Mixed feelings

I am so happy, and at the same time, so sad, at the recent turn of events in Trenton.

On the one hand, I am ECSTATIC that the Trenton Titans (ECHL) hockey team is returning to Trenton, and that they will have the Flyers as an affiliate. When the Flyers' hated rival, the Devils, owned and operates the team, I couldn't bring myself to attend or root for them. (The exception was the far-too-brief span when Max Ouellet was their emergency goalie. I'd cheer for him no matter what logo was on his jersey.)

Anyway, the Devils cleared out of Trenton 3 weeks ago, having given up on fielding a team in Flyers country. And in that time, fans and local investors pulled together to resurrect their team's much-loved previous incarnation: the Titans. I couldn't be happier about that.

But it has resurrected my sadness over losing the Phantoms. No, I am not over it. It's a chronic pain, flaring in the background every time I watch a Phantoms home game in ADK online and see sparse attendance, or any time I see a Phantoms road game, also online, that has even sparser attendance. It's frustrating to think that we fans who loved our team, lost it, and the people who HAVE an AHL team in town don't take advantage of it.

I miss my team. All the time. It hurts like my knee hurts, on a daily basis that has become part of the backdrop of my life. Glens Falls is too bleeping far away, and IMO even Allentown will be too far away, if we ever live to see the day when the already-behind-schedule, ground-isn't-broken-yet arena is built. On land that was plagued by sinkholes in recent years. Foe which the city wants to use Eminent Domain to forcibly relocate businesses. For which every local resident swears the traffic patterns as they exist now can't possibly withstand the spikes of a hockey game or a concert.

Why did stupid Comcast not push for the Bellmawr, NJ location? STUPID STUPID STUPID. Its a stone's throw from Philadelphia. The existing fan base could easily have made the jump. NooooOOOOOoooo. That made too much sense.

There is a part of me that hopes something happens to MAKE the team move closer to Philly than Allentown. What that is, or where that'd be now that the Bellmawr site has other construction plans not including an arena, I don't know.

But hey. Trenton just got their beloved Titans back, and a Flyers affiliation to boot. Who ever thought THAT could happen? Not even a month ago, that was an unrealistic pipe dream. So anything can happen.

Flat tires and road trips

Driving back from a visit with JEJ on Wednesday night, as I was about to make a left turn onto Bartram Avenue, my car's steering wheel suddenly started pulling vigorously to the right. I knew that the last time I had the steering wheel take on a life of its own, I was in the process of getting a flat tire. Still, I was only a few minutes from home, so my hope was that the tire would hold out for the rest of my trip. I made the left turn when the light turned green.

A moment later, the telltale noise of a flat tire started up. WUBWUBWUBWUB went the tire, and "@#$*&" went I. It's not just that it was a really inconvenient hour for the tire to kick the bucket. It's also that there's not so much as ONE inch of shoulder on any part of that road to pull over onto, so I *had* to keep driving in traffic, flat tire or no flat tire. I put my hazard lights on and kept moving. WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB. @*&$@*#&$@$.

Fortunately, almost immediately after I made my turn onto Essington Avenue, there was a parking lot available to safely turn into. Even better, this particular lot belongs to an airport parking service, where a person can pay to park their car, then take a shuttle bus to the airport. So it's a business that's actually open 24/7.

I called Mark and AAA, both of whom arrived within ten minutes. The AAA driver actually called to verify my location, and he was entirely familiar with the area once I described where I was.

My biggest concern was whether the spare tire would actually fit onto the car. My previous car had a spare with a mismatched rim; I didn't find out until I needed it that the rim didn't fit the car, rendering the spare unusable. So I was kind of holding my breath this time around, until I actually saw the rim go onto the car without difficulty.

Of course, the only drawback here is that the spare tire is a little Barbie-tire-sized donut. I took one look at the tiny tire and realized that there was no way I would be able to drive to Brigantine in that car the following day, as I'd planned. So Mark agreed to switch cars with me, and let me drive his car to Brigantine on Thursday.

Which is what I did. Cousins Michele, Bryen, Mary, and Connell were visiting Aunt Rita from Illinois, so I wanted to get out there and see them while they were in Brigantine. Hence, I drove there on Thursday and came home today.

