Today is a tough day to be a Philly's fan.  Once again they are under 500.  They will enter June ... June!  Under 500.

But are we not used to this nonsense?  Year after year, season after season, what it means to be a Philadelphia Phillies fan is that you must suffer mediocrity.  I am so sick of hearing of the long suffering of the Boston Red Sox fans.  Give me a break.  Your team didn't suck for 20 years.  Sure you suffered tough breaks but at least your team was relevant.

The Phillies? We get mediocrity from top to bottom.  The owners.... Look at the team owners and management they put in place.  It's like a revolving door of mirrors.  We as fans never get a gung-ho "let's win" type owner.  We get people that treat the franchise like an episode of "Barney and Friends", you know the big purple dinosaur that kids learn lessons from of how to all get along nice. 

Don't get me wrong, while I love the philosophy of the current teams "stick together" mentality that has to be balanced.  But this is only the tip of the iceberg. 

And while I think a change is in the air with the Phillies I think the long suffering of the Philly fan will go on.  For instance, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard brought the grit and heart to the team it has not had for some time.  But owners and managers are still bent on just trying is good enough.

Beyond all this, I reflect on my youth watching Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Gary Maddox, Larry Bowa, Steve Carlton, Tug McGraw and so many others that you saw love for the game and desire in.  And although it was ...   more »

I take a lot of pictures.  I think life is short and after my first son was born, I really got just how short life is.  His first year flew by so fast and it seemed like no time his birthday arrived.  I took some pictures but I took more video.  I video taped him so much up through the age of five it was nuts. :)  I stayed away from photos for the most part as I felt the video had more memory to it than photos. 

In any event, I saved as many memories as I could.  Harshly, an ex stole all the family videos from our home and I know I'll never see them again.  I've made issues of it in court but the system doesn't really have any means to helping me so she got away with it.  That's a whole other story but in some ways it puts meaning to my story here.

Your mind should be a camera.  We all have to take snapshots of moments in our lives.  Some just happen, others you have to tell yourself to remember.   It is why I say "these are the salad days."  If you've read my article about "the salad days" it is a line from Shakespeare which means you are waxing nostalgic.    For me to say, these are the salad days means to me you have to appreciate something special while it is happening.  

The memories you make in life are locked in your own mind.  The people you knew, the places you've gone, and the experiences you'll never have again... those memories you make are most valuable to you.  No one else can understand or appreciate them.  They can try and they can empathize but in your heart you know that the greatest value ...   more »

The weekend is upon me.  Memorial Day.  The downside is both my boys are away but are back for Memorial Day itself, we have a church picnic to attend.  :)

That leaves me with tonight and the weekend.  A couple friends have beach houses and I've got two open invites and then there is the fact I also just have the house to myself!  So... frankly I'm just up in the air and feeling pretty damn good about the fact that most people don't have these options. :)  Don't think I'm leaving my love life out of this because I don't have one. :)

So my point to all this is that I sure have been enjoying my freedom lately.  Just last night a friend called me up to help them out.  I was able to up and go.  Today... being Friday my little one Dalton is home with me and we generally have a lot of fun.  I have to do customer support in the office but if I bust my ass, things usually settle down fast enough that he and I can still do what we want.   We are going to the movies this afternoon.   And when I'm done here now... Well finish yet another massive train track in our train room.   

I suppose freedom does come at a cost though.  For instance I still have to get up very early in the morning so I can do the things I enjoy before my boys are up and about.  I'm now up to not two but three work out videos in my routine and I rollerblade.   I don't do as much of my Russian lessons lately because I've been distracted by my love life. LOL  But I did manage to get this mornings in, and that makes twice ...   more »

Ah... the mere thought of it brings to mind historic acts of bravado and the demise of kingdoms.  I've found these defintions:

The question is what is a man's pride worth?   My pride based on my own personal beliefs and standing on those principals has been worth one hell of a lot in my lifetime.   It places fools like me in the category of "idealist" at times.  Today I write numbingly as a man that has gone through so much that has matured me that I've learned what a man's pride is worth.

