DANG ROADHOG METHODISTS

Next door to the Wyoming Free Library is the friendly neighborhood Methodist church. Today something is going on over there & both parking lots are entirely filled up. I ended up being forced to park over on one of the local side streets & take a short walk over here. I most certainly need the exercise & at least it's not raining although it was last night. This morning I put my computer on top of my desk. It still has to be hooked up though. Since I was on a bit of a roll anyway, I decided to take advantage & do a bit of spring cleaning. I dusted & put some clothes away. I made sure I asked John this morning why the library was closed when I first showed up yesterday. He gave me a predictable answer. Barbara was sick & couldn't show up. He couldn't get here until 10:30 because he always has to take public transportation. That's most certainly not exactly a big surprise. Something weird is constantly happening over here. I like it much better than Copiague's library though. They're all completely impossible to take over there. I'm still reading all those books, a little of each at a time. I've got to cut down on my compulsive coffee drinking. I've always really enjoyed it but I've been finding out lately about all sorts of medical studies showing that it's awfully bad for the health. Knowing me, I shall most probably never end up giving up on it. It's my one & only real vice(ahem). Tonight I have to make sure I show up at 5:00 Mass so I can lector with Rocco. Laura's not available. Lately all my relatives are abuzz with the current events & inevitable controversy that go with being a part of our lopsided crowd. The cousins are keeping in touch on the email list.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH PARTRIDGE

Either yesterday or today, according to my sources, is David Cassidy's fifty eighth birthday. In the immediate aftermath of the Beatles' break_up, the Partridge/Brady rivalry most certainly helped give people a much needed distraction. Let's do the Friday dance to a medley of their songs. I found out that the name Partridge is big in England, & Brady is famous in Ireland. For that reason it's also a good metaphor for the troubles between those two peoples. My cyber friend Gary is back in circulation after his three.day heart attack. He's still a wild & crazy guy (wink wink nudge nudge....). All he could think of was that the women who were his doctor & nurses were such a bunch of lookers. Uncle Frankie came over for a while last night. He & my parents ended up watching a western from the sixties. Roy Orbison was in it. Fran called a while ago. She got her cast taken off. From what I can remember of what I went through when it was my turn, it must have been quite a thrill for her. I got completely spaced out when mine was first removed. I wasn't in any pain, just went stark raging nuts. This morning I took apart the computer that doesn't work & put it into the garage. Pretty soon I shall have to figure out exactly what I can possibly do with the other one. Last night Laura called. Because of personal commitments she wants to switch. I have to lector for her on Saturday & she gets my turn on Sunday. For some reason Wyoming's library is closed & I'm back at the Hoyt again. It appears to be one of the main libraries in the area. I've started reading "The Aenead" even though I'm still reading that Jane Austen book. It's in keeping with my usual practice. I still haven't finished reading "The Iliad".

NICE DAY

Today's weather has been very nice so far. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday & left a box of donuts when I wasn't around. I haven't seen Fran lately. Yesterday I made sure I went over to Barnes & Noble at the Casey Plaza. One day, a few months ago, I took KrissyKrissyKrissy for a ride to the one on Main Street in Wilkes_Barre because back then I wasn't the least bit sure of how to get to this one. It's really easy to find though. It's right over by the Wyoming Valley Mall. That's always been one of my very favorite environments. They even have a capuccino stand. Besides Borders, theirs is about the best selection of books. Unfortunately the nearest Borders is somewhere way over in Scranton. I've most certainly gotten through quite a bit of that Jane Austen book. Next, I shall probably try to take a crack at Virgil's "Aenead". That church lady, who got sick a few days ago, most certainly appears to be back on her feet so far. She showed up at Mass this morning. Unfortunately, gas prices have been going up again. From the looks of what I've seen so has the price of everything else except the Citizen's Voice. On top of that, Java's favorite commander.in.chief won't be letting any troops come home after the summer. Yesterday I watched a little of Oprah Winfrey's boring show for some strange reason. She's involved with some new artsy.fartsy self.help trend. It bored me like crazy of course so I didn't bother even to go on watching it.

