Return to Sender

I never send out birthday cards. I do send out email greetings based on birthday alerts I have set up on my computer, but it's more like the lame note you get every year from your life insurance agent - typical database stuff.

My sister Jan on the other hand, manually keeps track of birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations sending off a hand-picked, especially for you, perfect card impeccably timed to arrive on that special day. The only thing more dependable than getting a card from Jan on your birthday is the mailman making the delivery.

It takes a lot of work to send someone a card. Assuming you remember the occasion, you have to drive to a store, fumble through 20 or 30 cards looking for the right one, pay for it (meaning you had to work to earn the money), write something in it better than what was already printed on the inside cover, address the envelope, get in the car again to go and buy a stamp because there are none left in the desk drawer, and finally mail the damn thing! After all that effort you wait days to hear back from the recipient as to whether or not they got the card, number one, and read the card, number two. Most often people open the card, enjoy it in silence and never let you know they got it; guilty as charged, Judge!

Well, Jan finally got fed up with decades of sending out a card a day (we've got a big family) and never getting one back. I heard her say earlier in the year she was divesting of Hallmark and giving up the greeting card business. Woolworth's is no longer with us either. These are things that should never change in one's lifetime.

So her birthday falls on the 18th of April and I figured I would send her a real card this year. I wanted her to know how much I appreciated her efforts through the years if only in silence. I had about 40 cumulative thank yous locked up in my heart, and I was putting them all down on a hand-picked, especially for her, impeccably timed birthday card.

Did I tell you that I have a family database on my computer with names, birthday alerts, email and mailing addresses? I do. In fact, I have two of them and one has an address listed for Jan that the U.S. Postal Service doesn't recognize. Thank God I sent her an email.

Sorry about that, Jan. I wrote some really good stuff, but I didn't put any money in the envelope. Wait until next year, but make sure you don't move between now and then.

Love,

Robert

Friends & Family Network

I got an invite this weekend to go to a girls softball game at the University of Hartford. A friend from 30 years ago called to say his daughter was on the varsity squad at BU and they were coming to Connecticut for a 3 game series. He was flying in from his hometown of Seattle.

I don't know what made Peter think of me some 3 decades later, but I sure was happy he did. It made for a very nice weekend.

When he called me early in the week I was wondering what in the world would we talk about? We could reminisce about Old Town, Burlington, and Mt Katahdin for the first 20 minutes and then what? Fill him in on the last 30 years? Gosh, I know I like to spin a yarn or two but it has been at least 8 years since I put together a resume. Not only have the years gone by fast, I don't even know what the heck I have been doing since 1976 besides getting bigger. This had the potential to be a lot of work.

Then I started wondering if there was something wrong with Peter. Maybe he was terminally ill and reaching out to all the people from his past one last time. Or was this a "My Name is Earl" moment. I couldn't remember Peter ever doing anything bad to me, so what the heck would he be trying to make right?

It took him until the 2nd day to admit it, but he does have a physical ailment. He has a problem in his lower back somewhere between discs 4 and 5. But it only bothers him if he runs more than 5 miles a day - the guy looked great! And, as I suspected, there was no "Earl" moment as Peter was always an upright guy.

Nope, he just took the initiative to call and say we shouldn't have lost touch with each other. "Let bisons be bisons and let's meet up to catch up, " Peter said. What a good man.

As for his daughter, she is one helluva softball player. Melissa put on an impressive display of hitting on Saturday including a home run she crushed over the center field fence. For all the enjoyment I got out of watching her play the game, by the end of the weekend I was just thankful she brought me back an old friend. She could have struck out 10 times and I'd still think her an angel. Albeit an angel with a pretty good arm!

30 years is too long to let friendships wane. I know I don't have another 30 years to hold in abeyance, so I'm going to make sure to use up all my calling plan minutes from now on!

