2 more weeks of football for Ted

Ted wears a blue & white "C" on his jersey, b/c he is the captain of his team. He has been the biggest kid on his football team the last 2 years. One game they put him up against the toughest kid from their defensive line and Ted, with some help, stopped him from getting to the ball.

2 weeks ago, against the Broncos, he had 5 "flags" (when flag is pulled off ball carrier, ball carrier must stop) and 3 OF THEM were for loss of yardage or "sacks". One of his teammate walked over to him after the game, patted his "C" and said, "You really earned being Captain today!"

Last team, Ted's team ran back 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns. He's down to his last 2 games. This week ends the regular season, and next week is the beginning of tournament action where they face the toughest team in the league, the Vikings.

Let's hope they can finally bring home a win this Sunday!!

TOO DRIVEN

“Driven in -- Driven to the edge

Driven out -- On the thin end of the wedge

Driven off -- By things I've never seen

Driven on -- By the road to somewhere I've never been….The road unwinds towards me

What was there is gone .

The road unwinds before me And I go riding on” Neil Peart of Rush. From the album Test for Echo


It’s amazing how therapeutic sleep really is. I ran out of Lunesta several days ago and Benadryl is inferior because you have a sense of grogginess (while Lunesta allows you to wake up “fresh as a daisy”.)
If it wasn’t for the dreadful metallic taste in my mouth, I would call Lunesta a miracle drug!

So, the accommodating secretary from the Doc’s office gave me the refill @ Walgreens and it remains to be seen if my venerable ex, MB, gets it today. I'll get it if I have to b/c I'm writing this at lunch and don't feel very good. UPDATE: It's the next day, & Lunesta didn't help only 3 hrs. of sleep.
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If you have not watched, Easy Rider (released in 1969 by Peter Fonda) you really, really should! People think that it’s a movie about motor cycle riding and drug taking, but it really isn’t. I firmly believe it’s an anti-drug movie. In a pivotal scene, Peter Fonda clutches a female statue in a New Orleans cemetery. The statue resembles the Statue of Liberty.

Peter Fonda’s mother (and Henry Fonda’s wife) committed suicide. Zoom and flash into the movie Easy Rider. Towards the end of the acid trip, when the LSD will not permit one to sleep, Peter Fonda’s character in a drug-induced plaintive sob, cries, “Mom? Mom? Why did you leave me? You left me, mother; you “copped out”; AND I HATE YOU FOR THAT!!!"

Since I rented the DVD of Easy Rider, there are bonus parts (35th Anniversary Edition DVD). He explains the immense embarrassment he later felt after they filmed that scene where he is sobbing and bemoaning his dead mother. He wanted to yank that scene out. He was persuaded by Dennis Hopper to leave it in. Dennis Hopper was pretty compelling, and he yelled just enough to finally convince Fonda. (“I’M THE DIRECTOR”, yelled Hopper). I believe had that scene been yanked as Fonda initially wanted it to be, the movie would not have won as many awards. The intense sadness of abandonment is one that millions of people feel on a daily basis.

Easy Rider was an award-winning movie at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated 3 times by the Academy of Awards, yet the “uptight” film academy of 1969 refused to glorify this “drug” movie (NOT!). It clearly was one of the best movies depicting the whole counter-culture wrought during the 60s. It speaks to the racism in the South (where it is still present in certain politicians, journalists and sadly that region), the utter lack of control when one takes certain illicit drugs. Sadly enough, it graphically depicts the pain and mental damage one suffers when they lose their mother at a tender age. Peter Fonda wasn’t even a teenager when his mother suddenly killed herself by slitting her throat.

I thank God that I have a stable mother who has been a great influence on my life.

Current events & the slanted view

The current state of politics here in the United States is pretty amazing. In general, we are doing well. The federal government has noticeably contributed to helping improve the economy. There were such dire economic predictions at the start of the year as Obama first became president.

Yet, there are spiteful remarks from former V-Pres. Cheney (& he has a clueless daughter, too!) that were publicized later. In January, he pathetically and dismissively said that the new administration "wasn't ready for prime time" with respect to the Jewish-Palestinian problem.