We had a great time on the beach. Mary and I went into the ocean -- it's been way, WAY too long since I was in the ocean! -- and I was surprised at how cold the water was. The temperatures on land have been unseasonably hot, but unfortunately that didn't translate into a warm ocean yesterday. I'm told that there was a storm out at sea, which does explain the cold water. Storms churn the water from the depths up to the surface, and BRRR, that can translate into cold water. Then again, with a heat wave that's downright ridiculously hot scorching most of the continent, I can't exactly complain about the water being cold. If there's one week we've needed it, it's this week.

But if I thought yesterday was hot, today is even worse. Even Brigantine was hot, and Atlantic City (and Philly!) were scheduled to reach triple digits today. Ugh. Too bad I couldn't hang out for a while in Brigantine *today* and take another swim, but I had to get home.

It was so nice to see everyone this week. I only wish I could have spent more time with them all. But I was feeding JR's cat all week while he and JFM were away, so I couldn't spend more than one day at the shore. It's an unfortunate coincidence that both events were in the same week.

Anyway, it's been a great few days. other than that whole flat-tire situation that I could have done without. Then again, at least the tire didn't conk out on my to or from Brigantine. In this heat, the last thing in the universe that I'd have wanted to do is get stuck somewhere on a highway between here and the shore. That would have been dreadful. So if the tire had to go kaput, at least it was kind enough to do it when I was close to home.

Family History

JFM, JR and I went to the National Archives this afternoon and started looking through their digital records for pieces of family history. JR found relatives who were here as far back as the 1790s. JFM found his grandfather's draft registration and learned that he'd served in WWI.

I was able to pinpoint several relatives' arrival in the USA in 1870 (naturalized in 1893), 1909, and 1910. I actually met the great-grandparent who got here in 1909; the others had passed before I was born. It was also interesting to see that the relative who'd been listed as Antonio in the 1900 census was "Tony" in the 1920 census; he also dropped the final syllable of his surname to make it more Anglicized. He wasn't the only one, either. Two Giuseppes became Joseph, Lucia became Lucy, Rosa became Rose, Giovanina became Jennie. (And in one census, boy was THAT name butchered by the English-speaking person who recorded the data. Holy cow.)

Armed with a few more birth years and arrival years than I'd had before, I hope I can track down some additional information in the future when I sit down to tackle the non-digital records.

Special Date

So my Dad called this evening and asked, "What day of the week was October 30, 1955?"

I was out walking the dog at the time of the call, but said I'd look it up when I got home. Then I asked why he was asking. "That's the day I met your mother."

When I looked it up, I found that the date fell on a Sunday, at which point, he said, "Then I met your mother at a party the night before, on October 29."

So there you have it. Now I know the date my parents met: October 29, 1955. I think that's kind of cool. :-)

Camp

My robo-call post was actually a digression. When the phone rang, I was actually just about to write THIS post.

You might notice that i didn't blog during deaf-blind camp. As much as I enjoyed it, it caused me some dilemmas because there are some things I just didn't know how to say. I first worked with this particular camper just over 20 years ago, and let's just say that the passage of time has been a mixed blessing. Yes, there has been substantial knowledge and experience added in those two decades. I wouldn't trade that part of the equation. But there has been a physical toll that is painful to witness, such as the progression of obviously painful arthritis. My osteoarthritis is largely under control. My camper's, not so much. I hate to see this person in pain, but that issue cropped up time and again.

Worst of all, though, was seeing probably the most brilliant individual I have ever met, or most likely ever will meet, suffering from classic signs of age-related short term memory issues. That's genuinely painful. I don't think the words exist that could adequately describe just how that hurts. Wow. Just... wow.

But I will say that we got as much out of camp as we could, all things considered, and if my camper opts to attend next year, I'll be more than glad to fill the same role for them again. Having an interpreter/guide who knows the person's backstory is probably a beneficial thing in a case like this.

Time, you farging bastage. Why do you have to be such a vandal to the body and mind? Isn't the fact that you pass irretrievably enough for you? :-(

Robo-call

The Large Teaching Hospital that did my surgery just gave me an automated appointment reminder. The robo-voice opens with, "This call is from Large Teaching Hospital for :Donna: to remind you that you have an appointment on :date: at :time: with :Doctor X: at :address:." Robo-lady rattles all this very specific data off without even verifying who has answered the telephone.