Bring in the Clowns

I'm on a legislative alert email list for issues dealing with protecting human life. Earlier this week I got a notice indicating the Connecticut Senate approved a bill mandating hospital emergency rooms make available the Plan B contraceptive to rape victims. Known as the "morning after pill", the Catholic hospitals in Connecticut are morally opposed to administering the drug as it can destroy life defined as the moment of conception to one's natural death.

There are some oddities around the bill that make me somewhat suspicious of the motives. First of all, private and public hospitals around Connecticut already administer Plan B so the only remaining hospitals targeted by the bill are Catholic hospitals. Is the bill about the victims, or is the bill about the Catholic stance on abortion. I think the latter.

Secondly, The Connecticut Catholic Conference offered alternative language in the bill allowing a Catholic hospital the opportunity to transport a patient to another facility if Plan B was desired by the victim. Most of the Catholic hospitals in Connecticut are in the same city as their public counterparts. St Mary's Hospital in Waterbury is 1/10th of a mile from Waterbury Hospital or roughly 500 feet. The senate rejected the amendment and will now force the Bishops of Connecticut to choose between obeying the laws of man or betraying the moral principals of the Church.

Rape is a very emotional issue. Pregnancy as a result of rape is even more emotional. But it is also a very narrow issue. Depending on where you get your stats the odds of a rape victim becoming pregnant are 0.2% to 4.7%. That translates into 2 in 1,000 to 47 in 1,000. In 2005, Connecticut had 702 reported rapes.

2 or 47, both are tragic numbers, but if you can get an abortion elsewhere, is it necessary for our government to force the Church to participate in the abortion? Where is the separation of Church and State when you really need it? How about we give up "In God We Trust" and "one nation, under God" in exchange for the right to life?

Today, I heard a local radio host describe another bill passed by the senate that would prohibit owners of an elephant from carrying or using a bullhook in our state. A bullhook is a prodding instrument a trainer uses to keep an elephant under control, but some animal rights activist claim it inflicts pain. Sounds like a good bill, but again, what's up with the narrow focus? Don't we already have animal cruelty laws? And just how many elephants are there in Connecticut?

Well, it turns out a guy in Goshen owns three and of course Ringley Brothers, Barnum & Bailey's Circus brings a herd of elephants through Connecticut when the Big Top comes to town. They all carry a bullhook to make sure a 12,000 pound elephant doesn't trample a 200 pound man. While one of the nicest animals you'll ever meet, an elephant is still a wild animal.

Ringley Brothers has never had an elephant stampede in their 90 year history, and according to their spokesman they know a thing or two about training and caring for elephants. They even have a retirement community in Florida for all the elephants who no longer fit into their circus tutu. I don't have a retirement home in Florida lined up for me. The man in Goshen has a $500,000 heated barn and spends $10,000 a year with the local vet to care for the elephants who have been part of his family since 1976.

But someone has a hard-on for the elephant abuse that is taking place all around us in the Nutmeg state. They aren't worried about tying up the bull's balls at the rodeo, whipping the mudder at the racetrack, or kicking your dog because he shit on the neighbor's lawn. Nope, we've got to pass a law to let the elephants get out of line. And we all get to kiss the circus goodbye, because Barnum & Bailey won't be coming to Connecticut.

You are probably wondering at this point what in the hell do elephants have to do with abortion? Good question. I don't know.

Can I get a Rodney?

"Can't we all just get along?"

Amen!

Opt Out

My niece sent me an email letting me know of a fee for service company that will stop all the junk mail from coming to your house. I'd like to see them try!

I didn't read the full offering, but for $36 a year they'll get your name off the common mailing list and plant a few trees in your name - very nice. They claim we use more than 100,000,000 trees and 28,000,000,000 gallons of water a year generating mail that nobody reads. If the stuff we get in our mailbox is proportional to that of the general populace, I can believe it.