Very, very ironic! This is where a good deal of hypocrisy radiates through Cheney's critique.
There he was Vice President, and his pathetic Bush administration did virtually nothing about the Jewish/Palestinian problem during the first several years Bush was president. At the start, President Obama has former Senator George Mitchell (who made peace in Ireland) as the primary negotiator of the corrosive situation in Israel.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney held his own administration he was involved in to a pathetically LOW standard. Yet, his enemy, the liberals in the Obama administration are supposed to do things perfect, and if they don't, then he will excoriate them.
We have an administration, we can be proud of. Obama doesn't have a Secretary of Defense like a Rumsfeld openly disdainful of Germany and United Kingdom. The world, most notably Europe, is working with us about the problems affecting the globe. Reactionaries sit there ignorantly ignoring global warming and cited hack scientists who were paid by petroleum companies (where Bush worked at when he was a younger man) to vainly bleat that "global warming" is fiction. All the while we continue to pollute and make the climate warmer still. How can Republicans ignore that? Yet they sit there doing just that.
Republicans and reactionaries sit there excoriating Obama, b/c he has directed the CIA not to torture. Yet, they are woefully and completely clueless that the wide-scale torture done during the Bush administration, the torture at Guantanamo base has been used to recruit more terrorists in Iraq & Afghanistan, which has led to killing of American lives in Western Asia! It is well documented as FACT that prisoners captured by Bush's forces in Afghanistan were tortured to the point that they would say anything and tell Americans (torturing them) lies. Lies that put our forces in peril! Documented facts are there, yet it's all ignored just so Republicans can get back into power ASAP. Poorly read, lack of select reading and listening skills, because they would rather hear Beck, Limbaugh & Roger Ailes (an political hack from Bush Sr.'s administration) leading Fox News.
Republican and reactionaries fail to acknowledge the capture of terrorists, Najibullah Zazi and his father. They don't say a damn thing about that, b/c they want you & I to be shnookered into thinking Obama is stupid and clueless.
Republicans have fell out of touch and their failure was well described by the very famous pollster, Nate Silver of http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
"(The reason) why conservatives don't win elections anymore… is not that conservatism generally permits less nuance than liberalism (in terms of political messaging, that is probably one of conservatism's strengths).
Rather, the key….(is that) there is a certain segment of conservatives who literally cannot believe that anybody would see the world differently than the way they do. They have not just forgotten how to persuade; they have forgotten about the necessity of persuasion."

Further, when they do attempt to persuade, it's done in the most ham-fisted ways. These same conservatives brand Liberals as "UnAmericans", "instruments of terrorism" all the while denying the Democratic administration's effective attempts at fighting terrorism. They fail to acknowledge that Democrats (a majority of them) voted for funding the war in Afghanistan back in 2001.
No, Republicans love to mislead. Currently, that's why a majority of Americans are sick of them!

Ted's tough game/Andy's work of art

the painting has a glass w/ too much reflection, sorry folks

Ted's Homecoming game started off rough w/ 2 TDs scored by the Broncos. Then, Ted suffered a hard hit to the knee, straining the ligaments and was crying as he came out. With 3 minutes left in the game, the other assistant coach told him to just relax, and if he felt better, he could come in for the 2nd half. His mother who administrated the team's ice pack, asserted the same.

Ted ignored them both. He was upset that without him the Broncos scored another TD while Ted's mom held the ice pack against his knee. But he was upset and wanted to get out there. Within one minute, he went from laying down, to standing up, walking, and running out onto the field to play center for his team. To my delight, he countermanded both the other assistant coach and his mom. You could hear the 49er parents from a 1/2 mile away as they loudly cheered Ted as he ran back on the field.

The hardest part came at halftime as I had to work very hard to lift his spirits. Down 20-0, this was a game that we fully expected to win. Ted and I both scouted the Broncos and were very misled. They played the Oak Forest Steelers 2 wks. ago and the Broncos looked little and underwhelming. What we did not realize was that one of their big linemen were out of the game we scouted and was back in during our game. So Ted felt worthless, as he got beat on the run outside as a defensive end and didn't get any flags/tackles on defense, and didn't catch any of the poorly thrown balls thrown to him on offense.

The biggest problem that our 49ers face is that every team circles the game they play against Ted's team on their calendar. We have NOT won a game in a season & a 1/2 as we started 2008 as an expansion team in the league. The coaches have not done a good job of drafting big strong players. The teams come in very, very motivated and hyped that the 49er game is the one they will win. The Broncos came at our small line with 9 or 10 players.

Rallying the team at halftime worked. The 49ers shut the offense of the Broncos out in the 2nd half. Ted pulled a flag and held the running back to no gain. He knocked a defensive end to the ground pulling on a sweep which sprung our running back for 25 yards. As you can see, from the picture below, he earned another "POW" for his flag pull as DE and another football for his good blocking and flawless snaps as a center.

The Broncos got frustrated that they failed to push the 49ers around in the 3rd quarter so they resorted to punching. When I went out onto the field to coach the defense, Pablo Vega had tears in his eyes. The coach's son punched him on repeated plays (Bully #22) I responded by calling a blitz where Johnny Nietzel sacked their quarterback. "Where did that boy (Johnny) come from???" the Broncos coach said in a fog of confusion.

