LIGALY "Out Idol" and a rugby weekend

Friday night, we volunteered as judges for LIGALY's annual "Out Idol" competition. We've done this in years past, but they changed the format a bit this year. They broke the group of contestants into two for the first round, so we only had to endure judge four of them, with four more going next week. In the past, we would have had all eight perform in a single first round evening. Apparently, some complained that this took too long.

Of the four performing for us, two were quite good and two... well, let's just say they're not destined to make their fortunes singing.

Making the evening (and weekend) even more fun, Jeff was out for a visit. He's always fun to have around, and he went with us to Idol.

Then, on Saturday, Marc and Jeff went off to do some errands, while I headed for a rugby pitch in the northern part of the Bronx. Believe it or not, it was a lovely setting. It's not what I think of when I think "the Bronx," but I tend to think of the parts around the Cross-Bronx Expressway, and this is a far different place.

The pitch (that's rugby language for "field") :) was in Van Cortland Park, named for Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native-born mayor of New York, and home of the oldest building in the Bronx, the Van Cortland Mansion, seen below.


Van Cortland Mansion

There are modern buildings nearby...



I liked the statue of the tortoise and hare that you can see near the bottom of that photo. Here's a closeup...



The park had acres of fields, and they were being used for all sorts of games: softball, rugby, cricket (yes, they were playing cricket there!) and others. The trees lining the fields look like they have been there for ages, especially the ones on the rocky hills. It can't be easy to grow there!


Big trees in the background

I noticed that one of the rock outcroppings was being used recreationally...



Of course, any rugby match will bring nice things to look at...



But I think we'll save the rugby photos for another day!

A staple remover and a walk down the block

Dodger had his staples removed (from surgery #2) today. The orthopedic surgeon said his patella is now nice and stable, and he thinks Dodger is walking very well, considering the length of time since the surgery.

He said we now can walk Dodger down one block, and then we can work up from there. So when we got home, I took him out of the car and took him for a walk. Just to the end of the block and back, but he was wagging furiously the whole way and sniffing trees, lampposts and the like all the way there and back.

Some of our neighbors were out, and it reminded me of the old days when neighbors would stop and chat with each other. Very nice.

However, tonight, Dodger and Mandy suffered traumatic experiences. Yes, that one thing worse than knee surgery: a bath! Actually, a shower, but the distinction is lost on them. Bernice would have gone in for one, too, but I ran out of dog shampoo. Honestly, that's fine with me. Dodger and Mandy needed it the worst. Besides, I'm exhausted, and washing two of them is plenty of work!

Anyhow, it was a good day. Our boy is really on the road to recovery now!

That's celebrating?

This baffles me. To celebrate the Montreal Canadiens' win last night, some of the team's fans rioted, including attacking the police, burning patrol cars and vandalizing local businesses.


One of the several police cruisers that was burned

What kind of people think that a riot is a good way to celebrate? I'll never understand this. Apparently, this isn't new there. According to the article, "A similar riot after a Stanley Cup victory in 1993 caused major damage." This type of post-win mayhem has happened in other places, and I'm always mystified. I just can't relate to violence as a way to celebrate. What's wrong with people?

Weekend festivities

We did the uncle thing yesterday. Our nephews, Owen and Quinn, had their annual joint birthday party. Their birthdays are in March and May, so their parents rent a place in April and have one big party.

Since they're 3 and (almost) 5 years old, the venues for these events tend not to be the kind of places adults particularly enjoy. Yesterday, it was a "kids' gym," full of tumbling equipment, things to throw, etc.

The kids had fun, we helped spoil them and it was mercifully short. There were people there to coordinate the activities; among them was a young man who I enjoyed watching as he helped my nephews and the other kids. Of course, I enjoyed watching him because he was so good with kids. Yeah, that's why. ;)


See how helpful he is? Mmmm. Yeah, beautifully helpful.
:)


Continuing to be deliciously helpful!

(I'm not going to put a face shot. I have some discretion!) :)

And now some photos of the honorees...





And their sister...


How about that for a look?

That's about it for this weekend. Nothing too exciting, but it was pretty relaxing.

If you want to read about (and see photos of) some of the hard work Marc has been doing in the yard, wander over to his blog. He did two posts this weekend, including lots of lovely photos.

Across the Universe

Normally, I don't care for covers of songs I like. One group whose songs are very special to me is The Beatles. I could go on for quite some time about The Beatles, a group that was like no other. Efforts to cover Beatles songs usually result in debacles like the one I witnessed a few weeks ago on American Idol. (And why do we watch that show, anyhow? Is it the "car wreck" theory? But I digress...)

Tonight, we watched the movie Across the Universe. It's a musical built around songs of The Beatles, and it was wonderful! We both loved it. New arrangements and new voices were brought to terrific old songs, and I loved the whole thing. I have to admit to being a bit skeptical before the movie started, but I was won over quickly.

It's a wonderful movie. I highly recommend it!

A really neat gift

I just got a great birthday gift (my birthday was several days ago, but it took some time to actually get this into my hands). I got one of these:


A Philips digital photo frame

Byrne and Marc both contributed to it, and it just arrived today. I loaded a bunch of photos into it, and I will take it to work tomorrow, so I can enjoy looking at it any time things are stressful or I just need a break from work. Most of the photos are from our trips, and I love reliving those moments.

