Thoughts of a Common Man

I saw the kick coming from more than three feet away and I was quite aware that it was going to make contact with the back of my head, but I just wasn't quite sure how forceful it would be. The foot made contact and I felt instantly dizzy, wondering how big the knot on the back of my head would be, but I had little time to recover as my assailant was gearing up for another roundhouse kick. Luckily, I grabbed his leg and twisted him to the couch sofa. No, I didn't finally take a beating due to my big mouth - I was fighting off no fewer than 3 of my nephews with two of my sons also in on the attack. You see, it started with Rocco, James jumped in, and Johnny actually threw the roundhouse kicks. Sam and Jake were also on my back. Despite being knocked woozy, I was laughing harder than I've laughed in the entire year of '09. Thankfully, my wife saved me from further assault by calling an end to the beating, but you know, I would have suffered for another hour or so before I...

I've always enjoyed the writing process. The idea that you can begin with a blank slate and just create something is simply the most exhilarating thought that I can possibly have. That, of course, was born of a love that I had for reading as a child, and the simple thought that someday I might be able to do that very thing - create something out of nothing - that meant something to someone. The best thing about all of it, too, is that you really can never become perfect at it. That is wonderful for my eat-the-whole-bag-of-food personality - which deserves a side story by way of explanation. Years and years ago my father's cousin, Marian Fricano, the former professional baseball player, went away on vacation. He asked his teenage son to make sure the dog was fed while they were gone. Not wanting to handle the task each day, his son simply opened up the bag of food for the dog, who proceeded to nearly eat to death. I remember the story and how angry Marian was as he relayed the p...

If you could get the genie wishes from the lamp you might go for being the most respected top man in your profession - ever. You might instead go for the million square foot mansion with the marble driveway. More money than you can ever possibly spend might end up in the conversation too. Or how about the beautiful blond, model wife who seems more than Barbie Doll perfect? Is it fame you want? How about being more famous than the Pope? So, yesterday's minor car crash involving Tiger Woods was a bit of a surprise, and the reports coming out about the possible cause are even more hair-raising. Was Tiger having an affair? Did his wife scratch his famous face and then chase him down the driveway wielding a golf club? Can something be askew in the fairy tale life? I suppose the short answer is that we should have seen it coming, but who really knows for sure? Perhaps he was just fiddling with the radio trying to get E Street radio on the Sirius receiver. Maybe he was just trying to find...

Funny how life works but the ringing alarm clock stirred me awake from one of the first sound sleeps that I've had in months. The problem being the freaking clock was set for 4:15 AM and it wasn't my alarm clock! It was my wife's, but there was also another problem - she wasn't there to silence it having left the house at midnight instead because of all of the deals. How that clock didn't end up sailing down the street is tough to figure. Yet I was all right with it because even though I was up a little earlier than anticipated, my mood was good, and the photo above kind of tells you why. The holiday was all about the kids, and family, and togetherness. Of course, about seven pounds of my mother's unbelievable stuffing didn't hurt, but on a year when the holidays were becoming something of a dreaded thought, a light shined through. My nieces and nephews were all there and while it is a pleasure to see each and every one of them, there was a huge part of me w...

These are the words of Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. " We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States...to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” In case we forget what it is all about, I suppose.

I'm officially declaring that I am fully interested in coaching the Buffalo Bills for the next three or so years. Before you scoff at my candidacy let's examine my football background: I played one year of Little Loop (I believe I was ten years old). I wanted to be a running back, but when the coaches noticed that I ran like a wounded animal they switched me to defense where I proceeded to spend the first eight games on the bench. The only cool thing about the games were the orange slices at halftime. I'd eat about eleven oranges before the starters even made it off the field. Then I got into a game - and this is no lie - I picked off the first pass they threw in my direction. As I caught the ball I thought about how I'd make those bastard coaches pay for not playing me at running back - I was moving like Larry Brown through the field when I was hit. I fumbled. The other team scooped it up. And returned it for a touchdown. I never played again. Seems like I'm perfec...