On offense, Head Coach Nietzel ordered Teddy and 2 other teammates to body slam and pile onto dirty #22 slamming him to the ground. Teddy saved his hardest hit for "dirty 22". Next play, when Dirty 22 raced into our quarterback to hit him after the play, Liam popped his elbow into his ribs. The gun sounded as the game was over. The 3 of us coaches confronted the Broncos coach, and boldly discussed Dirty 22's uncalled-for punches. The coach didn't mouth off, but rather, meekly played "stupid". He even admitted that Dirty 22 was his son!!

Ted was tired and winded. He deserved a lecture from both Mom and me. He admitted that he refused to eat lunch (which I tried serving him) because he was too finicky to eat. He admitted that he was light-headed from going 8 hrs. with nothing to eat but a big breakfast of bacon, milk and pancakes. He admitted he nearly fainted on the last play. His mother wisely told him that if he refused 5 options of food at lunch, he had no one to blame but himself. I glibly told him that he takes after both parents, who were both picky eaters as kids. Mom angrily denied being picky, but I silently recalled the fact that both kids graduated high school scrawny. Like a good Communist rewriting history, Momma forgot her own self-admission on that point! Just kidding, we don't fight nearly as much as 2002-05.

I've concluded that when I compare Ted to me as a 5th grader, we both suffer the curse of being a slow runners. We both played in pain when we got hurt in a game. My experience was a basketball game in Highland where I had the same injury but came back while our team won.

Ted, however, is more mature, smarter, and stronger as a football player. I just couldn't come close in grade school to accomplishing what he has. He has faithfully learned the plays, and, as center, snaps the ball with 99% accuracy, not only on direct snaps but on the shotgun play too. As coach John said last year, "Ted gets it!" Coach John Neitzel in the last 2 years has never said one discouraging word to Ted, and we calmly make suggestions whenever Ted makes mistakes. We have all recognized that Ted leads the team along with the 2 alternating quarterbacks. He proudly wears his All-American blue "C" for Captain that I had sewn into his jersey. (He's even a voice of reason at home!) With a better offensive line, the 49ers would have 2 more victories in a 4 game season. Seeing the start of Ted becoming a young man is an inspiration to all of us!

Coach John said the following during Homecoming dinner (& there are no dates for the 2nd through 5th grade team, lol, just a big ole supper by a large group of great parents, especially the football mothers who are with the 49ers through thick and thin!!)

"We had 3 goals I wanted the '9ers to accomplish.

1. Play the whole game hard and never quit.


2. Score a touchdown.


3. Win Homecoming.

We didn't win, but we held the ball 8 of 14 minutes in the 2nd half. We didn't score, but we at least accomplished 1/2 the goal. We definitely did NOT quit through the entire game. So by accomplish 1 1/2 goals and rounding up, we won today. Our young team rallied to Pablo when the Broncos gave him the brunt of their dirty play. Did we punch back, team?

NOOOO! shouted the young team.

"That's right, we played good, clean 49er football! We held our heads up and denied them any scoring that 2nd half. We begin as a team, and we'll end as a team. Now, let's give a big round of applause to the fine 49er moms who put out a sumptuous feast for all of us!"

Cheers and applause. Ted was hurt and dejected at halftime, but he and the rest of his teammates joined together after supper playing on the playground like the young winners they are.

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We all know what a tough year my oldest son, Andy had last year. A 25-foot fall off a balcony last 9-13-2008, scoring 60th percentile in the standardized reading test in Illinois, suffering and struggling with below average grades in Writing and Reading both last year and currently this year, and of course, suffering Asperger's Syndrome. We've helped, and we rewarded him, because in the 4th quarter, he finished strong in the end. He earned a white belt in Karate this summer; his white belt test brought tears to his supportive mother's eyes. He was rewarded for working and doing a great deal of housework by earning over $30 these past 2 weeks. He finished all of his homework, and during Homecoming game, he ran the first down chains with 2 football parents and loudly supported Ted. During the 2nd half as he intently watched Ted and his team losing, Andy (at 5'7", taller than his mom and a lil' over 160 lbs.) turned to me and said, "I wish that I could give that offensive line 50% of my size!"

Now, you and I have had a supportive grade school teacher when we were much, much younger. From the ages of 5-13 yrs. old, there was that one teacher who guided and nurtured us. Andy found that teacher after his fall, last year, his wonderful art teacher, Mrs. Nix. He earned an A in Art in 2008 and is well on his way to an A+ this quarter with this painting. My phone camera didn't do it justice, but there it is, above. Last month, Mrs. Nix has enthusiastically invited him to the Art Club where he meets every Tuesday afternoon, and he is really enjoying his 1st extra curricular activity after school! By the way, Andy has continued to do very well in Math, was in the mid80th percentile in the standardized Illinois test, and continues to work hard and do his schoolwork with Bs and As on his tests.