The next sentence she utters is, ironically, "In order to ensure our patients' privacy, we ask that you bring all your insurance information with you to your appointment." Privacy? Um, I hate to tell you, robo-lady, but you blew my privacy out of the water when you recited every atom of my appointment data without first confirming, via a check such as "if this is :Donna:, press 1", that the person answering the phone is the actual patient who has the appointment.

Thank God I have no medical secrets from Mark. But what about people who are trying to keep their relationship with a particular doctor quiet? Maybe they don't want to worry their spouse, kids, parents, etc. about their visit with, say, an oncologist until they have a concrete diagnosis of what's going on. I can easily see where a robo-call would throw a big monkey-wrench into the ability to keep such an appointment quiet. There has got to be a better way.

Fashions

A pox on whoever devised low-rise waistlines in women's clothes! It's hard enough to find flattering clothes WITHOUT having to weed through stuff that only looks good on Barbie dolls. &$@%#¥!!!

I just wanted some darn shorts that fit, look right on me, and feel comfortable. Who knew it'd devolve into a major treasure hunt? I finally did find something, fortunately. Thank you, Walmart.

Airline update

Here's the latest on my deaf-blind friend JJ's attempt to get a reasonable accommodation from the airline. They are requiring him to be accompanied by an assistant when he flies, but are also prepared to charge the assistant a full fare.

The issue has been escalated via some disabled advocacy groups and has reached the desk of an attorney who works for the Department of Transportation. The attorney has this to say: "The bottom line is in cases where carriers disagree with a passengers self-assessment that he or she can travel alone, we require that the carrier transport the safety assistant without charge."

So it IS illegal for the airlines to attempt to line their pockets at the expense of disabled travelers or their assistants. I thought as much. I hope the airline sees this and does the right thing, and just comps the assistant's fare.

Because if they don't make a move to that effect ASAP, I'm going to start looking up the consumer advocacy reporters at local TV stations. Man, where's Herb Denenberg when we need him?

Haiku

A haiku for my former classmates:

It doesn't feel like
We graduated high school
Thirty years ago.

But we did. Happy 30th to my fellow alumnae!

50th Anniversary

Happy 50th Anniversary to my parents! I just got off the phone with my mom a little while ago. Dad was taking a nap, but she'll tell him I called.

I'm pleased to mention that Mark and I come from a background that's full of long marriages. His parents have been married over 60 years. And both my sets of grandparents were married over 40 years, and each case it would've been longer if not for poor health claiming the life of one spouse relatively young.

Mark and I have a lot of catching up to do to reach those landmarks. We'd better get to it. :-)

JJ and travel

My deaf-blind friend JJ will be attending AADB's convention (or, as they're calling it this year, "symposium") later this month. I will be missing AADB for the first time since 1989, and that disappoints me, but the reality is that I can't afford it. I haven't worked full-time in quite a while, and the air fare would be a killer.

JJ is going, but as he's not only deaf-blind, but uses a wheelchair and -- this is the obstacle the airline is most concerned about -- has no way to communicate with the airline staff on the plane, the airline is requiring him to bring a traveling companion to assist with communication. I can't dispute that. What I DO dispute is that the airlines are trying to charge the assistant, who is there at THEIR insistence, full fare for both round-trips, both to help him get to the convention and a week later to help him come home.

Excuse me? I understand that they are insisting on a companion to be with JJ because in this specific case, that's the best way to ensure communication with a person who hasn't got clear speech, and whose neuropathy prevents him from reading Braille or print-on-palm. This concept, I get. But I DON'T get the attempt to force the companion, whose presence they are requiring, to pay full fare for two round trips. I'm sorry, but that smacks of an attempt by the airlines to line their own pockets.

This can't be legal. There has got to be some part of ADA that sets down guidelines for this particular Reasonable Accomodation. JJ's mom sent an email with an excerpt from something called DHHCANN, which states that the airlines are not to charge the companion a fare; but I don't know what DHHCANN is. Is it a law? A guideline? I'll have to look it up.

But it would make life a whole lot easier if the freaking airlines would just do the right thing without being forced to, and just offer the free companion ticket. Sheesh. One would think they'd WANT to make nice to potential customers these days, as they're all hurting for business in this rotten economy. But noooo, that makes too much sense. :-P

Been quiet lately

It's been relatively quiet in these parts lately, which is a good thing. I've been prepping for this year's Deaf-Blind Camp in MD, where I'm looking forward to working with KC again. I haven't seen her in almost two years. It's been WAY too long. One of my additional duties at camp will be to mentor some less-experienced interpreter-guides, which I'm also looking forward to.

