BOND...JAMES BOND

Yesterday I saw the classic James Bond movie, "From Russia With Love". Sean Connery starred in it. In this Bond movie, the character of M was played by a man. In last year's "Casino Royale", Dame Judi Dench played the part. Uncle Frankie's sore throat seems to be lingering for a while. He's still at home ill & hasn't bothered to visit us lately. The price of the Citizen's Voice has gone back up to a half dollar so I now frequently get it at the machine instead of the store again. Tomorrow's New Year's Eve. I have no plans to do any partying. I enjoy a good party as much as anyone but don't really go crazy over things like that. My New Year's bash will more probably consist of watching reruns of "The Honeymooners" on that WGN channel 96. My parents spent all this morning cleaning the really disgusting oven & other things in the kitchen. That kind of chore has always been quite an absolute nightmare unfortunately. Very many years worth of dirt is hard to handle.

FIVE GOLD RINGS!

It's the Fifth Day of Christmas, as in the very famous carol. The weekend worked out quite well. Fran went home early yesterday as far as I know. Yesterday I finished "Romeo & Juliet" & started reading "Cymbeline" for the first time. Surprisingly I can't remember ever having read it before. I got a message from Cheryl on Saturday asking me to cover for her at 5:00 Mass but by the time I finally got back to her she had already asked Mary to do it. After Latin Mass yesterday in Pittston there were lots of new calendars there for 2009, reminding me that the new year is right around the corner. On Saturday, right after Mass, I went to Blockbusters in Pittston to take advantage of my gift card. I got a DVD Of Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto". I also ended up, to my chagrin, getting a pretty scary reminder of just exactly how slow & sluggish these Pa. drivers are. Everything was constant stop & go garbage.

QUIET AGAIN!

Now that the Christmas partying has ended things are back to being merely quietly dysfunctional around here again. Yesterday I made sure I took advantage of the Blockbusters gift card I got from the kids. I went to the store over at the Insalaco's shopping center in West Pittston & got a couple of James Bond movies, "From Russia With Love" & the much more recent "Casino Royale". It turns out that Lotte Lenya was a real person. I've always known of her as a character in "Mack the Knife" but she appeared in "From Russia With Love". "Casino Royale" was also the name of a late 1960's Bond parody starring David Niven. From now on, exactly because Christmas was so fattening, I'm really looking forward to cutting down on food for quite a while. New Year beckons. I don't usually bother to party for the new year in any significant way.

ON THE FEAST OF STEPHEN!

Today is the feast of St. Stephen, the Church's proto martyr, who has the distinction of being referred to in what is perhaps the only known song about a guy named Wenceslaus. Christmas worked out quite well this year. Unlike Bridget's incident last year, nobody was rushed to the hospital. Aunt Norma's been improving. As always it was entirely too fattening. On Christmas Eve, Uncle Frankie, Fran & Lisa visited us. On Christmas Day we visited them. Cathleen, as always, forgot to send me the California refrigerator magnet she got me last year. Last night we watched "Napoleon Dynamite" so today we can do the official Napoleon Dynamite dance as our Friday dance. Steve & I went to Dick's this morning to get some skiing clothes for Michael. The weather was an absolute nightmare on Christmas Eve but it's been getting better since then. There was a bitter cold rain & fog all day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm especially happy this year to be able, for the very first time in many decades, to say a rousing merry Christmas to my St. Gabriel's friends, Dennis, & especially Earl. Earl & I were always the very best of friends as kids. We've all been exchanging lots of pictures, some recent & some quite seriously old. I found Gerard from those days too. My father & I went shopping this morning. The traffic, of course, was quite an absolute nightmare. At Foodtown in Kingston, they even have a stand outside where they sell all the fish. It's bitter cold out there unfortunately. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. I've finished "The Merchant of Venice" & started "Romeo & Juliet". Unfortunately Larry called yesterday. Aunt Norma will be needing lots of prayers.

COOKIES

The weather this past weekend was absolutely out of control. Snow & ice came down for most of Saturday & there was another snowfall for a couple of hours yesterday morning. Chet called to tell me the Latin Mass was cancelled. On my way home from 5:00 Mass on Saturday, the traffic was so congested it took me over ten minutes just to get a few hundred feet down Eighth Street. Fran, one of the old neighbors from Lindenhurst, called. It's good to keep up with the gossip from over there. Dennis has been showing me some old pictures from our St. Gabriel's days. There are a few of kids in our fourth grade class with Miss Elsie Petrocelli, our teacher that year. Amazingly, although it's been very many decades since then, I can still recoginze most of the faces. There are also a few pictures on the site of faculty & other classes. This morning one of the church ladies gave me a can of home baked cookies for Christmas. She does a lot of baking each Christmas for people.

RAGING BLIZZARD!

Yesterday it snowed for most of the day, starting very early in the morning. There was ice too. I made sure I called Barbara last night, to avoid taking any chances about this morning's Carmelite meeting. It's a big trip in bad weather. At first she said she'd expected it not to be cancelled. At around 9:15 last night, though, she called & said it would be cancelled. The library closed at noon yesterday & opened an hour late today. Yesterday I had an extremely hard time plowing through the traffic & the visibility absolutely stunk, but today things, so far, have been much better. My mother & Fran were supposed to spend this weekend making cookies for Christmas but their plans were postponed because of the weather. Lately I've been eating entirely too many peanuts. They're entirely too enjoyable for my own good & quite addictive if I don't wise up & watch my step. I just found out from Sam that Mary Anne's famous annual Hanukkah party was a real success last night. According to him, all went quite well.

YET ANOTHER ST. GABRIEL'S FRIEND

I recently tracked down yet another connection from my days in Queens. Dennis & I were in the same class & I found him on Facebook yesterday. Having always been more than a little befuddled about whether the old neighborhood's in East Elmhurst or Jackson Heights, I made sure I asked Earl & Frank yesterday about it. Earl reminded me that we're somewhere in the middle & either name's allowed. It's sort of like a Lindenhurst & Copiague kind of thing, I should suppose. This morning I went for a total change of my usual habit. I ate an English muffin yesterday in the afternoon. That's most certainly no big deal because I always eat in the afternoon anyway. The surprise was that I even ate one for breakfast this morning too at around 6:30. Grace, Daren's mother, sent me a Christmas card. I got it yesterday. Daren died over three years ago. There's supposed to be a lot more snow coming tomorrow night. I just hope it doesn't affect the Carmelite meeting on Saturday.

SNOW!

It snowed yet again last night. It wasn't as bad as what we were threatened with. We expected to get up to four inches of snow. Once again, my handy dandy vinyl windshield cover comes to the rescue. It's not even winter yet & already the winter weather is getting nightmarishly boring. Yesterday & last night, unfortunately, I ate quite a whole lot of candy. It was from Aunt Lauren. People have been coming out of the woodwork over at Facebook. It's nice to see that Earl & Frank are on each other's friends lists. Christmas is now only eight days away. So far people have been taking it all quite well. The extreme aggravation hasn't quite sunk in just yet. Lately I've been awfully seriously cold even when I'm inside. I seem to lack the ability to get warmed up. It's quite an extremely annoying feeling.

MISERABLE WEATHER

It snowed last night & there's a miserable rain this morning. At least yesterday's rain wasn't so cold. Christmas very fast approaches. Santa Claus already made his rounds through the neighborhood on his big fire truck here recently. Aunt Lauren came over yesterday when my parents were shopping at Wegmann's. She left a present for them. I made sure I got Karen's exact address straightened out so we can send her a nice card. I've just read in the "San Francisco Chronicle" that Beatle Paul has recently stated that he, not John Lennon, was the political Beatle. McCartney claims that a mid_1960's meeting with fruitcake philosopher Bertrand Russell got him interested in protesting the Viet Nam War. This, says he, led to the Fabs' now notorious political & social activism. This Saturday morning I shall have to go to another Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre.

MARIA CALLED

The weekend went well. I lectored at 5:00 Mass on Saturday. I bought another oplatki after Mass. So far I've gotten one of those things each weekend. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday & ate supper with us. As usual he came fully equipped with candy, this time chocolate. Unfortunately I've been eating entirely too much junk food lately. The Holy Name Society meeting was last night. There was wine, soda & beer after the meeting along with chili & potato chips. One of the main things going on was the election for the new year. Father Walsh didn't show up. KrissyKrissyKrissy sent a Christmas picture of her kids recently. Mary Anne called yesterday. She's been ill lately. Maria called last night too. She told my mother all the latest New York gossip. My Facebook account has most certainly been getting much more mileage lately than ever. All my connections have really been taking advantage.

FOUND EARL!

As kids over in East Elmhurst, Earl & I had always been such very good friends. I ended up moving to Lindenhurst a long time ago, & now live here. He moved to Puerto Rico decades ago & is still there. Yesterday I sent him an e mail on Facebook & now we're finally back together. I made sure I asked him to say hello to both his parents for me too. Today's weather is much nicer, so far, than yesterday's, though this morning the roads were very slippery & visibility absolutely stunk because of all the fog on my windows. Not much is on the weekend's schedule except that I have to lector at 5:00 Mass today. Christmas is now less than two weeks away. I got Carole & Bob's inevitable Christmas card yesterday. Carole was my very first supervisor when I worked at Citicorp. My arm is still in pain. It's driving me crazy but I'll just have to handle it somehow.

WINDSHIELD WIPER TROUBLES

This morning, as I was about to leave, I couldn't help grumbling because of all the snow & bad visibility. As if that wasn't stupid enough, when I pulled away from the curb at the post office, my windshield wipers got tangled & I went straight home to fix them. My father reminded me that I should have broken the extra ice around them before I left. All it took was a little turn of a wrench to fix the trouble. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. This time, instead of candy, he showed up with a pie. Tomorrow I have to lector at 5:00 Mass. I most certainly hope the weather's much better by then. Because of all the ice, today's Friday dance shall have to be done very slowly. Lots of people are still busily getting things together on Facebook. Terry just uploaded some of her daughters' pictures. Other people are filling in profiles.

SCRAMBLED EGGS & FACEBOOK

Lately all my kin have been going plum loco over Facebook, joining each other's friends' lists. I have very many pictures on other sites so I suppose I shall have to transfer a lot of them to this one. My father went to the V.A. for a doctor's appointment early this morning. The weather's been miserable with ice & rain so it must not have been a fun trip. Last night I watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" again. It's an interesting show. I never bothered with it when it was on originally but it's nice to see the reruns. They're as dysfunctional a bunch of characters as any I've ever seen. Believe it or not, this morning turned out to be one of those rare occasions when I ate breakfast. I ate scrambled eggs with ketchup. Since when, may I ask, are "embiggen" & "biggify" legitimate words? I keep noticing that on Facebook, those are their words for "enlarge".

