Just a little aside. I am not a new member, just a revived one. For some unknown reason I have not blogged since September of last year. I just stopped and I shouldn't have. I love to writeand I really enjoy sharing my life with anyone who cares to read me. I love feedback and I am not averse to constructive criticism or opposing viewpoints. A liitle about me. Married. 4 children 10 and under Employed and free to admit that I work way too much Widely considered to be a regular guy P...
Be a decent person. While it may sound like a blanket statement, my father's advice became the cornerstone of my approach to life. He always said it to me. Don't worry about how much you don't have, forget your mistakes, things always work out. Just be likeable, someone that others want to be around. Especially to yourself. So early on I adopted the following traits as those that a decent person should possess: Humility A sense of humor A moral compass Perseverance Intelligence Stre...
“You either get busy living or you get busy dying.” The Shawshank Redemption As I pointed out in part 1 of this blog, I had come to grips with the magnitude of my health issues, recognized the fact that I had played “staredown” with my own mortality and did some hard thinking about my life. My friends and coworkers generally consider me to be a good-natured guy who is always there with a joke or a pick-me-up comment. I have been known to say such things as “if you’ve made the decisio...
At the sight of his grave, Scrooge said to the inexorable Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come “ Before I draw nearer to that stone at which you point, answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that will be or are they the shadows of the things that may be, only ?” If there was ever a man who reacted in a proactive way to his own mortality, it is Ebenezer Scrooge. If there was ever a man who famously responded to his own mortality with an unprecedented reserve of grit and dete...
How ironic that I chose to start my then and now blog drafts today. I was channel surfing today in pursuit of the perfect Saturday afternoon movie. You know the type: Light and breezy, you've seen it at least ten times and it in no way reminds you of some ex-lover. I was about to cruise the dreaded networks (because they edit and show commercials) when I came across what I consider one of Tom Hanks' better roles. Philadelphia . While this particular movie in no way fits the bill of what I wa...
Greetings and salutations to all of my fellow bloggers. While I am new to this site I am not new to blogging. I am a big fan of the blog as a medium for the regular individual to speak his or her mind on anything regardless of its poignancy or grammatical content. The blog is for the person who doesn't feel their voice is heard by anyone from the coworker to their representative government. And thanks to the popularity of blogging political awareness has been raised and in many cases candidat...
Hey, eyes up here pal! I love the ladies, I always have. I love the way a woman can brighten a room by entering it. I admire an attractive woman as I would a painting at the Louvre. It has been said that I can be a big puddle of stupid around an attractive woman. I am a people watcher and enjoy observing people and taking them in. It’s not always sexual in nature. Well, it is a little sexual because I have never looked at a man’s ass and lost my train of thought. But I just look....
So I stated in my last post that I found the end of The Breakfast Club to be horseshit. Let me first emphatically state that I love the ending, I just don’t see it happening. As The Simple Minds crooned their mega-hit “ Don’t you forget about me ”, the credits rolled and the screen faded to darkness I couldn’t help but ask myself “But what happened the next day?!” If only I had been fortunate enough to be locked in a room with a “burnout&rd...
"Ya know what I got for Christmas? A carton of cigarettes! Smoke up Johnny! It was a banner fuckin’ year in the Bender house!” A timeless quote from a timeless movie that I stumbled upon the other night while channel-surfing trying to figure out why I spend so much money on movie channels. The Breakfast Club . The definitive, classic teen movie that depicts the American High School in all of its exclusionary, fashion-conscious, cliquey angst-ridden glory. Yeah I know we’ve...
A week ago a very good customer of mine left my workplace in the usual manner. He got pissed off and left in a huff because he didn't get his way when he submitted his latest unreasonable request. We jokingly told him to "get lost", "go to hell", the usual. If I knew that I would never see him again I would have probably have thought of something nicer. He hit a bridge abuttment on his Harley without a helmet at speeds in excess of 70mph. He was pronounced dead on the scene. So I wrote this i...
Letter to my daughter on her Birthday. My dear daughter As you are reading this I am probably at work. I always think of you the most when I am away from you. That is sad isn't it? Maybe you don't know how I feel about you because we are always too busy pushing each other away. SO it's time to share with you what goes through my head when I am away at work. I want you to know how special you are to me. It seems l...
Jesse Jackson should follow the legacy of Rosa Parks and just sit the fuck down. And it logically follows that he should shut the hell up as well. Without causing controversy, I hate controversy (tongue in cheek) will someone out there agree that Jesse Jackson is a racist? I am not an Obama fan. I dread an Obama Presidency. Not because he is black (couldn't care less if he was purple), not because he and I aren't in the same party, and not because I think he is a bad person. I just hate his...
Last month I read in Newsweek that blogging is therapeutic. I knew that. I am no stranger to blogging, hell I was doing it long before it became the phenomenon that it is now. I saw it as a great opportunity to vent when needed, to tear when in the mood and to actually write something that mattered to somebody. Even if that somebody was me. Unfortunately I belonged to a couple of sites that rewarded controversy and inflammatoey rhetoric pumped out by over-zealous insomniacs who sought ratings....
The other day my five year old rushed up to me as I walked in the door and said "Hey Dad, Rosa Parks died. Did you know that?" While I did know this I was certainly impressed that he did. I asked him if he knew what she did to make her famous he replied "she wouldn't get up on the bus". Smart kid. His next sentence contained three words I never thought I would hear from a five year old, civil rights movement . I am pleased to know that his teacher is teaching him something besides shapes an...
It was a perfect day with the family. I drove up to Ossippee Lake, NH early this morning to meet my family who stayed overnight. We had a great day of swimming, throwing the football in the water and making the obligatory big splashing catch. Followed by Pizza with my parents at our favorite Pizza Restaurant (favorite for riding home from our lake house that is) and we split cars. Girls with Mom and boys with Dad. What a great ride home. We talked and listened to music on the rad...