If this was the Last One, at Least it was a Good One
"At Christmas play, and make good cheer,
for Christmas comes but once a year."
--Thomas Tusser
I truly enjoyed this Christmas season. It probably was the most shopping I have ever done. This unemployed thing is not without its perks. Stress free shopping during the day (and early in the season) at the mall. I even used the handicapped permit I have for parking a couple of times.
Dinner was marvelous as usual (after all Melissa cooked it), the company for Christmas was delightful, and I received a bunch of gifts (almost as many as Jack and Joe!!). The Puerto Rican rum and the Crown Royal Reserve were especially appreciated, as were all of the Books and gift cards I received.
Amongst the other books which she bought for me, Melissa bought me Miriam Engelberg's "Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person." It's great and I have read it already (okay, okay, it is a cartoon book). You can purchase your own copy from Amazon.com but if you need a preview, it's availible on her website, which you can find here: http://www.miriamengelberg.com/comics_mainpg.htm
The lights were brighter, the music better, and people more enjoyable than probably any Christmas since I was a kid. In short a great holiday. Hope to hear from you all soon and hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Merry Christmas
(and drink your Gin & Tonicah's, cause it's time for Hanukkah)
Not Happy Holidays. Not Holiday Greetings. Merry Christmas. It's a celebration of Christ's birth. My sons' school which we've otherwise been very pleased with has changed the lyrics on the Christmas songs, placing "winter" where Christmas is supposed to go. So now it's the "Twelve Days of Winter" and so forth. Political correctness run amok.
To add insult to injury, this public school is teaching my kid Hanukkah songs. When asked for an explanation as to the discrepancy, we never really got one from the teacher or the school. So, instead of wasting what little time I have left arguing with school administrators about the issue, I went the subversive route: I played Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" for my older son knowing that by the end of this week every 5th grader at his school would be singing it as well. :-)
Thanks for the help on the rain songs. I can't believe I missed the Prince, Led Zep and James Taylor entries. Must be chemo brain. I trust no one cheated by using iTunes, Napster, Google and the like. I mean, hell, I can do that. I actually came up with four more on my own that oddly enough, weren't mentioned by anyone:
No Rain Blind Melon
I Love a Rainy Night Eddie Rabbitt
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head B.J. Thomas
Fixing a Hole The Beatles
BTW, there's a new link on the left. She's funny and clever, and unfortunately, recently widowed due to cancer. Check out her blog.
Not Happy Holidays. Not Holiday Greetings. Merry Christmas. It's a celebration of Christ's birth. My sons' school which we've otherwise been very pleased with has changed the lyrics on the Christmas songs, placing "winter" where Christmas is supposed to go. So now it's the "Twelve Days of Winter" and so forth. Political correctness run amok.
To add insult to injury, this public school is teaching my kid Hanukkah songs. When asked for an explanation as to the discrepancy, we never really got one from the teacher or the school. So, instead of wasting what little time I have left arguing with school administrators about the issue, I went the subversive route: I played Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" for my older son knowing that by the end of this week every 5th grader at his school would be singing it as well. :-)
Thanks for the help on the rain songs. I can't believe I missed the Prince, Led Zep and James Taylor entries. Must be chemo brain. I trust no one cheated by using iTunes, Napster, Google and the like. I mean, hell, I can do that. I actually came up with four more on my own that oddly enough, weren't mentioned by anyone:
No Rain Blind Melon
I Love a Rainy Night Eddie Rabbitt
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head B.J. Thomas
Fixing a Hole The Beatles
BTW, there's a new link on the left. She's funny and clever, and unfortunately, recently widowed due to cancer. Check out her blog.
"For there is born to you this day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11
Surprised you mom, didn't I? Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Couldn't Stand the Weather
That's that the title of a Stevie Ray Vaughn album (or as Wendy (26 years old) calls them, "Big CD's"), but the weather here today is just plain, old fashioned, crappy. It is currently 35 degrees and raining on the shortest (2nd shortest?) day of the year. The only weather I hate worse is when it's real cold (like negative 20 degrees farenheit with a wind chill of about 40 below).
