GREETINGS FROM GOBBLER'S KNOB

Happy Groundhog Day. Unfortunately Phil saw his shadow over in Gobbler's Knob. The weather is a little damp but acceptable, especially compared to yesterday. O.L. Mt. Carmel is supposed to have their Italian feast this weekend. I have to lector at 5:00 Mass first. Then I can go. Last year I ended up having a really nice time, though I pigged out entirely too much. I went home the hard way because I wasn't quite familiar enough with the area & all its tricks just yet. Now I know a trick or two to save me any unnecessary aggravation. Tomorrow's the Super Bowl. I'm completely apathetic toward sports so whether the Giants or Patriots win Super Bowl XLII means nothing to me anyway. Ever since I was only a kid, sports have always struck me as an entirely unwelcome chore instead of an enjoyable interest. This morning on my way home from Pittston, I heard R.E.M.'s version of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" from 1974's somewhat forgotten "Walls & Bridges" album. Although I've never really been all that crazy about R.E.M., its sounded really good. In honor of their big upcoming anniversary this month, last night I made sure I listened to a bunch of early Beatle stuff.

BITTER BEGINNING OF MONTH

February has started out with an entirely unwelcome bang. The weather is very cold & rain is coming down in the form of ice. Besides Fr. Walsh, only three of us made it to 9:00 Mass this morning. Oh well, welcome to Pa. On top of everything else, the big Super Bowl party has been cancelled. Fran called last night. It appears that besides me & maybe her, everybody else is entirely too sick with the flu to be even remotely able to put up with it. I remember all the parties my father used to force us to go to at his American Legion post in Levittown, N.Y. It was a fun time but the cigarettes, crowd & noise always drove me nuts. I liked it because I got to hang around with Larry, Gary, Steve, Adrian & all the other characters. Yesterday I got my KofC dues notice. It's less expensive here than my O.L.P.H. council. I read even more of "The Possessed" yesterday too. Books like that for sure keep my brain cells hopping. At O.L. Sorrows this morning I found out that their blood drive will be on February 11 in the church. It's in the part where they seem to have all their parties, social functions, etc.

END OF MONTH

Uncle Frankie hasn't been showing up lately because he's been sick again. Mary Anne & Dottie called yesterday. Dottie's foot is better & her boot was taken off on Tuesday. All is well so far with Mary Anne & family. I woke up with a headache at around 3:30 a.m. & took a couple of pills. It's gone. Yesterday I read a lot more of "The Possessed". It turns out that "The Brothers Karamazov" isn't the only book that Fr. Zosima appears in. He's in this one too. The big Super Bowl party is on Sunday. I'm not looking forward to the game because I've never really even liked sports anyway. I shall really have to watch my step with all the junk food too. That stuff can be quite seriously addictive. The last thing I need these days is to spend too much time pigging out. Food has always struck me as quite entirely enjoyable but I can't handle too much of it. Yesterday was international delete your Myspace page day. I guess lots of people must have gotten rid of theirs. I have one but it's all nice & droll with no troublemakers.

NICER BUT WINDY

Today's a much nicer day than yesterday. Although the wind is a little out of hand it's a borderline spring day in a way. All the ice has melted. There's still been no sign of Uncle Frankie lately. Rose called yesterday to wish my mother a happy birthday. I read quite a bit of "The Possessed" yesterday. I've already read it a couple of times before so some parts seem awfully familiar. I was just looking on xanga's site. Some young girl, who's a real looker, was rambling on about what she looked like with glasses. By now I've managed to get used to my glasses. I've been wearing them for well over a year, usually only for driving, & they're pretty much not all that big of a deal. I should assume I look at least reasonably nice with or without them anyway. They only seem to require a minimum of cleaning & maintenance. Unlike when I was a kid, I haven't gotten into the habit of losing them these days. I always seem to lose all sorts of other things but my luck with glasses has been pretty good so far.

LATEST CRAZE

Lately I've been getting quite an awful lot of e mail from the cousins about pictures. They're looking through all their old stashes of stuff to find photos from yesteryore for Brianne's collection. It at least seems to be keeping them out of trouble so far. The roads are a sheet of ice as of very early this morning. Roads & bridges in the area have been closed down. I've been plowing through "The Possessed" quite well lately. It was very controversial in its time & during the days of the Soviet Union. Uncle Frankie hasn't shown up for the past couple of days so I suppose he's busy with something. Fran's staying really close to work this week which, considering today's weather, is a mighty good idea. California Cathleen told me today that she went to Laguna Beach to see some of John Lennon's artwork. Oddly she never knew that he was always so prolific a visual artist. Mary Anne & family left a CD of seventies oldies here when they left after the weekend. I got little curious about the Starship song, "Jane". It was the only title I didn't recognize. When I listened to it this morning though, I couldn't help noticing that I've heard it millions of times since those days. I just never bothered to pay any attention to the title before.