God bless, Mrs. Nix. When she beheld Andy's work of art above, she spent $15 for the glass and frame. MB & I know that she is definitely going to be invited to Andy's 8th grade graduation party. Andy hopes she will be there. Special thanks goes to Andy's Aunt Karen who gave him a very nice art set about 5 years ago, and Andy used on a regular basis until the colors were gone and the colored pencils were short.

sorry,women,friends&men,but give me your patience!

Here is Darth Vader before the man joined the Dark Side this past summer. I liked him before then!

Sorry, but can't post results of Ted's Homecoming game yet. It's a bit of a long story, and I hope you can all wait. Plus, Darth Vader is playing tonight against the mighty Packers. Potential MUST = ACTION, tonight!

a distant Homecoming

My own son is playing at Homecoming w/ a lot of people and a nice spread of food afterwards. (No, it's not like the high school homecomings; he's only 11).

It made me think the Homecoming I went to my senior year, (with Therese Berns Deckert, nice time was had by all after the dance). This is what I looked like that year.

The mixed bag called this weekend……….

Good
A lot of the weekend has to do with my kids beginning to come of age. Brianna continues to enjoy learning to ride bike. She rode for at least 2 or 3 miles and at one stretch rode a solid ½ mile. Then when I complement her about how well she is doing, she asks, “if she’ll get paid a dollar” for a fine job of biking. At nearly 8, she doesn’t quite understand the idea that not all “activities well done” mean you get money for them.

A lot of my enjoyment in life overall is seeing Ted grow up and really showing leadership skills as the oldest member of his flag football team and at home. He tells other kids what they should be doing on the field, and the coach sometimes has given him the toughest blocking assignments which he has handled well (He may be the oldest kid on our team but definitely not the biggest kid in the leagues as there are a number of kids bigger than Ted). & he has emerged as a voice of reason even at home, sometimes he’ll tell me that I am too tough on someone, like Andy.
This weekend we both had a lot of hope that his team would finally win their 1st flag football game. (If the Detroit Lions can do it, why not us??). We had fun talking about the impending football game and our 2 fantasy football teams (1 of our teams finally won while the other is winning & we’ll find out after the Mon. Night Football game).

Bad
Ted’s team did not get their 1st victory. They lost 20-0. They make stops on defense but, as opposed to 2 weeks ago, just cannot get anything going on offense. The head coach was disgusted with the lack of blocking. & Ted was disgusted he did not get a catch as a receiver or a tackle/flag on defense. He cried his eyes out and left the field in disgust before the rest of his teammates. The head coach kind of thought favorably of that and felt that at least Ted cares! After the game, some of the kids admitted that they don’t like blocking, and he promptly told them to quit if that was the case. So this Tuesday’s practice will be kind of interesting. What bothered us coaches is that if they had blocked, they would have won. & if they block next Sunday, they can definitely win their homecoming game.

1 coach is allowed to go onto the field w/ the team to either call plays (on offense) or call formations (on defense). I came up w/ a new formation (a 5 man line instead of the usual 4 man defensive line), and our defense did not allow the Bucaneers to score. I came off the field and triumphantly yelled to the defensive coach who usually goes out on the field, "Now that's a formation that works!!" Hope he didn't take offense and think that was a dig at him. Probably not, I said it w/ a smile on my face. & besides, he went out on the next series and used the same one he did before and they didn't score that time either.
Ted wasn't happy that I found a defense that worked against the opponent's offense. It was a tough game, and he cut his hand. At times, Ted gets so morose and dejected, that I worry about him staying that way. Luckily, his intellectual curiosity, his confidence prevails, but will there come a time when it won’t ?

Good
There’s a long saying giving advice about parenting, and one of the sentences go, “If you compliment children, they will learn to appreciate.” That certainly is true of Andy. He is very earnest and doesn’t have the jaded fuck-all attitude that some teenagers have. We found out that on the state standardized test, Andy only was in the 60th %ile in Reading. He had always done well in all his subjects on the standardized tests before. As he gets older, we learn more about the innate problems he has. We sat down and I had a long talk with him that just as a basketball player must practice new moves each summer (even though that's not as fun as doing commercials and spending their millions), he must read more. & he agreed, and he has followed through.

