I was in my early forties
with a lot of life before me
when a moment came that stopped me on a dime...
So here we go again, eh? Well, we've been here, done this -- about seven years ago. We came out of it just fine then and we will do so again. So bring it, bitch!
We're off!
Item:
Thanks for all the kinds words regarding the last post. I am absolutely undeserving of all the wonderful people in my life. Thank you for being part of my journey.
~~~
Item:
We're a bit late posting these but her are our comprehensive NHL, NBA and MLB predictions. Each were formulated before any games were played.
NHL Playoffs, Round 1
East West
Washington over NYRangers Vancouver over Chicago
Boston over Montreal San Jose over Los Angeles
Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay Detroit over Phoenix
Philadelphia over Buffalo Anaheim over Nashville
Washington over Pittsburg Vancouver over Anaheim
Boston over Philadelphia Detroit over San Jose
Washington over Boston Detroit over Vancouver
Caps beat the Wings to take home the Cup.
~~~
NBA Playoffs, Round 1
East West
Chicago over Indiana San Antonio over Memphis
Philadelphia over Miami LALakers over New Orleans
Boston over New York Dallas over Portland
Orlando over Atlanta Denver over Oklahoma City
Chicago over Orlando Denver over San Antonio
Boston over Philadelphia Dallas over LALakers
Chicago over Boston Denver over Dallas
Bulls beat the Nuggets to win the championship.
~~~
MLB Playoff Predictions
National League American League
East: Philadelphia East: Boston
Central: Cincinnati Central: Detroit
West: Colorado West: Texas
Wild Card: Atlanta Wild Card: NYYankees
Philadelphia over Cincinnati Boston over Detroit
Colorado over Atlanta NYYankees over Texas
Philadelphia over Colorado Boston over NYYankees
Phillies over Red Sox in the World Series
~~~
Fare thee well, Sidney, we'll see you on the Other Side. Save us a Dog Day.
~~~
Item:
Longtime readers know we have something called a Fodder file. This is where snippets of stories and fragments of ideas reside until either fully formulated, discarded or forgotten. We were cleaning it out while working on this post and found the start of another that was apparently interrupted by a night of drinking, never to be revisited.
Until now.
We've been navigating some rough waters lately and have been making a concerted effort to figure out the proverbial "meaning of life". What we found goes a pretty long way in answering our own question. We'll have to finish it some day:
So a lot of people have been doing the countdown to Thanksgiving thing on Facebook. Having done the 50 things I learned in my first 40 years countdown this summer, I figured people had had enough of my lists. Still, I do feel moved to give thanks for all the wonderful people, places and things in my life. So here goes:
I am thankful for the basics, health, employment, dwelling...I am thankful for my new apartment, it's convenience, appearance and the fresh start it represents...I am thankful to have a job that I honestly love going to...I am thankful for the music of Billy Joel...I am thankful for having grown up in the 4800 block of N. Lawrence Street in Philadelphia...I am thankful for memories of stickball and bicycling and melting down crayons to weigh down the bottle caps we played with...I am thankful for the sense of community on that street, a sense that has never been duplicated anywhere else I've lived...I'm thankful for Jimmy Campbell saving me from an ass-beating or nine...I'm thankful for Harry Heenan, the closest thing to a dog I ever had...I am thankful for Mrs. Incolingo's lasagna...I'm thankful for Fr. Peter J. Welsh, who helped us all through the loss of John Procopio...I'm thankful for the example of Shelby Procopio, who showed me how to just-keep-going, in the face of unthinkable sorrow...I'm thankful for Diane Chesna, my 6th grade teacher, who was the first one to teach me to question everything. 'If someone tells you a fact, question the source. If they tell you the source, check its veracity.'...I'm thankful for Sister Marion Rose -- ok, that's a damned lie. I am not in the least bit thankful for that evil bitch...I am thankful though for Jennifer Flynn, who turned out to be the kind of woman I am proud to have been my first kiss...I'm thankful for Mr. Quaid for being the Mr. Wilson to my Dennis...I'm thankful for the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies for providing the high point of my childhood...I'm thankful for Ace Plants, for throwing the only pitch I ever hit for a home run in a little league game...I'm thankful for Aunt Sue and Sunday afternoons watching football, drinking Pepsi and eating Lance peanut butter crackers...I'm thankful for Diana Collins being born, so Johnny and I could play in her kiddie pool and still look cool...I'm thankful for the Jersey shore...I'm thankful for Incarnation of Our Lord, for being the first church I knew, the place that laid my spiritual foundation...I'm thankful for Fr. Nelson and Fr. Himsworth and Fr. Lynch...I'm thankful for all my friends from Inky, for being a part of the best childhood I could have possibly had...I'm thankful for my brother Joseph, still the best roommate I've ever had -- and to his wife Amy for being so wonderful to him and giving me two great nephews...I am thankful for the late Dr. and Mrs. Bonanno, for their kindness to my daughter...I'm thankful for all the men who put their time and effort into