Thank you, Byrne and Bokey! It's a great gift!

Lunch in the park

I walk by the pond,
sunlight dancing on the rippling water,
ducks quacking as they fly overhead.
A Red-winged Blackbird sits,
clinging to a single blade of tall grass,
the reeds swaying in a gentle breeze,
ten feet of amber tranquility,
as fresh water flows over rocks from a source unseen.

Please, sir, may we have some more?

With apologies to Charles Dickens, the title of this post is the approach that nearly every charity to which I give seems to approach me (and, presumably, every other donor) these days. I send them some money, and they then inundate me with thank you letters that always end with a plea for more. They have all the subtlety of a junkie begging on the street.

Can they not even muster the restraint to wait a bit? Can't they truly be thankful for the donation and not spend a chunk of it on another solicitation days after I send them money?

I give more money to charity now than I ever have in the past. With each little increase in my wages, I edge up the total I give (since I decided to try to stick to giving 10% of my gross earnings to good causes), but I give to a smaller group of charities. The list still includes several causes, not just a few, but I have been cutting off the ones to which I give relatively small amounts ($50 or less), because they throw so much of it away on begging for more.

Does this approach work on anyone? I have to think most people are turned off by this ingratitude. I understand that donations are their life blood, but I would give more to a charity that said, "We're only going to ask twice a year, but please remember us whenever you can." In fact, one of our favorite charities, LIGALY (and the Long Island GLBT Services Network) rarely asks for money. They just notify us of events and invite us to attend. They have the class to know that we will be as generous as we can.

Why can't more organizations take that approach?

More surgery and an angry boy

Dodger is not happy. Yesterday, I took him back to the surgeon for a follow-up visit. Last week, the surgeon told Marc (who took Dodger in for that follow-up) that the patella (kneecap) seemed a little loose. The surgeon said that, while it wasn't a huge deal, it would be best to tighten it up.

So he said to come back in a week, so he could check again. When I took Dodger in yesterday, the surgeon said it still seemed a little loose. The surgery to correct it would be minor, compared to the surgery of a few weeks ago. "Just a couple of stitches, one on either side of the knee." (BTW, it's technically not called a "knee" in a dog. It's the "stifle joint." I have no idea why, but it may have something to do with Archie Bunker.)

So Dodger was checked in yesterday morning and was ready to go home last night. No overnight stay. That seemed good. What didn't occur to me is that we didn't get to see him right after the last surgery, since he was in the hospital for two days afterward, getting morphine, inpatient care and physical therapy. He also came home with a narcotic patch on him to keep the pain down. So Dodger immediately post-surgery was a new experience.

Last night, he just had a big bandage on his leg. No pain patch, and he was in a really foul mood. I guess I can't blame him, and I can't help but think that he was angry at both of us for taking him back to that place where they hurt him again. Remember, he had a very hard early life; he knows the world can be harsh and cruel. Perhaps I'm over-thinking it, but still...

Today, Marc checked on him at lunchtime and found that he was very uncomfortable. By the time I got home this evening, he seemed a bit better, but he's still hurting.

I hope this does it. I hope we're now on the road to recovery, because we can't stand seeing him hurting. For now, he's back to hopping around on three legs (and he was finally starting to use the fourth again!), but he should be doing better soon!

A nice weekend

Yesterday, we hosted a party. About 15 people from my office came over, and Marc stuffed them with food and drinks, as well as a fabulous dessert. It was a lot of fun.

Today, we had a relatively quiet day, and then a law student I know came over so I could help him prepare for a mock trial he's doing. (I also cooked shrimp scampi for all of us, so he got dinner, too.) His being stunningly cute doesn't hurt at all! ;) What I really liked is that my other half being a guy doesn't bother him in the slightest.

In fact, as he left, he said he should have us over. Okay, he said he was going to get his mom to cook for us. Well, he's only 20-something and still lives in his mom's house, but he assured us she'd love to have us over. Anyhow, the point is that he has no problem inviting a gay couple over for dinner. Things like that give me hope for the future.

Some photos

I will warn you at the outset that this post will include a few Dodger post-surgery photos. Nothing too gruesome, but don't scroll down if you are squeamish about photos of incisions (in this case, closed with surgical staples).

We'll get to that. First, a couple of photos of the utensils my Mom used to use for serving salads. Marc got them out recently, and I decided to polish them up. My Mom didn't usually use silver for regular meals (the sterling was for special occasions), but these particular ones were an exception--they were used at our regular family dinners. So here they are, all polished up...





Now, more evidence that Mandy has the best take on life. Here's Mandy in one of her happiest moments...


Imagine if your happiness were so easily attained!

Okay, now for some post-surgical Dodger photos. You may recall my mentioning that he had a lot of his fur shaved off for the surgery, going far beyond the site where they were operating. Have a look...




You can see how thrilled he was with having his photo taken after arriving home.


The red bandage is covering a narcotic patch that was controlling his pain.

And here's the leg that got worked on...





He's still hopping around, but I think he's slowly making progress. So here's a shot from a happier moment (about a week after the surgery, on a day when Marc was baking a cake, so everyone was happily focused on the kitchen)...


