NATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

Today I was forced through an unusually long dragged out Carmelite meeting. A new woman, Elena, showed up. Yvonne & Judy were both there for their annual visit & it lingered until around 12:45. The average meeting lasts until only around 11:00 but we were forced to take care of a lot of extra things. My father & Uncle Frankie went to their generally weekly football game last night. They left at around 5:00. For once it didn't get rained out. Today we must wish a very happy birthday to Terri, cousin Mike's wife, over in New Jersey. It's also National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Shiver me timbers & blow me down, don'cha know? It's even the Feast of San Gennaro too. My relatives are all excited about the onslaught of new young'uns over the course of the coming year.

BIG CARMELITE MEETING TOMORROW

I still haven't gotten a haircut. It's getting a little out of control but I can handle it so far. In keeping with all the significant famous deaths this year, Mary Travers of Peter, Paul & Mary died. Henry Gibson, the poet laureate of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh_In" also died. I remember them both from when I was a kid. Peter, Paul & Mary spent a lot of time on public TV in recent decades. Today's my first Friday since I turned fifty. I should dance very carefully from now on. Once at O.L.P.H. Msgr. Hamilton wanted someone to do something. He deliberately went out of his way to pick me because he wanted to get someone under fifty. Now I don't have that distinction anymore. Tomorrow I have to go to the Carmelite meeting at the Little Flower Manor on Mead St. in Wilkes_Barre. It's at 9:00 a.m. every third Saturday of the month. I just heard from one of our regulars here that tomorrow will be the New Year for the Jews. For the rest of us, it will be the Feast of San Gennaro as well as National Talk Like a Pirate Day. The weather yesterday was mostly very nice & it's really nice today too.

SECOND HALF OF THE CENTURY BEGINS

My big birthday went quite well yesterday. My parents, Aunt Lauren & Uncle Frankie were all there. We ate quite a nice meal with dessert & coffee. I got cards. Besides the candy that Vinnie sent in the morning, Mary Anne & family sent me a nice plant. Mary Anne, Fran, Rose & Michael all called. Larry & Rose got the idea that my birthday was Tuesday. They originally tried to call me then but couldn't get through. He was at work last night so only she called. Today we have to wish a rousing happy birthday to my old pal Miz Kitti. She's exactly a year & a day younger than I. We worked together, for many years, at Citicorp Retail Services in Melville. Starting late yesterday it rained very violently. The weather was miserable until early this morning. It seems to be getting a bit nicer now though. The second half of my century appears to have gotten off to quite a droll start so far.

THE BIG DAY ARRIVES!!

Technically it's still summer but it often feels like autumn, especially this morning. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. One of the topics of conversation was about how New Yorkers have to pay so much more for driver's licenses than we do. Ha!Ha! Tonight's meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel, in Pittston, is cancelled because Lynn's not available. The Hoyt Library opened for business as of Monday so it shouldn't be so crowded around here anymore. Today's the day I turn fifty. Now I get to see what it's like to be one of those people I'd always gawked at as a kid. Everybody's been rubbing it in. This morning I got a bunch of really nice candies in the mail from my cousin Vinnie in North Carolina. Maybe we shall be going to N.Y. to see Mary Anne & family over the weekend but I'm not positive. I still haven't gotten my much needed haircut.

THREE PREGNANCIES

The weather's been awfully nice lately but autumn still encroaches upon us. That's a combination of good news & bad for me. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. Unfortunately the phone rang off the hook all yesterday & last night. Aunt Lauren & Mary Anne, among others, both called. Tomorrow will be my fiftieth birthday. So far I still don't feel anywhere near that old. It's such an ominously large number. I really don't have any plans for the big day. Besides me & KrissyKrissyKrissy, birthday kudos this month for kin also go out to: Tyler, Shannon, George III, my father, Eddie & Jessica. Today's the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the patronal feast day of my parish. Shannon's also pregnant, making three new babies. She's the Ronald's daughter in law. I suppose I shall have to get a haircut eventually. I watched that show about Shakespeare on EWTN yesterday. Joseph Pearce is the host.

