the events of the first movie.

YaYa then asked me, with hesitant but genuine concern, "But, there's no way Cinderella will really be hurt, right? She'll be ok because she's still in Florida in her castle?"

Funny. One minute they're all mature and precocious, the next they seem just like the little children they are. :)

Tags: YaYa

Baby Slapinons In Utero

Yesterday we had our first ultrasound, establishing that the Mrs. was 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant with a due date of August 10th.

The baby was very active, twisting and kicking and moving throughtout the procedure.

It's very early, but they also said there was a 60% chance that it's a girl . . so we're probably looking at the first pictures of Lauren Kathleen.

Google makes a mistake?? Be still my heart

As first reported on AOL's The Feed, the 'L' is missing on the Google homepage.

The Day the Music Died - 48 years ago

For most of a month now we've been unable to access the AOL software on my home computer due to a 'runtime' error. Tonight, in my eagerness to post, I finally realized I could do so via Internet Explorer. I'll try to update y'all soon.

Today is the 48th anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper outside of Clear Lake, Iowa.

Buddy remains one of my favorite artists of all time - my personal (if eclectic) concert in Heaven would feature Buddy, Led Zeppelin, Artie Shaw, and Nirvanna, among others.

Here's a few clips of rare footage of Buddy performing.

Rest in Peace.

 

Tags: Buddy Holly

The Post about the Baseball Hall of Fame 2007

Tomorrow the doors to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown will open for the class of 2007.

Cal Ripken Jr.will certainly be voted in and so will Tony Gywnn; both men richly deserve the honor.

Borderline candidates like Harold Baines, Paul O’Neil, and Alan Trammell will get a few votes but stay home.

The annual debates about Andre Dawson, Goose Gossage, Jack Morris, and Jim Rice will rage again.

Oh, and the guy who ranks 7th in career home runs, who hit 49 home runs in his rookie season and 70 a decade later, the man who brought baseball back to front and center in the glorious summer of 1998, will almost certainly be left sitting at home.

Choosing to keep Mark McGwire out of the Hall isn’t a tragedy. I’ll reserve that term for something that doesn’t involve getting paid millions to hit a baseball.

But it is hard to rationalize.

Months ago,  if I had a vote, I too might have decided to leave him off the ballot, just to tweak my nose at the whole Steroid Era.

Instead, by golly, I got the chance to read voter after voter’s explanation for skipping over McGwire.

You can imagine how most of the articles go: Mark is suspected of doing steroids, he’s a symbol of the era, he wouldn’t talk to Congress, etc. Thus, leave him off the ballot.

Well, whoopdedoo.

Forget for a moment his true guilt or innocence and consider the hypocrisy of these writers. Most must have had some clue, some inkling of what was going on in the years they were busy making Mark a national hero, right?

Sure, I sat around in ’98 oblivious, believing that expansion and smaller ballparks alone were leading to more homers. So what?

I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the locker rooms, I wasn’t clued in to the rumor mill, and just to pound the fact home, I’m not the one paid to investigate and publish the news.

Don’t the writers share part of the blame? And yet here they are, the gatekeepers for entrance to the Hall.

How wonderfully ironic.

As far as McGwire’s appearance before Congress, that was a no-win situation. If he admits fault he is ostracized from baseball, and folks that say differently are fooling themselves. If he denies it, he’d be labeled a liar, especially after Palmerio’s perjury.

And apparently, if he just keeps his mouth shut, he’s out of the Hall.

You know the most duplicitous argument? That the decision to leave him off the ballot has nothing to do with steroids and everything to do with a one-dimensional career that isn’t Hall worthy.

If you think for even a second that those same writers weren’t drooling over his numbers at the turn of the century and booking tickets to watch his enshrinement, you’re as crazy as their argument.

Do I believe McGwire did steroids? Yes. Do I have proof? No.

Does he belong in the Hall? Honestly, I don’t know.