But if I had to sum it up quickly I'd just say what my father always told me... "Son, you gotta pick your battles."

And that in itself tells me what a man's pride is worth.  You can't put your pride above the greater good.  You can't put your pride in front of things that will mean more to you later.  You have to decide what your pride will cost you, and what your pride will earn you.  You have to decide if your pride will ultimately undo you or something that means something to you.

Writers NOTE: I wrote this article when I used Match.com.  I'm done so I think I'm safe to give this advice. I've had this article pending the right time to publish it and now would be that time.

Ok, online dating sucks. It does and it doesn't.  Yes you get to meet a lot of new people.  But you also get limited attention, knee jerk decisions and it is ultimately impersonal.  You have no chance of having someone become attracted to you when they have a check list of things that filter you out of being eligible.  Aside from that it's great. LOL
Having said all this, allow me to offer up some help to the women from a man's perspective.  I will be harsh; this will help you to know the truth. 

The Kid Hypocrisy
First up, don't say you love your kids more than anything only to later state that you love babysitters or that you are happiest when your children go to bed.  If you don't see yourself as a hypocrite, a man will. You may be able to fool yourself but a man sees you for what you are.  Sure man are gullible and willing to look past flaws, but don't assume we are dumb asses just because we let these things slide.

The I’m independent but I need a man Hypocrisy
Nine out of ten profiles I read assert independence.  Yes of course you are independent and strong.  That is why you are divorced and looking for another man.  Ladies, I hate to break it to you but in just one month of online dating (I have not dated anyone yet, I’ve only e-mailed and talked on the phone) I’ve talked to A LOT of women.  All but one said they missed having someone to come home to.   All expressed that regret and sadness that they didn’t have someone at the end of the day to confide in.  Just like Diane Lane in the movie Must Love Dogs they talk about eating dinner over the sink if they don’t have kids.   Ladies, I’m not trying to be uncaring.  I am compassionate.  So please don’t think I have it in for you.  I mean this earnestly.  You can’t win a man over by being too tough for love.  You can’t.  You know something ladies, you may in fact be that strong.  You man indeed be independent and capable of handling life’s adversities, but to win a mans heart, you have to master the art of being feminine.   This means fake it if you don’t feel it.  Fake it until you do feel it.  Don’t tell a man you are independent.  We already know you are, that is why you are single.   If you were not independent, you’d be spoken for.   Throw that word out of your vocabulary while dating or courting.  Men don’t want to hear it.  In fact when I see it in a profile I really think hard before making contact.  I don’t need to break through defenses.  I want someone ready to come to the table as an equal.  What is worse here is that for each woman that had independent down in a profile was ultimately the most bitter about not finding romance.  Ladies, you can’t have this one both ways.  Oh, you can but you will never taste love at its sweetest. 

I'd like to send a message to the ding-dong's still playing EA Sports Madden on play stations.

I've learned you idiots are still harassing each other and still losing relationships with your wives, girlfriends and what have-you.  There is some disinformation going around too and frankly under normal circumstances I'd let you chase your tail but today I'm in a fighting mood.

I'm about tired of being pissed on and having my paraded ruined will I'm minding my on god damn business.  So here is what you need to know. 

Yes I pulled the plug on MaddenOnline.us.  The site didn't fail.  History is being re-written because I'm no around to remind you fools why I pulled the plug on the site.  That site was killed at the height of success.  Sorta.  I mean I paid for a dedicated server to run that site.  I supported you all for about a year while trying to build a proper revenue stream so the site would pay for itself.  After all you guys are cheap!  You pay for one video game a year and play it all year!  You don't go outside and get any sun for all I know.   The game is a time sink!  Get a life!

I pulled the plug after I the first quarter renewal of all your credit cards came due and 90% of your credit cards were declined!  That is off the charts for dead beats in any industry folks!   So I wasn't about to waste my time after year of hard work on so many guys that did nothing but complain and give nothing back to the community.

I walked away from the video game for a good reason.  It was NOT my life.  It was a F'n game guys.  It still is just a game.  ...   more »

This week a friend and neighbor died.   I’ve had some ups and downs over this.  To begin, she never told me she was ill and dying.  The day she died I didn’t know what to do.  I saw the paramedic van, but just couldn't bring myself to go to her house and inquire. 