It seems odd, or rather American, that you should have to pay someone else to stop the barrage of credit card offers, mortgage refinancing deals and lower automobile insurance rates. Geico sends me something once a month saying their rates just went down...again. The cavemen must think me am really stupid. On any given day I get authorization from Discover, MasterCard and Visa to run up another $50,000 in credit card debt. Once a week a local bank sends me a flier offering a UConn cooler and free checking (except for the fees) if I use direct deposit and maintain a $5,000 balance. And God forbid you ever ordered anything from LL Bean; you'll get a new specialty catalog every other day.

Has anyone noticed how some of the banks now send your statements in an envelope that looks like junk mail? They are doing this because they know you know what junk mail looks like and just toss it...like junk. Now that you can't tell if it is promotional mail or your statement, you open both out of fear you may be throwing away your statement. Go ahead, throw it away! Let's teach the bastards a lesson, although I do admit I am not sure what the lesson would be given you'd get hit with a late fee for not paying your bill. Damn the details!

Anyhow, the fact GreenDimes exist made me wonder (and Google) whether or not there were any free tips on how to stop the trees from falling and the water from running. The internet is full of suggestions. Everybody except the shut-in hates junk mail.

Check out WikiHow for some simple tips. I called the credit card opt out number and registered for the DMA no mail list. One asked for my social security number and the other charged me a buck on my AmEx. I probably just gave away my identity to a credit card thief.

They say it takes about 6-8 weeks to see a difference. Wish me luck!

Wonderful

On this beautiful spring day...

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Give Me a Second, Papa

When you ask an adult to pose for a photo they often pause for a moment to fix the hair, put on some lipstick, tuck in the shirt, turn to their good side..."okay....cheeeezze." When you ask a baby to pose for a photo, you sometimes have to wait for nature's call. I wouldn't think of poop as precious, but it's a good word to describe the innocence of a toddler.

No high brow discussion today!

Charmed Life

My suspicions came true. Saturday the kids hosted a 50th birthday party for me. While I wasn't totally caught by surprise (sorry, kids!), I was humbled by the distance traveled by many just to break bread on my behalf. I am a lucky man.

I was hoping at age 50 I'd have lots of time to spend with my friends and family, but somehow life has gotten more hectic not less. Time is the currency that earns no interest; the days just aren't long enough. When too much time goes by without seeing loved ones I get quite melancholy. Saturday morning was one of those moments.

Julie brought it all around for me though with a beautiful thought. She was telling me about the charm bracelet she has been keeping since she was a young girl. On it are pendants collected over time each with a personal meaning for her. Some are reminders of people, others reminders of events. All of the charms bring her joy.

"You have a charm bracelet, you know," she said. "It's made up of all the friends you've collected throughout your life. The memories you have of the time together are the charms. When you pull one out it will bring you happiness."

Wonderful wisdom from a wonderful woman. Yesterday I added a beautiful charm to my life bracelet. It'll see me through until we meet again.

Not What it Seems

Julie is taking me out for dinner and dancing tonight as a prelude to my 50th birthday. I'm probably not going to be in town on my actual birthday, so she made arrangements (courtesy of some good friends) for an overnight stay at the charming Mystic Inn. But all week long she has been acting odd, and my suspicious mind tells me something else is in the works... and it involves people coming to our house.

She spent the week cleaning, painting and gardening. When I asked her why the sudden rush of energy she blamed it on 2 days of exercising. Sounds rationale. Recently a co-worker told me I needed to get my endorphins moving and a 30 minute work out would do the trick. Okay, so I do remember Julie exercising last weekend, but I haven't seen her do any jumping jacks all week. Something else is going on here.

Likewise, she has been staying up very late. 3 a.m. late. Last night she even went to bed with me and then snuck out after I was asleep. My bladder woke me up around 1:30, and sure enough, no Julie. Climbing back into bed I could hear her rustling around in the kitchen.

This morning there was a simmering pot of baked beans. We don't ever have baked beans unless a crowd is coming to the house for a cookout.

Surprise? I'll let you know how it turns out when we get back from Mystic.

Light 'em Up!

A woman in South Carolina is alive today because she smokes! Okay, so the story is a bit deceptive as it wasn't the nicotine or tar that kept her alive, but the fact that she smokes.

