Time To Count My Blessings In This Incredible Life

Sorry I have been away so long. Time, commitments, life, etc. have all contributed; that and a bit of apathy to write. I have not been inspired to write, until I went to church last week (Wesley United Methodist for those keeping score) and the sermon had me thinking. The sermon was about Mark and how Jesus let the younger children come to him and said basically that we need to look at the world with the eyes of a child and sense of wonderment. It made sense.

I know I could carry on and on with some medical transgressions I have had, but that would be fairly boring; yet one would be remised if one did not notice that I have survived some fairly incredible odds with somewhat experimental open heart surgery in 1964 at the age of two months and again at seven years old in 1972 and a massive stroke in 2009. Still I am fine and that should cause anyone some amount of wonder.

That aside, I have led a fairly incredible life.

I went to the Super Bowl in 2006.

I met many of my favorite football players in the likes of Tom Waddle, Doug Buffone, Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Morrisey, Hunter Hillenmeyer, and Kevin Butler.

I actually met, chatted with, and had dinner with one of my all-time inspirational people in Adam West.

I met and flirted with Julie Newmar.

I have seen some of my all-time favorite musicians in concert such as Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, Steve Earle, BOC, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Brian Setzer, Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, The BoDeans, and countless others.

I have sampled some truly wonderful tastes in some unique beers from all over the world.

I have read some of the greatest literature ever. From Shakespeare to Poe and beyond, I have read passages into the soul of humanity.

I have read and own some of the greatest artifacts of popular culture ever in comics. I highly recommend Batman 251 (Joker’s Five Way Revenge), The Killing Joke Graphic Novel, Amazing Spider-man 121-122 (Death of Gwen Stacy), and Dark Knight Returns to savor.

I have awesome friends who respect, tease, and build me up.

I have the best job in the word teaching the best students ever. My career is perfect.

I have been blessed with some unique pets—Pepto the intelligent cat, Foggy the kindest cat ever, Guinness the most emotional cat ever, Chumley the friendliest cat ever, and Babette, the most independent cat ever. They all touch my personality in some unique way.

I have been blessed with a loving and supportive family who have gone through thick and thin with me. My parents set a positive and hard-working tone on the three of us and deserve credit for raising pretty intelligent and industrious kids in a difficult time 91960s and 1970s and 1980s). My sister is incredibly kind and passionate. Her husband is a gentle guy and her kids are very respectful and kind. My brother is probably the most giving person ever and I am a better person having him as an older brother. His wife is a treasure.

I have a beautiful wife who loves me and who supports me. She is also incredibly gorgeous, incredibly intelligent, and more tolerant than she should be. Being a knowledgeable Bear fan helps me more than ever, as I have a football partner for life.

People need to spend more time counting their blessings and less time whining. Next time something more whiney, I promise.

Happy First Anniversary!

“Baby's good to me you know,
She's happy as can be you know,
She said so…
I'm in love with her and I feel fine.

Baby says she's mine you know,
She tells me all the time you know,
She said so…
I'm in love with her and I feel fine.
I'm so glad that she's my little girl,
She's so glad, she's telling all the world;
That her baby buys her things you know.
He buys her diamond rings you know,
She said so.
I'm in love with her and I feel fine. ”

"I Feel Fine" by the Beatles, 1965.

I have been busy lately, but not so busy that I did not celebrate my first anniversary of marriage to my wonderful wife, Jennifer.

The last year has been a whirlwind, and one that has been as hectic, dizzying, as it as been fun. Jen and I simply enjoy being together. Most things we do are more fun because we share the moment. Going to Aruba, going to Florida, going to Hannibal, Mo; just going places is much more fun with Jen. I used to hate to travel, now I look forward to it.

We also share a great fondness with just enjoying the conversations we have had. We both said that was a huge priority and a huge pleasurable act that we do. To talk about our day, current events, sometime politics (Jen’s no John Bircher, but she’s no liberal either), and the like have been pleasurable on an intellectual level and a social level.