NICE SPRING SO FAR

Lately the weather's been getting better. Let's just hope spring keeps going like this. As long as it's not raining I'm happy. Snow now would be completely insane. I made sure I sent Karen a card this morning. She needs lots of encouragement these days considering her circumstances. There's been no news from Uncle Frankie or Fran lately. As far as I know they've been doing well. I found out in church that that lady who got sick a couple of days ago has been recuperating quite well lately. Gary, one of my Newblog & Netpotion connections, just had a heart attack. It took him three days to figure out what was really going on. He's only forty one years old. He's in a hospital somewhere over in Missouri. He always really likes to listen to KTOZ_FM, the radio station that's known over there as Alice955. Everybody's been sending them e mails wishing him a nice speedy recovery. He's a neat guy who, at least when healthy, always seems to have a spunky streak. Let's just hope it sticks with him. Yesterday I finished reading "Pride & Prejudice" & got started on "Sense & Sensibility". Lately Obama, Hillary Clinton & McCain are all over the place. I've really never been all that especially interested in keeping track of things like this, unfortunately, but it's a necessary evil. Soon W. will be out the door, put to pasture. I really can't say I expect any of them to be the least bit better unfortunately.

SPRING DAY

Today the weather's been especially nice, but a little on the cool side, so far. Marian, one of the church ladies, got very violently sick right at the very end of 9:00 a.m. Mass yesterday. She didn't show up today so I'm assuming she's still unable to get out. I put the site for Steve's jazz band on my netpotion website & they've been most certainly getting quite a very favorable response so far from all my connections. I also asked the netpotion people about what they thought of the word "ain't". It occurred to me yesterday that there really isn't any other legitimately available alternative for how to say the contraction of "am not". I've always been compulsively articulate so it gets me more than slightly miffed when someone tries to excuse inappropriate use of the English language. I'm down to my last few dozen pages of the Jane Austen book I've been reading. Frequently it goes epistolary on me. I have to read all the fine print in the letters written by certain characters. All the tiny little print gets me crazy. Yesterday I made sure I called the local Catholic radio station to get reservations to see Fr. Donald Calloway, M.I.C. He's a priest with the Congregation of Marians. I met him twice when I visited them at their scholasticate in Washington D.C. during the 1990's. I spent a few days there each time. That was when Fr. Larry Dunn & Fr. David Lord were their vocation directors.

A VISIT TO KRISSYKRISSYKRISSY'S

Everybody made the trip except me. Having spent much of Saturday & some of yesterday with a bad headache, I blew my chance to go to Jim Thorpe to see KrissyKrissyKrissy. I made sure I finished the dvd of "The Guardian" which she lent me a few months ago. My parents gave it back to her when they & other kinfolk spent the day visiting her. My mother went down there with some relatives & My father & Uncle Frankie went down right after the big game. Unfortunately the latest news story around here is about anti.Semitic vandalism against a Wilkes_Barre synagogue. Two teenaged girls, members of a Nazi cult, put anti.Semitic graffiti on Congregation Ohav Zedek. We can't let this garbage go on. Wilkes_Barre's already a bad enough area anyway. The weather's been very nice lately but a smidge colder than I'd like it. We just got some e mails from Mary Ellen & Vinnie about Karen's latest circumstances. We shall all have to keep in touch with her. My brother in law, Steve, has a jazz band & a Myspace site. I should most certainly hope everybody listens to them. Their username is Spectrumjazzco. Yesterday I was looking through a book I have about the Beatles. It was really interesting to get a reminder of exactly who wrote their songs & how things were done in those days.

ICY COLD RAINY DAY

Nothing much has been happening these days. April has been more bad weather than good so far. Today is very damp & raining. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. He & my father have been making plans lately to go see the local yokel version of the Yankees. The famed Bronx Bombers have a stadium somewhere between here & Scranton for their minor league team. Yesterday I made sure I read over fifty more pages of that Jane Austen book. I've always considered myself a reasonably well_read literate sort of guy. Lately, though, I've been going through librarything & shelfari & finding out the hard way that there are all sorts of books, plays, novels, etc. that I just haven't gotten around to so far. There are even very many I've literally never even heard of. I'm trying to get my nephew Michael to check out their philosophy groups. He's been taking a philosophy class this semester. Today's the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember those days. I was at RFK's last St. Patrick's day parade that year. Shortly after King, he ended up dying the same way. Of course, I was only a young un in elementary school way back then.

