BLOGROLLING

COUSIN FRANNIE'S BIG DAY

Of course, her for really & for truly birthday was August 2, but today's the bash for Fran. All the relatives, & her friends, are expected to show up. My father & I went to Gubbiotti's Funeral Home to borrow chairs. Uncle Frankie's running around a lot too. Yesterday I went to the mall & found out at Waldenbooks that they have a job opening so I made sure I got an application. I hope everything works out for me. The trip over there was rather annoying because it was a hot day with lots of traffic. It turns out that Rte. 315 ends over there & turns into 309. I think they used to have a really nice miniature golf course over there about twenty years ago. Of course, lest we so much as presume to forget, the legendary KrissyKrissyKrissy has a birthday coming up on Monday. She'll be thirty. I started reading a biography of Charlotte Bronte this morning. The Bronte sisters are among my favorite authors. Yesterday I watched a few episodes from "Tales From the Darkside". That was a right groovy eighties variation of "The Twilight Zone". I found out about a couple in China who want to name their little baby @. I don't know whether the young_un in question is a boy or girl. All I know is names these days have gotten entirely out of hand already anyway. Wow! I just found out that Fizzies, the drink tablet I used to like as a young_un, have made a comeback. I shall have to track them down.

CQ COUNTER

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HAIRCUT TIME

I got a haircut this morning. Rose, on Eighth Street by the Wyoming Bridge, must open around nine o'clock. I was only the second guy there when I showed up. Another guy showed up right after I got there. Unlike lots of other places, that can get might fancy, Rose's approach to cutting hair is very basic. Hello_snip_good-bye just about says it for her. I found out last night that the cast of "The Bob Newhart Show", one of my all_time favorites, are supposed to be having a reunion soon. They're the ones who gave us one of everybody's favorite seventies' catch phrases: "Hi, Bob". Fran's big day is coming up this weekend. She turned fifty last month. There was a problem with having the party then, though. Not enough people were available to show up. Yesterday, I took a chance & tried to get to the Wyoming Valley Mall. I went to Rte. 315 by the Oblates of St. Joseph Seminary. Then I went on the southbound lane as far south as those casinos. By then, though, I got sick & tired of it & instead of bothering to go any farther, I got onto the northbound lane of the Cross Valley Expressway (Rte. 309) & went back home. It wasn't too much farther south than where I already was by then anyway but I went nuts over it.

DAREN'S ANNIVERSARY

Unfortunately, two years ago today, Daren died. The weather is slightly cooler today than it's been recently. I'm still trying to re_read that Shakespeare play. On top of that, I'm also trying to get used to the idea that my birthday will be here in slightly over a week. Great Caesar's ghost! Where in Sam Hill could all that time possibly have gone? Uncle Frankie came over last night. Surprisingly, he wasn't packing any of his traditional candy, etc. The librarian has been on vacation all week & we're all still her in one piece, though somewhat frazzled. The women he's left in charge don't seem to be as knowledgeable as he. Today it's somehow unusually crowded here. The past week seems to have just about flown by. I just got news from Cathleen that the lunch with Gael yesterday worked out well though the weather over there is too cool too soon. I haven't gotten a chance to see either of them in person for very many decades. Now it's all internet_wise & only sometimes on the phone. I still need a haircut but have yet to get moving about it. It's like a very long_standing tradition with me to postpone haircuts long enough to bug the hell out of people. The Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception will be finally beatifying Fr. Stanislaus this month. On top of everything else, his big day will be on my birthday. Last night I watched "The Simpsons". I haven't been in the habit of watching it for a very long time, but it's still quite a groovy show. All those pop cultural references, especially the old stuff, can really keep me hopping. I've never bothered with new stuff.

LIBRARIAN'S ON VACATION

Because the librarian's on vacation all week everybody's going stark raging nuts around here. Most days the library's closed at 1:30. The weather's a smidge cooler today than it's been lately. I don't get pert near heat stroke in my car. Last week I saw the old silent movie "Steamboat Bill, Jr." with Buster Keaton. Last night I saw the old silent movie "Flesh & the Devil" with Greta Garbo & John Gilbert. I don't usually get to see silents. Most of the time they're all talkies. Those two were the first movies I've seen in a while. Uncle Frankie, of course, came over for a while yesterday. Everybody is still looking forward to Fran's big party. She thinks it's for Michael. It's hard to believe we could possibly be anywhere near even half that old. Danny came over with fish this morning from his big trip to Michigan. It was exactly a decade ago this day that Mother Teresa of Calcutta died. The Catholic radio station, 750 am, is all abuzz about her. I just got news from Cathleen. She & Gael are supposed to go to lunch today. That most certainly should turn out to be quite a hoot. It's always good news to hear they've been doing well. Unfortunately tomorrow's the second anniversary of Daren's death. She was somebody I first met at S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale in 1980 & then at O.L.P.H. in 1985.

LABOR DAY WENT WELL

It was a very nice, very quiet Labor Day weekend. I was genuinely surprised to see that we didn't have all the traffic New Yorkers take for granted. I went to Blockbusters for a few minutes yesterday. The selection of stuff for sale is absolutely atrocious. They must like only to rent videos to people. I see the latest James Bond movie is available for sale. Steve, the kids & I went to see it a while ago. Lately, I've been re_reading "MacBeth". It's tough but I'm getting used to it. It's awfully short for a Shakespeare play so rumor has it it was shortened a smidge somehow. Congratulations to Karen & Tony for their new house. I get lots of e mails lately reminding us of it. Of course, as usual, when I was supposed to lector on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at Mass, the girl who was supposed to show up to help didn't get there. Rocco filled in for her. That's three weeks in a row that something happened like that. Everybody's been getting geared up for Fran's big birthday bash this coming weekend. It should be a swell time for one & all. She recently turned fifty. My birthday's coming up pretty soon too. The librarian's on vacation this week & the library closes very early each day. Vinnie's sent me a few e mails lately. It's always really good to be able to keep in touch with him. The people in the pictures are a couple of eccentric characters I met through my Myspace account. The guy with the funky hairdo even has an awfully distinctive last name.