The smoker (not pictured)was in her kitchen washing pots and pans when she decided to set aside the Brillo pad and step outside to have a cigarette. Everybody hates doing the dishes! Her timing was impeccable. She barely had time to take a drag when an 80 foot oak tree fell through the roof of her house into the kitchen. Had she been scrubbing the frying pan, she'd be in a pine box.

Where was this story when I was trying to "give an example of irony" on my high school English final? I can see the minds of the Philip Morris marketing department whirling as I write:

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health. Smoking By Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, And Low Birth Weight. Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide. Footnote: Smoking has been shown to save lives in areas subject to high winds and sandy soil.

Brand Loyalty

I have been using TurboTax for online filing since 1998. I love it. Simple, quick and easy. If you are lucky enough to be in line for a refund, electronic filing gets you your money in about 10 days. What's not to like?

TurboTax has been the software of choice for me, but I must admit I've picked up the H&R Block box 3 years running. It's $10 cheaper and seems to have the same features and functions as TurboTax, but once I lock onto a brand I seldom switch. Besides, Intuit usually had a rebate to help offset cheaper software from competing vendors.

But they didn't have a rebate this year, and they also couldn't process my return on time. Not only mine, but thousands of others from what I know at the moment. I've been trying to submit my federal and state taxes for over 3 hours but keep getting the "high demand, can't process" notice; it's no longer April 17th. I paid $89 for the program and another $38 to process the returns electronically with the word "guarantee" written all over the TurboTax box. Wow!

The story won't be told for another 12 months, but look for a headline next year talking about a spike in H&R Block Tax Accounting software. This one is a no-brainer.

Senseless

The chaos of yesterday's Virginia Tech shootings is so sad. So much pain for the parents, siblings and friends left behind. Life lost in a random moment.

Television continues to make a mockery of the dead. Like maggots on a carcass, they eat away at the remaining flesh until it is no longer recognizable. Exclusive interviews, breaking news, eyewitness accounts, new video footage and photos - they just keep churning it out. Their false sense of sadness and shock is so transparent it almost comes across as glee. Very odd people.

No time to notify the next of kin. No time to grieve. No time to bury the dead.

I am confused.

A Moment of Silence

It's been less than 12 hours since 33 people were killed today by a gunman in Blacksburg, VA. Already there are commentators sprouting conspiracy theories, pundits spinning 'what if' scenarios, and people looking to pin the blame on the administration, gun laws and the movies. The noise is louder than the gunshots.

The moment screams for quiet prayer.

Passing of Another Loser

Kurt Vonnegut died this week. I read a lot his novels when I was in my late teens - Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse-Five, Welcome to the Monkey House, Cat's Cradle. Generally these books were beyond my reasoning, but the satire I understood was brilliant.

Ironically, for all his great writing, the two things that stand out in my mind about Vonnegut are the picture he drew of an asshole in Breakfast of Champions, and a graduation speech he never gave. The asshole was pure artistic genius. The 1997 MIT Commencement Speech was actually penned by a Chicago columnist, Mary Schmich, but it spread like a virus through the Internet with Vonnegut's name on it. Of the hoax, Vonnegut called the cyberworld "spooky".

I saw Vonnegut give a PBS interview (Now) only a few months back. It was a repeat program from 2005, but I hadn't seen it before. I was glad I had the chance to hear it before Vonnegut died. Below are a few exchanges that capture the essence of Vonnegut for me...even if I don't understand all he had to say.

DAVID BRANCACCIO: How's life?
KURT VONNEGUT: Well, it's practically over, thank God.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: For Heaven's sake.
KURT VONNEGUT: I'm 80-- I'm practically 83. It won't be that much more of-- for me to put up with. I don't think.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: Well, you were writing about maybe you want to sue your cigarette companies? You smoked all those years and there's a warning on the package saying that this will --
KURT VONNEGUT: Brown and Williams, on their package, promise to kill me. And they haven't done it. I mean, here I am 83.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: False advertisers on the cigarettes?
KURT VONNEGUT: Yes.

and...