Still not thrilled with being photographed, but seeming more comfy.


Another of our kids who wasn't in the mood for a photograph


Mandy tries to mooch a piece of cake

And, last but not least, here's a shot of the cake as Marc's making it...



For more on creation of the cake, check Marc's blog later tonight.

Stop the seal hunt!

Go here to help stop the Canadian seal hunt.

Every year, thousands of seals are brutally killed (the total allowed this year is 275,000!!!). Information from the Humane Society:

The 2007 Canadian seal hunt left more than 215,378 seals dead --
almost all of them were babies as young as 12 days . . . Seal hunting is an off-season activity for Canada's east coast commercial fishermen. They earn a small fraction of their incomes from selling seal skins to the fur industry: only a reported $17.5 million (Canadian) annually, compared to the nearly $3 billion taken in by the Canadian fishing industry from seafood exports to the United States. The connection between the commercial fishing industry and the seal hunt gives consumers all over the world the power to end the cruel slaughter of seals. (The link at the start of this post will let you take action.)

As this article explains, "Hunters will be required to sever the arteries under a seal's flippers." This is supposed to be a more humane approach to make sure the seals are dead before they skin them, because the hunters didn't bother with that in the past. They skinned many alive!

So the humane approach is going to be to club these defenseless animals and then cut them open to let them bleed out? How humane!

"Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly to the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil, earning about $78 for each seal."

Pelts? So this is still killing for fashion. And oil from blubber? How is any of this defensible?

How long will it take until this savagery stops?

Hooray for an itchy ear!

After I got home this evening, I was hanging out with Mr. Dodger. He had his cone off, so he could groom a bit and be more comfy. He only enjoys that luxury when we can watch him, so he doesn't mess with his leg.

As he was standing, watching me go through today's mail, his right ear apparently started to bother him. So he slowly brought his back leg up and gently scratched at his ear. It lacked the usual vigor he would bring to such an effort, but he got the leg up/forward like he hasn't since the surgery. It was a wonderful sight!

He's still not walking on it, but I think he's making progress!

D.B. Cooper

My interest in the D.B. Cooper hijacking goes back at least as far as the In Search Of episode on the subject. (I loved that series. It was hosted by Leonard Nimoy and addressed important issues like this, Bigfoot, Ball Lightning and other terribly vital matters.)

Most "experts" believed that the hijacker died in his attempt to parachute (with a $200,000 ransom) to freedom in the Pacific Northwest. That was the commonly accepted theory. Some of the bills had even been found.

Now comes this. Have they found his parachute buried in a field? If it turns out to be the real thing, then it looks like he probably did survive. And it that's the case, it's been one of the more amazing heists and getaways ever.

Even if it doesn't turn out to be his, it still takes me back. It really is an amazing story.

If you're interested in reading an article from the original coverage, I converted a two-page article into JPG files and put them on smugmug, so you can read them. Page one is here and page two is here.

He's home

Dodger got home this afternoon. I shot a video of our picking him up, but my computer refuses to recognize the camera when I plug it in, so I have no way of getting the video off of there. Actually, it probably is the camera's problem (it's a digital video camera, but it's several years old). It wasn't going to win an Oscar anyhow, so I won't worry too much about it.

Anyhow, Dodger is a hurting puppy. He has a pain patch that stays on for a couple of days (strong enough that we have to wear gloves when the time comes to take it off, so it doesn't knock us on our asses). He also has pain pills and antibiotic capsules to take.

He needs to take it easy for several weeks. When he goes out, even though he will be in the yard, he has to stay on a leash, so he doesn't exert himself (in case he should see a squirrel or cat or some other thing that needs chasing). When we got home, the first thing I did was take him for "a walk" in the back yard.

He has a cone to wear, so he doesn't mess with the big suture line on his back right leg... or the patch on his back left or the IV site on his front left.

On top of all that, the poor boy is missing a lot of his fur! They shaved the whole area around his back right leg. He looks like he is indulging in some new punk doggie hairstyle. To call him displeased would be a great understatement, but it really is for the best. I don't know if he'll ever really understand how any of this is helping him. He'll just know that his pain is going away at some point, and he'll be happy for that. Why his leg works again probably won't occur to him.

One other thing we'll need to do is carry him up the stairs. No stair climbing for him for the foreseeable future. Plus, we'll probably let him stay in the bedroom all day. If he spends his days with Mandy (his usual routine), they might wrestle around, and he could get hurt.

So that's the update. The main thing is that Dodger is home and recovering. It will take time, but I'm very happy to have our boy back with us.

Not that I'm much of a fan of the Pope, but this...

Why is someone who is supposed to represent Christ doing something that can only incite anger and hatred? Not that the Catholic Church hasn't had its moments in the past (just ask Saladin, among many, many others), but this can only be seen as a thumb in the eye of peace-loving Muslims all over the world.

Yes, anyone who wants to become a Catholic should be allowed to do so. Freedom of religion is a cornerstone of American democracy, and I think it's a valuable principle anywhere in the world. But any Catholic priest can aid someone who wants to become a Catholic.

For the Pope to personally baptize a (now former) Muslim journalist who has referred to Islam as "an ideology which legitimizes lies and dissimulation, violent death, which induces both murder and suicide, and blind submission to tyranny" and Catholicism as "the authentic religion of Truth, Life and Liberty" is to add to the world's problems.

