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.