We love the Bears and the Illini, so sharing those games are more fun; especially because Jen knows so much about football. I am truly amazed at her acuity of football.

For me, the tender moments are the best. Jen refers to me often as “honey” and I love that. I will not go into any gauche or graphic moments herein, but the tender loving moments are truly something I have not experienced before, and they are welcomed and wonderful.

We occasionally disagree, but we talk it out and move forward. I am relatively certain we have not had a marriage fight, but we occasionally disagree. Jen does not see the value of comics as highly as I do, and I do not understand her impatience at some things (driving, my driving, other people’s driving) or her “sorry I’m late” comments. I have a propensity to spend money on “stupid stuff” (Comics, CD’s, books –because I have hundreds I have not read as of yet) and Jen is always running behind. So we help each other out with these flaws—she tells me not to spend money and I tell her we are leaving at 8:00 (or name your time here) PM AIS—Ass In Seat . It truthfully does not work for either of us, be we are at least aware of the other’s errors in judgment.

Truth is, I love Jennifer with all of my heart and I know she feels the same about me. I have never been happier and I only hope I can make her feel the same.

The Bears' Season, Thus Far

I must admit, I just love football. I love the coolness of the fall weather, the smell in the air, and I love watching football. Jen and I are both football fans (I think this marriage will work well), and we love the orange and the blue. Pontiac, the high school I am employed with is orange and blue. Jen is an Illinois graduate, and we are season football ticket holders. My first and foremost football love is the Chicago Bears yet another orange and blue.

That said, I am discouraged by the lack of discipline in the Bears organization. The lack of attention on the offensive line, as well as the lack of concern about the safety position, both of which I have railed on ceaselessly and complained about for years on this blog and in public, is unheard of by the fans. To go into this season with that porous line and the lack of talent in the safety position is not only an insult to the fan base and other players; but it is a sheer act of treachery and deception. How many times in the last two years have I curse frank Omyale and Craig Steltz? They simply cannot play their respective positions.

I feel for Matt Fort, Jay Cutler, Brian Urlacher, and Charles Tillman. They cannot vocalize their discontent with their team members, but they have to know that the Bears management have not done enough to put them into a position to win a title. They HAVE to know it; because even I figured it out.

The formula for the Bears’ future success is apparent to me. Bye bye Jerry Angelo. It is time for you to catch that fastest train out of town. It is clear that he has no clue how to draft and build a champion team. I also would abandon the cover two. If the Lions figured It out, Hell, any team can. I would let less than lively Lovie Smith join the ranks of Abe Giberon, Jack Pardee and other ex-Chicago bears Coaches. Management needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom. I would consider Troub (special teams coach) to take the helm and star anew. This team has enough talent to be competitive, but blew it as a serious candidate to go for the Super Bowl the day they signed Roy Williams.

Let’s look at some other bonehead moves. Chester Taylor—one year and 4 million dollars later—gone. Need I mention the Benson matter? How about letting Barrian go? What about signing Spencer and finding out he cannot play center? How about the fine signing of Williams, who came injured and later showed he is just inept? What about the mind games they have played with an up and coming wide receiver like Johnny Knox, only to make him doubt his own abilities. How about not signing Matt Forte to a contract extension? I mean, he’s only the most productive player on the team and he makes up 60% of the offense.

There are many more questions the Bears need to answer, and rather than waiting for a response and wading through the muck of an answer, I would rather start fresh and rebuild the management and coaching staff.

Babbette is Home!

I guess since she has lived with me for eight months, I am belated in introducing Jen’s female calico cat, Babbette.

Babbette has slowly captured my heart and filled the void left by Foggy, as the two are fairly similar. Babs is incredibly independent. She pretty much does what she wants around the boys, which is comical. When one of the two approaches her, she swats him in the face. She also enjoys hanging around with her “brother” Guinness. Jen has nameded them the “Wonder Twins.” Babs is a bit intimated by Chumley, but she swats at him regardless, to which he pretty much ignores her.