Flipped on the computer today to see a shot of Adam Lambert kissing another man during his recent appearance somewhere. Then read a note that his act was kicked off of Good Morning America because it's too risky. Lambert is now singing the blues because he feels as if he's being singled out and that the gays are being wrongly persecuted. Now, I don't know even one song by this guy - people say he can sing. Not my kind of music, but whatever, right? If he has fans that's good for him. Yet wrongly persecuted for being gay? I don't care if he's gay, but I don't know why I have to open the computer to see him kissing some guy, and I certainly don't know if it is particularly smart to see his dancer pretending to perform oral sex on him as he sings. What's the song about? Does the guy on his knees add to the performance? Years and years ago I went to a concert that I'll never forget - Perry Como. Yeah, somehow I ended up at a concert where Perry Como ...

Some thirteen hours after the concert and my ears are still ringing. I've seen the future of Rock and Roll and it's still Springsteen. The show was absolutely incredible for anyone who was there to witness it, and the pre-show party was also fairly epic - Fuzzy-style. Plenty of food, drink, laughter, sadness, and mayhem. I'm just glad that Bruce is taking a break because I certainly need one. Yet what is really mind-boggling is that he performed 33 songs - without so much as a single break - I saw him play nearly 30 years ago and yesterday's show was every bit as energetic as that one. Still the beauty of Bruce is that he has a way of connecting with each member of the audience. When Jake was sick nearly ten years ago, I continually played the song "My Love Will Not Let You Down." The song is not a hit, had rarely been played on this tour and had very little business being in this set, but on a night when he just kept going and going and going, he was able to ...

Damn that Family Guy - we caught the episode last night where Peter plays for New England, scores a touchdown and sings the Sha-poopie song. Now I can't get it out of my head. Now as those who know me know, I'm very-challenged when it comes to doing anything around the house in a maintenance-type of a way. There's still a broken lamp in my hall from when I tried to change a light bulb - dropped the damn cover. Well, for a few weeks, Matthew and I suffered in the early morning as the shower was fairly cold and never truly warmed up. We complained to maintenance, but the second job of maintaining the farm is time-consuming. After complaining that we were tired of living in third-world country conditions, our maintenance-woman came through. It might have been easy too - simple turn of a switch I'm guessing - I would never go near those confusing tanks - but Sha-Poopie - we had hot water! I may stick around now. Anyway, big day today - perhaps the last time that Bruce and C...

A few months ago I got my ticket for the Bruce concert for tomorrow night. Of course, my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, and a couple of close friends also grabbed tickets and began to count the days down to the event. As the concert date got closer we worked on formalizing our plans. Of course pasta is on the menu as it is a Sunday and Sundays were made for sauce. Yet as the day drew nearer a few more things weighed heavily on my mind. The event will most certainly be a cause to shed some tears as we feel the void in the time and space that was occupied by our remarkable friend and brother. When Bruce hits the stage, once more it will be about more than what is in front of us. It will be about what we shared and lost. It will be about what we love and hold dear. It will be about living, laughing and loving. Bruce has that way of bringing that full circle. And it's not that I'm putting too much thought into all of this - it is about as guaranteed as anything in life can ...

Couple of items in the news today. A woman is claiming that the Shroud of Turin has markings on it that prove it was not a forgery and really was the burial cloth of Jesus. Meanwhile in Europe they are staring up the big bang machine and circulating protons around in an effort to be scientific. I suppose that if I were forced to choose I'm more religious than scientific mostly because I was sent to a Catholic school where religious teachings were delivered as truths and the nuns frankly didn't know much about science. They were good English teachers though. Yet I'm wondering...should we be messing around with this stuff? Sure if the show The Big Bang Theory is any sort of barometer the scientists are smarter than me (and where else would I be getting my science knowledge from these days). And don't even get me started on Penny (she's always been a favorite of mine). But when we start swinging protons around and smashing atoms, and doing whatever else we're doing...

Bah! I travel a little so I usually get the room upgrade with the points. At the particular chain I stay with their best room is the jacuzzi suite and it is certainly not an upgrade. First off, I'm not of the mind to set my own jacuzzi bath - I've always had a fundamental problem of washing with the water my ass is in. Secondly, these rooms are not supposed to be for solo acts - because there are freaking mirrors everywhere. Being that I've become nearly fully nocturnal for the first time since I was an infant, I have spent a lot of awake time catching glimpses of myself moving around the big room. Let me tell you - I've seen some things. Things that no man should ever see and things that billions of women would turn away from - and have! There's a mirror in the freaking tub. I won't even enter that area until it fogs over. There's a huge mirror above the sink, one on the wall just outside the bathroom door, and God help me, one on the back of the bathroom d...

