COOLER THAN AVERAGE

Today's weather is slightly cooler than it's been lately but I still worked up quite a sweat on my walk this morning. At least it wasn't raining. Once again I walked practically all the way to the Midway. I need all the exercise I can get. Uncle Frankie never showed up yesterday but he called fairly late last night. Fran got them some tickets to see the Yankees. Mary Anne also called. All has been going well so far with them. I've been reading more of those Carmelite books lately. I've also been reading that book about Marxism. I just noticed that the drum that was used on the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album cover picture was recently sold for $1.1 million. People never seem to outgrow the Fab Four & they never become an anachronism. Speaking of them, I've been regularly plowing my way through their songs on my guitar lately. Today it's time for yet another Friday dance. I haven't gotten any headaches lately & that's always a major advantage. For the past few days I've been eating coffee yogurt. It's weird but believe it or not there really is at least one company out there that's just plum weird enough to make yogurt that's flavored like coffee. It's bitter but oddly, it tastes somehow just like the real thing. Amazingly I've eaten very many even weirder things over the course of my lifetime by now.

BOOK ABOUT MARXISM

Because I've always been quite seriously interested in the intellectual movements that have influenced the world, I started reading, yesterday, Lezsek Kolakowski's "Main Currents of Marxism". It's three volumes compiled into one. Mary Anne, a few years ago, complained about my having presumed to complain about Marxism even though I've never been even the least bit knowledgeable about it. From now on I shall have something to say from an informed point of view. Last night I watched a special about St. Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, a Carmelite from Chile. Her feast day is on July 13 which is also her birthday. July 9 was the feast of Bl. Jane Scopelli, also a Carmelite. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Later on he & my father went over to visit Gino, Michelle & Jamie. I got kicked out of the library early yesterday so I took advantage by going to Barnes & Noble for a while. It rained a little but it was just a slight spring shower. It rained a while one day in Hilldale last week too, just long enough to get my guitars all wet. This time no damage was done. This morning I took a nice long walk over to the monument on Wyoming Avenue, past Susquehanna Avenue, on the way to the levee. I worked up quite a sweat but I need the exercise.

BEATLE RINGO'S BIG DAY

At precisely high noon today, Beatle Ringo Starr, whose sixty eighth birthday is today, wants everyone to flash the peace sign (Churchill's victory sign) & say "Peace & love". The forty eighth annual family shindig over in Hilldale went quite well this year. Oddly, in spite of all our entirely irreconcilable personality conflicts, there were no major wars to show for this year's festivities. According to sources in the know, eighty six people showed up. It was good to see Anthony, KrissyKrissyKrissy, & the gang from Buffalo among other favorites. It was as interesting as it was confusing to try to keep track of all the new boy_/girlfriends & recently born young_uns. To my chagrin, I ate & drank entirely too much for my own good. I also stayed up entirely too late. Cousin Larry's softball game (Pampers V. Depends) was a smash hit. My nephew Sam was the MVP. We played "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" too. Michael, from Buffalo, & I went to Latin Mass on Sunday morning in Wilkes_Barre. His sense of direction could use a little work. My nephew Michael & I went to the music store, once with Eddie from New York. It was closed both times. Steve & Bridget stuck around today so he could help with some things around the house & she could play with some kids in Hilldale. I've been trying to get started on some of the Carmelite books from Mary Ann's husband. They're very complicated but very interesting.

MARY ANNE AND BRIDGET

Mary Anne & Bridget showed up last night sometime after I went to bed. Steve, Sam & Michael will soon follow, I should suppose. The main bulk of the crowd will show up starting tomorrow afternoon. We shall have around four days of fattening food, sunburn, personality clashes and all sorts of other fun things up ahead of us. Bridget was telling me this morning that she has no intention of going back to the Christian(Protestant) camp she went to last summer. So far, she's been thinking of going to a soccer camp. It was a little on the foggy side when I first left this morning but after only a little while the weather started turning out really nice. Let's just hope we can count on it to last all week. The guy who's sitting right next to me is nothing but trouble. Knowing only too perfectly well that they have a rule against cell phones in here, this anti.social character does nothing but ramble on, at the very top of his lungs on top of everything else, on his cell phone all day. On top of that he rambles on about private personal things of a very serious nature that nobody else should have to hear about. Of course he's a New Yorker. As if Pa. doesn't already have more than its share of supreme ignoramuses(ignorami?)anyway, we really have so much to gain by bringing them in from New York too. I have absolutely no patience whatsoever with a big mouth & this guy overdoes it.

WELCOME TO JULY

Welcome to the month in which, each year, England's butt gets kicked twice over. I found out from one of my Canadian connections(on Myspace, etc.) that today is Canada Day. Tomorrow all the kinfolk will start trickling in for the Fourth of July. Thursday is the official beginning of it all. This morning, while getting the paper at Turkey Hill, I ran into Rose, the barber. She was standing right behind me on line wearing dark glasses. We didn't recognize each other at first because of our glasses. Lately I've been seeing on TV that Mr. Bill's been making a comeback. Alf has his moments too. There's been no word from Max Headroom these days though. Happy Anniversary to Cousin Larry(& Rose). Edie, one of my Myspace connections, has a birthday the same day too. Uncle Frankie, for the past few days, went to his family's big reunion. I watched a little, last night, of an old movie with Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones & Claudette Colbert. I just found out that because I am between 41 & 52 years old, I fit into Generation Jones, the largest adult generation in the U.S. I'd always thought that I was a baby boomer, having been born between 1946_1964. It turns out that it's been narrowed down a bit more than that.

