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June 3, 2008

The Mailbox

EDIT: This blog has a "G" rating and I didn't consider it when I first posted this story. I put in some language that wouldn't be appropriate for all ages...or maybe not for ANY age. I've changed a few of the words, substituted some special characters into the few curse words. I hope this satisfies the morals police and doesn't offend anyone's sensibilities. The words should still be able to be understood, so if you never, ever would want to read them however they're spelled, maybe you should just close the page and/or go somewhere else.


PhotobucketMy pop's been dead for over two years now, so I guess it's safe to confess my sins. Well, one of 'em, anyway.

It was my 21st birthday and my pals wanted to do something "special" for me, so we loaded up in JB's car and drove to Pampa, via the back way, to get some beer.

One friend, not having any money to buy me anything, instead gave me a huge box of bottles to throw at signs along the way. Now, I'm not saying that's a good thing to do; it's illegal, it's littering, and sometimes the bottles can bounce off and come right back to you. Still, it was a "fun" thing to do.

There wasn't a lot to do back then, come to think of it.

I was riding "shotgun" and chunking the bottles at any sign which whizzed by, missing far more often than hitting them. (several of the bottles that were handed to me were full of beer, drained, then thrown. That's why my accuracy wasn't so hot.) We were about a mile away from my folk's turnoff when someone said "Betcha won't throw one at yer old man's mailbox."

"Thass right." I told 'em. "I know better."

"You ain't gotta hair on yer a$$." came the reply. (in unison)

I picked out the largest bottle, and waited; I knew what I'd do, I'd make an effort but not aim, JUST to show them that I did indeed have some hair on my a$$. I really didn't want to destroy dad's mailbox as he had just replaced it after it being more-or-less destroyed by a snow plow the previous winter.

"Here it comes!" yelled my pals. (in unison)

I flicked the quart bottle out, not even aiming but was horrified when I heard a "Whack-Crash!!!" as we sped by. Everyone was laughing (in unison) their a$$es off (the ones with hair) but I was filled with dread. Somehow I knew, especially in a small town, that my dad would find out.

We got our beer, and the day after my birthday was hangover day, but was also the day my mom had invited me out to give me my present and the cake she had baked for me.

As soon as I walked in the house, my dad pounced on me "Did you see my mailbox?"

Oh Lord. He knows. Not just the Lord knows, but dad knows and I was more afraid of him than I was afraid of God. I managed to stammer that I hadn't noticed. Pop raged on.

"Yeah, some little sunuvab*tch threw a big beer bottle at it, ruined it. I had JUST bought the damn thing, too!"

I didn't know what to say. I knew not to say anything because I thought this might be a trap for my dad to get me to admit what I'd done.

Dad continued with his anger.

"I'd like to whip the little b*st*rd's a$$ who did that." he fumed.

Still afraid to say anything, I couldn't help but find some humor in his cursing. "Sunuvab*tch" and "b*st*rd" were getting a little too personal, but pop didn't know it.

Getting angrier as he went on, dad continued:

"Nah, I'd just get in trouble for that. What I would rather do is kick that little sh*t*$$'s father...for not raising him better."

Talk about conflicting emotions; I wanted to shrink to nothing because I was ashamed of what I had done, esp. to my dad...but on the other hand, I was trying hard not to giggle thinking about my dad punching himself out. I also wanted to puke; partly because of the hangover, partly from fear.

I waited a couple months, then bought my dad one of those humongous mailboxes, the biggest they made. I also bought him some beer. In cans.

June 2, 2008

I Got Stoned

A scan of the copy of the copy of the photograph of my kidney stone

Four Mikes & a Malcolm in the Morning

I was half-watching TV early this a.m., an old re-run of Malcolm in the Middle. I enjoy the show, but never watched it when it was on primetime network TV.

The show was about the family joining a church in order to take advantage of free daycare. (if you've never seen the show, the family is "sweetly despicable" that way) As I said, I wasn't paying full attention to the show but perked up when I heard something very profound, a lovely quote.

The show was over shortly after and I changed the channel to my favorite sports show, Mike and Mike in the Morning. (Wiki Entry Here) I then got online, thinking I would look up the quote, see to whom it was attributed, but made the mistake of opening up my email program at the same time I opened up a browser window. Needless to say, I got sidetracked reading mails, following some links and then thought "What was it I was gonna look up?"