But I do know this is the opening bell for a decade or more of debate. Eventually Sosa, Palmerio, Giami, Sheffield, and Mr. Bonds will be up for enshrinement.

Can you legitimately keep an entire era of superstars out of the Hall?

Here’s an idea that’ll never happen, and one that even I’m not that keen on: keep the borderline (and certified cheaters) Palmerio, Giambi, and Sheffield out, even if their final numbers warrant inclusion.

Then put Sosa, Big Mac, and Bonds on a single plaque, extolling them as the dominant sluggers of the era but mentioning the controversy surrounding their accomplishments.

Would it mean rewarding cheaters? Probably.

But it would acknowledge an important era in the sport, and give the (officially) innocent the benefit of the doubt.

Five years ago McGwire was a guaranteed lock for the Hall. Now he’s a pariah.

That in itself might be punishment enough.

Tags: Cooperstown, steroids, Mark McGwire

The BCS Championship

I've had the game on as white noise off and on all evening, and I am shocked.

 If I thought it was going to be a blowout, I'd have said Ohio State would be on top.

The worst part is that a friend of mine, a Florida native, will be insufferable now.

Any chance of Boise State sneaking in to the #2 slot? I'm not familiar enough with the BCS to know . . .

 

Big Grandpa - 20 years

 Today while taking YaYa to school I suddenly remembered that it was 20 years to the day  - January 5th, 1987 - since my paternal "Big" Grandpa died.

It is honestly alarming how quickly life is passing by; his death seems only a moment ago in my mind, certainly nothing approaching two decades.

 

YaYa began to ask a lot of questions, and I was impressed by her interest. She soon explained herself, saying that she wanted as much information as she could remember so she could add a prayer for him to the P.A. announcements this morning.

 

She even asked me to write down his name for her.

 

'No man is dead if he is remembered' - that's the motto of a cemetary I pass daily, and it's something I firmly believe.

 

Today, Big Grandpa's memory is alive and well.

 

Rest in Peace, Grandpa - I love you.

 

 

Tags: Big Grandpa

What a Fiesta Bowl!

Holy Cow, what a game!

A true David v Goliath match from the start, Boise State jumped out to an early lead against the favored Sooners. After maintaining the lead into the 4th quarter (and with some spectacular plays along the way) it looked like it was all over with Oklahoma up by 7 with under 30 seconds left  . . and then booyah! a fantastic trick play that tied the game with 6 seconds left and knocked it to overtime!

Fantastic!

Overtime is just about to start so we don't have a winner yet, but man, what a game, what a game!

UPDATE:

Oklahoma took the lead in OT, but Boise State scraped together another TD. At that point they decided to go for it all and win or lose on a 2pt conversion. They knew OK had studied game footage of their team in similar situations - so they ran a bootleg to the left and took home a VICTORY!

The Cinderella team wins the Fiesta Bowl!

The. Best. College. Football. Game. I've. Ever. Seen.

LOL - and then to top it off, on live TV one of the players got down on one knee and proposed to the head cheerleader. What a game!

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to get a quick post in to welcome 2007. Technically, I've now had this blog up and running for four years - '04,'05,'06, and 2007. Of course, that's b.s, as it amounts to a mere 26 months over that time.

My wife's friend Chris and her kids were over for New Years this year, but at 10 I left and went to work to oversee the year-end, just returning a few minutes ago. The kids called me at 11 (when the Apple dropped in NY) to wish me a Happy New Year.

Anyway, blessings to all for 2007!

Some Great News!

Just in case I don't get the chance to post again this year, I figure I'll close on a high note.

 

On December 6th, we found out that Lisa is pregnant with our fourth child!

 

She took a test that morning and came up with the faintest of faint lines on the stick; she knew right away, and so did I, but to comply with a long standing tradition of my refusing to acknowledge pregnancy easily, I bought another test.

 

Same result of course.

