January 29, 2010: Reboot So many events have passed unremarked upon, you probably thought I was dead. Not so.

February 2, 2010: Falcon Eddie There's so much news that breaks your heart, I sometimes forget things have always been nasty. I've been reading The Sisters Who Would be Queen, by Leanda de Lisle, a biography of Lady Jane Grey and her sisters.

You remember Lady Jane Grey. She's the 16-year-old who inherited the throne of England from her young cousin, Edward VI, because of religious issues. Edward's sister, Bloody Mary, took issue with this, claimed the queenship from Jane and had Jane beheaded. This made a good movie starring Helena Bonham Carter.

Rated	Rated	Rated

My actual subject here is an anecdote about Edward who is most famous for being the son of Henry VIII and for his depiction in Mark Twain's delightful book, The Prince and the Pauper. According to The Sisters Who Would be Queen, Edward was shown a well trained falcon, the best in his flock, and had it skinned alive. Edward said, "This falcon, so much more excellent than the others, has been stripped, just as I, the first among all the others of the realm, am skinned." Edward had 20 or so counselors telling him what to do. Poor baby king.

As I write this, Oklahoma County (OK) has determined it doesn't have enough money to convert to a no kill animal shelter, morons are blowing themselves up along with innocent strangers, human trafficking is a major concern in quake devasted Haiti, and every evildoer caught in the act is outraged at being stopped from whatever awfulness he or she was engaged in.

When does the madness stop?

March 7, 2010: And The Award Goes To I will not be watching the latest installment of the Academy Awards tonight.

2009   1990 Academy Award winner

March 8, 2010: I, Hypocrite Ok, so I watched every minute of the Academy Awards.  In my defense, I made a spiral stitch bead bracelet while I did so. My verdict:

April 10, 2010:  Opening Night  So there I was in Boston to help my daughter, Jill, move to the Northend when she said we're going to the Redsock's opening night at Fenway Park.  Wahoo, I think.  I hadn't seen a major league baseball game since Willie Mays last played the Pittsburgh Pirates at the old (it was state of the art then) Three Rivers Stadium.  Turns out she didn't have tickets and we were going to meet some of her friends at a bar (one of many) next to Fenway!  Was I robbed?  No, I had a good time despite the fact that friend Peter would periodically yell out, "Boomer," and expect Jill and me to reply, "Sooner."  In the spirit of things, that wasn't a hardship.

Oh, and Jill made me walk from her place to Fenway.  Since we took the scenic, but to be avoided on foot at night, Charles River Esplanade route, we surely covered more than the 3 1/2 miles MapQuest.com says we did, but we walked with Jill's friend Becky, and I enjoyed the trek.

The Northend is almost the perfect neighborhood.  People know each other, there are fantastic (but expensive) Italian restaurants everywhere, like the wonderful Al Dente Ristorante on Salem St, and you can easily walk to Paul Revere's house, Boston Common and the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  On the other hand, there are no large grocery stores and the local laundry is beautiful but expensive.  Also, many businesses are cash only, though thankfully, Lyndell's Bakery is not one of them.

So everything got moved and sorted and settled.  My thanks to Bethany, Charles White of U-Haul, movers Don and company, and Heather for offering to help.

May 4, 2010:  Lost  What if "Lost" stands for living on short time?  You heard it here first as far as I know.

May 20, 2010:  Lost, the Answer  Last night, we watched the last regular episode of Lost before the final reveal all episode.  They telegraphed the ending with the scale that showed up on screen as the show started.  Here's what I now think:

The island is a place of judgment where "lost" souls go to be damned or to receive a second chance at life.  In ancient Egyptian [the giant statue and the hieroglyphics] theology, the hearts of the dead were weighed against a feather.  If your heart was heavy with sin, it was instantly devoured by monsters [smoke monster].

Some pure souls, like Walt, were sent back to the real world, while babies, such as Aaron, are rare and must leave or be destroyed.

Jacob [think Jacob's ladder to heaven] guards, but never goes to paradise because of his sins.  His pool of light is the gateway to heaven.

The Dharma Initiative is so named because of the path to righteousness.

Desmond is an avenging angel.  Ben is a demon.

Can't wait to find out if I'm right.  [Oh. Well.]

June 7, 2010:  'Nuff Said

June 23, 2010:  We All Fall Down  I'm one of those history nerds who believes President Truman made the right call in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  My own father, deaf on one ear and rejected by all branches of the military, would most probably been drafted for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.  His likely death in the non atomic version of World War II is not my reason for supporting this most terrible of human actions.  I feel Truman's choice saved many more lives than it took.  But I don't like it.  And so I periodically read something that makes me count the cost of each and every person killed or injured.  Charles Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima is subtitled, "The Survivors Look Back."  It's horrifying.  It's sickening.  It's very well done.  Pray no one feels compelled to ever play God again.

Rated  

August 8, 2010:  By the Fatal Bear Bite of Saint Euphemia  I can't blame the emptiness on this page on Facebook.  I don't do much there except poke people.  And that seems so useless.  My original purpose for getting on the face wagon was to promote something or other but I don't want to be sold things, so why would you?

And by the way, I am sick of all the folks who want to tell me how to get the most out of social marketing.  I think I need a larger staff.  And a vacation.  How about you?

October 11, 2010:  Caryn Gets a Life  For a long time, I've felt that my brother-in-law's store, Bill Kamp's Meat Market in OKC, would make a great setting for a reality show.  The staff is awesomely entertaining and the customers are generally from a different world than the rest of us.  Until that show happens, my focus is on figuring out how to produce a reality show about my younger daughter, Caryn.

Caryn is smart, funny (she got an award in high school), kind and very attractive.  She is well traveled (although she would say, "Not well enough"), interested in the world at large and a college student.  She has worked in day care for years and has strong feelings about child care.  She paints and loves cutting edge music as well as Dean Martin. 

My point is audiences would love her, there are lots of opportunities for interesting shows in this and Caryn might earn enough to get off my back about her need for a new car.  It's a perfect storm.

November 11, 2010:  Waiting for an Oil Change   I couldn't help but overhear three gentlemen discussing politics this morning.  I left the room rather than offer my opinion of their position.  It has never benefited any nation when diversity of thought was not honored.  We should not have to go back to Girolamo Savonarola or Adolf Hitler or even Joe McCarthy to see ugly is evil.  I might not like what you have to say, but I support your right to say it, and I do not mock you.  Or refuse to give you credit when your views are useful and productive.  I will not label your position out of ignorance nor call you names because we truly are all in this together.  And so are our children.    

Diary Table of Contents