Royal Advisor

I don't know much about being a princess. An ex-girlfriend dressed me in drag once and I had a hell of a time walking with the tiara on, but that's another blog post/therapy session...

Here are two bits of advice for this new gal who went from commoner to royalty while the world tried to wake my ass up to watch:

1. Try not to tell people how hard it is to live in a palace and be married to the future King of England.

2. Learn how to drive.

Ode to Kicking Ass

Kim, Alex and I went to see Garth (the boy's trumpet teacher) perform the 9th (by ol' Ludwig van) with the NIU Philharmonic. I forgot how great Boutell sounds. That room may be the only thing at the University that is worth every fucking penny put into it.

We were late and missed the warm-up piece How Deserted Lies the City (about the Holocaust). It sounded moving outside the double doors.

When the doors opened for the Beethoven portion of the program, Alex led us to the first row. We sat smack dab in front of the double-basses. The Old Dog would've been proud.

The first notes, played with intention in a room meant for sound always move me beyond my ability to comment, which makes this sentence pointless and absurd and those are the least of its defects.

Kim read the names of those who contribute to NIU and community music programs and pointed out every person we knew in those pages. Thanks to you wonderful folks. You know who you are and please know how much better our little town and our world is because you gave money to help put something magnificent on one of our stages.

As the musicians played I read from Schiller's poem and was reminded:

Whoever has had the great fortune
To be a friend's friend,
Whoever has won a devoted wife,
Join in our jubilation!
Indeed, whoever can call even one soul
His own on this earth!
And whoever was not able, must creep
Tearfully away from this band!

News

Just received amazing news. Something that probably should've happened years ago is happening soon. Dear friends are getting married. My sweet wife heard the news and tears filled her eyes.

Marriage is the one sacrament that, in my understanding, the participants confer on themselves. They bless their love and commitment with all that they give to each other. Love and long life my friends...you know who you are you crazy bastards.

H2 Uh Oh

Grilled steaks for our Easter family gathering. Fun, and I managed to limited my drinking to a shot and two glasses of wine. For me, that's being mature.

Alex played the trumpet for both sets of grandparents. We even played our first duet in public. Pretty neat. He's also memorized Hot Cross Buns and is ready to whip that sucker out at a moment's notice.

NOT THAT YOU SICK BASTARDS!

Also managed to hide the basement flooding from our Easter guests. Solved the problem (I think) today and, since I already scheduled the time, went golfing with some of the fellas.

I would say things are going pretty smoothly but that kind of hubris always leads to trouble.

Decade of Alex

Ten years ago our boy made his debut in this gone mad world and life's made more sense ever since...

Unlike that last sentence

Thanks for being in our life Alex. Every day you teach me about love, family and Bakugan.

The last part is weird but worth it for all the rest. Love you forever kid.


I know I post this every year, but the day before our son was born, I wrote him this letter:


Thursday April 19, 2001

Alex, we’re waiting for you little buddy. I pray that your mom is healthy and will make it through this experience, and I pray the same for you. I pray that I will always remember the love and concern I have for your well-being as long as I know you. Son, I’m sure we’re going to have our problems as all families do. It’s my great hope that if and when I get angry with you that my anger will be tempered by the love and concern I feel for you now when you are so fragile. I also hope that when you are angry and frustrated with me, you know that your father is and will always be a man who loves you and cares for your well-being and humanity.

Your mother and I love you deeply son. Be safe, be healthy, be Alex.

Emergency Rule

And people think things are fucked up in this country...?

In response to protests and rioting in the streets, Syrian officials announced they are ending 50 years of emergency rule. Their president told the Syrian people, that after terminating the controversial provisions "there will be no more excuse for protests" and "sabotage will not be tolerated."

In other words, you don't like the emergency laws motherfucker, fine, consider them lifted....

But if you start wailing your asses off in the streets again, you're gonna have a real fucking emergency on your hands!

His First F

This has nothing to do with school.

Today Alex wrote his first note as part of a musical exercise for his trumpet teacher. It was a quarter note. It was an F. I almost cried. I don't know why. He loves the trumpet and this teacher has made a positive impression on the boy.

Schedulewise, my life is a mess. I am getting my ass kicked a dozen ways to Sunday and accomplishing nothing. It's 9:14pm and this is the first time I've sat the fuck down all day.

But my boy wrote a musical note on a page today and all the crazy shit seems worth it.

Thank heavens the trumpet is in treble clef. I can't read bass clef and if he learns to write in base clef, I'll feel like an idiot.

Busy With Blessings

Great visit with my sister from Cali a week ago last Thursday...fun family time over the weekend when Cousin Mike and his beautiful family came over and hung out with our crew. Life has been very busy but full of blessings. I need to do some work on my writing schedule but that is a minor concern.

When living is more fulfilling than writing, for me that is a wonderful sign.

