Ralph's Birthday

My cousin Ralph was born on Halloween. Happy Birthday Ralph! It's the last day of October and daylight savings time is over. Now that they saved all that daylight where has all it all gone? It was dark before 5 p.m. All our clocks at home have different times. The group Chicago www.chicagotheband.com must have wrote their song around this time "Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?" What time is it? I have to figure out how to reset my talking clock. Thank goodness for my talking clock. We lost power a couple times in the morning and the talking clock let me know what time it was and helped me get all the other clocks reset. The last time we lost power I had the telephone in my hand to call ComEd www.exeloncorp.com/comed/ and the power went back on just as I was getting ready to dial
1-800-EDISON1. It waited until after I finished showering in the dark. At least today the weather was nice for the kids for trick or treating. We never did carve our pumpkin. I picked out a great pumpkin at Meijers www.meijers.com and it's sitting in the living room uncarved. I wonder if I can return it and get my money back and then use the money to buy marked down Halloween candy. The boys trick or treated in our old neighborhood. It gives us an excuse each year to go back and see how everyone is doing and it's right around the corner from Grandma's house. There's also a house in the neighborhood that gives out giant candy bars. What incentive.

Twelfth

This is my twelfth post. What a weird word. I had to look it up to make sure I 'spelt' (spelled it) right. Spelt is actually a word - : a wheat with lax spikes and spikelets containing two light red kernels. Two of the dictionaries I checked didn't even have the spelling for twelfth. With an "elf" in the middle. Thank goodness for the online dictionary www.webster.com Twelve times I've posted my random thoughts here, just under four thousand words so far. I was blog surfing again today and some people have posted thousands of times and up to 15-20 times a week. I keep thinking about posting from my weekday job but I'm always too busy - overworked and underpaid. There's plenty to grumble about there. It's an internet company and management would probably read it and call me into the office. They actually record everyone of our telephone calls. In the next few weeks we have to listen to some of our calls to make sure we are following the "scripts." Talk about micromanaging. I enjoy the job it's the moron bosses that I can't stand. That's why I'm such a big fan of Dilbert www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/ At least here on the weekends at the "Axiom Lounge" I have eight hours of unsupervised internet time to ramble on. Friday I brought a rubber rat to work and tried to scare some of my unsuspecting co-workers that walked past my cubicle, which is really a table that serves as my desk. I surprised a couple of them. I had a bowl with some Halloween candy - Milky Ways and Snickers. Last night we went to the annual Halloween Party at Arabian Knights Farms www.akfentertainment.com . It was a balmy fall evening and actually pretty humid. It was suppose to rain and didn't. Thank goodness. The boys had a great time. They have a big barn and disc jockey, hay rides, pony rides and moon walk. Tonight my sister had an impromptu Halloween Party for the cousins. Any excuse for a party. Today was one of the first Saturdays in a long time that I didn't have anything to do or any errands to run. I took a nice long nap. I watched the Fighting Illini get beat by Iowa. I just started reading the "Happy Isles of Oceania" by Paul Theroux. After reading "The Hotel Honolulu." I have to read some more of his adventures to places I will never have a chance to visit. He still has a lot of books I haven't read.

Season's Over

Well our football season is over. We lost to St. Michael's 22 to 0. We held them scoreless the second half that was an accomplishment. Our offensive line couldn't keep them away from our quarterbacks. We had a couple of big pass plays and defensive plays. When we were close to scoring we fumbled. They are in a tougher conference and they are a very good team. It was a beautiful short sleeve day. The new football stadium and sports complex at Illinois Benedictine www.ben.edu/news/sports_complex/ is going to be really nice. It's astroturf and the track and skyboxes are still under construction. They just built two new baseball diamonds right next to the football field with cement dugouts that are deluxe. We used that chalk paint on our cars for the first time - "Be the Hammer!" "Go OLP Crusaders!" We had more and louder fans than St. Michaels. Our team should be proud of their season. The Bears www.chicagobears.com lost again to Tampa Bay. I wonder if they will win another game this year. I just finished Sunday's Chicago Tribune www.chicagotribune.com and spent some time checking out new websites and reading blogs. I found the blogs of Evan Williams, Paul Bausch and Meg Hourihan the developers of www.blogger.com a brilliant idea. I only wish I would have started blogging earlier like some of these people who have had hundreds of posts and celebrate "blogiversaries." a new term I learned today. There is some really interesting stuff out there. Today I read about "aggregation" and how Google www.google.com and other companies like Yahoo www.yahoo.com might be doing it with all this profile information we provide. The scary thing is if they start selling it to marketing firms. Here's a link I found that was interesting about all the information that may be out there on you: http://www.aclu.org/pizza/index.html?orgid=EA071904&MX+1414&H=1 Gives you something to think about. Another blog showed me how to add a clock to my blog from www.clocklink.com and a counter. All these great ideas for my blog to-do list.