Bad
I was taking a short afternoon nap Sunday; when Andy was walking around the room I was sleeping. He was crying. We worked on his Science project Saturday, but he failed to inform me that it was due today, the 28th. We took 8 pictures of plants and animals, and he needed 16 to even pass, 19 to get a C and 25 to get an A. So, I had to rouse myself up and take 11 more pictures of plants and animals in less than an hour’s time. It got so that since there was no daylight, I had to go into grocery stores and take pictures of plants. Andy needs to learn to STOP procrastinating and get better organized. But maybe many of us were like him when we were young. I keep hoping and feeling confident that Andy will have a productive adult life if he gets the right direction. We were hustling so much last night that MB said, “I am so past caring what grade he gets!” Better buck up, dear, we still have 7 months until graduation. & she realizes that and will continue to help. She only was frustrated b/c she worked 13 hrs. then came home w/ Andy & I working on it for a few hours already. Again, why couldn’t Andy have told me the day before? Then she wouldn’t have done anything but relaxed after a hard day’s work.

Bad at the very end.
Before we went to bed, there was a tornado warning for Cook County until 10:15 and a tornado watch until 2 am. So, Brianna really freaked out. First, she vomited then she was shaking from hearing the hail pounding the brick walls of our condo. When the hell was she traumatized by a damn storm?!? We haven’t suffered through any tornados, (thank God!). So, she easily persuaded Mom that she must sleep with us, and the 3 of us were very crowded in our queen-size bed.
When I woke up, I asked, “Did you dislike that it’s so cramped in our bed, Brianna?”
“No,” she cheerily replied this morning, “it felt just fine.”
Luckily, I don’t let her sleep in our bed except in very rare circumstances.

SEQUEL TO THIS STORY

No, the assistant coach didn't take offense (see my remark made during the game) to my formation at all. Our team, the O.F. 49ers are planning to use a 5-man defensive line most, if not all, of the game!! I couldn't planned it better myself, and the funny thing was that Coach Geoff thought of it all by himself (maybe he received a little osmosis learning after my remark last Sunday).

GO OAK FOREST 49ers!

stay tuned tomorrow for results of the O.F.49ers-O.F. Broncos game. Root the 49ers on! It's Ted's HOMECOMING GAME, (even his mother took off work to watch)!

My New Postings/Threads on Wikipedia

Here are some entries that I have originated or have made substantial contributions to. If you get a chance, please check them out. I will hasten to add that I had some help with these articles, and it was, by no means, a 1-man effort. The total effort was the work of 2 or 3 people. As most of you know, all you have to do is click onto the link below, and it will automatically take you to the Wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presto_%28album)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_Don%27t_Tell_%28song)

Both Presto (album) and the song “Show Don’t Tell” were small entries into Wikipedia that were begun by some other editor. I significantly added to both articles and took them out of “stub status”. I had read a doctoral dissertation and several other on-line articles relating to Rush’s Presto and their song “Show Don’t Tell”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_the_Truth_%28song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glad_%28song)

These next two songs, “Tell the Truth” by Derek & the Dominos and “Glad” by Traffic, are songs that I originated. I was inspired to write them, because I witnessed and enjoyed the fantastic concert by Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton who were instrumental in writing these songs separately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_The_Rolling_Stones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Progressive_Rock/Members

I am also in a Wikipedia group dedicated to making all Rolling Stones-related better researched and better written. There are 13 of us. I have made minor contributions to the article on their great guitarist Mick Taylor and the article on the Jagger – Richards songwriting team.

I am also in a group dedicated to Progressive Rock. This is music that features concept albums, sophisticated instrumentation, rhythms, extended songs like Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” which runs 23 minutes. Rush, Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Supertramp are just a few of the bands that are considered to play Progressive Rock. Interestingly enough, the group only had 2 members in it a month ago (just me and the founder of the group), then I invited someone else, and checking tonight, we have grown to 12 members. My 2 above articles on Rush are inspired by joining this group.

If you have an interest in either Prog Rock or Rolling Stones, you are more than welcome to join our group. We not only feature the article but have a talk section that talks about the behind the scenes discussion of making the articles and any arguments or controversy that may be raging behind the article. Some very interesting things occur behind the scenes as you may imagine!

Congratulations, Blogging Buddy! :)

My Blogging Buddy, Amel @ http://ailema4ever.blogspot.com/ is going to be published. I'm so happy and proud of her! I hope that she makes lots of money and is famous (I always wanted to know someone famous, lmao, he-he).

I know that a lot of us who do blog, dream of someday getting into a good publication where more can read about us. I dream of someday writing for the New Yorker but until I get well-connected and become a better writer, I will continue to write and improve my skill, and hope!

So, thanks for reading me, congratulations, Amel, you deserve it!! You're a very good writer!

random actions and thoughts

Several things have happened, so I just wanted to give a few updates:

• I think a friend of mine from work is pregnant. It's an amazing office. There's less than 30 people in the office, and yet, ever since I started working here 4 yrs. ago, there's at least 2 women pregnant at any given time!! I am not sure, and I'm kind of shy about asking her if she is pregnant. I will be happy for her if she is, b/c she is getting into her upper 30s and in a few years she won't be able to have any kids. She's not married so apparently hasn't been lucky in love (until now??).