Just two days before, Sandy had left her truck in the driveway running.  She said it was locked and she would have to wait until her husband got home with spare keys.  I stayed there a few minutes to talk to her trying to make sure for myself that she was alright.  Something didn’t seem right.  I tried to find a way to open the hood so I could perhaps kill the engine.   But then returning to speak to her, I had to ask her for certain, are you sure you locked yourself out?  Are you sure you are OK?   She said yes.  I went and checked all the doors and in fact the drivers door was unlocked.   I shut the truck off and handed her the keys.  She thanked me sincerely.

Something didn’t seem right. I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I checked on her again the next day. 

I really didn’t understand but something wasn’t right.  Just three months ago she was there for me and my kids and all this time I didn’t know she was dying.   At the funeral yesterday it was revealed that she knew for some time she would pass.   As I paid my last respects at her coffin, flowers were inside with the words, “Mommy” beneath them.  I just fell apart.  My lips couldn’t stiffen ...   more »

Paradise

I feel the weight of your heart
And I know a way it can change
I know the weight of your heart
I know a way we can rise

Just hold my hand and we can make it to paradise
Just slip inside and we can make it to paradise

Because, just like a forming rainbow
Just like the stars in the sky
Life should never feel small

We are losers now
It wouldn’t hurt to try
Oh wrap me up in passioned arms
And tell me, tell me you love

For I need to know if we’re to get to paradise
Just take my hand and we can make it to paradise
Because, just like a forming rainbow
Just like the stars in the sky
Life should never feel small

And we roll and dive and laugh and cry about it
Right out into paradise
Just like a forming rainbow
Just like the stars in the sky
Life should never feel small
Oh, never feel small
And we roll and dive and laugh and cry about it

Today's message is one so many of us will learn from today.  Years ago I moved away from Delaware to Atlanta to get away from a poisonous woman.  I'm serious, she was trouble for anyone she came in touch with.  Good looking girl, which meant she could use her looks to deceive and manipulate.  This is never good.  So in the end, she caused enough trouble for me that I felt my best solution was to move away and start again.  I moved to Atlanta.  Now strange enough a good friend of mine named Vonda Fowler moved to Atlanta too.  A couple months later she and I bumped into each other in a Buckhead bar.  We soon got on the discussion of the woman I moved away from.  I explained to Vonda the woman I left said she wanted to be alone.  I went on telling Vonda when I left, I left no forwarding address and instructed my family never to say where I was. Vonda laughed, she said, "You know Lars there is s saying that fits here."  Of course I wanted to hear it, "What?" Vonda finished... "Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.  And she's getting it."  "Yeah." I answered with satisfaction.  I was so tired of being used and having my life used for someone else's poisonous agenda that it felt great to know that I was a man of action and to that someone that didn't think I was capable of doing such a strong and independent thing was now left in the dust.

I've learned that the affection someone gives you in a relationship is a gift.  When you reject it, they most likely never offer it again.  I hear from friends all the time, "my girlfriend is too needy"  I said ...   more »

This year my little league team won a shut-out game 10-0.  I remember telling them, "Enjoy this moment boys.  They don't happen often."  I wanted them to understand that when something great happens, you have to savor it and appreciate it.

Today was my great day and I savored it, I appreciated it.  From good news from court to my son getting his first bike with training wheels (his grandparents came over the house with a new bike for him), to much more.  The lady in my life and talk at night for hours and there is something to be said for peace-of-mind.  

Tomorrow is the beginning of Canal Day weekend.  Fireworks and games for the kids.  This year I'm a volunteer.  It will be a busy weekend with friends and loved ones... 

Tonight I've been working on my part two of the Aeroplane City trilogy, DangerMan.  It's funny each time I set down to continue this story I think more and more like Dalton.  I also find myself in so many character roles.  It can get hard.  You have to imagine yourself in the role of a woman when trying to write Araby.  And that can be hard.  You want view how she desires love from the feminine viewpoint, but when you have known tough unfeeling women as I have, you have to wonder if love really is the ultimate desire for a woman.  It makes you rethink some of the character motivations despite already having set the character standards up a long time ago.