Magdi Allam, the man the pope baptized, has shown open disrespect for all religions other than Catholicism, especially Islam, and the Pope has now tacitly endorsed his views in as public a fashion as possible. What a sad event on a day so holy to Catholics.

Magdi Allam, no doubt, has said less provocative things of which I'm unaware, but perception becomes reality. The world knows him for his more outrageous statements. The Pope, by his actions, has endorsed those statements. That's a shame.

A quotation for a friend

A friend of ours from another country recently told me of his concerns with my country. Overall, I still think the United States has done far more good in this world than bad (in fact, I think the world would be far worse off if not for this country), despite the recent efforts of people like George W. Bush. With that said, we do have some issues. So when I found this line, I thought of our friend...

"We Americans live in a nation where the medical-care system is second to none in the world, unless you count maybe 25 or 30 little scuzzball countries like Scotland that we could vaporize in seconds if we felt like it." -Dave Barry

*snicker*

Certifiable? Moi?

This morning, we made breakfast together. I made the eggs, and Marc made the toast and the coffee.

Marc told me how he wanted his eggs, and, for his part, I said, "I'd like some butter with a little toast under it."

Is that so unreasonable? :)

Okay, so he was laughing as he said it, but my honey said, "TTB, you're certifiable."

At least he was laughing!

The surgery is complete

Dodger is in recovery. The surgeon said the ACL was completely torn, as we thought, and he also had a bit of damage to his meniscus. My pup had the knee of an old football player, apparently.

It has been a very hard day. Harder for Dodgie than us, I suppose, but it still was tough. When he has had to stay somewhere in the past, like a kennel or the vet's for some tests, he went along with the kennel/vet people very willingly. Always cooperative, he would make this easy.

Today, as we left him there, he turned to me and aimed his eyes pleadingly at mine. It broke my heart to have to leave him there, but he needed this surgery.

So now he recovers. He will be there until Sunday. During that time, he will get various medications and will have three one-hour physical therapy sessions. After all of that, I'm sure he'll be a tired pup when he gets home Sunday.

I'm glad his surgery went well, and I hope his recovery (which will take several weeks) is an easy one. He's a wonderful boy, and we love him.

The true enemy of this nation

Yes, the terrorists are a real threat. No question. So are criminals on our streets.

But if you really want to be scared, if you want to see a real threat to America, watch the movie Jesus Camp.

Religious radicals create suicide bombers, but religious radicals also create people who are trying to pervert the American way of life.

The Muslim radicals are a threat, but they're nothing compared to the Christian radicals who twist everything to their desires. They talk of the Founding Fathers, but they distort everything the Founding Fathers stood for. They talk of this country as a "Christian nation," when it is a nation founded for all people, of any religion or no religion at all.

This is a truly frightening movie, and you should watch it if you're at all complacent about the future of America and the importance of voting. Our very way of life is at stake.

Wounded knee

One of our pups needs surgery. Actually, that has happened before but never anything this complex.

Dodger has a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Basically, part of his right knee has to be rebuilt. Don't even ask what it will cost. We've spent less on some excellent vacations.

But this is more important than any vacation or any material possession. This is a member of the family, and we love him.

So what led to this? We think the original injury occurred months ago while he was playing with Mandy. He limped back then for a while. We took him to the vet, but surgery didn't seem vital then. Instead, he took anti-inflammatory medication and seemed to be doing better. In fact, he seemed to be doing quite well recently.

Then, a few days ago, he was heading up the stairs when he gave a cry and stopped suddenly. Since then, he has been walking on three paws. He uses both front paws and hops on his back left paw.

So Marc and Dodger went for a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon today. It appears that the existing injury was a partial tear of the ligament, and it seems that it has now torn completely. Things that should be fixed in place in his knee are moving around very freely (and painfully).

So our Dodgie is going for surgery on Friday. He goes in Friday morning to have surgery, and he will be in the hospital for two days, during which he will have various meds and three rounds of physical therapy. Then we have to take him for walks and do various other things to help his leg heal. I understand that healing can take three months. It must be quite traumatic, since, in my experience, dogs usually heal a lot faster than humans. (I remember that Mandy's spaying--basically, abdominal surgery--slowed her down for about a day. Think of how long something like that would slow down one of us.)

We love Dodger, and I hope you'll all keep him in your thoughts and prayers. To some, he may just be a dog. To us, he's a loving family member with as good a heart as can be and a love and commitment for us that is beyond compare.

I would have seen the movie anyhow

I'm not a hard-core Trekkie. I'm not the type who watches for Trek conventions coming to town. Still, I like Star Trek, and I look forward to new movies coming out. So I already planned to go see new movie, due out next year.

Today, I was watching an episode of CSI:Miami when I noticed a hot young actor and went online to find out his name.


Screenshot from the CSI episode

Looking up the episode, I found that the actor's name is Chris Pine. So then I was wondering if he's the son of Robert Pine (Sgt. Getraer on CHiPs). He is. After that, I noticed that he is going to be the young Captain Kirk in the upcoming Star Trek movie. Well, that does it. I'm going!


Look at those eyes! He'll make a yummy Starfleet officer!