Room Dad, Not Bad

Alex asked me to be a chaperon for his school's trip to see the Kane County Cougars and their plucky brand of minor league baseball. Since the KC Royals have acquired that franchise I decided to take a vacation day to enjoy a trip with children to the ballpark...and do some scouting for the WhiteSOX.

uh, yeah

I had six kids (including Alex) in my group, they were all reasonably well behaved - but just taking care, keeping an eye on, and trying to teach baseball to six well behaved kids for four hours remind me that teachers - whatever they get paid...isn't enough.

Sure, everyone knows my wife is a teacher, but there is a part of me that doesn't always comprehend how difficult being an elementary school teacher is, until I volunteer at the school or we have a party full of the little rug rats...and I haven't even helped them learn how to read.

Beyond my useless social comment, I'm glad I took the day off to enjoy a day in the sun with my son, his friends, and our great game.

Winning Ugly

...or victory in ugliness

The fight over the budget got ugly and was embarrassing (in the words of many of the participants on both sides) but in the eleventh hour compromise there was something like a victory.

This compromise only directs our budget to early fall. A bigger fight is coming over raising the debt ceiling, and if agreement on budget reform must be reached first, it is easy to see how far both sides have left to go before they make the crucial decision to raise the roof...

???

But we shouldn't lose sight that the victory in Friday night's compromise was compromise itself. Die hard folks from the far left who have been disappointed with Obama have been disappointed largely because of his compromises with the R's or compromises on declared principles from the election...and those who sent Tea Party and other like candidates to Washington last fall do not want compromise on the budget.

That second point is easier to demonstrate, we all saw the pictures of those protesting the budget fight with signs reading - "NO COMPROMISE!"

Sure, what happened with this budget agreement is not a long term solution to anything, but the agreement includes an important baby step in our current conditions of divided government. There are no general principles of agreement, but perhaps there is a path to compromise on the bigger issues. More importantly, the Speaker showed himself to be a grown up willing to work with the majority leader in the Senate and the president at the risk of rattling the tenuous coalition he holds in the H of R.

It is foolish to believe that Friday night's deal means there is a closing of the divide in this country's leaders over budgetary matters. But I think it is more foolish to think there will ever be an end to those differences either in public or in principle.

It is a sign that our leaders can come to the table, even at the last possible minute and do their fucking jobs.

Compromise one, Demagoguery - uh, well it ain't over yet.

How Far Ahead is the Future?

A dear friend just told me about a job opportunity he is considering. My friend is at a place in his life and career where this move makes a lot of sense. I am happy for him. This opportunity will take his family to the West Coast for up to two years, and makes the whole thing bittersweet.

Kim always said my friend reminded her of St. Joseph the worker, a man with an incredible capacity to work hard and sacrifice for his family.

She is right.

I'm even excited when I heard how he has to pitch himself for the assignment and I really want to stay in touch with him as he imagines the future of innovation. If that sounds like me being sarcastic, it isn't. It is serious curiosity on my part. How does one pitch the future? Do you pitch what you think the actual future will be, and do you pitch it in such a way that hedges your bets against being wrong? Do you pitch what you think your employers think what the future will look like? How far ahead is the future and how long does it last?

I think we may be able to have some interesting e-conversations regarding this. Maybe I'll freak him out and write a letter.

TAKE THAT INTERNET!

All that aside, I'm going to miss the guy something terrible. I've known him longer than I've known my wife. As stupid as this sounds, even now before he's left I think of things we've done togeher, I see them actively in my mind like one of those stupid movie montages with a Carpenters' song playing over the images....

And I remind myself what a sad, sorry bastard I am.

Good luck pal.

What Dunn Does

Offensively it was a great opening to the 2011 campaign. Even Juan P spent a good deal of time on the base paths today. Fausto Carmona has had some great outings against the SOX. This was not one of them. He was up to 65 pitches with no one out in the 3rd inning.

Adam Dunn fanned with a runner at third and no one out in the first. Then he hit a two run bomb in the 3rd to open the floodgates. From all reports, this is what Dunn does. He frustrates the hell out of you with strikeouts and men in scoring position, but then he pounds the ball out of the park at key moments of the game as well.

It's only game one but there were some nice things happening on Friday. I mentioned JP, Bacon looked comfortable hitting in the 2 hole, and CQ did some amazing woodwork batting 6th. No one will know anything about Carlos until he goes one for 20. Then we'll see if he's really overcome his own personal case of the crazies. And this is not a judgement, believe me if I could play baseball I'd be even more of a headcase, with a worse haircut than Quentin or anyone really.

Will O sucked, but I'm not really sure what he was doing out there. I thought he was supposed to be the left-handed, one out guy. LOOGy for those who know. I think that's how you spell it.

Great, now I'm Bluto.

More on the star to the WhiteSOX season throughout the weekend.

Opening Day!