I'm still awaiting approval for the application I filled out to be the "personal assistant" of my deaf-blind friend JJ. He's received a grant from a local agency to have people come in and interact with him, keep him caught up on current events, help him with emailing since his neuropathy has largely robbed him of the ability to read braille, and so on. I told JJ's mom that I also want to do some tasks for them that aren't listed in the very open-ended description of job duties. For one, I want to help compile his medical records, which are comprised of a huge amount of complex information, into computer files that can be printed or burned onto a CD every time he goes to a new doctor (a regular occurrence). And I want to mentor the local interpreting students who are in their practicum class. This last item will have benefits for both JJ and the students -- he will get to chat with new people, and the students will get experience working with deaf-blind consumers. That's huge, as there are a lot of interpreters who refuse to take deaf-blind jobs because they THINK they can't do tactile signing. If we can get the student interpreters on board with signing into a deaf-blind person's hands, they won't be intimidated by the prospect when an actual job comes up, so this is a case where everybody wins.

In other news, I downloaded an interesting scanner app for my iPod Touch, and I've found an intriguing way to use it in conjunction with weather.com. If I see severe weather warnings on weather.com for a particular county, I take a look on the scanner app (5-0 Radio) to see if that county's emergency services have a stream. If they do, I listen in and find out just what's going on in said county. Though with the Tornado Watch and Severe T-Storm Warnings that we're currently operating under even as I type, I might as well listen to my own city's police and fire radio streams. Doggone, but Mother Nature's in a grumpy mood today.

5-0 Radio has also got some streams for ham radio repeaters and railroad radios. I can't help but think how I'd have LOVED to have had access to these things when I was a kid. I used to tune in to distant AM stations when I was in grade school. I made a whole list of stations by call letters, frequency, and city of origin, as well as a map where I could look up said cities. I used to love it. So my grandpop got me a multi-band radio including shortwave, weather, aircraft, and others, and I used to love THAT, too. Honestly, I think I'd have run this 5-0 Radio app 24/7 if I'd had access to it 30+ years ago.

Yeah, I was a nerd. Still am. And darn proud of it. :-)

Lost and Found

I had an interesting sequence of events take place during the course of the past week (May 13-17). It began when I was walking Mini on my usual route on the evening of Friday the 13th. Lots of other people also like to walk their dogs on that same walking path, and if you go out at similar times every day, you're likely to see a lot of the same people on a regular basis.

One of the other regulars saw me with Mini and asked a question that puzzled me. "Was it your dog that ran out in the street?" I didn't know what he meant, but I answered that no, thank God, Mini had never run into the street.

It wasn't until I reached the far point of our walk and started on the return trip, that I started to get an idea of what he meant. I noticed several posters on the way back reading "FOUND 5/12/11 -- blond/beige Chihuahua. Call [phone number]". Aha, I thought. Mini fits that description. He must have seen that and thought it was her.

Still on my way back, I encountered the daughter of the man who'd asked me the question, and she asked the same thing. Then she explained that a stray Chihuahua had been chased into Broad Street by a larger dog, and unfortunately had been injured by a car. :-( The person who rescued the dog and took it to the vet had also put up the posters.

Well, DOUBLY Thank God, Mini is not the dog mentioned in the posters. But of course, I felt sad for the poor tiny foundling dog, not only separated from its family but injured into the bargain. I hoped the FOUND posters would be effective in reuniting the dog with its family.

Fast-forward to Monday the 16th. Mini and I were on our normal walk, when I noticed a new poster at the point where I turn around to come back home. "LOST - CASH REWARD - 5/12/11 - 6 year old female Golden Chihuahua", with a photograph and a phone number. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to realize that the same date, same breed and description, and same neighborhood means it's probably the same dog. I took a cell phone picture of the LOST poster. Then on my way home, I located and took a cell phone picture of a FOUND poster.

Then I did my best to get the two poster-makers in touch with one another. You'd think that would be a simple process, but human nature makes everything more convoluted than it needs to be.

First, I phoned Mr. Lost Poster to give him the data on the FOUND poster. He became confused and thought *I* had his dog. "No, I don't have your dog, sir, but the person who found her put up a poster on H____ Street and here is the information on it. [read the info]. If you have a number where I can send a picture message from my cell phone, I'll send you the picture I took of the FOUND poster." Which I did. He called me back. "That's not a picture of my dog. That's just a poster." I don't HAVE the dog. The person who made the poster has the dog. Call the number on the poster to talk to them."