IT'S RAINING AGAIN

When I got up this morning it was absolutely pouring out. That's most probably why I have such an annoying headache right now. My mother spoke to Fran on the phone last night. Fran seems to be feeling much better lately. Uncle Frankie hasn't shown up in the past couple of days. Nothing much is happening these days so far. I'd be afraid to go Christmas shopping in all this traffic. I just read a blog on Xanga that talks about organ donation. I've always specified on my driver's license that I want my organs donated when I die. I don't expect them to do me any good from then on. A lot of people, for some reason, object to this practice but I happen to think it's quite a really good idea. Yesterday I watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" again. I've been starting to get used to it by now. Interestingly, I just found out on the Adweek site that 67% of people in this country would rather see "Merry Christmas" in stores Christmas ads than the nauseatingly leftist "Happy Holidays", that only got 27% of the vote. This is yet more proof that liberals aren't even the least bit interested in what people really want, but only in cramming their agenda down our throats whether anybody likes it or not.

VERY COLD

The weather's still cold. Mary Anne called last night. Nothing seems to be new with them lately. My shoulder still hurts quite a whole lot. Combined with my seemingly perpetual itch, it's extremely annoying. As a general rule I absolutely can't stand Oprah Winfrey & avoid her show at all costs. Yesterday was different though. The surviving members of the cast of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" were on it. That was always one of the most interesting shows on TV when I was a kid. Those people are all as old as the hills now. Yesterday was Tina's birthday so we shall all have to wish quite a rousing happy birthday to her. Yesterday I got my latest issue of the Carmelite Digest. It's a quarterly journal. It's very cold today but at least it's not raining or snowing. That's what really gets me crazy. The librarian just pointed out a while ago that Christmas is now only sixteen days away.

BEATLE JOHN & BEATLE GEORGE

November 29 was the seventh anniversary of George Harrison's death & today is the twenty eighth anniversary of John Lennon's. December 8, 1980 was also on a Monday. I can still most certainly remember that night quite well even now. Amazingly, I just read a cartoon in the Citizens Voice only two days ago that depicted John & Yoko at their 1969 Amsterdam Bed.In for Peace. It's quite amazing that to this very day, there are still a substantial number of people around who can be counted on both to recognize & even to appreciate the allusion. Lately the weather has been getting progressively colder & colder. There was snow in the morning but at least it didn't amount to anything significant. When I came home from the Latin Mass last evening my hands were virtually frostbitten. This morning, I should suppose because of the weather, my shoulder, which I broke in the early 1990's, has been in extreme pain. Uncle Frankie came over last night with his usual chocolate candy. I, of course, made sure I ate much of it. Unfortunately Fran is very ill with a virus.

EXTREMELY COLD

The weather this morning was bitter. There was even ice inside my windshield. After 7:30 Mass at O.L. Mt. Carmel I made sure I got gas next door. It was completely amazing that gas is now down to only $1.87.9 per gallon over there. My parents end up getting a present for one of the people on the church's giving tree each year so this year I made sure I got them yet another tag. I ended up getting them one for a seven year old boy. They got their shopping over with yesterday for him. So far I'm not on the schedule to do any lectoring this weekend. Of course I wasn't on last week's schedule either but I still ended up having to cover for Cheryl anyway. Yesterday I ate a Big Mac & French fries. Maybe it was a Whopper. I can't even remember. All that poisonous crap's pretty much interchangeable to me anyway.

HAPPY FRIDAY

It's time for our weekly very cold Friday dance. I'm still reading Shakespeare's play about Henry VIII. As with all the Bard's works, the language is a little thick & obscure so it's going to take quite a while. Uncle Frankie showed up last night, for the first time in quite a while. He must be feeling better now. It's been a very droll time so far lately with nothing of note happening. Last night I watched an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond". Somehow I've never gotten into the habit of watching that show although it's really good. I just found out from cousin Alan, over in Michigan, that he & Kim went to Ireland recently. They really enjoyed their big trip. Yesterday's weather was an absolute nightmare but it's been much better so far today.

IT'S RAINING AGAIN

The last time I was outside today it was cold & raining. Weather like this is awfully boring & annoying. Having already finished Shakespeare's "As You Like It", I'm now reading his "Henry VIII". It's based on a true story, classified as a historical play. I'm already familiar with it. The only wives of Henry's who appear in the play are Katherine of Aragon & Anne Bullen. I've read two biographies of the Six Wives of Henry VIII. Uncle Frankie hasn't been around for a while. I think he's been ill lately. I absolutely dread having to go shopping. Crowds have always gotten me crazy & traffic only makes it all even so very much worse. Yesterday I saw "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" & "Jeopardy". Shows such as those are really good for keeping the brain cells hopping.

MAN ON THE STREET INTERVIEW

My father & I went to Food Town yesterday & while we were there he was interviewed by a guy from WYOU TV News about the age at which kids should be allowed to start hunting. Somehow he got the impression that he'd be on Channel 6 at 5:00 but he was on Channel 2 at 7:00. I don't know anything about hunting so I backed away. Hunting season around here started on Monday so school was out that day. Fran & my mother talked on the phone last night for a while. Mary Anne called too. Their car troubles didn't turn out to be all that big of a deal. Pretty soon I shall have to get both my annual Christmas cards sent out. I always send & get two each year by way of snail mail. Everything else inevitably comes from e mail. As always it's exceptionally cold today. I just found out on Yahoo that twenty nine years ago today, eleven people were killed at a Who concert in Cincinnati. I remembered it but it's odd that today's the anniversary.

BAD WEATHER YESTERDAY

There was yet another brutal storm yesterday. Last night must have been bitter cold because when I got out to my car this morning everything that wasn't covered with the windshield cover was covered with a very thick layer of ice. Christmas gets closer each day & by now we've been plum saturated beyond the limits of human endurance with all that politically correct (read: nauseating)happy holidays crap. Surprisingly I haven't seen Uncle Frankie in a few days. Perhaps he's been around once in a while & we just keep missing each other. Yesterday I at a couple of Whoppers & large order of French fries from Burger King. Fortunately I most certainly know very much better than to pig out like that on a regular basis but every once in a while is no big deal.

BIG STORM YESTERDAY

Yesterday's weather was an absolute nightmare of snow, sleet & rain. Today's much nicer though. Lately my parents have been going crazy with Christmas decorations. It's one of the much more annoying practical realities which everybody goes through each December. There's a lot of heavy lifting, climbing & general clumsiness involved. When I went to 5:00 Mass on Saturday I ran into Donna, one of our former lectors. She's now Sister Donna, a novice in a religious community. I ended up having to cover for Cheryl because she wasn't available to lector. Although everyone seemed to have gotten through Black Friday in one piece, there was a death over in Valley Stream, N.Y. at a Wal.Mart where an employee was stampeded to death by shoppers. Of course it should be most certainly classified as a murder. Mary Anne, Steve & kids when they went home on Saturday, got stuck when their car broke down over in New Jersey.

TO HILLDALE

Yesterday, from around 3:00 until about 8:30 we were in Hilldale. All went quite well even though I can't handle crowds. I have to watch what I write on my blog because now I know they pay attention to this stuff. My cousin, the Ronald, a twenty year navy veteran, wrote & recorded a song about the armed forces & gave each of us a copy complete with sheet music. I've been trying to give it a lot of publicity on my blogs. Matt explained his Ph.D. thesis to us. Mary Anne & family left today at around 11:45. Michael is a little disappointed about his having gotten such an especially short haircut. I gave him my book about the evils of liberalism & he has promised to read it. Jennifer & Java have been keeping us informed of the progress of her pregnancy.

HAPPY FRIDAY TURKEY TROT

Thanksgiving went quite well yesterday. Mary Anne, Steve & the kids showed up late in the morning. Uncle Frankie, Fran & Lisa got here early in the afternoon. I've been getting a very bad headache each day lately, unfortunately. There was entirely too much food & the coffee pot stopped working. Fortunately we managed to dig up another pot. Today we shall be going to Hilldale to see the kinfolk. The Ronald & the Linda, along with Brianne, Matt & family will be there. Bridget & Sam are just as colorful a couple of characters as ever. Michael, of course, is still interested in philosophy & physics & has been delving into Marxist theory. He & I most certainly disagree about quite a whole lot. That vinyl cover for my windshield most certainly makes quite a difference. Last night I never bothered to put it on & my windshield was an absolute sheet of ice this morning. Steve has car trouble so he spent a while this morning looking through the phone books for someplace that might have a part he needs.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Yesterday I gave blood at the Polish American Legion Post on Oak Street in Plains. As usual the phlebotomist I got mixed up with was quite a talkative woman. My appointmet was for 1:15. It lasted only a little while compared to most donations. I got a coupon for a McDonald's Egg McMuffin with my coffee & junk food. I followed my parents to the place & they took advantage of the trip, from then on, as an excuse to go shopping. Uncle Frankie was there for a little while until we left. The weather has been an absolute nightmare lately with bitter cold, rain & snow for the past few days. I got a call yesterday from Bob from the Holy Name Society. He wants me to return the two contest tickets I got in the mail a while ago. Tomorrow will be, as always, crowded & fattening. I just hope it's a reasonably nice day.

THANKSGIVING APPROACHES

Thanksgiving & Michelle's birthday are only three days away. Mary Anne, Steve & the kids will be here for a while. Fran has to work but she'll be available as much as possible. The weather's been so cold lately that Uncle Frankie hasn't been bothering with those games on Friday nights anymore. He came over for a while on Saturday & yesterday. I used to go to Buffalo for Thanksgiving but that was quite a long time ago. Unfortunately the weather over here is just as bitter cold & it's mountainous too. On England's Telegraph website, & Yoko Ono's site, I just read that the Vatican has recently forgiven Beatle John for his March 1966 boast that the Fabs were more popular than Jesus. This morning I read some more of "Much Ado About Nothing". I got a very seriously annoying headache yesterday. It may have been a sinus headache because my normal headache pills didn't get rid of it but the sinus pill I took did.

