From the air up here…

Able to get an exit row. Stuck against a window, with a lady who alternates between offering me gum ( I accepted – not sure if I needed it but if I did I feel safer), frenetically changing reading material, and eating through a large tube of Lays stackers.

I bring this up because it’s almost more fun than thinking about commuting on the train.

Some brief observations.

Couples really start to look alike the more you study them. The skinny sophisticate who hemmed and hawed when she had to move because two people got on late looked a lot more like her boyfriend then I originally realized. The Euro crew, unshaven, and drinking some type of drop in tablet in their water have a wacky pair of headphones that look like a cross between earbuds and mini sound blockers. They have some over the ear cup like those ridiculous ear warmers.

Infants are cute but REALLY LOUD.

I JUST LOST THE ARM. I JUST LOST THE ARM. F%$CK, I JUST LOST THE MIDDLE F$%CKING ARM.

The guy behind me is old, finely dressed, and using my chair for futbol practice.

I am contemplating the bathroom.

Hurley was in LaGuardia,I was thrilled he was not on this flight.

I like Kings of Leon.

There is a guy in first class who is pacing the aisle with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He has explained to 11, nope make that 12 people that he needs to do this because he otherwise will go nuts without his cigarette. He has not seen the Don Johnson/Kurt Russell classic “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” and had no idea what I was talking about when I asked.

Why are all these people going to Nashville?

Thoughts from a Plane…

I can not take credit for the title of the post so thanks EZ E.

Sitting in LaGuardia this early afternoon, I came to appreciate the form of travel I loathed for so long. To think on the first Saturday of February vacation that I would leave my little home in the burbs, come into Boston, park at Logan, go through security, and be in a rocking chair waiting to depart in an hour and 10 minutes is basically unheard of. Yes, I printed my boarding pass before I left home, which helped, but overall, it was quick, and painless. And yet sad.

This might sound strange, but I am sitting in a little sports/rocker bar outside of a corridor leading to area D, and there is no one here. There is a guy next to me on a laptop, a girl reading a book, and one family in this restaurant. There was a family that considered getting some chicken nuggets to share for their 3 kids under 7, but that’s about it. WHERE THE F$%# IS EVERYONE.

At home.

It’s tight out there, and it sucks.

Too many friends and acquaintances getting the axe. Reading way too often about some poor Mom or Dad who ends it because the home is going to be foreclosed on. Or worse, taking the whole family with them. Too much news about how executives are bristling at salary caps if they take bailout bucks. And way too much about the market, the doom, the drops, and the length of time it will take to get it back. Or let’s even talk about A Rod, Bonds, the 103, spring training, and the fact that Manny and Boras are somehow surprised that he has not landed somewhere yet. It’s over. The new mom with octuplets is getting screwed by pampers and Enfamil! ( She may have a screw loose and the fertility doc is a moron, but those eight bums and mouths could use a little dry comfort and some powdered based goodness – so step up!)

Go Simple. In your own way.

I have to say I am having more fun with simple things. Family time, family swim, the Y, a little HBO, friends over, and thinking of spring. There are a lot more frozen meals in the office, a lot more fruit, and a lot less dining out. There are more trips to the gym and less trips to Target. Hide and seek is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an hour outside and damn, that blue building in the center of town is called a LIBRARY, and it had lots of things called BOOKS!

Don’t be afraid to say no. Or “it’s not happening right now”, or, “Dude, meet you at my place- bring some Tangueray, I got the juice! No need to go to Estate/Plaid/Vive/palace/manland/Club Zero – you were not going to get any anyways, and now I just saved you 150 bucks and more therapy” (this one might need some editing based on your friends and your ability to be direct and honest but you are at least thinking it…).

Yes, I believe our President wants to do good and is trying damn hard to steer this great nation in the right direction, but while I am hopeful, I can’t be putting my hopes in one basket, and I don’t expect any personal trickledown bailout. I know I need to be a little more self aware and responsible.

You might need to also.

Good luck.

J and BJ – welcome to the beginning of a great life! Cherish, guide, and nurture…

 

 

Why A – Roid Why?

Alex,
Come on!

You’ve been beat up by Tek, played slap hands in the playoffs, ripped an MVP away from Papi, hit a GWHR off Paps on a night I stayed in the pouring rain to watch it, and various other incidents. I’ve purposely never drafted you for a fantasy team because you were the one player i could not bear to have on my team.

But I respected you. I respected your ability, your talent, and your consistency.

You will always be tainted.

Will the clean slugger please stand up?