TWO PREGNANCIES

The weather was extremely bad this weekend. Saturday was rainy & dreary all day. Yesterday I lectored at 10:30 Mass. It was the first weekend of the new schedule at O.L. Sorrows. Fr. Marchetti is back from his vacation. So is our librarian. Last night was our first meeting of the new year for the Holy Name Society. There was a lot of the usual arguing that goes into meetings like that. Fr. Marchetti showed up. Among other things they decided that this year's spaghetti dinner will be around the beginning of November. At the end we ate steak & cheese sandwiches. I also ate one pepper too many. I ate a dark green pepper that turned out to be extremely seriously hot. It took me quite a while to get rid of the hot kick it left in my mouth. I also drank a beer. This weekend, on "Entertainment Tonight" Mary Hart entertained Beatles Paul & Ringo as well as John Lennon's & George Harrison's widows. Everyone is talking about the Fab Four again because of all their new activity. My cousin Elaine recently sent out a very nice e mail. Her daughter Stacy & her daughter_in_law Wendy are both pregnant.

SAD ANNIVERSARY

Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday. He & my father are supposed to go to a game tonight but it will be cancelled if it rains. My car needed anti_freeze today. That was lots of fun in the rain. I got a card yesterday from Grace, Daren's mother. Sunday was the fourth anniversary of Daren's death & everyone misses her. It was the first card I got this year for my birthday. I recently started re_reading "The Way Of Perfection" by St. Teresa of Avila & "The Living Flame Of Love" by St. John of the Cross. Today is a very sad anniversary. On this day Moslem terrorists, entirely unprovoked, attacked the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, & flight 93, murdering almost 3,000 people. I lived in Lindenhurst back in those days. It affected many people I knew. Mike, from my class in high school, just joined my Facebook friends list. He's interested in all sorts of artsy_fartsy intellectual stuff. Conveniently, so am I. We appear to have a lot of disagreements though, about many things. On this day in 1971 I moved from Jackson Heights to Lindenhurst. It turned out to be quite a significant jolt for me.

VERY SICK

Today we say happy birthday to KrissyKrissyKrissy. Unfortunately I've just found out that Robin, in Chicago, has just lost her job. Yesterday I played my guitar for quite a while again. Last night Skylab flew through the sky around here at around 8:10. My father & I made sure we hung around outside & watched the two vehicles going through the air. They were just two little bright white things. It was nothing spectacular. The night was entirely too cold for me. The weather's been very cool so far today too. All day yesterday I felt weak & ill. Last night I couldn't sleep & got a very bad headache all night. It lasted until early this morning & I still don't feel all that well. It was like a mini_me version of the flu. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday.

09_09_09

Nothing much has happened lately. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. Having recently read Chekhov's "Ivanov" I also finished his "The Seagull" yesterday. I practiced my guitar a lot too. That's been getting more & more interesting for me lately. Scales & arpeggios keep me occupied & confused quite a lot of the time. Fr. Marchetti & the librarian are both on vacation this week. Things are a little different without either of them around. Circumstances always change fairly drastically whenever a significant character isn't available. I ate a Whopper from Burger King yesterday. I'm not such a fan of those kinds of places but sometimes I have something from there. KrissyKrissyKrissy's birthday is tomorrow. Today is O9_09_09. It's the day when the Beatles' record company will be releasing a new game based on their music & re_mastered CD's of their albums. It's been advertised all over the place lately.

BIG LABOR DAY WEEKEND

My fiftieth birthday now encroaches upon us, getting closer with each day. It's now exactly eight days away. I'm still practicing with my Beatle book & guitar magazine. Scales & arpeggios are as interesting as they are annoying. I didn't get any headaches this year. I've been through some pretty painful Labor Days though. There have been some when I've gotten bad migraines. My parents wanted to go to the annual Triduum at the Oblates' Seminary but they didn't make it. I went on Sunday & yesterday. They didn't have a bishop this year. Father Leo McKernan was their visiting priest. Brother Patrick officially became a postulant yesterday. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday with his usual chocolate candy. He was ill for a while but seems to be doing well since then. Fran came in for a day. I should most probably get a haircut very soon. I just noticed, on my calendar, that my last one was during the first week of June. Because of Obama's health care reforms there was a big broadcast of LBJ's telephone conversations, forty five years ago this month, with Al Gore Sr. among others about health care & the 1964 election. It was interesting but it was also quite annoying because it took so long.