FORTY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

Friday, November 22, 1963 was the day that changed the world. The JFK assassination was the single moment that made the sixties the sixties. Uncle Frankie's been very sick lately with a flu or something. He didn't even bother to show up at the big game last night, so that's how we know he's not feeling even the least bit well these days. Lately I've been watching, for a few minutes at a time every once in a while, the show "Scrubs". Other than the looker from "The Drew Carey Show", there's nobody else on it I can even try to recognize. So far it seems like a pretty neat show. I don't have to lector this weekend & there's nothing much of anything else going on so far either. Things are bound to be pretty quiet & uneventful. The temperature when I first went out this morning was only in the twenties. Once again, the windshield cover came to the rescue. The kids in the library are watching a movie today so there's a bit of a crowd.

FRIDAY DANCE

It's the end of a quiet uneventful week. The temperature's under thirty degrees today. The windshield cover is a right nice investment. From now on I shall have to wear very heavy clothes & a hat every day upon going outside. Gas prices are still going down. The Unimart in Exeter is even down below the $2.00.9 mark. I've been still reading that Shakespeare play. Today I'm in the West Pittston library, having been kicked out of Wyoming's. I just read a blog comment on Blogster this morning about how the liberals are masters of the English language for purposes of deception. They manipulate language, & symbolism in general, for the purpose of affecting change. The guy who wrote the blog & comment said they literally won the entire national election merely by exploiting the one word, "change".

YET EVEN MORE SNOW!

I woke up to yet another snowy morning. It's also boring & aggravating. Today I wore my grey sweater with the hood. Unfortunately, I've been reading lately that people have been attacking President_elect Obama not for the reasons for which he should be condemned(his unutterably obscene radical left wing agenda, of course), but merely because he happens to be black. Of course, racism is no better or any more logical & rational a response to things than liberalism, so people who are against him based on mere race can't possibly be dealt with logically. It's like that famous logical fallacy which every philosophy student knows: the enemy of one's enemy isn't necessarily his friend. Mary Anne called this morning. It was one of her usual calls.

VERY COLD

The weather was cold last night & there was ice on people's windows this morning but I was spared any trouble like that because of my vinyl windshield cover. I got a call from O.L. Sorrows yesterday. Amazingly, there's a new woman in the parish & she wants to be one of our lectors. Unlike O.L.P.H., we don't seem to be able to get a significant number of people to do that kind of thing. I made sure I put away her name & phone number so they'll be available when I have to get in touch with her. Recently in the mail I got my new insurance cards for my car. They're good until April. They only last for six months. I'm still reading "As You Like It". That's the one with Jaques' famous "All the world's a stage..." speech. Thanksgiving is next Thursday. It's Michelle's birthday this year. That's Noreen's sister, not Gino's wife.

REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

This month in history: How could I possibly have forgotten that the Fifth of November was Guy Fawkes Day, the commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot in England in 1605? This morning we saw the first snowfall, in the area, of the season. So far it's been very mild & even kind of nice. Last night I finished "Troilus & Cressida" & started "As You Like It". Uncle Frankie came over for a while last night. As always he & my parents spent quite a while rambling on about things that are of interest to them. "ALF" was on twice last night. I'm so happy to see it's back in reruns. It's on Chicago's WGN America, a channel that appears to have quite a lot of especially good old shows. Gas prices, surprisingly, are still getting consistently lower each time I pass by a gas station. Thanksgiving's right around the corner & Christmas is getting closer & closer.

ZITI PARTY YESTERDAY

All most certainly went quite well at the Holy Name Society's annual party yesterday at O.L. Sorrows. Besides my parents & me, Uncle Frankie & Fran showed up too. As with the O.L.P.H. crowd, all the hard core regulars made their predictable appearance. Everyone left quite full. Along with the pasta, they served salad, bread, cake, beer, wine & soda. Father Walsh was there. I arrived early at 10:15 & found out the hard way just exactly what an absolute nightmare parking is in their lot during Mass. At the Carmelite meeting on Saturday I forgot to take my breviary when I left so I went back to get it yesterday before the party. There was a very slight drizzle in the morning as I was on my way home from Wilkes_Barre yesterday but other than that the weather was nice. Saturday afternoon, though, when I went over to lector at 5:00 Mass, there was an absolutely unbearable torrential downpour. It was especially bad at around 4:00. I'm in the Hoyt Library in Kingston now because it was too crowded over at Wyoming.

SHORT CARMELITE MEETING

Today I went over to the meeting in Wilkes_Barre. Sister Catherine gave me the required paperwork. Only one of the others showed up. I assume a few went to Middletown but three, besides me, promised to show up today. We left after only the morning prayer & didn't bother with a meeting. I went on a vocational retreat in Middletown & Tappan exactly thirteen years ago to see if I should become one of their Religious. Father Mike Kissane was their vocation director then. That was when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. As far as I know, Uncle Frankie went to the game last night. They're pretty heavily into sports around here. The Phillies even won the World Series this year. Tomorrow's Cousin Java's birthday. I made sure I sent him his official annual birthday e mail. Tomorrow I have to lector at 10:00 Mass. After that we have to go to the big ziti party that lasts from noon until 5:00.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COUSIN KAREN

A hearty happy birthday to my cousin Karen. Cousin Java's birthday is coming up on Sunday. Scott's birthday (Mary Ellen's son) was on the tenth. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Fran called while he was here. He'll be going to a high school playoff game tonight. This morning I made sure I got the last three tickets I need from Howard for the ziti dinner on Sunday. Fortunately today's weather has been very much nicer than yesterday's. All the confusion of weather has been taking its toll though. Father Walsh appears to have a bit of a cold & I've been hearing many sniffles & snorts among other people lately too. Tomorrow morning I shall be off to yet another monthly Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. A few people will be spending the day in Middletown, N.Y. so we can't possibly expect perfect attendance. We never have everybody there anyway though.

UGH! I BROKE MY ARM!

Today is the seventeenth anniversary of the day I broke my left (unfortunately my dominant) arm over at St. John's High School while delivering something to Sister Noella. I woke up today to a damp, rainy, bitter cold morning. Yesterday, fairly late in the day, I made sure I put that thing over my windshield to avoid any ice, fog, etc. I shall assume it worked out. It was sort of hard to put it on because it's such a big clumsy kind of thing, so it took a few minutes. Yesterday the Red Cross sent me a notice, in the mail, about their upcoming local blood drives. As always, last night I got a call from them. I made an appointment to give blood on November 25 at 1:15 p.m at the Polish veterans' place on Oak Street in Plains. I always seem to end up over in Plains lately. Mary Anne called last night. There's nothing much going on that I know of. It was just a typical call. I played my guitar yesterday. Soon I shall be really good at it. Tomorrow is Karen's birthday. I shall be most certainly praying quite a whole lot for her.

COLD LATELY

There was ice on my windows this morning. Yesterday I got a cover for them. I shall have to start using it, from now on, on really cold days. Lately I've been forced to wear heavy clothes because the weather is starting to get colder. This morning I made sure I paid Howard for the five ziti tickets for Sunday. Now we shall all be able to show up. Last night I watched some of "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. The liberals have yet to stop continuously attacking McCain & Palin. I've heard a few times that she wants to think of running for the presidency in 2012. I've just noticed that the American Humanist Association is already trying to destroy Christmas this year. Yesterday they started a $40,000 ad campaign in Washington mocking traditional Christian beliefs. If you want to protest this cheap shot, their phone number is: 1 800-837 3792. I recently got started using my Yahoo messenger account & even have a few friends on it now.

VETERAN'S DAY

I'm not a veteran. I never could get into the military. The past two days have been unusually cold considering the recent warm spell. At least there was no ice on my windows so I'm happy about it all. This morning, after 9:00 Mass at St. Joseph's, Fr. Walsh asked what I thought of last week's rather heated Holy Name Society meeting at O.L. Sorrows. In any organization, unfortunately, there will always be major fights. Last night I stayed up until 10:00, which has always been quite an accomplishment for me, to watch a couple of reruns of "ALF". I still have to pay Howard for the big upcoming ziti party. I didn't get a chance to see him this morning but I'm pert near positive I shall be able to see him tomorrow. Mary Anne called again last night. It was mostly about the big plans for Thanksgiving.

NICE WEEKEND

The weekend worked out quite well. I finished most of "Troilus & Cressida". Besides that, I made sure I practiced my guitar. The high school football season is over, so there will be no more Friday night games for a while. On Saturday, I watched Raymond Arroyo's interview with Pat Buchanan, whose seventieth birthday was on November 2. Last night, on Channel 96, it was Retro night. They showed "Coach", "WKRP In Cincinnati", "Alf", "Newhart" & "The Honeymooners". Uncle Frankie showed up for a while this morning. He & Fran are interested in going to the big ziti party next Sunday. Last year's turnout was really nice & we shall be looking forward to a good one this year too. Yesterday Barbara called because she wanted to make sure of whether or not I intend to attend Saturday's Carmelite meeting. A few people won't be available.

RAINY SATURDAY

When I was out before it wasn't raining but the sky was gloomy & everybody put his headlights on. I got gas over in Pittston in the gas station right next door to the church. It was really weird seeing how inexpensive it was. Obama's first press conference as president_elect yesterday went quite well. Unfortunately, while referring to his predecessors, he made a crack about Nancy Reagan's seances. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday. Surprisingly, he & my father didn't end up going to a game. Much of the conversation was about food. Yesterday I ate ham & eggs for supper. That's the kind of thing that's always struck me as more the kind of thing that somebody should have for breakfast. I opened a bag of pistachios yesterday & ate some of them too. There are still more left. Not having eaten them in quite a while. They're the one with the white shells though they come in red too. My cousin Karen's birthday is on November 14, so I made quite sure I got her a card & sent it out this morning.

HAPPY FRIDAY

It's time once again for yet another Friday dance. My father took Uncle Frankie this morning to the V.A. for a doctor's appointment. Thanksgiving is coming up pretty soon. It's not much of a shopping day except for food. After that, though, is the part I've always dreaded beyond belief. Starting on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, the traffic will be an absolute nightmare until after Christmas. I was very happy to find out that California, Florida, & Arizona have banned homosexual marriage. Oddly, we've recently elected a president who, to my chagrin, would be quite happy to go in exactly the opposite direction. Yesterday's big news bombshell was that former V.P. candidate Sarah Palin couldn't do as well on a geography test as the average fourth grade kid, & that she's never heard of NAFTA. I'm still playing the guitar, of course, so I should be pretty good at it by the time anybody shows up who's willing to listen.

UNUSUALLY WARM OR WHAT?