At that very moment one of my favorite football players of all-time, Mike Ditka, a guest on one of the Mike and Mike show segments said the exact same quote I was wanting to research.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God's gift; that's why it's called 'the present'. "

ThinkExist.com, my favorite quote site, attributes the saying to Joan Rivers. (of all people) Others say it's spun-off from various essays or poems. I don't much care, because I spent more time researching the quote than I wished.

Instead, I obsessed about how many "M's" I could cram into the title of this blog post.

(I'm the fourth Mike, btw.)

May 31, 2008

"Home" Again

Did you know you can return back to the "home" page (with the latest postings) simply by clicking the logo at the top of this blog? (or any other Blogger blog)

May 30, 2008

Excellent Ellipsis Essay

Ellipsis, I love 'em and use them far too often. It's a bad habit, but I cling to the practice because sometimes it's simply a lazy way to insinuate something without having to explain...well, you know.

Wiki defines ellipsis:

Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from Greek ἔλλειψις 'omission') in printing and writing refers to the row of three full stops (... or . . . ) or asterisks (* * *) indicating an intentional omission. This punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot. An ellipsis is sometimes used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence (aposiopesis).

The site goes on to say:

The use of ellipses can either mislead or clarify, and the reader must rely on the good intentions of the writer who uses it.

That's a pretty fair warning to anyone reading this blog. Ambiguity is probably one of my better traits, in fact. I am what I am....

I sometimes often misuse ellipses and sometimes almost always fail to end a sentence that's ending in ellipses with the correct extra and fourth period, the extra ellepses. I hope that's simply an oversight, a typo, and not some character fault.... It probably validates the fact that I'm lazy....

I'm making an effort to be correct. That might not be good enough for you, but...there ARE ellipses haters out there....

If they find their way to this blog....

I've used ellipses a lot, and have even been accused by a former girlfriend that I also speak that way. Imagine that.... I will have to admit I do sometimes speak haltingly... and sometimes st...st...st...stutter a bit. She and I had a rocky relationship, to put it mildly, and it finally ended badly after ending semi-badly a half-dozen previous times. I'm sure you know how that goes.... I also easily lose my train of thought which isn't hard when one has a one-track mind....

I always preferred to quietly breakup with her via a note left on her pillow or in a sock drawer. As per the definition of ellipses, I would write my sad and tortured thoughts in a melodramatic way: "I gave and gave to this relationship, but you never even tried...."

I quit writing those the next-to-last time we broke up when she said "Is this another one of those damn dot-dot-dot letters?"

Did you know that "dot-dot-dot" is the Morse symbol for the letter "S" as in "SOS"? I wasn't for sure...some folks don't know things like that. "- - -" or "Dash-Dash-Dash" is "O". Just thought I'd mention that... Sometimes I use dashes -- when I think they're better instead of ellipses--but usually only one - or at the most, two --.

FOUR dots .... or "dot-dot-dot-dot" is the Morse code for the letter "H".

Just thought you should know....

Now you can spell "HOSS" in Morse Code.

My next essay:

"What's so wrong with using three question marks??? "

May 29, 2008

I'm Seeing Double...Again

Ever watch Everybody Loves Raymond?

I never watched it; oh, I've seen bits and pieces of a few reruns, so I am familar with it and the cast. It's a cleverly written show, but I figure it will be on one channel or another (or several at the same time slot) for the next twenty years, so I expect I'll get to see each espisode a dozen or so times before I die.

Speaking of dying, I was saddened to hear of Peter Boyle's death back this last December.

(he's the one in the middle)


You may remember his role as The Monster in Young Frankenstein.



That brings me to this: If you're a regular reader of this blog (and the question would be: Why WOULD you be?) you would most likely know that I'm always "seeing double". No, not in vision, but seeing similarities between people. For instance, I sure think my friend's betrothed looks like a famous movie star and I had a post the other day where I thought the angel atop the empty tomb at the Groom Cross looks like my ex-wife.

As I've mentioned a hundred and forty two times before, I really love to go over to the Groom Cross and am particularly intrigued by the bronze statue's faces. One of my favorite stations is the first one, where Pilate is washing his hands and leaving Jesus to His fate.



After gazing into Pilate's face a dozen times and taking dozens of photos, sorting them, cropping the best ones down to how I like them, I've decided that Pilate has a double, too.