BIRTHDAY GIRL

The party went really well but today's my mother's real birthday. Aunt Lauren, Uncle Jim, Michelle & Doug were there with the kids. Benjamin's still quite the avid little fireman. His fourth birthday is on Valentine's Day. Uncle Frankie, Fran & Lisa showed up. Mary Anne, Steve, Bridget & Sam were there. Mary Anne & Steve ended up having to give me a refresher course on how to make French toast. We went to the antique store in West Pittston & Wal_Mart to do some birthday shopping too. They also got me to dig up my TV show theme songs albums because they were wondering about the themes to "McHales' Navy" & Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C." Things like that have always been a specialty of mine. Bridget is a very big fan of all the old classic TV shows. She's most certainly entirely too old to be able to remember any of them though. Sam's still a soccer playing drummer. Michelle got a headache so I ended up giving her a couple of my favorite headache pills. This morning I got a job application & a bottle of white out from our local dollar store. I've finished reading that Flannery O'Connor book & started reading "The Possessed" by Dostoyevsky.

PARTY TIME

Monday is my mother's seventy fifth birthday so today Mary Anne, Steve, Sam & Bridget are coming in for tomorrow's big party. Unfortunately, Michael's not available. He has to go to school. All the local kin are expected. The weather was particularly cold this morning so I was forced to warm up the car for a few extra minutes. Yesterday there was only the slightest little bit of snow. Lately, besides the Citizen's Voice, I've been getting other papers too. Yesterday I got the N.Y. Times again & today I got the N.Y. Daily News. The News was always a very familiar fixture in my old neighborhood when I was a kid in Queens. It pays to keep track of differing points of view. I've been trying to keep up with things as conscientiously as possible lately. Yesterday I read quite a bit more of that Flannery O'Connor book. I've already read it a few times before anyway. It always pays to re read these books at least a few times. That's the best way to get the gist of things.

INSPECTION TIME

Yesterday was time for my car inspection. I went over to one of my very favorite places, Jack Williams. Mario was in charge of the job. I got there at 7:30 a.m. & was kept waiting until around 5:30 p.m. because it was a major job. I made sure I went home for the whole time because I would have gone stark raging nuts over there all day. I've finished reading "Northanger Abbey" & started Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood". Uncle Frankie went to visit Fran yesterday. My father has a very bad cold or something & is extremely seriously hoarse lately. When I first got up yesterday & turned on my TV set, I found out about the death, on Tuesday, of Heath Ledger. Suzanne Pleshette died a few days ago. I remember her from "The Bob Newhart Show". Recently an ESPN anchorwoman, Dana Jacobson, attacked Jesus Christ by saying, on TV, "F*&% Jesus". Hey I wonder where all those left_wing(ACLU etc) anti_defamation activists are when Christianity gets unjustly attacked. Oh that's right. They only defend(read: bow & scrape to) non_whites, non_Christians etc. Of course, ESPN isn't taking her uconscionably disgusting behavior_she was intoxicated at the time, on top of that_even the least bit seriously. According to the New Oxford Review they've only suspended her for a week. Sarah Silverman & Kathy Griffin have also also gotten entirely out of hand with that kind of thing lately.

ROE V WADE/DOE V BOLTON

Today is a very happy day for all the folks on the left wing. On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger, handed down both its Roe v. Wade & Doe v. Bolton decisions. These were the decisions that guaranteed a women the right to murder her own pre_born child by abortion. Of course, we now condone suicide & are on the verge of allowing cloning. According to liberal logic, man, not God, must have the final authority on when life may begin & end. Today, besides the usual Citizen's Voice, I got the Times Tribune. I most certainly agree with Maria Vitale, the guest columnist, about the kind & degree of damage those decisions have done. I've finally finished that book about Chaucer. It's a really good book for somebody like me because I've always been extremely seriously interested in western culture. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday for supper. He drove my father to the Saturn dealership. Today I went to the dollar store in the Midway on Wyoming Avenue to get some aa batteries. The girl on the phone specifically told me they'd be open at 9:00. I got there at precisely 9:00. Of course, she never even bothered to open the place until around 9:10.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I'm old enough to remember his assassination. A kid in my old neighborhood always called him Martha Luther King. Today I got the Philadelphia Inquire & the Citizen's Voice. Because Philadelphia has such a significantly large Black population, the Inquirer was full of articles about King & his impact on the U.S., the civil rights movement & mankind in general. Most things are closed down today. The paper argued that if King could have lived, even the current war in Iraq could have been avoided. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday & ate supper with us. Xanga's question for today is asking each of us whether he celebrates King Day. I don't really bother to think twice about it. Of course, I know that it has quite a major degree of significance. Mary Anne sent out a video from Youtube. It's Michael's latest adventure. He made a short film with some friends of his. It's called "Free Your Mind". I was quite happy to be able to see it. He's extremely heavily into film study & does quite well at things like that. Today & yesterday the weather has been absolutely bitter cold. There's no snow or ice though so I'm quite happy with it. I just got forced to warm my car up a bit more than I'm used to. I know it must already be common knowledge by now, but today is penguin awareness day & tomorrow is hugging day.