KURT VONNEGUT: You know, Christianity is very big now in particular-- and our president, of course, is a Christian. These are words I never hear. Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is kingdom of heaven. This isn't original. Blessed are they that mourn. For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers. For they shall be called the children of God. Not exactly a Republican platform.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: These, of course, are called the Beatitudes.
KURT VONNEGUT: Yes.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: From the Holy Bible.
KURT VONNEGUT: Yeah.
DAVID BRANCACCIO: It's interesting. It tends to be Ten Commandments, not the Beatitudes in modern day America.
KURT VONNEGUT: Yes. Well, not only that, it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth justifies a lot of violence. On the part of many different societies. But actually, that's from the Code of Hammurabi. And what he was trying to do was cut down in violence in his society. In Babylonia. And saying, look, okay you're a real man. You got to get revenge, I guess. But this much and no more. Otherwise, Babylon is going to-- we're just going to be people getting revenge. Revenge is going to become the chief business. And I-- about Moses-- I wish he had come down off the mountain and — with word from God that hey, we've got to cut down on revenge, too. Because revenge is bad news. It's a very bad emotion. And again, we have Jesus. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Imagine that on a wall in the White House? No, it's we must get revenge. And, of course, the armaments manufacturers — what we used to call merchants of death are — making a lot of money out of this.

and...

DAVID BRANCACCIO: Why has the president angered you so?
KURT VONNEGUT: Well, because he shouldn't be president. Is-- we ought to have a stronger person. And he's obviously an actor in a made for TV movie. And other people are, in fact, telling him what to say. Of course, we have only a one party government. It's the winners. And then everybody else is the losers. And, the winners divided into two parties. The Republicans and the Democrats.

Another Deadline

April 15th comes on April 17th this year for us folks in New England, but it's still coming. I just filed my 2005 tax return 3 weeks ago. My father, an IRS agent for 33 years, is rolling in his grave.

I promise to file on time this year, but I'm not happy about it. It isn't the timing so much as the fact I don't have any control over where my tax dollars go. Picking up on a theme from a previous post about American Idol, why is it that we can't use technology to vote on more important things in life?

I'd love to have the choice to direct my tax dollars. The IRS has figured out how to allow 95 million people to file taxes electronically, how about extending the capabilities to let me designate where my money goes?

Don't like war? Don't buy any bullets. Worried about global warming? Up the ante for alternative energy. Morally opposed to federally funded embryonic stem cell research? No need to compromise your soul.

With cyberspace exponentially expanding by the day, we don't need representative government anymore - we can speak for ourselves. There isn't anyone in Washington representing our interests anyway. Watch C-Span for a day and you'll wonder why we have Congressmen.

This week, last week and the week before our most influential Senators spent days in a political debate over the firing of 8 federal prosecutors and the m***ing em**ls. They aren't done.

Is all the work on the war, health care, drug abuse, overcrowded prisons, a failing education system and immigration over? Did you know there are more than 3,000,000 federal employees excluding the military? I'm guessing someone gets the shaft everyday. Let's move on(.org).

I've got to go work on my taxes.

Real Planned Parenthood

"Thanks for making me! I love you, Dad."

Those were the words I got tonight from my first born son, John, on the eave of his 27th birthday. Words to make you cry. And he uttered the words after I called him an uncouth slob! Blood really is thicker than water.

I told John I loved him too, and let him know he wasn't a mistake. Julie and I actually planned to have John; we mapped out Jessica and James as well. We consciously waited 3 years before having our first child. Julie, being only 18 when we married, said she wanted to mature a bit before having children. So she patiently waited out 1977, 1978 and 1979 before I finally matured. John came to us in April of 1980.

I was struggling a bit with life when he was born, and I remember being at the hospital in Plattsburgh, NY going through some extreme emotions. I was elated to be a dad, but later that same evening while peering through the window of the hospital nursery an overwhelming sadness came over me.

