Really Good Friday

There are very few things that will cause me to pass on a celebration of the First Friday of the Week.  So when my excellent boss stuck his head in my office and proposed a Good Friday First Friday it was not without at least a little self-loathing that I answered in the negative.

That recrimination lasted all of about 1 microsecond because the reason I had to pass was a journey down to New Haven through the morass of the Connecticut highway system to retrieve my daughter and son in law.  That qualifies as a serious win on any level which was needed last night since both the Bruins (ouch) and the Red Sox were not so inclined.

I had to make the trip down solo since my usual co-pilot was sucked into her non-fanatical observation of the Catholic faith.  While this prevented some of my normal traffic avoidance measures around Hartford involving the HOV lane there was a surprising lack of traffic backups.  I arrived in New Haven well ahead of schedule and actually had to find a place to park instead of my normal snatch and grab routine in front of the train station.

The Wending Couple in New Haven

It was more than worth the wait as my very solitary feelings were immediately dismissed when spying the sought after couple wending their way down the sidewalk towards me.  An entertaining drive back to Massachusetts followed where significant catch-up on respective lives was pursued.  We performed quartering party duties at Zorba’s while awaiting my wife’s release from Catholic duties.  She joined us there while I tried (unsuccessfully at times) to avoid looking at the Bruins playoff game on the thirty different televisions. 

My favorite waitress swung by to say hello and has abandoned her pink hair experiment so Western Civilization may not be falling after all.  It was such a good time.  My wife has decreed that it is too cold to stop by Ronnie’s for ice cream yet so we assuaged our disappointment with some serious chocolate cake and ice cream, Good Friday indeed.

I was more than a little gassed after a long day at work and the soul sapping time always rendered by the Connecticut highway system but I didn’t want to give up on such great camaraderie.  We arrived home and my wife’s “proposed” wedding attire passed inspection by daughter and son in law to such a degree that she might actually keep it.  We ended the night watching Hannibal which is so delicious – a very poor choice of adjective there.  As stated above – a Really, Really Good Friday.

Dutiful Devout

I once made the mistake of calling my wife a fanatic about her Catholicism; once.  Turns out this was not the right thing to say (I added this to my fairly long, very personalized, and ever lengthening list of dumb things a husband should not say to his wife).  While not a fanatic she is extremely devout and starting yesterday she goes into “the mode” where I come up short in her estimation because I don’t spend extended hours at the church during this holiest of all weeks.  She also stretched the days I have to eat foul tasting fish instead of my normal dead animal flesh into Thursday instead of just Lenten Fridays.

Board Meeting Yesterday
Blinded by the Light (content)

This only added insult to the injury of yesterday which started out the monthly board meeting and the juxtaposition of politicians and the “Voices of Inappropriate Worth”.  This confluence of opportunism and deluded self-importance is always a challenge.  Yesterday the head politician was currying favor with a regular bus rider who is more than a few cards short of a full deck.  I find it interesting that a person with obvious cognitive issues is granted a forum to spout totally inane statements simply because she first complimented the politicians.  This is the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts where form is so much more important than content.  The inanity reached such a crescendo that I walked out once my area was covered.  I was terrified that I would stand up and say what I was thinking and that would not have been conducive to continued employment.

The Red Sox won a very entertaining game last night against one of the best pitchers in baseball.  I hadn’t seen Sale pitch before but he was absolutely nasty or the Red Sox really are as bad as I fear.  Luckily John Lester was on the mound for the Sox and he was every bit as good as Sale and maybe a little better.  I’m going to find a bunch of women to send the Sox rookie shortstop Bogaerts racy pictures because the day after he got in trouble in the twittersphere for one such photo he broke up Sale’s no-hitter with an absolute monster of a home run that may land in a couple more days.

Bogaerts Connecting Last Night

The Sox are scarily shallow offensively these days and I cringe when the batting order moves beyond Napoli.  He was a hero last night, back in the lineup two days after dislocating one of his digits.  Who’d have thunk we’d miss Middlebrooks so much, not to mention the flying Hawaiian .  The Sox pitching at least seems to be providing the faintest of pulses and they will start hitting if the law of averages has any kind of sway.  I think we’re paying for the fairy dust of last year.

So the Sox provided a bit of a lift after the less than amusing weekend eve but the real tonic comes later today.  Even though this is the heaviest day of the year for us Catholics (just ask the wife) I’m making my own pilgrimage to New Haven this afternoon to pick up my favorite Daughter and Son in law who’ll be spending the holiday weekend with us.  On Sunday we even get the son and MEF.  My wife declared that we would officially feel like parents again.  I love these peaks after the valleys.

Horvathed Again

It’s no surprise that I’m inexorably reaching the end of my journey through Brad Thor’s excellent series of books featuring his super-agent Scot Horvath.  It seems once I pick up one of his books (or in this case power up the Kindle) that I’m in for a frenzied reading experience, trying to glean spare minutes throughout the day where I can get back to the story Thor’s immersed me in.  I just can't read them fast enough which is kind of frustrating.