The weather lately has been unseasonably warm. It was raining but not since early this morning. Let's just hope it keeps going like this all through the rest of autumn & winter. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. I just noticed, this morning that Pop_Tarts, always quite a major & total favorite of mine, now come with knock.knock jokes on them. Now that the election's over, we can count on most people's undivided attention being given to our new president_elect. According to Joan Baez in a recent interview, she hasn't "...heard an orator like that since (M.L.) King." Unfortunately, I've never been much of a political junkie, so I really have to force myself to pay extra attention to things like this. Mary Anne called last night. Nothing much appears to be going on lately among the New Yorkers. Gas prices around here continue to go steadily downward so I'm taking advantage while it's still so inexpensive. My guitar playing continues.

MAJOR HISTORICAL MILESTONE

We soon shall have our first black president & our first vice_president from Delaware. If McCain could have won, we should have had our first woman vice_president, the first from Alaska. The good news is that McCain would have been an economic nightmare & would have kept us in the war. There's now hope that Obama supposedly will get things straightened out. The obscenely bad news is that he represents, as I said yesterday, all the worst things about liberalism. Here's some other presidential trivia: No U.S. president was born in the 1930's. McCain would have been the first. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. He has an odd habit of wearing his coat & hat inside the house. Even I never get that cold. As usual, he showed up with candy. Lately I've been watching old shows again. Yesterday I watched "Cheers" & on Monday night I saw a couple of episodes of "ALF". Gas prices, so far, have been steadily decreasing. I just hope it all lasts for a while now that the election's over.

ELECTION DAY

Here is what we have in store for us under President Barack Obama: He is in favor of partial birth abortion, in which an infant is murdered after he has already been partially delivered. He refuses to appoint judges who can be counted on to follow in the distinguished & illustrious footsteps of the immortal Alito, Roberts & Thomas. He will wipe out the Defense of Marriage Act. He opposes all infant Born.Alive protection legislation. If an infant is born alive because of a botched abortion, Obama wants him to be deprived of all medical care & compassion. He will force taxpayers to pay for abortion. He is opposed to school choice & competition. He wants sex education for children from grades K_6. This man is utterly disqualified from consideration as a prospective United States president.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE

Happy birthday to Steve, who's one of my California friends. It's a very cold morning so far. It was raining when I first left today. My mother, Fran & Dolores all enjoyed their big trip to QVC on Saturday. Aunt Lauren & Uncle Jim brought Benjamin over in his Halloween costume yesterday. He was dressed as a monster. He spent a little while trying to play my guitar. As always he still wants to be both a policeman & fireman when he grows up. Tomorrow's the big day. Each of us shall have to get over to the polls & cast his vote for the presidency. Last night I showed up at the Holy Name Society meeting. Jerry made cheese steaks. I ate mine with relish. I even drank some wine & beer too. Fr. Walsh was there & the political side of things got utterly out of control with entirely too intense a shouting match. These weekend saw the end of an unusually long daylight savings time. I can't stand it when it gets dark so early at night, technically still afternoon. Yesterday on Channel three there was an ice skating tribute to Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. I enjoyed it but it was entirely too long.

NOVEMBER HAS ARRIVED

November has started out quite uneventfully. My mother's ride came over this morning to take her to the big thing at QVC. I think Fran's friend Dolores may have been driving. Halloween appeared to have gone quite well even though there seemed to have been only relatively few kids out trick_or_treating. Unfortunately the candy's as fattening as it is enjoyable. In honor of the big night, Channel 96 showed reruns of "The Munsters" all night. Aunt Lauren is supposed to bring Benjamin over tomorrow in his costume. The only thing I didn't like about yesterday was that the doorbell rang entirely too frequently. As if I don't already despise telephones quite bitterly enough, now I have to contend with all the political calls too. At least they'll be over with after Tuesday. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday & he & my father went to their usual Friday night game at around 5:00. It must have been only a very short one because they were home by 9:00. I just noticed that the guy who played Mr. Clean died early last month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM & EARL

Many Kudos go out to the birthday boys. I just got an e mail from Jim. I was going to give blood way over in Hanover but that's too far for something I always do at local places anyway, so why bother? Rose called yesterday. We always have to keep up with the New Yorkers. Last night I saw a couple of episodes of yet another long_lost eighties classic, "Check It Out", starring Don Adams. Tomorrow promises to be quite a very busy day for my mother & Fran at QVC. A lot of people really seem to enjoy that kind of thing. I just found out that Vanilla Fudge recorded a version of "Ramble On", the song we all know of from Led Zeppelin's early years. I like Led Zeppelin's version better though. Each one, in its own way, makes for quite an especially nice Friday dance. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. My parents went shopping for a few hours. Oddly, as cold as it is these days, there's one house in the neighborhood where some guy is always there cutting grass & doing yard work.

BLOOD DONATION TOMORROW

I made sure I called the Red Cross this morning about directions tomorrow. The number that comes onto the caller ID isn't the right one. It doesn't work so I was forced to get the right one from the phone book. It should be a fairly easy trip. They guy I spoke to gave me directions by way of South Main Street. I hope my iron count's been at least a little better lately. I've been eating some beets each day because they told me beets are very good for iron. Unfortunately I've never been all that much of a beet fan. Happy twelfth birthday to Karen's son Tony. Yesterday I watched two episodes of "Cheers" & last night I saw two episodes of "Too Close For Comfort". Those were two amazingly good shows. As far as I know Uncle Frankie never showed up yesterday. At least I didn't see him.

WEATHER BETTER

It's cold today but nowhere near as nightmarishly bad as yesterday. Unlike certain areas, we didn't get any snow. The fifty first annual St. Jude novena went well & is now over for this year. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. As usual, nothing distinctive has been going on with him lately. I played my guitar for a while. I got in touch with Vinnie & made sure I told him about it. My mother has to go visit Fran on Saturday. They're supposed to go on a tour of QVC. Last night was "The Ropers" night on Channel 96 & tomorrow they're supposed to show "Too Close For Comfort" all night. It's really nice to be able to see all those old shows again, especially since TV these days is usually nothing but a total waste of brain cells. Those late '70's/early '80's shows most certainly don't seem to get any mileage these days so all the real TV trivia fans can count on quite a feast for at least a while.

MISERABLE WEATHER

Last night it started raining a while after I got home. I woke up this morning to a particularly bitter windy, rainy day. It's even been snowing in upstate N.Y. & a few areas of Pa. Tonight is the last night of the St. Jude novena. Last night I went to confession while I was there. Yesterday I played my guitar a little & didn't read any of that Shakespeare play but I shall get back to it. The election is now exactly a week away. Halloween's only three days away. It's Jim's & Earl's birthday. They're both extremely old friends of mine from my early days. I haven't seen Earl in a long time. I think he & his family moved back to Puerto Rico. Today, in Greece, they celebrate Ochi Day, to commemorate the day, During World War II, when they joined the Allies. Surprisingly, that's something I can't remember from any of my old history classes.

TV WEEKEND

On Friday night, I watched "Dr. Strangelove" again. Peter Sellers played three roles. I've seen it a few times by now. Recently I found out about Channel 96. Last night I watched two reruns, in a row, of one of my all_time favorite shows, "Newhart". After that I watched, on the Catholic channel, "Die Grosse Stille"/"Into Great Silence", an examination of life inside the Grande Chartreuse in France. Unfortunately it lasted for pert near three hours. I didn't even get to go to bed until slightly before midnight. Mary Anne called last night. As far as I know it wasn't about anything especially distinctive. When I tried to play my guitar yesterday the strings were all plum out of tune. That's always gotten me really frustrated. Yesterday I read a review, in the Times Leader, of a book that may turn out to be really interesting. It's by a Portugese author whom I have never even heard of. The books premise revolves around the question of what would happen if death were to abandon us. People would still get into accidents, get ill & suffer all manner of misfortune. Only death would be unavailable. Financially, emotionally, socially & otherwise, it turns out to be an absolute nightmare.

ST JUDE NOVENA

I plum forgot all about the annual novena to St. Jude over in Pittston but I can still go for the last few days. This morning when I showed up at 7:30 Mass in Pittston, there was a priest laid out in his coffin for his funeral. The first time I ever noticed anything like that when I was a kid over in East Elmhurst, at St. Gabriel's, my first time as an altar boy. The only other thing I remember about that time was that Lisa Sollazzo's brother was there too. After Mass I made sure I stopped for gas, as usual &, as always, the Citizen's Voice. This morning it's damp & raining but it's much nicer than recent rainy mornings, that have been very bitter, foggy & cold. My father & Uncle Frankie, as usual went to their big high school game last night. Yesterday I finished "Hamlet" & started re_reading "Troilus & Cressida". I hope I can finish it this time. I keep playing my guitar. Yesterday I cracked open my Eric Clapton books again.

HAPPY FRIDAY

The week is winding down. It's time once again for our traditional Friday dance. A few days ago we got our new lector schedules for church. I have to lector again tomorrow at 5:00 Mass. Uncle Frankie came over for a while last night. He & my father are supposed to go to yet another game tonight. Recently I found out that the World Series this year is between Pa.'s very own Phillies & the Tampa Bay Rays. Never having even heard of the Rays before, I was a little confused at first. Because of my never having enjoyed sports I'm bound to get more than a little frustrated while the whole thing's going on. I made sure I sent my cousin Karen a Halloween card. Unfortunately she's in a hospice. My guitar playing has been still going reasonably well. Yesterday I tried playing Eric Clapton's "Let it Rain" from 1970. There's a part of it that Robert Cray used for "Smoking Gun" in 1985. A lot of musicians borrow. That's a very common practice in blues & folk music. I tried a bit of "Lay Down Sally" & "Knocking on Heaven's Door" too.

GETTING COLDER

The weather is colder than I like it these days. Every morning, including this morning, I have to scrape a lot of ice off all my windows. At least it wasn't raining this morning. As far as I know, Uncle Frankie didn't show up yesterday. Sometimes he comes over when I'm not around so it's very hard to tell. We're getting very close to the end of the month. Halloween beckons. I got a call from the American Red Cross last night. They asked me to give a double red cell donation again. This time it's back over at the Hanover Industrial Complex. My appointment is on Halloween, next Friday, so I should hope it will be easy to remember. I just hope I can have a much easier time getting there this time around. November has never struck me as an interesting time. I got gas today at Turkey Hill in Exeter. Local gas stations these days, even the Citgo on Wyoming Ave. which is usually the most expensive of all, are only charging around $3.79.9 a gallon. I have no idea why but when I first put it on this morning my watch was around ten minutes fast.