A good day

This morning, we picked up my Bokey's new car. Go on over to his blog for a look at his new wheels. The car is fabulous, and he sure deserves it!

This afternoon, we went to my niece Lauren's Christening. She's cute as can be and happy as a clam, and it was a nice family gathering.

All in all, it was a good day.

--------------------

Update: Since Marc decided to use just one of the photos I took of him and his new car, I might as well post a couple of the ones he didn't use here:


The new S80 joining mine in our driveway


Marc next to his new car

A photo of Marc where you can see the whole car is over at his blog. Enjoy the car, honey! You deserve it!

I guess the foot's on the other hand now, isn't it, Kramer?

For years, I have told associates that they shouldn't take legal cases personally. In particular, when a decision was made to settle a lawsuit over "but we didn't do anything wrong" protests, I'd explain the costs of litigation, etc.

So late this afternoon, I heard from a colleague at my old place that they were paying to settle a case I was involved in. They never even asked for a deposition from me. Instead, they folded and handed over some cash. The hospital's lawyers didn't have the balls to call me about the settlement, because they didn't want to hear my opinion.

When they first told me the asshole in question had the nerve to sue, I gave them my opinion, one lawyer to another. I told them if I still were in my role there, he would get a penny over my dead body.

Let me tell you the background. A couple of years ago, some union reps came to my office to "ask a favor." Someone we had fired the year before for being late and ditching work on more occasions than we could count later told the union that he had a problem with the bottle. So they were asking if I could give him another chance.

I am a big believer in second chances. It's hard for someone to kick a problem like that, so I said yes. There were two conditions: he had to stay on probation longer than usual (we settled on 9 months as a reasonable period), so we could make sure he didn't go back to his old ways, and he had to work with Employee Health so they could monitor his compliance with his program.

The people who did our hiring (in our uptown offices) screwed up. They had instructions from me (and I am so glad I put it in writing) not to rehire him until he had signed off on those conditions. Instead, they put him back to work. I told him he still had to agree to the conditions (which, by the way, are standard for anyone in such a situation), and the union had the complete fucking lack of integrity to defend him and say he shouldn't have to agree. They claimed he was clean, but the key part they didn't like was Employee Health being able to check with his program that he was sticking with it. Gee, seems like something doesn't make sense, or is it just me?

In the end, after I entertained way too much bullshit from this guy and the people who asked me for a favor, because I had absolutely no obligation to do a fucking thing for this guy, I was forced to utter the following: "You have no choice. You got a second chance on the condition that we can take steps to make sure you're fit for duty and no risk to the patients. Either sign the documents or you're going to be fired." He agreed to sign the one extending his probation but not the one that would let us confirm he was staying clean. So I fired him.

He then filed a complaint, saying he was discriminated against because of his disability (being an alcoholic). Now, if I were inclined to discriminate against alcoholics, HE NEVER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN REHIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE!

The icing on the cake? A few weeks ago, this same guy was in the news. He drove drunk and smacked into 15 parked cars. When the cops arrested him, he also had marijuana in his possession. I made sure the hospital's counsel was aware of this, so they realized the kind of guy they were dealing with.

If they didn't have the strength to tell this guy and his lawyer to go fuck themselves, then they should have farmed the case out. I was a trial lawyer. There are some cases you don't settle on principle. This was one of them! Yes, I know. I started out saying it's a business decision, and I should take it as calmly as some folks I've explained that to (and my thanks to the writers of Airplane for the title of this post). Even so, I never would have settled this case. I would have taken it to trial. I take some comfort in the fact that this money and quite a bit more will be needed to pay for the damage he did while driving drunk (plus, he'll probably go to prison), but this is just wrong.

Apparently, "steamroller" was the adjective. Who knew?

When New York Governor Eliot Spitzer took office and quickly declared that he was a "fucking steamroller," we all took that as a political statement. Little did we know it actually was a sexual brag! (Does that mean he's so vigorous that he leaves his partners flattened? Okay, that's a mental picture I didn't need. Never mind!)

Well, nice implosion, Eliot. I'd feel sorry for you, but you took our enthusiastic votes and made us feel bad with your rapid descent into a level of behavior that made Rudy Giuliani look like Mahatma Gandhi. Funny how the world works sometimes.

One truly sad note: this was a governor who was fully in support of gay marriage. Perhaps his successor (presumably Lt. Governor David Paterson--who must be trying not to seem too gleeful), if Spitzer resigns, will still push for gay marriage. We shall see.

As seen in The New York Times

Wow, I'm famous! Published in The New York Times!

Okay, not quite.

I recently noticed that, among the meager number of hits on my blog, a handful had found their way over from the website of The New York Times.

Huh? What was that about?

So I took a look. It seems they came from here. You'll notice that the headline for this page matches the 7th link in the list. Yes, that's my little blog there.

I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still, it's neat to find that Mr. LaForge apparently was amused by my little observation.

Hmmm, think he might be cute and on our team? :) Oh yeah, I have a partner already. Forgot for a second! (Just kidding, hon!)

It sounded like... ?

As you may have heard, there was a small explosion early this morning in Times Square. Yes, a bomb went off.