• I feel happy about the Packers getting a win in their opening game. I'm pretty starved for victories since the Milwaukee Brewers have been "laying eggs" since sometime in July. They are soooo far out of the playoff race, but what do you expect when you don't have decent starting pitching??



• I was very happy for my son, Ted, who had a great game in flag football last Sunday. He made a stop on defense, caught a ball for 5 yards and blocked the toughest kid on the opposing team successfully. Can you imagine the pride I felt when the coach came up to me on the sideline during the game and said, "Your son knocked that tough kid on his ASS!". (lots of pride, indeed!!). The team did not win, but we are definitely claiming a moral victory after the drubbings they suffered last year.



• I hope that the healthcare reform passes Congress and becomes law. It's about time the United States reverse the trend of more and more people not being insured and healthcare costs spiraling upward higher than inflation!!

embarassed

I was on the train & I made an alarming and really embarassing discovery. There's a woman/"casual friend" that I ride the train with (about once a week for the last 2 years, sometimes more, sometimes less). I realized after sitting next to her yesterday and today that I can't stand sitting next to her.
Why?? At first it was hard to figure out. But then I realized that it was b/c she talks so much and she has a very nasal, guttural voice that's irritating to listen to. Monday, I was on an earlier train so I didn't expect to see her, but she was early that morning and took the same train and got into the same train as me. She sat next to a perfect stranger and talked the whole 35 min. to her. I guess that should be impressive that she can engage a stranger to hold a conversation w/ her so effortlessly!! But for me it was very hard to listen to. & today, she talked on the train I would usually see her, and I just felt almost like getting up and walking away from her.

BUT I CAN'T! B/c I am not only friends w/ her but 3 other people and if I walk away from her, I'm walking away from my other friends. I can't do that. I feel very embarassed, b/c this woman has always been nice to me, has NEVER done anything mean to me. I've even seen her during church. So, I'm feeling a lot of guilt. I always pictured myself as this NICE, cool, urbane person. Now that I have these feelings, I feel like a misanthrope, like a nasty person.

Sunday

Ted’s football team is much better than last year. The Saturday scrimmage went well and resulted in our team having a slight edge even though the other team was bigger and faster.
The played well in the exhibition game on Sunday, but the other team was also very good and beat them 20-0 inspite only 1 half being played. The problem was that the other team capitalized on our mistakes and it seemed like nearly every mistake our team made we ended up paying for by the other team’s touchdowns.
I was the assistant coach, and I was actually coaching the defensive unit for one of the series. They did a great job for 3 plays. But the last play, one of our players got burned on a pass play and we had a TD scored on us. (UGH!)
The offense improved but we are a very long ways from scoring with any frequency. We only had 1 first down, and that was from a roughing the passer penalty. We did complete our first pass on the very first play so that was great. Our little QB didn’t complete ANY last season, so that had to feel good for him. Offense is SO HARD to do b/c all of the players have to do a good job on the same play. That’s 11 boys all between the ages of 7 to 11 (not the best attention span and concentration there!!!). Then 1 good play is not good enough a lot of times. It will only 5 -10 yards, and usually the team has to move 50 yards to score. So that’s 11 boys concentrating 8-12 plays. You multiply 11 boys times the number of plays they have to do very well w/ great concentration & it’s 88-96 smart actions by boys between the ages of 7-11. That’s a lot to ask of those boys. So scoring seems very hard. Our only hope seems to score TD w/ long runs which don’t require so much concentration. I hope that we win 2 games, but I am not so sure it will happen (UGH!)

I scouted another game, and that was an experience too. The smaller, less skilled team beat the bigger, more talented team. All b/c of one mistake, one breakdown by the defense. & for one time, those collection of 11 little boys concentrated, ran the play well, and they scored a touchdown. & there still needed to be a mistake made to score the winning TD.

I love watching Pawn Stars! I wrote an entry about this last month (July), and incorrectly called it “Pawn Shop”. It’s on 9pm CST Sunday on the History Channel. The website is http://www.history.com/content/pawn-stars This is a funny, interesting show!

unreal sight

I was walking to work (I work in downtown Chicago) and saw a homeless man arguing/yelling/swearing at an outside wall of this large building. I just walked past him, didn't really stop, but it was an amazing sight to behold. He was talking in such an animated way!
Homelessness is really bad in Chicago. It's so prevalent that they have their own paper. If you buy their paper for $2, most of the money goes to the homeless. The paper is called Streetwise. You should check out their website (just Google Streetwise and put in the terms "Streetwise" & homeless & Chicago) The paper is actually well written. I see at least 4 or 5 homeless people every single day in Chicago. That's no lie!