NICE PARTY

Last night's party at St. Joseph's worked out quite well. Father Walsh showed up & gave a short speech before it began. Unlike the ones I used to go to at St. John's & O.L.P.H., I hardly knew anybody at this one. It's technically not even really my parish but we have the same pastor. They served pizza, chicken, pasta & lots of other good food with strawberry cake with white icing for dessert. They had Pepsi & coffee to drink. After it was all over, I ended up getting drafted into helping them clean up the mess. Unfortunately the majority of the conversation revolved around the big shakedown in the Scranton Diocese. As with any other combination of groups, people from O.L.Sorrows & people from St. Joseph's have a very hard time getting along, especially under stressful circumstances. Alas, today's weather so far has been a repeat performance of yesterday's. I read more of "Hamlet" this morning. All those obscure references, as always, grate on my nerves. I'm just happy to have all the footnotes available.

BEATLE RINGO

Alas, Beatle Ringo, because of all sorts of aggravation with fans' requests for autographs, has flatly refused to sign any more autographs after October 20. In January, the Fab Four's drummer angered fellow Liverpudlians by saying he didn't miss his hometown. Even at sixty eight years old, a Beatle can still ruffle feathers. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. The weather so far today has been extremely bitter cold, cloudy & raining. I'm still reading "Hamlet". It gets easier as I keep going further & further through it. It's the one with the classic "To be or not to be..." soliloquy & Polonius' advice to Laertes. Everybody is at least somewhat familiar with both those passages. Tonight at St. Joseph's they'll be having their annual thank_you party for the Harvest Festival workers. I always used to enjoy those things over at O.L.P.H. & St. John the Baptist. I'm sure St. John's must have already had their homecoming game by now. It was really nice when I used to be able to get to show up every year. I've never liked sports but I used to enjoy the breakfast & picking on a few of my old teachers.

NICE WEEKEND

I didn't end up lectoring this weekend. We went over to Uncle Frankie's yesterday to eat. Fran was home until last night. She works over an hour away from here so it's very hard for her to get back to this area a lot. Everything was really good but it was so fattening & spicy. I had an interesting time catching up with all their gossip. When I finished "King Lear" yesterday, I started "Hamlet". I haven't read it in quite a while but I can still remember a lot about it. The weather is getting colder lately. For all the nice scenery, the ice on my car in the mornings still gets me nuts. Lately I've been watching other TV shows besides the ones I'm used to. A couple of days ago I watched an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" & yesterday I watched "Third Rock From the Sun". I know they were both cancelled a few years ago & are in reruns now but that entirely in keeping with my approach to things anyway.

CARMELITE MEETING

The meeting went very well this morning even though only very few people showed up. Sister Catherine & a few of the other ladies were there. We're still trying to finalize plans for the sale that Jim Lancelotti is supposed to have. We've been thinking of maybe trying for Easter time. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. As usual he & my father went to the football game. They left earlier than most weeks because it was over in Wyoming County. On the way they picked up their friend Tony & stopped for something to eat. Mary Anne called last night. Michael has strep throat. He's been sick lately anyway. For the first time in the past few weeks, I'm not on the schedule to lector this weekend but who knows what may happen? Yesterday I started reading "King Lear" again. This time I shall have to pay more attention to references to comparisons of Lear's eyesight with Albany's & Gloucester's.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

It's time once again for our weekly Friday dance. Yesterday turned out to be much colder than it's been lately. After the rain calmed down it was still very cold. Uncle Frankie came over for a while. He & my father are supposed to go to yet another game tonight. This time it's way over in Tunkhannock. I just noticed that it's in Wyoming County. Aunt Lauren called my mother yesterday. I don't suppose anything interesting has been going on with her family lately. This morning I finished "MacBeth" & later today I intend to get started on "King Lear" again. It pays to read these plays over & over until it all gradually manages to set in. Later on I shall move on to a few others. I woke up yesterday with an annoying headache that lingered all through the night. Fortunately I took some headache pills & it went away. Today there's still no trouble. Tomorrow is our monthly Carmelite meeting. They've been thinking of starting a half hour earlier from now on because of new rules from Middletown. That's most certainly no big problem for me since I've always been compulsively early for everything anyway.

RAINING

When I first went out this morning the weather was miserable. It was damp & raining. Last night I watched C.span from 7:30_9:00 up until right before the beginning of the debate. There was a call_in segment for people to suggest questions to ask the candidates. I considered calling but didn't bother. Every time I've ever tried to get through to something like that the lines have always been nightmarishly busy. Uncle Frankie came over for a while to see it. Mary Anne said, on the phone this morning, that she had a good time at it. Michael especially must have appreciated it. I just don't ever stay up late if I can possibly avoid it. I found out from on of my Myspace connections that some states even allow early voting. In Tennessee it was Election Day today. Yesterday I practiced my guitar & read more of "MacBeth". It takes a while for that Elizabethan English to set into my head so I have to read it extremely slowly & extremely carefully. The footnotes have always aggravated me. My next Carmelite meeting will be on Saturday morning. I should most hope the attendance will be at least a little better than it was last month. Hardly anybody showed up.

THE BIG HOFSTRA DEBATE

Mary Anne, my sister, will be moderating a pre-debate panel at 7:30 tonight (Wednesday) that will be live on C-Span television and Sirius radio. Hope you will be able to watch/listen. Yesterday I finished "King Lear" & started "MacBeth" again. I hope I shall be able to finish it this time. The last time I never got beyond the middle. As always nothing much worth bothering with is on TV lately so I read quite a whole lot. I found out that my father got a call on Monday night inviting him to go see Sarah Palin in Scranton. He wasn't willing to go. Nobody bothered to tell me about it until it was too late. If I should have known, I should have been happy to go. This will be one of the most significant elections of our time. I just noticed that there's a new movie out about Bush 43. It's called "W". Since nobody likes W, whose approval rating is even worse than Nixon's, most probably nobody will be willing to bother with "W" either. Bush has certain things in common with Nixon. Nobody wants this war any more than Viet Nam & nobody likes Cheney any more than Agnew. The death toll in this war is insanely higher than Nixon's war.

ELECTION GETS CLOSER

Columbus Day worked out quite well. It was very nice & quiet. By now I'm plum sick & tired of all the electioneering & can't wait to get Election Day over with. The phone constantly rings with recorded messages & surveys. I've always absolutely despised the phone anyway, even in general. Much of the mail these days is about politics too. My father had to take my mother to an 8:00 doctor's appointment this morning. At their age things like that come up a lot. Yesterday I watched "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire", once with Meredith Vieira & once with Regis Philbin. One of the benefits of my consistently watching that show is that I can increase the range of things that I'm knowledgeable about. It's a good way to find out about all sorts of things that could otherwise never even possibly have occurred to me. Lately I've been trying to learn to play John Lennon's "Working Class Hero". It's extremely heavily politically & socially charged & a good anti_war song. I should assume that very many people will be learning to play those kinds of songs these days.

COLUMBUS DAY

All went well when I lectored at 5:00 Mass on Saturday. Unfortunately for the moonbats, today we celebrate Columbus Day. I've just found out that Barack Obama has organized truth squads. Of course, his supporters claim that they are supposedly countering any foul play that may come from the opposition. Detractors, however, claim that they are harassing voters. There's entirely too much propaganda in it, though, to be able to get to the truth. The Clintons were in Scranton yesterday. I should have gone over to see them if I could have known in advance. Last night I went to a meeting of the Holy Name Society at O.L. Sorrows. Jerry, as always, served "Blazing Saddles" food. Unfortunately either O.L. Sorrows or St. Joseph's is inevitably going to close very soon. The same is true of very many other churches in the Scranton Diocese. Steve just sent out an e mail about his band, Spectrum. They'll be playing in the Long Beach, N.Y. Library on Nov. 1 from 2:00 to 3:30. It's in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday & stayed for supper.

QUIET WEEKEND

My father & Uncle Frankie went to the game last night as usual. In keeping with the typical stupidity of life around here the phone rang pert near off the hook last night. It was all for garbage. Besides the utterly pointless ones, Aunt Lauren called too. Unfortunately she has a bad virus or something. Benjamin wants to be a monster for Halloween this year. My mother called Dotty who's been in the hospital lately. I got back to reading "King Lear" & by now have already finished well over half of it. Later today I have to lector at 5:00 Mass. Lately that's getting to be quite a habit. It's the second weekend of the month so tomorrow will be the Holy Name Society meeting. The weather was very cold again this morning but at least it wasn't foggy. Monday is Columbus Day. Over in Manhattan they have a big parade. I don't think too much of anything gets done like that around here. On that day we celebrate the day when Columbus brought the Americas to the attention of the civilized world (western culture, that is). Of course with all the politically correct, leftist revisionist history we've been forced to swallow over the course of the past few decades, there will be the inevitable whining about it.

ULTIMATE IRONY

Yesterday, on Beatle John's birthday, I got a haircut! Considering that he was instrumental in making us men get lazy about haircuts in the first place, that's quite a surprise. Having made a 2:30 appointment at the Eighth Street barber shop, I got there at around 2:15 ish. That's a shocker for me because I'm usually insanely early for everything. It was just the usual desperately needed haircut. All went well & I was finished at around 2:30 ish. The weather this morning was very foggy & colder than I can handle. When I was on my way to St. John's for 8:00 Mass I noticed that they're paving the streets of Pittston. Those streets are an absolute nightmare, so it's about time. I also saw gas stations where they only charged $3.19.9 a gallon. Financially, that's the only good news these days. Fran & Bridget called yesterday. As far as I know, Fran's still sick. Bridget didn't have to go to school because it was Yom Kippur. To the best of my knowledge, my father & Uncle Frankie will be going to yet another game tonight. I've started reading "King Lear" again. Recently I started it & plum forgot to finish it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEATLE JOHN

"Oh Danny Boy, the Odes of Pan are calling". Today we remember that on this day, in 1940, was born the late great John Winston Lennon. The reference with which I started this entry is heard at the end of "One After 909" on the "Let It Be" album. It alludes to the fact that John, Paul, George & Ringo derived very much of their music from classic western literature. At the end of "I Am the Walrus" the Fabs even cite the words of Oswald, Edgar & Gloucester from King Lear (Act 4, Sc.VI). Today is also the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII, one of the most significant figures to come out of World War II & the twentieth century in general. We should hope that he will someday very soon be canonized. I made sure I called up Rose over on Eighth Street this morning to make an appointment for a haircut. It's at 2:30 this afternoon. This is the first time I've ever bothered to make an appointment with her. Usually I just go right ahead & show up. Yesterday, early in the morning, it was bitter cold & got warm during the day. This morning started out very warm. It's all so weird for October. I just found out that October 5 was the birthday of Larry from the Three Stooges. He was born in 1902.