My other challenge is the world of Aeroplane City.  I think of the detail and how that effects the infrastructure of this world I've created.  It is daunting.  You write and then days later you come back and find you want to make something better and more believable.  After all, every little detail needs to be believable when you are trying to get your reader to accept a normally unbelievable world.

DangerMan is a character so near and dear to me. He's easy to write but hard to explain.  After all, DangerMan is me on paper, living a life that I would attempt to live had I had to make the decisions he has to make.  I would take a bullet for someone I loved, so DangerMan has to live that way.  I would walk away from love if it meant losing my honor, So DangerMan (Dalton) would do the same.  I would throw down my pride for love, so again DangerMan has to display that same quality even though it is a ...   more »

I used to imagine the Rebel Richard Bush sang about.  The young boy that left home with nothing but heart and came home a man.  The opening open guitar chords would always give my solace thinking that rebel was worthwhile.  Later the guitar work was simple and perfect, the keyboards seemed so ready for the 80's yet smooth and perfectly selected for production value.  The whole song had heart.   When Bush would belt out his passionate verse... "So be kind when he approaches.... cus that Rebel could be me!" at the end of the song you really knew he meant it, and you got the idea he really wanted that girl to take him to heart.  I hope she did.  Richard if you are reading this... you were a way cool guy I looked up to.  I hope life has treated you fair.  Your music still lives with a lot of us.   If you'd like to learn a bit more about on of my favorite bands The A's, read here.

When The Rebel Comes Home

He’s a refugee from the highway

Out there fighting for years

Whether for God or glory

He’s been traveling through his tears

He always feels like the next step

Will surely set him free

So be kind when he approaches.... cus that rebel could be me!

Doesn’t know the roads been dying

Dying for so many years

He’s been traveling in darkness

He’s been traveling in fear

He left long ago as a young boy

Left the young boy in him behind

Now his reasons for leaving

Are just a little hard to find

When the rebel comes home,

Please don’t leave him alone no no!

Let him rest his head on his shoulder

You can't insult this ...   more »

I just read this article on cnn.com.  It is heartbreaking. Imagine YOU are this child:

<snip>

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese drop box for unwanted babies triggered a wave of nationwide soul searching Wednesday, a day after it was discovered a preschooler -- and not an infant -- had been dumped there by his father on its first day of operation.

Nationally circulated newspapers warned that the anonymous drop-off, known as "Stork's Cradle," is open for abuse and could traumatize youngsters. They also condemned the father, saying his action could spur copycats.

The drop-off was opened last Thursday by the Catholic-run Jikei Hospital in the southern city of Kumamoto to discourage abortions and the abandonment of children in unsafe public places. The same day, a boy believed to be 3 was found inside.

The boy, who was in good health, reportedly said he was dropped off by his father, who was seen holding the youngster's hand as they approached the hospital. They apparently rode Japan's bullet train to Kumamoto, but it was unclear where they lived.

"I came with Daddy," the boy was quoted as saying by the Mainichi newspaper.

The find triggered a wave of outrage among political leaders on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying "Anonymously throwing out a child is unacceptable." He urged parents to consult social workers for help if raising children gets too tough.

Local media reported that the boy was able to identify himself by name. But it was unclear whether the father had been identified.

The hospital has refused to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns, but said there were age limits on its drop-off service.

Police have decided no crime was committed in the current case because the child was left in a situation in which it was not ...   more »

The billboard reads, “Life is short, get a divorce.”   Tell me one person that agrees with this method of advertising legal services?  Being recently divorced I think I’m fully qualified to weigh on this subject.  My perspective is that it is sad. 

What does that billboard really mean?  Nobody is fooled, it means one thing said many different ways, “married people, look what you are missing.”  It means, “Go ahead, quit on someone that loves you.”  It means, “Quitting is for winners.” CorriFetman the divorce attorney defending this ad in news pieces has the gall to imply the billboard ad is (get this) “gusty, unique, outcome oriented…”

The firm that created this ad claims that it offers hope and is optimistic.  They give no consideration that the ad is clearly designed to motivate people to give up on their marriage, and if they do… there are victims to this act.   Look at me, my youngest son at four actually prays at dinner at grace saying, “…and let mommy and daddy get back together.” 