This was again the case with Foreign Influence which I finished off yesterday.  Thor takes him back to saving the country again and brings back some of the more interesting characters from his earlier adventures as he tries to figure out what to do with Horvath’s private life since he’d painted him into a corner in that area.

Horvath starts out in Iraq and is quickly thwarting terrorist attacks there as well as London, Brussels and Chicago in short order, before finishing up in Yemen (of course).  He’s aided in this by a team of Amazon warriors from Delta Force which provide the perfect foil for Horvath’s single-mindedness.  Thor’s a great story teller and has cemented his place in my pantheon of literary heroes.

Serious Drafting

Front Yard This Morning

Enough is enough.  I wrote earlier this week about reserving my embrace of spring.  I was only, kind of, kidding.  I certainly didn’t expect to wake up this morning to an inch of snow and an ice covered driveway.  I consider this completely unacceptable and intend to file a very terse complaint with the Management.

Back Yard

This would echo Europe’s response to the unfolding events in Ukraine.  You’ve really got to almost admire the way Putin’s campaign is unfolding.  He’s certainly done his homework.  Last week he backed the Europeans off by threatening their gas supply and is certainly not worried about Obama whose goal is life seems only to be liked (despite his spectacular failure in that area).  Putin’s goaded the Ukrainians into responding militarily to the Russian organized bandits occupying government buildings and airports in Eastern Ukraine.  The Russians also undermined many of the Ukrainian military units sent in.  Putin will wait a respectful period of time (less than a week) before he launches forces across the border to protect “ethnic Russians” in Eastern Ukraine.  It’s all so very, “Russian”. 

Well Played Sir

This is a European problem and you can only hope some leadership emerges over there to confront Putin before the next Iron Curtain goes up.  The European tendency to “wish away” problems won’t work.  They may be re-thinking their condescending attitude towards “American adventurism”.

Speaking of adventuring, last night was date night.  I wasn’t too sure what to make of Draft Day when I first saw the previews, a movie about the NFL college draft.  Since Kevin Costner was in it I knew I was going to see it since my wife has a serious, almost troubling crush on him.  I was pleasantly surprised by a very strong movie which is kind of a comedic drama. 

Costner plays the general manager of the Cleveland Browns (poor bastard) who’s trying to build a better team while also dealing with the recent death of an iconic father and a pregnant girlfriend as well as the whirling maelstrom of the college draft.  Costner is so good in sports related movies and he delivers again as a force of reason in the unreasonable world of professional sports.  Jennifer Garner is a great foil as the supportive and strong willed girlfriend. The film does a great job of building up suspense as we’re kept wondering to the final scenes whether he’ll succeed or fail spectacularly. 

This turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen all year.  My wife even said she wants to watch this year’s college draft day now that she knows what it’s all about.  At some point I’m going to have to tell her that none of the NFL’s GMs even remotely resemble Costner.

One Year into Boston Strong

“The stories are starting to emerge as these nameless heroes rushed to help horribly wounded victims.  This all happened with the imminent threat of additional explosions.  That is what I’ll take away from yesterday – the inspiration of those heroes who put the need to help strangers ahead of their own safety. That is why the bombers of the world will never win.  Instead of gaining notoriety, they expose the true decency of most people.  They provide the object lesson that most people are good.”

That’s what I wrote one year ago as the Boston Marathon bombings took place.  Again, I refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the miserably cretinous oxygen thieves who purveyed this senseless violence.  They are beneath our collective contempt. 

Krystle Marie Campbell

We should remember the three spectators killed in the bombings: Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, a restaurant manager from Medford; Lu Lingzi, 23, a Boston University graduate student from Shenyang, China; and Martin William Richard, an eight-year-old boy from Dorchester.  A few days later, Sean A. Collier, 27, an MIT police officer sacrificed his life during the idiot hunt.  Remember and honor the memory these four people and the hundreds of others who were wounded and refused to be cowed.  They are worthy of our consideration and respect.

Lu Lingzi

I still stand in awe of the region’s response to this tragedy.  This is the enduring legacy of the bombings, the response.  The fractious maelstrom of me-first politics within the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts was swarmed under by the true strength of the people and their communal worth. 

Martin William Richard

The people did not wallow in fear and terror as was hoped.  They forged a new chapter in what really defines this country – backbone.  I’ll remember the singing of the Star Spangled Banner at the Boston Garden the day after; a spontaneous expression of our will.  Messages of solidarity flew in from around the country and the world as that silent majority (a term ruined by Nixon) woke from peaceful slumber and demonstrated the power of a free people.  We were all Bostonians a year ago today.

Sean Collier

If it can happen here, in one of the most progressive (not a compliment in any way) of all these United States then the future bombers and terrorists should take note.  We, as a people, are an incredibly dangerous foe.  Arouse us at your own peril.

Springing into Palahniuk Finale

The First Flower Officially Arrived

Yesterday was the first day in months I’ve been able to spend the majority of outside; well except for snow blowing duties.  I completed the spring cleanup of all the debris the local trees donated to the lawn and Buddy was my ever present guard fully prepared to bring death and destruction on any squirrel or unfortunate jogger that hove into view. 