Sometimes I do give money, & I buy Streetwise sometimes, but I just don't have the kind of money it takes to give every homeless person a dollar. I would be spending over $20 a week on that. I've seen a lot of homeless people, but I don't think I'll ever forget what I saw today when I saw a person arguing with a wall.

A word about a new link

I have added a new link to my blog. If you look on the right side of this blog, you quickly see some very good links like Amel's Realm and Crow's Feet. I also wanted to provide you with a link to my other writing which is with Wikipedia.

Wikipedia, as some of you already know, is an encyclopedia which is not written by hired experts as there are for Britannica, Colliers or World Book. Wikipedia is written by regular laypeople like you and I. However, it is important to note that when I write articles, they are given peer reviews and if they don't meet standards, the article is deleted. Articles that are written most of the time become group projects. For instance, a couple of my articles that I wrote drew enough interest where someone else improved upon them.

If you click onto the new link, "Vince's page on Wikipedia", you will be shown several articles that I have written. It also gives you a "thumbnail sketch" of my background including a wild "blast from the past" where my successor teacher at a school where I once taught was given poison by her own students. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

a night on the town with kids (Windy City Ribfest)

I went to the Windy City Ribfest where my two nephews Zach & Chris  were playing in their band, Catchpenny (see http://www.catchpennyband.com/ ). They sounded great, they seem to have a harder edge to their rock which I loved to see. For instance, they played Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" rather than "Ramble On" complete with expert feedback. Clearly, the heart of their set is their own music that is on their debut CD and also their second CD From Where You Are. Catchpenny has been touring in Iraq repeatedly, and is always and consistently well received there.

Also, in attendance was Maribeth's co-worker, Annie, who is shown in the first picture. She was able to see Catchpenny for the first time. She was kind enough to take a picture of Chris, Zach, my kids and me, but unfortunately, I didn't press SAVE, & the picture she took became lost to oblivion. However, Chris took a picture too, thank God, so, our hope is that Chris will send his picture to me which I will add.

Then we saw a band greatly admired by Catchpenny which is from New Orleans called Cowboy Mouth. They put on a very energetic and engaging show. They're a very talented band, and one of the view bands where the drummer/lead singer is right at the front of the stage.

After hearing Cowboy Mouth, the trip home on the interstate was speedy, fast and short. We took an admiring look at the lit up skyscrapers and loved hearing Santana on the classic rock radio station, The Drive, 97.1. I wholeheartedly agreed with Ted that Chicago is a great city to live in. This month marks 20 years that I have lived in the Chicago area. It was 20 years ago that I moved from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to take a job teaching for the Archdiocese of Chicago at one of the parochial schools in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago.

about an ad on dairy farm

There was a great ad by Google AdSense that I was proud to have on my blog. By the time you are reading this, I am not sure if you will see it or not. Anyway the website is

http://www.dairyfarmingtoday.org/DairyFarmingToday

I would strongly encourage you to look at this ad, because I grew up on a dairy farm. I worked on and off on dairy farms until about 1987. The summer of 1987 marked the last time I worked on a dairy farm (my father's) full time. Dairy farming is a vital, noble profession. It is a very tough profession as my 3 older brothers do it; 2 of them are required to wake up at 4:30 am each and every morning. Dairy farmers are required to milk their cows either 2 or 3 times a day. That means if you go to a wedding and then the wedding reception, when the clock strikes 3:30 or 4pm, you are required to leave and go feed and milk the cows and come back (depending on how much help you have and how many cows you have to milk) to the wedding dance until sometime around 7 or 8. If you don't have replacement help, you don't get to go on vacations.

Dairy farming is one of the best places to raise your children, because it's a great place to teach the value of hard work. I sometimes miss the farm, b/c it seems that my kids' day revolves around play whereas when I grew up their day revolves around work. Now, I don't want to say that my kids are a bunch of "good-time Charlies", they work very hard during the school year, and they are given lots of chores to do during the summer. Still, it seems like they are loving the computer and PlayStation a bit too much at times. Yes, they are also outside (rather than inside watching the TV), b/c our condo has a swimming pool, and they swim a lot there.

At any rate, please check out the ad. I agree with the ad, and I would look at all the aspects of the webpage which is very educational to those not knowing a lot about dairy farming.

health insurance statistics

The average income of health insurance executives: $11.9 million
The profit growth of health insurance from 2001 to 2007: 484%
The percentage of people that have become uninsured in the same time period: 19%

Wanting to smile/wanting to frown

Wanting to smile

Last night Charlie Rose interviewed Nora Ephron and Meryl Streep. Nora Ephron directed the new movie about Julia Child, and we all know that Meryl Streep is Julia Child in the movie. I loved listening to Meryl Streep being interviewed by the very clever Charlie Rose. She's the best actress of our generation, if not the best actress ever.