I wish Corri would call me.  Believe me; she’d get some compelling words.  She’d get a sense of the humanity she seemingly lacks.  But let’s face it; someone that lacks a moral compass won’t be bothered by anything they hear.  Her words, “we don’t cause divorce, people cause divorce, lawyers don’t.” are a cope out.   The fact is simple, using logic I once learned when I sang in a band, “your audience will find you” (play whatever style music you desire), this firm is really advertising this message, “we have no moral compass, if you don’t either, hire us.”

I do believe a good lawyer is an ...   more »

At 19 years of age... I belted out this song in the shower like there was no tomorrow "What's in your heart will never change!"  ... It's all the same... It's only ... it's only, it's only change. You ain't never, you aint gonna change...

My son caught me signing in the shower the other day...

People talking
And they're saying that you're leaving
So unhappy
With the way that you've been living
Oh oh oh
We always wish for money
We always wish for fame
We think we have the answers
Some things ain't ever gonna change (change)
It doesn't matter who you are
It's all the same (change)
What's in your heart will never change
Look in the mirror
And you see how you've been taken
You won't surrender
But now your heart is breakin'
Oh oh oh
We always wish for money
We always wish for fame
We think we have the answers
Some things ain't ever gonna change (change)
It doesn't matter who you are
It's all the same (change)
What's in your heart will never change
Do you remember
When you got your lucky break
You're looking back now
And it seems like a mistake
Oh oh oh
We always wish for money
We always wish for fame
We think we have the answers
Some things ain't ever gonna change (change)
It doesn't matter who you are
It's all the same (change)
What's in your heart will never change   more »

Can I give you all some advice?  When something is broke you fix it.  You don't get bent, you don't make war, you don't hold a grudge, you don't blame shift, you don't quit, you fix it.

In business, I learned early on in management there is a simple process to dealing with adversity.  You ask these questions:

How did it happen?

How do we fix it?

How do we stop it from happening again?

And then you move on.  Sure if you are swift you think proactively after that.  But you don't look back on the problem, kick and whine about it.  Your girlfriend left you?  You lost the ball game?  Your best friend broke your favorite toy?  A customer left you?  You broke your leg?  All these problems are solved the same way.

And you move on.

But you don't get mad, you don't stay mad, you don't hold a grudge and you don't drag yourself down to the level of the problem.  So if your friend now hates you because you won't let them play with your toys anymore... you deal with it.  You don't hate them back as that won't fix things.

Look, I'm not saying you need to emotionally disconnect.  I realize some things hurt or make you mad and you need time to get through it.  I've been there.  Give yourself some time to blow off steam or calm down or forget the pain, whatever it is.  It's OK to have emotions.  And it's OK to allow yourself to have those emotions.  But keep them in perspective.  Move on is key.  Because living in the past just doesn't cut it.  You've gotten the idea from me, you are in the here and now... the journey is the reward... blah blah blah.. but it's true.  ...   more »

Many songs exist about it.  I live it.  I repeat it to others.  I’m telling you now.  The journey is the reward.  So while you are perhaps running in circles, trying to find happiness, you have to stop along the way and realize, these are the salad days, slowly being eating away.

What were you doing the day your hero died?  What did you do the day your team won the championship?  Only sometimes is the destination the reward, such as the day you marry, and really... that day isn’t your destination, it was your destiny because the journey begins that day.   Once my ex-wife and I parted and we came back together because I told her... “we have history.”   That’s another story as to why we are no longer, but I hope you get the idea.   Another example of the end of a journey being a reward is the day your child is born, but even yet again, the real journey begins that day.  And never let anyone tell you it isn’t a grand journey. 

Every step you take in life is you writing your own story.   Those footprints you leave in life are your reward or punishment for your decisions.  There are so many forks and turns in your life, and those are memories of a story that perhaps someone else will read, but when is your destination the reward really? 