 

From the math, my mention on this blog of a time on the ship when we dumped the kids in daycare and returned to the room for [cough] was The One that Did the Trick.

 

Which means it's the first conception we can pinpoint, which itself is very neat.

 

Almost as cool: the due date is August 16th, otherwise known as Grandpa's Day, a day I've celebrated each of the last 23 years.

 

Not that kids are ever born on their due date, but still . .

 

Long story short: by this time next year we'll be a family of six!

Some quick book reviews to end 2006

Personally, I find it distressing to read a book - hate it - and still acknowledge that it's bound to be a best seller.

 

Creepers by David Morrell fits that bill.

 

Written by the author of First Blood, Creepers is nominally about urban explorers, glorified pranksters that break in to abandoned property as sightseers. In reality the book is about as much about creepers as Cheers is about the wine served at the bar. The fact that the characters are 'creepers' is just a convenient ploy to find them alone in an abandoned building,

 

The novel quickly turns into a standard thriller, with a plot as predictable and laughable as any second rate movie.

 

And that's the rub. The novel reads like less of a book than a movie treatment, with a story driven by theatrical turn of events and inane dialogue. There's no doubt that a version of the book will eventually hit the big screen.

 

Hopefully its box office failure is just as inevitable.

 

The Ruins by Scott Smith creates just the opposite impression.

 

The new novel concerns two American couples on vacation in Mexico who are drawn to a remote archeological site. Once there they are trapped by a malevolent and deadly creature.

 

The Ruins is a beautifully written book reminiscent in tone to Peter Straub's Ghost Story. It's the rare book that lives up to the cliche that it just can't be put down.

 

The Godfather's Revenge by Mark Winegardner is a follow-up to The Godfather's Return, and both are sequels to Mario Puzo's Godfather saga.

 

This time around the Corleone family is under siege by renegade capo Nick Geraci in the years immediately following the events of Godfather II.

 

I'm a big Godfather fan, but by no means a 'cultist' of the movies or book. That group has reacted harshly against the sequels, but I disagree with their extreme views of Winegardner and his work.

 

The book has drawbacks, mainly because it is obliged to conform with the canon established by the films, but is well written and a decent (if forgettable) read.

 

I detest the fate that befalls Tom Hagen however; he remains my favorite character of the books/movies and deserves better.

Thoughts and Resolutions

I'm falling behind on this blog again.

First off there's the day trip I took with Lu that should be posted, then some momumental news dating back to the 6th followed b y more great news from the 22nd that should take up quite a few posts.

I also need to update everyone on Xmas - like anyone care's - because it turned out to be a great holiday, even if I did put on some pounds.

There's also current events like Saddam's hanging (good riddance, tho' I can't get very excited over seeing a human being die by another's hand) and some book reviews to round out the year.

But instead I choose to post on New Years resolutions.

Here's my list from both 2005 and 2006. How did I do?

Repair the videocamera/christmas tree stand

I did fix the tree stand.

Finish my dang book

Nope.

Boost revenue at my business 10% (minimum), with an overall goal of a 33% increase

We did better than '05 - and '04 and '03, 'matter of fact, but we failed to meet this goal.

Move into a better neighborhood, with more room for the kids.

Yup! More on this later.

Take my first real vacation in years; hopefully, a 10th anniversary cruise

Done

Pick up XM radio so I can binge on MLB games this summer

Yessiree.

So out of six resolutions I succeeded in 3, got partial credit on 2, and failed in 1. Not a bad outcome, really.

As for the '05 list, which I also vowed to complete in '06:

I did quit smoking (yea!) and lost some weight.

I did learn new things

I kept all my teeth

And I had some good moments with my son.

Having failed at it year after year, it looks like I might never actually write a book, not between work and family and whatnot. And time spent writing this doesn't count as time I should spend working on it - this is a breeze and a relaxation thing. 

That's ok. Life is pretty good as it is.

 Sigh. Actually, you know I still want to be a paid writer . . .