MARY ANN'S FUNERAL

Unfortunately I ended up having to go to Mary Ann's wake & funeral this morning. It was at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church. A few of the other Carmelites made it too. Fr. Joe Kakareka, from St. Martha's was the main celebrant. Last night, besides practicing my guitar again, I listened to a bunch of old eighties albums by Frank Zappa, the Rolling Stones & the Firm. Today is the seventy second anniversary of the publication of "Gone With the Wind", Margaret Mitchell's beloved classic. We should all get our hands on it & read it before the liberals ban it in their insatiable quest to control us completely. The original working title was "Tomorrow is Another Day". I went to bed last night with a bit too much of a headache but it went away after a while. The violent thunderstorm may have been somehow responsible for it. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. Fr. Walsh told me on Saturday that Rocco has, for some unknown reason, left the parish. I watched part of the old Jodie Foster movie, "Freaky Friday" last night. That goes back to the days when she was still interesting. The Fourth of July is fast approaching & everyone is supposed to start showing up as of Thursday. Unfortunately Nick, our old landlord from Queens, has died. I remember him from when I was a kid even before my teens.

COUSINS ACTING UP AGAIN

Congratulations to Cousins_by marriage_ Linda & Tilly for their having graduated college. Linda even got a free bubble head to show for it. I should suppose everyone's entitled to his mini_me. Liz, yet another Cousin_by_marriage, recently won a teacher of the year award. A woman I know of from another site has posted a blog explaining that in her family, some of the women have a way to help them fall asleep. I was wondering if it works for us men. Each one tells a story in her imagination. By spinning this entirely tall yarn, she can somehow put herself to sleep. Since my imagination's always been more than a smidge on the hyperactive side anyway maybe I should give it a try. Lately I've been practicing my Beatle songs. On Tuesday I even threw in a few by Eric Clapton & Bob Dylan. I listened to some old Talking Heads & U2 on Tuesday too. Yesterday I went to the Barnes & Noble right next door to the Wyoming Valley Mall for a while. As always I ended up completely mesmerized by the selection of reading material. A lot of it's garbage though. I spent lots of time plowing through every possible kind of left wing propaganda that's not even worth wasting half a syllable on. Uncle Frankie came over for a while on Tuesday & again yesterday. The weather more than kind of stinks today. I woke up to an annoying drizzle this morning but it's better than all the electrical storms.

OLD RECORDS

Yesterday I listened to yet even more old stuff. I broke out my copy of Pink Floyd's "The Wall". It's such an especially nice surprise that most of my old vinyl records sound even nicer now than they ever did back then. The sound quality of the majority of them drove me plum nuts back in those days. In my never_ending protest against the total obscenity of current pop culture & what passes for show business these days, I consistently go retro. That goes for my guitar practice too. I put in my usual time with all those Beatle songs yesterday. This morning I went back downstairs to do the laundry. A clean wardrobe is quite the only way to go. It's a nice droll way to kill both a few minutes & a few brain cells. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Fran called too. Amazingly I haven't gotten any headaches in quite a while. Even with all the changing weather my head seems to be quite cooperative lately. Of course, I still can't sleep but that's something I can make a bit of an adjustment to since it doesn't impede my ability to function properly. Today's that dreaded day when, each year, the sun starts going down a minute earlier per night.

RAIN REGULARLY

Lately we've been getting very frequent very short rainstorms with thunder, lightning & wind. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over for a few hours late Saturday. We ate Sizzle Pie pizza & a nice cake for dessert. She left late yesterday morning to go back to work. I spent a while over the weekend practicing my guitar. It sounds pathetic because I haven't ever been able to figure out how to keep it in tune. I'm getting better at playing though. Yesterday I watched part of a tribute to Tim Russert. It's nice to see he was so good a person. This morning I just found out about the death of George Carlin. I took a public speaking class a while ago at S.U.N.Y Farmingdale where the teacher, Cornelius McAdory, said that he & Carlin were once classmates. Carlin was entirely too blunt for me. As a kid I'd always enjoyed his stuff but after a while I started noticing that he just wasn't even the least bit my kind of style. He was certainly much different than Russert. Both were famous Irish Catholics but one seemed to have been entirely on the right track, while the other was completely off_beat. Oddly gas has been getting a bit less expensive lately. It always seems to fluctuate. The Fourth of July is getting, slowly but surely, closer. That always makes for an extremely distinctive kind of time for one & all. Lately I've been listening more & more to my old vinyl albums. Yesterday I listened to my old Marshall Crenshaw album from 1982. I recently heard that he's still in circulation these days. That's most certainly quite a very nice surprise.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUSIN LARRY

It's cousin Larry's big day & the very first full day of the summer season. This morning I went to the Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. Diane & Yvonne were both there for their annual visit. They explained to me how I could improve the job I've been doing as formation director. Sister Catherine couldn't make it this month because of a trip to San Diego. Mary Anne, unfortunately, is still very ill. We haven't seen her in quite a while. Dana couldn't make the meeting, as usual, but he was there at the end. My father & Uncle Frankie trudged off to their usual Friday night game yesterday. It was absolutely pouring around here. There was an extremely seriously violent electrical storm with lots of wind. They somehow lucked out though. The weather was very much nicer for them at the game. Aunt Lauren called yesterday. I made sure I practiced those Beatle songs on my guitar yesterday. Oddly, they seem to be much easier for me to play lately than they ever were in my younger days. Aunt Lauren called yesterday. She & my mother always keep in touch. Lately I've been listening to some of my old vinyl records. Last night I listened to a couple of old late 1980's albums by Fleetwood Mac & the B52's