Education vs. Experience

I just read a good quote by Pete Seeger - "Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don't." It's getting harder for me to read the fine print.
I have to schedule a visit to the eye doctor soon. I'm taking my glasses off now when I read. I remember the good old days when I didn't need glasses. I remember when I first realized I needed them about eighteen years ago watching the Super Bowl at Ardmore Lounge. I tried on a friend's glasses and the picture was unbelievably clearer. That Monday I went to the eye doctor and I've had glasses/contacts ever since. All this time on the computer and all the reading is catching up. I'll have to start reading large print books soon. I hope not.

Last night I took the boys to a high school football game in Lombard - Glenbard East versus West Chicago. We went to watch their cousin in the marching band. She really enjoys being on the football field performing in front of everyone. It was a nice fall night. Glenbard East's team isn't very good but I think the boys enjoyed themselves eating nachos and Skittles and visiting with their cousins. Tomorrow is the championship game at Illinois Benedictine University. My oldest son had his last football practice of the year this morning in the mud. My other son had a get together with his team this afternoon. The candlelight ceremony where they pass the torch to the younger players and then they watched the football movie "Remember The Titans." www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/ They really have a great group of coaches, all volunteers.

A Splendid Torch

"Life is not a 'brief candle'. It is a splendid torch that I want to make burn as brightly as possible before handing on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw

Book Lust

"Book Lust." That's the catchy title of a book I read about in the Anderson Books newsletter. I reserved it at our library and I just finished reading it. It's by librarian Nancy Pearl and it gives some "recommended reading ideas for every mood, moment, and reason." More than 175 lists. I was amazed at how many of the books I've read or knew about. I have a few that I haven't read in my personal library that I will have to get to. I'm gonna check out other books with the same dewey decimal number 011.73 to get more ideas and I'm thinking of putting together my own compilation and reading list. When I went to reserve the book the librarian at our library said she has a Nancy Pearl action figure that her daughter gave her. I didn't know they made action figures of librarians. Go figure. Just like the author I have a passion for reading and books - book lust. I wander around the library or bookstores wondering what am I gonna read next. I checked out a bunch of unknown authors just by reading the dust covers and have actually read some pretty good books that way. Once I find a really good author I usually try and read as many of their books as I can. She gave a good formula "the rule of fifty" which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books immense. Give every book about fifty pages before you will commit to reading it. As you get older subtract your age from 100 and give the book that many pages. She recommended authors I'm gonna have to read - Iris Murdoch and Frederick Busch. She also gave some suggestions similar to books I liked. I'm still reading "Hotel Honolulu" by Paul Theroux and will probably read my authographed copy of "The Happy Isles of Oceania" next. I enjoy fantasizing about all the places he goes to. Wish I could.

Victory Celebration

The Varsity won their playoff game against St. Joan of Arc. Next week is the championship against St. Michael's at Illinois Benedictine University www.ben.edu . Celebrated at Steak N' Shake www.steaknshake.com because they heard a commercial on the radio. The power of advertising. My youngest son's team lost their last game and their season is over. Next week they have basketball evaluations. The Chicago Bears lost again. Their game was closer than I would have predicted. They need another quaterback or it's gonna be a long season. The Green Bay Packers finally won. It looks like the Red Sox aren't gonna make it. The Yankees really clobbered them. I'm listening to WNUA www.wnua.com while I blog-surf. I keep thinking of things to add to my profile and I check out everyone's favorite books to get some reading suggestions. I just finished reading "Shrink Rap" by Robert B. Parker and I'm reading "Hotel Honolulu" by Paul Theroux. www.paultheroux.com It reads like a blog. I've added a few more favorites from some of the blogs I looked at. My favorites list is about 1,000 sites long. Eventually I will add it to my blog with 100 things about me or something like it. I also want to add an Amazon.com wish list and things I'm selling on eBay. Lots of ideas, too little time. I've already checked out all the new websites on Yahoo and read all my e-mails. I'm looking at the Chicago Tribune comics www.chicagotribune.com I usually read Shoe, Dilbert, Peanuts, The Lockhorns and Mister Boffo. I always wanted to be a cartoonist but I was afraid I would never make any money at it. I met Joe Martin once the guy who draws Mister Boffo. He lives in Lake Geneva right on the lake and draws cartoons. What a life. Only a couple of weeks until Halloween. I went in our crawlspace and pulled out all four containers of Halloween decorations. We have a bunch of the Simpsons Halloween figures that Burger King had for a couple years. It seems like each year more and more people are decorating outside for Halloween. My wife bought a huge rubber rat and had it in bed when I pulled down the covers. She thought I would be scared. I told her I'm too brave. It looked like a stuffed animal so I didn't get the full effect. Now if it was a bloody horse's head like in the movie "The Godfather" that would have been a different story. It's looking out the front window now. I'm thinking of bringing it to work to scare a few co-workers. I'm still trying to get my office organized and have a bunch of stacks of stuff in the family room. Came across a bunch of old pictures, articles and concert and sporting event ticket stubs. I need an archivist. Who know's why I save it all. It really rekindles some great memories. I'm hoping this blog will do the same thing when I read my old posts. Until next time...