Right now I’m managing a little league team, the season is half over and we are 6-3.  It’s a good season.  It went from a one of hope to one of anticipation.  And each game we play brings us closer to the end, and that destination ...   more »

Don't you just love the feeling of the cool sheets covering you in the morning?  You move your legs somewhere under the sheets as you wake up and they run across your skin like someones hands that don't miss any part of touching you.   A cool breeze may be the only thing just as nice, but in the morning the cool sheets of your bed seem to tell you, "keep your eyes closed, go back to sleep..."

If only I could do that.  I don't know about all of you readers, but my biological clock wakes me up and won't let me sleep when I wake up.  I suppose if you've got someone to hold in the morning, this would trump the gentle touch of cool sheets but then again, perhaps the person you woke up with isn't satisfying you with a gentle touch either.  

Like all good things, the feeling of cool sheets running over your skin is ephemeral.  Perhaps that is what makes it special.  I sometimes I have comical trains of thought, like this morning I laid in bed when I woke up and thought... some ding-dong actor or actress with too much money would pay someone to do this if they thought it had medicinal properties... LOL   So I slid across my bed, grabbed my laptop and tapped out this comical article for you all.    I've said it before... it's the little things in life.

For now I let my silent ceiling fan blow a cool breeze down over my head across my chest thinking...  the sheets and breeze are nice but nothing beats the human touch.  Now begins one busy day... be sure to stop and smell the roses along the way folks.

All possibilities
Are landing at my feet
There's nothing I can see
But possibilities

All colours are changing in my eyes
Your hopes are all fading, that will never do
You're seeing the world through cynical eyes
I'm seeing the world through the eyes of somebody new
Oh there's a hope left, there's a dream still in my heart
Look past the answers, there's a chance that there's no rulebook for this love

All possibilities
Are landing at my feet
There's nothing I can see
But possibilities

All the colours are changing in my eyes
Your hopes are all fading, that will never do
You're seeing the world through cynical eyes
I'm seeing the world through the eyes of somebody new

Oh there's a hope left, there's a dream still in my heart
Look past the answers, there's a chance that there's no rulebook for this love

Listen

I had to post this...  Check out my four year old Dalton practicing with the team!  What makes this so amusing is how serious he takes the excercise.  (Dalton in sliding drill - 24 MB file).  My older son Declan is drilling with the second group in the background.   What we taught the boys was the best slide you take is one with the least amount of movement where you lead with your dominant leg and you come up almost as fast as you go down.  There was more to this, but I'm sure you'll get it.   Wherever Dalton can participate we let him. :)

This is a large file folks.  It is a Quicktime .mov file at high-resolution, and you should only download it over a broadband connection.  It will automatically play in most browsers or you may have to press the play button on the player after it loads. 

My boys and I saw Spider-Man 3 on opening day.  We were unaffected by any other movie review and I went in to see this movie without having watched every trailer or having read spoilers prior.  My reaction was simply, nice ending, they wrapped up everything in a bow.  So in case you never see another Spider-Man story the Harry Osborn story, the love story between Mary Jane and Peter Parker's coming into his own as Spider-Man are all complete.

What some movie goers and critics are having a hard time embracing is the fact that Spider-Man at its heart is an action based movie, it is not a drama.  To view it as such is a mistake.  This latest installment of Spider-Man ups the action a lot and this may put you off, so if you don't like action movies then this movie may test your attention.

Now for the details.  Anyone that says the story is too all over the place is forgetting this is a movie experience based on an action hero of comic books.  It's based on a comic book.   Comic books are busy, and hardly ever based on reality.  Having said this, what makes the Spider-Man franchise on the big screen work so well is the emphasis on characters and our ability to identify with them, understand the good guys motives and the bad guys motives alike.  What we all loved about Spider-Man coming to the big screen was identifying with a human having superhuman powers we all wish we had.  Swinging from tall buildings, climbing up the side of buildings and such.  Who wouldn't want to be able to jump off the side of a building without fear?  To watch Spider-Man do this is us projecting ourselves onto the screen as him.   Personally I loved ...   more »

OK, I'm a life long Phillies fan.  I don't get upset, or wound up over losses.  I just don't.  It sucks that is true, but it is only baseball.  But what does get under my skin is when a person or even in this case an organization is in denial.   I won't go on, we all watch them if you are local to Philly that is...  But every year I got to their website and they are not the best team in the league.  But they live in denial on that web site! 