So that's how that convo ended. Then I called the number from the Found poster. I got voice mail. I left a message that I'd found a lost poster, etc., etc. For good measure, I took a chance and sent that number a picture message of the LOST poster, and promptly got a text message in return asking who I was. I explained how I'd seen both posters while walking my own dog, realized they were both probably referring to the same lost Chihuahua, and was doing my best to get both people in contact with one another. The Found Poster person texted back that the dog in question was at the vet's in bad shape :-( , there was a big vet bill, and that three other people had already tried to call and claim the dog as theirs.

I texted Found Poster Person that I was sorry to hear that, and that they should try to contact the person who made the Lost poster, as that individual actually had included a picture of the dog on the poster so they were probably legit. They wrote back that they would do that.

I thought that would be it. Nope. The next day, I got a call from Morris Animal Refuge about the dog I'd found. I explained that I hadn't found the actual dog, only two posters, and related everything that'd happened. Seems that Found Poster Person hadn't returned the calls of Mr. Lost Poster, and so Mr. Lost Poster contacted the animal refuge, giving them my phone number along with whatever other info he told them. So I gave the requisite phone numbers to the person from Morris, and they said they would work to get the two people in contact with one another. Then I asked them to keep me updated, as I feel invested in seeing that the little lost dog gets reunited with her family.

Whew. I sure hope the right people get in touch with one another and everything works out. Poor little doggie. I'd feel for her even if I *didn't* have a dog that pretty much matches her description. But I have a major soft spot for Chihuahuas now, so I want this to work out even more.

Still here!

Hey, all! Sorry to say, the Rapture never did take place on May 21 (last Saturday), so I'm still here on Earth.



This van drove past the Melrose while Betty, John R., JFM and I were having lunch. I got a photo of it as it sat on 15th Street waiting for a green light. A few minutes after it passed, an SUV with big yellow posterboard Judgement Day signs plastered over its rear and rear-side windows (isn't it, er, ILLEGAL to block your field of vision like that?) drove past the diner, heading east on Snyder Avenue. The waitress remarked that she had seen several similarly-marked vehicles during the course of the day. I wonder if there were even more of them driving around, or whether it was just the same few making a circuit repeatedly all day.

Either way, I feel legitimately sorry for anyone who quit their job and burned through their life's savings, thinking that they wouldn't need either one after May 21 because they were going to "meet the Lord in the air". I feel only partially sorry for anyone who decided to run up enormous debts in advance of May 21, thinking that they would never have to pay for any of it, because gaming the system is decidedly UNpious and would probably have eliminated them from being Raptured up anyway. And for Harold Camping, the delusional self-styled preacher who started this mess, I wish his family would seek involuntary mental health treatment for him.

I'm curious to see how quickly the lawsuits start being filed by the people who feel deceived and cheated, particularly those who gave Camping and his Family Radio their life's savings to help spread the word about this bogus Rapture event. After all, one of his slogans was "The Bible GUARANTEES it!", and he was on TV, radio, and in print stating things like "This will happen beyond the shadow of a doubt", "There's no way this doesn't happen", and so on. That's the kind of verbiage that has led to people being held liable for damages in a court of law.

You know what upset me the worst about this whole thing? I read an article last Tuesday about the May 21ers, and some of them were planning to euthanize their pets (!!!) in advance of the Rapture. Their logic was that they didn't want their pets to suffer on earth between May 21 (the day of the Rapture) and October 21 (the day when the Lord would come back and destroy the Earth completely). The thought of those innocent pets being betrayed so terribly by their misguided owners literally made me cry. :-( I hope that the vets either were able to talk the owners out of it, or covertly re-homed the perfectly healthy pets. I certainly would have done my best to do the one or the other, had I been the vet.

In any event, Watch This Space for any reports of lawsuits that I happen to run across. And if you feel like utilizing Bible verses to determine how best to end up in Heaven with the Lord for all eternity, let me direct you to a few that will actually be of use. First of all, remember that in Matthew, Jesus is quoted as saying that not the angels, nor the Sun, but only the Father knows the day and the hour that the world will end. So instead of worrying about that, we need only worry about our own behavior between now and the time we stop breathing. And how, pray tell, should we behave? Well, Jesus has another quote for that: the most important Commandment is that we should love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and the second-most important Commandment is that we should love our neighbor as ourself. He said the whole of the law and the prophets is based on these two commandments. So there you have it. Two commandments to follow, and you're good to go for all eternity. Simple, isn't it?

