FEAST TONIGHT

Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. As usual nothing much has been going on with him lately. Over the course of Thursday & yesterday I saw "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" with Natalie Portman. Yesterday I also saw Beatle Ringo in "Caveman" with Barbara Bach & Shelley Long. Later today I have to lector at 5:00 Mass. To the best of my knowledge, the new priest will be there. I've been noticing that these days the price of gas has been going down quite a bit at the local stations. Amazingly, for the past few days, it hasn't rained. I hope the really nice weather holds out at least for the weekend. O.L. Mt. Carmel in Pittston is having a really nice feast tonight & tomorrow. They'll have lots of prizes & fattening food. I always really like to make sure I show up at things like that. I just got an e mail from Jo Anne. She, Jerry & kids have been back from California since June 21.

FRIDAY DANCE

I've gotten back to playing my guitars again lately, now that I've gotten new strings put onto them. The Beatle book gets a lot of mileage these days. Today we bid a birthday fondue to Richard Italo, cousin the Ronald's son, who turns thirty nine. He's one of the very many musicians among our kin. Yesterday I went to the Wyoming Valley Mall. A lot of it's very boring but it's good exercise. To make sure I could count on an easy time of keeping track of my car in the parking lot, I've gotten into the habit of parking in the Sears automotive parking lot, a most conspicuous area. When I was walking through Sears, I ran into one of the church ladies from my parish. She complained about our current circumstances. Fr. Walsh left entirely too suddenly. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. It was all the usual gossip. He's been visiting some relatives of his lately. It's time for yet another Friday dance. At least it's not raining too much for it to work out well.

BLOOD DRIVE

Birthday greetings go out today to Felix, Tim's younger brother, for his thirty ninth. I knew him at St. Gabriel's. July's quite a really busy month for birthdays. Last night I saw Woody Allen's "Manhattan". It starred Allen, Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Bella Abzug & one of those homely Hemingway sisters. Yesterday I went to another blood drive over at the Waterfront Inn on River Road in Plains. They served juice, coffee etc. after it was all over. I got some Domino's pizza & apple & cranberry juice. I got Domino's pizza coupons & a coupon for Friendly's Ice Cream too. I gave a double red cell donation. The traffic on River Road was an absolute nightmare. On my way home I stopped at Weis' supermarket in Plains to get some milk. The parking lot was put together by morons. This morning, on my way to Mass at St. John's in Pittston, I made sure I stopped at the new Turkey Hill on Main Street for gas & a paper. It's a really nice place & gas is less expensive than average. I'm still reading "Sense & Sensibility". I've read it before so it gets easier each time.

BLOOD DRIVE TODAY

Lately there have been even more short, violent rainstorms, including a couple of them yesterday. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. I don't usually eat eggs but yesterday I ate a very nice dish of scrambled eggs. Ever since the Fourth of July I have been woefully overweight. From now on I shall have to be quite seriously careful about my eating habits. Having finished Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" yesterday, I immediately started re_reading her "Sense & Sensibility". Today I have to give blood in Plains. It's at some kind of a country club type place. I got a call from a woman yesterday to remind me of it. It's at 4:00. I got yet another headache this morning but I took a couple of non_aspirin pills & it went away. Yesterday's Michael Jackson tribute was nightmarishly annoying. Yo, get over it! It was a true reminder of how warped a shape the world is in. I watched yet another James Bond movie yesterday. I saw "Licence To Kill". It starred Timothy Dalton as 007 with Talisa Soto & Carey Lowell.

IT'S RAINING AGAIN

Yesterday I watched yet another James Bond movie. I saw "A View To A Kill" with Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Grace Jones, Dolph Lundgren & Tanya Roberts. They were all really famous during that era. My father & Uncle Frankie went to the big mini_me Yankee game game last night. I could have gone but I've never liked sports. Of the people who showed up for the Fourth of July, the last of them should be on their way home by now. Today we bid a rousing happy sixty ninth birthday to the oldest Beatle, Ringo Starr, M.B.E. It's also Michael's twenty seventh birthday over in North Tonawanda. He's my cousin Mary Ellen's son. A little while ago it started absolutely pouring out again. The weather goes in odd streaks like that these days. I've gotten back to playing my guitars again these days, now that they've been re_strung.

SATURDAY IN THE PARK

This year's Fourth of July in Hilldale is now history. All went quite well. The food was suitably fattening. It rained entirely too much on Friday but we stayed on the patio & avoided any excess water. Around eighty five people showed up. Richie, Sean, Frank & I went out for guitar strings. There was a poker game & an interesting video of the Ronald's navy cronies. Larry & Rose's anniversary was July 3 & Elaine & George's was the fifth. Aunt Helen's birthday was also the fifth. Buffalo Michael's birthday is tomorrow. The whole thing started in 1961. Everyone put up quite a fight over exactly when the fiftieth anniversary should be. The kids went to Dorney Park one day. I got Steve to help me put in my DVD player/VCR. Vinnie wanted me to try to find a copy of the Beatles' "Help!" DVD for him so I got it on Friday at Barnes & Noble in Wilkes_Barre. On Saturday the Fourth we went over to the park, as virtually always, to play our softball game. Someone just had to say it: "Saturday in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July." I didn't bother to play the entire game but got up to bat once. I, believe it or not, got a base hit & RBI. Because I didn't bother to put on sun block soon enough, though, I got a sunburn & spent all day yesterday with a miserable headache. Tonight my father & Uncle Frankie are supposed to go to see the Mini_me Yankees play. Richie recently caught a picture of Java & Nunziata at a Yankee game. To everyone's chagrin, Fr. Walsh has left O.L. Sorrows. Saturday morning was his last Mass. There was a visiting priest this weekend. Our new pastor will be arriving soon.