One thing I've been doing between researching my cancer, planning trips, planning my funeral (but more importantly my Irish wake) :-) is thinking up themed CD's. I have one entiled Rain and here's what I have so far:
Rain
1. Like the Weather Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs
2. Who’ll Stop the Rain CCR
3. Rain The Beatles
Any Suggestions?
P.S. to Aaron: How you coming on your top 25 all-time albums? I'll give you two of mine: The Who, Who Are You? and Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill.
One thing I've been doing between researching my cancer, planning trips, planning my funeral (but more importantly my Irish wake) :-) is thinking up themed CD's. I have one entiled Rain and here's what I have so far:
Rain
1. Like the Weather Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs
2. Who’ll Stop the Rain CCR
3. Rain The Beatles
Any Suggestions?
P.S. to Aaron: How you coming on your top 25 all-time albums? I'll give you two of mine: The Who, Who Are You? and Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Don't Look Back
"Don't look back. Something might gaining on you."
"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."
"You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for them all."
Can you match these quotes with the people that said them?
Wrong. They are all attributed to Satchel Paige, the great Negro League pitcher. Satchel was both a great quote and perhaps the greatest pitcher of his generation. Though he didn't get to pitch in the major leagues until he was 45 years old, he acquitted himself well, going 6-1 with a 2.48 E.R.A. to help Cleveland to the 1948 pennant. He pitched regularly until 1954 when he was 50 years old. A major league lifetime ERA of 3.29. Amazing. I knew the first quote came from Paige, wasn't sure about the second, and thought the third quote was from the movie Bull Durham. I should have known that Hollywood writers were too dumb to come up with a line like that.
Anyway, people seem to want to know "how you got cancer", as if it was some social disease. Damned if I know, and it doesn't really matter anyway. The fact is I have it, and I need to deal with the cards I've been dealt. There's something that Melissa and I did at the outset of this ordeal back in late 2002. We made a deal that win, lose or draw, we would not ever second guess our decisions because: (1) It can drive you insane; and (2) It's pointless. The current situation is what it is, and no amount of second guessing is going to change that.
Our last visit to the doctor didn't go so good. My lung is still filled with crap, and the brain MRI discovered a couple of small metasteses, including one on the brain stem. It looks like the end game is in sight, but we'll try to find the right balance between quality vs. quantity of life. Don't look back.
"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."
"You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for them all."
Can you match these quotes with the people that said them?
Wrong. They are all attributed to Satchel Paige, the great Negro League pitcher. Satchel was both a great quote and perhaps the greatest pitcher of his generation. Though he didn't get to pitch in the major leagues until he was 45 years old, he acquitted himself well, going 6-1 with a 2.48 E.R.A. to help Cleveland to the 1948 pennant. He pitched regularly until 1954 when he was 50 years old. A major league lifetime ERA of 3.29. Amazing. I knew the first quote came from Paige, wasn't sure about the second, and thought the third quote was from the movie Bull Durham. I should have known that Hollywood writers were too dumb to come up with a line like that.
Anyway, people seem to want to know "how you got cancer", as if it was some social disease. Damned if I know, and it doesn't really matter anyway. The fact is I have it, and I need to deal with the cards I've been dealt. There's something that Melissa and I did at the outset of this ordeal back in late 2002. We made a deal that win, lose or draw, we would not ever second guess our decisions because: (1) It can drive you insane; and (2) It's pointless. The current situation is what it is, and no amount of second guessing is going to change that.
Our last visit to the doctor didn't go so good. My lung is still filled with crap, and the brain MRI discovered a couple of small metasteses, including one on the brain stem. It looks like the end game is in sight, but we'll try to find the right balance between quality vs. quantity of life. Don't look back.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
General Observations
"Do you ever notice that....?"
--Andy Rooney
That the brightest, most articulate couples that you know are always the ones that can't have children or least have trouble conceiving them, whereas every trailer park family has six kids with collective I.Q. of about 70? And let me tell you, as someone who represented a fair number of these people, it ain't because they don't smoke and don't drink.
