Playing With Gemma

Gemma did not like me when she was a baby. Her lip would quiver when I looked at her, and she would start crying as soon as I picked her up. It took a lot of effort on my part to get her to bond with me.

Eventually we bonded, and now I am one of her favorite people to play with!

The reason she loves playing with me boils down to two elements that are important to her: she makes up all the rules, and she always wins.

Remembering Dad: His System of Cycling Junk

Dad was a collector of many things. He had his old cameras, his library, his painted engine collection, and hundreds of his favorite movies on VHS tapes. He was highly creative at using junk in wonderful displays, like his magic garage. However, he also was organized, and did not like junk hanging around the house.

Mom enjoyed many of his collections, and tolerated others. She also does not like junk hanging around the house, but her definition of junk differed from Dad’s definition of junk.

Boz Scaggs at Emerald Queen Casino

The date the sign showed Boz Scaggs was performing on March 12th slips my mind, but it was resolved a moment later that I would be getting tickets for his show! I went to get the tickets the next pay day.

I decided to buy a pair of tickets for Hutch to give to him for his birthday, and two extra tickets so Candace and Erin could also go with Linda and me to see this great musician.

Farley's Wit - Number 8: Federal Court Nominations and Setting Up a Super-PAC

Hello. I'm G. Gordon Farley, the first name in Farley Swit.

Most judges on the state and local levels are elected, but judges on the federal level are appointed.

When there is a vacancy on the federal level, from Circuit Courts to the Supreme Court, due to retirement or death, the President considers people who are available and qualified to do the job.

Christmas in February: Michael Che Comedy Show

I could tell there was more than just a card in the envelope when it was handed to me for my Christmas present in 2015. Sure enough, inside the card were six tickets for the February 25th show at the Columbia City Theater featuring Michael Che.

Hutch’s Super Bowl 50 Party

There are those people in our lives who we meet during our childhood, and who remain in our lives despite separation as our lives take different courses. Among those people, there is one who will rise above the others, not because we are so alike, but because the love for one another is powerful enough to overcome distances and differences.

Hutch is that person to me.

Super Bowl 50 Trivia

We are two days away from Super Bowl 50, which will be the first Super Bowl not designated by a Roman numeral. Fifty in Roman numerals is "L," and "L" is also a symbol that has come to mean "loser." The NFL will resume using Roman numerals for Super Bowl LI.

Despite this being Super Bowl 50, it is only the 48th game dubbed as the "Super Bowl." The first two were called "The AFL-NFL World Championship," and were later known as Super Bowls I and II.

Tidal Wave of Love

The water had seeped the night before. The winds were blowing steadily as predicted. The pressure was mounting with each push. The earth began shaking uncontrollably with greater and greater force. Then from within there was emergence, and it was finally over.

All the preparation and anticipation had come to fruition. Our baby had arrived!

David Bowie: 1947 to ∞ in 2016

I didn’t want to believe the news was possible. He should have been one of the immortals.

I awoke this Monday, and it apparently is more than a bad dream. News outlets are still reporting this morning that David Bowie died yesterday.

It just seems so surreal.

With some musical artists, it is difficult to pick a favorite song to remember them by upon their deaths. Bowie was such a master of transformation, it is almost impossible to pick a favorite phase of his career. From his first hit in the '60s, Spacey Oddity, he never relented, releasing Blackstar on his 69th birthday, just two days before his death.

Back to School

Though I have thought often about going back to school myself so I could finish up my Associate’s degree, or just take some classes that might interest me, I have not yet done that. However, now that I have switched from being a driver with highly irregular hours to being a dispatcher with a set schedule that begins in the afternoon, I may do it soon.

In Memory of Dick Jordan

My daughters think I’m a terrific dad. I know this because they tell me so.

This wasn’t an accident. It was learned.

One of my teachers was a man I met when I coached his daughter’s little league softball team. His name was Dick Jordan. Dick died Tuesday.

Negotiating My Weight

I knew it had been too long since the last time I had a medical checkup. My last visit to the doctor that was not to an urgent care was about eight years ago. I know better than to wait that long between visits, but who cares?

That question was answered recently by Candace who urged me to be more proactive about my health. Usually, I do not concern myself with the opinions of other people, but I do concern myself with what my daughters, granddaughters, and Linda think.

Uncle Rudy: The Fix-It Man

Uncle Rudy was sort of a philosopher, a decent story teller, and somewhat a comedian. He certainly was a fix-it man, though. He didn’t even need the correct parts to accomplish many of his repairs.

I used to kid him that Jerry ought to be happy that he came first. If he hadn’t, we would call it "Rudy-rigging."

Remembering Dad: The Newspaper Beating

I don’t know what compelled me to sit on the porch and yell "Mr. and Mrs. Elephant" at Mr. and Mrs. Anderson as they were leaving their house and getting into their car that day. I do know, however, that I regretted it the moment I saw them heading across the street toward our house.

Build-A-Bear With the Grandkids

Though it was truly Gemma’s second Christmas, 2013 was really the first one she would start grasping the concept. She was barely a month old the previous year. Linda and I got both Elliana and Gemma something they could unwrap and gift certificates to Build-A-Bear.

It was time to cash those in a week or two later. Candace, of course, wanted to be there to share her baby’s first experience making her own stuffed animal.