ALL THOSE YEARS AGO

Today is the forty fourth anniversary of the Beatles' very first ever appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Everyone knows what happened in the aftermath of all that. I literally can't even try to remember a time when they didn't fill the airwaves in my general area. I've never found another singer/band/etc. that's impressed me as much as they. Eberdeen, one of my internet connections, is in labor-excuse me, l-a-b-o-u-r because she's from England. I hope all works out well for her & her family across the pond. Uncle Frankie is back on his feet & even baking again. Yesterday he showed up with home_made cookies. He's still run down but he's getting better. Fran is still sick. It's a good thing she stays in the general area of work because she has to go insanely far away. Just when I thought there were already enough truly ignorant characters, around this morning I found two more at the BP gas station on Wyoming Avenue. I went into their store to get $11.00 worth of gas. There were two absolutely horribly annoying women right in front of me. Each one spent an unconscionably annoying length of time getting lottery tickets & other completely stupid things. Social skills be damned. Yesterday the weather absolutely stunk. It was pouring all day & night. Today's not much better so far. Yesterday I read a lot more of "The Possessed". Pretty soon I'll be finished with it.

ASH WEDNESDAY

Today's the first day of Lent. Predictably when I went to Mass this morning, it was more crowded than usual. I, as usual, ended up being the lector at 9:00 a.m. Mass. Lately the weather at 7:00 a.m. is about forty degrees which is seriously weird around here. I completely forgot to mention that last month was my second anniversary on blogger. I also forgot to say that the end of the month was the fortieth anniversary of the Tet Offensive, a big milestone of the Viet Nam War. I read more of "The Possessed" last night. Soon I shall be finished with it. I ended up watching "The Beverly Hillbillies" yesterday. I'd always liked that show as a kid. I even got a comic book of it once. It's insanely anachronistic but then so am I. There's virtually nothing on TV these days. It really gets me crazy when I talk to people who are ardent followers of all sorts of current shows. All the kinfolk still have the flu so I alone am healthy.

FAT TUESDAY

Today is Mardi Gras day. It's a pretty big deal over in New Orleans. When cousin Java owned Byer's a while ago, we used to have Cajun food on the menu. Days like this, in areas where they go big over it, food like that must make for quite a nice time. I'm really getting very close to the end of "The Possessed". It's still keeping my brain cells hopping. Last night I watched the famous classic silent movie, "Wings". It was Gary Cooper's first movie. I really liked it but it was entirely too long. So was "Sense & Sensibility". I don't usually get a chance to see a silent movie since not many are available in stores & the ones they show on TV only seem to be on after midnight. I can't stand staying up late but I knew I'd never be able to see it any other way. Alas, all the local kinfolk still appear to have the flu. That's part of the reason I'm in no hurry to get a haircut. In this weather, I could be the next one to get sick. People are all getting sick & tired of the winter but spring is fast approaching. Of course, people all still oohing, aahing & drooling over the Super Bowl but I just can't get interested.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

Congratulations to all you New Yorkers & fans thereof. The Giants beat the Patriots. I didn't bother with the game. Oh for sure, I most certainly ate chicken cutlets & shrimp. According to what I've heard form folks in the know, though, it was a good game. I watched the movie version of Jane Austen's "Sense & Sensibility" with Emma Thompson & Kate Winslet. I've read a lot of Austen by now. Unfortunately, I can't find my copies of "Sense & Sensibility" & "Pride & Prejudice" these days. I finished a lot of "The Possessed" yesterday too. On the kinfolk scene, the latest scoop is on new e mail addresses. We always have liked to keep track of each other that way. Of course, I still haven't bothered to get a haircut. Fran came over yesterday & gave us some really nice hot soup. She & Uncle Frankie, and my parents, are still awfully sick with the flu. I don't have it. On Saturday night, right after I lectored at 5:00 p.m. Mass with Mary, I made sure I took a trip over to Pittston to see the O.L. Mt. Carmel Italian feast for a little while. Fortunately it was inside. One of the church ladies reminded me that the winter weather is entirely too cold around here for an outside feast like the one they have each summer. I made sure I got a cheeseburger & a couple of contest tickets before I left.

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.