Not Bad for a Week's Worth of Effort

There were even a few plants and one flower emerging from the tundra where snow had covered barely ten days ago. I convinced my wife it was safe to venture outside just to prove her flowers were returning.  She was dubious but obviously pleased before retreating inside to escape the frigid 68 degree temperatures.  I’m beginning to think spring might finally be here but I’m enough of a New Englander to prevent me from completely buying into that despite today’s temperatures in the 70‘s. 

Buddy on Squirrel Guard

I also finished off my years long foray into the twisted mind of Chuck Palahniuk yesterday by reading the final book he’s published so far, Doomed.  My son in law recommended I read Palahniuk and it’s been a wild ride although it did give rise to doubts as to the sanity of that son in law.  Palahniuk never fails to amuse, amaze, and terrify with his off the wall escalations of every day foibles.

This made Doomed kind of a disappointment because he doesn’t cut any new ground.  This was a direct sequel to Damned and was an almost exact duplicate with the same sort of semi-ending.  I get the impression the two books were one large one that his publishers forced him to cut in two so they could make more money.  He picks up the story of the recently dead 13-year old Madison who is now trapped back on earth and trying to haunt her celebrity parents.  It had all of Palahniuk’s bravado but I was left with the impression of “been there, done that” which was a first with a Palahniuk book.

A cousin posted the following video on Facebook yesterday which brought to mind two things.  First – is it too late to get this guy for my son’s wedding and second – don’t you hate it when you hear a song and can’t get it out of your head.  I’ve been singing “Hallelujah” for a solid twenty hours so far.  Don’t watch the video unless you have some extra time in the shower today to devote to melodic wanderings.

The Red Sox continued to founder in New York despite the presence of their good luck charm, my daughter and son in law, near the left field foul pole.  They looked a lot more like the Pawtucket Red Sox last night and one can only hope they start getting some major league talent back on the field before they fade too far (but I’m not complaining).

Good Luck Charms Last Night in the Evil Empire

There was one high point to the night as the incestuous twerp Joffrey finally got his “just desserts” on Game of Thrones.  After the Red Wedding this was much better fare.  Finally I’ve started another playoff beard in honor of the Bruins.  I felt the Patriots’ playoff loss was directly attributable to my lack of facial hair in support.  There will be weekly updates on my hirsute progress.  

Choke on That You Incredible Little A-Hole!
Now This Was a Wedding I Could Get Behind

Questing

Yesterday was dedicated to “The Quest”; a journey to identify the dress my wife will wear at my son’s upcoming wedding.  This is not a task to be approached gently or without a proper amount of respect and consideration.  It is certainly not something to joke about (hard lesson there).  We decided early in the morning (well not so much a decision as a spousal declaration) to journey east to Natick for the more well stocked dress preserves at a high end mall.

There was a movie theater nearby, I had my kindle, and we hoped to stop by and see my younger sister who lives in nearby Framingham.  I went two for three on the plans as my sister (as with most winter-sick New Englanders) took advantage of a spectacular day to drive up to Maine with her fiancé.  I deposited my wife at the Macy’s end of the mall hoping she (I) would get lucky and find something at the low end of the mall.

The Wife's Hunting Ground Yesterday

After a food court lunch I went to see the movie Oculus.  I don’t get to see very many horror movies on the big screen since my son moved out as my wife adamantly refuses to be scared (Even by some pretty scary credit card bills).  They’re a real guilty pleasure for me (horror movies not the bills) so I was looking forward to this.  That was until a group of four females sat directly behind me and I prepared to have the attendant screams throughout the movie.  There was literally twenty minutes of previews which I found a bit unsettling due to the increased time (and therefore range) it offered my wife in the mall.

The movie started out great with an interesting concept of a haunted mirror being pursued by a brother and sister whose parents were victimized by the demonic residents of the mirror when they were young.  Despite the interesting concept and likable cast the movie completely sputters out in the second half with a utterly predictable ending.  The director became so enamored of gimmicks and flashbacks that he forgot to keep a horror movie scary.  The gals behind me issued nary a scream.

I emerged into the sunlit parking lot to discover that my sister was in Maine and against all prognostications my wife had found her dress.  I did pay the price for all those previews though because the additional time allowed a migration all the way to the other end of the mall and the Niemen Marcus store (gasp).  The dress does look beautiful (no pictures until the wedding though).

Mission Complete But Energy Sapped

The long walk to the prize though had taken its toll on my wife.  We planned on a night of dancing in Worcester but she told me over a celebratory dinner at Chuck’s Steak House that she just wasn’t up for it after her predations in the shopping jungle.  I was more than a little stunned since she likes dancing even more than shopping.  She must have squeezed an immense amount of effort during that movie.

The quest, though theoretically completed, may not be over as we are now in the “agonizing over a decision already made” phase.  We watched a movie together last night as she continued to peruse the internet with her I-Pad for dresses.  She spent a long time looking at the advertisement for the dress she already bought.  She didn’t appreciate my suggestion to just go up and look at the dress hanging upstairs instead of a picture of it.  This is a process I’m thankfully and blissfully unencumbered by; tough to watch though.