While some witnesses, including one in the article I linked to above, said it sounded like a bomb, there were many others on TV today who had a variety of descriptions for the sound. I'll spare you the descriptions, but all of those interviewed this morning had interesting ways of describing it. It got to the point of my talking back to the TV, saying things like, "oh, come on!!!"

A tornado hits a house, and the survivors say, "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

A car crashes into a truck, and... "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

A big tree falls over in heavy winds, and... "it sounded like a bomb going off!"

An actual bomb goes off, and what's the one thing I didn't hear this morning? Of course... that it sounded like a bomb going off. :)

Come on, people. Am I really asking that much?

Sunlight is nice

Not to be confused with Moonlight Feels Right.

As I left work this evening, a little before 6pm, I enjoyed the remaining light in the sky. Spring is near, the days have been growing longer since the winter solstice, and I am a happy man!

With the earlier start of Daylight Saving Time this year, we need only wait until this Sunday for sunsets that suddenly are a full hour later. That's a very good thing in my book!

Another fun weekend with friends

Friday night after work, I picked up Jeff at the train station. He helped us spruce up the house a bit and assisted Marc in some important liquor consumption. (Those boys do know how to mix some fine drinks, and a visit from Jeff is enough of a reason to make a couple.)

On Saturday, we were joined by Patrick and, a couple of hours later, by David and Robert. Before they arrived, I had a fire going in the fireplace. I also had purchased 3.565 pounds (hey, that's what the scale said! *g*) of salmon. That evening, as everyone enjoyed drinks, I prepared the salmon while Marc prepared a fabulous dijon cream sauce to go over it. He also prepared a terrific green bean dish (I'm not a big fan of green beans, but these were terrific), garlic bread and a homemade cheesecake for dessert. He made the cheesecake without sugar, so I could stick to my low-carb diet, and, at least to me, it tasted like a wonderful sugar-laden cheesecake. Isn't he a good boy?

We had a great time with everyone, and the evening flew by. Around 11pm, David and Robert went home. Then we watched MadTV. After that, Jeff and Patrick headed to their rooms. Yes, Cooper, he was in his own room! We didn't drug him and drag him into ours! ;)

This morning, Marc made a quiche for Jeff, Patrick and himself, and he made a crustless quiche for me. Then we went to Robert Moses State Park on the western end of Fire Island. It was chilly today, but I thought it would be nice to go for a drive in the sun and a stroll on the boardwalk. It turned out to be too cold and windy to really enjoy it, but I'm still glad we went.

After that, we came back to the house for a little more quality time with the pups before taking the boys to the train.

Here are some photos from the weekend:


Mandy decided that Patrick looked lonely in the chair


When Robert was leaving, Mandy had to give him an appropriate goodbye


The boys enjoy quiche this morning


Mandy is very subtle. Also, note Dodger sneaking in from below!


Some of the native wildlife at the park paid us a visit


Aren't they pretty?


The four of us on the boardwalk. The ocean was pretty, of course, but it was so cold out!


A shot of the park from a prior visit, with the Fire Island lighthouse visible. Even though I didn't shoot this today, it gives you a better view of where we went.

All in all, an excellent weekend with wonderful people!

A pet peeve

I like books. I like bookstores. I like the nice, new books I find in bookstores.

Not too long ago, I was in a bookstore looking for a particular book. There was only one copy left... and some putz had broken the spine of the book!

I know that people will thumb through books sometimes, but if you open it enough to crack the spine of the book, you should buy it. If that equation doesn't work, go to the library!

For anyone looking for a new copy of a book, the book should be pristine. Cracks running down the spine just don't cut it. How about the old "if you break it, you buy it" rule? Shouldn't that apply?

Since he won't post it

I took a picture of Patrick playing with Mandy last week. To be clear, not Patrick or Patrick. Rather, Patrick.

Patrick doesn't want to post the photo of his handsome self, but he said I could feel free to do so. So I shall...



He's a handsome man! Another one who wasn't around when I was single! :)

One other thing

Patrick brought flowers when he came to visit us last Monday. We didn't expect it--and he didn't have to bring a thing--but it was a sweet gesture from a sweet man. While they still look nice, I want to share them with you...



Thanks again, Patrick, for the flowers and, more importantly, the wonderful visit!

This and that

A brief note on politics: by the time November comes, I will be so nauseated by the candidates that I will wind up voting for the lesser of the evils. I remember a time, years ago, when I found such things interesting and exciting. Now, seeing the self-serving hypocrisy of most of the players with greater clarity (and/or greater cynicism) than I possessed in my youth, I find the prospect of happily and wholeheartedly supporting a candidate on the national stage an exceedingly unlikely one. No doubt, I'll hold my nose and pull the lever for the person least likely to trample our rights (read: the Democratic candidate), but I won't bring the same enthusiasm to the process that I once did.

On a happier note, one of our stops today was the mall. I continue to be amazed at what type of man may be called "dad" these days. None of the dads looked like that when I was a kid! Nowadays, it's like a DILF smörgasbord. Not that I'm complaining!

By the way, you may recall from my last post that I mentioned our having a lovely time when Patrick visited us. I kept the description brief, but I hope that didn't make the event seem anything less than wonderful, because it really was wonderful spending time with him. With that said, he has put me to shame with the recounting he posted. Feel free to wander over for a look, complete with a spooky picture of Mandy. :) And Patrick, please come back soon! You're a wonderful guest, and I'm happy that our friendship is growing!