Can't they just admit to struggling or wishing they could have done something better?  Instead EVERY TIME you launch the homepage you get that stupid video of them doing the ONE single great thing in the last 10 games!  LOL

I mean they could lose six games in a row, but you'll get a high-light of them turning a double play followed by a towering home run shot.  And those highlights will be from games they lost!  The don't even show a highlight of a homerun from a game they won!  LOL  How I long for the day I can see a walk off home run highlight on the day they win a game!   Is it too much to ask guys? Yer killing me over here...

OK, I'm at my wits end!  I have been doing a lot of baking lately.  Last week some friends and I made home made soft pretzels.  They tasted like regular pretzels. Not soft doughy pretzels.  OK, but I was aiming for something like Auntie Anne's.  I did some research and I cut down on my yeast, added some molasses and I didn't add the full amount of water, rather I added most of it and added more as I went. This resolved the pliability issue of the dough.

But...  It still seemed a bit dense in taste.  This week I sifted the flour and this helped.  We made hot dogs wrapped in pretzel dough and they tasted fantastic!  But... still I felt the taste as a bit dense.  Is there a better flour to use?  Is there a "bakers" or "bread" flour? 

On the upside, me and my kids made scratch chocolate chip cookie dough last week and we've been using it since.  Amazing taste!  I tripled the amount of vanilla and added molasses.  Great taste!  My son told me it was better than the ones at the bakery.  Whew... I'm getting there. LOL 

Any baking advice?  I'll take it.  I want to get these home made pretzels down.  When I get it prefected I'll post my recipe.  :)

I'm one for privacy.  My home is my sanctuary.  Over the years I've jumped at chances to keep my personal information private even if I'm a public person. :) The average adult person receives average of 41 pounds of advertising mail.  That’s beyond the mail you actually expect and receive.

The down side of this excercise you have to do the leg work. Be aware you should do this for every person in your home over the age of 13.  If you move, do it again.  If you do this it will take up to three months to see noticeable results.

How Do I Opt Out?

For pre-screened credit card and home refinance offers which pull their information from the four credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis.  These bureaus are also the culprits selling your contact information.  To stop this you can use this web site: www.optoutprescreen.com/ or you can  call: 888.567.8688.  I’ve done this.  You will need to call from your home phone for best ease, and you will need to provide your social security number and date of birth.  This works for five years.

This site charges you one dollar on your credit card to remove you from other circulated lists you may be on.  Their URL is www.dmaconsumers.org The direct form link: http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing they also have a form for opting off phone calls, (charge 5$) www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offphone

Their contact address is:

Direct Marketing Association                                           
1615 L St. NW, Suite 1100                                
Washington, DC 20036           

Want to stop those ValuePak mailers?

http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm.  Hint, you can stop similar companies by simply snail mailing these companies at their return addresses requesting you be removed.

Removal from “Resident” mailing lists: http://www.advo.com/consumersupport.html

Advo ...   more »

This is a true story.  The year was 1989.   It was summer.  I owned a small boat, a fifteen footer.  It was small runabout with a 65 horsepower engine and it wasn't always reliable but I was happy it worked the times I put her in.   I always enjoyed using it for freshwater pond fishing but it was a fiberglass tri-hull suitable for ocean or bay fishing. 

I named my boat the Malaise after a car in the Speed Racer storyline.  The Malaise (Ma Lahz) was also known as the X-3 and it was a car that when it showed up, other cars crashed, like a bad omen.  And I remember some bad luck with my boat so I thought the name was appropriate.  Not until this moment did I realize what it also meant as I pen this story.

