Homodox

Boston Sports Dream

Within one year Boston sports teams have won the World Series, played in the Superbowl, and now advanced to the NBA Finals.  We need to remember 2007-08 down the road when we go through the next and inevitable sports drought.

Fatherhood Blues

One of my favorite musicals is Baby from 1984.  I tend to really love musicals others don't know well.  The title of this post is from one of the songs from the show.  This weekend is our first overnight visit by Jose to our house.  

But my head is high and the air is sweet

And the street will not stay under my feet

I walk along to a funky beat

Wherever I go I'm happy.

I-95 and Four Friends

You're mother always told you that you'd be late for your own funeral.  My mother never said that to me because I am my father's son.  But she told my sisters that.  Of course, it's rather impossible to be late to one's own funeral if you really think about it.

I was hurtling at 70 mph north today on I-95 to Portland, Maine, for the internment service for my friend Payson.  Earlier in the week I had been on I-95 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with my friend Glenn (some 1,579 miles south of Portland, Maine).  At the committal service, Payson's best friend Edwin, our fellow bridge player and friend noted that he had 76-year friendship with Payson.  You could see that he was hurting, but what could one say?

Earlier this week, Glenn and I decided we've been friends in the 30+ year category [that is longer than a certain dinner guest had been alive].  Edwin even articulated the loss.  There would be no one now alive for him to verify his memories.  I'm thinking 40 years in the future, who will know about the Tab Bunny coming at Easter?  Or RCA=Rotten Christian Attitude?  Or a countless amount of other things?  Edwin and Payson knew each other so well they could say "oh, she's pulling a Christine" and know exactly what that meant.

Friendship is maybe the most underrated pleasure mankind has invented.  Glenn provided me an oasis last weekend in between jobs. I watched the movie Arthur for the first time in years, remembering how truly hysterical it is.  So:

A hot bath is wonderful.  Friends are wonderful.  Just imagine how wonderful a friend who bathes would be!

And cheers to all four of us for 100+ years of friendship.

Where The Records Are

I'm just finishing a piece on the English origins of Elizabeth (Dowse) Allen, the wife of Samuel Allen.  This woman was born in London; married there; came to the colonies with her husband, the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, who died at Newcastle, N.H., and then sort of slips away from the records.  Until today.  Samuel Allen's estate is administered from his wife's last residence which was Charlestown, Mass.  Although in Suffolk County today, in 1708, it was part of Middlesex County, so in volume 12 of the Middlesex Co., Mass. Probate you find Samuel Allen's administration which notes that his wife died by 30 September 1708.  

And such is genealogy.  A family largely associated with New Hampshire or Boston has important records in a neighboring county where you would not intuitively look.

The Clinton Sideshow

It was assumed that one reason to remain in the primary race was that Obama could implode--some gaffe or skeleton in his closet could be discovered and the democrats would drop him like a hot potato (or potatoe if you're Dan Quayle).  However, in the last week, it seems that the Clintons (both she and he) are the ones shooting themselves in their collective feet.  She makes a poorly worded RFK analogy and he forgets that he secured the nomination in early April 1992.  

Obama meanwhile has been brilliant.  He's allowing them to dig their own graves.  It's like an accident one cannot look away from.  

IQ and Biblical Literalism

 As if we didn't already guess this, but it seems IQ and taking the Bible literally are inversely related.  And if you think IQ is a poor measure, it works the same for SAT scores.  Of course, I don't believe that it's purely lack of intelligence, but more a product of voluntary ignorance on the part of those believers in Christ.

Off To Florida

I'm off to Florida for a few days in between jobs.  I'll be visiting my friend Glenn and staying as far away from computers as possible. I've never been to southern Florida either Fort Lauderdale or Miami.  My first Florida trip was with my family in the mid-1970s.  Walt Disney World had just opened.  There was no EPCOT center and Space Mountain was not yet finished.  We then stayed with cousins in Daytona Beach.  My second trip was with Glenn in the mid-1980s staying near Sarasota on the west coast.  I'm looking forward to the sun, the warmth, food, swimming, reading, sleeping and a martini or two.

Brooklyn Bridge

They are planning a celebration for the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge complete with fireworks.  This news brought a tear to my eyes.  At the 100th anniversary in 1983, we saw those fireworks as a family from my father's office on the 72nd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  It was the first time I had ever looked down on fireworks.  So, I'm aghast that 25 years have flown by and saddened that I can't recreate that memory even if I wanted to.  

What Barack Needs To Do

After last night's split decision, Obama is either 60 to 70 delegates away from securing the nomination under the current rules of the DNC.  The last primaries in Puerto Rico, Montana, and South Dakota are on June 1st and 3rd.  The DNC's Rules Committee will meet on May 30th and decide the fate of the delegations from Michigan and Florida, the two renegade states that broke the party's rules by moving up their primaries.

Sometime early next week (Tuesday or Wednesday), Obama should have a rally at which he introduces the last wave of super delegates that will get him to the magic number 2026 and secure the nomination.  He needs to say to the rules committee that if you change the rules now, you're depriving me the nomination.  

The truth of the matter is, that as the rules stand today, Clinton lost the nomination in February.  In order to get the nomination, rules will have to change in her favor.  Obama needs to show that he won the nomination under the existing rules and wield the consider power of his fundraising machine to make sure an equitable decision is made at the May 30th meeting.

A New Way To Give Head

I'm crossing Gambia off my list of vacation spots.