Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
During our stay in Cedarburg last weekend we saw Judson Brown Band perform at the Lime Cantina, and Lisa bought a copy of their Christmas album. While the band featured vocals on all the tunes we saw this CD is instrumental.
While I enjoyed the band in person, I give my 1000% recommendation to this CD, which served as the background music for our gift opening this year. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I'm glad Lisa picked it up.
Check out the band's schedule on their website, and go see them yourself!
On Monday December 16th a mass shooting happened here in Wisconsin. A teacher and a student were shot and killed at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, with six others wounded. The freshman killer committed suicide on scene.
Aside from the obvious - the senseless loss of life and security, for all involved - here is what bothers me most about this, and other similar shootings:
Each and every time, the media gives the shooter exactly what they want: their little blip of fame.
Within a day of the shooting I saw pictures of the shooter, a purported six page manifesto, short biographical articles, and a host of rumor and speculation about their motivation.
F that.
You'll notice I haven't named the killer. Haven't mentioned their background, their so-called "goals" - not even their gender.
They don't deserve the attention.
Because attention is WHY they do it.
Oh, I know I know. Their fan clubs like to assign a dozen different excuses for what they do, from being the victim of bullying to family problems to this mental illness or that. Not all the reason even have to be rooted in reality; think about all the mistaken "truths" the media created about Columbine, the "trench coat mafia" first and foremost.
All those myriad excuses may indeed play a part in why school shootings happen, but there has always been bullying, there have always been abusive families, there have always been mental illness, there have always been guns to be had - and how much more prevalent are school shootings now, when its fair to say bullying is less tolerated, abusive homes are more reported, etc?
They feel lost, they feel unwanted, they fell less than, and in exchange for one despicable act the media grants them the attention they so desire.
There's their casus belli, and its time for it to end.
We don't need to know their names. Their faces. Their lies. You want to argue the sociological need for that information, fine, study it in a closed academic environment. I didn't need to see a picture of the shooter, a mere 24 hours after their crime, modeling the same TV shirt design as one of the two guys they all copy, Eric Harris.
How sad is it that we all know the names Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, but good luck remembering the name of one of their victims. I do believe, fervently, that almost all of the school shootings in this century lie at the feet of Columbine, and the continuing morbid fascination with the perpetrators that guarantees the media will put a killers name in lights.
I don't think Harris and Klebold are burning in Hell; I think the Devil is so pleased with their continuing success that he's given them a front and center seat to watch their copycats.
It needs to end.
Stop glorifying child killers. Stop putting their name in headlines, stop putting their picture on TV. Let them die as they allege, often wrongly, that they lived: in anonymity.
Late Christmas night, Lisa, Junie, and me picked up Chinese food from Chopstix and enjoyed a late dinner together at the start of Boxing Day.
Fast forward eight hours later, and Smiley woke me up to accompany him to Collectivo, a local coffee shop. He worked on an assignment, I wrote some blog posts and completed the kids' FAFSA's, and we both enjoyed coffee and a morning together.
For months now my Mom has been a resident of a local Jewish nursing home/rehab facility. She's Catholic, but of course the facility is open to all denominations, and honestly? It's the nicest appointed place, with the most attentive staff, of any place she's ever stayed. So I'm very happy with her placement there!
Look how pleased Junie is that I made her sit down and finish her college application during the waning hours of Christmas Day LOL
Some twenty years ago we stayed there, but under that owner there had been two properties. You checked in down the street, at what is now a separate hotel (The Washington House, I think), then walked back down the road to the Stagecoach. On the night we stayed not only were we the only guests at the Stagecoach, we were the only people in the building, as it is not staffed at night. We were warned that a ghost sometimes prowled the halls, as a man had been murdered there (true story) but alas, we saw no proof of the afterlife on that trip - or this one.
Nowadays, under a new owner the Stagecoach looked much the same, although a lively bar now operates out of the first floor. Our room was #8, the same as last time, all the way up two narrow flights of stairs of 15 and 16 steps, respectively.
As we are much older, and much heavier, than last time, this was an unwelcome burst of nostalgia alleviated only by the large single person whirlpool in the room.
It is a lovely little bed and breakfast and I encourage you to give it a shot when you want to visit the shops of Cedarburg.
I wrote that post about the upcoming HOF election while sitting outside an Indian restaurant, waiting on my carryout order. It was nearing the end of a very light, very easygoing day. I was looking forward to Christmas Eve the next day.
A half hour later I was on the phone with an emergency vet, as LuLu's beloved Benny, who had been acting odd all week, was shaking and in obvious pain.
Originally, Junie and Lu were to drive alone to the vet, but I went along at the last minute.
The prognosis wasn't good. He had a blockage in his urinary system, preventing him from emptying his bladder; essentially, his body was poisoning itself with waste. Just determining what the blockage was and where would require an overnight hospital stay, with surgery to follow. We ran through multiple options, which all ran into four figures, and none of which guaranteed anything but a brief respite from his pain before the problem returned again.
LuLu made the reluctant decision to end his suffering.