I think they think that she is still Foggy, and do not understand that Foggy has passed.

Every morning, she joins us in the bathroom and wants to be petted. She also likes to curl up with us and seems to enjoy a good snuggle. I do not know how intelligent she truly is, as she chases her tail (a Foggy trait) and she seems spooked often.

She loves Jen and she seems to like me more and more. She is amazingly cute, but a tad evil, thus the perfect female.

What I love about her is that Babs refuses to take crap from the other cats or me. She has made our home equally hers. This is the fourth home she has lived in and she has made her mark within.

She has spent many an afternoon napping and cuddling with me.

I admire the sweet kitten as she is not afraid of showing the boys who is boss. No wonder, she is Jen’s cat!

Aruba: Vacation In Paradise

“Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you

Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama”
--The Beach Boys

We’re back from Aruba!

Jen and I shared our honeymoon (slightly belated) in the calming waters and crisp sands of Aruba. The temperature was between 82 and 87 degrees, which is warm for me, but I did not notice it much as we had a cool breeze consistently blowing in from the oceans. With extremely low humidity, it truly is a paradise.

We saw some incredible sights on the journey. We went to visit some ruins, we went to the first Catholic Church (1740s)on the island, we ventured into the catacombs of a cave inhabited by bats, and we spent most of our time on the beach.

The food was great, albeit expensive, as everything is imported. The island is made of lava rock, sand, and not much else. The people were wonderful. They were very helpful, spoke English, and were fun to be with. As we were leaving, our hotel manager told us she would see us again, God willing, because “no one goes to Aruba just once.”

Aruba is part of the Dutch Antilles Islands and the natives speak Dutch, English, Spanish, and their own language, which is a combination of the previous three plus some African. They accept dollars, so no need to transfer funds. They also brew their own beer, Balashi. I liked it quite a bit. It had a mild sweetness, like a good pilsner should have. It was also brewed there by the highest quality water purification in the world, no kidding. I had to snag a shirt. I have backed off my beer consumption considerably, but when in Aruba, do as the Arubans do.

Jen is an excellent travel partner, actually she is an excellent partner in everything, but in travel, she knows what she is doing. She booked the rooms through our RCI points, arranged the flights, and was a calming influence on my “ugly American” attitude. I may write on that phenomenon someday, but another blog for another time.

My best meal was either a seafood dish complete with red snapper, clam, scallops, shrimp, grouper, and calamari in a rich lime cream sauce or a delicious Ostrich steak, from the ostrich raised on the Island, both were courtesy of the Pirate’s nest, an eatery associated with the hotel two doors down from where we staying.

As calm and tranquil as the trip was, it was made even better by sharing the time with my beautiful bride.

In Brightest Day; In Blackest Night, No Evil Shall Escape My Sight

“Superman or Green Lantern,
Ain’t Got nothing on me…”
--Donavan, 1969

Every once in a while, I allow myself to go into a completely comic book geek mode. This Friday evening, I did so at the Green Lantern movie. I have been looking forward to this one since I heard they were doing it. I was not disappointed.

The acting was good at times, even if Ryan Reynolds in the title role plays Hal Jordan/Green Lantern occasionally smarmy, but I can handle that. The supporting cast of Sinestro, Tomar Re, and Kilowog were great. I like Pieface and Carol Ferris was completely hot. All of that said, the comics came out a year ago and reformatted Hal’s origin and that origin was adopted in the film. The writers and overseers (namely comic writer Geoff Johns) also included elements and took liberties with the Parallax storyline. Still, I was impressed. Visually, this is a stunning movie. The action was consistent, and there was some tongue-in-cheek humor presented, which harkened back to the days when John Broone and Gil Kane revised the comic in the 1960s.