It was an early morning yesterday and I was up before the dawn. That's a Supertramp lyric I do believe. It kept ringing in my head this morning. I was wide awake by 4 this morning and it isn't because Bruce will be ringing through town on Sunday. I've seen him enough to be able to hold back the excitement. And it isn't because I was dreaming about the 27-TIME WORLD CHAMPION YANKEES - they've also won enough for me to get used to it. I wasn't worried about the next Bills coach - I'm quite aware they'll bungle that. Thanksgiving worries? or Christmas shopping? Nah - what happens happens. No, it was simply the feeling that I'd slept enough. Yet there isn't a lot to do this early. I read for a bit, plotted the day ahead, and considered everything from Sarah Palin to the swine flu and figured they were both plagues we can do little about. The prevailing thought was that it was simply a shame that I used to get in at four and was rested when I got up t...

Yesterday was a tough day for my boy Jake. Not only did his report card show up, but he also had basketball after school, and he didn't get the game he wanted from Block Buster. (The report card was okay, but okay doesn't always work with me - I didn't get on him - just my standard - you can do better). Of course I knew he was a bit glum when he sat down to watch television with me at about 7:30, his face a mask of despair. Still, since I'm the happiness-maker, I tried to just fake him through it. "Hey buddy, what's going on?" I asked. Jake shook me off and looked at the ice cream cone he was holding. "You can tell me," I said. "Well," he said, choosing his words carefully, "I've just been disappointed by some things lately." It was such an innocent statement - one that can only be truly spoken by children that it kind of tore a hole through me as he said it. I wasn't right there with my "suck it up and tough it o...

Every time I get down in the dumps a little Sarah Palin comes to the forefront spouting her agenda and I laugh, and laugh, and laugh... Today she is quoted as saying that Obama is at about 4 out of 10 in his job performance. When asked to expand on it she said, "I can see Russia from my house." Are we really serious about her running for the highest office in the land? She makes W look like a Rhodes Scholar. She makes me look like Albert Einstein. I can't help it - I'm not pushing any agenda here, she just makes me laugh with the snowmobile races, the moose hunting, the crazy kids, her son-in-law in Playgirl, the talk of a reality show, the red dress, the traveling around the country, the youbetcha, the Katie Couric interview, a complete lack of knowledge, seven colleges to complete her bachelor's. I can't wait for Tina Fey to come back and make fun of her. Yet this time, I needed Sarah to come back to the forefront. I was feeling a little down and she made me...

I went to college with an ex-marine, Hiram, who could have snapped me in two without much effort. Fortunately we were friends. Yet for a little while there we were both pursuing the same girl. It was a good thing we were friends because he saw me doing what I call "dancing" with her one night. Of course, he got the girl. I was dismayed,but as I've said - we were buddies. So he grabbed me one night, put me in a semi-headlock and told me that he was sorry I didn't get the girl. He also explained that the best way to handle disappointment is to do a "lonely bar run". "No friends - no excess drinking - no feeling sorry for yourself. Just sit down, have a couple of beers and concentrate on getting your shit together." I had forgotten Hiram's advice until late in the day today. After work, I remembered Hiram, the girl, and the only other time I'd ever done a lonely bar run and I recalled that it had worked. So I sat down, had a beer and a shot of...

Man, I tell you, this grief is a violently nasty thing to deal with - even eight months later. Yesterday afternoon I settled in to watch the Bills - quickly lost interest, thought about a nap, and instead grabbed the new autobiography by Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band. For the next ten minutes or so I was thoroughly entertained by a story that happened during the '08 tour. To know the complete story you might have to read Clarence's book or call me to ask about it, but the short version had Bruce, Clarence and Hideki Matsui sharing a ride from Boston to New York. It was a funny tale about three of my heroes, so naturally, I wanted to share it... And I tried to share it - I told it to my brother Jim. I relayed it to my wife. I tried to call my sister... And it dawned on me that I wasn't going to get the reaction I was looking for. I wouldn't be able to get the one reaction that I clearly needed - that of Jeff. And it crippled me - it is still crippling me right no...