INTERNET BACK

For the first time this week, Wyoming's internet is back. The Hoyt Library's really a nice place too but this is the one I've gotten used to & I don't like change. It's also just plain closer. Yesterday I took a ride over to the Wyoming Valley Mall. It's a good place to walk around in for the sake of exercise. As always I found a nice easy space in the parking lot. The weather was really nice. On the way home I ended up taking Rte 81. That road's quite an absolute panic. I'm not used to it so it still gets my nerves a bit frazzled but it seems to get a bit easier each time with practice. I really have to floor it because even though the official speed limit is 65 m.p.h. the reality of it all is much faster. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. He ate with us. I started reading "Pride & Prejudice" yesterday. I read it quite a while ago & decided I wanted to check it out again. I found out that Barack Obama, of the Democratic Party's ultra pro abortion presidential candidates, doesn't want either of his daughters to be punished with a baby. This remark goes to show, as far as I'm concerned, the Left Wing's true face & colors. Since the weather's been getting nice lately, I've been hoping to get started on walking again over by the Midway. I most certainly need exercise.

APRIL, FOOL

Once again, I'm stranded over at Kingston's library. The Wyoming librarian told me that the internet is still down over there. It's annoying & frustrating but not all that bad a deal. Amazingly, there were snow flurries this morning, April or no April. I'm absolutely sick & tired of it all. Lately I've been reading the poetry of Auden, Yeats & Blake. I've also been reading "The Iliad" & a few books about the Catholic Church. Each one only gets a little at a time, of course, or I'll end up way over my head. Mary Anne called yesterday. All most certainly appears to be going well so far over there. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Because there was an electrical storm that started a little after 7:00 p.m., though, he ended up having to rush right back on home to take care of the dog. April Fool's Day went quite well with all the predictably obnoxious behavior. It's sort of a miniature Halloween. I think there's even a bit of a traditional connection between them, folklore_wise, too. Yesterday Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama were both in Wilkes_Barre. I don't like either of them. John McCain, to my chagrin, is no peach either. I'm most certainly not looking forward to the big day in November because there's just no right answer.

PORK CHOPS & APPLE SAUCE....& MAYONNAISE

It's an especially nice spring day. The weekend was nice. Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday. I went, after the Latin Mass, to Mass at the Oblates' seminary. It was crowded but all went well. Yesterday was icy bitter cold & pouring. I gave blood at the ambulance place on Maffett St. in Plains. Nicole was the phlebotomist who took it from me. There was no crowd & I had a 4:00 appointment so unlike most times, I was in & out surprisingly fast. Instead of my N.Y. KofC council's full meal, all I got here were cupcakes & cherry Kool.Aid & Egg McMuffin coupon. I couldn't give a double red cell donation because my iron count was too low. That's happened before. They gave me my druthers among different colors of bandages & I took red. The internet's been down in Wyoming's library ever since yesterday. I'm at the Hoyt Library in Kingston today. For the past couple of nights, I've had weird dreams. Last night I dreamed I got into an accident in a truck, which is weird because I've never driven a truck. It happened in a NY City like place which is weird because I don't go there much. It was because I put a cover over the windshield which is weird because I wouldn't dare even think of doing that. Two nights ago, I dreamed I was in a public place, trying to play a nice twelve.string acoustic guitar. I noticed that the two lowest strings were missing. Before I knew what hit me, some woman came by & took it from me, claiming that it was hers. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday for a while. We ate pork chops & latkes. I put apple sauce & mayonnaise on mine. On Saturday night, I finished watching "Lost Horizon". My mother went to the doctor for tests today. The last time I heard, Bridget's tests were taking a while.