THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

Mary Anne, Steve & the kids went home around 9:30 this morning. They made sure they left very early because Michael has tickets to see a band, Brand New, at 6:00. I don't bother to keep up with new music so it's all completely out of my league. Before they left we all took some boxes upstairs from the basement & put them in the back of the house. Sam's been reading Thoreau's "Walden". We were all watching a bunch of James Bond movies yesterday & last night on the SyFy Channel. For a while Steve was thinking of taking the kids out to a movie but it never happened. I ate entirely too much all weekend. Last night I even ate a few chestnuts. I can't remember the last time I even ate a chestnut. They're very plain. Today is Alyssa's birthday. She's Mike & Terri's daughter. Tomorrow will be Gino & Michelle's twelfth wedding anniversary. The first Sunday of Advent is this weekend. I don't have to lector at Mass this weekend so I shall just show up.

BLACK FRIDAY

Today is Black Friday. Do as big of a Friday dance as you want, maybe a turkey trot. Just think twice about going shopping. I absolutely dread the crowds people have to put up with at these times. Thanksgiving worked out quite well yesterday. Uncle Frankie & Fran both showed up. Mary Anne & family were here too. Today's my cousin Michelle's birthday. She's a bit younger than I. We ate quite a large meal yesterday, complete with dessert. As always I made the coffee. It was just entirely too fattening. Steve & I took a walk over the bridge yesterday although we didn't cross it completely. Nobody's ever liked that bridge. He wanted to see how all the construction work has been coming along for the new one. Amazingly that was the first time I've ever walked on it. As always, Steve, the boys & I've been playing guitar. All the kids are doing quite well. Steve & Mary Anne went out at 7:00 this morning to go shopping. My cousin Mary Ellen sent me a really nice card reminding me of all the nice times we used to have in Buffalo on Thanksgiving.

THANKSGIVING BECKONS

The weather's been a bit colder lately than I like it. Because of the rain & dampness, yesterday was miserable & today's pretty dreary so far too. I've been playing my guitar regularly, usually just a lot of scales & arpeggios lately. Last night I sort of figured out how to play a variation of "Liar Liar" by the Castaways. Today I got the exact sheet music on the Ultimate Guitar site. It always pays to cheat a little. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. As always there will be quite a crowd. Mary Anne & family will be coming in tomorrow because of all the traffic we shall be expecting tonight. I absolutely dread times like Black Friday. If there's any shopping to be done, I'm hoping to pass the buck with driving. I'm still reading "The Possessed". Recently I've gotten back into the habit of watching "Jeopardy". Somehow I stopped watching it for a while. I've also gotten into the habit of watching reruns of an old favorite of mine, "Cheers".

SHAKESPEARE

Thanksgiving is now only two days away. Mary Anne & family are supposed to show up either late tomorrow or Thursday. Once again, I shan't be going to Buffalo. I miss those days. Because of my insanely good long term memory, I have total recall of all sorts of obscure details from all those trips. I'm still reading "The Possessed". Surprisingly I can get through all the small print fairly easy. Dostoyevsky's books are overwhelmingly long & didactic. On Monday I watched Joseph Pearce's show about Shakespeare. It's a good refresher course on the Bard of Avon. I've been practicing the guitar too. My fingers get quite a workout each day. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. As far as I know there's nothing going on with him lately. Yesterday I got yet another fund raising letter from St. John the Baptist. It's good to see that Wally Lace is still in charge.

JFK

The weekend went by quite well. I finished reading "Northanger Abbey" & started re_reading "The Possessed". I lectored at 10:30 Mass yesterday. On the way home from Mass I went over to Uncle Frankie's. Fran cooked a really nice meal. My parents got there a little while after I did. Gary called last night. A couple of hours later Larry & Rose called too. THe called my father to see how he is. Somehow I didn't end up getting a chance to talk to Larry & Rose but I spent around fifteen minutes on the phone with Gary. Yesterday was the forty sixth anniversary of the JFK assassination. That was the moment that set the 1960's into gear, like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sofia brought on World War I. My nephew Michael's been picking my brain about philosohy yet again. He's taking an ethics class at Hofstra now. I took one at S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale a while ago. Marlene Groner taught the class I took. The weather today is cold but very nice. Yesterday was the forty sixth anniversary of JFK's assassination.