SUICIDE IS PAINLESS?

On a very sad note, I just found out about the suicide, yesterday, of a really young guy I vaguely knew on Myspace & a few other sites. Jesse, known as Jkrapture, was only in his early twenties. He's not the first suicide among people I've known over the course of my lifetime. Life can get pretty seriously painful & depressing at times but most people don't usually go quite that far. All I knew about him was that he'd been having many seriously drastic problems. Nobody'd ever expected anything like this. These days, because of the trouble the entire country's in, suicides will most probably be happening all over the place. Unfortunately that kind of thing has a tendency to inspire copycats.

INTERNATIONAL DISTURBED PEOPLE DAY

When I first went out to my car this morning the windshield was a sheet of ice. Fortunately I found a scraper in my trunk. The leaves are fast turning colors & falling off the trees now. That's a very nice portend of all the ice, rain & snow yet to come, of course. Halloween's only a few weeks away & it was always bitter cold when I was a kid. Lately I've been noticing that reruns of "Married With Children" are on at 6:00 a.m. When it was on originally I used to watch that show quite compulsively. Like "Seinfeld", it appeals to my bizarre side. I still desperately need a haircut. Most probably I shall procrastinate about it indefinitely. I always end up really stupid looking because my hair's very hard to control when it's too long. Yesterday I played my guitar again. I'm hoping to figure out how to play "Do You Want to Know A Secret", "A Hard Day's Night" & all my other favorites as well as possible. Today is International Disturbed People Day. Each of us knows more than a few of them.

PLUM FORGOT OKTOBERFEST

Cheryl called Saturday & asked me to lector for her yesterday. We switched & she took Saturday. Fr. Urban was there instead of Fr. Walsh. He read a letter from Bishop Martino reminding us that no one may, in good conscience, vote for a candidate who is pro_abortion. Of course, it wasn't all that big of a bombshell. Everybody who knows anything, & whose conscience is at least reasonably legitimately formed, knows that much. All worked out quite well this weekend. I even found fifty three cents in the suit jacket I wore yesterday. I didn't end up bothering to check out any local Oktoberfests that may have been around yesterday. Uncle Frankie showed up & hung around for a while. It was just a typical Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn't help noticing that I ended up pigging out on quite a whole lot of extra junk food yesterday. I need more iron in my diet but I don't need any more junk food. Yesterday, "I Love Lucy" was on all day long. Besides that I watched some of the vice presidential debate. Sarah Palin has a major twitch. In spite of what people say, I don't think she's doing it on purpose. It simply seems to be a weird involuntary quirk. As always, I've been playing my guitar. I haven't played in front of anybody else in quite a while, which is quite a very smart move. I'm getting there though.

OKTOBERFEST

So far the weekend has started out on quite a nice note. My father & Uncle Frankie went to their usual football game last night. After 7:30 Mass this morning, in Pittston, I noticed that the little convenience store at the gas station next door is open again. I got the Citizen's Voice there. I also couldn't help being surprised that gas over there is down to only $3.39.9 per gallon. That's insanely low considering what it's been for quite a while by now. It still stinks though. I miss Lindenhurst's big Oktoberfest every year. I'm most certainly looking forward to tracking one down somewhere around here tomorrow. The crowd & traffic have always really annoyed me but other than that it's a really interesting time. For some reason I've yet to get a haircut. This morning I noticed some conspicuous grey streaks. Up until now they'd been hard to find, usually hidden underneath. Later today, I have to lector yet again at 5:00 Mass. In spite of what the librarian said yesterday there was no rain. It's been nice so far today too.

HAPPY FRIDAY

Today's been cold so far & I just heard the librarian mention the threat of rain. Do an extra perky happy dance to make up for it. I just got an email from Mary, in the State of Washington, thanking me for the birthday e mail I sent her last week. Now that I know she reads my blog, I shall have to say things, once in a while, for old times' sake, that strike her as nerve_wracking. Hey, it most certainly never hurts to push politely a few hypersensitive buttons when the occasion calls for it. I didn't watch last night's debate between our prospective vice presidents, but I'm more than a little confused about people's constantly picking on the way Sarah Palin talks & her obnoxious wink. You have to remember that I've spent all my life among New Yorkers & Pennsylvanians so I'm all befuddled about what kind of speech & behavior could possibly qualify as weird enough to be worthy of that much attention. Yesterday I watched a few minutes, for some stupid reason, of a show on VH1 about the inarticulate flubs & fluffs of public figures like Flava Flave & the Simpson sisters. They don't have an adequate command of the English language. My guitar playing continues to progress. I can, by now, do an interesting tribute to the Fab Four, & "For Your Love" by the Yardbirds.

NOVENA OVER

Yesterday was the last day of the annual novena to St. Therese. I made the mistake of parking in the parking lot instead of on the street. Of course, I got trapped in the lot because everybody blocked the entrance & I couldn't get out. Eventually, though, people left. I didn't bother to get any coffee or cake after it was all over. There was quite a big crowd for such a small parish. Unlike last year's trouble with directions, this year I got through it all with no major mistakes. Maria, cousin Gary's wife, called my mother last night with all the latest New York gossip. Uncle Frankie visited for a while yesterday too. It's time to say happy birthday to Brian in California. He's Cathleen's brother. I still make sure I play my guitar each day. Even the fingerstyle songs have been getting a little bit easier lately. Maybe this weekend I shall be able to find a nice local Oktoberfest. I always used to like the one on Wellwood Ave. in Lindenhurst. I always used to work at one of the stands over there.

FEAST OF ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX

Today is the Little Flower's big day. It's her feast day & the last day of the annual novena. I got to show up for all but one day this year. Unfortunately it's Fr. Bill's last year here because he has to go to Utah permanently this month. Fran, who now has a very bad cold, called my mother yesterday. So far I haven't been sick these days but there's still plenty of time. As always I've been playing my guitar lately. Frequently it gets out of tune so I have to be careful. "Julia" & "Dear Prudence" are both particularly hard for me because of all the fingerstyle stretching I have to do. To my chagrin, my hands are very small. It's quite an extremely annoying feeling, having to do all that stretching. There's nothing much on TV these days. Yesterday I watched a rerun of Regis Philbin's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Since all the new stuff is worthless it's my safest bet. I tried MTV & VH1 but they're both a total waste of time.

COLD BUT NICE

Lately all has been going quietly & smoothly. I got home from the Little Flower novena yesterday with no trouble. Wilkes_Barre Blvd., & most of the other roads in that general area, stink but other than that it worked out quite well. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday. Nothing's been new with him lately. The weather's been very nice lately, though a bit cooler than I like it. I'm now forced to wear a fairly heavy sweater & long sleeved shirt each day. My car has been working really well since the oil change. It's sixteen years old & I've had it for the past twelve years. It's the longest I've ever managed to hang onto a car. Now that autumn's here there are all sorts of Halloween decorations going up. Leaves are changing colors & falling to the ground. Yesterday I got my latest issue of "Carmelite Review" through the mail. It's a good way to keep in touch with everything that's been going on over in Middletown, N.Y. & Darien, Ct. The stock market's been going straight through the floor these days.

VERY BUSY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Everybody came in for my father's seventy fifth birthday party on Saturday. I ended up having to lector, with Mary, at 5:00 Mass, but other than that I was there throughout the whole thing. As always I ate entirely too much for my own good. As I was on my way home from the Little Flower novena on Friday, my oil change light went on. I was scared half to death to let it go on any longer so I made an 11:00 appointment for an oil change on Saturday. Surprisingly the price of an oil change seems to have gone down latley. Fortunately it was only a very short trip with no extra surprise expenses. Over the weekend Michael & Steve changed my guitar strings. It sounds so much better & nicer. I still make sure I practice quite conscientiously each day for a significant length of time. On the way home yesterday I stopped at Mr. Z's on River Road in Plains for milk. Their parking lot absolutely stinks. Mary Anne & family are entirely too liberal so there was a lot of complaining about McCain & Palin over the weekend. As far as I'm concerned, no matter who wins, we're all in extremely seriously big trouble anyway. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday for a while. He & my father went to the big game on Friday night so they did a little more partying this week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HENRY

Today is Henry's birthday. He's exactly ten days younger than I. He & I first met when we worked together in S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale's mail room & print shop in 1980. Then we worked together at the Melville postal service in 2004. Yesterday I tried to give blood in Plains. I showed up very early, but wasn't allowed to give them anything because my iron count was too low. Technicalities like that happen every once in a while. As soon as I got kicked out, I made sure I went over to the Little Flower novena. Of course, I was more than a little early. Fr. Bill opened the church at 2:30. I talked to him for a couple of minutes. The weather is very damp & dreary today. It's been raining since at least very early this morning. That makes for a somewhat more than slightly annoying Friday dance. Mary Anne & family will be showing up tonight if the weather's not too bad. If it really stinks, they'll be here tomorrow.

BLOOD DRIVE

Later today I have to go to the American Legion Post at 101 E. Carey St. in Plains for a blood drive. That street is on a seriously steep hill. So far the novena to the Little Flower has been working out quite well. I especially like the fact that by now, I'm used to going there so it's no trouble for me anymore. Mary Anne & family will be showing up tomorrow night for the birthday party. My back still hurts but the pain is sort of dwindling down to a minimum by now. My latest excursion into junk food has been popcorn. Recently I have been eating at least a little bit each night from out of a huge bag . Every day lately I get more & more e mail from the Ronald, Mark & Brian. It's all about the story of stuff. It's a never ending political, economic & social tirade. I, of course, occasionally like to make sure I butt in. Besides my father, today's also Mary's birthday. She lives way over in the State of Washington.

ST. THERESE NOVENA

Yesterday I went to the first day of the annual novena to St. Therese of Lisieux. It's their eighty first year. It's at St. Anthony/St. George's Maronite church on 79 Loomis St. in Wilkes_Barre. They have a novena to her every Monday too. Unfortunately, Fr. Bill, who's in charge of the novena, is being transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah. Fr. Walsh, our pastor, was invited yesterday & last night to be the guest homilist. He & Fr. Bill, who's a monsignor, have been very good friends ever since they were kids. Unlike last year, when I was still entirely unfamiliar with the area, yesterday I did quite a good job of getting there & back. I made sure I stopped at the Sunoco on River Road in Plains for ten dollars worth of gas in case the prices go up again. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday & hung around for a while. While he was here, Fran called. Mary Anne called last night too. Tomorrow is my father's birthday. We shall be partying over the weekend. I still haven't bothered to get my desperately needed haircut. It's a good way to get people crazy.

