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.