The critics and comic geeks who have railed on it have forgotten that this film is meant to attract a wider audience. I went with Jen who knew nothing about Green lantern other than my GL glass in the cupboard and my recitation of the Green Lantern oath en route to the film. I kept telling her “In brightest day; in blackest night; no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power—Green Lantern’s light.” Imagine hearing that for twenty minutes straight; and you can guess how much her tolerance was waning. Jen liked the movie and more importantly, she followed it well and understood it.

GL is a complicated character and for her to have a meaningful conversation with me afterwards in which I explained the various nuances of Sinestro, Guy Gardner, Jon Stewart, Star Safire, Oa, the impurities of the ring against yellow, Alan Scott (original Green Lantern of the 1940s) and so on (and for once she was actually interested), well then you can imagine my joy. In fact, Saturday when we picked groceries, we passed a guy wearing a Flash shirt and I told Jen that I wanted to yell out the window that this was the wrong weekend for Flash, and he needed to gain some fashion knowledge and sport some Green Lantern attire. She even laughed and agreed.

Is this movie as strong as Dark Knight Returns, Iron-Man, or Spider-Man 2? Nope.

Is it better than Fantastic Four, Hulk (either of them and the TV show), Daredevil, Spider-Man 3, iron-Man 2, any of the Supermans, any of the 1980s and 1990s Batmans, and Ghost Rider? Yep.

I liked it more than Thor, but I am more of a DC guy than a Marvel one. That is not putting Thor down as it was incredible, but I liked Green Lantern better. Jen liked them equally, even though she thought Thor’s story was easier to follow because of Norse mythology that most folks have been exposed to and most be are at least familiar with. As far as Green Lantern, she said it was good science fiction and that her husband “over-explained things” after the movie.

Just call me Sheldon.

The End Of The School Year

“Well the dawn was coming,heard him ringing on my bell.

He said, ``My name's the teacher,that is what I call myself.

And I have a lesson

that I must impart to you.

It's an old expression

but I must insist it's true.

Jump up, look around,

find yourself some fun,

no sense in sitting there hating everyone.

No man's an island and his castle isn't home,

the nest is for nothing when the bird has flown.''
--Ian Anderson of the band Jethro Tull, from the son “Teacher” from the album Living In The Past, 1972.

Well, this year offered a great graduation. This year’s seniors were impressive. One of my favorite foreign exchange students “Ang” was a delight to have in class. Ang is from Thailand. She told me that I was her favorite teacher, ever. This young lady has traveled to over fifteen countries in her life and been enrolled in numerous schools. She is highly intelligent and motivated. Her comments are a compliment to be sure.

Equally complimentary were the words of one of my former students. Pontiac’s Daily Leader (the local newspaper) features a former PTHS/Livingston County Illinois student every Saturday. Last week Neil Radke, former student, now teacher said this about me: ” He fondly remembers being in plays at PTHS with Tom Ramseyer and Eric Sweetwood. According to Radtke, Sweetwood lives on in the classroom of Klondike Middle School. “The reason why I became a teacher was I wanted to bring to my classes what he brought to his classes.”

How can I read that and not be moved.

I have long regarded myself as making a small impact in my own way. When such things are validated, it makes one wonder about the impact of how we all can make a difference in one another’s lives. I firmly believe that Neil would be a great teacher with or without the benefit of being a student of mine. He had a gifted sense of knowledge and an acceptance of others that rivals us all. He was articulate, positive, and very willing to help others—all a formula for a successful educator. Neil loves life and is more than willing to share that with others, which is something we share.

Each year I feel a kinship with the graduating class. Each year, I enjoy my job more and more.

Some folks often wonder whether they have chosen the proper career or not. I know I did and I will rest on those laurels for the next twelve years or so. I honesty believe I am doing exactly what I was meant to do.

The lesson is over for this year. This teacher says “class dismissed.”