Scary stuff

I was walking the dog tonight on the walking path that borders what used to be a hospital. Lots of other dog walkers also favor that path, and I've discovered that if I go out at similar times each day, I'm likely to encounter some of the same people.

Tonight, I met up with a Corgi and his owner, who was with another man walking a pair of Dachshunds. The Corgi's owner asked me, "Is your dog the one that ran out into the street?" I answered no, thank God, she hasn't run into the street.

A few blocks later, I saw a sign attached to a telephone pole. "FOUND: BEIGE/BLOND CHIHUAHUA" and a phone number to call. I felt sorry for whoever might have lost the dog, and it was not lost on me that Mini fits that same description.

On my way home, I saw the Corgi again, this time being walked by his owner's daughter. She also asked me if Mini was the Chihuahua that had been found, since she remembered seeing us on the walking path. I also got a bit more backstory from her: the found Chihuahua had been chased out into the street by two larger dogs, and unfortunately got hit. But someone took her to the vet for treatment and she's going to be OK. And now they want to reunite her with her owner.

Thank God for good people in the world. I hope they're able to find the Chihuahua's owner. But I was impressed that more than one dog-walker actually remembered Mini and me when these events took place. South Philly -- a small town in a big city. Seriously.

Wonderful News

Today, I received a piece of wonderful news!

Longtime readers might recall that I was feeding a stray kitty for a few weeks, about 5 years ago. She was a pretty little gray-brown tabby with just a hint of orange here and there, including a distinctive orange tabby spot on her forehead. I guessed her age to be about 6 months old, and she was pitifully thin and extremely affectionate. Had I managed to convince Mark that we should adopt her, I would have named her Spirit because of that little "tongue of fire" on her head. But before I could bring Mark fully on board with the idea, she stopped coming around. Since then, I've wondered what became of her. I've feared the worst while hoping for the best, and prayed that she was an indoor cat being spoiled senseless in a loving home.

Well, this morning, I got conclusive proof that my neighbors, an animal-loving senior citizen couple, adopted her. I would know that orange spot anywhere! They saw me walking with Mini, and the wife invited me to see her kitty, who was sitting in the cellar window (which is not visible from the street). I went up to see the cat, and recognized her the moment I laid eyes on that spot. :-)

Spirit's name is now Honeybunch, a fitting name for such an affectionate purr machine of a cat, and she is no longer an undersized waif. She has filled out into a beautiful adult cat, with a very pretty face and a temperament to match.

Seeing her thriving, and knowing she's in a home where the sun rises and sets on her, absolutely made my day! I'm SO glad for her! :-)

Sent from my iPod

Make My Day Monday

In honor of Good winning a battle over Evil, everyone reading this please join Twitter's Make My Day Monday and do a random act of kindness. Celebrate by making the world a better place!

Breaking News

CNN is reporting that Osama Bin Laden is dead. God forgive me if this stance is a sin, but GOOD. I hope the evidence is incontrovertible that we did, in fact, get the 9/11 mastermind. And I hope when he met his Maker, he got the most unpleasant shock of his (after)life. Mass murderers don't go to Paradise, with or without getting 72 virgins.

Let me just post this now. I expect the Internet to slow to a crawl as the news spreads, and posting anything anywhere will become a challenge.

Crackdown

Philly Cops Crack Down On Texting and Driving, Jaywalking, Bicyclists

Hallelujah! Philadelphia is about to crack down on people who text while driving (or walking), ride bikes on the sidewalks, etc. GOOD. I've had it with people creating even more hazards than exist naturally. Go get 'em, cops; the city could use the funding.

Oh, and you darn kids, get off my lawwwwn. ;-)

Dear Friends, Today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day!

Dear Friends, today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day!
And therefore all in blank verse must we speak.
In honor of the legendary scribe,
Pentameter iambic shall I use
Today while rendering my thoughts in print.
I must aver, it's harder than it looks.
I can't believe he wrote WHOLE PLAYS like this!
It really casts his works in a new light.
The good news is that blank verse doesn't rhyme,
And even then, to write this post took time.