The television show Extreme Makeover was in town this week and they certainly, through the use of volunteers, did a wonderful job of re-doing a home in a battered part of town. Kudos. The grim reality of it being, of course, is that most of the city is in the same sort of shape. It's shocking to drive on the east side of Buffalo and see the boarded up homes, the unmowed lawns, and the broken glass. It's disheartening to travel to the west side too, or to the Black Rock district, or downtown. Last week I walked Main Street in the middle of a beautiful afternoon. Storefront after empty storefront, I was expecting to see a tumbleweed roll down the center of the track. A ghost town like the old west. And yet every once in awhile people step up and help out. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there to greet the new family as they looked at their rebuilt home. I'm sure that most people went down in an effort to get on television, but why they pitched in isn't all that...

There are no sure ways to raise kids are there? Some people believe that children should be coddled, hidden from the evil of the world, and sheltered from seeing anything other than what is wonderful, and natural and beautiful. There are other children who grow to adults having already seen and done it all. In this day and age some of the true horrors of life are just a few mouse clicks away. As a parent there is plenty to get you confused, and in the back of your mind there is always fear. Are we doing this right? I'll tell you one thing I know for sure - there has never been a Fazzolari kid born who lacked confidence. I relay all of this after having watched Sam and Jake answer questions posed to them on Facebook. Sam was asked if he could date someone who would they be most like - and he answered, 'Me.' Perfect. And the kids run around here so cocksure of everything that comes out of their mouths. They know they're funny, and smart, and happy and that life is theirs ...

My son Jake was born on a Friday the 13th so I don't get real excited about the terror of the day anymore although maybe I should. The movie 2012 is about to be released and it talks about the end of the world in one fell swoop. There are actually people out there who've sold everything they owned in preparation for such a day. They seem to be idiots to me. Yet we are just a couple of weeks past Halloween too and this morning I read a story about John Wetteland, the relief pitcher from the 1996 27-TIME WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK YANKEES, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. A quote in the story said that Wetteland had always battled demons. And that's the sort of thing that caught my eye. Who isn't battling demons of sorts? Aren't we all sort of in that fight on a day-to-day basis? Whether they are demons that result from reliving a prior tragedy, or demons that show themselves through the face of addiction, or just demons that come as the part of the original sin ...

Every month I head into Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, either to attend the parent advisory meeting for Family-Centered Care or to greet new nurses on their way in to let them know that parents should have a voice in the care of their children.(Yeah, yeah, it's tough greeting the new nurses, but someone has to do it). I've been proud to be on the Advisory Board since it started back about five or six years ago and it pains me when I can't attend one of the meetings. I've told the story about Jake's care - before he arrived at the hospital, while he was there, and since - about 300 times - and walking through those doors each and every time brings back a ton of the fear that I felt eight years ago. Yet before me at every meeting are parents and nurses who seem so much stronger than me. There are mothers who have special needs children (twenty-four hour a day care), there are parents who have lost their children, and there are nurses and doctors who h...

Saw a Stephen King Press Conference on the release of his new book... I like Stephen King even though he's a Red Sux fan. I loved that he would read between innings of the World Series games. I would read too if I had to cheer for those lowlifes. Yet I also enjoy that he promotes reading. There is still nothing better than reading a good book. It's always better than the movie and a hundred times better than the audio books. There is something special about just being lost in a story and thinking along with the author. Of course, I might be biased here. I learned to write because of a love for reading. I've actually kind of set a record lately, reading just one book after another, kind of trying to escape into a place where things can be controlled and make a little sense. There is a lot of talk these days that books will go to the wayside because of the freaking Internet and Facebook and Twitter and stupid, self-serving blogs. Oops, I do most of those things. Yet I like Ki...

I see they put the sniper to death this morning. In years and days past that would have annoyed me to all hell. I was always so vehemently opposed to the death penalty. Today...I didn't care. Not that I have changed all of my bleeding heart ways, but what the hell can be done? I've always argued that curbing violence by committing violence doesn't make a lot of sense. That's kind of like telling your kids not to play with the oven or you're going to burn their fingers off. Then I would compare it to baling water out of an overflowing sink - you can't cure the problem until you get rid of the clog, right? Then I used to moan and this is the big one - that those put to death are the ones that can't afford to defend themselves. That one still bugs me now that I think of it - Capital Punishment is the only law on the books that is given only to the poor and it isn't right. So, how did I react this morning when Howard Stern's crew commented on the sniper...