Forty Degrees

That's how cold it is right now while I'm writing this. We finally turned the heat on last week after the heating guy checked the furnace. We held out as long as possible. Football is almost over. My youngest son had his last practice this morning and his last game is tomorrow morning. If my oldest son's team wins they go to the championship and will have another week of practice. They are so lucky they get to play at Illinois Benedictine on the college's football field. The rain waited until their practice was over. It didn't rain long and then the sun came out. This past Monday, Columbus Day I called in for a personal day and we went to the Lake County Historical Museum www.lcfpd.org/discovery_museum/ and saw the special Walter Payton exhibit. It brought back some great memories. The Payton family donated a lot of his personal stuff for the exhibit. The film they showed "Ultimate Payton." I have it on video. I even had it autographed by Walter when it first came out. I took my boys to see him before they even knew who he was or what football was all about. They ever had their picture taken with him. On the way home we had lunch at the Culver's in Buffalo Grove. Thursday night we had a chance to meet another Chicago Bear from the Super Bowl team - Steve McMichael. He was signing his new book "Tales From The Chicago Bears Sideline." My boys got their picture taken with him. He was very personable. He holds the record for most games played and most consecutive games by a Chicago Bear. He was close friends with Dan Hampton who made it into the Football Hall of Fame. I finished his book in two days and it brought back some more great memories of that great team. I'm also finishing another Robert B. Parker book - "Shrink Rap" very believable.

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons: 30 Years and Counting
Dungeons and Dragons, the paper-and-dice fantasy role-playing game enjoyed worldwide, turns 30 this year. Gamers across the globe will celebrate Saturday, Oct. 16, with a game day. Who would have thought this game would go from a fad in the geek subculture to a respected cultural entity in its own right?The game traces its origins to 1970, when war gamer Dave Arneson created a game with medieval adventurers exploring the dungeons of an old castle. Fellow gamer Gary Gygax played it at a convention and developed a series of supplemental rules to add more fantasy elements, such as dwarves, elves, wizards and monsters. Gygax suggested the two work together and create new rules. The project was called The Fantasy Game. It was published in 1974 under the name Dungeons and Dragons. The entire print run sold out within a year. The following year, TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) Hobbies Inc. was created, publishing not only Dungeons and Dragons, but also various supplements. Over the years, the game spawned new versions, streamlining the original concept. The game teachs valuable lessons about storytelling.

Temperature

"It doesn't make a difference what temperature a room is, it's always room temperature." - Steven Wright

Ten Ten

Janet Evanovich www.evanovich.com had a contest to name her tenth book and I sent in a whole bunch of entries with some variation of ten in them and I didn't win. The winning title was "Ten Big Ones." I thought some of my suggestions were much better. Oh well. Speaking of ten I think I was one of the last people to see that movie "10" with Bo Derek. Today is 10/10 and the day was a beautiful blue sky perfect 10. My oldest son's football team - The Crusaders won their last game against the Crusaders. They came in first in their conference. They played at Montini High School. My mom had a post game party - a bucket of KFC chicken. The Chicago Bears www.chicagobears.com didn't play today so they couldn't lose. The announcer at the game gave a score - Bears zero, bye week three. Clever. I discovered a new pastime - Blog Surfing. There's some pretty interesting stuff out there. Once I finish the Sunday paper, checking out all the new additions to Yahoo, I have something new to do. Never a dull moment. I'm reading "Bad Business" by Robert Parker. It reminds me of Enron. His dialogue is the best and the real world has all the material you need to write a novel. I also saw a story on www.nbc5.com about the 25 best companies to work for in Chicago. My company wasn't listed. Oh well. I plan on calling in tomorrow. I have two more personal days and the kids are off school for Columbus Day. That reminds me I have to check out the Walter Payton Exhibit. It's suppose to be another beautiful day tomorrow. I wouldn't want to waste it at work.

