October 2009 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Date afternoon

One of the things those relationship “experts” always say is that, in order to keep a relationship strong, you need to continue to “date” your spouse/s.o. It’s ESPECIALLY necessary when you have children.

So we decided on a date afternoon this past Sunday. We used to do it once a month, in the middle of the month (we got married on 15 May), but that seems to have fallen by the wayside. The trick about Sunday is that it was communion Sunday (which means a longer service) AND the wife was partially in charge of the after-service snacks. And because my wife’s a deacon, people had things to ask her. So while she was talking, I struck up a conversation with someone. It turns out she kept talking because I was talking, and I was talking because SHE was talking. By this point, our babysitter, who had previously had just been sitting around, had engaged in conversation.

So, it’s 12:45 pm by the time we get home. too late really to feed the child and get to the 1 pm movies. So instead we went out to a restaurant. It’s a Middle Eastern restaurant called Ma Moun. The food was good, but we were mildly worried that no one else came in the whole time we were there.

Then we went to Staples to buy a paper shredder. Tres romantique, n’est-ce pas? Except that it was just nice even doing something that mundane. the cool thing was that they were on sale 25%. The confusing thing was that the one we decided on was only marked down from $79.95 to $74.95; a larger machine would have cost the same. We took it to the counter for a price check and stated our confusion with that minimal discount; the clerk called the manager, who surveyed the situation and said, “How much do you want to pay for it?” Well, since you asked…The manager took $15 off, and the $59.95 was what we had in mind. Usually it’s the wife who picks up on these pricing discrepancies, but this time I sussed it out.

It was a nice date.
***
Did that radio thing I was worried about yesterday; I haven’t heard it yet, but once the nausea went away, I guess it went OK. I’ll listen to it when it’s available.
***
Yesterday afternoon about 5 pm, Joe Fludd, long-time FantaCo customer, e-mailed me with the sad news that Nic Morrison, another FantaCo regular who worked there for a time had died. I enjoyed seeing Nic around from time to time. As the obit noted, he “entered into eternal life on his 47th birthday, October 1, 2009, at the Hospice Inn at St. Peter’s Hospital, ten days after suffering a devastating stroke.” The wake was Sunday, the funeral yesterday; had I known sooner, I might have made one or the other. Quoting a mutual friend, “Nic was a gentle soul and a good person. 47 is too young.”
***
Apparently, Blogger has a limit of 2000 labels, and I have reached that threshold. Thus, e.g., I cannot add Nic Morrison to the label. Sometime when I have absolutely nothing better to do, I will deal with relabeling fifty-three months of blogging.

Doane Made Me Do It

OK, Alan David Doane didn’t MAKE me do one of those Facebook thingies; I CHOOSE to do so. Since he sent it a few days ago, my answers are as of lunchtime on Thursday, October 1.

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?

Flavored ice pop; more for the hydration than the flavor.

2. Where was your profile picture taken?

In my office at work, I think.

3. Can you play Guitar Hero?

Never even tried. It seems that if the child shows an interest someday, I might give it a go, but otherwise can’t foresee doing it.

4. Name someone who made you laugh today?

I was playing racquetball, and my partner made a terrible swing, awful swing, which was so unpredictable that it hit the ball sideways and we made the point.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why?

10 pm, working on a proposal for a session at a conference.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?

Don’t believe so. I’ve been under fireworks; didn’t like being singed or the volume.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you?

Probably Bill and Orchid.

9. Do you believe ex’s can be friends?

I definitely do. There were at least three at my wedding to Carol and she knew it. Oh, and I thought you spelled the word “exes”,

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?

Ambivalent. Haven’t had it in years.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard?

Listening to an adagio a couple weeks ago. Wrote about it.

12. Who took your profile picture?

No idea. Could have been any one of a half dozen roving amateur photographers in our office.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?

My daughter Lydia.

14. Was yesterday better than today?

Well, it’s a toss-up. Yesterday was more productive, today is more fun.

15. Can you live a day without TV?

Well, for myself, it happens quite a bit, judging from my DVR. But 30 minutes/day for the daughter is magic.

16. Are you upset about anything?

Not actively.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?

I do.

18. Are you a bad influence?

I used to be; ah, those were the days…

19. Night out or night in?

Well it’s choir night AND it’s garbage night, so I won’t be in the house until 10 pm.

20. What items could you not go without during the day?

I’ve gone without the computer but prefer not to.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?

My friend Mike Attwell, I believe. He’s much better now.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?

What’s a text message? Are we talking cellphones? I haven’t used the feature. If we’re talking e-mail, haven’t used the feature in a very long time.