Well, I broke down and started looking at it every once in awhile. My wonderful sister established it for me and even though I didn't really need another site to go to, I decided to check in one day... ...and now I have another avenue to talk with old friends that I haven't seen in awhile and I'm starting to come around to the idea, I suppose. Yet I still don't get it completely. Why do people post what they're having for dinner? Or that they just brushed their teeth? And what's up with all of these damn games? I can't keep up! Also every morning I get to read someone else's horoscope - why would I care? The cool thing about it is that I'm friends with my boys and just the other day I received an e-mail that said "Kathy and Cliff Fazzolari are now friends!" That was refreshing. Anyway, I don't know where all of this is headed. We are all sharing our thoughts, days, and actions - one big community, I suppose, and it doesn't seem to h...

During lunch, with no more baseball to read about, I was reading Ann Landers or Dear Abby or whatever the hell it was and I scanned a letter from a man who was so torn up with a potential problem. Seems that his wife was getting on him a bit because in the morning he shares the bathroom with their teenage daughter - he shaves while she's in the shower and they talk the entire time. He wanted to know if it was inappropriate that it went down like this because his wife was giving him grief. Listen... I don't know everything, and I don't have any teenage daughters, but do you really have to sit down and write a letter to a newspaper to get a handle on whether or not you should be in the bathroom with your naked daughter? Most of those letters are usually of that variety, but Ann Landers and Dr. Abby seem to be very important in handling the crisis' of the day. I love the ones that try to talk you into their side of the story. For instance: "I'm a battered wife who...

In the early evening, after scrapping plans to have a few drinks to celebrate the Yanks, I headed outside to drop off the garbage. From the garage I heard the shouts of Matt, Jake and Sam as they played ping-pong and laughed. I had a serious flashback to my youth and playing with my brothers - we were a walking two-on-two game ready to happen - in every sport. The teams were always John and Jeff against Jim and me. We usually lost - first off because if we won John would kick the shit out of us, and secondly because Jeff was better than us - being the youngest didn't stop him - his hands were just quicker. So, I headed to the garage. Jake was sitting out as Sam was playing Matt - obviously a distinct disadvantage for Sam, but you would have never known it from the chirping he was doing - "You suck!" he cried out just as I entered the garage. "Let's go, two-on-two," I said. "Me and Jake." The reason I chose Jake as a teammate was because I wanted to...

Oh God I love naps. It seems that I became addicted to weekend naps when the boys were young and now, like Grandpa Fuzzy, the office closes from 1 to 3 PM. Now I'm up and ready for something, I suppose. What has been happening since the Yankee World Series run? I scan the news on the Net and nearly puke. Massacre in Fort Hood - awful, awful story. Doesn't your heart just ache when you see that kind of rampage? I don't ever want to get used to reading about that! Serial killer burying people on the property in Ohio - see above - and the neighbors said the same things - quiet guy - never saw it coming. I think there was another murder in the Orlando area - day after day. Horrible. To have just one shot at life and bungle it so badly as to end up walking in on your co-workers with an automatic weapon, or to feel the need to capture people and torture them, or to even get to the point where you shoot someone in your own family. When the smoke finally clears, and we are to asses...

Taken from the Web - Thanks for Sharing - Carrie - Great Take on winning! NEW YORK — The throng of media members around the makeshift stage seemed impenetrable, but Harlan Chamberlain motored his way through all of the cameras and notepads anyway. Reaching a blue barrier, he stopped his scooter, strained to look over a crowd of world champion Yankee ballplayers and tried to get a glimpse of his son. When that proved useless, he simply resorted to his considerable vocal chords. "Jaaaaaaahba!" he yelled. "Jaaaaaaaaaahba!" Harlan said his son's name a few more times, then spied A.J. Burnett(notes) in the crowd. "Burnett!" he said. "Can you get my son!" Burnett could and a few moments later, Joba Chamberlain(notes) put down the giant blue Yankee flag he had been waving up on stage. The big Yankees pitcher hopped off the stage, disappeared from the view of the Fox cameras and quickly made a beeline for his father. When they came together, they w...