Another Fun Monday

Back at work bright and early Monday morning. Saw three young deer on the frontage road I take. It's great working only five minutes from home. Had the usual 120 to 130 e-mails Monday morning. Still have a pile of work from last week ensuring "Job Security." I got a call from my wife just as I was leaving. My oldest son left his backpack in the school parking lot. Thank goodness no one took off with it. The graphing calculator they use costs $100.00. I don't think all of my school supplies ever for the whole year cost $100.00. I can still remember getting my first calculator, a Texas Instruments TI-10 senior year in high school. You can get a calculator today that has all the same functions for a couple of bucks. I still have my old slide rule. I don't remember how to use it. I remember that scene in the movie Apollo 13 where all those guys were doing calculations on their slide rules to get the astronauts home. Amazing. My one uncle worked for NASA during Apollo 8 when they first orbited the moon. He is really brilliant. Now look what we can do. Millions of people can keep online journals and blogs and are probably online right now. This modern technology always amazes me. If only I could use it all effectively.

Homecoming

Another beautiful day for football. The teams had a very nice rose presentation to the parents before each game. The sixth graders won their game 19 t0 0 and the varsity won 40 to 0 against Queen of the Rosary from Elk Grove Village. Uncle Steve, Aunt LeAnn, Aunt Nancy, Kelly and Grandma all came to watch. The homecoming party was afterwards in the teacher's parking lot at the school. The season is almost over with only a couple more games. The Cubs season is over. They did win their last game. The Bears lost to Philadelphia 19 to 9. It's been a pretty quiet Sunday. Not much in the paper. Mount St. Helen's eruption is imminent. That must be something living near a volcano. They closed the observation area 5 miles away. They think Kerry might have "cheated" during the debate and there's video to prove it. I like the letter to the editor I saw. Which candidate visited the hurricane victims and which one got a manicure. Saturday Night Live had a couple of good skits on the election and the debates. One with Clinton as room service in a Hawaiian shirt. It should be an interesting election. Too bad the news is never about the issues. I finished reading The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler and haver to find something new to read for next week. The ending was different. Some books just keep you hanging, they just drop off with no real ending. The last few I've read have been like that. Tomorrow morning the routine starts all over.

Blue Skies

Blue Skies - Makes me think of a Willie Nelson song I use to hear at Willie's Illini Inn in Champaign when I use to make "thick and cheesy" pizzas back in college. The skies were incredibly blue today. The Cubs radio announcer Ron Santo even commented on how clear they were. To bad it didn't help the Cubs. They lost to the Atlanta Braves 8 to 6 and are officially out of the playoffs, mathematically eliminated. Maybe next year. Oh well. The WGN Channel Nine News www.wgn.com had an excellent shot of a young girl about 6 or 7 crying because they lost. I bet she wasn't the only one crying. Now we have the Bears to watch. Their quarterback Rex Grossman is out for the season. My sons have their football homecoming tomorrow. Only three games left in their season. My beautiful little niece "Abby" was over today. Her Mom was doing some house cleaning so her Aunt Joanna brought her over. She's already five months old. I worked a couple hours overtime at the my day job while the boys were at football practice. Those two hours went really fast. Too bad I can't work just two hours every day. This past Thursday night I went to a booksigning at Border's Books www.bordersstores.com in Oak Brook for one of my favorite authors - Robert B. Parker. He talked for about an hour. He's written over 55 books and I'm sure I've read over half of them. The new one is Melancholy Baby. I had him sign 7 books. I went through my office and was able to grab them before I went to see him. I think I have about 12 or 13 first editions signed by him now. I always enjoy hearing authors talk and finding out how they work. You could say I'm an author "groupie."He's very disciplined and writes 10 pages a day minimum, starting at 8:00 a.m. in the morning until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. He pointed out in this new book that the dedication to his wife, Joan was misspelled "Jean." He's dedicated over 40 of his books to his wife. Maybe my book will be a collector's item. I asked him a couple of questions - "Does he listen to any music when he writes?" - No. "When he was a professor did any of his students go on to be authors?" - No. One of his favorite authors is Elmore Leonard, another favorite of mine. When he was signing and I got to talk with him. I told him I was at a book signing of his back in 1981 at the old Kroch's and Brentano's. I still have the newspaper ad. His Spenser books are excellent and it sounds like he writes one a year. He talked about some of his Hollywood experiences and mentioned Joe Mantegna, Burt Reynolds and Holly Hunter who are all fans of his books.