23. How do you feel about your life right now? It could be worse.

24. Do you hate anyone?

Not presently. Though there are plenty who tick me off.

25. If we were to look in your Facebook inbox, what would we find?

Lots of virtual plants I haven’t gotten around to accepting.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?

Not if it was looking for caffeine.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?

Yes, and they were WRONG.

28. What song is stuck in your head?

You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates; my wife says the bit in 500 Days of Summer using that song is one of her favorite parts of any movie EVER.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2 a.m., who do you want it to be?

You know the anxiety if someone doing it would negate whatever joy it would have. Really, it couldn’t wait until morning? But if it was one of three friends I haven’t seen in 20+ years, MAYBE they could get away with it.

30. Wanna have grand-kids before you’re 50?

Moot point. I’m over 50, was over 50 when the CHILD was born.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow?

Go to my daughter’s school to see the Apple Run, whatever that is. EDIT: It’s a bunch of kids in the five kindergarten classes running around a track of about 200 meters,. the girls and boys riun separately. Lydia won her heat.

ROG

Now, I’m a REAL Albanian

I was at a party in Albany, NY in the early 1980s. Someone commented how difficult it was to be considered “from Albany” if you weren’t born here, or had not been here “at least thirty years”. And I always remembered that.

Well, finally, I am real-life, dyed-in-the-wool person from Albany, with all the rights and privileges that come with it. Especially the right, nay, the obligation, to make fun of people on commercials who say Al-ban-y (like the guy’s first name) instead of ALL-BAN-Y .

I moved to Albany in 1979. So I didn’t remember, I was not present for:
*When WRGB moved from Channel 4 to Channel 6
*TV children’s entertainer Freddy Freihofer
*What Albany looked like before it was torn up to build the Empire State Plaza

But I HAVE been here long enough to remember:
*When Erastus Corning was mayor
*When the band Blotto was on MTV (Worst video? NO WAY!)
*When the band Fear of Strangers was the Units; own a Units single
*When the Spectrum Theater in Albany was the Third Street Cinema in Troy
*The Honest Weight Food Co-op, two addresses ago
* Metroland, a half dozen addresses ago
*Justin’s, a couple owners ago
*When Phil Jackson coached Albany Patroons, who played in the Washington Avenue Armory, and won the 1984 Continental Basketball League title
*The 1986 Albany Tricentennial Celebration
*The October 4, 1987 snowstorm
*When they filmed Ironweed in Albany; had a Jack Nicholson sighting at the Palace Theatre
*When the Knickerbocker Arena (or whatever they’re calling it now) was built
*When Jerry Jennings ran for mayor as a progressive
*The July 15, 1995 derecho; woke me out a sound sleep with 70 MPH winds rattling my bedroom windows at 7 a.m.
*Albany First Night

I should note that I did, in fact, live in Schenectady for a year and a half before moving to Albany. But everybody knows that, except for going to work or for special events (going to the Troy Music Hall, Proctor’s in Schenectady, the Palace Theatre in Albany, e.g.), travel between Albany and Schenectady, or Albany to Troy, for that matter, is strictly prohibited, enforced by the barbed wire at the borders. Likewise the cities and the suburbs.

I’m a homeowner now, but I was a renter for a number of years. As a result, I have lived on a number of streets in Albany, including: Hudson Avenue, Madison Avenue, Morris Street, Lancaster Street, Manning Boulevard, North Allen Street, Ontario Street, Second Street, and Western Avenue. Though I’ve been in the same place for the last nine years, I’m convinced that my friends still write my address in their address books in pencil.

In the last primary election cycle, one of the candidates indicated in the literature being born in Albany, while the opponent came here only in 1991. Is that 30-year rule is breaking down? If I’m remembering correctly, the transplanted candidate won.

Photo from the NYS Education Department
ROG

QUESTIONS I Found On the Internet

But first, to wake you up: perhaps the worst Also sprach Zarathustra you may have ever heard (1:30).

1. Do You Wear A Watch? The implication is that people wear Rolexes or nothing, that watches are unnecessary in the world of cell phones and other devices that time and that the only people who wear watches do so for style, not function.

For me, though I have a seldom-used device, I would rather wear a watch. the problem, and it is of long-standing duration, is that watches don’t seem to like ME. I swear my biorhythms have killed more watches than I thought would be humanly possible. So I don’t. But I would.

2. When you were a child, did your parents kiss you? If they did, did they kiss you on the cheeks, the lips, the forehead, or where? If you are a parent/grandparent, where do you kiss your child.