I wondered if I had done the right thing by bringing John Patrick into the world. I thought of all the hurt he'd go through in his lifetime and wished from the moment he was born I could take it all away. It was an odd feeling to have on such a grand day, but life is full of irony.

It was the last time I had those feelings for John. Not because my own thoughts dissipated, but because John's own love for life drowned them out. Big John has a big heart and you can't push his face far enough into the mud to muffle the laughter.

He turned out just the way we planned him - full of love. Happy birthday, John.

View of the Angels

Interesting shot taken from the cat walk above St Joseph's Cathedral at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass. The church was set in total darkness other than the light shone on the lectors.

The reading was from the Book of Genesis, 1:1 -2:2:

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss...

The Power of the Vote

American Idol has a weekly viewership of 30,000,000 people including 5 from our household. I wouldn't say I am in love with the show as most of the singers are really screamers, but I am in love with the methodology of choosing the winner - the public votes.

You might say with 30,000,000 voters my vote doesn't count for much. Gosh, that sounds familiar. And you'd be right if you thought of it mathematically as I look like this - 1 / 30 000 000 = 3.33333333 × 10-8. But news and ideas travel fast in the modern world, and my vote along with others (John for one) is keeping the worst contestant on American Idol alive. Sanjaya is going to win.

I don't think anyone really wants this guy to win although, at least for this week, he wasn't the worst singer on the show. My own theory is that the counter vote is really a psychological statement by people against the establishment and the war in Iraq. Our irrational behavior comes from a collective sense of frustration in not being able to control our own destiny. Banding together we are changing the world.

Okay, so maybe we are only changing a song and dance contest, but give us time. The anarchy has just begun.

In Need of an Updraft

I watch Nathaniel every day and I am jealous of his world. He has no way of discerning fact from fiction, nor does he care to know the difference. We'll wreck that for him soon enough, but for now he just wakes up and takes in what is in front of him. He understands some things - hunger, a dirty diaper, a bump on the head - but fills in the rest with his imagination.

He has cars that can fly and a teddy bear who can talk. A blanket is only a blanket when it's not a tent, and Truffle is really a horse who just likes to bark. The words on a line mean nothing to him, but every picture jumps off the page.

I use to fly in my dreams. I was a son of flubber. Sometimes I would dream of flying so I could get away from Nazis coming up the attic steps of our home in Burlington. Other times I would dream of soaring over the trees in our yard. The former was a nightmare while the latter was a flight with the angels.

I'd settle for any kind of flight tonight; I just want to dream again.

Rascally Rabbit

The Easter Bunny (Spring Bunny to the atheist) visited our house last night. We left out carrots and milk for him by the fireplace, but they were still there in the morning so I don't think he comes down the chimney. He probably squeezes through a crack in the foundation like the mice, smart.

Anyhow, Nathaniel and Ayva skipped breakfast this morning and had 2 peeps, a fistful of malted milk balls and a bag of jelly beans each. By the time we got to 11 o'clock Mass they were lit up on sugar. Them and a hundred other kids. The church was rocking!

The truth is I am the Eggman. I am the Bunny. I bought most of the candy at Walgreen's yesterday afternoon. Nathaniel was with me helping me pick out what would show up in the family baskets on Sunday morning. He didn't have a clue what we were doing and he was blown away to see some of the same things we saw on the store shelves yesterday magically appear on our kitchen table today.

I was just as stunned to see that the Easter Bunny had brought Nathaniel a colorful children's umbrella with a soccer ball handle. Especially since Ayva didn't get one. I thought Julie bought it for Jakers, but she didn't. It turns out he had put the umbrella in our shopping cart when we were shopping at Walgreen's, and it just got lost amongst the bags of candy.

You know, I thought $66 was a lot of money for chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and some peeps.

Easter Joy

Family - a person having kinship with another or others; people descended from a common ancestor.

Here's wishing "family" a joyous and beautiful Easter. We'll miss hopping around with you, but there is always another day.