The weekend of three Patricks (and a Greg)

We've had a nice long weekend. From Friday night until Sunday afternoon, we were in Vermont with Patrick (a/k/a PatCH) and Greg. In this case, "we" included Bernice, Mandy and Dodger. It was our first time traveling with them. We had some difficult moments, especially on the drive up, but it went well in the end.

On Monday, we had a visit from this Patrick. It was our first time meeting him, and he's as charming, bright and entertaining as his blog and e-mails had suggested, if not more so. We had a wonderful time, and I think he had a decent time with us and the kids. I sure hope so! We can't wait to see him again!

Then we met this Patrick last night to see the new Broadway show Passing Strange. Let me take a moment to urge everyone to go see Passing Strange. I'm not much of a fan of musicals, but this one was great. It's a sort of rock musical, but I don't want you to confuse it with Rent. It's different. Someone better versed in such things could give a better explanation of its genre and strengths. I'll just say that we all were blown away. By the time we walked out of the theater after the show, my hands hurt from clapping!

Now back to the Vermont part of our weekend. Patrick was working on his portrait photography. He gave us a CD of photos he had taken, and I may share some of those eventually. In the meantime, I had photos on my camera.

Here are ones I took of Patrick and Greg...


PatCH


Greg

I took the ones of Marc and the kids. Marc took the ones of me. (And thanks to PatCH for the extra lights on Marc and me.) So here is a sampling of the ones Marc and I shot...


Dodger in a serious moment


Dodger laying a claim to the hot tub


A view from the deck


I LOVE this shot of Marc


As mentioned above, Marc took this one of me, as well as the next two




I like my smile in this, but I could live without the scarf (a prop Patrick put on me--he was shooting at the same time as Marc)


Patrick & Greg had some dog toys on hand, and Mandy fell in love with the one she's offering to Patrick in this photo


Bernice found one soft piece of furniture very suitable for her evening relaxation

So there you have it. A fun-filled long weekend and some photos, and you even got a few of me. That's unusual around here! I just hope I didn't scare anyone! :)

A couple of photos

A couple of photos from the cell phone camera...


Jeff and Marc

That first photo is from Saturday when Jeff, Marc and I went to Feinstein's at the Regency to see Betty Buckley. The performance wasn't fabulous, but the company was. That's what really matters!



The second photo? Well, Marc came to my office today with that vase of flowers. I work in an office with one other man (the VP) and about 18 women. I got the best flowers in the place! :)

In fact, the ladies were all atwitter before I ever got to see the flowers, since Marc had to walk through most of the department before he got to my office. One of my staff members hadn't met Marc before. So what did she say after he left? "Marc's cute!" Yes, he sure is. Not the first time I've heard it, but no one has to tell me that! He's also a Grade A sweetie!

Okay, now I'm off to molest the sweetie. ;) Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Where were the trucks?

We've known that snow was coming. Not a lot of snow, but it was predicted to be messy. Snow (a couple of inches), followed by mixed precipitation and then rain. I was at work until almost 7pm. The snow had started 4 or 5 hours earlier.

With such a small amount of snow, the roads should have been fine. It's too little for the plows to do much good, but sand and salt would prevent accidents and potentially save some lives.

Sadly, the roads were a mess and I only saw one truck the whole way home. Come on! How can they have dropped the ball? I used to work in government. I once oversaw all personnel for a 15,000-employee county, and I remember what we did when a storm was coming (or even might be coming). The short version: we had the plows and sanders rolling as soon as the snow started to accumulate.

This was pathetic. At least the rain that's supposed to start overnight should wash it away. Hey, it just clicked! Those idiots are planning to just let the rain wash it away. Why pay extra staff to drive trucks, if the rain is coming? Isn't that great? It's going through an ice phase now. I hope no one gets killed while these idiots save a few bucks on overtime.

I should blog about that

In my head today:

I should blog about that. That's interesting!

Maybe I should send myself a reminder e-mail.

Nah. No way I'll forget before I get a chance to sit down at the computer.

Fast-forward to this evening.

Rats. What was that? It was going to be a good post!

*sigh*

I can't tell you how often this happens. You'd think I would have learned by now.

Are you people kidding?

Berkeley to Marines: You're 'not welcome in our city'

I hate political extremists, whether it's the right-wing, hate-filled religious zealots, or the left-wing, bleeding heart morons who are the subject of the article linked above.

Oppose the war. That's fine. In fact, I think the invasion of Iraq was an unjustified, misuse of American military power.

But to say that recruiters for the U.S. Marine Corps aren't welcome in an American city is way over the line. Quoting from the article, "the Berkeley City Council approved a measure last week urging the Marine recruiters to leave their downtown office. 'If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.'"

Intruders? Are these people kidding? United States Marines are intruders in an American city? What? Do the big, bad Marines scare you? Fine. Don't have them over for afternoon tea, but these men and women risk--and sometimes give--their lives in the defense of this country. How dare some left-wing radicals do this? While they're so happily enjoying their free speech, they might take a moment to remember that brave men and women have fought and died to protect their Constitutional freedoms!