My best friend from high-school Keith Wright and his friend Earl Parsons were with me this day.  Keith and I had been toying with the idea of forming a band.  That time had no yet come, but we were good friends that did a lot of fishing together and we went as far as to buy motorcycles so we could pal around and do day trips on them.

I had begun to use my boat to meet girls and I'd float around a lot on my own too.  It was a great time in my life.  I didn't realize it so much at the time. I recall using my boat a lot on the upper Chesapeake.  I'd put in at the Perryville Fish market which is now gone and replaced by condo's.  Kinda sad I thought when I saw it happen one summer.   No more easy access to the Susquehanna flats and no more playing volleyball ...   more »

What Kind of Fool

Somewhere, somehow...
Take me to the place I knew so well
When life was all it was supposed to be.

Love me, hate me.
Make me feel invisible again.
I can forget I even knew your name.

What kind of fool are you?
What all you want is everything.
What kind of fool are you?
When you don't want my love...?

Who knows, who cares?
Why you had to play that stupid game.
You know you've only got yourself to blame.

What kind of fool are you?
What all you want is everything.
What kind of fool are you?
When you don't want my love...?

How many times did I hear my friends tell
How many times did I listen to a word they said.
How could I know that there was someone else you were loving instead.

What kind of fool are you?
When you find that all your search for means nothing at all.
With no one by your side.
 
What kind of fool are you?
What all you want is everything.
What kind of fool are you?
When you don't want my love...?

What kind of fool are you?
What kind of fool are you?

Working girl pinstripe and pearls

Making your own way in the world.

Nobody gets in your way

Nothing can stop you.

Now. There is nothing to tie you down

Because you got what you wanted!

But did you get what you need?

When there is no one there to share the glory.

Talk about strange things ...Sometimes life throws you curveballs and you have to learn how to hit them.  I've had a number of months like that you know.  And as you all know, I learned to hit them.

Last night...  almost right after I posted my article about my own path to greatness... Life threw me a nice juicy fastball.  LOL, Thanks life.   The person this applies to will understand. :)   Today is a good day, one where you feel your feet don't touch the ground. :) 

Let me tell you about my mood today.  Imagine you are in a race and you just turned a corner and see the open road.  You can slam that pedal down now  ...and you do.  That is where I’m at.  In the past few months I have realized my plans. 

At one time I thought of revenge, and quickly dashed it from my mind.  Revenge is like your soul looking back in the mirror casting judgment on you.  To feel you want revenge is one thing, to act on it is where you lose honor and self-respect.   Then another time I wanted to people to feel sorry for me because I thought there was no justice or that justice’s blind eye would never look back my way.  Then justice did come back my way and for every injustice I’ve been a victim of, I’ve witnessed that one by one, the truth is finally coming out.

That brings me to now.  I’ve come to know myself again.  I’ve got my confidence back.  I feel my momentum of my story.  The story of my life that was once handed over to my love.  I gave up me for her.  I gave up my identity for someone else.   Now for you hopeless romantics out there ...you ain’t lost me.  Not yet. :)  But I will say this.  I’m on my own path to greatness now and for all the love in the world, you better be willing to offer the same.  Only the bravest of among you need apply.

Me and my boys Declan and Dalton are close.  We are amazingly close.  That journey of what we ...   more »

This blog is for you ladies.  What is a hero?  Do you think of a super hero, a man beyond what others can ever be?  Are your sights set so high that no matter how good a man you have, you look past him for someone better?

I have to ask you.  Don't you want to be loved?  Isn't love enough?  Wouldn't it be enough that a man you are with will stand up for you, do anything for you and truly appreciate you more than any other woman he could know?

If you have one man in your life, and you take his breath away, doesn't that warrant your love and appreciation of him as your own hero?  After all, if you mean that much to him, don't you love that?  If you mean that much to him, you must know he will in fact do anything for you.

And here lies the secret of all heroes ladies.   Every hero has a weakness.  And for us all, it is love.  That heroe's weakness is his heart.  It is the only way to destroy him, and a real enemy of a hero knows that.

So be careful with the hearts of your heroes ladies.  You hold the power over these men, these heroes you must appreciate.  Don't lose your heroes ladies.   You'll regret it for the rest of your life.