It kind of got ridiculous there for awhile, didn't it? Everyone who ever met my brother Jeff knew that he wasn't Matsui's biggest fan. Although he thought Hideki was okay, he wondered why they called him Godzilla. Now we know. The thing about it was that Sam, who owns a jersey of every single Yankee player wore Matsui on his back tonight. And Lynn called just before Matsui came to bat to tell me that Matsui sucks... And I was just so emotional- waiting and hoping! "Why'd you pick Matsui?" I asked Sam before the game started. "I just grabbed it," Sam said, shrugging. But I knew why I wrote, on Facebook, that Matsui would homer tonight. It was a tribute. When Matsui clubbed three foul balls, hard, in the second inning, I turned to my wife - "He's going to do it now," I said. The next pitch was high into the upper deck. And something different happened. In all the years and through all the pitches thrown that were hit or missed, and with a...

This one was taken from the wire...not funny, but brought to mind a joke that my brother John loved to tell. "The worst part about having sex with an animal is that you have to jump down off the stool and run around the front to kiss them." "A South Carolina man caught on video having sex with a horse was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty for the second time in two years to abusing the creature. Rodell Vereen was also ordered never to go near the stable where the horse's owner caught him and held him for authorities at shotgun point over the summer. He apologized to the woman and to himself after admitting to buggery at the Horry County courthouse. "I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I'm sorry for what I've done to myself," Vereen said during Wednesday's court hearing. Vereen was arrested in July after Barbara Kenley caught him entering the barn at Lazy B Stable...

My sleep rhythms are all off. I'm thinking it all started with the damn hour of extra sleep we got on Saturday night. Let's retrace - No Yanks on Friday, up late anyway. Woke at regular time on Saturday, which is roughly 6 AM - solid six hours, need a nap, good nap, lucky too because there's game on tonight. Saturday - Beer is hand-delivered by a buddy. We drink most of what he brought before the rain delay ended. Get more beer. Game keeps going. Bed late. Up early. Did I change the clock in my room? I can't remember. I glance at the cell phone that should change automatically and it matches the clock radio. Head downstairs - all other clocks are off an hour - change them. Find out that downstairs clocks had already been changed and that I never actually changed the clock in my room and that my cell phone clock didn't change either. WHAT THE HELL TIME IS IT? I ask. Get it straightened away. Sunday night...'nother game...up early Monday. Work through the day, loo...

Woke up this morning a little disappointed and a tad perplexed... First off, I'm perplexed by the stuff in Chase Utley's hair. It makes me think of what happened to the Cameron Diaz character in Something About Mary . Could it be? And disappointed because the Yanks didn't close it out last night. If Jeter would've got the big hit last night they may have bronzed him right there, but he didn't, which brings me to the lesson learned. The game was something that I had no control over. I will have just as much control over tomorrow's game. Yet I couldn't help but fret the outcome. There are so many things like that in life. And if someone would've explained that the Yanks would've took two of three in Philly - I would've taken it in a heartbeat. Yet after winning the first two - I wanted more. Again, a life's lesson - no matter how good it is - we want more - greed gets in the way and despite the fact that two in Philly was enough - I'm disap...

I'm not saying that I deserve one more Yankee victory tonight to close out what has been a good World Series, but... 1). My kids need to see that a team they root for doesn't have to miss the playoffs every year, cry about not selling enough tickets (when every game is a sell-out) and make excuses about why they failed. Up until now Sam and Jake have only heard the stories - this would be a first for them. (Matt will forever suffer because his wagon is tied to the losers). Give it to them baseball gods. 2). I've stayed up late on back-to-back nights and tonight will be night three in a row. I know there are Philly fans staying awake too, but damn, I'm tired. Don't make me stay up again on Weds. 3). I rooted for the Yankees during the down, dark years of this decade when they had the gall to lose two World Series' and only won 8 of 9 American League East Titles - it's been way too long between championships. 4). It's been a long, shitty year! Never in my ...

Speaker to Deliver a Toast to Writing By Louise Continelli NEWS STAFF REPORTER November 01, 2009 NIAGARA FALLS —Award-winning author Clifford Fazzolari, who may be on the Joyce Carol Oates track if for sheer output alone, delivers the Saturday morning keynote talk during next weekend’s Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Conference, hosted by Toastmasters International in the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel. Fazzolari, 45, has published nine books, fiction as well as nonfiction, with readers from around the world. During the public conference, he and others will talk about how to add humor to your message and make it more memorable; how to stay motivated and keep your message alive and strong; how to make sure you and your life partner share the same message; how to find just the right opening for your message to hook your audience’s attention; and how to stand out as a leader by sharing your message. Fazzolari’s an expert at all of the above, and more. He teams up with anoth...