I have no recollection of my father ever kissing me. In fact, on the few times he hugged me, it tended to be of this one-arm variety. My dad kissed my sisters, this peck on the cheek thing generally speaking. My mom kissed me, usually on the cheeks, but occasionally on the forehead.

When she was a baby, I kissed Lydia everywhere. Now I tend to follow her lead. Sometimes it’s on the lips, though she told me recently that my beard was scratching her. So now it is usually on the forehead, though yesterday it was on the lips.
***
A tremendously detailed response to someone who wanted a book banned.

I found this article about NFL schedules being practically set in stone in my Google Alerts; somewhere both the words Roger and green appear. Regardless, it’s a good piece about how how the slow start by the former Super Bowl teams is NOT about scheduling parity.

How soon will the daughter want this:

You may recall that the silhouetted version caused a bit of a stir, but the actual doll, not so much.
ROG

Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 2

Sunday Stealing: One Long Meme (Part Two)

27. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?

Depends on how tired I am. I NEED that first burst of sleep in order to function. Other than that, I’d probably pick eating.

28. Do you look like your mom or dad?

There are pictures of Carol’s and my wedding when I look extraordinarily like my father. Carol, BTW, is still getting used to how much she looks like her mother.

29. How long does it take you in the shower?

Ten minutes, max, unless I’m in there for the massage function of the shower, rather than to clean. The other factors are 1) I’m usually at the Y on the way to work, so I need to hustle and 2) at home, I have to wait out my wife, who takes a bit longer.

30. Can you do the splits?

I could never do a split, even as a kid.

31. What movie do you want to see right now?

Still haven’t seen Ponyo, but there are a bunch of them.

32. What did you do for New Year’s?

We probably went to sleep before midnight. Or Carol did and I crawled into bed at 12:01.

33. Do you think The Grudge was scary?

I have no idea what this is.

34. Do you own a camera phone?

There’s a photo function on my cellphone, but I don’t know how it works.

35. Was your mom a cheerleader?

Seriously doubt it.

36. What’s the last letter of your middle name?

N, as in Owen.

37. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Six, almost never in one continous shot.

38. Do you like Care Bears?

Not really, but I haven’t done an in-depth analysis as to whether I should.

39. What do you buy at the movies?

Butter, with popcorn. Or the other way around, I think.

40. Do you know how to play poker?

Define “know”. I’ve played for pennies or matchsticks; haven’t ever played for real money in decades, and that was for a dollar ante.

41. Do you wear your seat belt?

Oh, heavens yes. Seat belt almost certainly saved my life at least once, and probably thrice.

42. What do you wear to sleep?

Depends on the season. Summer is T-shirt and pajama botttoms. In cooler weather, pajamas; the top and the bottom don’t alwasys match.

43. Anything big ever happen in your hometown?

Rod Serling grew up there. There was that dreadful murderous rampage back in April of 2009. Actually, the first big thing I remember happening in Binghamton was the “salt babies” incident.

44. How many meals do you eat a day?

Generally, three.

45. Is your tongue pierced?

No, and don’t forsee me doing it.

46. Do you always read MySpace bulletins?

It’s been so long since I’ve dealt with my MySpace page. Hard enough to do Facebook and Twitter.

47. Do you like funny or serious people better?

Depends. There are people who think they are funny but who I don’t. Conversely, there are some folks who are so damn serious, they are unrelentingly boring. I’ll say funny people, but they actually have to BE funny.

48. Ever been to L.A.?

No; the closest I’ve been is the Angels stadium in Anaheim.

49. Did you eat a cookie today?

No, but the day is young.

50. Do you use cuss words in other languages?

Only mild invectives.

51. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads?

Actually neither. Amazon has free downloads sometimes as do some artists. I have contributed to the latter.

52. Do you hate chocolate?

No, but I prefer strawberry.

53. What do you and your parents fight about the most?

In the day, it had to do with curfew; I hasd a lousy sense of time when I was a kid.

54. Are you a gullible person?

A useful quote from Ronald Reagan: “Trust but verify.” And I never even voted for him.

55. Do you need a girlfriend to be happy?

No, my wife would object.

56. If you could have any job (assuming you have the skills) what what would it be?

A syndicated columnist.

57. Are you easy to get along with?

You mean you don’t think I am? Honestly, I’m very mellow about things when I don’t have a strong opinion, but I can draw a line in the sand on things important to me. All in all, I’D say yes, but you’d need to ask others, wouldn’t you?

58. What is your favorite time of day?

If I’m awake, 5 a.m. It’s my alone time.
ROG