Thoughts of a Common Man

It's funny but I can remember a whole bunch of New Year's Eve parties. When we were kids my parents' friends used to come by and we'd eat a lot of food and hang out with them. Mom and Dad would have a few drinks and Frenchie and McGurk. I really remember that Frenchie and McGurk would provide us with a lot of laughs. As a teenager and well into my 20's I spent a lot of New Year's at the Buffalo Sabres game. They did a Tux and Pucks night and I went a whole bunch of times...sometimes with a buddy...sometimes with a date. The Sabres are home tonight - I won't be going. In later years we had dinner and a whole lot of drinks with another couple. The kids were the one's who'd sit around and watch us drink and play cards and laugh. We haven't done that in a couple of years. In fact, last year I fell asleep at 10:30. The first time that I had missed the New Year being ushered in. And I'm not quite sure why I have sort of lost int...

I've been sitting on this D.B. of the Week for a few weeks. Perhaps you never heard of the author of a blog - Katelyn Carmen. She gives advice - not sure if it's solicited or not - on marriage. Recently she wrote an opinion piece on what makes a marriage work. I caught up with it in the Huffington Post. And I'm all for saying whatever the hell you want. I'm also all for opinions... ...but I also have the backs of my female readers and this piece sort of hit me as being D.B. worthy. Ready? Carmen says that women are destroying their husbands because they employ five severely destructive things she says that will ultimately ruin a women's relationship with her husbands. Carmen says that women should: 1). Always live within her husband's means. 2). Never complain. 3). Always put her husband first. 4). Use sex as a "sacred tool" and 5). Never withhold sex. So, I probably have a whole bunch of men out there wondering why I am g...

Well, 2014 is about to go down into the history books. What kind of year? I put a book out there. Dogs On Main Street was a whole lot of fun. I only went through a lot of the work because I liked it and I wanted to give it to the people who read along all these years. They liked it! So that was great. It won an award at the New York Book Festival as well...so the work was validated. The 27-Time World Champion Greatest Franchise in the History of Organized Sports missed the playoffs in Jeter's final year...so that wasn't great. The Bills stretched their playoff-less streak to 15 years and the Sabres are really pretty bad. So despite the fact that I'm only emotionally invested in the Yankees... It wasn't a great sports year. How about the politics of the land? There were a whole bunch of arguments about guns early on. Nothing was resolved. Left and Right battled all year. No cooperation. Health Care or Not? Everyone agreed we had to ...

I was in the 9th grade. It was just another class, in the middle of all the long, usually boring classes. Our teacher was Mr. Griffin. He was different from the other teachers because he was funny. So, I guess his class was different, but I didn't expect the lesson to go as it did. He plunked a tape player down in the middle of the room and played a Beatles song. He told us that we were going to figure out the lyrics. That simple exercise changed a whole lot of things for me because I truly stopped just listening to the music...after breaking it all down...I began studying it. This song came onto my I-pod this morning as I was working. It's an amazing song. This one goes out to P.J. Griffin. Thanks for teaching this particular task. Eleanor Rigby - Lennon & McCartney Ah look at all the lonely people Ah look at all the lonely people Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice In the church where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the...

I'm not sure which book I read it in, but the author spoke about how everything that's created will someday come apart. Everything. You can build a structure out of the strongest materials, but eventually time and environmental conditions will break it apart. The only thing that truly stays together is what is inside of you, and although we also, eventually break down and come apart, the essence of what we were is still intact. And I believe... ...remains intact through eternity. That sort of came to me at 3:03 a.m. on Christmas morning when the high winds whipped through Western New York. I didn't really pay much mind to the weather reports because, let's be honest here, after the 85 inches of snow in November, nothing really scares me much. "They're calling for a foot of snow!" We shrug our shoulders. Anywhoha... The winds were slamming the house pretty good when I settled in for the Christmas Eve fitful sleep. Sam was promising th...

In the Fazzolari household we do a pretty good job of just ripping through the food. Then we whip through the presents. And hammer down the desserts. I kept thinking of Neil Young's song, Like A Hurricane yesterday. And there was a point in the party at our house yesterday where two little kids - I'd put them at about 3 and 4 - were ripping up wrapping paper and throwing it in the air. I thought about yelling for them to stop. After all, I'd be cleaning it up. But I just let them go. Partially because I was too tired - cooking for 40 or so isn't as easy as it used to be - but mostly because they were having a great time. And my boys had a great time too. All the presents! I don't know how my beautiful wife pulls off gathering all of it. But it truly is the love that you feel that stays longer than any gift that you received. I'll soon be getting mustard all over the new clothes I unwrapped. "These are good socks," Kathy said. ...

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection,” -- Winston Churchill “Christmas is not a time nor a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy is to have the real spirit of Christmas,” -- Calvin Coolidge “Don't let the past steal your present. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone,” -- Taylor Caldwell “It's true, Christmas can feel like a lot of work, particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul,” -- Caroline Kennedy “Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart,” -- Washington Irving “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone,” -- Charles M. Schulz “Christmas is the day that holds all time together,” --...