And if that's not enough to give these morons some manners, they might have stopped to think what their opposites were going to make of it. As the article mentions, this has played right into the hands of Republican Senator David "I may hire hookers and cheat on my wife, but I'm still holy enough to oppress the fags" Vitter of Louisiana. Nice. So now that fucker and a bunch of his buddies get to score points off of this. Good job, Berkeley!

Morons. Complete morons.

Can anyone be so busy...

...that they need to be on their cellphone while seated in a Men's Room stall?

I couldn't believe my ears. It was a business call. I can't help but wonder what the person on the other end of the line thought when he/she heard the multiple flushes that had to be audible from other parts of the bathroom, as well as the one from the guy on the phone, since even that didn't interrupt his conversation.

Granted, the people holding phones to their ears while driving are far more dangerous, but I think I'm more disturbed by this.

He's so smart, and he cares so much

I'm a lucky man to have a husband like mine.

Tonight, I suddenly felt a deep wave of depression hit me. I didn't know why, but I was incredibly sad and didn't want to do anything. We were going to watch a movie, but then I lost interest. I reached out my hand, and Marc held it.

Then he looked at his watch.

I said, "it's almost eight o'clock."

He said, "that's not what I was looking at."

I was puzzled. "What were you looking at?"

"The date." Looking right into my eyes, he looked sad and his eyes were full of sympathy and love.

Then it clicked. Today is February 5th. We're a few hours from February 6th.

On February 6, 2004, the greatest woman I've ever known, someone I loved, and still love, beyond measure, died. Tomorrow marks four years since I lost my Mom.

It hadn't entered my conscious thoughts even once today, but I guess it has been rattling around my brain. Once Marc pointed it out, I was able to face it. Now I feel better. The pain is out in the open, right where it should be.

Mouse memories

For what it's worth, this is my 888th post. Just thought that was worth sharing.

Marc and I spent time today going through a few of the many boxes of stuff stored in our garage. We moved into this house almost three years ago. When we did, we took some of our stuff and a lot of stuff from my Mom and grandmother (both of whom had died the year before) and put it in the garage. The stated intention was to go through all of it ASAP. Three years later, we're actually getting to some of it.

In one box was a bit of family history: the Havahart mouse trap (yes, it appears that they still make them). It was addressed to this address (the house we moved into three years ago--after doing some work on it--is the house in which I grew up). The postmark date was Valentine's Day 1978. The name on the address label had been scratched out. In its place, in what clearly is my pre-teen writing, was "Marvin Mouse."

It all started with my Mom noticing tiny pieces missing from Jet's Gaines Burgers (Jet being our dog and Gaines Burgers a plastic-wrapped, hamburger-like dog food she ate). After this happened a few times, we realized that it wasn't some kind of recurring factory defect. No, we had a little visitor who was helping himself to some food.

I'm from a family of animal lovers. Killing is a last resort. So no snap traps here, and especially no cruel glue traps! Those things are horrible torture devices.

My parents ordered a Havahart trap. As the cutely spelled name suggests, it's humane. It is, in essence, a cage with doors that shut when a food tray in the middle is disturbed. When it arrived, the trap was set in the cabinet below the kitchen sink. It was there overnight, and my Dad checked it before he left for work in the morning. Nothing was in it.

When I got up a little while later (in those days, I naturally woke up early--how things have changed!), I looked. There, trapped in the cage, was a little mouse. As you can tell from the re-addressing of the box upon its arrival, we had already named the mouse Marvin, before we ever laid eyes on him.

So then the question was what to do with Marvin. It was mid-winter, and we didn't know how he'd do if he was released somewhere outside. To get some information (there was no Internet for us to use then, kids--heck, we didn't even have cordless telephones... can you imagine?! *grin*), we called the people at the Tackapausha Preserve. They told us that Marvin either would die in the cold or find his way back into our house (or another house, where he might not fare so well). Either result wouldn't be good.

So we took an old fish tank (sans water, of course) and got a mesh top for it, so he could live in it. Then we got him an exercise wheel, a bottle and various other mouse supplies. Marvin stayed with us (much to Jet's dismay) for a few months, growing to be a much larger, healthier mouse in that time. He actually took to the wheel, the bottle and the rest quite quickly and did well. Once winter was behind us (in April or later, as I recall), we took him to Tackapausha Preserve to be released.

When the top of the tank was removed, Marvin jumped right out and onto the grass. He ran a little, stopped (and, it seemed to us, looked back) and then went on into the preserve. By now, almost 30 years later, he probably has many thousands of descendants there. It's a much happier ending than many in this world.

Okay, the nasty old trap (which has caught other mice in other homes over the years, include a pair in our old place) went into the trash. But it did bring back memories of a more innocent time.

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Side note: Yes, we're actually watching the Super Bowl. These things usually aren't great football games, but this one has been quite a nail-biter. My Dad left this earth almost 10 years ago (hard to believe, when I think about it), and he was a big Giants fan. He'd be loving this, especially with them playing against the undefeated, supposedly unstoppable Patriots. As I type this update to the post, the Giants just regained the lead. It's now 17-14 with 25 seconds remaining. Amazing.

Update: The Giants actually won! I hope heaven exists, Mom and Dad are there (as they should be) and Dad is watching the game. If he is, he's having a great time!