AUTUMN

Alas, fall has arrived. It's really nice up to a point. I just can't handle all the extremes when things really get rolling. It appears that this was one church fund raiser where I, unfortunately, didn't end up winning anything. Unfortunately, because I put myself through all sorts of extra strain on Sunday, I spent all day yesterday entirely wiped out with an extremely annoying headache. Lately my back hurts a little less each day. Yesterday I got a birthday card from Red Lobster(I think). It struck me as quite a surprise until I opened it & noticed that it was an invitation from Marriott Hotels, to some kind of a time share presentation. Those companies are always trying to sucker people into things like that. Lately I've been occasionally watching "Seinfeld" again. It's an extremely seriously odd show, with characters & circumstances that just aren't to be believed. That must be why I've turned out to be such a fan. I like to think I may be perhaps classified as somewhat on the eccentric side.

ST JOSEPH'S HARVEST FESTIVAL

The big day for St. Joseph's was yesterday. Their annual harvest festival started immediately after 12:30 Mass. I dressed for the miserable weather at the beginning of the day. I wore my heavy Strawberry Fields sweater. It was cold, damp & foggy. It got very nice later on though. My parents, Uncle Frankie & Fran all showed up. I ran into John, an old friend of Fran's & Fran introduced me to her old friend Linda's mother. The same couple as last year, John & Millie, were in charge of everything. The got me working at the food stand, which was quite an absolute nightmare for one & all. It was hectic & confusing & the take out orders were an absolute nightmare. They also made me sell Wii's & take charge of a children's game. I pigged out quite a whole lot. Unlike the other churches' fundraisers, I don't think I won anything at this one. Unfortunately when we were going food shopping on Saturday at Food Town, my father tripped over the curb & fell. He didn't get too badly hurt but it was very annoying.

CARMELITE MEETING

Today I went to the Carmelite meeting. There were only five people, including Sister Catherine, so Fr. Garth & Rosemary didn't bother to show up. They want to wait until we can count on as close to perfect attendance as possible. Rosemary got us a new book, "Prophets Of Fire" by Fr. Kilian Healy, O.Carm. Right before I left I made sure I got six dollars worth of contest tickets for all the baskets they were raffling off. A while ago I was on quite a streak. I always seemed to when each time I took a chance on a basket that was being raffled off by a church. My father went to the game last night. On the way he stopped to pick up Tony. My lower back still hurts quite a whole lot but I'm learning to handle it by now. Yesterday the stock market, for the few minutes that I watched the news, was absolutely going right through the roof. As I pass by a few local gas stations lately I've been noticing that gas prices have gone down a little lately, though only by a few pennies. I quite desperately need a haircut but have never been all that ambitious about getting them. Alas I reckon I shall most certainly have to pay Rose the barber lady a visit one of these days.

NATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

Ahoy, me ma'eys. Don't'cha know? Besides the fact that it also happens to be the Feast of San Gennaro, today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Everybody has to talk like a pirate all day, especially while he's doing the Friday dance. Last night I watched "Burn Notice" again. I absolutely despise the fact that it's on so insanely late at night but it's the only current show I even bother with anyway. Uncle Frankie called my father last night & explained that he can't go to tonight's big game because he has to go to New Jersey tomorrow & doesn't want to take any chances before the trip. My father is going with their friend Tony. My back still hurts like crazy, but only when I move. If I stay in one position nothing happens. Tomorrow I have to show up at what promises to be a very busy Carmelite meeting. Last week I got a notice from the local Red Cross asking me to go back to Plains, this time to the American Legion, for yet another blood drive. A few nights ago a woman called up to confirm an appointment for me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIZ KITTI

Long long ago, in a land far far away, Miz Kitti & I first met. Today is her birthday. We used to work together over in Melville & Farmingdale. I haven't gotten a chance to see her in a while but like everyone else, she's on my e mail list. Last night I saw "Across the Universe". When I first tried to put it on there were technical difficulties but after a while it all worked out. It starred Evan Rachel Wood & Bono. The Beatles have always been my very favorites & the sixties my favorite era. The movie is a lot like "Apocalypse Now" & "1969" but all the music was written by either Lennon & McCartney or George Harrison. I wish there could have been a bit more emphasis on their early songs but it was really good. Anyone who's really knowledgeable about the Fab Four & the Vietnam era could have quite an interesting time with all the familiar references. It lasted for over two hours but I managed to hang on. Last night Mary Anne & Sam called to say happy birthday. Michael called a couple of hours later. They all seem to be doing quite well lately.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Well it's my big day. They say the first forty nine years are the toughest & after that it's supposedly all just one long blast. I got my St. John the Baptist alumni bulletin yesterday. Many congratulations to Wally Lace, my twelfth grade sociology teacher, who's now their principal. Wally's celebrating forty years of affiliation with SJB. Congratulations are also due to Sister Rose Taranto, O.P. who is celebrating seventy years as a professed Religious. Unfortunately I found out about the deaths of Sister Christophine Rogers, O.P. & Sister Mercy Posthauer, O.P. Sister Christophine was one of my music teachers in the ninth grade. Sister Mercy was one of my theology teachers in the eleventh & twelfth grade. Last night I went to O.L. Sorrows because it was the parish's patronal feast day. Of course, Fr. Walsh made me help with evening prayer. There was dessert with coffee, tea, etc. after it was all over. Yesterday I also made sure I took advantage of Fran's & Lisa's gift card at Blockbuster to get DVD's of "Across the Universe" & "Bella".

BIRThdAY PARTY

Saturday, as usual, I lectored at 5:00 Mass. Laura was my sidekick. Other than that it was an uneventful day. Yesterday was my birthday party. Fran, Lisa & Uncle Frankie all showed up. There was very much food & dessert, all of which was quite fattening. On top of that, I finished the night off with a Holy Name Society party, where Jerry made hamburgers & peppers. I passed on the peppers but ate hamburgers with onions & relish. There were beer & soda too. Fr. Walsh is back in circulation as of this weekend. He showed up at the meeting. Dave came over to help this morning with setting up my new TV set. The old one is now in the garage. I don't even bother to watch TV anyway but hey, things happen. Lately gasoline prices have been going up through the roof again, so I made sure I went to the Turkey Hill station over in Forty Fort to get $21worth of gas over with in one shot so I can avoid any unnecessary trouble with the sudden jolt in price. John, an old friend from high school, has just sent me a happy birthday e mail. My guitar playing continues as always, however small my repertoire may be. On Saturday there was a big parade of firemen outside because of the Wyoming Fire Dept.'s hundredth anniversary. It was loud, annoying &, at first, a little on the scary side.

LAST WEEKEND BEFORE BIRTHDAY

Well, it's my very last ever weekend as a forty eight year old. Great Caesar's ghost, where could all that time possibly have gone? Miz Kitti must not be all that thrilled either because she's only a year & a day younger than I. Uncle Frankie & Fran are supposed to show up sometime tomorrow for a party. Today I have to lector at 5:00 Mass. I'm still, slowly but surely, plowing my way through "King Lear". I've read all these Shakespeare plays before but most certainly not recently or intensely enough for them to have sunk in that well. I've also been quite consistently practicing my guitar. Lately, since I took that gigantic computer off my desk, I have a lot more room to be able to put other things on it. Now it's much easier for me to be able to keep track of unavoidably necessary things like my license, keys & glasses. Gas prices, to my chagrin, have been going up yet again. This morning I noticed I fifteen cent price hike compared to yesterday. The OPEC low.lives are at it again.

FRIDAY AGAIN

Friday is upon us so it's time for our legendary weekly dance. The weather's very dreary & it's going to rain for quite a while. I've finished reading "Macbeth" & just started "King Lear". Uncle Frankie called up yesterday & came over this morning. Because of the miserable weather, he & my father most certainly have no intention of bothering to show up at tonight's big game. Recently my cousin Vinnie hepped me to the show, "Burn Notice". He got me to watch it last night. The only familiar member of the cast was Sharon (Cagney & Lacey) Gless. It was a good show, worth watching again. The only catch was that he never bothered to warn me in advance that it's on at 10:00 p.m.! Anne called my mother yesterday & they talked for quite a while. Today a woman at the library was completely befuddled about how to start a new e mail account so I ended up having to show her how. It's extremely easy but some people still go crazy over it. As always I continuously play my guitar. Soon I shall be ready to get away with letting people listen.

BIG ANNIVERSARY

Seven years ago today, Moslem terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the Pentagon & Flight 92. That's why we're now stranded over in a Middle Eastern war. I first found out about it at 9:00 a.m. Mass that morning when Fr. Ed Seagriff mentioned it. Everyone was shocked & there were constant, non stop news coverage, prayer vigils, fear & controversy. O.L.P.H. got a never ending overload of funerals. When I tried to go to my first Lay Carmelite meeting that night at St. William the Abbot in Seaford, it was cancelled. Everybody was affected. Lately things have been very quiet as autumn slowly rears its cold dreary head. The nights get darker, sooner. My parents went shopping yet again last night for a few hours. This morning I helped them with curtains & furniture. Yesterday I played my guitar & read most of "Macbeth". It was just a typical day. Uncle Frankie hasn't shown up lately. I got gas, this morning, at the Sunoco over in Pittston. I couldn't help noticing that the price was unusually low, & that it was even less expensive at the Turkey Hill in Exeter.

BETTER WEATHER

We have to send very many birthday Kudos to KrissyKrissyKrissy. It's not raining anymore but it's significantly cooler today than it's been lately. When I went to Mass at St. John's in Pittston this morning, there was no lector available so I ended up filling in. I just found out that there are companies that are making dolls, kind of like Barbie & G.I. Joe_ish, of Obama & Phelan. Most probably they'll be collector's items someday. Right now, though, they're just part of a stupid boring gimmick. I heard on the radio a few days ago that the original Cabbage Patch dolls are now worth well over $20,000. This morning I cleaned out my bedroom. A lot of dust bunnies, among other things, have accumulated over the course of the past few years. I got rid of my computer because I've never been able to figure out how to get it to work anyway. Mary Anne called last night. All is going quite typically with them lately. Of course, I'm still playing those sixties oldies on my guitar.

POURING OUT!

