Thoughts of a Common Man

I had a busy work week. And in the back of my mind I kept thinking about the Holy Weeks of my past. 45 or so years ago I’d spend the entire week in church, or so it seemed. As an altar boy, we were all expected to take our turn. The Good Friday stations of the cross was the one that we all tried to avoid. There was a whole bunch of standing, kneeling, moving and praying. It seemed to last a long time, and if you complained about it... ...the priest would explain about the 40 days and 40 nights. The subject of all the time we spent at church came up recently as a whole bunch of priest’s names hit the news, as having been accused of molestation through the years. My siblings and I were split on what that news meant to us. “After seeing “Spotlight” I’ve had a hard time heading back to church,” one sibling said. To be honest, it had much the same affect on me. Yet, Mom was there. “I still enjoy church,” she said. I agree with that too. The community of church has ...

I watched the Roseanne reboot. Both shows. Loved it. It was like putting on an old pair of shoes... ...speaking of which, I had to do some training on Wednesday and went from my work boots to my sneakers. Was lacing up the old sneakers, pulled the laces tight and felt something weird. I looked and the bottom of the left sneaker was blown out. I now had a choice...six hours in heavy boots, or the busted up sneaks. Maybe I could get away with it. “Why the hell is wrong with your shoe?” The first guy I saw asked. I gotta’ buy better sneakers. Anywhoa... Yeah, Roseanne is a loudmouth. “She’s so loud,” my beautiful wife mention And she is. Always has been, but the writing on the show is good. Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalfe and John Goodman are great... ...and the Trump-Clinton fight is kind of comical when it’s played out in fantasy land. The show garnered more than 18 million viewers. Good enough. I’ll watch next week... ...unless... ...I read an article th...

I didn’t actually believe that someone could crush those kids, but once again, I was way too rosy in my outlook. There were plenty of people willing to disparage the kids who were the face of the March for Life on Saturday. Nasty stuff. Fox News was up front about how they were mere children who had no business taking center stage. Rick Santorum said the absolute dumbest of all things by suggesting those kids should take CPR courses instead. Is there a CPR course that stuffs blood back into the bodies of their classmates who are full of lead? Trump ran off to his golf course. He had zip to say. But at least he didn’t take out shots at the children... ...the talking heads did. I couldn’t even stomach some of the things I heard. I saw a photo of the children as they got ready to appear on “Ellen”. They were smiling. They were ripped for smiling. A meme went around talking about how they were crisis actors and that it was all staged in an effort to grab their pre...

Seems a little weird as we’re still freezing our asses off and they’re calling for snow on Easter Sunday, but one of the best days of the year has finally arrived! Opening Day! The 27-Time World Champion Greatest Franchise in the History of Organized American Sports is ready to hammer one baseball after another over the left-field Wall, into the monuments, into the black, and opposite field into the short porch at the cathedral known as Yankee Stadium. Can Judge and Stanton threaten the 115 that Maris & Mantle hit in ‘61? Here we go! N.L. East: The Nationals have one last chance before Bryce Harper gets a half-a-billion in free agency. They’ll win the division easily. The hapless Mets, and the pathetic Phillies are going to be runner-ups, and the Braves are young and coming. Sorry, Larry. Not this year. Jeter and the Marlins will lose 100. Nationals N.L. Central: The Cubs will win it although I remain unconvinced that they’re great. Yu Darvish got $140 million...g...

If Michigan, who is favored, beats Loyola-Chicago And if Villanova, who is favored, beats Kansas And if ‘Nova, who will be favored and who I want to win, beats Michigan... ...my bracket will be number one. Couple of problems: I’ll be unable to watch the final game because of anxiety issues. ‘Nova winning a close game would zap all the fun out of it for me. If they win, I win. If they lose, I lose. How can they even play in that game?? I may be throwing up before the ball is even tipped. Also, Sam is a huge ‘Nova fan... ...if something goes awry my poor son may not speak until about August! I’ve been in this position before. Years ago, Maryland and me had the exact scenario. The Terrapins pulled it off... ...but the two hours of game time was pure agony for me. I’m not looking forward to it. Yet, it’s the right to brag that I’m chasing. My pool is entered in a tourney with 125 other entries. I want first! I want to brag obnoxiously about how stoooopid...

George Will made a comment about how the number of school deaths is actually fairly low. Guess he hasn’t lost a kid in a hail of bullets. Is there an acceptable number? And that’s why there was a march on Saturday. It’s gone on way too long. I don’t know what George Will is thinking. We now have a whole generation of children who have sat in closets in their classrooms, practicing hiding from gun-toting maniacs. Is that normal? I also don’t understand the whole “more guns are needed” argument. It doesn’t make sense. We just had a series of bombings... ...didn’t hear even one person suggest that we needed to introduce more bombs to the scenario. Yet, I think there’s a chance for movement. I really do. Most Americans believe that the answer to this heretofore unsolvable problem is to keep guns and mentally disturbed people separated. It’s almost a unanimous consensus... ...by the citizens. What is weird is that what we seem to desire is being roundly ignored b...

There are so many times during the course of a regular day when I’ll be amazed by how quickly time has flown by. Springsteen mentioned that the sad thing about getting older is that the blank slate and the endless possibilities aren’t quite so endless. We wear out! I thought about that when it dawned on me that my brother, Jim is 50 years old today! 50! I fought with him over a View Master when he was about 6. And when you lol back there are so many memories, laughs, moments where you just realize... ...that family is where it’s at... ...and love you like a brother is a real thing. It just sucks that life gets in the way... ...I haven’t seen much of Jim this past year... ...we all working, raising kids, battling health difficulties and battling some more. “I keep moving through the dark, with you in my heart, my blood brother.” That line gets a lot of play in our lives. Our parents taught us to have one another’s back. Jim has always helped all of us... ...