My oldest sister is the same age is Meryl Streep. Apparently, in 1949 (when she was born), Tarzan. So her invitations say what do Michaeleen and Tarzan have in common? They both started in 1949! Duh, Michaeleen! Use a better cultural reference with MERYL STREEP!
She has an amazing sense of balance. She knows she's an excellent actress. Yet, she finds a way to be humble without making people roll their eyes and thinking she's putting them on. She was asked about the toughest role she ever played. She explained about the process of how she usually assumes a character in a movie. Then she discussed how that doesn't work, and she has to "start from scratch" and figure out how to do the role better. Then in the middle of explaining how she performed her toughest roles, she looks at Ephron & Rose and said, "Neither of you know what I'm talking about" and the implication was, "& I feel embarassed going off on a tangent!" Then they stated in unison they understood what she was saying and wanted her to continue to explain herself. But she didn't........

Consistency at a high level is one of the hardest things to do. That's what makes Meryl Streep such a great actress. I've seen her read many of her interviews. She consistently doesn't want the interviewer to go on and on and count the ways she is great. With Rose, she didn't have to!
Seeing her be interviewed is nearly as fun as watching her act. Wish I saw last night's interview from the very beginning.

Wanting to frown

I had a written a previous blog entry about Michael Jackson. Now that I read the large Rolling Stone (Issue 1,084), I feel a strong sense of loss. Why do I feel this way??!?? I only like about 5 of his songs and the rest I either don't like or am entirely indifferent to. Why does it hurt that he's dead? I'll try to answer that now.
The pognant feelings are on 2 levels. We heard that when M. Jackson was trying to be revived, his kids were fearfully crying, "Daddy! Daddy!" That situation strikes a painful chord for many parents. My biggest fear (as recent as 1 1/2 yrs. ago) was that I would retire sick and poor. I haven't saved nearly enough money for retirement, & in the next 3 years, I know that I will invest less than $500 in my retirement accounts. So, that's a big fear, but the worst fear is leaving my kids, b/c I died before they were 18. There's an unbreakable bond between my three kids. The scary thought hurts, and it makes one think about a tragic death and the kids left behind. You can think of one instance right now as you read this. I think of President John Kennedy being shot, and during the funeral procession, his 3 year old son salutes him. Ouch.
The second level/reason why I feel bad is the sense of what might have been. I read in Rolling Stone that Jackson was finally somewhat in touch with reality. He wanted to be better than his rival Prince. He was preparing for his concert. Who knows if it was going to be the best ever as he wanted it to be, but even with me being biased against 90% of his music, even I knew the concerts in London were going to be something to behold. Then he died.

He was in better physical shape, and he didn't act as old and go around in a wheelchair like he was last year. He wasn't sleeping with little boys anymore. He was trying to be a good father. He wasn't even dangling his kid off of hotel balconies anymore. Then he died.

Like millions of people, including me, he had a problem with insomnia. Unlike me, he was one of the very, very few that would take 40 Xanax to sleep and live to tell about it. The night before his death, after his very triumphant rehearsal, his physician give him an IV of a drug that is used to sedate patients before surgery. Then he died.

Today & tomorrow

Today is my parent's 62nd wedding anniversary. 62 years! It seems like a lifetime, doesn't it?

I wish I could celebrate a 62nd wedding anniversary, but I most definitely won't! Oh well, that means I need to redouble my efforts being a good dad.

Tomorrow is MB's 42nd birthday. She seems to have aged well. She still is attractive, and she seems more mature, more tolerant of opposing view than she once was. She could still work on sharpening her budget-cutting knife and her subjectivity, but tomorrow, we'll celebrate all the progress she's made.

a new season w/ new hopes

Ted has started football season again in the Oak Forest Park District league. Last year was successful insofar as he had fun, learned a lot and he played nearly every down of football as he was starting defensive end and center. However, his team, the expansion 49ers of Oak Forest, were winless and in 5 games, they only scored 3 touchdowns. I know a little bit about that as 2 teams I was on were winless (my 7th grade and my sophmore year). The first time we were winless, we came back the next season and posted a 4-1 record! Let's hope that's what Ted does.

The 49ers have all but 2 starters back this year, and they have some pretty good new players. The hope is that they will score more touchdowns as that was lacking last year. We had some good moments on defense, and Ted was able to sack the quarterback several times. The hope is that they consistently do well on defense.

I am assistant coach, and the head coach says that I'm in charge of special teams. That's fine I know a thing or 2 about specials teams. He has some new ideas that will hopefully help us be a better team, so there is a lot of hope.

PS. If you look at the helmet in the 2nd picture, each decal he got was a personal or team award that Ted earned. For instance, he received a decal for each sack and also defensive stops he made by himself.