I got up this morning to the sound of constant, non stop thunder & lightning. It wasn't raining so much when I first left but on the way home there was an absolute nightmare of a storm. Exeter Avenue in West Pittston, among other places, was flooded. I heard that on the radio. Yesterday I got a really nice letter from Grace, Daren's mother. The third anniversary of Daren's death was on Saturday. Her mother sent me a few really nice pictures of Daren with the letter. My parents went shopping for a few hours last night. How anybody could possibly spend a few hours at a time in a bunch of stores so frequently is entirely beyond me. Maybe it goes with being old. I've been playing my guitar regularly lately. I'm still learning exactly how to play songs like "Please Please Me" & "A Hard Day's Night". As always nothing worth bothering is on TV these days. I have a few favorites & none of them exactly qualifies as even the least bit typical of current stuff. My birthday gets closer & closer by the second. Miz Kitti & I most certainly weren't exactly born yesterday.

NICE WEEKEND

The weekend was very quiet. I lectored at 5:00 Mass on Saturday, replacing the girl who was supposed to be there. Mary ended up covering for the girl's mother. It was raining that entire afternoon. There was a visiting priest, Fr. Urban, because Fr. Walsh has been unavailable for the past few weeks. I made sure I went to the rectory yesterday to hand in my form so I can work at the Harvest Festival in a couple of weeks. I donated a few baskets too. It was a really nice time last year. I go to St. John the Evangelist in Pittston every morning. This morning was unbelievably foggy & there are a lot of steep roads between here & there. As always I've been practicing my guitar quite conscientiously. By now I can do quite some mighty nice versions of "A Hard Day's Night" & "Please Please Me" among others. Yesterday I watched "Return of the Living Deade", from 1985. It starred Linnea Quigley & James Karen, who was born in Wilkes Barre. His face is much more familiar than his name. He's been on lots of commercials. As far as I'm concerned the movie absolutely stunk. Lately I've been eating entirely too much Swiss cheese for my own good. A minute ago I tried to join a new site & had trouble answering the captcha question because I plum forgot, for a second, that Jane(they claimed), not Charlotte Bronte wrote "Wuthering Heights". Ha! Ha! I just looked it up & it turns out that it was really Emily. That's awfully odd considering that I must have read it at least a dozen times by now.

WEEKEND

The weekend has arrived. The sky is one huge cloud. Nothing is going on this weekend. Yesterday my parents went shopping for a while, which is most certainly quite typical for them. They got a bunch of things for the upcoming birthdays. Last night my father & Uncle Frankie went to their usual football game. Rose, from across the street, came over to give my mother a custard pie. A guy who's a regular at the library told me this morning that the last time he went over to the Midway Shopping Center, where they give away free newspapers (Citizen's Voice, Times Leader etc.), there was a guy there who was taking large piles of them to sell on his own. The weird thing was that the guy was obviously well off & didn't have to be bothered with doing that. He was just cheap & selfish. My mother made sure she got together a couple of baskets for St. Joseph's Family Feast on Sept. 21. I'm supposed to take them over either tonight or tomorrow. Fran called yesterday just to make sure she kept in touch. Nothing much has been new with her lately. Unfortunately today is the third anniversary of Daren's death. She was such a good person & will be missed.

HAPPY FRIDAY

My father & Uncle Frankie went out for a while yesterday. When they got back they had chicken, soda & French fries with them. I practiced my guitar yesterday, more scales than anything else. It's annoying because I never have been able to tune it well. I really like to practice for at least a half hour to an hour each day. As usual there wasn't anything on TV yesterday except "I Love Lucy" & some stuff on the Catholic channel. Most of the coverage these days goes to Sarah Palin & all her travails, both good & bad. There's no point in bothering to keep track of all the gossip about the politicians & their families. I found another case for my glasses. That's always quite a nice thing. It's time for the very first Friday dance of September, of course. I need gas pretty desperately so it's good that the price of gas has been going down lately. The lowest prices in this area are at the stations in Exeter & one in Pittston. Fortunately & amazingly, I haven't gotten a headache in quite a while. Usually they come fairly frequently.

QUIET DAY

September plods forward. Alas, it's the month of my birthday. Miz Kitti's is the very day after mine. The weather is still about the same for now. It's cold in the morning & nice all day. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. The conversation's all to predictable these days. Lately everybody's been rambling on absolutely constantly about this Sarah Palin character. All the incessant babbling gets annoying after only a very short time. Obama's entirely too far to the left but McCain's a W. clone. Palin's the only one whose cultural views are acceptable. The rest all want a pro abortion, homosexuality, etc. platform. Yesterday I watched yet another old movie, "The Food of the Gods". It starred Ida Lupino & Marjoe Gortner. In the 1970's & 1980's Marjoe Gortner was an actor on all sorts of TV shows & movies. He was also a Bible thumping, holy rolling preacher. It's going to take me a while to get around to seeing all those movies I won at St. John's bazaar. I practiced my guitar just as conscientiously as ever. Scales are still boring but unavoidably necessary.

WEEK HALF OVER

This past week has been entirely uneventful so far. The cousins are still rambling on about Jennifer's baby & our anticipated white water rafting trip next year. Yesterday I watched the movie, "The Vault of Horror", which was quite a bit like its prequel "Tales From the Crypt" & even included a reference to it. Terry Thomas was the only familiar name & face from the entire cast. He was a big name in 1960's sitcoms & a dead ringer for Bernard Fox. Fr. Walsh is unavailable for Mass all this week so I've been going to Mass at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston. That's where I was baptized. It's right by the Pittston Library & Domino's Pizza. Yesterday I practiced a bunch of scales on my guitar. It pays to keep up with that kind of thing. Unfortunately yesterday I also pigged out on many Pop Tarts & other kinds of junk food which I can seriously do without. Yet another big highlight of yesterday was when my father went over to watch Gino work on Uncle Frankie's house.

LABOR DAY

The long Labor Day weekend went quite well. Nothing much happened over the course of the weekend. My parents & I, in separate cars, went to 10:30 Mass at the Oblates' Seminary yesterday. It was long & crowded. They ran into Uncle Frankie over there & the three of them, after Mass, went to the Avenue Diner to get something to eat. While they were gone, Fran called & said she wanted to make sure she got a chance to see them before she went back to work. After a while, she & Uncle Frankie came over for a visit for a while. She got them candy. Of course, on Sunday morning my car battery died but I got it all straightened out. I couldn't help noticing, with great surprise, that there was no traffic yesterday. For Labor Day that was quite a change of pace. I've always equated days like that with major traffic congestion. When I went to Turkey Hill in Exeter, this morning, to get the Citizen's Voice, it hadn't been delivered yet. I didn't bother to go to another store for it because by now I know that when any one store doesn't get it, none of the others will either. I ended up getting the "Times Leader". According to the latest e mail binge from the cousins, Jennifer is pregnant & everybody's gleefully taking Larry up on his suggestion to go white water rafting next July. Today isn't anybody's birthday but KrissyKrissyKrissy's is on the tenth. Lately the weather has been very cold in the morning followed by an especially nice warm day to show for it.

NICE WEEKEND SO FAR

This morning the librarian showed up around fifteen minutes late. While I was hanging around outside, a woman pointed out to me that the leaves have been turning colors & falling already, portending quite an early autumn. Monday is Labor Day. There's always an absolutely bottomless pit of traffic every year on that day. I've never really been able to handle all that kind of aggravation but we're all stuck with it unfortunately. I don't have any big plans for this year, which is absolutely fine by me. So far I haven't gotten any unfortunate problems from eating Uncle Frankie's Mexican spicy nuts but most probably that's because I make sure I only eat extremely few each time. Last night he & my father went to the very first big game of the new year. Last night I watched another movie from the "The Fly" series & "Tales From the Crypt". They were among the movies I won at St. John the Evangelist's bazaar a while ago. Yesterday I spent a while playing "A Hard Day's Night" on my guitar. That's one of the really easy ones.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY FRIDAY

Everyone gets his official happy Friday today, with at least a dance or two to show for it. I've always suspected that my next door neighbor is plum loco but today I got more than a little bit of proof. Not only was he mowing his lawn at 7:30 a.m. but it was raining out on top of that. I just noticed that John McCain has picked Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. I just got a reminder that Monday is Labor Day, the official beginning of the bad part of the year. From September on, we start getting the beginnings, slowly but surely, of the bitter cold miserable weather, & early sunsets around here. It may not literally happen right away but it's an undeniable symbolic beginning. Of course, I won't be able to come over here on Monday because most public places are always closed on big holidays. My father & Uncle Frankie are supposed to go to a big game tonight. They've always gotten a kick out of those kinds of things. I don't have anything specific planned all weekend but who knows what might turn up?

GOOD DAY SO FAR

There's nothing going on so far today. The weather's been very nice. I was forced to miss 9:00 Mass because of some unavoidably necessary personal affairs. All went quite well. Last night I watched "Bookmark", Thomas Woods's show on how the Catholic Church built western civilization, & Fr. Mitchell Pacwa's live show. They were all on EWTN. Earlier in the day I watched the inevitable "I Love Lucy". I've been trying to figure out the latitude & longitude for my town on Deviantart. I haven't bothered, very much anyway, with those kinds of things ever since I was only a kid in grammar school. Some sites dredge up absolutely some of the very oddest of details. I practiced my guitar yesterday. On top of everything else, as I was looking around through a pile of stuff of mine, I even managed to track down yet another pick. They've always been extremely easy to lose track of unfortunately. Yesterday I ate chicken tenders & French fries. Recently there was a movement among members of the liberal totalitarian thought police, for some insane reason, to change the name of these potato thingies to freedom fries. Uncle Frankie showed up recently with a bag of extremely seriously spicy nuts but I'd be more than a little afraid to dare to mess with them, except for only very few at a time.

GUITAR PLAYING

I practiced my guitar again yesterday. I've decided to keep right on constantly pushing as hard as possible to learn to play at least a few songs really well. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. There's nothing going on with him lately, which is about typical. He & my father are supposed to go to a big game on Friday. Of course, as always there's nothing on TV these days. I watched "I Love Lucy" yesterday & a little bit of "Jeopardy" last night. That's about all I can handle is old stuff & certain game shows. At least the weather's most certainly been holding up quite well lately. My father's car has no air conditioning now either. My air conditioning hasn't worked for quite a while by now anyway so I know quite well just exactly how rotten a feeling it is in the summer. It's entirely too hot on hot days & entirely too cold on cool days. It's not only broken. It's broken in an unspeakably evil annoying way.