That the problem with cancer blogs is that your friends keep dying? It makes you think you're bad luck after a while.
That the font size of mail notices that say "IMPORTANT" or "DO NOT DISCARD" is in direct inverse proportion to their actual importance? The IRS never stamps that stuff on their notices.
That when you are behind some moron driving erractically they are invariably on a cell phone?
That when someone is talking too loud in a public place, the conversation is never interesting even though the person wants us all to hear it.
That the losers from your high school all ended up with good paying federal jobs. Unfortunately, they all ended up with the same job, working at the TSA screening for dangerous people like the 90 year old lady in the wheelchair (and 60 year old judges :-) ) and dangerous carryons like shampoo and toothpaste.
That customer service is an oxymoron? I have a Pioneer Airware unit (basically a portable XM unit) that cost probably $250-300 new. I enjoyed the unit but springs that hold on the back door sprung. After 1 1/2 hours on the phone, I was told that "It's not a warranty issue." I called the boss, had to leave a message, and he finally called me back a week later. This is for a part that costs $9.44 on their website (retail).
That people with those Bluetooth phones and headsets are some of the most self important people you will ever meet. I always walk up to them when they are in mid-conversation (of course it's always in public that they have these things) and ask them if they need help landing the Boeing 767. Well, not really, but it would be pretty funny, wouldn't it?
That people are now more shocked when people display common courtesy such as saying "please" and "thank you", open a door for them, or letting them pull in front of you in traffic, than they are by expletives. I guess common courtesy really isn't that common anymore. Maybe we all should see if we can shock a few people this holiday season.
Have a good weekend. Feel free to add your own "did you ever notice" in the comments section.
--Andy Rooney
That the brightest, most articulate couples that you know are always the ones that can't have children or least have trouble conceiving them, whereas every trailer park family has six kids with collective I.Q. of about 70? And let me tell you, as someone who represented a fair number of these people, it ain't because they don't smoke and don't drink.
That the problem with cancer blogs is that your friends keep dying? It makes you think you're bad luck after a while.
That the font size of mail notices that say "IMPORTANT" or "DO NOT DISCARD" is in direct inverse proportion to their actual importance? The IRS never stamps that stuff on their notices.
That when you are behind some moron driving erractically they are invariably on a cell phone?
That when someone is talking too loud in a public place, the conversation is never interesting even though the person wants us all to hear it.
That the losers from your high school all ended up with good paying federal jobs. Unfortunately, they all ended up with the same job, working at the TSA screening for dangerous people like the 90 year old lady in the wheelchair (and 60 year old judges :-) ) and dangerous carryons like shampoo and toothpaste.
That customer service is an oxymoron? I have a Pioneer Airware unit (basically a portable XM unit) that cost probably $250-300 new. I enjoyed the unit but springs that hold on the back door sprung. After 1 1/2 hours on the phone, I was told that "It's not a warranty issue." I called the boss, had to leave a message, and he finally called me back a week later. This is for a part that costs $9.44 on their website (retail).
That people with those Bluetooth phones and headsets are some of the most self important people you will ever meet. I always walk up to them when they are in mid-conversation (of course it's always in public that they have these things) and ask them if they need help landing the Boeing 767. Well, not really, but it would be pretty funny, wouldn't it?
That people are now more shocked when people display common courtesy such as saying "please" and "thank you", open a door for them, or letting them pull in front of you in traffic, than they are by expletives. I guess common courtesy really isn't that common anymore. Maybe we all should see if we can shock a few people this holiday season.
Have a good weekend. Feel free to add your own "did you ever notice" in the comments section.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Back from Philly
The Sights and Sounds from the Birthplace of A Nation
Got back from Philadelphia late Sunday. Dad and I flew out with "The Uncle" and my aunt. It was beautiful (about 70 degrees and Sunny) when we got there. We were met at the airport by my aunt's friend, Gar Joseph, who's a newspaper columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News , and he drove us back to the hotel after we waited 1 1/2 hours for our luggage to be unloaded from the plane (thanks American Airlines).