Olly Olly Oxen Free

Hey, is there anybody out there in the English speaking world who wants to become a priest? I need you to come out of hiding before my last day on earth. I'm getting a little worried.

During Holy Week, the Archbishop has had the valedictorian from the seminary shadow him and partake in the Mass on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. I expect the trend will continue for the Easter Vigil.

The father-to-be has a very nice demeanor and will no doubt become a fine priest, but hopefully in his native country. He has a funny accent and it ain't from Joisey!

Today, during the Intentions, his job was to say two simple phrases - "let us kneel" and "let us stand". There is a certain cadence to the words that lets you know you are in the midst of a continuous prayer to God. The commands are a part of the communal invocation.

Bishop - Let us pray for all the lost.....that God's light will shine upon them.

Seminarian - Puleez kneel. (Pause) Let us stand.

Bishop - Let us pray for the poor .....to bring equity to the world.

Seminarian - Everbodie kneel. (Pause) Puleez stand.

Bishop - Let us pray for world leaders....so that justice will prevail.

Seminarian - Go to kneel. (Pause) Stand you must do now.

Don't get me wrong, I love the man for trying. I just wish a few of our own would try. No faulting the seminarian.

I had the same experience on Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent. My brother and I attended Mass at the local parish where there is a heavy Polish influence. There is also a heavy Polish accent and staccato delivery that permeates the Homily. When they say be attentive to the Word, they aren't kidding.

All of this is a little better than the priest I heard from India earlier in the year who spoke lovingly of Weesus Christ. At first I kept thinking, what is this idea of a wheezing Christ all about? Well, it turns out it is all about the love. The same love Jesus Christ brings to you and me. We just pronounce it a bit differently.

Come on boys, sign up for the tour of duty! My foreign language skills are pitiful.

Fishes and the Muffins

Today is the solemn day of Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified. Nathaniel ("Gift from God") and I took a moment this morning to sit together and read about how much Jesus loves children.

He paused on the page illustrating the miracle of the fishes and loaves from the Sermon on the Mount. Having just helped Julie make breakfast he readily identified with feeding the masses, although in his story, the little boy brought Jesus a basket of fish and triple berry muffins.

Same story really, but Nathaniel just upgraded the menu. Alleluia. Amen.

Friendship

I tried to take a photo of Nathaniel last night. Keyla gave him a haircut to get him spiffed up for Easter and he looks so dapper. But Jakers is a humble guy and never one to hog the spotlight, he insisted I "take picktur of da Duck" instead. So I did.

He is going to be a good friend to somebody when he grows up.

Dubay Spot On

In a battle that went down to the final game, Mark "Mullen" Dubay won the Mullen Clan NCAA Tournament pool. Dubay edged out Allen "Mullen" Clark and Joseph L. Mullen II by correctly forecasting a repeat championship for the Florida Gators.

Mark accurately picked the winner in 51 of the 62 games including all of the Sweet 16. He claims not to have followed college basketball this year, so one could only attribute his success to innate betting skills.

Congrats, Markie!

Mm-mm Good!

I love vanilla ice cream. I love vanilla bean ice cream even more. I could probably come up with all sorts of adjectives to describe how much I love vanilla bean ice cream, but none would be as good as Nathaniel's - go-licious!

Czech Your Background

Joel and Marie took us out to breakfast after Mass this morning. Poor bastards, it was my idea to go out to eat and they wound up footing the bill!

We went for the keg'n'egg breakfast at the Half Door Pub in Hartford. Wonderful Irish public house.

Joel swears he isn't Irish, but he looked right at home sipping a glass of Jameson's Irish Whiskey (uisce beatha - "Water of Life" in Gaelic). Karnolt is a tough surname to research. I think Joel needs to dig a little deeper and see if his ancestors might have taken a more circuitous route to America. I bet they stopped off in Cork.

Changing Seasons

Winter came late this year with more snow falling in March than December, January and February combined. Today was beautiful. A warm sun, cool air, the rising moon.

In like a lion, out like a lamb