Anywho, here's my 2007 Resolutions:

1. Continue losing weight, and stick with it.

2. Finishthe $3%#$ book

3. Transcribe all the interviews I've done over the years

4. Keep all my teeth

5. Find happiness in my employment

6. Learn something new

7. Try to live by my adage "Try not to be an a**hole", as I notice I've been a jerk a lot of 2006 - I blame the job.

8. Spend time with my family whenever possible, and actually 'be' present, not just physically there. I've zoned out a lot as of late.

9. Here's an iffy - see Gettysburg

10. Resolve or minimize my anxiety, etc. issues

11. Host a belated 10th anniversary/wife's 30th birthday bash

12. Take up a physical activity

Ok, a dozen is more than enough.

 If I don't post again in '06 - Have a happy and Safe New Year!

Gerald Ford 1913-2006

I myself am too young to have any memories of the Ford administration, although he was President for my crib and toddler years.

He served his country faithfully for decades, and seemed to be what my Grandma used to call a 'good joe'. It's a shame that history will probably only remember him for his pardon of Nixon and nothing else from his many years as a public servant.

May he rest in peace, and my sympathy to his family.

 

An Odd Xmas Feeling

I'm feeling very . . well, not anti-Christmas. It remains my favorite holiday and I'm glad it's coming. I'm just very tired, emotionally/financially/physically and it seems like the holiday just keeps pounding away at me this year.

Case in point: today, at my lowest ebb, I still had to spend a decent chunk of my day prepping for two - yes two - Christmas parties we're hosting in the next few days. Okay, so I did 5% of the work and Lis did the rest.  It was still exhausting.

And when exactly did we become the social center of Milwaukee?

90% of the fatigue can be explained by the activity of the last six weeks, which resulted in some great news. but I'll get into that at a later time.

8% is because of a disconnect I feel this year, ironically because in those six weeks Lisa stepped up and did all the decorating, cards, shopping, wrapping , and planning for Christmas. I didn't do a dang thing.

I'm glad and grateful, but it puts a distance between me and the holiday.

2 % is probably, sub-consciously, is the fact that it's the first Christmas without my Grandma.

Ah, Blah Blah.

To change the subject, here's a copy of my Xmas list.

I put it here not in the expectation of having a reader buy me something, but because I think, when looking at it years down the road,  it gives you a pretty good idea where a person's life stood at that time. The exception might be '04, when my list included 8 or 9 mafia related items.

That was just a freak Sopranos/Godfather kick I was on. :)

 I have my library card clear so no books are necessary. Someone could pay off my bogus Blockbuster bill if they like lol

* * * * * ** * * *

 

A book light for reading in bed

 

Gardening tools - tho' we *may* inherit some with the house

 

The Godfather PC game - $15. Any more than a few bucks more and you're getting ripped off. Not sure about this; either I would love it and play it constantly or let it sit and gather dust. 

 

GC for ebay or WalMart, so I could expand my wardrobe next year

 

Cedar Chest - big enough forblankets and mementos

 

Last Supper - tho' I'll prob buy the one at the 2nd hand store

 

Boze Blogostaw Nasz Dom - a plaque of this, esp. one from my ancestors, would be a swell housewarming or xmas gift

 

boxing heavy bag

 

a cat tree

 

if anyone sees an old manual style lawnmower for sale, holler at me

 

I am in constant need of size 14 black dress shoes, if ya stumble across some. Ditto over the calf tube socks in my size, Hane's I think, the ones with the red lettering on the toe. And I like the ablack big men's socks from Wal-Mart.

 

An XM Radio MP3 Player - lol. yeah right. lol  This is right up there with my telescope and guitar. Somewhere down the road . . .

 

I don't think I have a copy of the Godfather on DVD, even after all these years. And It's a Wonderful life had it's cover tore off, so to be picky that could be redone.. . . other DVD's . . well, I'm not into DVD's. I have Netflix for that.