We went out to dinner at Spasso's, at Gar's suggestion, and it was great. After, dinner Dad and I had a drink at the Penn View Bar & Grill, across the street from our hotel. On, Friday, we went to see Constitution Hall, the U.S. Mint, the Liberty Bell and the Building that initially housed the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shared the building during this initial time period with Philadelphia Municipal Court so the courtroom had a jury box and a prisoner box.
I also had my first real Philly Cheesesteak at a hole in the wall convenience store located somewhere around 12th and Market. It was awesome!!
On Saturday, we went to the Army-Navy game at Lincoln Finanical Field. My cousin Tim is a cadet at West Point. It was very cool with all of the pagentry including Navy jets and Army helicopters buzzing the stadium, the cadets in their dress blues (Navy) and grays (Army), (attendance is mandatory), great bands and 70,000 of the best behaved most polite football fans you've ever seen. The only person who swore the whole day was me and that was only one "goddammit" when the Army QB let his 2nd interception fly (which was returned for a TD). It was a good game until there were about 10 minutes left. All in all, a very good time. On Sunday, we came back after getting a picture with "Rocky" at the Philedelphia Museum of Art. Our first flight was cancelled (thanks again, American Airlines) so it took a while to get back.
The football Hawkeyes are playing Texas in the Alamo Bowl. They're gonna their collective butts kicked.
Once again, Steve Alford's underacheiving basketball team (has their been any other kind since this asshole has been around?), achieved yet another "first": the first loss to UNI at home in 25 years, which if memory serves, makes it the first loss since Carver-Hawkeye was constructed.
On the cancer front, I felt okay this weekend, and felt real good yesterday(I actually did some Christmas shopping).
With fear and arrogance (or maybe it's ignorance?),
Tom
Got back from Philadelphia late Sunday. Dad and I flew out with "The Uncle" and my aunt. It was beautiful (about 70 degrees and Sunny) when we got there. We were met at the airport by my aunt's friend, Gar Joseph, who's a newspaper columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News , and he drove us back to the hotel after we waited 1 1/2 hours for our luggage to be unloaded from the plane (thanks American Airlines).
We went out to dinner at Spasso's, at Gar's suggestion, and it was great. After, dinner Dad and I had a drink at the Penn View Bar & Grill, across the street from our hotel. On, Friday, we went to see Constitution Hall, the U.S. Mint, the Liberty Bell and the Building that initially housed the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shared the building during this initial time period with Philadelphia Municipal Court so the courtroom had a jury box and a prisoner box.
I also had my first real Philly Cheesesteak at a hole in the wall convenience store located somewhere around 12th and Market. It was awesome!!
On Saturday, we went to the Army-Navy game at Lincoln Finanical Field. My cousin Tim is a cadet at West Point. It was very cool with all of the pagentry including Navy jets and Army helicopters buzzing the stadium, the cadets in their dress blues (Navy) and grays (Army), (attendance is mandatory), great bands and 70,000 of the best behaved most polite football fans you've ever seen. The only person who swore the whole day was me and that was only one "goddammit" when the Army QB let his 2nd interception fly (which was returned for a TD). It was a good game until there were about 10 minutes left. All in all, a very good time. On Sunday, we came back after getting a picture with "Rocky" at the Philedelphia Museum of Art. Our first flight was cancelled (thanks again, American Airlines) so it took a while to get back.
The football Hawkeyes are playing Texas in the Alamo Bowl. They're gonna their collective butts kicked.
Once again, Steve Alford's underacheiving basketball team (has their been any other kind since this asshole has been around?), achieved yet another "first": the first loss to UNI at home in 25 years, which if memory serves, makes it the first loss since Carver-Hawkeye was constructed.
On the cancer front, I felt okay this weekend, and felt real good yesterday(I actually did some Christmas shopping).
With fear and arrogance (or maybe it's ignorance?),
Tom
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