the Northeast Optimist and Olney Midget Leagues. It is only now, as an adult, that I realize all they did...I am thankful for Crown of Pizza, still the best I ever had -- and to Noreen Campbell, for slipping me a free slice whenever I would go back to visit...I'm thankful for my dad, who was just an ordinary working guy, but who worked himself up from an assembly line worker to plant manager. For the things he taught me, the example he set and the memories I will always cherish. I love you, dad...I'm thankful for the people who were so supportive when he died: the nurses at Baptist Medical Center in Columbia, SC; his friends and coworkers, Frank Viscomi, the drunk undertaker and my uncle Jack...I'm thankful for LeGrande Carraway, who was my frined in Columbia before I had any...I'm thankful for Jake Culler, Robbie Johnson, Ivan Johnson, Darius Suber, Carlton English, Rock Goodale -- my running buddies...I'm thankful for Connie Britt not murdering me, although I was the ban e of her existence. I learned more in her classes than any others at Airport High school...I'm thankful for Jamie Whitfield -- a nice lady and a really good teacher...I'm thankful for Scott Newman, Al Johnson and Trey Wallace's dad -- who provided much-needed, although often-ignored fatherly advice. I draw from it often...I'm thankful for Jennie Tinsley for being my teenaged ideal of the perfect woman, and my sponsor for Homecoming my senior year. (I know it's been like 20 years, but if Mike blows it, I'm there!)...I'm thankful for my mother, for all she did and all she dealt with. I could never hope to make up for the things I put her through. But she still loves me...I'm thankful for scoring front-row tickets to see Billy Joel in 1987 and for the opportunity to have him dis my shirt in front of 17,000 people...I'm thankful for Moonlighting, the greatest series ever made...I'm thankful for the Culler's, my adopted family...I'm thankful for the South Carolina State Fair, without which I'd never have known the sheer extacy of the elephant ear...I'm thankful for the 1983 Ford Fairmont Futura being all but indestructible. Believe me, we tried...I'm thankful for a nameless, faceless woman in Myrtle Beach, SC for "making me a man" (romantic, I know)...I'm thankful for the opportunity to go away to college, live in a dorm, join a fraternity, flame out and come home with my tail between my legs (although the 1st Annual Lydia Wood Birthday Bash was off the chain)...I'm thankful for Sgt. Dambacker, my TI in basic training, for straightening me out...I'm thankful for having returned from the Gulf War alive and well...I'm thankful for having had the opportunity to swim in the Red Sea, to experience a culture unlike anything I had ever imagined...I'm thankful for Regina Sifuentes, for writing to me every day, for being the one I came home for...I'm thankful for the breakup that followed my return, for it led me to the mother of my child...I'm thankful for Patricia Cortez (nee Gonzalez, nee Bates), for giving me the greatest gift I will ever receive, my lovely Chelsea...I'm thankful for Bill Deramus giving me a job when I had a baby on the way and no insurance...I'm thankful for Denyse Dvoracek helping me through those first months of single fatherhood, and for the love she, Daniel, Debbie and Dee Anna continue to show me, to this day...I'm thankful for Sherri Burdette, and how incredible she was with Chelsea. I wish I had done better by her...I'm thankful for Pete Chervo not firing me after that thing with the waitress; for Karen Brown for teaching me how to be and how not to be, as a manager;
(I went to eat Thanksgiving dinner, then went to a bar. Then another. I am now way too intoxicated to go on. See you tomorrow)...
~~~
Quote of the Week: “God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.
--St. Augustine
Happy Easter.
~~~
Internet Video of the Week:
Here.
~~~
Ridiculous Story That Actually Appeared in a Publication of the Week:
Here.
~~~
Idiot Criminal of the Week:
Joshua Lieberman, of Skowhegan, ME.
Leiberman, out on parole after serving a three-year prison sentence for robbing the Somerset Federal Credit Union, in Madison, violated the conditions of his parole by entering the Credit Union's Franklin branch -- to apply for a loan to pay the court-ordered restitution from the original robbery.
~~~
Recent iTunes Purchases:
Paul Simon -- So Beautiful or So What -- 2011 -- **** out of five.
--Take the quality of Rythm of the Saints, add in the African influences of Graceland, add in more spirituality than ever heard on a Simon record and you get this superb collection. Rerwrite, in particular, resonates with us at the moment, with its aim of revisionist history -- on one's own future.
R.E.M -- Collapse into Now -- 2011 -- **1/2
--We're on the fence. This is either an amazing album or formulatic pomposity. überlin is our favorite tune of the set, thus far.
The Decemberists -- The King is Dead -- 2011 -- ***
--Again, just incredible lyrics at play here ("It's well advised that you follow your own bag, in the year of the chewable Ambien tab"). The music could use a bit more variety but a solid effort nonetheless.
~~~
Parting shots:
Dow ends week at near-three-year high. Hmm, What is different than three years ago?...Four fun words to say: Barry Bonds, convicted felon...
And with that, we bid you adieu.
Until next time,
Keep the Faith
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